Full Moon in Virgo 🐛

++ some personal updates ✨

Foggy morning on the Hudson River

It’s been awhile since I’ve been free to write in this space, but I am finally out from under the weight of studying and am relieved to report that I passed the SIE exam! This is the first of 3 exams I will be taking to become a registered financial representative and the challenge of learning a completely new set of skills in a completely new industry is a lot - it very much feels like I’m learning a different language and in some ways, I am. There seems to be an acronym for everything! I was a little nervous my 42 year old brain might not be able to memorize the way I did with ease in my college days, but the wheels are slowly turning again as I get used to it. The weeks leading up to my test were tough, I would wake in the middle of the night dreaming about bonds and options, which if you know anything about options, they are like being in an upside down world, where everything has an opposite meaning. My coworker said whoever created them must have been on LSD and I’ve had a few long strange trips in my life but they certainly didn’t involve this level of insanity.

In other news, my partner and I are engaged! It was a happy moment in an otherwise stressful few months and quite a surprise to see him put together a big romantic gesture after ten years together and raising three kids. It wasn’t really on my radar but I always joked that 43 was my cutoff age for marriage, so he made the cut by just a few months! I won’t go on and on with the personal updates but to bring it all back to astrology - the north node (where eclipses happen) is in Aries, which is my 7th House of marriage and relationships along with Chiron, the wounded healer - a poignant time for healing, change and growth in this area.

This weekend, we have the full moon of Pisces season, in Virgo, a mutable earth sign ruled by Mercury. The Pisces / Virgo axis balances the spiritual with the practical, the deep depths of emotion with the mundane. This feels especially poignant because the ruler of Virgo (Mercury) has just moved into Pisces, bringing focus to how we communicate with our subconscious. Is it through art, dreams, journaling, or prayer? Or do we do our best to ignore this part? Does it feel too etherial and spacey?

I have the natal placement Mercury in Pisces and I love to communicate(Mercury) through the lens of spirituality(Pisces), and I can easily feel other’s energy and auric fields. The downside of this placement is that I sometimes have trouble articulating myself and organizing my thoughts, as Pisces is ruled by Neptune- a dissolver of boundaries, so I can get a little “lost in the sauce” and forget where I end and others begin. I think my energy can feel intense to others because it’s penetrating. I am prone to anxiety and disassociation, something I’ve worked with and through for many years, balancing my sensitivity with practical action that keeps me grounded and in my body.

The tarot cards associated with Pisces are The Moon and The Hanged Man - the unconscious, the shadow self, dreams, creative energy, surrender, letting go - a lack of control. Interestingly, The Hanged Man was our card of the month in the February reading, so you may have been feeling the push and pull of resistance/ surrender. It’s really a game of cat and mouse with the ego and the higher self - we fight to control, to know, to defend ourselves. But The Hanged Man is relentless and will not rest until we surrender and go with the flow. A new perspective is waiting just outside our comfort zone and life will keep pushing us out further and further to that line until, at the end of our rope we reach out for a lifeline, and in that moment, clarity comes.

Pisces Tarot Cards

How do we balance out when we feel untethered and out of control? With the grounding energy of Virgo - The Empress, The Hermit and the Queen of Pentacles - the embodiment, the somatic practices, connection to earth energy - nature, physical movement, exciting the senses, food, craft, daily rituals as a prayer, mundane and practical acts of service.

The day I took my test and passed, I felt like my body kind of collapsed - tension I’d been holding for months took it’s toll and I had to address some of my own hormonal and physical imbalances. And I was really hard on myself for going so far over the line of “balance” and spent a few days in a tough mental space because of it. But I realized that maybe it was a bit of gift to go so far in one direction, because it made me questions where my edge is now. And it definitely feels different than where it used to be. What coping mechanisms felt good before ( a few glasses of wine), not so much anymore. Virgo will shed light on our physical health and the daily habits and routines that work and those that need to be re-worked. But we also have to be careful with perfectionism, a downside of Virgo - do I think that if I am good and right, that everything will be ok? If I just do everything perfectly, life will flow with ease. But it’s not always true, there is no “good or right”, there is no karmic reward system in place that guarantees me an easy time. I do yoga, I eat healthy, I meditate and do acupuncture and yet I still have perimenopausal symptoms?! Yes, my body speaks a language all it’s own and I it’s my job to listen, to trust it, to let change happen even though youth is everything in our culture and we cling and cling. Fuck, I’m aging….. wait, aren’t we all? Yes, this is a spell.

The one thing that Virgo and Pisces have in common is a pull inward to our intuition. The Hermit and The Moon are both cards that ask us to trust our own wisdom, to look at the deeper parts of ourselves, the parts that aren’t interested in projecting outward into the world, or at least we don’t always feel comfortable showing them or even communicating with them. But the wisdom that comes when we can get really quiet and face our fears or listen to our voice over the many many external opinions. It’s a real practice to discern what is ours over what is not. This is the magic of the work but it requires stillness and silence in a world full of noise and distraction.

Virgo Tarot Cards

I hope this full moon brings you some new clarity or a pushes you to try on a new perspective, I know the process isn’t always cute and if you’re feeling the squeeze, know I’m right there in it with you too! Wishing you full moon blessings and if you are into the rituals, I’ve got some suggestions below!

Full Moon in Virgo Ritual Suggestions

1- Pull out some of the cards connected to the themes of this full moon and sit and meditate with them, look at the imagery and journal what comes up for you, or set intentions for working with their energy. For Pisces you can use The Moon, The Hanged Man, The High Priestess, or the King or Queen of Cups. For Virgo, The Hermit, The Empress, The Queen of Pentacles, The Magician.

2- I love using the Virgo energy to make herbal tinctures, or go into kitchen witch mode and cook up something healthy and delicious!

3- Virgo loves organization so this could be the time you focus on decluttering your space, your inbox, your closet, your desk, etc. Full moons are a great time to release, donate, and rejuvenate any area that feels right.

4- This is a great time to embrace any kind of practice that helps you feel embodied and grounded - earth moves slow and steady so a small commitment for each day like - I will do 10 minutes of stretching before bed or drink 1 glass of lemon water before coffee would be very effective.

5- Creative / Spiritual practices like collaging or watercoloring (pisces) or kirtan feel nice right now

Thanks so much for being here!