The Dragon's Flight into the Cancer/Capricorn Axis

Illustration by Joy Ang from Tui Sutherland's 'Wings of Fire, Book 6: Moon Rising'

The Dragon’s Flight into the Cancer/Capricorn Axis

True Nodes in Cancer/Capricorn- 11-6-18

Mean Nodes in Cancer/Capricorn- 11-15-18

Tuesday, as voters were at the polls in the US, the Moon’s nodes shifted from our last lessons of the Leo/Aquarius plane to the lessons of Cancer/Capricorn. The Lunar nodes, in scientific terms, are the points where the orbit of the Moon crosses the ecliptic. The astrological implications of the lunar nodes are about karmic lessons, the relationship between the outmoded past and the creative future, and the necessary balance between what we’ve already learned and no longer need to focus on (The Dragon's Tail: South Node in Capricorn) and what we must learn now, however uncomfortable and uncharted the territory, for the growth of our souls (The Dragon's Head: North Node in Cancer).

Each of us has our own natal nodes and lessons, which are a significant part of the answer to the age-old questions, ‘Why am I here?’ and ‘What is my soul’s purpose?’ But the positions the Nodes are in at the present moment affect the collective soul’s growth of our entire global community…so while we are each having our own soul’s intentions directing us one way, those lessons are also being influenced on a global scale by the current position of the Nodes. Those who were born with North Node in Cancer will be having our Nodal Return during this transit (myself included), which happens approximately every 18-19 years. At these initiations, the soul work that arises brings us back to re-alignment with our soul’s path and offers us significant growth in our journey.

Previously, the Leo/Aquarius nodes formed an aspect pattern of four squares (called a Grand Cross) with Scorpio Venus Rx and Taurus Uranus Rx all in fixed signs. Venus Rx was the first to regress to a cardinal sign (Libra) at the beginning of the month, and now Uranus Rx (shifting back to Aries on the 6^th as well) and the Lunar Nodes are all back in cardinal signs. This is a significant shift that is in no way subtle: a Fixed Grand Cross transforming into a Cardinal Grand Cross. At the end of this month, as Venus moves direct and returns to the cross, she will strengthen the effects of this Cardinal Grand Cross before returning to Scorpio. This particular shift, where four corners activate the four elements as they change modes, brings our world from a holding pattern to an activation. It is interesting that the U.S. Midterm elections were held as the Nodes and Uranus Rx shifted...because that momentum was no doubt needed to shift the political sphere into a phase which will provide a wider range of perspective and more checks on the careless use of power.

And that’s one way that this nodal shift into the Cancer/Capricorn axis will arise. Care and support for people (with a strong empathy toward families and tribes in particular) is what we are collectively learning to initiate (Dragon’s Head in Cancer) while unchecked power and a past tendency to focus on being best and greatest, no matter who gets stepped on along the way, is what we’re on the path to eliminate now (Dragon’s Tail in Capricorn). North Node in Cancer puts the focus back on safety and security in a way that is very protective of familial bonds, tribal unity, and the strengthening of our roots. At the same time, South Node in Capricorn will show antiquated structures of power making some last grasps as they crumble to make way for new births from the womb of Cancer waters. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn and Cancer is ruled by Moon, so many of these last grasps will continue to center around a determination to control and restrict: female bodies, groups of people that do not follow traditional convention, and (in general) the feeling and intuitive nature of the human race. But what the U.S. political discussion may have been too narrowly focused on as a ‘Blue Wave’ set to hit in a war between political parties was actually much larger than that...that wave was really the waters of Cancer womb wisdom rising up to meet these failing structures of patriarchy with a formidable force of feminine principle. Global concern for the Mother (Earth) is top priority as we move through the next year and a half and make changes that reflect what we truly care about, standing up against any more destructive efforts. There is still much resistance to break through. As Ayanna Pressley, the first black congresswoman from Massachusetts, said ‘You know what breaks through concrete? Seismic shifts.’

While the South Node in Capricorn often brings up many of the lower expressions of this sign so that we can see what needs to be released, it is important to note that in doing so we are more able to honor the higher vibrational essence of Capricorn...which is the wisdom of solid structure that supports growth. What we have to release are the false structures built up around this energy overtime. This can include being overly ambitious at the expense of others, insensitivity, materialism, unnecessary restrictions placed upon society, rigidly holding on to the past as a means to control, calculated cruelty, and being unresponsive to the needs of others. It is in these lower vibrations of Capricorn where this sign can take on the reputation of being cold and heartless. This is not the essence of Capricorn (which is much more a pillar of strength such as the Council of Grandmothers), but the shadow of the patriarchy does hold tightly to this particular sign and now is the time to begin releasing that last desperate grasp to control what would serve to protect us and, especially, the younger generations being born to us now and in the future.

So the Cancer North Node upholds the kind of instinctual care and protection that is often apparent in the many mothers in charge of their young in our natural world. There is a fierce ‘Mother Bear’ quality to it, to honor one totem among many that teaches this kind of medicine. Connections to our mother figures (or nurturing parental figures in general) are strong during this transit. It is our feminine lineage, after all, that holds the evolutionary integrity of our human race and teaches us the bonds of blood. The power of this Cancer medicine is not just in its armor-like fierceness, but especially in its internal softness. The empathetic nature of this sign provides emotional acceptance and healing. The Capricorn South Node may feel like ‘hard times’ on repeat to some, where we are expected to keep it together and endure through lack and loss. Cancer North Node calls us into a motherly embrace and says ‘It’s okay to cry it out. You are loved.’

And it will take some getting used to, allowing our feeling nature to just feel. The South Node in Capricorn is what we know...it’s the real crutch, the collective addiction we’re facing. No matter how unhealthy it gets to depend on it, whatever it is for you, at least we’ve become familiar enough in that Capricorn shadow that we’ve become experts in navigating through it. The North Node in Cancer, familiar as Cancer energy really is, feels like unfamiliar and uncharted territory in these times. It is what will heal us of our collective addictions to that which depresses and oppresses us...but the vulnerability it requires can look quite scary to us if we’ve been bottling up our feelings for so long just to make it through the hardships of life.

For those of us born with this lunar node axis, the South Node in Capricorn is often the most apparent at first. We are those ‘old soul’ babies that also have that ‘thousand yard stare’ as if we’ve seen some horrors we’ve had to dissociate from but are here now to heal from them. Wise beyond our years from the start, yes, but in need of some compassionate care from those we are born to. And it’s so very difficult to understand what we really need to feel nurtured as we grow, because we were denied that need in our past...and often choose situations where that need isn’t immediately recognized either, or is flat-out denied. We may become unconsciously addicted to deprivation and lack...usually of belonging or love, but it can also manifest as lack in the material realm. Sometimes we will continue to live with lack, or we may overcompensate for it with a materialistic drive to succeed in this life. At some point, our soul learns how to better balance...and usually it is initiated by some fated encounter where, finally, we learn how to accept our emotional side and let love be our abundance.

My personal story, so far anyway, of being born with North Node in Cancer is not how it always plays out...but it is one thread that weaves into the larger theme. I’ll be having my 2^nd Nodal Return next year...so we’ll see what comes of the new lessons I’ll be learning. My ‘fated encounter’ that ushered in the deep soul healing of my Cancer North Node happened in my early 20s when I became pregnant with my first child, Alyrica Rayven. My whole world turned upside down. Prior to this, I had built up a good amount of armor around me to hide my softness within. I had learned, early on, that my softness was a weakness...and thought I had to stuff it all down to ‘grow up’. I didn’t allow myself to be completely vulnerable with anyone for many years as a teenager and young adult...and I adopted the tough love/’suck it up’ stance with anyone who gave a hint of not being in control of their own emotions around me. It wasn’t healthy (because it was denial of my true Self), and it led to other unhealthy behaviors to distract myself from my Self. Because I was ultimately afraid of allowing myself to feel anything, I was adamantly against ever getting married or having a child...I knew I didn’t love myself enough or take care of myself well enough for any of that. I just couldn’t fathom being ‘motherhood material’.

And then, SURPRISE! I’m pregnant. All the unknowns of what that Cancer womb energy had in store for me were terrifying and confusing. But somewhere within that pregnancy something clicked on in me that I never knew I had before. Because of a deep intuitive connection that began to grow with my daughter while she was still in the womb, I allowed myself to fully feel the whole of this experience. And though the newness and the unfamiliarity of the whole thing didn’t really subside until a couple years after Alyrica was born...I allowed myself to learn how deep my caring nature could go. Alyrica was my first experience of what I know now as true unconditional love...and she brought about so much within me that still remains and continues to grow. I realized from her how strong familial bonds can be, and how healing. She brought me to my roots and taught me how to care for them, as they are hers now too. She gave me a greater appreciation for my own parents, as well as for myself. And she broke down all the walls and opened my heart up to love so much that when the right person came into our life to be my partner, I knew it without a doubt...and I married him (and later had a son with him). Motherhood, family, roots, ancestors, and emotional healing has been an integral part of my life ever since.

The Cancer womb medicine I needed was quite literal for me (but also deeply soulful and spiritual). Not everyone with Cancer North Node experiences this soul growth through the initiation of parenthood, of course. But events and experiences do occur in some way to invite us to tap into the strength within our softness...the deep healing power inherent within our empathic and intuitive nature.

And now, as we enter into this Cancer/Capricorn axis again, imagine the kind of transformations that can occur across the world when others allow themselves to feel what they’ve been depriving themselves of feeling...the kind of experiences that form empathetic and familiar bonds with others: root healing, belonging, greater appreciation for their life and the lives of others, love as abundance. And imagine that as the ‘seismic shift’ that breaks through concrete.

When we connect to the Mother, to the wisdom within the womb...we can better appreciate the whole world as our family. When more of us can feel the whole world as our family, we are more inclined to preserve and protect our natural world as our home and roots.

To see in what areas of life this shift affects you personally, look to the houses in your natal chart where Cancer and Capricorn are. The last time the nodes were in this axis was between 2000 and 2001. Try to remember what was going on in your life at that time to get an idea of what is to come now, after maturing since then. Astrology follows patterns, and recognizing those patterns can help you to work with the energies when they come around again.

Here are some ideas on how to make the best of this transit: allow your emotions to wash over you and heal, accept sensitivity as strength, trust your intuition, nurture and tend to those you love, nurture and tend to yourself, do some nesting in your home, connect with Mother Earth, allow Her to transmute what is too heavy for you to carry, express your feelings, support the child within yourself and others, show your vulnerability with supportive people in your life, nurture new bonds with supportive people, surround yourself with people who make you feel safe, pour your love and creativity into more home-cooked meals, let go of your need for control and achievement, trust what you feel, connect with a water source, create a better sense of home, connect with family members, connect with your roots, learn more about your ancestry, refine your empathic skills, and above all...give and receive more hugs! We all need them!

Love and Gratitude,

Felina Lune Kavi