Unbound: The Shell, The Suitcase, and The Storm
A Cancer Full Moon Reflection
The Outdated Story of Healing
Today’s Cancer Full Moon arrived for me with a powerful dreamtime message. There’s this tired, outdated way of looking at healing, where we’re always tied to our past. Even as we grow and transform, we stay bound to the stories of how we got here. The “healed” identity becomes inseparable from the hardships, the traumas, the dysfunctional relationships. You’re staring at a dazzling horizon, but right behind you is an overflowing suitcase full of everything you’ve endured to get here.
Lately, I’ve been dreaming about those suitcases—always in a scene of some kind of forced and unexpected eviction, but I can’t stop packing. I keep trying to stuff a small bag with everything I think I need, because it’s mine, because it represents who I am. This recurring dream (which seems so obvious now) has puzzled me for weeks. Today it finally settled in. It’s time to stop. It’s time to let go of those pieces of myself that are tethered to the past. My identity isn’t tied to what I’ve been through. It isn’t a byproduct of trauma or even of healing. My identity just is. And this Moon is asking: what does it mean to leave the suitcase behind? To be unbound from the stories that brought you here?
The Dream of the Tornado
Last night, I dreamed of a sunny day—calm, peaceful, everything clear. I had no idea there was a storm nearby until I turned and saw what looked like a tornado: this twisting, towering force of wind, chaotic and destructive.
Without even thinking, I panicked. I felt myself being pulled toward it, convinced I was about to be swallowed up. I considered the odds of my survival. I mustered my strength and I scrambled for shelter, clawing at the floorboards, desperate to find a hole to hide in.
The hole was too small. I couldn’t disappear. I went to the window, bracing myself to face the inevitable, only to realize… it wasn’t a tornado at all. It was a waterspout. It wasn’t even on land—it was out over the ocean, far from where I stood. I wasn’t in danger.
The Realization: I’m Already Safe
And that’s when it hit me: the sunny day wasn’t a lie. My fear wasn’t necessary. The storm wasn’t going to swallow me. I was already safe.
As a Cancer Moon, I know this pattern all too well. I scuttle into my shell or a hole when emotions feel too big, side-stepping instead of facing head on, intimidated by the power of the water. I brace myself for crashing waves, for chaos, for being swept away. It’s instinct, but it’s also outdated. I woke up realizing how often I react like a storm is inevitable, when the truth is, I’m standing on solid ground. Even if the storm does come, I know what to do.
If I’d paused for just a moment—if I’d really seen the storm—I would have noticed it wasn’t a threat. It was out to sea, far enough away that I could have stayed steady. That panicked reaction, that scrambling for safety, is just an old response that doesn’t fit anymore.
And then there was the wind. The pull I thought was sucking me into the storm—it wasn’t coming from the waterspout at all. It was the wind, unseen but insistent, pushing me forward. It wasn’t trying to destroy me. It was trying to show me something: that I don’t need to hide. That I’m strong enough to face what’s in front of me. The elements themselves were showing me a truth I couldn’t ignore—how far I’ve come, how much steadiness I’ve built.
The Lesson of the Cancer Moon
This is the wisdom of Cancer: it’s about navigating the tides of emotion without losing yourself. The crab knows how to move between the solid ground and the pull of the sea, between safety and vulnerability. The shell is there when you need it, but it’s not meant to be your home forever. The Cancer Moon, standing opposite the Capricorn Sun, reminds us that we’ve already built the foundation. We are steady. We are safe.
Unbound: Leaving the Suitcase Behind
This Full Moon is asking us to notice what we’re still carrying—the stories, the shells, the suitcases we no longer need. It’s not about chaos or drama. It’s about clarity. About standing still and seeing clearly. About knowing that you’re unbound from those old narratives of drowning, of destruction.
So what does it mean to leave the suitcase behind? To stop clinging to the edges of safety? To trust that your identity isn’t something tied to where you’ve been, but something that exists here, now?
Maybe that’s the lesson. The shell isn’t what keeps you safe. The suitcase isn’t what makes you whole.
You are the safety. You are the foundation. You are unbound.
Woo did this come at the perfect time for me! Not letting that suitcase of old fears keep me from my current happiness, of feeling brave and the desire to be seen- looking at it in that way is so helpful and empowering!! ♥️🙌🏻