Transitions— Full Moon in Virgo February 24th.
All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves. We must die to one life before we can enter another—Anatole France.
We are two moon cycles away from the spring Equinox. On March 20th, the sun enters fiery Aries at the start of the astrological new year and the beginning of spring.
As the days lengthen here in the north, and the seasons begin to shift, we may already be feeling the urge to spring clean our homes or to unburden ourselves of something that has been pressing heavily on our heart.
For so many, this has been a quixotic month. Abruptly, the lives of hundreds of people have been upended as news of the insolvency of The Body Shop in Europe and the UK has left hundreds of people shocked, shaken, suddenly jobless. For some this month has delivered news of a new arrival in the family; a birth or an engagement to be celebrated. For others the death of a beloved still reverberates. On February 16th, as Mars separated from a razor-sharp conjunction with Pluto and Venus poised on her threshold crossing into Aquarius (ethics, social causes, political issues, social restlessness), we learnt of the death of Alexi Navalny, charismatic Russian activist and courageous opponent of Putin. Alexi Navalny died in a grim Arctic prison (Pluto at 0° Aquarius square his Chiron in Taurus.) He was 47.
February may be the shortest month of the year, but human-made global warming and an El Niño heating surge have accelerated sea-surface temperatures. Meteorologists now predict that this February will be the hottest in recorded history. Extreme weather events in California in the first week of February will be amplified in other places as Jupiter advances on Uranus in Taurus. The exact Jupiter/Uranus conjunction occurs on April 21st (21° 49′ Taurus) and will be within an 8-degree orb from 2nd March to 5th June.
On February 24th, a modest Virgo Moon opposes the Sun in Pisces signifying some of the tension and ambiguity we may feel amidst the collective angst. Virgo and Pisces are mutable, transitional signs, and both embody qualities we may recognise in ourselves as we move through this crucible of change.
This full Moon (5° Virgo) illuminates that part of our birth chart where we spend most of our daily lives. She precides over the quiet rhythms and routines that root us in seemingly ordinary tasks. 
Virgo carries the energy of pared down simplicity. The essence of Virgo is a focused dedication to our craft, the loving attention we devote to the health and wellbeing of our body and mind. The Moon trines Jupiter in Taurus which may amplify, accelerate, or bring to our attention the need for gentle self-acceptance or a soothing practice of self-care that brings a sense of peace and calm to our daily lives. At this time of high tides and heightened intuition, we may be re-imagining our lives, prioritising self-care and spiritual practice to bolster our resilience as the ripples of change ebb and flow through our lives. Executive coach, Vanessa Loder speaks about “following our energetic breadcrumbs,” a daily choice, a tiny moment, that we can all feel into when we begin to focus our attention to those seemingly ordinary encounters.
Earth is Virgo’s element, and Virgoan qualities are so often depicted in fairy tale where the heroine of the story performs tasks with humility and attention to detail. Humility derives from the Latin, humilis—down low, on the ground or of the earth. And as the Moon travels across the heavens tonight, opposing the Sun, Mercury and Saturn in Pisces, she may shine her light on those small disciplines, the little things that tether us to this earth at decisive threshold crossings.
The Sun moved into watery Pisces on February 19th (Pisces corresponds to our lymphatic system, our feet and toes, while Virgo’s domain is our digestive organs) so this full Moon brings our focus on the quality and origin of the foods we assimilate, the health of our colon, our immune system and the comfort of our feet. Mercury (how we think, re-imagine our lives and our relationships, and how we communicate) and Saturn (responsibility, hard work, structure and boundaries) both in shape-shifting Pisces, oppose the full Moon, highlighting the need for discernment and responsibility as we make our own tender transition into a new phase of life.
In letters exchanged between Boris Pasternak and Olga Ivinskaya, this moment of recognition and deep listening is so beautifully described: “when a great moment knocks on the door of your life, its sound is often no louder than the beating of your heart and it is very easy to miss it.”
As this ripe-bellied Moon stirs the tides and moves the liquids in our bodies, may we refine our listening in the stillness of the night and withdraw awhile from the rough edges of this world allowing silence to wash over us like a spring tide. “Women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves” Anne Morrow Lindbergh reminds us in her beautiful book, Gift from the Sea.
In the book of Ecclesiastes, we are reminded of the right timing for all things here on earth: To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens.
Now, with attention to detail and humble hearts, let us prepare for a new threshold crossing.
For a private astrology consultation, please get in touch: ingrid@trueheartwork.com
These beautiful illustrations are by Swedish painter John Albert Baurer (1882 –1918.)
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