January 2025: Tarot spread for the full moon in Cancer

Plus an astro-tarot forecast, journaling prompts, and Womanrunes reading for the Cancer full moon.

The January 2025 full moon falls in the sign of Cancer. The Cancer archetype is emotional, intuitive, nurturing and healing. It also symbolizes “home” and all the things that home represents – not just our physical home, but also our emotions, energy, body, and the spiritual hearth of our souls.

Spiritually, the Cancer archetype is one of compassion, of recognizing that people, in general, act to the best of their abilities, limited by their education, upbringing and current awareness. The Cancer archetype knows that love and forgiveness, where possible, are the best way to respond to destructive behavior – along with firm boundaries, of course.

This full moon in Cancer can also usher in a new cycle of change, encouraging us to release old patterns, blocks, and goals that may be going nowhere. This energy is further amplified by the astrology around this time.

The lunar nodes changed signs on 11 January, when the North Node moved into dreamy Pisces and the South Node moved into meticulous Virgo. The North Node represents the direction in which we are heading, and represents a new area of consciousness, growth, and evolution. The South Node points to where we are coming from, the starting point of our journey, the roots, foundation, and things that are comfortable for us.

This particular change in the lunar nodes can inspire us to dream bigger dreams and imagine a better future for ourselves and the planet, and it can also encourage utopian fantasies {something to be cautious about}. The more Virgo traits of being detail oriented and meticulous in our planning can help to temper some of Pisces’ more dreamy energy.

This full moon is also a good time to refresh our rituals. Our small daily rituals can anchor us, providing touchstones on which we structure our days. But it’s all too easy to let them fall to the wayside when things become chaotic, or for our rituals to start feeling stale. How can you refresh your daily rituals? How can you invite moments of daily magic into your days? How can you invite in some enchantment into the ordinary rhythms of your life? Take some time to consider these questions and refresh and tap back in to your practices.

Astro-Tarot influences for the January 2025 full moon

To throw some more light on the January full moon astrology, let’s take a look at the astro-tarot influences of this lunation. The Cancer full moon falls in decan 3, which is represented by the Four of Cups. This is to be interpreted in conjunction with The Chariot, which is associated with Cancer.

These two cards seemingly reflect the cosmic interplay at the lunar nodes, with the Four of Cups indicating introspection and withdrawal into more internal, imaginary realms, while The Chariot lends a somewhat more grounded stance.

I particularly like the progression of the 4 of Cups story, when you look at the cards from the Before Tarot and After Tarot.

First, we have a young boy who is drinking up the inspiration and ideas that are flowing fast and strong. He’s drunk three full cups of this sweet nectar already, and now he feels the need to take a break. His head is buzzing with ideas and creative inspiration, so much so that he feels a little sick just thinking about all those ideas and how he may work on them. And then he’s offered yet another cup full of inspiration. He crosses his arms across his middle. It’s almost like his body is putting up a boundary, telling him that he needs to hold himself together. He takes a moment to consider what he should do, before accepting the cup that is being offered. It’s so tantalizing, all of these sparks of inspiration…he almost brings the cup to his lips, but then decides to upend the cup and let this particular idea go.

Take a moment to consider the empty cups that are metaphorically in front of you. What were they filled with? Creative inspiration, all of your to-dos and tasks, reminders to yourself, all the information you’ve been consuming through the day, or a mix of all of this and more, perhaps?

Add to that the New Year New You vibe, or the push to make January “count” and the feeling of “falling behind” that some of us tend to feel if we don’t charge full speed ahead when a new year comes around.

And then there are the things that are happening around us — forest fires in parts of the US; political instability and the rise of right wing politics, along with its associated fears and anxiety over the impact of potentially disastrous policies on us, our loved ones, and the wider world around us; the ongoing genocide in Palestine and the war in Ukraine, Sudan, Congo and other parts of the world.

What we need, perhaps, is to just stop for a moment. To take a deep breath, put down our phones and our planners, our ideas and plans, goals and lists. To take a bit of a breather from the news cycle and try and calm our rising anxiety and worry. And to just be still.

To remember that we have 12 whole months ahead of us, that we have or can weave systems of care around us, that we can mobilize or hunker down or find ways to navigate through this political shitstorm we find ourselves in. To remember that the world has, historically, been a place of suffering and strife. That our ancestors have probably seen it all and more and survived and perhaps thrived. That we can find the resilience we need to get through these times in our blood and bones, in our ancestry and woven into our DNA.

We don’t need to do everything all at once. We can pick and choose. Take things slowly and steadily. Ground our dreams and ideas and plans with some attention to detail, some consideration for the time and energy and resources that we have available to us. To wait and watch the unfolding drama on the political stage and pick and choose our battles, offer our medicine and care.

There’s a lot happening astrologically that seems disruptive and challenging. But on a more personal level, the astrology around this full moon in Cancer can support us in slowing down, and perhaps also help us choose which areas to bring our attention to.

The Moon forms a conjunction with Mars, which is currently in retrograde in Cancer, which harnesses and tames its fiery forward momentum. That bit of sluggishness can be somewhat helpful when it comes to taming our wilder impulses.

Saturn and Neptune, both of which are in dreamy Pisces, form a beneficial trine with the Moon. But this isn’t the easiest of placements for structure-loving Saturn, as Pisces’ dreamy nature can make it challenging to set boundaries and maintain reality checks. However, Saturn in Pisces supports spiritual pursuits and creative expression. Visionary Neptune, though, is right at home with Pisces, amplifying its traits of intuition, creativity and spirituality, allowing for a deeper connection to the unseen and artistic expression. Left untamed, though, it can lead to escapism, confusion, and blurred boundaries.

This placement gives us some valuable insight: beneficial areas of focus appear to be related to spiritual and creative practices; these practices can, perhaps, support us, and make it somewhat easier to counter the blurring of boundaries and escapism. Remembering to ground and center regularly can perhaps help us better navigate some of this astrology.

Womanrunes for the January 2025 full moon in Cancer

Every full moon, I will draw a Womanrune for us, as a theme, a learning, a focus point for the days until the next full moon rolls around. This month, I drew 2 runes — 0: The Circle. Rune of Self and 32: The Moonboat. Rune of Journeys.

These are beautiful runes to journey with given the energies swirling around at this time. The Rune of Self is about potential and personal development and growth. It’s the potential we have within us, like an acorn that holds within it the the mighty oak. It’s about self enquiry, and getting clear about what is and isn’t ours to hold. It’s about discernment and having the wisdom and clarity to parse the truth of who YOU are from the lies that you’ve been led to believe. It’s about the miracle of this body, this breath, these cells and bones and skin and flesh that animate us, that support and sustain us, working away in the background with their own special brand of magic.

The Rune of Journeys is about the journeys we undertake, both inner and outer, solitary and in community. It’s about seeking and searching, about the path we take towards an outcome we wish to achieve. It’s about movement, taking action, going from here to there. It’s soul deep enquiry and the seeking of wisdom and knowledge. It’s time, time to set forth on your journey.

These are beautiful runes to come up now, at the start of a new year, at a time when there is so much potentially tumultuous energy swirling around us.

The Womanrunes were created by Shekhinah Mountainwater in 1987. There were originally no written interpretations available for these runes, other than the name and one word meanings, which offer tremendous scope for personal interpretation. The remastered original hand drawn Womanrunes can be purchased here. Molly Remer subsequently wrote Womanrunes: A Guide to Their Use and Interpretation, based on her own meditations and interpretations of the runes. Her book is available on Amazon and Etsy.

Tarot spread for the January 2025 Cancer full moon

Here’s a tarot spread to tap into the energy of this full moon, and the changing Lunar Nodes.

North Node: What dreams are rising to the surface? Draw 3 cards.

South Node: What systems and structures will support them? Draw 2 cards.

Grounding: What will keep you grounded during this time? Draw 2 cards.

Mamma moon says: This is always an encouraging message

If you share your spreads on Instagram, please tag me @moderngypsy.in so we can connect with each other.

Journaling questions for the full moon in Cancer

Not a cardslinger? No problem. Here are some journaling questions for you instead.

What old and unhelpful patterns would you like to release?

Are there any goals or areas you’ve been trying to work on since a long time that seem to be going nowhere? Take some time to consider if these truly matter to you, or if you’re pursuing these because you’ve been conditioned to believe you should.

What is one big dream or desire you’re secretly harboring?

What can you do to work towards this dream?

Consider your rituals — do you need to refresh them or perhaps create some new rituals? Use your journal to brainstorm and plan, and then take your refreshed rituals for a spin!