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Today (7/13) at 2:37 PM EDT, there’s a Full Moon at 21º Capricorn. IMO, Capricorn is the most misunderstood zodiac sign. Yes, even more misunderstood than Gemini or Scorpio. At least from a pop astrology perspective. Why is a sign represented by a creature as mystical and imaginative and whimsical as the sea goat reduced to the cliché of a workaholic CEO coked up in the executive suite? Is it just because it’s easy to associate the word Capricorn with the word capitalism? I think that’s part of it. But I think another part of it is a collective misunderstanding of winter. It’s a lack of respect for the work that we do under the surface through those long, cold nights.
I’ll always be thankful to the astrologer Shawn Nygaard whose talk “Saturn in Capricorn: The End of Innocence” in February 2018, first introduced me to an idea culled from Babylonian astrology that Capricorn is an aquifer—a permeable rock that absorbs and contains groundwater. In ancient Mesopotamia, the “astrological year” ended with Sagittarius and began again with Capricorn. Things began in the dark. Though things are cold and dry during Capricorn time, there's always an aquifer. There’s always water below the surface. There’s always resources underneath. This is why Capricorn is the sea goat. Head on the sand and tail in the sea. Yes, the surface structure is important, but the water stored below is what sustains the entire system, especially in times of lack or need. Capricorn genius lies in always being well resourced.
Full Moons occur when the Sun and the Moon are 180º apart. An opposition. A face-off that illuminates. The Full Moon in Capricorn comes during Cancer season when things are almost sickeningly ripe. The river valley is flooded. The farmers’ market is stocked. There’s no need to pull out those pickled carrots buried deep in the fridge. But the thing about the summer, about Cancer season, is that it’s fleeting. That’s why Cancer has so much nostalgia. The dappled purple and gold late evening sunsets of summer only last so long. The Full Moon in Capricorn always comes as a bit of a reality check. What are you ok with tossing into the ocean? What would you like to store for winter? Who are you when you’re not framed in a picture perfect summer golden hour? What’s stored underneath is likely more solid than you think.
It’s also impossible to talk about this Full Moon without talking about Pluto which is currently at 27º Capricorn. Pluto first entered Capricorn on January 26, 2008, then dipped back into Sagittarius from June through November of that year, and finally moved back into Capricorn to stay on November 27, 2008. Richard Tarnas writes in Cosmos & Psyche that Pluto “compels, empowers and intensifies whatever it touches.” Since 2008, the Capricorn part of our chart has slowly decayed. There have been moments of fire, brimstone, major demolition, along with moments of quiet reconstruction. In 2023 and 2024, Pluto will begin transitioning into a long stay in Aquarius. This is the second to last Full Moon in Capricorn that we’ll experience with Pluto in Capricorn in our lifetime. This Full Moon is meant to illuminate the major transformation that we’ve experienced in the Capricorn part of our chart since 2008. It hasn’t been easy. Much of it has felt like poison in the well. But sometimes a dramatic death is necessary. The phoenix always rises again.
For this Full Moon, it’s necessary to time travel back to 2008 to gain some perspective about how much you’ve grown, we’ve all grown, since then. The time travel isn’t easy. Even if the transformation has been a cathartic purge. In some ways, 2008 seems very recent, and in other ways, it was several lifetimes ago. For my own nostalgia demon purposes, I watched an Obama 2008 campaign ad to get myself in the mood. Vintage is how it looks and feels. Watch if you dare, but again trigger warning: 2008.
For those unwilling to go there (or who don’t feel like clicking play on a video embedded in an email, which—fair), this is the classic “Signs of Hope and Change” ad featuring The National’s “Fake Empire.” The poetic irony of this ad being scored by a song literally titled Fake. Empire.—the opening track of The National’s 2007 album Boxer—is almost too on the nose. But that’s before even highlighting the lyrics. Just as the ad visually portrays hope as the clean slate of a morning sunrise, without the lyrics, the track is a sleepy yet jaunty tune in C major. But the chorus of the song, which we never hear in this context, goes like this:
We're half awake in a fake empire
We're half awake in a fake empire
and isn’t that what we were in 2008, half awake in a fake empire?
Now, in 2022, we’re wide awake in a fake empire. The United States is currently experiencing its first Pluto Return. Pluto Returns occur every 250 years so they’re only for nations and trees. This transit can crumble an empire, but more often it empowers. Pluto does both things well. But though the Hope™ upon which the Obama campaign built its foundation might look like a sunrise over a mountain, the Change™ that it promised needed to come from the upheaval, death, and rebirth that occurs over a long dark night. It wasn’t going to happen over one hopeful election cycle or even a two term Presidency. On a personal and collective level, we’ve been experiencing that long, dark, necessary night since 2008. We’ll be experiencing it through 2024. Today’s Full Moon brings up all the feels about what we’ve gained and what we’ve lost.
Whether you like it or not, the fact that you’re alive means that you’re constantly changing. Venus in Gemini makes a supportive trine to Saturn in Aquarius today, bringing clarity to relationships and connections of all kinds. Venus in Gemini can be all over the place with what she likes, what she engages with. But the Saturnian influence gives our illustrious laughter loving queen the confidence to know what she likes the most, to know what she needs to let go. Like every Capricorn lunation since 2008, this Full Moon is about facing decay. You don’t need to hold onto that moldy notebook just because it once meant something to you. At the same time, that antique chair in the corner has survived every storm. Maybe it’s time to bring it out to the main room again. This Full Moon brings a culmination to things that were seeded both during this year’s New Moon in Capricorn on January 2, as well as the New Moon in Capricorn on January 13, 2021. What were you up to then? Why are you keeping that around? Who are you going to shed?
This Full Moon is about having the courage to check your storage and clean it out if necessary. What’s on the surface isn’t going to save us. These structures, that we’ve all had faith in, pledged allegiance to, projected our hope onto, were built to collapse. We’re watching them fall, and we must let them fall. It’s so brave to allow yourself to actually change.
Horoscopes follow for each sign. Read for your rising sign if you want to vibe with what’s “really” “happening;” check in with your sun (if you’re born during the day) or moon (if you’re born at night) if you want a second opinion. If you’d like to go further on this journey, I’d love to dive into your chart together so book a reading!
Capricorn
Today’s full moon illuminates all that you love and all that you don’t love about your image, identity, and appearance. As much as you enjoy critiquing everyone else’s style, maybe you’re the one whose stuck in a vibe shift. It’s been a long journey of getting comfortable in your own self. Many identities have been shed like snakeskin along the way. But it’s time to reclaim one of those layers like a piece of vintage cashmere. Think back to January 2021. What was your skin care routine? Are you still wearing the same outfits? How has your confidence evolved? You’re often so focused on what you’ve sacrificed to get here, all that you’ve lost, that you forget what a relief it is to be authentic. What still makes you genuinely smile?
Aquarius
Today’s full moon highlights all the benefits and battles of taking up space in the dark. This lunation falls in your twelfth house, a liminal space that effortlessly shifts from artist retreat to mind prison and back, over and over again. Since 2008, you’ve been deep in research mode, trying to get to the bottom of everything, often getting so caught up that you miss major life milestones while they’re happening. It’s hard to be present when everything and nothing is happening all at once. As painful as it is to construct reality from the ground up, you won’t always feel so empowered at a remove. So soak it up and float on while you can. Think back to January 2021. Where were you getting lost and where were you getting found? What foreign places and deep space regions were you exploring?
Pisces
Today’s full moon illuminates the brilliance and the burden of your community, your audience, and your aspirations. Though it often feels like it’s you—your desires, your pleasures, your creativity—that needs to change. It’s really that you’re in the process of finding the right people to receive all that you have to give. Your network looks nothing like it did in 2008, and that’s OK. This has been about identifying the worlds of support make you feel massively empowered vs. the ones that make you feel like your soul is being sucked out through radioactive decay. Think back to January 2021. Who was showing up to your shows? Responding to your work? Asking to be part of your team? It might be time to reach out or let go of someone who hasn’t responded to an email since back then.
Aries
Today’s full moon is a literal spotlight for you. It lights up your tenth house of career, reputation, and visibility, reminding you of how much you’ve been through to get to where you are. Back in 2008, you had no idea what or who or how you wanted to be (at least in the context of what you know now), but your instincts told you that you were meant to do something massive. Let today’s full moon be a reminder that you shouldn’t diminish your accomplishments, or forget about any of the hurdles or hoops you jumped or bad bosses you slayed to get here. You don’t need to write a tidy story. Put it all in the memoir. The struggles along with the wins will always be a part of you. Think back to January 2021. What leadership qualities did you want to embody then? How have you kept growing?
Taurus
Today’s full moon clarifies the agony and the ecstasy of finding god and expanding your mind. This lunation falls in your ninth house of foreign travel, higher education, and spirituality. Maybe you’ve moved across the ocean or gone into the depths of academia. Maybe you got lost at the Vipassana meditation retreat. Maybe you’ve given your life to an institution that keeps burning to the ground. Since 2008, you’ve learned over and over and over again that the clearest form of divination is often your gut instinct. Think back to January 2021. What journeys were you beginning? Those adventures are now reaching their natural peak. Time to keep going or let them fade away.
Gemini
Today’s full moon reveals the power and pain that comes from holding onto (sometimes too much) baggage. This lunation falls in your eighth house of shared resources: debts, taxes, resentments, inheritances, and other people’s money. Since 2008, you’ve been transformed by loss and empowered by collaboration. There are skeletons in your closet that you once thought would destroy you but through a long, tenuous process, you’ve taught them how to dance. Think back to January 2021. What were you confessing in therapy? What partnerships were evolving and ending? You were so nervous to keep going. Into those thorny depths. But now that you’re here, hasn’t it all been worth it?
Cancer
Today’s full moon illuminates the potent power and punishment that you face when giving yourself to another. This lunation falls in your seventh house of partnership, encompassing all of your most intimate one-on-one relationships from lovers to clients to forever friends. It’s where you find the most unbreakable bonds as well as the most horrifying projections. Since 2008, you’ve learned—in the most elemental and atomic way—what it really is to love. What it really is to be loved. Think back to January 2021. What relationships were you giving your whole heart? What partnerships were on the brink of decay? What other was haunting you? Some of these connections have proven to be fireproof. Hold them tight. Let the rest take up space in the abyss.
Leo
Today’s full moon reveals how much pleasure and pain you derive from sticking to a daily routine. This lunation falls in your sixth house of service, labor, and managing dis-ease. Let’s be real, on more days than not, you feel like a hot mess. Like you’re not meeting some nebulous societal expectations. Like you’ll never be the boss of your own life. Like you’ll never “get it together.” But, when it comes to finding a flow, consider how far you’ve come since 2008. Think of how much better you are at taking care of your body. Sure, you don’t set your alarm for the same time everyday. But you do know how to find tiny clearings of joy within the massive forest of responsibility. Think back to January 2021. What felt dangerously out of your control? How have you learned to harness it since then?
Virgo
Today’s full moon clarifies how gorgeous and humiliating it is to have desires. This lunation falls in your fifth house of romance, sex, pleasure, art, creativity, and joy. Though it’s easy to be embarrassed by your passions, you’re dangerously powerful when you stop caring what everyone thinks. You write the most amazing love letters. You’re so clear about what you want in bed. Your heart has faced rejection after rejection after rejection, and still, you rise again. Think back to January 2021. Who was your crush and how was that crush becoming your obsession? What creative project was keeping you up at night? Did you ever go for it? Might now be the time?
Libra
Today’s full moon reveals all that empowers and all that embarrasses you about your home, family, and upbringing. Since 2008, you’ve been down the long and winding road of re-parenting yourself. You’re establishing your own roots on your own terms. Maybe you’ve watched a family home decay. Maybe you’ve moved so many times you’ve lost track. Maybe your apartment gets horrible light. Though it often feels like you’re in a never-ending process of laying a foundation, you really have made an unbelievable amount of progress toward making a home. It’s only up from here. Think back to January 2021. Where was home? How many pipes were burst? Have you moved on or are you still a bit stuck in the dust? Remember: you are your own sanctuary. If you can have peace in yourself, you can have it all.
Scorpio
Today’s full moon illuminates both some ugly and beautiful truths about your neighborhood, close friends, siblings, and modes of communication. RIP to that group chat, am I right? Creating rituals, making friends, and establishing a familiar environment is what stabilizes you. You take these things seriously. And yet, this part of your life has been nothing but upheaval for many years. Since 2008, you’ve felt both empowered and alienated by the clarity of what you have to say. Think back to January 2021. What letter were you scared to write? What routines were becoming obsessions? How have you made space for more joy since then? Give yourself some credit. You’re pruning the garden.
Sagittarius
Today’s full moon illuminates the brilliance and burden of prioritizing your basic needs. This lunation falls in your second house of money, income, resources, and possessions. But it’s not just about how much you make. It’s about what feeds you. What are you currently craving? Since 2008, you’ve pushed yourself to the brink to make sure that you can always land on your feet financially. But along the way, you’ve had to leave some things behind, things that starved your body but fed your soul. Remember when all you wanted was to feed souls? Think back to January 2021. What seeds were you planting to generate more resources? Are you ready to admit that you indeed have enough in storage? You’re always going to be generous. Mark this moment by giving into one of your cravings. Everyone wants you to go for it.