Once upon a time, Brihaspati, overlord of Jupiter, was married to a beautiful woman, Tara. Brihaspati was the priest of Gods with utmost integrity & sense of duty. This kept him always busy performing ceremonies & rituals for the Gods & demigods. Well, that was his career & he gave it his undivided attention, many-a-times at the expense of paying attention to his wife. One day, Chandra, the overlord of Moon, noticed Tara & was enchanted by her beauty. Chandra was extremely charming, romantic, flirtatious & just enough promiscuous that Tara’s marriage to Brihaspati didn’t stop him from pursuing her. Eventually, Tara melted & fell so deeply in love with Chandra & his charisma that she eloped with him. This led to an enormous scandal that shook the dogmatic structure of not only Brihaspati but the kingdom of Gods. All Gods threatened Chandra to return Tara to Brihaspati which resulted in a war. The potential for destruction was so immense that Tara returns to Brihaspati, albeit pregnant. The child born out of wedlock is Buddha, overlord of Mercury. Brihaspati accepts Buddha & raises him as his own
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This story describes the essence of Pushya nakshatra & the energy of this full moon. Pushya is represented by the breasts or cow’s udder, symbolizing nurturing from the parent. Planets in this nakshatra are often vacillating between unconditional love & relational (romantic) love. Healthy adult relationships involve, healthy give & take, a Venus lesson. A mother’s love to her infant however is unconditional. As the child grows up, most parent-child relationship evolve from one-way unconditional love to conditional adult relating. This is a tough transition. The mother is used to the child needing her, even if breast-feeding is painful – cracked, sore & bleeding nipples while constantly pumping doesn’t stop the outpour of mother’s love. Children eventually grow up & individuate, needing their mother’s less, creating a crisis of identity for the mother. Often (not always) this leads to a feeling of martyrdom or sacrificial love. See, Pushya nakshatra is very dutiful, as illustrated by Brihaspati’s story, inclining towards loving & nurturing as a form of duty, divorced from its pure essence
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The struggle with conditional & unconditional love gets heightened in this nakshatra. Where one needs to exercise adult relating, Pushya, tends to either practice unconditional love – acting like a parent to their romantic partners, or completely check out – escaping into their religions / organizational duties. Where one needs to outpour unconditional love, like a mother to an infant, Pushya tends to feel like a sacrificial lamb. This full moon highlights this oscillation within each one of us, demanding greater awareness 
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Saturn’s mutual aspect from Capricorn on this full moon may feel like an added pressure to show up for responsibilities towards our creations (business / art / children / pets) in a structured way. Jupiter’s mutual gaze from Capricorn might allow for one to see the grace in this highly organized, almost restrictive, environment. One-way aspect from Mars in Aries might motivate us to take disciplined action towards a life we desire to create & any inaction may lead to volatile internal frustrations. The Moon, our mind, in Cancer is learning to:
- get clear about love (romantic versus maternal / parental),
- structure our lives so that we allow emotions & sensitivity while not being overwhelmed by them,
- release victimhood or martyrdom from things we have done out of love,
- show up fully for our relationships with children & equal adults, &
- not use our worldly duties, responsibilities, or careers to escape from deep heart-to-heart connections
pc: bonobology.com and templepurohit.com
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