Virgo Full Moon

Practical Magic

full moon behind tree silhouette

  Chris Thomaidis/Getty Images

Virgo Full Moons mean that the sunny ginormous companion is in Pisces. Virgo and Pisces are signs of devotion and magic, all along the spectrum from the worldly to the otherworldly.

What's outstanding here is that at 4 degrees, the luminaries are intoxicated — and enchanted — by Neptune (in Pisces).

 Neptune relates to the imagination, and to the phenomenon of breaking through our own frames of perception to something beyond. The dreams of Neptune, or our own authentic eternal selves, have to make it past the gatekeepers within (beliefs). 

With this Full Moon, the Neptune lift and high makes it possible to see from that lofty plane. If there's a catharsis at the lunar peak, it could be a dissolving of beliefs that keep you from taking practical actions to change your life. 

This is a Full Moon for letting the imagination have full revelatory rein. It's also a big one for a rush of mystical images or feelings. You could get a flash glimpse of a bright, wholesome future.

I've recently been thinking about Jupiter Virgo, and how so much comes down to choosing what's natural over what's unnatural. This is kinda simple, but it appears that a dark force is driving humanity away from spirit and nature, and toward corruption, degradation and unnatural impulses. Look to nature and it's persistent wholeness and yin/yang balance for inspiration. 

Cleanse and Regenerate

Another potent feature is Mars Scorpio, making motivating angles to Pluto, and planets in visionary Aquarius (Venus and Mercury). 

What's divine about this, is that it reinforces that sense of breaking through that's there with Neptune. 

The bright idea is enough to motivate Mars to join with Pluto and raise the dead, and remove corrupting influences. This whole package creates an atmosphere for reunion — reuniting with your essential self, and getting psyched to shed a skin if necessary, to mark the occasion.  

Find this degree along the Virgo-Pisces axis to spiral in to the themes that could be up for you. I used these words of constant change to mirror the mutable nature of these two signs.

The mutable phase in each trio (cardinal, fixed, mutable) is the time of rearranging, loosening the fixed hold on how things have been. Here we get a mood lift, when we're flexible, and able to let old mindsets dissolve — tolerating the void like uncertainty — as a new awareness dawns.

 At the Virgo Full Moon, there's a high beam on the mind-body connection — how are thoughts, and what you digest affecting your body? The Sun is engaged, in Pisces, for spiritual vitality — heeding the messages of the soul (in dreams, knowings).

It's also a fertility peak and time for boosting your immune system with healthful living. Steer clear of junk of all kinds, and purify from degrading influences that have wafted in. 

Consistent Practices

In a time like ours, what practices are effective, in this process of accelerated change? It's not about being perfect, with perfectionism being a Virgo peccadillo.

Full Moons bring rising inner tides — the material of the psyche is surfacing. This Full Moon brings home the reality that it's useful (and a lifesaver) to have a basket of strategies that work in different situations.

This is a time to experiment, listening to the soul's promptings, on what will aid in the integration process. What gives you confidence, to ride the waves, and even if you're knocked down, find your center again? Sometimes what's needed is to Do Nothing — to simply let the waters wash over and trust the process.

Virgin Land, The Seed

The Full Moon is in Virgo, who is often depicted as an earth goddess, and maiden of the harvest. The Sun is in Virgo in September, and that's when we glean what's been sown in the Spring and Summer. But the roots of Virgo as earth goddess, holding an ear of corn, is traced to ancient Mesopotamia, according to Deborah Houlding of Skyscript UK.

Houlding writes of Virgo the Maiden that the Mesopotamians would have placed most significance upon the time that the full Moon illuminated its stars during the Sun's transit of Pisces. For the Mesopotamians this occurred in early spring, just as the first signs of corn appeared above the ground. Thus the Babylonian reference for the constellation was Ab Sin, 'the Furrow', depicting the virgin land about to bear its fruit."

And this is the thing - Virgo star lore is about both the harvest and the virgin land, where the seed is germinating. Writes Houlding, "Some have argued that the constellation depicts 'the woman and her seed,' with the palm branch being seen as an ancient symbol for the seed."

What are the elements needed to thrive? What combo from the infinite choices available take you where you want to go?

The Beauty of the Small

At the Full Moon, we're invited to manifest with sure-footedness, from a real grounded awareness. Virgo is a sign of presence, and one that observes the smallest details. A great expansion happens now from being here now - in your body, where you are. A great renewal comes from letting go of what keeps you from settling in, and knowing the power of presence.

What strikes to the nervous system cause you to escape from being present? This can be a time of clearing, simplifying and purifying. You become the Virgin, whole-unto-herself (or himself), able to take in new experiences, and be changed by them.

To see a World in a Grain of Sand,
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.
William Blake