This year, the June Full Moon follows closely on the heels of the Solstice, which arrives when the Sun enters the sign of Cancer, marking days of maximum light (north of the equator) and maximum dark (south of the equator).
Solstices mark significant turning points of the year. Ancient monuments in many countries were designed to mark this time when the Sun stood still in the sky before shifting orbit to increase or decrease daylight.
Stonehenge, Newgrange, Callanish, Carnac, Chaco Canyon, Machu Picchu, and Jantar Mantar all were built to align with solstices.
Cancer, the Moon’s sign, is associated with gestation and nurturing. If you’re familiar with the Thema Mundi, the Hellenistic chart said to mark the birth of our world, you’ll see Cancer on the Ascendant.
In other words, our world emerged into the light, was born and nurtured, in the sign of Cancer.
In Vedic astrology (Jyotish), Cancer is sometimes seen as the beginning of the zodiacal year. The Sun’s entry into Cancer marks the coming of the monsoons on the Indian subcontinent, an important source of fertility and growth there.
It’s a significant time.
This year, the Solstice transitions into a Full Moon in Capricorn, bringing the Moon into opposition with the Solstice Sun. Before we dive into the Full Moon, though, what’s happening at the Solstice itself?
Interesting transitions are happening.
The astrology so far this year has featured lots of planets moving through the same sign at the same time, in a way that’s not typical.
Remember the April 8 Solar Eclipse? That chart had more Aries in it than I’ve ever seen in one place. Then planets moved together into Taurus. (Do we call a group of Taurus planets a herd?) The same with Gemini, creating a blooming, buzzing, creative space we’ve just emerged from.
At the Solstice, the Sun at 0º Cancer is accompanied by Mercury and Venus, who both entered Cancer on June 17.
The shift from Gemini into Cancer moves us out of a bright, clever, tricksy, heady, space into one in which emotions run deep and nurturing those most important to us is primary.
Gemini asks, is this fun? Is it interesting? Is it different?
Cancer asks, are we safe? Do we have enough? Who needs a hug?
This year, the transition is marked by a square to Neptune, currently at the very very end of Pisces. Mercury, Venus, and the Sun each squared Neptune as they entered the final degree of Gemini. By degree, the Sun remains in that square at the Solstice and the Full Moon.
Squaring Neptune calls into question all the ideas and information that burst forth in Gemini.
Neptune in Pisces asks, is this real? Can we trust it? We may find ourselves questioning decisions we’ve made, wondering if it’s really the best way.
The Solstice Moon is in mid Sagittarius, moving to square Saturn, also in Pisces. This is an interesting and fruitful place for the Moon to be.
The Moon is strong in the second decan of Sagittarius. Here we encounter forces, pulling us in different directions, and look for the focus and determination to stay the course. This is exactly what we need as we navigate the transition from Gemini to Cancer.
This Moon is squaring Saturn.
The second decan of Pisces, where we find Saturn, is also a place of reconciling different levels of understanding. In Pisces, the disparity relates to the boundary between ordinary experience and the greater meanings and structures of life.
The aim in both decans is the same: To keep to our plan in the face of challenges.
The phrase I’m using for this Solstice is “Finding Meaning,” something Sagittarius loves to do. As we shift from mutable Air into cardinal Water, what key goals will we hang on to as the energy around us changes? What are our core principles?
At the Full Moon, we find the Moon at 01º07’ Capricorn. Instead of squaring Saturn, the Moon is now ruled by Saturn.
Neptune remains important. At 29º54’ Pisces, Neptune is out of sign, but still within a degree of squaring the Sun and Moon.
We remain in a space of needing to reconcile differences. But now, the Moon is in the very practical sign of cardinal Earth.
At the beginning of Capricorn, we’ve left behind the questing, philosophical mind of Sagittarius to enter the body. We need to deal with physical reality now, make sense of it, work with it.
Again, an interesting and useful place for the Moon to be.
We’re making a transition from Mind to Heart. We need to get real about that.
On the world stage, the Neptune square at the Gemini–Cancer transition might show up as misinformation and confusion. Our over-saturated media world can make it almost impossible to know what’s actually true.
For us individually, we have the opportunity to consider Gemini’s ideas, questions, plans, and goals in light of what the heart needs.
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Modern civilization tends to favor logic. There’s a whole belief system structured around the idea that facts are primary, rules are necessary, and feelings are just messy.
In fact (and this really is a fact), we can’t remember anything we don’t have feelings about. The heart-mind connection is also factually real.
What if the Neptune square, for us personally, is asking this exact question?
Neptune might say, “So, you have all these bright new ideas, but how to they feel?” Or, “This looks like a nifty plan, but is it equitable? Will the costs of putting this into place be shared fairly?” Or, “Have you talked to everyone involved? How do they feel?”
We will experience our own feelings, of course, at this Solstice and Full Moon. The Capricorn Moon can help us stay grounded in our bodies if emotions start feeling too intense.
In Cancer, though, we’re not acting alone. We’re acutely aware of the people we care about, how they feel, and what they need. We want our core group to be safe, well cared for, healthy, and happy.
Perhaps we do that not by setting aside the bright, clever ideas we had with Gemini, but rather testing them against what the heart knows, and what the heart needs.
Mercury in Cancer is helpful here, bringing the capacity to transcribe emotion into language, which includes music and images as well as words.
Venus in Cancer brings emotions into art, collaborating with Mercury to create beauty in forms we can appreciate and enjoy.
Mars in Taurus offers a boost with a tight sextile to Mercury, one that Venus and the Sun will move into in the coming days. This connection enhances the practical message of the Capricorn Moon, while adding Mars’ ability to accomplish goals.
At this Full Moon, with a practical Capricorn Moon opposing the Sun, Venus, and Mercury in Cancer, in the presence of a Neptune square and a Mars sextile, we’re invited into a space where we can get things done in a way that balances and integrates head and heart.
