The Full Moon in July is traditionally called the Buck Moon because this is the time of the year when male deer grow antlers. On July 10 at 1:37 p.m. Pacific time, the Moon will reach its full phase at 18 degrees, 50 minutes of Capricorn, with the Sun at 18 degrees, 50 minutes of Cancer.
At a Full Moon, Sun and Moon, the two “lights,” face each other at exactly opposite points in the sky, enabling the Moon to fully reflect the light of the Sun. Astrology is the study of the symbolism of astronomical cycles, between the Sun and Moon and with all the planets. A Full Moon illuminates themes of tension and complementariness between two opposite signs. It is said that opposites attract.
Cancer is the cardinal water sign, and Capricorn is the cardinal earth sign. As a pair, they represent care and responsibility. Cancer’s modus operandi is to seek and maintain safety. Capricorn’s drive is to work hard and build something that lasts.
On the wheel of the zodiac, Cancer and Capricorn also represent stages of life. Cancer, the fourth sign on the wheel, is like a young child forming their own identity. Capricorn, the tenth sign, is like an elder, moving self-reliantly out in public realms.
The chart, or map, for the July 10 Full Moon displays the inherent beauty and harmony of heavenly spheres. The Sun and Moon are making aspects called sextiles and trines with the Moon’s nodes, those invisible points in the sky where the Moon’s path intersects with the Earth’s path around the Sun. The geometry of these aspects forms something called a mystic rectangle, lending an unusual degree of balance to this particular July 10 Full Moon time.
The Moon in Capricorn is “ruled,” or guided, by Saturn, the planet symbolizing processes of growth toward maturity, including pit falls and hard lessons learned. Saturn has a 29.5-year orbit around the Sun, meaning that for everyone, Saturn “returns” to its natal position when we’re in our late 20s, late 50s, and late 80s. These Saturn returns mark turning points in life, time to grow, which necessitates leaving something behind.
Recently, Saturn entered Aries where it’s in a conjunction with Neptune. Aries is a style of fast-moving action. While traveling through the sign of Aries, it’s as if Saturn’s on a mission to accomplish something strong that will last.
Saturn goes through periods of retrograde motion every year, for about four and a half months, as it will do this year from July 12 until November 27. When Saturn appears to be moving backward, from Earth’s perspective, it’s a good time to take stock of one’s responsibilities and goals. Are our actions mature and wise, or does something need to be adjusted?
While Saturn is in Aries, we look to our own natal charts for the house or houses where Aries resides. The Aries house(s) in one’s chart, with Saturn moving and back and forth there over the next couple of years, are areas up for reviewing commitments and goals, and where one will find challenges and opportunities for growth. (In my own chart, Aries occupies the Eighth House, a house of many topics, including marital commitments, and the occult, an intriguing mix.)
Astrologically, the plot is always thickening, because no planetary transit occurs in isolation. While Saturn is moving through Aries, Jupiter is making a year-long transit through Cancer. Jupiter (expansion) and Saturn (limits) have been forming tense squares with each other off and on. It’s like having one foot on the gas and one foot on the brakes, with a focus on defining one’s life purpose (Jupiter) and places to call home (Cancer).
Meanwhile, Mercury, which travels close to the Sun, is currently in Leo. Mercury is about to enter one of its thrice yearly retrograde periods, from July 17 to August 11. This will be an optimal time to review and revise one’s habits of thought, speech, and creative networking.
On July 9, just before the Full Moon, Uranus will shift into the mutable air sign of Gemini, for about the next seven years. Uranus is a force of disruptions and breakthroughs. It will form a facilitating trine aspect with Pluto, the power player, now in early degrees of Aquarius. To say that we’re in for shocking events would be an obvious understatement.
This makes the July 10 Full Moon, with its Capricornian and Cancerian themes of responsibility and nurturance, a kind of way-station, a respite, amidst what otherwise promises to be a long spate of tension and uncertainty.
Blessings for the Capricorn Full Moon!
~ Sara
Sara R. Diamond, an astrologer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is a life-long student and practitioner in several esoteric paths. Her style of astrology combines modern-psychological astrology with insights from traditional astrology. Sara is also an estate planning attorney. In addition, she has published four books on right-wing movements in the United States and earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. You are invited to contact Sara via her website at www.SaraDiamondAstrology.com.
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