The Sun is slowly moving out from Neptune’s dream-haze as it opposes today’s Full Moon in Virgo, sign of ritual preparations for future plenty and the anxieties that surround such endeavours. As always, the Full Moon indicates a moment of peak activity and culmination, and in Virgo we find ourselves appraising the harvest of recent efforts and events.
Mercury rules Virgo but on this lunation we find the planet of magic, mind, communication and business in the boundless oceanic flux of Pisces, the sign in which it was considered by the ancients to be in both its detriment and fall. Mercurial skills of discernment, strategy, critical analysis and the parsing of data, resources and information are debilitated in the emotionally flooded, mentally foggy realm of Pisces, but it’s also a richly fertile rock pool for poetic, mystical and creative communication and mythos.
Jupiter, planet of magnification and extremes, and Neptune, planet of imagination, delusion and forgiveness, are the ancient and modern rulers of Pisces, and they’re ruling together from their own temple for the first time since 1862. In the ocean of Pisces, Mercury, Neptune and the Sun are all enlarged by the influence of Jupiter, lending enormity to feelings and events, aspirations for the future and the delusions that would derail them, the burdens of work and recovery, and the potential for compassionate grace.
The Full Moon at 27 Virgo trines Pluto at 28 degrees of Capricorn as Pluto sextiles the Sun. This window of opportunity suggests the culmination of an intense period of trauma, toil and elimination, I hope. In a moment of catharsis, release and transformation, we see something extraordinary revealed beneath the smoking, flooded foundations of old structures that have been razed to the ground and recent catastrophes raise deeper questions about how we can forge a better way forward in the aftermath, though challenges remain ahead.
The Moon acts as a mirror and as she opposes each of the Pisces planets she activates them in turn. In Virgo she focuses our attention on getting things in order, on clearing and healing, and practicing rituals of intention, forgiveness, compassion and release. Most of all she begs the conscientious cultivation of trust: that the lessons we’re encountering now are precisely the ones we need to b e c o m e in accordance with a bigger vision. And for many, that is a very challenging task. But it’s especially worth remembering now with Venus besieged by the malefics. War god Mars sits at her back, god of authoritarian power, Saturn, dominating in Aquarius, in front.
Although the ability of Venus to exert positive influence now in diplomacy and economic recovery is severely limited there’s reason for optimism moving forward. Venus sextiles Chiron today, indicating the potential for tangible healing in relation to the wounds of identity and society. Chiron was the first centaur, an orphaned child of rape whose wounds ultimately facilitated the acquisition of wisdom, leading him to become the famous healer and teacher of heroes. Venus squares Uranus, planet of sudden changes, in her own sign Taurus - the domicile in which she traditionally presides as the ancient goddess of war, tomorrow. This intervention by Uranus, which temporarily breaks up the enclosure of Venus by the malefics, triggers unexpected plot changes, acts of rebellion and breakthroughs related to women, finance, diplomacy, relationships, creativity and beauty, and could result in genuine breakthroughs that bring a degree of liberation.
The besiegement of Venus intensifies on March 20, however, as she comes within 7 degrees of Saturn. It’s also the day on which Venus reaches her maximum elongation from the Sun, when she’s shining brightest in the pre-dawn sky, making her equally energised and limited in her capacity to act. But Venus has learned a thing or two in the enormously transformative ordeals of recent months, and as she approaches her conjunction with Saturn on March 28, it’s as if she’s shoring up strategies to exert maximum diplomatic prowess. Saturn is exalted in Venus’ sign of Libra and there’s a good chance that she may be persuasive. Venus finally breaks free of the malefics on March 29 and on April 6 she will move into her exaltation in Pisces as Jupiter edges closer towards Neptune. The first and second weeks of April are monumental, containing both incredibly transcendent creative and relational potential, and the possibility of an intensification of the kinds of recent catastrophes we’ve already been witnessing. However, with Venus in exaltation, I’m deeply hopeful about the potential of her harmonising influence.
But back to this week. The Sun will move into 0 Aries in the early hours of March 21, the sign of its exaltation, which marks the Autumn/Spring Equinox and the beginning of the new astrological year. On the same afternoon, Mercury, god of acumen conjoins Jupiter, god of belief at 18 Pisces, highlighting the potential for synthesis between contrasting forms of intelligence. It suggests a new way of mentally approaching a situation that combines micro and macro scales of perception, optimistic analysis and visionary thinking. It’s a hopeful indication on the Equinox when the Earth itself attains a moment of balance, that we too may find equilibrium between the conflicting parts of our own psyches, perceptions and beliefs. It’s another moment worth ritualising. Today’s Virgo Full Moon is especially ripe for Virgoan/Piscean rituals that involve practical, earthy, sacred actions and offerings that harness intentions for healing, compassion, abundance and wisdom for the year ahead.
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