Moon in Capricorn opposite Mars in Cancer, Part 1

Planets in detriment are the ultimate subverters of capitalism’s mythologies, because a willingness to fail at the expectations laid out for you is required for any individual who wishes to enact effective change in their world. However, capitalism is aware of this, and thus co-opts the stories of detriment planets to illustrate the worst case scenarios for those who cannot comply with the demands of capitalism. It’s no secret that we live in a system built on fear—the fear of not having enough, of not being enough, and the fear of losing out to someone else. This is by design. Capitalism spins these fears into myths we swallow whole, myths that coerce us to continue playing this rigged game for survival. With the upcoming series of Moon-Mars oppositions in Capricorn and Cancer, we will have a front-row seat to watch these myths unravel.

Each of these oppositions between the Moon and Mars in these signs between now and March 2025 brings a chance to confront two of capitalism’s most insidious myths: the myth of scarcity and the myth of competition. These aren’t merely economic strategies—they’re stories capitalism tells to keep us fearful, small, and isolated. But what happens when the Moon, the symbol of care and nourishment, stands off with Mars, the symbol of conflict and action? We start to see through the lies.

The first Moon-Mars opposition in Capricorn and Cancer on October 10th, 2024

False promises

Let’s get one thing straight: capitalism doesn’t care about you, your body, or your well-being beyond what labor they can provide. It’s built to grind you down and convince you that any access to care is a privilege you have to earn. This series of oppositions, starting with the Moon in Capricorn squaring Libra and sextiling Scorpio, raises some critical questions: Who controls our access to care? What systems decide who’s ‘useful’ and who’s ‘disposable’? In the face of collapse, how do we decide which vulnerable populations to protect first?

The Moon in Capricorn is the astrological embodiment of capitalism’s favorite myth: scarcity. The Moon is the planet of nurturing, rest, and care—all the things capitalism insists there’s never enough of. And in Capricorn, where the Moon is in detriment, it’s forced into a cold, rigid framework. Capitalism tells us there’s not enough time, not enough resources, not enough rest. It convinces us to fight for scraps and fear what might happen if we stop working for even a second—these scraps also include community care and time for digesting our emotions, including grief. Capitalism also promises protection from scarcity to those who fall in line, but even this is a lie, because self-determination can’t save you from sudden illness or injury, and being disabled under capitalism is viewed as a personal failure of some sort.

Saturn, Mars, & The Moon: The spiciest throuple

The Moon rejoices in the 3rd house. The 3rd house is about accessibility—not just in the Here’s your wheelchair ramp sense, but in the How do we remake the world to be livable for everyone? sense. Access is more than a physical path; it's about collective care. On the other hand, Mars rejoices in the 6th house. The 6th house is about care work—the labor it takes to provide access to others. This Moon-Mars transit invites us to ask: How do we break down these systems that treat access as a privilege? How do we create a world where accessibility is an inherent right? If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend getting this workshop by Erin Shipley on care work & disability justice through the 3rd & 6th houses.

The sextiles currently happening between Capricorn and Scorpio aren’t here to smooth things over—they’re here to point the way forward: transformation is possible, but it requires us to confront the scarcity myth head-on. This first Moon-Mars opposition on this axis is the one that asks the most questions, and we likely won’t see any answers start to form until January. If Capricorn represents the controlling structures that uphold scarcity, Scorpio represents the collective rage and world-ending power it takes to dismantle and rebuild them. Sextiles may be harmonious, but don’t let that fool you—this is about tapping into the deep, often uncomfortable truths about what we’re willing to change to break free from the chains of late-stage capitalism.

Power & Control

The scarcity myth is also about control. While creating my course, I assigned the myth of control to Saturn and the myth of scarcity to the Moon partially due to the adversarial relationship between these two planets. The Moon struggles in Saturn’s sign, and likewise, Saturn struggles in the domain of the Moon. Mars is assigned to the myth of competition, naturally, and both the Moon and Saturn struggle in Mars’s signs—the Moon is fallen in Scorpio, and Saturn is detriment in Aries. By making you believe all resources (which include abstract things like time) are impossibly limited, capitalism forces you into competition with your neighbors, colleagues, and even yourself.

The squares between Capricorn and Libra are certainly not polite conversations, either. Saturn may exalt in Libra, but these exchanges are still very much defined by friction. Libra asks for fairness, balance, diplomacy—but what happens when those ideals clash with the consequences of capitalism’s demands? You get tension, and while it’s not something to be feared, it is something that must be confronted. Saturn rejoices in the 12th house, a place of isolation and lack of agency; one must utilize Venusian forces of connection to escape it.

Disability & Accessibility

If the Moon in Capricorn is the body beaten down by the system, Mars in Cancer is the spirit that fights back, even when weakened. Capitalism sees Mars in Cancer and scoffs: a warrior that feels too much? A protector that cares too deeply? Capitalism uses disability as a scare tactic and parenthood as a invitation to endless unpaid labor. Subtly and not so subtly, capitalism communicates the message that while those who comply may be met with protection from scarcity, those who do not (or cannot) comply will be punished. The vulnerable are not seen as worthy of protecting, but as no longer worthy of exploiting. But here's the secret: Mars in Cancer doesn't lose power because it's vulnerable. It gains power. In a system that devalues the wounded, the chronically ill, the disabled—this Mars fights for those cast aside.

Disability is capitalism’s Achilles’ heel. The system thrives on constant productivity, so anyone who doesn’t fit its mold is deemed ‘unproductive’—a liability. But that’s the lie. Mars in Cancer shows us that there’s a different kind of power in vulnerability. Just like disability justice movements, this Mars doesn’t want pity; it wants systemic overhaul. It wants justice, not as a concession, but as a demand. However, Mars is in detriment in Cancer and fallen in Libra—working together to meet everyone’s needs and seeking peace through justice are not impossible for Mars, but they do require an unconventional approach. This subversion of the myth of competition is perhaps one of capitalism’s greatest fears, because the artificial separation of marginalized populations is what has prevented the mobilization of the masses.

Asking the right questions

The sextiles between the Moon & Venus and the Moon & Saturn both ask what we’re willing to give up to help someone else, or the greater good. Saturn is already comfortable with restriction, but being in a sign like Pisces adds a certain sentimentality to the reasons Saturn restricts themselves.

Venus, over in Scorpio, wants to know what your most essential values are: if you had a list of 10, could you eliminate 5? Out of those 5, could you whittle your most important values down to 3? Or even 1? This is disaster preparedness, in a Venusian way: if and when push comes to shove, you may not always be able to honor every single one of your values and still survive. So, which ones could you do without? This isn’t about planning to abandon all of your moral principles the second shit hits the fan, but rather about knowing what is essential to you when you are forced to compromise.

Likewise, the Moon in Capricorn is already deeply familiar with giving up what’s not essential in order to survive, but in a much more material sense. Mars in Cancer is poised and ready to defend what’s left over—or who’s left behind. What will you sacrifice to build something better? How far are you willing to go to reclaim the care, the access, the justice we all deserve? Like I said before, we won’t necessarily even begin to see the answers to these questions forming until January, when the 2nd of these 4 oppositions occurs.

Lately, I’ve been reading The Mushroom At The End of The World by Anna Tsing, where she discusses the need to envision a future where we co-create a new world while in the ruins of the old world. Tsing posits that we cannot possibly plan to avoid disaster, because disaster is already here, on a global scale; we must plan to rebuild from within disaster. Her years-long research on the elusive matsutake mushroom is the central focus of the book, and I think it relates a lot to this configuration between Venus in Scorpio, the Moon in Capricorn, and Saturn in Pisces. It’s worth a read, if you have the time (and if you want to borrow a copy from me, just send me an email or a DM and I’ll hook you up).

Thank you for reading. The next installment of this series (aka the next Moon-Mars opposition in Capricorn and Cancer) will be January 27th, 2025.

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My new course, Anti-Capitalist Astrology, begins October 21st.