The greatest weapon against stress
Is our ability to choose
one thought over another.
William James
The Full Moon March 9, 2020 is Super Moon when the Moon, in its orbit, comes as close as possible to the earth.
As with each Full Moon, water levels and emotions run high. It is a time where the growth from the intention and action over the last weeks culminates in breakthrough, crisis and/or completion of what was begun.
The seven planets in earth signs bring focus to the practical and the useful
Accomplishing something substantive is indicated (Moon trine to Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto). However, focus of what we wish to accomplish is best focused on the small, and less on the grand. Attention to a detail can create a shift that has a substantive ripple effect. A small adjustment can change a whole dynamic.
Virgo, the earth sign of the harvest, excels at sorting the wheat from the chaff. We are encouraged to narrow our focus to discern the elements of our life that are of use and separate out what is not useful. Virgo has an eye for order. In looking at our lives, we can zero in on the detail to clean, organize and streamline. It is less about seeing the forest and more about honing in on what is happening at the root, the bark and the bud of a single tree.
The Full Moon encourages us to examine our patterns of thinking, noting what thought processes increase or decreases our stress level.
There is a strong mental component to Virgo. Even though it is an earth sign, it is ruled by Mercury. While the full Moon energy is good for cleaning out a closet, reconciling a budget, or going over a detailed plan, it is equally beneficial, and perhaps even more impactful, for us to give attention to our thought processes and their effect on our wellbeing. It is about curbing harsh judgement and criticism and about developing discernment and appropriate action.
Our minds are especially active, even super-charged as Mercury stations and readies to go direct after being Retrograde since February 16. With Mercury in Aquarius, we have the ability to step outside the box of our habitual way of thinking about a situation and see things from a fresh perspective. The situation will not have changed, but our perception of it may be altered in a way that creates a more empowered, practical and effective way of relating to it.
Two weeks ago, the Pisces New Moon increased our sensitivity, promoting heightened connection with ourselves, others and the divine. Our intuition, creativity, and compassion continue to be fueled (Sun in Pisces conjunct Neptune). Our imagination is emphasized at this time, giving us the ability to rewrite the story, the patterns of who we are and what we are about. This increased sensitivity can easily propel us to escape realities that need facing or fuel fantasy. We are especially vulnerable to fantasies that feed fear. Fortunately, the preponderance of planets in earth signs and the Virgo Moon support the movement to ground and make sensible use of the imaginal.
Life is like riding a bicycle.
To keep your balance,
You must keep moving.
Albert Einstein
The Virgo energy supports us in bringing laser-like focus to what is in front of us. Giving attention to a matter at hand, the past and the future fall away. and the impulse for distraction dissolves. Most likely it was a Virgo who said, “If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well.” Whether we are buttoning a shirt, making a left turn into a driveway, slicing bread or answering an email, there is no task too small to not warrant our undivided attention. The Virgo/Pisces polarity is ultimately about service and through our actions how to bring love to all we give ourselves to.
By focusing on what we ‘can’ do in any particular moment, we curb worry. Satisfaction and wellbeing result from giving undivided care to all we touch and engage. When our mind is absorbed in what we are doing, the mind calms - This is the genius of Virgo.
Trying to bit off more than we can chew, solve the world’s problems from our armchair, or thinking about possible scenarios of what life will be like next year can easily enhance anxiety, sleeplessness, and digestive issues - This is the insanity of Virgo out of balance.
Happiness
Is not a matter of intensity
But of balance, order, rhythm and harmony
Thomas Merton
The Coronavirus
Virgo is the sign of health and cleanliness. Washing our hands, not touching our faces and being mindful of doorknobs is the kind of detail that Virgo excels at – so is all that promotes inner balance: self care, like exercising, getting a good night’s sleep and taking vitamin C. Staying present with what is happening, what is in our control, and doing each task with care and love is what this Full Moon promotes as the way to meet current challenges and opportunities.
Fear is the most dangerous of contagions. It spreads easily and ravages wellbeing.\
Virgo, when out of balance, is the worrier of the zodiac. We can literally worry ourselves sick. The imagination of the Piscean Sun in opposition to the Virgo Moon can fuel fantasies that exacerbate denial or fuel fear. We can get a handle now on how we want to respond and live in a world that has increasing threats of economic collapse, climate change, disease, irresponsible leadership... While the anxiety level of the planet increases, one thing we have some control over is how to manage our personal anxiety so we are not a carrier and spreader of fear.
The Coronavirus Virus will continue to spread with Sun conjunct Neptune. There is also a larger planetary cycle at play. The year’s Saturn/Pluto conjunction is about disrupting the status quo and introducing substantive change. Pluto and Saturn come together in the sky roughly every 34 years. The last time they conjoined in 1982, we had the AIDS epidemic. Their conjunction in 1918 was the year of the Spanish Flu epidemic.
The coronavirus is a remarkable agent of disruption of the status quo as it is dislodging 'business as usual' and the economic engine of modern culture. Few industries seem immune to its effects. The awareness of our shared humanity is heightened as the virus moves swiftly from country to country without discrimination to race, religion, sexual orientation, or economic status.
As a collective we look to the placement of the North Node for the way forward. In Cancer, we are encouraged to be at home, to be with family, to nurture ourselves and those we love. Many of us will be spending more time at home. Rather than feeling that we are being curtailed or quarantined, we can find joy in what can happen within the home that the pattern of our lives had not allowed before. Compassion and care for those most vulnerable is stirred. We can appreciate the fragility and beauty of life, recognizing it as a gift and not a commodity to be squandered.
May we each have the vision to give care to each task. No effort is too small. It is actually in the small things that something momentous can shift. Letting go of some imagined future, being to present to what we can do can effect the equilibrium and our immediate surroundings. We can honor this Full Moon by committing to take life one step at a time, feeling the ground beneath our feet, and honoring what is right in front of us.
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