The Full Moon December 2023 makes us super sensitive – and warns that all is not as it seems

The final Full Moon of December 2023 is upon us – and it’s the perfect bookend to this year that began with a Cancer Full Moon on January 6th. 

Anytime the Moon is in Cancer, nostalgia often reigns supreme, and you’ll find yourself and others reflecting on the last year and its various highs and lows. As the calendar days wind down to 2024, we may be tempted to brand the year definitively, meaning as a success or failure, but we’d be wise to hold back as our minds and moods may shift after this lunation perfects. 

Revelations are always made during a Full Moon – but with this one, it may not be the ones we think have presented themselves. Trust your gut – and know that if you feel anxious and activated, that’s not your intuition speaking, but likely a dysregulated nervous system. Messages from within will feel calm, peaceful, and matter-of-fact, so be sure to listen to those signals instead of succumbing to reactivity or wishful thinking.

When is the Full Moon December 2023?

On 27 December 2023 at 12:34 AM GMT, the Moon in Cancer forms an opposition with the Sun in Capricorn. Upon first appearance, this Full Moon seems rather mild. One of the specific features of this Full Moon is the Sun in a harmonious trine with generous Jupiter in Taurus while this caring-focused Cancer Moon sextiles it, another easy aspect. However, as no astrological transit ever occurs in a vacuum, it is important to note that on this day, an erratic Mercury retrograde forms a conjunction with heat-seeking Mars, and both are squaring hazy Neptune. The translation for all of us down here on earth: there can be trickery and subterfuge afoot as people may be masking their true intentions or pitching a specific or self-serving angle and hoping we’re either too distracted or too tired to notice.

The Moon in Cancer craves comfort and security. It wants to draw decisive conclusions and be able to put doubts and fears to rest – so much so that it may ignore so-called red flags despite any internal misgivings, aiming for immediate, if short-term, soothing. For these reasons, we may be tempted to accept whatever is said at face value or regard the transpiring of events as inevitable, leaving us vulnerable to either being overly optimistic or conversely, encouraging a defeatist mindset.

Here's how the Cancer Full Moon of December 2023 will affect you. Look at your sun or rising sign for the most accurate reading, based on your astrology birth chart.

Full Moon December 2023 horoscope

Aries

This Full Moon is asking you to get clear about your boundaries, Aries. Taking place in your fourth house of home and family, the stars are inviting you to relax – if you can. On the surface that sounds easy, but for a quick-thinking, always-on-the-move fire sign like yourself, it’s time to be honest about how much you’ve been burning the candle at both ends. Perhaps work or other obligations are keeping you from the rest that you need. And in turn, making it difficult for you to show up fully for yourself and others once you’re not on the clock. Can you be clear about where you can draw better boundaries with others so you can more fully be present for yourself?

Taurus

This Full Moon is asking you to get clear about your words, Taurus. Taking place in your third house of communication, the stars are inviting you to take this lunation almost literally – meaning, are you staying true to your personal values? Does what you say match how you feel? Gossip can be fun – but not when you’re the subject of it. Venting can be cathartic – but not when it makes others feel worse. You have a powerful way with words, so choose to use them with the honesty and integrity you’re also known for. 

Gemini

This Full Moon is asking you to get clear about your finances, Gemini. Taking place in your second house of income, the stars are inviting you to turn less of a blind eye to your spending and savings styles. Impulse purchases can be fun, but they can also keep you from ever truly tracking where your hard-earned money is going. It may not be the most exciting chore, but consider consolidating streaming services; squirrelling away more in a rainy day fund; and feeling more in control of your spending so it’s not in service to any change in mood.

Cancer

This Full Moon is asking you to get clear about your personal priorities, Cancer. Taking place in your first house of the self, the stars are inviting you to take a more self-focused approach. It’s their gentle reminder to you that it’s not only OK to make your needs known – it’s absolutely imperative that you do so. You may be denying yourself the opportunity to embrace new people, new places, and new adventures because you’ve been focused on what others want, think, feel, would say. Think about it this way: when you do that, you’re not only short-changing yourself, you’re taking away people’s ability to connect with the real you. And the real you is worth knowing and loving. 

Leo

This Full Moon is asking you to get clear about your instincts, Leo. Taking place in your twelfth house of the subconscious, the stars are asking you to be honest with yourself. You can put on a brave face to the outside world. You can feign indifference. You can act like what bothers you doesn’t. You can put blinders on when it comes to what you know on a gut level – but perhaps don’t want to have to admit or acknowledge it. But this Full Moon is asking you how well this possible behaviour is serving you. It’s now about trusting yourself. You can handle it. You can be honest. You can be yourself, however messy that is. 

Virgo

This Full Moon is asking you to get clear about your friendships, Virgo. Taking place in your eleventh house of groups and networks, the stars are asking you to evaluate who you can rely on. Perhaps you’ve undergone a series of trials recently – a health scare, a job loss, a change in relationship status. Now is the time to ask: who was there for you when you needed them? Who didn’t even need to be asked? Who didn’t show up or couldn’t? Who did you miss? Who do you want to surround you in hard moments and celebrate your victories, even the small ones? That’s where your energy is being directed – or redirected. 

Libra

This Full Moon is asking you to get clear about your calling, Libra. Taking place in your tenth house of career and public reputation, the stars are inviting you to closely consider what it is you want to be known for. They also want you to be honest about what that is and know that it’s OK if the real answer is that it’s something different than what others expect of you – or the one you previously designed for yourself. The truth is, you spend too much time at work doing something that doesn’t lift or light you up just because it looks good on paper. 

Scorpio

This Full Moon is asking you to get clear about your beliefs, Scorpio. Taking place in your ninth house of spiritual wisdom, the stars are asking you if holding on to outdated modes of thinking, preaching, or operating is helping or harming you. Just because you’ve always believed a certain thing doesn’t mean you can willfully cover your eyes or close your ears (and subsequently, your heart), when new evidence appears to the contrary. Life is meant for learning and growing. Allow yourself the grace to change your mind. It doesn’t mean you were wrong. It means you doing the best you can in the moment. 

Sagittarius

This Full Moon is asking you to get clear about what you owe others – or feel you are owed from them, Sagittarius. Taking place in your eighth house of karmic debts, the stars are bringing awareness to your sense of obligation, to contracts and deals you’ve committed yourself to – and if they have outgrown your lifestyle or didn’t turn out exactly the way you thought they would. It’s OK to admit that something is no longer working for you – or was never working that well to begin with. It’s not about shaming yourself for trying, but it is about being able to walk away from an untenable situation with dignity and integrity intact. 

Capricorn

This Full Moon is asking you to get clear about what you need from your partner, Capricorn. Taking place in your seventh house of love, marriage, and commitment, the stars are bringing awareness to the contracts you’re making with others – and with yourself. Can you reframe the relationships you’re in from a materialistic mindset, i.e. how this person checks your boxes or how there is an exchange of goods and services, to a more emotional one? How does this person fulfil you? Make you feel seen? Add emotional comfort to your life? Allow yourself to not just be needed – but to need.

Aquarius

This Full Moon is asking you to get clear about your health, Aquarius. Taking place in your sixth house of daily routines and health habits, the stars are bringing awareness to your internal voice. The one that begs you to slow down. The one that insists you schedule that checkup. The one that alerts you when something feels off-balance or off-kilter so you can take time to care take yourself. Hyper-productivity is often rewarded, at least according to what we say we value. But it doesn’t have to come at the cost of your physical or mental health. It’s time to reframe the value you place on you. 

Pisces

This Full Moon is asking you to get clear about what brings you joy, Pisces. Taking place in your fifth house of fun and pleasure, the stars are bringing awareness to your ability to relax and experience joy. Do you feel guilty about taking time to do things that aren’t considered “productive”? If you’re reading a book or watching television, is there a voice nagging you about what you could or should be “accomplishing” instead? It's time to be honest if there is something you’re procrastinating from doing for the sake of leisure – or if the leisure time you’re taking is what your mind and body need right now.