Full Moon in Virgo

The Full Moon in Virgo on 24 February 2024 involves the dualism of light and darkness to an unusual degree. Like glowing embers in a lantern giving some measure of light to a shadowy passage, like fire kindled within a black cavern of mystery, the Virgo Full Moon holds a paradoxical balance of light and darkness, death and rebirth. We have been in a time of immense death and grief in world affairs, with numerous regional conflicts around the world full of bloodshed and terror. While recent astrological transits have had correspondence with explosive power dynamics exacerbating conflict, we simultaneously will be living through other astrological cycles in the months ahead that correspond with the innovations of new life and liberation, direct action that emancipates the marginalized and takes down the powerful. The Virgo Full Moon will illuminate the difficulties of everything we perceive that’s out of alignment with our ideal, yet simultaneously may kindle hope for what we may organize and set into motion within our personal spheres of influence.

The Virgo Moon is in the earthy domicile and exaltation of Mercury, while the Moon is separating from an opposition with Mercury and applying to an opposition with Saturn in Pisces. Meanwhile, both Mercury and Saturn are in their invisible phases of darkness, transiting too close to the Sun to be seen. Thus the difficulties of the opposition may be felt in the unseen, within inner turnings of mind, as well as behind the closed doors of power dynamics away from the spotlight. However, engaging in contemplation during this time period may yield extremely important realizations of what needs to be changed, reorganized, or reordered in our life, especially in regard to your relationship with the transit of Saturn in Pisces that began on 7 March 2023. Saturn is ending a cycle and on 28 February will be reanimated by the Sun for the first time in Pisces; as a result, we may feel drawn to things ending, in need of release, or involved in processes of purification.

Themes of purification, release, and the clarifying contemplation that can come with shedding a past cycle will all be amplified by Mercury in Pisces ending a cycle at the same time as Saturn. Remarkably, Mercury and Saturn will form their exact conjunction with the Sun on 28 February within thirteen hours of one another. The Full Moon will thus illuminate the ending of the cycles of Mercury and Saturn, with the waning Moon in the week ahead aligning with the purifying purging, cathartic release, and revelatory regeneration of their solar unions. Powerful ideas and seeds of future development can be planted at this time in the watery, imaginatively fertile terrain of Pisces. Yet the illusory force of the spirit of the times must be faced. The more we can descend into the depths of our own authentic being, the more we will be able to more effectively navigate through the illusory hall of mirrors found within current events.

Saturn and the Sun conjoining is a union of opposites. The decentering of Saturn is in opposition to the centralizing coherence of the Sun, similar to the polarity between Aquarius and Leo. While the Sun is at the center of our solar system, Saturn is the furthest visible planet that is closest to the multiplicity of the fixed stars beyond. While Saturn can decenter through bringing us into relationship with death, decay, and what lies beyond our mortal existence in the ancestral dimension, the star of Kronos can also bring us into contact with the imaginal awareness of the cosmic multiplicity found within through experiences of profound contemplation. As Mercury and Saturn simultaneously end and begin new cycles in the week following the Virgo Full Moon, make space for reflection and examining your life deeply for what needs modification, correction, reorganization, or redirection.

There is a further link with inner reflection aiding navigation through the proximity of the Full Moon at 05°23′ Virgo with the projected degree of stars in the circumpolar constellations Ursa Major (El Kophrah and Alula Borealis) and Draco (Thuban). As the circumpolar stars sit atop the axis mundi, or world tree of our earthly existence, as well as have a long tradition of aiding navigation across treacherous seas, their proximity by projection with the lunation is a further indication that making space for deep inner reflection may bring rewarding insights, even if some of the truths uncovered are uncomfortable. If feeling overwhelmed and at risk of becoming lost at sea, look around for the support that may uplift and provide a rising tide to reach the other side.

After the Virgo Moon opposes Saturn, the Moon will immediately form a flowing trine aspect with Jupiter in Taurus that signifies the support of new life and hope. Indeed, an important underlying influence of the lunation is the harmonious sextile between Jupiter in Taurus and Saturn in the watery domicile of Jupiter. Jupiter and Saturn have been involved in a prolonged period of separating from an exact sextile with one another, especially since 24 December 2023 when Saturn and Jupiter moved within three degrees of an exact sextile. What have you been building, developing, or cultivating over the course of recent months? The separating sextile between Jupiter and Saturn is a helpful support that points to the possibility of securing foundations and making practical, grounded effort that will support long range plans of development. Later in 2024 after Jupiter leaves Taurus to enter Gemini, Saturn and Jupiter will come into the dynamic tension of their waxing square aspect which will include Saturn testing the structural integrity of your plans and projects. Just over one degree from an exact sextile during the Virgo Full Moon, Jupiter and Saturn will stay within three degrees of a sextile for essentially the next month. The work done now will pay off later.

Jupiter in Taurus is important not only for being the lord of Pisces where Mercury, Saturn, and the Sun are presently transiting, but also because Venus and Mars in Aquarius are applying to a catalyzing square aspect with Jupiter during the Virgo Full Moon. Venus and Mars in Aquarius are separating from their conjunction on 21 February and so we are still at an early stage of attuning to the meaning of their new cycle. Venus and Mars also ended and began their new cycle in close proximity with Pluto in Aquarius, amplifying the potency of their new cycle and the ways it also involves orientating to the ways in which the recent entrance of Pluto into Aquarius is beginning to reshape storylines. Venus and Mars coming together can bring conflict, but there can also be important realizations about how we need to change in relationship that come through the associated difficulties. Moreover, the union of Venus and Mars can also coincide with potent revitalization of creativity and setting new life into motion – all of this is further amplified by their tension with Jupiter in Taurus.

In particular, the waning square from Venus to Jupiter is significant due to Jupiter occupying the earthy domicile of Venus. Your own personal experience of whatever has occurred with Venus encountering Pluto and Mars in Aquarius is important to consider in terms of the meaning found in Venus being released from the intensity of Pluto and Mars into a more generous meeting with Jupiter in her own home. In general, the exchange between Jupiter and Venus will bring support, and as Venus moves through her square with Jupiter on 24 February into her square with Uranus that she will complete on 3 March, there may be impulses to leap ahead with accelerated development. The activation of the impending Jupiter alignment with Uranus by Venus will stoke desire to break new ground, activating desires to break through to another level of creative expression and invention, or take direct action on behalf of your values and sense of justice to create social change. Keep in mind that Mars will simultaneously complete a square with Jupiter on 27 February and then will also apply to a square with Uranus that will complete on 9 March, creating a lot of volatility and continued increases in conflict in world events. We are entering a dynamic period of astrology that will peak with the eclipse cycle coming in March and April.

Although Chiron in Aries is not forming a major aspect with the Virgo Full Moon, he is engaged in a conjunction with the North Node of the Moon. Chiron already formed a conjunction with the true calculation of the North Node on 19 February, and will form a conjunction with the mean calculation on 5 March, placing the Virgo Full Moon in the middle of an extended period in which Chiron is tending the northern gate of the Moon. A few days after the Full Moon on 27 February, the Moon in Libra will conjoin her own South Node while also forming an opposition with Chiron. In spite of whatever inner wounds or toxicity becomes exposed through Chiron’s alignment with the North Node of the Moon, there can be supremely important guidance found whenever the Moon comes into contact with Chiron and his proximity to her northern node. Staying with whatever trouble comes up through Chiron typically leads us into the places that need our attention and focus no matter how difficult. At its best Chiron can bring the necessary courage and mentorship to persevere through present challenges.

Virgo 1 Decan

The Full Moon will illuminate the first decan of Virgo, associated with the Eight of Pentacles illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. In the image of the Eight of Pentacles a craftsman is fully engrossed with his art, concentrating with full attention and focus in the moment. This image evokes the importance of taking things step by step, one task at a time, completing each aspect of the process with loving care and attention. The light of the mind illuminating the task at hand in the Eight of Pentacles image is fitting due to the first decan of Virgo being the face of the Sun. T Susan Chang in 36 Secrets described the Eight of Pentacles as emphasizing “the satisfaction of quiet competence” that is found in daily tasks and the backstage processes away from the spotlight, “for in obscurity, the hidden light is burnished to its greatest shine.”

Austin Coppock in 36 Faces ascribed the image of “A Tree Bearing Fruit” to the first decan of Virgo, noting the prevalence of images associated with “fruitful works” developed through “humble observation of, and careful tending to, the created world” in ancient texts. Coppock noted the significance of the “humility” present in the Eight of Pentacles image, writing that “the old apprentice represents a willingness to put away pride and submit instead to the demands of the craft itself.” While the Sun is the ruler of the first decan of Virgo in one system, Mercury is also considered to be a ruler of this face in the triplicity rulership scheme. The combination of Sun and Mercury with the first decan of Virgo points toward a potent animistic capacity for relating to the spirit of the land within this face.

Indeed, Austin Coppock in 36 Faces described the first decan of Virgo as essentially being connected with watching, listening, and tending to the creative processes of Nature rather than imposing or forcing one’s will “rashly.” Careful tending of terrain fits well with the fact that both the Picatrix as well as Three Books of Occult Philosophy give agricultural images to this face involving sowing, plowing, and gathering a harvest and wealth. The chthonic nature of this face is further shown in the image found within Liber Hermetis of “a serpent put together awry” whose “head is the likeness of the Moon.” Coppock wrote that the first face of Virgo invites us “into the mysteries of incarnation . . . the prudence of postponing delight until the fruit is ripe.” While Coppock noted the first decan of Virgo involves “humility” at a core level, “it results in works of surprising glory.”

The Hellenistic text the 36 Airs ascribed the Titaness Themis, the divine embodiment of order and natural law, to the first face of Virgo.  To Coppock, the presence of Themis in the first decan of Virgo is significant in relation to “mindfulness” and “observance of divine law,” as Themis spoke with the voice of the Earth from her seat at the Oracle of Delphi. In some stories Themis built the Oracle of Delphi, whereas in others she received it from Gaia before passing it on to Apollo. In any case, the divine order of Themis found within the first face of Virgo carries the gravitas of oracles, weighing matters on her scales in accordance with divine, natural law rather than the regulations constructed by humans. In the ancient Greek play Prometheus Bound, Themis is none other than the mother of Prometheus and the one who gave him his gift of foreknowledge. With Mercury and Saturn simultaneously ending cycles with the Sun during the lunation, approach the messages and insights you receive with the humility you would bring to decipering an omen. Under the radiant light of the Vigo Moon, let the sword of Themis cut through confusion so that you may come into deeper relationship with the creative process you need to tend and nurture.

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References

Chang, T. Susan. (2021). 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot. Anima Mundi Press.

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans. Three Hands Press.