July 19th ~ 26th
Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the Present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy Future, without fear, and a manly heart. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
On July 21st we have a 2nd Full Moon in Capricorn for the year. The first Full Moon on June 21st was at 1º of Capricorn. The Full Moon this weekend is at 29º of Capricorn, the very last degree of the sign. Full Moons are times of culmination, that can include bringing certain situations to completion. This can also apply to the final degree of a sign. And with this Full Moon, the Cancer season is being brought to a close.
During the month of Cancer season we often find ourselves filled with a sense of nostalgia for the past, for family, for home. We yearn for connection, to return to what once was, and to fill in the spaces of our lives. Memories along with their adjacent feelings come to the surface, and bonds are deepened with what we once knew so well. And as with the previous Full Moon in June, we are now given a brief, albeit illuminating opportunity to look at these ties, memories and reminiscences in a more objective light. And along with this Full Moon at the very very end of the sign, we are also reminded that, no matter how enticing, there can be no turning back to what once was.
The Full Moon is just one degree away from Pluto at 0º of Aquarius, now retrograde, and also heading back to this last degree of Capricorn on September 1st. The Full Moon therefore could be something of a premonition of what is yet to come this Fall. Just be aware that as Pluto returns to Capricorn this Fall, that can include opening up some old issues in the process. And so might we all be advised to leave some old things in the past where they belong, without raking up old rifts, out-worn tropes and broken memories. All sorts of stuff can rise to the surface when the Full Moon is shining a light on Pluto.
This is the very middle of the Pluto retrograde phase in which we are all being asked to do some deep inner work and personal reckoning. It’s not easy to work with our own Pluto stuff. It takes courage and and an incredible amount of honesty. And it can be like that in society as well. With the Full Moon the Sun is shining a light on all that had been hiding beneath the surface, like a festering wound just waiting to be lanced. All sorts of dreadful stuff is going to rise to the surface, including the dark and forbidden underbelly of shame, guilt, greed and fear. The truth is, when we deny our own demons, fears and hungers, they will just unconsciously act out in our lives in other ways. Which is why it is so important to honestly look at ourselves, the demons included, without reservation.
And yet, this is probably one of the most therapeutic Full Moons we have had in a while. With a trine to Mars in the first degree of Gemini, we are filled with an urgency to take action, to speak out, to have the courage of our voices. And with a sextile to Neptune in the last degree of Pisces, we are being asked to release, in order for Pluto to do its good work of making peace with the past, once and for all. Which in turn allows us to embrace the future that is waiting for us. The final step with Pluto is always about healing, transformation and rebuilding.
On the night before the Full Moon in Capricorn on Sunday, July 21st (6:17 am Eastern Daylight Time; 3:17 am Pacific Time and 11:17 am British time) ask yourself:
What are those things, ideas, or habits that you are still holding on to, but no longer need, and are no longer appropriate for who you are becoming?
What are those things, circumstances and old habits that you have long outgrown? And in what ways do you wish to further grow and evolve in the future?
What is your relationship to power? And what is standing in the way of you taking greater control over the course of your own life?
In what ways can you establish greater balance between your personal needs, and your obligations to your work, your position or to others in the world at large?
In what ways can you apply what was important to you in the past, in a way that will give greater meaning and purpose to your future?
When one door closes another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the new one opened for us. ~ Alexander Graham Bell
For this week’s horoscopes, click below: