Full Moon in Cancer x Mercury Retrograde. 1.6.23.
Happy Full Moon in Cancer, beautiful souls!
And happy new year too! I hope you’re all taking good care of yourselves and giving your body some extra love in this Full Moon in Cancer week that marks the the first lunation of 2023.
While all Full Moons serve as moments to check in on our growth and progress in the areas of life represented by the signs of the zodiac in which they fall (and the houses, for folks who work with their charts at that level of detail)— tonight’s Full Moon in Cancer is speaking to me as an extra loud invitation for reflection, introspection, and review.
That’s because tonight’s Full Moon in Cancer is taking place right opposite a still-very-retrograde Mercury. And while Mercury retrogrades are best known for screwing up communications and all things technological (which, in fairness, they generally do!)—-I like to work with the three to four Mercury retrograde stretches we get each year as opportunities for getting deeeeeep into observer mode, with the winged messenger’s energy turned inward, dialing up our capacity to observe ourselves. . . and especially our minds.
And with the sign of Cancer associated with nurturing and intuition, among other things—-and ruled by the Moon herself—I read this Full Moon in Cancer as an invitation to take stock of our self-care; how much we’ve been trusting and following our intuition; and how and where we fall out of alignment when we try to navigate life using logical/rational left brain reasoning instead of listening to and trusting our own internal GPS.
To that end. . . here, with love, I am sharing my thoughts on how to work with this Full Moon in Cancer opposite Mercury retrograde at its highest vibration—and the 6-card tarot spread I was inspired to craft this week to work with the energy.
I hope you find this helpful, and as with all horoscopes, take what resonates and leave the rest!
XOXO,
Rebecca
PS: On a personal note: As I write this installment of Practical Woo, I myself am in the process of learning to walk my own talk when it comes to living by the Moon in my day-to-day life. Luna’s wisdom is deep and constant. As she grows from New to Full and then wanes back to darkness and another New Moon every ~28 days, she reminds us that the exhale is every bit as important as the inhale. (For folks interested in learning more about what it looks like to live by the moon, give a shout and I’d be happy to recommend some resources :) <3)
PPS: With many of us in planning mode for 2023, with Mercury still retrograde until Jan. 18th, and Mars also still retrograde until January 12th, give yourself permission to take a bit of a slow start to the year, and to spend the stretch until the 18th in planning/review/ introspection mode, vs. feeling the need to do it all and throw yourself into external outward production mode just yet. Otherwise you’ll just need to come back and revisit! :) <3
How do I work with a Full Moon?
In astrology, Full Moons are the time for reflecting on and marking your growth in a particular area of life during the past six months. Just as New Moons are the time to set intentions, Full Moons are the time of harvest when we reap the seeds/intentions sown at the last New Moon in that zodiac sign. This makes Full Moons a great check-in moment for pausing, getting still (even briefly!), and assessing how far we've come (and how much further we might still have to go) in a particular area of life. So: the intentions we set back in June 2022 at the New Moon in Cancer are what we're reflecting back on with this Full Moon.
What does it mean for the Full Moon to be in Cancer?
Cancer is the sign of the nurturer. Ruled by Luna herself, Cancer is intimately connected with emotions, intuition, physical and emotional needs, self-care as well as caring for others, and mothering/maternal energy, among other things. And with this Full Moon taking place opposite Mercury retrograde (with the highest-vibration expression of Mercury retrograde being introspection)—I read this Full Moon as an opportunity for marking how we’re doing when it comes to caring for and mothering ourselves—and to what extent we’ve been listening to, trusting, and following our intuition.
Full Moon in Cancer tarot spread.
Here are the prompts for the 6-card tarot spread I crafted to work with the highest vibrations of this week’s Full Moon in Cancer in case you feel called to see where they take you as well. (As always, feel free to use any/all of them as journal prompts and skip the cards.)
Where is this Full Moon shining a light on my self-care routines (or lack thereof) and how well they’re serving me/what’s in need of an upgrade?
What practices have I been learning help me get out of my left brain, get into my body and tap into my own inner GPS?
How have I been learning to listen to my body as a source of intuitive wisdom over the past 6 months?
How have I been learning that listening to my intuition is critical to my self-care?
When and why do I override/ignore my body’s wisdom? What are the consequences when it comes to my wellness?
What are my blocks when it comes to trusting my intuition? What are the stories I tell myself about why I shouldn’t?
