On July 5th, 2020 we have a July Full Moon Lunar Eclipse at 13° Capricorn.  Often referred to as the Buck Moon, in reference to the time male deer’s antlers grow, this month’s Full Moon has long been associated with relaxation and observing the cycles of nature.

Some may consequently be surprised to discover this month’s Full Moon on Sunday provides some less-than-sunny developments. The Full Moon takes place in self-disciplined Capricorn, a sign demanding maturity and concentration. These traits mean this Full Moon influence does not work well with the hazy days of summer.

This is the very last eclipse in the Cancer/Capricorn axis. This is the “final act” of the drama series that started in 2017 when we had our 1st eclipse on the Cancer/Capricorn axis. This Lunar Eclipse is a South Node Eclipse so it is about letting go of the past. Even the aspects the Full Moon is engaged in are separating. Everything about this eclipse screams “move on”. We are ready to move on.

“Ready to move on” doesn’t mean moving on is easy. Moving on is almost never easy, and even when we think we have moved on it’s probably because we haven’t fully processed the experience. South Node eclipses are about letting go. Again, we can never truly let go of something, because the material and energetic imprint of that ‘something’ does not just ‘disappear’.  It transforms. It moves on to other realms. It becomes something else. It may no longer belong to us. It may no longer be part of our lives. But it is still somewhere, ever-evolving.

In Vedic astrology, the Lunar Nodes are represented by a Serpent. The North Node is the head of the Serpent, or the Direction, and the South Node the tail. That’s why we are told to focus on our North Node – our Direction in life. (at least in our capitalist society; in the past, it was the South Node that was revered, since it was a spiritual point of liberation and transcendence). The North Node, the head, is hungry for new experiences. The South Node, the tail, is what comes out of these experiences.

But then the serpent is depicted as an infinity symbol or as a serpent that eats its tail. What comes out, the South Node, doesn’t just go away, it becomes the new fuel for the North Node. That’s karma, or what goes around comes around. This Lunar Eclipse highlights themes connected to Cancer and Capricorn. Cancer is what we create and nurture. Capricorn is rules, systems, and top-down hierarchies. We need both, however when the North Node is in Cancer and the South Node in Capricorn, our focus is on nurture, not on systems. Now the question is, what do we do with these outdated Capricorn systems and rules? Do we just drop them? Just as the serpent that eats its tail, we cannot just drop them. We need to take what’s nurturing and can still serve the purpose of the North Node, and then allow what’s left to become something else.

If you know you need to let go of something and you find it difficult, remind yourself that letting go is not about eliminating or erasing that thing from your life. Is about allowing it to re-invent itself and become something perhaps even greater.