ASTROLOGICAL MEANING 
FOR CANCER FULL MOON

Cancer is the birth sign of humanity. It rules the Mother, the womb and the birth of humanity on the physical plane. Humanity became manifest on this planet when the completion of the evolutionary cycle within a subset of the animal kingdom was reached. It was at that critical moment that human beings began to appear on earth.

During the Age of Cancer, in that long ago distant time, a great gate opened to begin the evolution of the human experience. A new species was created by the down flow of light from spirit which joined with the life within the animal form. The entrance of spiritual light into prehistoric animal form launched the development of human consciousness. The purpose of this new species was to build a conscious bridge between the higher spiritual kingdoms and the lower three kingdoms in nature - the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms. 

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Alice Bailey states in The Labours of Hercules, " ... Cancer is one of the two great gates of the zodiac. It is the gate into the world of forms, into physical incarnation and the sign wherein the duality of form and of soul is unified in the physical body."

Capricorn is the second gate to which Alice Bailey refers. Capricorn is the polar opposite of Cancer and represents the gate out of human experience. It opens the gate which releases the soul from the physical world into the world of spirit. The journey from Cancer to Capricorn awakens the evolution of consciousness. It enables the slow return of humanity to its true source and nature. The journey from Cancer to Capricorn is the passage from mass consciousness to enlightened consciousness. It is progression from functioning by instinct, to functioning primarily through intellect, and finally to functioning via the intuition. The culmination of our human journey is the realization of oneself as a piece of a greater whole, a participant in group life, and as an aspect of the sacred plan.

The true spiritual path to the gate in Capricorn starts with our search for deeper meaning. We begin to realize that intellect alone is not sufficient for discovering the object of our search. By assuming the observer position inside of ourselves and by listening to the small voice of our intuition, we can begin to understand the purpose of our earthly sojourn. We discover that we're here to evolve the human form so that it may truly reflect the intention of soul and spirit. 

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Cancer rules the personal development which enables the form nature to become more responsive to the movement of spiritual light through the mental, emotional and physical bodies. Cancer is focused particularly, during this cycle of time, on the emotional body and its systems, patterns and illusions. On the outer physical or objective plane, Cancer is ruled by the moon. Metaphysics teaches an association between water and emotions. Physics teaches that the moon causes tidal movement in the oceans and also effects the liquids in our bodies. Symbolically, the symbiotic relationship of the moon with mother earth effects everything in physical incarnation. That effect on human beings is to promote our identification with the form nature. In teachings of The Ageless Wisdom, identification with form is referred to as the "great illusion". As humans evolve, the focus on our emotions begins to shift up into the heart. We see through the illusion of the form nature. We realize that even though the moon is shining in the night sky, its radiance is only the reflected light ot the sun.

The astrological symbol for Cancer is the crab. The reason that the crab was chosen to symbolize Cancer is that it represents the safety and security of the home. The crab, of course, carries her home on her back. Because she cannot step outside of her home, she identifies with her shell as her outer self. The source of the human dilemma is that we feel as if we are our imprisoned by our bodies. In truth, we are not confined by our bodies. We can step outside. We must surrender the limiting belief that says who we are is our physical body. By listening, instead, to our inner intuitive knowledge, we realize who we really are. In fact, we are inhabitants of the mental, emotional and physical structures that make up our holistic outer manifestation. We are actually "tenants" in these homes. To be good tenants, we must honor our temporary homes by filling them with light, love and joy. The truth is that we are the souls that created these bodies, as well as the sacred life-force that inhabits them. Whatever our age, condition or circumstance our body is our temple.

The Keyword for Cancer is: "I Build a Lighted House and Therein Dwell"

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Astrological Readings by Ron Thurlow, Ph.D., Esoteric Astrologer 
Astrological Sign Paintings by Sandy Thurlow 

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