VIRGO FULL MOON - 19 February 2019

Exact at 3.53pm GMT, 10.53am EST

This Full Moon is the second of three full moon/supermoons in a row, and also the second of three full moons in the very first degree of the sign they are in, which makes it feel like we are currently entering new territory.  In fact, this is the largest moon of this year, being the closest to the earth. Supermoons have a stronger impact than usual on our emotions, bodies and spirits. For those lucky enough to have clear skies and a good view it will be a sight to behold as it comes up over the horizon! This Full Moon occurs on the healing axis, with the Sun having just moved into sensitive, compassionate and intuitive Pisces and the Moon directly opposite in humble, analytical and helpful Virgo. Anyone with personal planets near the first degree of the mutable signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces will probably feel the effects of this Moon the strongest. However, with Chiron the Wounded Healer having just moved into the first degree of Aries, and Uranus also about to move signs, any personal planets around the first degree of a sign will be experiencing some action!

Full Moons can have a big effect on our emotions, and tend to bring things to a head, especially in the realms of our relationships. Whatever might have been gestating since the New Moon now comes up for full expression and is very much illuminated by the bright light of the moon at her fullest! We may become aware of any imbalance within us between the energy of the two signs in question, and the onus is on us to try and find some balance rather than teetering one way or another. While Virgo represents that part of us that can be quite hard on ourselves, mercilessly over-analysing our shortcomings and being our own worst critic, Pisces helps us to practice the art of self-forgiveness, acceptance and unconditional love towards ourselves and others. On the other hand, while Pisces is that part of ourselves that can fall into victim mode, feeling like we are the mercy of forces larger than ourselves, Virgo can help us to take responsibility for ourselves and take practical steps to improve our situation. While the Pisces in us might allow others to trespass over our boundaries, Virgo helps us to develop the art of discernment, recognising who and what is good for us and who and what is not serving us at all, and making decisions based on that.

Virgo is the part of us that seeks to humble ourselves and to be of service to others while Pisces is capable of true devotion and unconditional love. Obviously we could go too far with this and become subservient or find ourselves helping everyone else to the detriment of our own well-being. This Moon asks us to practice the art of self-care; because if we don’t love and care for ourselves then we’ve got nothing to give others! This is the healing axis and so we are asked to tend to all parts of ourselves with tender loving care; mind, body and spirit. This could be a very good moon for getting out into nature and connecting to spirit. It is also great for experiencing some kind of healing modality, or for some kind or purification practice.

These are the questions we might ask during this Moon: How can I truly be of service to humanity? Is the work I am doing truly meaningful? Do I make myself small in order to make other people feel comfortable? How can I be kinder to myself? What kind of escapist tendencies might I need to change? Where in my life am I burying my head in the sand and refusing to face reality? What practices or routines can I set up that well help me develop a closer connection to spirit? What do I need to forgive or accept, both in myself and others? Where am I overly critical or perfectionistic, or far too sloppy and lackadaisical? How might whatever crisis I am facing help me to grow? Where in my life to I need to just let go and flow? Do I need more rest, and how can I give that to myself? Do I have a tendency to stay busy in order to avoid myself? What in my life is need of healing and unconditional love right now? Wherever Virgo and Pisces are found in our chart can show where these questions might apply to us.

Chiron, the Wounded Healer, will move into Aries literally the day before this Full Moon and will be there until 2027. This will signify a shift for us all in terms of our healing journey. What is up for healing while Chiron is in Aries? Well, Aries in the sign of “I am”. Chiron represents our core wounds and also helps us to connect to our higher self and our capacity to heal others. Chiron in Aries could bring up a healing crisis around Aries issues such as assertion, anger, aggression, domination, war, our right to be here and to exist, our identity, independence, our animal instincts, our need to be individuals in our own right, meeting our own needs, the urge to separate from our family and forge our own path; these are all areas that could come up for healing while Chiron is in this forthright, headstrong and independent sign. Interestingly enough, Chiron is forming an exact quincunx “crisis” aspect with the Virgo Moon, so it is possible that we could experience some kind of healing crisis as this Moon become full. Again, those of us with planets around zero degrees of a sign will feel this more acutely.

In the same token, Chiron in courageous and pioneering Aries could also help us to be brave enough to go further into our healing journey than ever before, facing our core wounds and being completely honest with ourselves and others about our insecurities and sore spots. In the same token we can help those close to us to do the same, bringing material out into the open that we may usually find it hard to face and calling a spade a spade. This is helped by Mars, the ruler of Aries, forming a helpful trine aspect to the Moon during this Full Moon. Where might we need to be more brave or assertive, and do we have some healing to do around our relationship with anger? Chiron in Aries can really help us to embody the sacred warrior and to assert ourselves when needed. Chiron also taught Hercules, Achilles and others the art of warfare, as well as being a gifted healer! While Chiron is in Aries we could become more aware of our “raison d’etre”, connecting more with our sacred and unique mission, our higher purpose on this earth. Aries is that part of us that requires the freedom and independence to discover who we are and what we are here to do, and Chiron could help us to do just that.

Even though the Sun will be entering gentle, sensitive and compassionate Pisces on Tuesday, there is rather a lot of Capricorn activity at the moment! Venus will be sandwiched between Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn during this Full Moon, which could bring up a lot of material around how we relate to ourselves and others. On Monday Venus will join forces with Saturn, which on the one hand could make it hard to truly express what we are feeling and may cause us to feel a bit more cut off or withhold affection from one another. It is certainly not the most demonstrative place for the planet of love to be right now! Rather, we could be more aware of our responsibilities within our relationships, which could feel quite heavy, and we may be urged to honour our commitments more deeply. Saturn represents authority, control, duty, limitation and societal pressures, so these may be a factor within our relationships during this time. It could be a time of facing reality within our relationships and taking care of any practical considerations. It is also possible that we come face to face with our conditioning and how it impacts the way we relate to those closest to us. The closer we get, the more aware we are of how we have been “taught” to relate and how it might help or hinder us.

After this Venus will move from Saturn onto Pluto, finally catching up with this powerfully intense planet on Saturday 22 February. As such, next week could be a challenging yet rewarding week for our relationships! First the reality check with Saturn, and then some real soul searching with Pluto, who asks us to dig deep and be absolutely and completely emotionally honest with ourselves and our loved ones. Pluto can bring to the fore our subconscious compulsions within the realms of our relationships and could bring out jealousy, possessiveness, manipulation, trust issues, power games and anything that we might usually prefer to sweep under the carpet or deny the existence of. This is a great opportunity to deepen intimacy, although this could come about as a result of us facing our shadows and showing our loved ones the not so pretty side of ourselves. Ultimately this next week could bring a deepening and transformation of our relationships, although it also has the potential to makes us much more aware of the flaws and cracks.

Venus will then move from Pluto towards the South Node of the Moon in Capricorn, where it will finally merge on Monday 25 February. Quite a journey for our relationships and sense of self-worth! The South Node represents past patterns that may be familiar and could give us a sense of security, but which ultimately no longer serve us. As such, we could be forced back into our past somehow with regard to our relationships, possibly because there is something there for us to learn from. It is also possible that we become uncomfortably aware of how our parents, schooling and society, in this and other lives, have had an impact on the way we relate to ourselves and our loved ones. This could be an ideal opportunity to recognise the patterns of relating that are not helpful, or the ways that we hold back our true feelings out of fear, or control ourselves and others to avoid being vulnerable.  This transit could ultimately help us to move past some big blocks to our growth, but not without having to face some uncomfortable material and step outside of our safe, familiar territory!

Just to finish up, as there is so much going on right now that I could keep talking for pages; the two rulers of the Pisces Sun and Virgo Moon, Neptune and Mercury, are joining forces in Pisces during this Full Moon! This is very interesting, as it could help us to find the balance between the energy of Pisces and Virgo. This combination asks us to trust the subtle whisper of our intuition and listen to our guidance, in whatever form it comes. This could be a very good time to pay attention to our dreams.  Mercury represents the way we think, process information and communicate, and combined with Neptune we could struggle to make ourselves clear, so it is important to be aware of the potential for misunderstandings. We could also find it hard to think straight, finding ourselves daydreaming or experiencing difficulty concentrating, and so this could be a good time to allow our minds a bit of a rest and not make concrete decisions. Deception is possible during this time, as we may either conceal the truth from others, and vice versa, or not be willing to face reality. It is far better to simply allow our intuitive right brain to run the show, and trust that we are being shown the right way to go. This could be a time of amazing healing if we are able to be honest with ourselves and allow ourselves to be shown where our sore spots are.

Much Love

Amy

xoxo

Picture: Healing Dream by Marcia Snedecor

My website: www.amybirdartandastrology.com