Full Moon in Capricorn
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
2:21am PDT
15° 24’
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
2:39amPDT
15° 32’

©2009 Lisa Dale Miller
All rights reserved

If you feel like you are pushing a huge boulder up a steep hill on this Full Moon in Capricorn, blame it on retrograde Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Chiron. Ouch! Well, what other Full Moon could face this kind of struggle by shrugging its shoulders, and saying, “So what else is new?” Thank you Saturn, ruler of Capricorn, the great teacher of how to handle hardship, struggle and reality, with commitment, follow-through and guts. So though this is the Full Moon to celebrate goals and achievement, with this kind of planetary resistance to moving forward, we can also celebrate small steps, realistic goal-setting, and being successful when faced with tremendous limitations. Going forward has its right time and right place. This is the night to look within, connect with one’s own sense of proper timing and trust the wisdom that arises from this kind of inquiry. Remember retrograde planets are ideal for inner work, especially with Mercury (mind) in Cancer.

This is the Full Moon of the Guru: Guru Purnima. A night dedicated to thanking all our teachers, in every walk of life; especially the difficult ones who challenge us to reach deep within to feel love and compassion. You might want to do metta practice in your ritual as you celebrate the teachers in your life: your kids, parents, siblings, lover, partner, spouse, co-workers, bosses, professors, etc. Wishing them well with metta is a beautiful way to celebrate the gifts they give to you and return the sentiment through the heart of compassion. You can find recorded metta practices on my web site: www.lisadalemiller.com/metta.htm

When the Moon is full in Capricorn, the Sun is in Cancer, the sign that rules emotional connectedness, nurturance, compassion, and personal expressions of love. Because the Moon rules Cancer, when the Moon is posited in Capricorn (the sign opposite its natural zodiacal energy) this makes for a special energetic symbiosis between the Sun and Moon. Only at this time of year, can the Moon fully infuse the restrictive, withholding, structured, serious energy of Capricorn with its natural, energetic Cancerian open, flowing love and compassion. This is especially true with Mercury in Cancer (mind/heart connection). This is a celebration to enliven compassion for ourselves, especially in these uncertain and tough times. So use your ritual to bring compassion to bear upon your most critical, negative images and thoughts about yourself. Self-love is not a concept; it is active, and takes energy and time to develop. This is especially important with Saturn in self-critical and perfectionistic Virgo.

This Full Moon in Capricorn along with Pluto in Capricorn calls upon each of us to find the appropriate structures to express love and connectedness without manipulation. Pluto asks us if we can risk being fearless, honest and open with the ones we love. This is especially true when love is not our first response, or is drowned out by pain, fear and hatred (the domain of Capricorn/Saturn). Where Cancer feels almost childlike in its attachment to direct experience of emotive love, Capricorn knows that sacrifice and personal responsibility are the building blocks of true love, and realizes this goal with a special grace and maturity.

This is the Full Moon of tough love, facing the reality of love lost or denied. Don't underestimate the depth of understanding that a Capricorn Moon brings to the table, especially with all these retrograde planets. This is a huge invitation to look with depth at the suffering you create around love; Venus in Gemini asks us to be lighthearted and open-minded. To not take things so seriously, which is a good thing on a Capricorn Full Moon.

Saturn/Capricorn forces us to come to terms with fear. The old ways (Capricorn) steeped in solutions that arise from fear and war will not work. Sowing the seeds of fear, greed, hatred, and ignorance will never bring about freedom from fear. The Full Moon in Capricorn is the one night of the year when we can truly see our fear for what it is: a distinct inability to transcend the human-made irrational divisions of race, religion, nationality, and gender. There is no separateness, only love. All matter is made of love and therefore can only be love at its most basic, as well its highest expression. We need to create societal and governmental structures that solve these problems from a core belief in love and connectedness.

This will of course require a complete shift in human consciousness. We must move away from identification with the small egoic, self, mired in the ignorance of separateness, to the full experience of the unbounded, transcendent divine Self, realizing love as the true nature of all existent life. When we change the Self, we change everything. Do you think this goal is unrealistic? Not on this Full Moon. This is the Full Moon of hard work and accepting one's personal responsibility to heal the suffering of others. Did you know that most of the great spiritual teachers were born under the Sun sign of Capricorn? Why? To change human consciousness requires a Herculean commitment to achievement no matter how hard or how long the road. This is Capricorn at its best.

Listen up men! Saturn/Capricorn symbolizes the responsible, hardened male, and Saturn also rules depression. Though most people would agree that patriarchy has been detrimental for women, many don't consider how wounding it has been for men. Think of all the men you know who find it hard to talk about their feelings; particularly feelings of loss, vulnerability, sadness, and confusion. Violence, irritability, isolation and anger are often used by men to cover up emotions and feelings that require vulnerability. Interestingly, along with substance abuse, violence, irritability, isolation and anger are often symptoms of male depression. Our society requires that men always have it together, or at least give off the appearance of being fine. Few men admit to depression and even fewer go get therapeutic help. Consequently the highest rate of suicide in America is among men 55-70 years old. So guys, admitting you have depressive feelings is the first step, and right after that comes sharing it with a spouse or friend or adult child. Believe me they already know it and will be more than happy to support you and your journey to wellness. This is the Full Moon to reach out and get help. Find a therapist and a men's group in your area. Take responsibility for your own healing.

This is the night to reach deep into your well of strength and decide that achieving your own inner peace is the only goal worth attaining at this moment in our human evolution. This Full Moon simultaneously uncovers our fear and reflects the solution to our fear: acting only from love, compassion, and doing the hard work of relieving the suffering of all sentient beings by achieving enlightenment and inner peace. This is a very powerful and serious Full Moon-don't waste it!

©2009 Lisa Dale Miller
All rights reserved
PERMISSION MUST BE GRANTED BY THE AUTHOR FOR USE ON WEB SITES AND FOR OUTSIDE PUBLISHING