Full Moon in Virgo: Clearing the Decks

Gustav Klimt's Hygeia

Today we have a Full Moon in the mutable earth sign of Virgo, sign of purity. This is an important lunation, and we are called to attention, as it is the preparation for an intensely spiritual solar eclipse coming up on March 8. For the next two weeks, we are coaxed to tidy up our affairs. Little by little, we are asked to organize our minds, our living spaces, our paperwork, and even our bodies so that we can handle the changes speeding our way next month.

If we are ready, receptive, we will be able to benefit greatly from the coming cosmic download of the upcoming Pisces Solar Eclipse. Next month, our hearts our going to be stretched wider and we will be called to find more compassion, acceptance, and love than we knew was possible. Because it is an eclipse, something unexpected and life-changing is likely to occur in the area of life where Pisces falls in our charts. In some ways, it’s impossible to prepare for an eclipse. I believe that the real preparation is spiritual fitness.

We are entering a time of dissolving of the ego. Jupiter and the Moon’s North Node in Virgo are opposite the wounded healer Chiron at this lunation. With expansive Jupiter in town, whatever area of life is going to require more scrutiny, perseverance, discipline, and “hygienizing” is going to be inflated and seen as bigger.

As I was preparing to write this post, I had a dream in which I saw myself alongside the woman in Gustav Klimt’s famous painting (a favorite of mine), Hygeia, goddess of health. In mythology, Hygeia was the daughter of the god of medicine, Asclepius, and Epione, the goddess of soothing pain. Hygeia is depicted holding a large snake, symbol of healing and transformation. We humans are born with the capacity to tap into our inner gods and goddesses of healing in order to transform the body, the mind, and the spirit. If we pay attention to our dreams, to signs and symbols revealed to us in Nature and in our daily lives, we will be guided. Pay attention, and peace will be our reward.

And what does this week’s Full Moon in Virgo have to do with this? I contemplated this in yoga class this morning, as I worked hard to stay balanced and properly aligned in "Warrior Three" (Virabhadrasana III). Over the years, I've slowly improved in increasingly difficult asanas that force me to use awareness of breath, drishti (mental focus), and stamina. As those who have been practicing yoga for some time know, our time on the mat is preparing us for whatever life delivers off the mat.

Virabhadrasana III

We are less thrown and bowled over by the changes that are hurled our way. Even a tsunami can be endured when we stay centered in the calm “I” of the storm. If we have honed our rhythmic discipline – regular time on our Nature walks, regular yoga classes, regular meditation, regular sleep and rest, regular housecleaning – we will be able to recognize the love and healing that can come through when something eclipses our life. When surprising news, a death, a birth, a job change, a person entering or exiting our lives – has the potential to throw us off guard. We will be able to sense the gold hidden in the shadow.

Not only that, but we will be able to exemplify one of the truly Virgoan gifts: that of service. Service to self, and service to others. Your merits will be shared with people in your life at the perfect time.

This Full Moon is shining a light on the areas of our lives that we need to dust off, to clean up, before the next big wave of evolution washes over us. Take time over the next two weeks to clear the decks. Get your taxes done early. Do a mini detox cleanse. Haul a bag of old clothes to Good Will. Get your dental appointments taken care of. Recommit to a daily walk in Nature, or take a yoga class a few times a week. What is your sadhana (practice)? Get back into it.

It is going to be vitally important to feel at peace in your corporal self and your surroundings because, when eclipse season hits in March, we will need to be able to Let Go in a big way in order to float with the news that flies in through the window. When our inner and outer structures are more properly in place, the heart will feel safer to crack open. When the mother of all Big Events occurs, and the psyche knows that all systems are a-go, we can more easily allow the let-go.

Erin Reese is an author, spiritual guide, astrologer, and modern psychic reader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works with clients all over the world. For readings and spiritual counseling by Skype, phone or email, contact her directly. She can be reached at erin@erinreese.com.