Although we continue to feel the tension of the cardinal configurations in the sky, this week’s Full Moon and planetary aspects are a signature for productive change – if we’re willing to endure some discomfort.

OK, maybe a lot of discomfort.

Some of the changes may feel out of our control, and they might entail giving up something first in order to clear the way for something better. Even changes that are within our control will require almost superhuman discipline. Fortunately, we will have some cosmic help, with three planets in Capricorn all sending energy to Saturn, ruler of Capricorn and master of commitment and discipline. Moreover, Saturn in Scorpio has no time for whining and procrastinating, especially where finances are concerned. This applies not only to individuals, but to nations.

Still, it’s not going to be easy to stick to your guns, and there’s a risk of playing mind games to stay in your comfort zone. We’ll be in the pull of the Full Moon in Cancer for most of the week. Cancer needs its creature comforts and fears the unknown. Jupiter also is in Cancer, retrograde, and he’s closing in on a cardinal T-square with Uranus and Pluto. He’s also square Mars and opposite Venus. If what you’re trying to eliminate involves separating from a partner or spending less time with an inconsiderate friend, the urge to go back on your commitment could be hard to resist. Likewise, if the change you’re trying to make involves sticking to a tight budget, you could find it hard to keep your resolve.

The Moon reaches peak fullness just short of midnight East Coast time on Wednesday (it will be Thursday in the Eastern Hemisphere). Typically, something begins at the New Moon – a project, a relationship, a new opportunity – and it culminates at the Full Moon, plus or minus a few days. However, the New Moon also can represent an ending, and the New Moon in Capricorn on New Year’s Day had endings written all over it. Think about what might have ended for you two weeks ago or maybe a little before. Or perhaps you knew at the New Moon that you needed to let go of something in your life that was holding you back, but you weren’t quite ready to give it up. In that case, this Full Moon could bring confirmation that eliminating what isn’t working for you is in your best interest. The evidence might come through a specific incident, or perhaps a eureka moment accompanied by a strong feeling that you’re on the right track. The process of clearing away and cleaning out will create a space for something new and better to come into your life at the New Moon in Aquarius on January 30.

Likewise, if a door closed for you at the New Moon, a new door may not open until the end of the month. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. You’ll have an opportunity to slow down and get back in tune with your feelings. You might find that you feel differently about a change than you did two weeks ago. If you didn’t react back then, or if you had to keep your emotions under wraps due to circumstances, now you’ll get a chance to release pent-up emotional energy. It’s not always a comfortable place to be, but emotional release is necessary. Give yourself permission to give in without judgment. There are no “negative” feelings. Even anger has its place, and it’s one of the feelings we most often suppress. It’s just hard to find an appropriate way to release it without hurting someone, including yourself – like the time in my late 20s when I kicked a wall, forgetting that I was wearing sandals. A vigorous workout is the best way to blow off steam. Housecleaning is good, too.

Now, it is entirely possible that something did begin for you at the New Moon, in which case you should start seeing results in the coming week. Depending on where the New Moon fell in your chart, that “something” might have been tangible, maybe a new job or relationship. Or it could have been less visible, like a change in a belief that’s been tripping you up, perhaps a shift toward more positive self-esteem. Even when something good happens, we can feel an overflow of emotions. For example, someone who finds a new job after a long period of unemployment might be so overwhelmed with relief that they need a good cry.

Cancer represents family and the comforts of home, while Capricorn is usually associated with career and ambition. But we tend to forget that Capricorn is a feminine sign. Half goat, half fish, the mythical sea goat can scale the highest mountains and dive to the depths of the ocean. In some ancient cultures, mountains were associated with powerful goddesses. The sea, from which life on earth sprang, is associated with Cancer, the sign of mother, the womb, and birth. We think of Saturn-ruled Capricorn as father to Cancer’s mother, but it’s also the family matriarch, the grandmother who has seen and done it all and provides wise guidance to successive generations.

The cardinal signs – Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn – represent initiating energy, and all four will be active for several months. That’s why astrologers are predicting so much change. And yet, this Full Moon has an enduring quality to it, telling me that the changes we’re seeing may be new and even a little scary, but they are part of a larger cycle. Dwarf planet Ceres is in Libra and square the Full Moon by less than half a degree. I’m still observing how Ceres functions in individual and mundane charts, but her mythology suggests something to do with cycles, like the changing seasons and life cycles of plants and animals. With our technology oriented lifestyle, we often lose touch with these natural cycles and, as a result, feel separated from nature.

A continuing “outlet” for tense cardinal energies to flow is the easy sextile from Pluto to Chiron in Pisces, which represents deep healing in our individual and collective psyches. The root for “healing” is the same as for “whole.” To be whole, we have to feel a connection with the oneness of the universe.

A second outlet at this Full Moon is the sextile from Mercury in Aquarius to Uranus in Aries on Friday (late Thursday in western time zones). Mercury and Uranus both represent the intellectual workings of the mind, and Mercury in Aquarius has some of the same spark of genius associated with Uranus, ruler of Aquarius in modern astrology. The sextile is dynamic and conducive to the firing of neurons. Pay attention to sudden flashes of brilliance. There’s a possibility of coming up with innovate and unconventional solutions to perennial problems.

Lastly, there is a positive sextile/trine from Sun and Moon to Saturn. The Sun-Saturn sextile was exact on Saturday, but it’s still active as of the Full Moon. This is the pathway along which stress transforms to productivity. I know that stress is damaging to health, and we wish we didn’t have so much of it. Yet, studies show that a certain amount of stress is good for you. The old saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention” might well be adapted to our era as, “The necessity to reduce stress is the mother of invention.”

Late Sunday (in the United States), the Sun leaves staid Capricorn and enters quirky Aquarius. The eleventh sign of the zodiac is future-oriented, scientifically pioneering, unconventional, and humanistic – although it’s also a fixed sign and can stubbornly resist change, especially in its thinking. Just one of its quirky inconsistencies. Still, I think it’s a good combination with the cardinal energies, as it represents higher ideals at a time when there’s so much momentum worldwide for change. What do we want to become? What kind of future do we see for ourselves as a group, a nation, a species?

Next week we get another short breather, so if this week gets too emotional, relief will be on the way.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat

© Pat Paquette, RealAstrologers.com, 2013.