Jan 17 Full Moon in sidereal Cancer, Pushya nakshatra: Drop the Drama

Full Moon in sidereal Cancer, Pushya nakshatra: Drop the Drama (Jan 17 at 18:47 eastern time)

Pushya is the original Big Mama Matriarch in the sky. She’s kind and wise but firm. She knows how to support you and will do so freely, but she doesn’t have patience for whining and wallowing, or for when we hold on with a white knuckle grip to unhealthy attachments. She’s the one who will hug you and let you cry until she says: “ok that’s enough. Time to blow your nose, wash your face, look at what you’ve learned and start moving forward.” She’s a tough cookie, but she’ll make sure you’re solid in yourself even if getting there feels hard or like you have to lose something in the process. And, since she’s what’s coming up prominently in the sky with the Full Moon on Jan 17, her ways of being are apparently what we need now.

With this Full Moon energetic around releasing unhealthy attachments, Mercury retrograde asking us to carefully and mindfully regroup, and Venus retrograde encouraging us to reimagine our ideals and interactions in our relationships, our creative expression and our habits, this is a powerful time for resetting intentions around who we are, how we want to connect, and how we plan to move through the world over the next quarter. What’s nice is the planets are all giving us time and a similar nudge to ground after a good sorting through.

Meanwhile Mars has been in the “‘gandanta’ tied knot” degrees the last week and into next, moving from Scorpio and into Sagittarius. Gandanta times are when a planet bridges a water to fire sign, when emotions and depth of feeling bubble up in order for us to take action towards change. It’s a deeply personal/internal time when we might struggle to unhook ourselves from old ways of being. (See a theme here?) If we can push through the resistance felt in a gandanta time and unravel the knot, then we can have a new level of moksha, of internal freedom and peace. If not, then the knot only gets tighter.

In the external world, which often shows us the underbelly of the planetary connections we are experiencing, gandanta times can manifest as fires and floods. This can be devastating especially if many planets are in these special bridging degrees. Thankfully, only Mars is gandanta right now… but it is with Ketu, the dissolving South Node of the Moon, which can be feel like a wave crashing against the shore, unapologetically destroying the sandcastle that was lovingly built. Ketu reminds us of our past life karmas, often times boldly and unexpectedly bringing them up for us to face. Helping us recognize them and when they are complete is Ketu’s strength, even though it can be incredibly challenging and bittersweet.

Through all of these planetary connections, we have support to focus intently on our foundation. It’s important to remember the planets are always preparing us for what’s next. Knowing March and April bring major changes with the Nodes of the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn, we have time now to get “swastha” - seated in the Self. These upcoming shifts will be supportive and more positive overall, but as we know too well, any kind of change can be destabilizing for some. Take good care of yourself and your loved one now so the roots within are strong.