Meaning of the full solstice Strawberry Moon in Capricorn

There’s a Strawberry Moon rising in the sign of the sea goat this week, my babies.

This year, we’re gifted with not one but two full moons in Capricorn. The first of the two, the full Strawberry Moon, will reach its peak just after the solstice on June 21 at 9:08 p.m. EST, and the second will bring Cancer season to a close on July 21.

Each month, the moon moves through eight phases, cycling through energy and culminating in the full moon when we’re meant to purge, howl and dare to hope the lunar light will light our way.

The full moon always shines in the sign opposite the sun. This week, that polarity falls on the Cancer/Capricorn axis, which is known as the axis of family or lineage and legacy, intimacy and ambition.

Full moon June 2024

Cancer and Capricorn are synonymous with the archetypes of the mother and father. Cancer represents the womb where we come from, and Capricorn is the loom on which we weave what we hope will outlast us.

As with all full moons and each polarity, the game’s name is integration.

Together, the energy of these two signs urges us to revisit our raising and reparent ourselves with the vantage of time and the knowledge of lack. By offering ourselves the nourishment we need and the structure that would have served us, we can begin again.

As Cancer Sun/Cap Moon Marianne Williamson reminds us, “We are not held back by the love we didn’t receive in the past, but by the love we’re not extending in the present.”

During this full moon, Venus (love, attraction) and Mercury (communication) are in cahoots with the sun in Cancer, indicating an alignment between desire and expression and a heightened sense of acknowledging needs and owning our responsibility to meet them.

Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, the stern, daddy planet of hard knocks, firm foundations, and the love of the long game. In-kind, we can view this lunation as a time to get in touch with what can level us up.

Low hanging moon

The full moon is forming a tense square with druggy, dreamy, delulu planet Neptune, an aspect that can cloud the clarity of Capricorn. This square may lead us to refuse truths or overlook glaring structural issues within the scaffolds of our plans. Root yourself in the real, respond rather than react, and avoid shortcuts, shortchanging and easy outs.

Low-hanging fruit is a no-go, though this moon will, in fact, be slung on the low low.

Due to this full moon falling just a day after the summer solstice when the sun is at its highest, the Strawberry Moon will be the lowest-hanging full moon of the year. Owing to this low positioning, this moon will appear larger, though not necessarily brighter, as ye olde satellite of tides and tears will be so low in the sky that the horizon air will limit its luminosity.

So low will this moon be that in far Northern locales like Fairbanks and Rekyavik, the high shine of the Strawberry Moon won’t even clear the horizon.

Meaning of the Strawberry Moon

In an affront to whimsy, the Strawberry Moon is not named for the moon’s color but for the season of fruition to which it lends its light.

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the full moon in June was known by the Algonquin, Ojibwe, Dakota, Lakota, Chippewa, Oneida, and Sioux tribes as the Strawberry Moon, as the first flush of summer coincides with the wild and widespread ripening of the fruit.

Apropos of Cancer and Capricorn being the archetypical parents of the zodiac, the Arapaho of the Great Plains call this moon the ‘Moon When the Buffalo Bellows’ a reference to the mating calls of those mythic creatures.

Similarly, the Inupiat and Tlingit peoples of Alaska call June’s moon the Moon of Birthing as many a mammal kicks out their offspring around the time year to give their young a running chance at survival before the onset of winter.

Neo-pagan religions called June’s full moon the Planting Moon, and in Europe, it’s known as the Rose Moon as it’s the time of year when the favored flower of poets and guilty parties blooms.

In many places and many tongues, this moon is a symbol of fruition and vitality, hope and strategy, return and reimagining. In the words of Cancer sun/Cap moon novelist John Wyndham, “We danced, on the brink of an unknown future, to an echo from a vanished past.”

Here’s to the power and possibility of that two step.

Since this full moon is taking place in a cardinal sign, Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn will feel its effects most acutely.

Astrology 101: Your guide to the star

Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture, and personal experience.