Cosmic Weather Bulletins

Cancer-Capricorn Nodal Axis Story Arc :: Repot Yourself

 

Eclipse season is wrapping up. We had a solar eclipse in Cancer on July 2nd and a lunar eclipse in Capricorn on July 16th. We are also in the midst of a 3-week Mercury retrograde period that launched VERY LOUDLY conjunct Mars on July 7th/8th. Remember that? I do.

I typically use the ‘when-the-sun-is-18-degrees-from-the-nodes’ rule for determining the eclipse season window, which would bring us to about July 28th. However, another reasonable ending for eclipse season would be the upcoming new moon in Leo on August 1st (or July 31st, depending on your time zone), which completes the lunation cycle that began with the solar eclipse on July 2nd – and occurs within the same hour that Mercury stations direct at 23 degrees Cancer opposite Pluto!

There will be some jolts, shocks, and hiccups around this time, but the upcoming Leo new moon will be packed with a lot of power and forward momentum.

So is that it? Is this the end of eclipse season chaos and change?

It will be the end of this particular eclipse season, but this is only one small chapter in a much larger story…

Eclipses, involving the Sun and Moon, only occur around where the nodal axis is (within 18 degrees of the North or South lunar node on either side). When the nodal axis moves into a new set of opposing signs for 18 months, it turns on the heat in those areas of our chart, catalyzing unavoidable growth and calling on us to bring further integration and balance to the polarity.

Then when eclipse season highlights the nodal axis process every six months, that growth gets accelerated. The thermostat is turned waaay up. There’s increased energetic charge for this 36-day period.

And yet it is really just an action-packed chapter within a longer story. And if your chart isn’t directly contacted in impactful ways by the eclipses, then it may not even be all that action-packed.

Regardless though, individually and globally, in some way we are living out unique versions of the nodal axis story arc. Don’t let a focus on eclipse season distract you too much from this larger narrative unfolding throughout this 18-month period (or 24 months if we include the overlapping eclipses).

The story isn’t over yet.

With the nodes at 17 degrees Cancer-Capricorn, we are only just approaching the half-way point.

Here’s what it looks like when I apply a fiction writer’s 5-part narrative arc to the Cancer-Capricorn nodal axis/eclipse progression…

The nodal axis entered Cancer and Capricorn on November 6th, 2018, but we can trace the initial beginning of the story arc exposition all the way back to the first Cancer solar eclipse that occurred on July 12th, 2018 – a year ago, while the nodes were still in Leo and Aquarius.

Here is when we were getting introduced to the setting, the characters, the main ingredients, the energy and vibe of the narrative arc.

The eclipse season of January 2019, on the Cancer-Capricorn axis, thrust us fully into the thick of the story. It propelled us forward with compelling plot twists, conflicts, challenges, and a sense of building momentum.

This eclipse season too, June/July 2019, amplifies part 2 of the narrative arc – what is called the “rising action“. It is at this point in reading the novel, that you are fully hooked and engaged. Suspense and tension are building. The protagonist has their work cut out for them as they navigate multi-faceted dilemmas and scenarios.

Up ahead, December 2019-January 2020, is the plot climax. The tipping point of the story. Here we will be over halfway through with time left to finish unraveling the story’s plot lines and tie up loose ends (part 4 – falling action) and deliver a satisfying conclusion (part 5 – the resolution) by the final set of Cancer and Capricorn eclipses occurring June/July 2020.

How does that land for you? Can you sense a narrative arc unfolding?

When you look at the houses with Cancer and Capricorn on the cusp and consider their themes (along with the placement of their rulers, the Moon and Saturn), can you identify what relevant life content is calling for your attention?

I suspect it is quite obvious by now, as we near the halfway point.

The house placements will bring more precision to the interpretation on an individual level, but for all of us and for the world in general as an organism, the themes of Cancer and Capricorn are front and center.

There’s lots of content online and in previous posts about Cancer and Capricorn themes, so I won’t try to cover all of them, but I wanted to share how I find it is helpful to understand the dynamic of their polarity as a plant (Cancer) and a pot, or a container (Capricorn).

My mom recently repotted a plant that had been in its original pot for 38 years! I’m not a gardening expert by any means, but I’m aware that it is really important to repot your plants before they become root-bound.

When a plant is root-bound, it can be very difficult to extract it from its original container. The roots have become a hard, compact and dense web, clawing at the inside of the pot. Sometimes you actually need to BREAK the pot to free the plant, and sometimes the force of the plant’s roots as they try to push outward, seeking the freedom to grow, may actually crack the pot on their own.

In order to grow, plants need space for their roots to extend so they can collect more nutrients to fuel their flourishing above ground as well.

The container (symbolized by Capricorn) is necessary because if we were to just lay the plant on the ground, with its roots exposed and vulnerable to the external environment, it would wither, dry up, and die.

The plant (symbolized by Cancer) needs the protection of the container to grow… and yet the container essentially needs to “grow with the plant” in order to support the plant without inhibiting and hindering its efforts.

Thus why repotting is important… especially during these Cancer-Capricorn Eclipse Seasons.

The north node is transiting Cancer, indicating an area of growth, and the south node is transiting Capricorn, indicating an area of release. It is ultimately about integration, but since we typically begin the transit with an imbalance in favour of the Capricorn side (& house), we may need to be intentional about leaning into Cancerian themes, in order to compensate, remediate, and come back into balance.

 

 

 

What is the “Capricorn container” that you may be outgrowing?

Is the container a relationship, or relational dynamic/pattern? A house? A job? A limited belief about yourself? A habit? A protective survival strategy? An identity role? A rigid self-narrative? A daily routine? A co-dependent dynamic?

What is the “Cancer plant” for you?

What tender new roots, branches and leaves want to grow? In what ways have they been feeling a bit suffocated by a long-standing Capricorn container in your life?

 

It took my mom 38 years to repot her plant during this eclipse season… which ironically was a clipping of a plant from a long ago ex’s mother, in a pot given to her by the ex boyfriend, so many years ago.

Sometimes old containers get really comfortable, familiar, and we don’t want to discard them – or at least we don’t feel the need to prioritize the dirty, messy task of repotting when the plant is still “surviving“, right?

As we are in the “rising action” portion of this narrative arc, building toward the tipping point, we may find our traditional Capricorn containers stubbornly resisting replacement. We may feel root-bound.

Whenever I think of the Cancer-Capricorn axis, I think of safety and protection. Both signs are very much motivated to establish safety and protection – but as two cardinal signs, they are also oriented toward growth.

 

How do we grow… while also staying safe?

Growth requires some risk, some discomfort… and yet we are biologically wired to stay safe. Whenever I get confused by the seeming complexity of human behavior, I reduce everyone’s actions down to an effort to stay safe and to survive… and everything makes sense again. Staying safe is fundamentally a part of our animal nature (even if our psyches have developed and been conditioned in such a way that what “staying safe” is to one person, seems risky to another).

I’m not going to lie… it isn’t easy, working with this desire to grow and yet stay safe dilemma. It is something that I struggle with daily. Seeking growth while staying safe, requires a lot of trust trust in ourselves, trust in each other, and trust in the universe. We need to trust that we can step out beyond the familiar, into uncertainty, toward growth, and still be, okay. We need to trust that we can find a new container to be repotted into.

Trust isn’t easy to come by, but it is the bedrock of hope. If we can trust that somehow, inside of this mess, that just maybe, despite the often painful process, the situations we face are “navigationable”…. and that we can learn and grow and offer moments of safe reprieve and support to each other throughout the journey… then hope is well within reach.

Astrology is one of the containers I turn to repeatedly. Being held within the dynamic zodiac wheel of my nativity chart has thus far, been a deeply spacious container for me, with seemingly endless growth possibilities!

Astrology restores my trust in the universe, and therefore, my hope as well.

 

P.S. Tarot is another container that I have been using frequently. I created a tarot spread for this Cancer-Capricorn axis to aid you with the repotting process 🙂

 

 

Some additional nodal axis and eclipse diagrams and explanations…

 

 

3 Comments

  • Aneliese R

    I really love this analogy it has helped bring something from my subconscious to my conscious. As an Aries Sun I really crave to be ‘repotted’… the whole process… from the summoning of the courage to square up to the uncomfortable initial destructive aspect of it… to the birthing of a fresh new start which will be conducive to breathing and flourishing. Beautiful writing – thank-you. Having the concept made tangible in language in this way turns words into tools that will help to more effectively navigate this life

    • Lilith Rebellion

      Yes! Aries energy (in its undiluted essence) craves the rush of adrenalin and the excitement of risk, novelty and the unfamiliar involved in each repotting process. The leap into the unknown itself is invigorating and it can reacquaint us with our potential and the vitality of our life force which wants to keep discovering new points of connection and engagement with this world’s dynamic web of time and space (as much as it also seeks safety). Staying with pots at least long enough to grow healthy roots to support the continued green growth above, can potentially be a challenge for Aries, a sign which can be quite vulnerable to burn-out, but Aries certainly contributes an important fiery catalyst for change to our cardinal square of Cancer-Cap-Libra-Aries with its uninhibited joyous love affair with fresh starts and new energy!

      I’m so glad the analogy was helpful, thank you for sharing this with me!

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