“Full Moon from the Front Steps,” chalk pastel by Maria Theresa Maggi
Happy Full Virgo Moon, my dear readers and listeners! Welcome to Maria’s StarGarden. I like to begin by asking that the forces of love and light surround us and bless our communication.
The moon is full at 5 degrees Virgo of the tropical zodiac at 4:23 AM Pacific Standard Time on February 24, 2024. Virgo is the sixth sign of the tropical zodiac and the second earth sign, in between Taurus and Capricorn. Virgo is also a mutable sign, like Gemini, Sagittarius and its opposite, Pisces, which means it brings us the ability to adapt. Virgo’s placement on the wheel of the zodiac puts it right under the horizon line meant to represent dawn and dusk. Venus, ruled by Libra, the sign following Virgo, is associated with the beauty of the sunset. But Virgo, preceding it, doesn’t sport the drama or the grandeur that sunsets can bring. Instead it is the late afternoon time when we are either most tired, or most hurried to get things done before heading home, or stuck in traffic, or frantically trying to plan what to eat for dinner. Or maybe we are running last minute errands on the way home, or so deep into the analysis of a problem that needs to be solved that its importance compels us to we forgo the other things we need to get done.
At its most basic level of representative functions, Virgo rules digestion in the physical body. I used to have an astrological “cheat sheet” to share with clients that had key phrases for each of the 12 signs. The phrase I used for Virgo was “I assimilate.” Assimilation in the physical body means absorption of the nutrients in the food we eat that keep our bodies running: vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, proteins. Assimilation in the mental body requires that we dissect and discern the information and “truths” that come into our awareness. The first mutable sign, Gemini, is simply that crossroads or gateway into mental awareness. Virgo, the next one requires that we examine what constitutes our awareness so we can evaluate its quality. Both signs share a rulership by the planet Mercury, but in Virgo Mercury’s messages are often sharply narrowed and focused.
When the moon is full in Virgo our emotional instincts have a decidedly detailed and mental cast. We might be in our heads about our feelings, or feel a deep need to step back and examine how or why we feel the way we do. This full moon is in an aspect of conscious adjustment to the Aquarian lunar energy that started this cycle, so we may feel compelled to examine how we translate those lightning bolts of insight or sudden changes that started us out in this cycle.