Year 2023 ends with a Cancer Full Moon!

Last Lunation of 2023: A Bright and Cold Full Moon

by Jude Cowell, partisan for democracy

The final lunation of 2023 is the Cancer Full Moon of December 26, 2023 @4Can58:11 with both Moon and Mars out-of-bounds of the Earthly plane. If you're familiar with the planets on July 4, 1776, you know that this lunation falls within America's Cancer trio of planets: Venus, Jupiter, and Sun (3--14 Cancer). Therefore, with money planets Venus and Jupiter in the spotlight, a culmination of some kind in relation to financial matters may be involved. Perhaps a diplomatic help will be generous Jupiter, not as strong as it could be due to retrogradation, yet in money sign Taurus, is acting as a Thales Planet for the Sun-Moon oposition, aka, a saving grace.

Then thankfully, Jupiter turns Direct on December 30, 2023 @5Tau34:51 at 9:40:15 pm EST, and will pick up steam as the Great Benefic moseys on through January 2024, reaching 7Tau10 at month's end. Notably, transit Jupiter enters Mercury-ruled Gemini the last week of May 2024, a cosmic signal for change.

Now the December 2023 Full Moon times the culmination phase issuing from the New Moon of December 12, 2023 @20Sag40; in between comes the Quarter Moon of December 19, 2023 @27Pisces conjunct the gaslighting planet of fraud and deception, Neptune, influential in its own sign of Pisces. Also notable is that Venu$ @26Sco34 in 4th house (Real Estate; Domestic Scene; Mining) leads all the Full Moon planets as the engine of a Locomotive shape, determined on success.

Now here's the DC Horoscope of the December 26, 2023 Full Moon with quite a few of my study notes squooshed upon it:

In general, Cancer Full Moons tend to activate emotional extremes and overblown reactions, patriotism, nationalism, tribalism, and may also highlight criminal activities. But on a more positive level, the sign of Cancer relates to family matters, openly expressed feelings of sensitivity, imagination, publicity, and genealogical interests.

December 2020 Government Shutdown Timed by a Full Moon?

December 29, 2020 Full Moon in Cancer: Trump Fears Losing the Dream

by Jude Cowell

As you've undoubtedly heard, the quixotic Mr. Trump may cantankerously decide to gift the American people with a partial Christmas Government Shutdown 2020 laced with his unique brand of sour-puss politics over the omnibus Covid-relief-and-government-funding bill he'd hinted all along that he would sign.

Instead, he has balked. And has basically ruined Christmas in America by abusing his power.

Meanwhile, the House, to be called briefly back into session by Speaker Pelosi on Monday (12/28/20), will vote in an override attempt to bypass Trump's massive objection and if that effort is successful, the Senate could vote to override Mr. Whimsical's bulky recalcitrance on Tuesday (12/29/20), the day of a Full Moon @8Can53 (10:28 pm est; see horoscope in linked post, above). Now as you know, Full Moons signify a culmination stage of activities, perhaps a fulfillment of plans seeded at the previous New Moon (or before) and in this case, that would be the New Moon @23Sag08 - in other words, the difficult 4 South Solar Eclipse of December 14, 2020 (which hit Inauguration 2017's 8th house Saturn, karmic planet of authority and accountability). So we find that 4 South themes ('strong emotions over money and/or relationships; an urge to suddenly end relationships' - Brady) are intimately involved in Trump's balking posture which may be appreciated via the 4 South Eclipse conjuncting his natal Sun-NN opposing Moon-SN across the mutable, changeable Gemini-Sagittarius polarity where truth and ethics matter.

Add to this the fact that December 14, 2020 was the day of the Electoral College Vote which didn't go his way and so We The People are being made to suffer under a cluster of cosmic and earthly factors now burrowing under the vengeful skin of his royal Balkiness, with his natal Leo Mars always opposing US natal Moon in Aquarius.

Significantly, all the year-end financial fuss is rather closely timed by the December 29th Full Moon which, as the Cosmos would have it, shines its bright rays revealingly upon the natal Mercury of Donald Trump (@8Can51 - only a two-minute orb!). And where his natal Mercury goes, along must trail his fantasy-spinning, error-prone Mercury-Neptune square.

Now as you know, astrological Mercury's many roles in the realms of Commerce include trading, negotiating, and making deals, and who can forget that Mr. Trump is well known for considering himself an expert in the making of them. However, in our time of crisis, we find that Despite His Boasts, Trump Again Is No Deal-Maker as Congress Seeks Pandemic Relief Bill yet the "brooding lame duck" seems to pride himself on his late-comer status in the year-end legislative process as he throws his typical monkey wrench into the works from the sandtraps of his luxurious Florida golf course.

While US taxpayers once again foot the bill for Herr Spanky's Christmas vacation, no matter how bad-tempered it turns out to be.

For a peek into January 2021, you may wish to see 117th Congress Opens.

NASA image above: Mercury

December 2020 Full Moon: Fear of Losing the Dream

Year 2020 Ends with a Cancer Full Moon: Trump's Mercury on Full Display

by Jude Cowell

On December 29, 2020 at 10:28:04 pm est comes a Full Moon @8Can55. The following Full Moon horoscope is set for Washington DC as representative of the United States of America, and the natal planets of Donald Trump are penned around the chart and are highlighted in pink. As you see, the Cancer Full Moon spotlights the natal Mercury of Mr. Trump which necessarily brings in his natal Mercury-Neptune square of deception, misperception, fantasy, loose lips and indiscretion. And as Alan Oken terms this square, The Sneaky Mind:

Please enlarge the image to read my study notes if you wish.

The December 2020 Full Moon falls across the 4/10 house polarity of Career/Public Status vs Home/Security; Hour of Venus; Moon and Mercury are out-of-bounds of the earthly plane, off on their own; Mercury@14Cap42 4th house is chart-ruler but makes no applying aspects so its sign and house position are significant.

The Solar Eclipse Saros Series is the difficult 4 South @23Sag08 (in Full Moon's 4th h in DC) with its themes of strong emotions over money and relationships; the desire to suddenly end relationships; a sense of fate is attached or partnerships (paraphrasing Brady's Predictive Astrology #ad). As you know, the Total 4 South Solar Eclipse manifests on December 14th, the day the Electoral College is set to vote, and it 'eclipses' the 8th house Saturn (authority) in the Inauguration 2017 chart. It is also the Prenatal Eclipse of Inauguration 2021 with the combustible Mars-Uranus Conjunction energies added to Inauguration Day 2021.

So besides occurring during a Venus Hour, the Full Moon horoscope shows Venus @18Sag05 conjunct IC (Endings; Foundation; Homeland; Domestic Scene) of the chart with an interesting Sabian Symbol considering current conditions: "19Sag": "Pelicans, Disturbed by People, Move Their Habitat" (penned on chart, lower right.) Also of note is that Venus leads the rest of the planets bwo a Locomotive shape of ruthless determination toward success. In the sign of 'the foreigner', can this Venus represent Melania leaving the scene? Plus, planet Mercury, also in 4th house, relates to relocation and change of residence (and perhaps to Barron). And as you see, dissolving, disappointing Neptune conjunct the Partnership Angle (Descendant) relates to relationship issues, plus, in Pisces to the ongoing pandemic.

Well, we know that moving should be going on. But is it? At some point, it must! I can't imagine Biden and Trump bunking together, can you? Besides, who doesn't think that Trump will be much more comfortable lounging around Mar-a-Lago and gorging on beautiful chocolate cake?

Meanwhile, we know that Full Moons can affect events much as Uranian Lunar Eclipses do: uncovering inconvenient facts, making unconscious material conscious, disrupting the proceedings, and/or stirring up scandals. If you haven't, check out a previous post concerning the natal Mercury of Donald Trump, linked below. His Mercury's Sabian Symbol is penned on the chart, upper center, highlighted in pink ("9 Cancer": "--a tiny nude miss").

So in closing, why is this post about the "fear of losing the dream"? My suspicion is that this describes on some level the mindset of Mr. Trump these days but of course we must wait and see how events during the rest of November and December 2020 turn out for him and for our nation. Yes, his Mercury-Neptune square does like to dream on a wildly fantastic level, with reality and truth forced to conform to his ideas and plans (he thinks).

So astrologically, the chart contains these potentials: Venus-Neptune = Jupiter: 'keeping up a good front''; and Venus-Neptune = Saturn: 'fear of losing the dream' (Tyl). And Trump is a discontented Venus-Saturn type of guy who never met a lie he couldn't tell (how Neptunian).

Yet for Americans such as myself, the fear is more about how Trump will react to the rejection and eviction notice ("you're fired!") he received on November 3rd. My dream is that he'll move his bulk out of President-Elect Joe Biden's way thus managing to give new meaning to the phrase, The lights are on but nobody's home.

Related posts include: November 30, 2020 Horoscope: The Gemini Lunar Eclipse; The natal Mercury of Donald Trump; and The First Lunation of 2021: a Capricorn New Moon.

115th Congress to Reconvene January 3, 2018

December 13, 2017: The US Congress has released its 2018 calendar according to Roll Call for those who are curious. Members of the 115th Congress are expected to reconvene for a second session on January 3, 2018, a typical date for this event. How do I know this date is typical? Because as a child I got the impression that they reconvened for little me whose birthday is on January 3rd! And yes, this Sun-Mercury-Mars-Jupiter Capricorn paid attention to Politics, even then, as did my parents.

Now many breaks are on the 2018 congressional schedule so you might wish to take a look and marvel. For example, summer recess on Capitol Hill begins July 27th, and they'll take one full month off starting October 13, 2018, just so you know. Of course, one 'biggie' event right off the bat will be the swearing in of the new Senator from Alabama and at this point in time it looks to be Democrat Doug Jones. Will Republican senate leadership balk at scheduling the oath-taking of a Democrat from Alabama? Hopefully, they'll act like big boys and do the correct thing but as you know, that's not a certainty we can depend on these days. Still, a huge sigh of relief must have escaped Mitch McConnell when Alabama's Roy Moore lost the Special Election last evening with all that controversial baggage of his!

Note that PBS NewsHour has posted a video of Doug Jones's remarks after his victory--and he sounds so reasonable and well-informed!

As for astrological conditions on January 3, 2018 which will cosmically imprint upon the 115th's second session, its members and political events in the US until January 2019, let's take a quick peek at a noon horoscope, a time of day that gives the Codgers of Congress enough of a chance to mosey their patooties into their seats.

January 3, 2018's Sun @13Cap16 is sandwiched between lady Venus (11:55) and wealthy saboteur Pluto (18:52) with the planetary trio suggesting potentials for 'skills in demolition, acts of elimination, delight with eliminating ego or pride, and/or selfish acts involving sexual perversion' (Munkasey).

Oddly enough, sober Saturn @1Cap42 (the planet representing government, law, and business--and lawmakers) is unaspected which bodes ill for organizational abilities, the sense of duty, and concentration. Random influences can interfere with direction and goals of this Saturn and a lack of motivation to take control of one's ungrounded behavior may be evident along with timing and scheduling issues.

Meanwhile, Mars and Jupiter in sexy Scorpio announce their upcoming conjunction, exact on January 6, 2018 @17Sco55. Plus, light remains from the very recent New Year's Day 2018 Full Moon @11Can37 (DC horoscope shown) which glows along with January 3rd Venus now conjoining the 2018 lunation with its phase of fulfillment, culmination, awareness, and relationship. Unsurprisingly, women and women's issues are favored on January 3, 2018 and during the second session--for one thing, this shows in the Sun Cap-Moon Leo blend of the day. But so do snobbery, strong wills, and purposeful ambition--not that those last two are necessarily negatives in Politics.

Additionally, Earth-Fire blends can denote 'the bulldozer' and its Saturnian-Solar energies display a distinct need for power. But I guess we don't need Astrology to tell us that about the plucky folk who climb their way up the political ladder onto Capitol Hill and like to 'lord it over' the rest of us!

For more Sun-Moon blend info, please see Sun Sign-Moon Sign by Charles and Suzi Harvey.

Jan 12, 2017: C-SPAN Hacked By Russia? - video (w Mercury-Pluto)

Well, it seems the Full Wolf Moon @22Cancer on the morning of January 12, 2017 brought interruptions of an unusual variety to Capitol Hill confirmation hearings though I had thought its orb of 2+ degrees from US natal Mercury Rx (which brings along its opposition to powerful saboteur Pluto in Capricorn) was perhaps too wide to cause much trouble in Washington. Apparently I was wrong as you'll see in this brief discussion:

Raw Story has more details.

Christmas Day 2015 Full Moon and a "Double" Ancestor Horoscope

On December 25, 2015 a Full Moon perfects at 6:11:27 am EST @3Can19 conjunct US natal Venus. As US History and the Cosmos would have it, this lunar position is the Syzygy Moon degree (last lunation prior to birth) of an ancestor of mine--a "double" ancestor thanks to his having two wives each with offspring who descend to my paternal and maternal side--because he was born Christmas Day 1776. Here's a noon chart for my "double" 4th-great-grandfather David Barnett (birth hour unknown) who was born in Christiansburg, Virginia and this "double" circumstance, I suppose, makes me my own cousin:

The KITE I'm not actually counting since his birth time is set specualtively for 'noon' but there is an Air Grand Trine pattern between Uranus, Mars, and Venus which denotes one who prefers a mental ivory tower, may have been somewhat detached or aloof, was charismatic, popular, idealistic, attracted friends and cooperation, and was a talented communicator (Tierney.) Of course, the protective nature of a Grand Trine was present. Success is indicated by a Locomotive shape with revolutionary Uranus as lead engine (and this is, of course, near America's natal Uranus degree.) Highlighted in yellow is David's Pre-Natal Eclipse Series, the 13 North which manifested on August 14, 1776 with the completed signing of the Declaration of Independence occurring on August 2--within two weeks of the eclipse ('breaking of an existing bond which leads to joint achievement'--paraphrasing B. Brady.)

Another curiosity of the 1776 and 2015 charts is that the December 25, 2015 Full Moon horoscope shows Jupiter and North Node near one another in transit (22Vir56 and 25Vir35--in 9th house in the Washington DC chart) and on David Barnett's day of birth Jupiter was exalted in Cancer (22:12 Rx) with North Node (NN) @27Can15 nearby--obviously Jupiter an dPluto were inprocess of opposing one another, a time of contest of wills and dealing with issues of power, control, and money. We already discussed the three times that Jupiter and North Node conjoin in 2016 and the possibilities. Additionally, Mercury in Capricorn and Mars in Libra are square one another in both charts (1776 vs 2015) though at different degrees; this square denotes creativity but also judgmentalism.

Now if you enlarge the chart you'll see David's Pluto-South-Node conjunction which I've marked as "Revolutionary times" for the pair denote war, violence, and massive disruptions in society. This is America's natal Pluto position, of course, but the SN is closer to Pluto here than in our natal chart with SN in Aquarius (July 1776.)

And in spite of all the current 'wars and rumors of war' going on and threatening to ramp up into global revolution, we must look to Spring 2019 to find another transiting Pluto-SN conjunction of the power planet of sabotage, spies, and death and the South Node of the Moon, aka, the tail of the dragon.