What Has Been Holding You Back?

The animal appeared to be dead. It looked like it might have been a squirrel. It was at the bottom of the pool, not likely to be taking a nap.

I took a picture of it, and left it there.

The next day, I came back to the pool prepared to fish it out, but it was gone.

Adding to the mystery, the gardener said he found a dead animal in the bushes by the pool.

How did the animal go from being dead on the bottom of the pool to the bushes next to the pool?

According to a helpful user on Reddit (erossthescienceboss), it’s thanks to a phenomenon called “bloat and float.”

The animal sinks at first, but after a day or two, the bacteria in the animal’s guts generates so much gas that it floats back up to the surface. From there, my helpful Reddit expert explained that a bird likely grabbed it, decided it wasn’t palatable, and dumped it in the bushes.

Mystery solved.

Everything floats up to the surface eventually.

This concept of “bloat and float” strikes me as a fitting metaphor for today’s full moon in Capricorn, which is sitting in a conjunction with Pluto.

Full Moon in Capricorn

At the full moon, the Sun and Moon are on opposite sides of the zodiac, shining its light fully on the moon. With the moon in Capricorn, the sun is in Cancer.

Full moons illuminate something that has been hidden in shadow. And with this one sitting next to Pluto, the lord of the underworld, it is revealing something that has been buried — something that is now rising to the surface.

What’s been unconsciously holding you back?

Pluto is like an anchor under the water. You can’t always see it, but it has an effect. It represents what has been subconsciously holding you down, or holding you back.

At this full moon, the light from the Sun directly shines on the moon and Pluto, illuminating what has been buried under the surface of our consciousness.

Once we are aware of what is holding us back, we can alchemize the energy so that it no longer has power over us.

The invitation of this lunation is to ask ourselves, what has been holding you back?

The answer may not come right away; we must be patient and give it space to reveal itself.

As the Sun moves into Leo the next day, it will directly oppose Pluto, keeping us in the energy of this inquiry for a couple of days.

Eventually, it will rise to the surface — because that is how nature works.