Cancer Full Moon
trust our righteous rage
cancer Full moon
January 13th, 2025
2:26pm (pst)
Hi friends,
Well here we are, smack dab in the middle of the first month of the year, with many of us starting out this year feeling totally unsure of who to trust. With safety and trust being core values for Cancer energy, this sense of who to trust is a big theme for the Cancer full Moon on January 13th 2025. And that’s because this Cancer Full Moon wants to help us learn to trust ourselves and our emotions, especially those that society deem unacceptable, like rage (which we may be feeling particularly strongly due to Mars retrograde in Cancer…more on that below).
Despite Cancer’s moody reputation, the extra emotive energies of the Cancer full Moon aren’t meant to keep us spiraling in fear or rage spirals. It’s just the opposite actually! The Cancer full Moon helps us illuminate where we are feeling distrustful, disempowered and rage-filled in our lives, in order to help us create and maintain more empowered and embodied boundaries and transformations.
Cancer energy calls us to honor the sanctity of our inner worlds, yet this lunation’s intensity is heightened by cosmic shifts that challenge us to sit with the discomfort of certain emotions, like righteous rage—not to suppress them, but to trust them as a sacred compass to your empowerment.
Read for more on
the energies of the Cancer Full Moon
the Lunar Node shift
Astrology Forecast with Sarah
working with the Moon
Cancer’s Ebb & FLow
Cancer, ruled by the Moon, is the nurturer, the healer, and the keeper of the home within.
In their highest expression, Cancer energy is intuitive, compassionate, and fiercely protective of what they love.
This is the archetype that tends to our emotional wounds with care and shelters us when we feel most vulnerable, although they often have to learn how to provide this same emotional support to themselves. As a Cancer Sun and Rising, I can attest to this personally.
Yet, like the tide, Cancer energy ebbs and flow, just as every light casts a shadow.
Cancer’s shadow energy can become overly protective, clinging to safety in ways that stifle growth. The shadow of Cancer manifests as defensiveness, emotional manipulation, or withdrawing into the safety of the shell when the waters of life feel too turbulent. Which isn’t too much of a surprise since Cancer is represented by the crab and all.
Under this Full Moon, the dance between these light and shadow aspects is magnified. Cancer invites us to feel deeply, but this isn’t about passive tears—it’s about recognizing where our emotions signal a need for action or change. When Cancer’s protective instincts are activated by injustice, the result can be a righteous, tidal surge of rage.
When I felt in intuitively to this Cancer New Moon I first heard the words “shell-shocked” and then felt ripples of rage type energies moving out in waves specifically from my Sacral chakra (or lower abdominal area). It felt hot, fast and impatient, yet also very energizing. This Cancer Full Moon can help us use our authentic rage at the injustices of the world, in ways that energize as oppose to drain us.
People often misunderstand the maternal and emotional attributes of Cancer energy. While often referred to as the Mom of the zodiac, Cancer is not our personal mothers (which is better represented by Virgo). Instead, Cancer is the primordial Mother energy, not unlike the energy of Mother Earth herself. While both our human mothers and primordial mothers are bad-ass magical beings, there is a infinite source of creative power and emotional fierceness that flows through the zodiac sign of Cancer (and Earth) that we can tap into.
Mars Retrograde in Cancer: The Catalyst for Frustration and Fury
One week before this Cancer Full Moon, on January 6th, Mars retrograde moves from Leo into Cancer, setting the stage for the enhanced anger-tinged emotional intensity during this lunation.
Mars, the planet of action, assertiveness, and drive, doesn’t feel at home in Cancer’s watery realm. Here, the warrior planet’s energy turns inward, simmering within the emotional depths of Cancer.
This transit stirs frustration and highlights old wounds that we’ve been avoiding. Mars retrograde in Cancer can feel like a dam holding back an ocean of unmet needs and unspoken truths.
The deep rage, sadness, or overwhelm we’ve been feeling isn’t random; it’s a signal from our inner protector, urging us to stand up for what feels misaligned or neglected.
This energy asks us to move beyond avoidance and address what’s been festering beneath the surface. While Mars retrograde might slow outward progress, it offers a powerful opportunity for internal recalibration.
Also, if you’ve been paying attention at all, there is a ton to feel righteously angry, even enraged, about whether those issues be collective or personal! But do remember that righteous rage and sacred anger can be used as tinder to the fire of our motivation and passion when we focus it in beneficial ways.
Here are some ways to focus your righteous rage into beneficial actions:
Engage in Physical Release
Use physical activity to release pent-up energy: exercise, dance, scream into a pillow, punch a punching bag, or engage in some healthy destruction like a rage room, or demo project.
Movement can help reduce the intensity of rage and provide clarity for your next steps.
Channel It into Creativity
Transform anger into art, writing, music, or another creative outlet. This can be cathartic and lead to insightful revelations about your feelings.
Consider journaling or writing poetry to explore and process your rage.
Take Constructive Action
Direct your energy toward solutions: advocate for change, volunteer for causes related to your anger, or start a petition or campaign.
Use your anger as motivation to challenge injustices, promote healing, or inspire others.
Set Boundaries and Communicate
Use your anger to identify where boundaries need to be set or reinforced in relationships or situations.
Express your feelings assertively but respectfully, using "I" statements to communicate your needs and perspectives.
Practice Grounding Techniques
Use mindfulness, deep breathing, or grounding exercises, like breathing Earth energy up into the body, to stay present and prevent reactive behaviors.
Grounding can help you channel rage with clarity and intention rather than acting out impulsively.
Lunar Node shift
Adding another layer of complexity, the lunar nodes shift into Pisces (North Node) and Virgo (South Node) two days before the Full Moon, on January 11th, where they will remain until July 26th 2026. This Pisces/Virgo axis invites us to move away from perfectionism, control, and over-analysis (South Node in Virgo) and toward trust, surrender, and spiritual connection (North Node in Pisces).
This shift also reminds us of the importance of balance, especially the balance of our Yin sides (being) with our Yang sides (doing).
The North Node shift into Pisces also aligns beautifully with Cancer’s call to trust our emotional currents. Pisces teaches us that we don’t need to have all the answers; we just need to align with the greater truth.
This nodal shift supports the process of embracing our righteous rage as a guide—not an enemy. Rage becomes righteous when it’s rooted in integrity, calling us to dismantle systems or patterns that no longer serve us or the collective.
WORKING WITH THIS MOON
1. Sacred Expression: Write a letter to your righteous rage. Let your emotions flow uncensored onto the page. Honor them as valid and necessary.
2. Somatic Rage Ritual: Allow yourself to move with the rage that may be buried deep inside (music can help with this!). Get on your bed and surround yourself with soft pillows. Find any position that works for you and let yourself move with the rage by punching the mattress or the pillows, squeezing and pulling at the bedding and/or screaming into a pillow. You can also lie on the bed and kick your feet and flail your arms like a temper tantrum as well.
3. Water Ceremony: Cancer’s energy is deeply tied to water. Make some Full Moon water (we’ve got a video on this in the Intuitive Moon Community). Prepare a cleansing bath or meditate near a body of water. Whatever type of water ceremony you create, visualize the waters washing away what no longer serves you, leaving you with clarity and strength.
4. Boundaries Reclaimed: Reflect on where your boundaries are asking to be reaffirmed, or created. Remember that boundaries are not rules or limits we set upon others, but rather those that we set upon ourselves.
5. Dream Journaling: With the North Node in Pisces, you may find it beneficial to connect with your higher vision through your dream world. Keep a small journal near your bed so that you can take note of your dreams right as you wake and can still remember them. Journal over the next month and reflect on any patterns within your dreams at the next full Moon (the Leo Full Moon on 2.12.25) .
The Cancer Full Moon, asks us to trust in the messages of our emotions—even the uncomfortable ones. Righteous rage is not something to fear or suppress. It is a signal that something sacred within us or our world is calling for protection, healing, or transformation.
This is a time to honor our feelings as powerful tools for navigating our path forward. As the Moon lights up the night sky, let it illuminate our own inner truth. Trust in the process, and know that our emotions—even the stormiest ones—are valid, worthy, and necessary for our evolution.
May this Cancer Full Moon inspire you to trust yourself and your emotions, especially the ways your righteous anger can help you create more empowered boundaries.
with infinite love and appreciation,
Rachael
For those who prefer to watch or listen, you can catch the YouTube Moon video below.
Astrology of the
Cancer full Moon
MEET sARAH FROM EXPANSIVE CONSULTING & hella fluid collective!
Hi cuties! Sarah here. I run things over at Expansive Consulting, and Hella Fluid Collective, where astrology meets small business operations. I am obsessed with small business owners and helping them run their business in alignment.
I offer tailored support, DIY biz resources, and personalized astrology horoscopes to help you understand the upcoming cosmic cycles and how they may impact your business strategies.
Let’s connect!
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This full Moon happens very close to Mars, which is going to make us feel an urge to want to take action. However, with both Mars and the Moon in Cancer, it's an energy about FEELING rather than doing. So that urge may feel a bit awkward and stuck.
Neptune is also activating this full Moon, which might bring a bit of confusion towards what action we're urging to take. However, it's a harmonious transit so this confusion is not necessarily a bad thing because it can allow us to try different options. Neptune also rules imagination, so it brings an energy of potentially creative solutions.
Lastly, Uranus is also activating this full Moon in a harmonious way, which suggests that the solutions may come from unexpected sources or ideas.
Putting this all together, if you're feeling angsty to take action but don't know what to do, feel free to try a few different options, even if it doesn't make sense at first. Be open doing things without figuring it out and that openness might lead to you doing what's best.
-sarah
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