Welcoming in the First Full Moon of 2022.
Welcome to the first full moon of 2022. Taking place tomorrow, the 17th of January at 23.48 in the UK I’m hoping that the gorgeous clear skies we’ve had recently continue so that we get a really good view of this beautiful full moon. This full moon is in Cancer, which is a cardinal water sign and we've got the sun in Capricorn, which is a cardinal earth sign. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn and Saturn is traditionally known as the worker planet. Cancer is ruled by the moon, so we've got the moon in its home sign here. Cancer is a very emotional sign, all about home and family, they like their home to be welcoming and warm, but they are very sensitive, very emotional creatures. If you think about the sign of Cancer, it's a crab, they have this beautiful hard shell, but a really soft inner which means they can hold things in and they can present a hard shell to the world. So, in some cases, they're actually quite difficult to get to know. You have to get beneath the surface, to crack the shell or get underneath the shell and see what's really going on. And that’s true of this moon too, we need to get beneath the surface and see what’s really going on for us. Capricorn season is about putting the work in, planning, focusing on doing the inner as well as the outer work to manifest those goals or ambitions that you've got.
Full Moon Names.
My previous blogs haven’t really touched on why Full Moons have names and this one has some lovely names. Historically in Europe we only named the full moons in September and October, a Harvest Moon and a Hunter's Moon, but traditionally, particularly the Native American tribes gave each moon a name. This name was for the whole month, not just for the moon. The January Full Moon is traditionally known as a Wolf Moon but can also be known as a Cold Moon or a Hard Moon or a Snow Moon. Presumably it was given the name Wolf Moon because that's the time when you hear wolves howling maybe because they're hungry, or simply because the sound is clearer without much other noise around. Maybe it's because it's darker and sound travels or seems to travel more when it's dark. Celtic mythology considers that the lone wolf is infused with lunar power and Wolf is very much associated with the moon. Both the lone Wolf and the Moon can reveal insights and knowledge that has been hidden away.
When we look at the symbology of wolves, they traditionally live in a pack, they're very protective of their more elderly wolves or the more sick or young ones, and Cancer as a sign is known for its love of home and its home comfort. So maybe one of the things we can look at with this moon is to ask ourselves is it time to reach out to members of our family that we've been estranged from, or haven't been in touch with, or have had little contact with, or even been unable to be in touch with, are unable to see. Is it time to reconnect with those people that you haven't seen, or that there's been a distance between? Where have we lost touch with our pack?
Cancer is an emotional and sensitive sign. They're very intuitive. As a Cardinal water sign ruled by the Moon it’s a case of still waters run deep. You can have wonderful deep conversations with a Cancerian once you've got to know them and they let you in.
Capricorns can come across as quite cold, rather distant, they keep their emotions hidden, but they very much feel things. Whereas Cancers let all the emotions out. When you consider this, we have a real balance between the two, a sign that keeps emotions hidden, that doesn't reveal as much and a sign that lets everything out and reveals it and doesn't shy away from emotions. When we consider what this means, balancing those two, it's about being open and honest about what you're feeling. Not about being dramatic or making a great big deal about things. Remember, this is a practical Virgo speaking to you, I'm never going to make a big deal out of things emotionally. But it's about being open, honest and true about what you're feeling, and allowing other people to know what you're feeling. And this can be a really, really powerful thing to do. Allowing yourself to be raw about what you're feeling. being open to expressing deep feelings is powerful for you to do, but it's also powerful for people to hear. Sometimes, if you're willing to express what you're feeling, it opens the door, it lets other people reciprocate and to be vulnerable in return, to express things that maybe they've held in or been afraid of discussing. Think about where you may have hidden away your true feelings now. And we've also got to look at relationships here. As I mentioned, Cancer is a home bird, they love to make a warm, welcoming, comfortable home, they like their home to be somewhere that is safe and secure that they can retreat into. Whereas Capricorns, when we talk about relationships, that earth sign, that practicality it’s more about security when looking at long term relationships, things like loyalty really matter. Questions to ponder are:
What makes a home a home for you?
Who do you need around you?
What do you need around you to make your home a place that you can retreat from, your area of safety of security?
Your home is your retreat, it's somewhere that you go to retreat from the world, what makes it that for you? Combined with Full Moon forgiveness rituals because we're working with Capricorn and Cancer energies here, is to look at a unity of heart and mind, to look at releasing under this Full Moon from a place where you really are truly willing to forgive, and you're calm and serene, accepting of the fact that you need to release that and forgive that now.
Planetary Aspects
Now, let's have a quick look at the planets this month. We've got Pluto in Capricorn opposing the Full Moon, which means that you might find that there are some real mood swings going on, it might even be quite a volatile period depending on your individual chart and where you've got planets activated and also our own personal triggers. Mixed in with this is the opportunity for some amazing shifts, some sudden releasing of things. You might find that suddenly out of the blue you get this overwhelming need to release something that you've been holding on to so that you can let the new in. We’re here in a new year, in a new energy, we've moved from a five year of instability, change and growth, and we're into a six year which is about healing, doing the inner work asking us to be adults, about accepting responsibility and taking responsibility. Thankfully, both the numerology and the astrology of this year are signifying a lighter energy, a better year where things turn around again. Astrologically that's largely down to Jupiter, but that overriding theme that I’ve been talking about since December regarding our values, of finding what's important to us, what matters to us, and remaining loyal to those values and continues all the way through 2022. And that's no different under this Full Moon. One key thing to do is to notice what triggers you, notice what happens as the full moon energy starts to build in the 24 hours previous to it, and remember it continues through the following 24 hours as well giving us around three days of working with full moon energy. When you look at what triggers you, as well as dealing with the emotions that it brings up, you need to consider if it’s asking you whether you need stronger boundaries in a relationship, or stronger boundaries in the situation. Or actually, if you need boundaries in there at all. Sometimes we don't even have boundaries with certain people. And this might be pointing out that you do need some boundaries in place, or is it something that has been brought to your attention because it's something that you need to release, and therefore make way for something new to come in?
When we work with energy every time we let something go, we're opening the door to something new coming in. Our energy moves, it flows, it changes. Every time we accept that things need to change, we're accepting that we open to something new. Therefore, if something does show up for you, if something comes up out of the blue, what is it showing you? I guess the questions to ask yourself if you're going to do your full moon rituals are:
What is it telling you?
What is it asking from you?
And how can you best work with it?
Do you need to release it?
Do you need to forgive something?
Do you need to acknowledge and accept something?
Where are you not expressing yourself?
Where are you holding back and not speaking your truth?
What emotions do you need to acknowledge?
Where do you need stronger boundaries?
What makes a home a home to you?
Which relationships in your life need some love?
Where are you feeling restricted?
We've still got Venus retrograde until the end of this month on the 29th. Mercury is retrograde still and we've still got Jupiter in Pisces. So, there's a bit of planetary action going on around us. Once you've done your Forgiveness Ritual, do your gratitude one as well. (If you need a recap on this have a gander at my December blog and it's all laid out for you there). Mercury Retrograde can bring up feelings of restriction - is that triggering for you? And how can you allow more expansion into your life? When we look at feeling restricted or tied down or limited it’s a good exercise to look at why you're feeling those feelings. What is the situation/ the circumstance/ the relationship that's making you feel restricted, that's making you feel tied down? What is it triggering in you that it's asking you to look at, it's asking you to work through? And it's asking you to allow in, by working through more freedom, more expansion, and therefore more growth. How can you allow more expansion into your life by looking at why you're feeling restricted?
Lunar Crystal Grids
One of the things that I like to do when working Moon Cycles is to make a crystal grid. I use the crystals that work with that particular Moon energy to facilitate what it is that I'm releasing or forgiving. You can make Lunar Water with crystals that work specifically with that moon too which is a gorgeous thing to do. The crystals that I've chosen to work with for this particular full moon are:
Moonstone is the stone of working with Moon energies. It's feminine, it's intuitive, it's about our connection to the moon, it's our connection to the divine, it's our connection to our higher selves.
Smoky Quartz are wonderful stones for cleansing, purifying and grounding. They remove negativity and they're also emotionally calming. So, they're a great stone to have during what can be quite an emotional time. As Full Moons can bring all sorts of emotions to the surface to be dealt with it’s good to have some support and stability.
Rose Quartz. I'm also using stones for the heart because we need to look at relationships in this full moon. Rose Quartz is traditionally used for heart healing for relationships, for love, for compassion for forgiveness.
Garnets which are even stronger for working with love and relationships. They're a really strong Heart stone but they're also good, not just for attracting love, but for also for manifesting. So, they're good to work with on manifesting a relationship if that's what you're looking for. Ideal for attracting in the right kind of love, or a love that's going to work for you, and going to bring you growth and bring you what we all want from a relationship which is a true spiritual connection.
I'm also sticking in Onyx; onyx is a protective stone. But they're also good at helping us to move forwards in life, they help to push us forward through things and they bring in focus and willpower as well. So, if you're wavering a bit on some of the work that you need to do, then an onyx is a really good stone for helping you to keep that focus and that willpower. We're in Capricorn season, you need to do the work. If you can bring something in that's going to help you do the work, then why not?
And then lastly, a Cavensite. If you've never seen a cavensite it's absolutely gorgeous, it's the most intense blue to turquoise colour. It's a tiny, tiny little stone that normally comes up with other stones and it's a volcanic stone. It's the stone of inner truth. The stone of insight, but again it's also an emotionally soothing stone. It can help you to bring up that inner truth, acknowledge those insights that are coming through, to acknowledge them, to accept them, to work with them. But it will bring you that emotionally soothing part that you need to.
These tools all help to support you with your forgiveness rituals, releasing or gratitude work, they all help you to move forward, they all help us to personally develop. Even that simple thing of working on a releasing exercise on a monthly basis is hugely beneficial, even if you don't want to know about the astrology, or don't want to use crystals, essential oils, smudging or incense or all the other beautiful things that we can use during these rituals. If you just want that simple connection of working with a Forgiveness Ritual, it's a great thing to do on a monthly basis to clear out any old emotional debris. And you can go back as far as you want it to go.
Enjoy this Full Moon and I hope you get to see this full moon, let the moonlight flood over you and through you know, let it work with you. We're all made of water. The moon is a water element too, connecting in with that water and that emotion is a beautiful thing to do. Please feel free to share with me your images of your crystal grids or your Lunar water, or just some rituals that you've done. Let’s connect and inspire each other