Full Moon in Virgo: The Power of Choice
Full Moon 5°20 Virgo
February 24
7:30 AM EST/ 5:30 AM MST/4:30 AM PST
Tomorrow, Sunday, February 18, we enter Pisces season. Six days later, on February 24, there is a Full Moon at 5° Virgo. This is the last full Moon before eclipse season begins at the next full Moon on March 25.
I took this image of the Moon this morning shortly before sunrise. It was hauntingly beautiful to me and very symbolic of the precise we are standing on collectively. It brought to mind Prospero’s famous quote in Shakespeare’s The Tempest “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”
When the Moon is Full the Sun and the Moon are in opposition to each other. In the language of astrology, this is referred to as a polarity. Similar to life, astrological understanding requires reconciling opposites. There are twelve signs and six polarities. Aries/Libra, Taurus/Scorpio, Gemini/Sagittarius, Cancer/Capricorn, Leo Aquarius, and finally Virgo/Pisces. In many ways, a Full Moon innately is about the tension of opposites.
We contain all of the signs/polarities within our charts and thus within our lives. Each one is asking us to develop certain qualities. Some may be more emphasized than others in our individual charts yet they are all part of our journey. All of them bring a particular wisdom that we can consciously develop.
For the longest time, the Virgo/Pisces polarity was somewhat mystifying to me. I understood the cookbook definitions but what was it asking from me? From my clients where it was emphasized? In other words, what did it archetypally really desire, what evolution was it calling forth?
Both signs have the idea of serving or suffering associated with them. But serving what?
On many levels, I often feel that Virgo is the zodiac's most misunderstood sign. It has had a bad rap, often associated with anal, fanatically neat personalities…perfectionism. And the dark side of Virgo can certainly go there.
Virgo is a sign connected with discernment. With assimilation. At its best Virgo desires that we focus on what is right and removes, essentially decluttering, what isn’t necessary to the whole. Virgo yearns to bring order out of chaos. Virgo is about becoming aware of the details and then from this awareness consciously making a choice. Used well it helps us focus and direct our energy allowing us to do the work necessary to bring our creations into being. The choices we make determine the path of our life.
The choices we make have a vast reach and spin a web that connects to everything within our lives. And even postponing or not making a choice is a choice that comes with consequences. Choices are cause and effect in action.
This Virgo Full Moon follows up on the question that began during the recent Aquarius New Moon. That New Moon asked what ideas are you moving, spreading through yourself and the world. As we know in this age ideas can “go viral.” And they do from my perspective act virally within our lives. In the same manner, we can become infected with the flu (a virus) we become infected with ideas about ourselves and the world. Some of these ideas serve us and some sabotage.
The Sabian Symbols were born in San Diego, California, in 1925 by Marc Edmund Jones, an American astrologer and spiritualist, and the gifted clairvoyant Elsie Wheeler. Jones was interested in finding a set of word images to go with every degree of the zodiac and believed that Elsie Wheeler had tapped into what he called the ‘ancient mind matrix’ of the Sabian alchemists of ancient Mesopotamia, The entire set of Sabian Symbols was visualized and recorded in one day. They provide a deep and subtle understanding of each of these degrees, the points within the zodiac, that can deepen our perception and be used for discernment. Jones called them “catalysts for the astrologer’s higher understanding.”
The Sabian symbol for the degree of this Full Moon is “A merry-go-round.” This represents the cyclical nature of life. That every turn of the merry-go-round, every pattern we see recurring, presents an opportunity for deeper understanding and integration. Each turn represents the opportunity for a new choice. A new deepening of our experience that offers a richness if we are open to it.
Pisces and Virgo, the two energies alchemically being mixed during this Full Moon need each other. Pisces needs the polarity of Virgo to bring its boundless inspirations into being. Pisces needs focus, and Virgo needs the inspiration and compassion of Pisces for its creations. Virgo is the vessel that is the receptacle of the universe’s (Pisces) boundless creative energy so that it can be contained and focused. Without the compassion and vision of Pisces, the vessel is empty. Together they feed each other.
While this just scratches the surface, here is one of the more powerful ways that you can look at this polarity: Wherever Virgo/Pisces lies in your chart you are being asked to consciously look at what you are devoted to and then focus on how you demonstrate that in the actual nuts and bolts of everyday life. In other words, how do you make your visions a reality?
This brings us back to the power of being aware of the ideas that our virally moving through us. They are what connects us to all of this.
This Full Moon presents a moment to consider, to ask ourselves, how do we go about balancing the polarities, the tension of opposites, within our lives and ourselves?”
Consciously or unconsciously we are all devoted/committed to certain things within our lives. If you are not sure what you are or have been devoted to simply take a good look around at the details of your daily life. Those details will reflect the current commitments you have, both conscious and unconscious. During a Full Moon, the Moon is bright because it is reflecting the light of the Sun. Similarly, life will mirror back to you who you are being. Then it is up to you to choose and practice (Virgo) who and what you are going to serve. You can either serve the greater vision or your insecurities (Pisces).
Consciousness is the substance between the matter of dreams or nightmares. As I write this I am reminded of this statement: Before enlightenment: Chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment: Chop Wood and Carry Water. The Virgo/ Pisces polarity points to where you must serve the greater vision that you carry within and do the necessary work to make it a reality. Try to think of it as your soul's genetic code, its energy is directed towards blooming into a deeper more profound expression of itself.
Astrologically we are all made up of the same twelve signs, the same 10 planets, and the same twelve houses. we are all made up of the same archetypal quintessence. Our interconnection is reflected through our charts, though we have different proportions arranged in different manners simultaneously reflecting our uniqueness. This also seems very Virgo/Pisces to me.
Use this Virgo Moon to begin taking stock of what is no longer serving you and take small steps to release it. Declutter your closets, reorganize your kitchen, go through your books, and shred documents you no longer need. Make space. A new reality is on the horizon.
