Full Moon in Virgo: Focus, Stop, Stabilize

The Melting Watch, Salvador Dali 1954

Today, we welcome a full moon in the mutable earth sign of Virgo, the Virgin. The energy of Virgo is earthy, but it isn’t solid earth; we are still in the time of Pisces, the nondual sign where life feels dreamy and dissolves when you try to hold on. Time has felt like taffy – it’s stretchy, and messy to the touch, even muddy.

This lunation continues to amplify 2021's Saturn-Uranus square that I wrote about last week here, "The Collective Crunch.” Over and over, we are being asked - nay, forced - to leave outdated programs and concepts by the wayside as a natural if challenging process of evolution. If we forget, and attempt to grasp, we are usually hit by a cosmic 2x4 that is meant to get us back on track – so best to surrender to what is, and ground best you can.

Sensitives and empaths are 100% clear: The collective walls have been melting for a long time. We are not in Kansas anymore, Toto. We are coming up on one year since most of us heard the words “coronavirus” and COVID, one year since pandemic and lockdown became household words, one year since the world came to a virtual stop. Anniversaries bring up deeper body memories for people. Our nervous systems remember, and the prickles can come in – “Are we in the clear? Are we getting back to normal? If 2020 went down like it did, what else could come down the pipeline?”

There is a feeling of skittishness and unsettledness in the collective air. Half of the world is anxious to get a move on, trying to get back to a busy lifestyle where activity, travel, busy-ness is the norm; half of the world is just entering into the cocoon that will hold them for the next years as they continue their internal evolution. It is like two sliding glass panel doors. We can call this old vs. new paradigm, or third dimension vs. 5D or ascension – it doesn’t matter. In fact, many of us are finding that words and terminologies are starting to melt too, but we do the best we can to try to find language to point things out.

There can be a feeling of seasickness, fogginess, confusion, or vertigo for those who are highly sensitive to the planetary shifts. Even for those of us who usually do a good job getting grounded through domesticity, nature, lovemaking, yoga, exercise, creative expression, etc. it has been a hell of a time to attempt to stop the time-space swirl. You might notice that appointments with others are cattywampus – scheduling has become a joke. You might notice that facing your to-do list is laughable. Either there is no energy to “do” that which is on the list, or the list itself feels like a rope strangling your neck.

Speaking of to-do lists – a very Virgoan invention: In my work with clients and students across the board the TO-D0 LIST is one of THE most stressful entities in a person’s life. I have found that if folks get rid of the ominous to-do list and learn to rely more on intuition in the moment, the stress level decreases tremendously. Of course, jotting down a few critical items for the day or week, or marking something vital on the calendar, makes sense; it’s the massive list of “getting sh*t done” or “to research” or “be productive” or “optimizing your life” that will strangle the life out of your life faster than anything. So throw the to-do list in the trash and trust your natural instincts to guide you from day to day.

As a human species, we have been like drunks on a bender, except instead of alcohol, we’ve binged on activity, productivity, efficiency,  improvement. Not only have we made ourselves quite ill, we’re in a raging addiction. It might take a few minutes, let alone days or years, to come down off the drug. Stop.

Instead of doing more to attempt to ground, emphasize focus and stabilizing Consciousness. This is all available 24x7 by simply sitting, lying down, or standing in place, then breathing, focusing on your feet, hips, breath, root. The main word is STOP. The monkey mind will rear up swiftly, so keep coming back to relax into beingness rather than doingness.

 This is not about doing more meditation, either. It’s about a full-on inner halt.

Then, and only then, will the room stop spinning.

Erin Reese, M.S. is a contemporary non-dual spiritual teacher, author and guide. A modern mystic with over thirty years of experience, Erin Reese offers incisive, practical intuitive readings to her clients worldwide. She is a counselor, guide and mentor to those seeking an alternative to traditional psychotherapy or business coaching. Erin also offers non-dual meetings and retreats on embodied liberation and freedom from suffering. Visit erinreese.com for more information.

 

New Moon in Virgo: Purification By Fire

Virgin of Guadalupe

Tomorrow, September 17, we have a New Moon in the mutable earth sign of Virgo, representing purity. Nothing holds the Virgin – she is a woman unto Herself. As evolutionary astrologer Steven Forrest reminds us, Virgo is truly free, unbound by any earthly drama. And yet, She still lives on earth as the development of self and life continues to unfold. In the meantime, she purifies, serves and helps where she can.

Ashes to Ashes

A week ago, my Beloved and I took a much needed holiday up to Ashland, Oregon, where I’d lived for five years in my 20’s – a town of great healing, art, and coming of age for me personally and professionally.

We so looked forward to our five days at a retreat hotel, replete with in-room mineral bathtub, and a pool. I’d needed a break from the fire stew-pit of the High Sierras we’ve been living in for the past six weeks, ever since the first of the big fires lapped up to the edge of our little town, keeping us on evacuation alert.

So, yes, we looked forward to a poolside vacation in Ashland, where the air quality forecast was clear sailing. But the Goddess had other ideas.

At about 11am our first morning we were enjoying a hot tub soak in our room. I was chewing my way through Frank Herbert’s Dune, diving into spice, spaceworms and sci-fi when we heard people shouting and yelling in Spanish. I hopped out of the bath, looked out the front door to see the staff running, and saw a gigantic smoke plume tsunami heading our way, rising up and unfurling toward us at an alarming speed. “Grab your stuff, we have to get out NOW.” Keith leaped out of the tub, and with clothes (barely) on our backs, and keys, phone, purse – we ran to the car.

I’d thought for a split second – “Grab my Tarot cards? My night guard [for my teeth]?” Funny, the things you value when you can bring nothing. I then thought, “What are you doing Erin? Drop everything and get out NOW,” and left everything. In the parking lot, I marveled that a few of the other guests were dawdling – barely getting on the go.

Keith and I headed north on a frontage highway as sirens blared and cars began being diverted. Within a minute, the Interstate and that road itself were blocked and closed, meaning we would not have been able to move for the next 24 to 48 hours if we hadn’t acted so fast.

Having nowhere to go and our heads barely on straight, we headed north. Rattled, we remembered mention of a winery that a young woman mentioned to us the night before while dining outside eating Vietnamese pho. We needed a plan, any plan, so off to the vineyards we drove. There, a celestial angelic server tended to us and gave us a stiff pour of Albariño while we collected our thoughts. “Let's get to the coast, we’ll be safer there at least.”

At the vineyards, pondering our next move

This was the day of the apocalyptic orange skies in the Bay Area – everything black as tar along the north coast as well. Safe, and simultaneously depressed and happy to stick our feet in the smoky ocean – for two days we ate bad diner food and huddled together in our gray, not-holiday motel digs until we could assess the damage back in Ashland.

Our hotel manager was great – staying in touch as the fires lapped against the road burning near the Inn and flattening 600-plus homes between Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, Medford. No power or water, yet miraculously, our lodging was spared.

After two days, we decided to try to get back to retrieve our items and started driving north back to Oregon. We came to a roadblock – the very highway we'd come over on was now engulfed by yet another fire, so we turned around. A 2.5 hour trip turned into a 6.5 hour route back south, through Humboldt County, then east and up I-5 through Mount Shasta – a typically beautiful drive that has never been drearier. Poor majestic Mount Shasta, hidden behind a smokescreen, nowhere to be seen off the ashen highway.

Staying one night at an Ashland sister property while we fetched our things, it was beyond heartbreaking to hear of homes and families now in shelters, with many Latinx communities and small town haunts I loved burned to the ground. We were let through the police line to fetch our luggage and drove the weary hours home to California. Back in our mountains, we were grateful to arrive to safety, albeit with a local Air Quality Index of 485.

Just. Wow.

We spent the next couple of days – indoors of course – decompressing and in contemplation. What are we being shown, we asked the Divine. Clarity always arising… Remember…

1. You will always know exactly what to do in the moment.

a.       we knew when to flee

b.       we knew where to drive

c.       we knew where to go next

2.  My work as a spiritual teacher, counselor, and intuitive is exactly what I am supposed to be focused on. I am here for you, clients, students, readers – individually and as a group. This is the best way for me to use my life force and it feels great. No stress, being of service in the Virgo-pure way, sitting in the flames with you.  

3. See number one above, repeat.

Ashes to Ashes. Think of the sadhus in India – the naga babas – purified and covered in ash, with nothing. These holy men and women are raw, naked, and are closest to the earth, as the earth.

Fire purifies. Ash purifies. Symbolically, let it cleanse your heart. Let it point you to the Truth.

I do not wish these fires on anyone. I do not wish for other creatures to die, to lose their homes, to feel fear and pain. At the same time, I am completely aware that this is part of the Great Unfolding, and it is all happening as exactly as it is meant to.

You will be guided to make the changes, make the efforts to alter your reality and our collective reality in the way that that naturally arises for you – knowing that it is perfect exactly as it is.  And again, you will always know exactly what to do, in the moment. There is only the Here and Now. Presence.

In this time of the new moon, remember that Virgo is purity. She is held by Nothing. She wants for Nothing. And thus She has, and is, Everything.

Unto yourself, as the Self. You will always be okay no matter what.

Do you doubt?

Go deeper, go further.

Stay there. And purify.

Erin Reese, M.S. is a contemporary spiritual teacher, author and guide. A modern mystic with over thirty years of experience, Erin Reese offers incisive, practical intuitive readings to her clients worldwide. She is a counselor, guide and mentor to those seeking an alternative to traditional psychotherapy or business coaching. Erin also offers non-dual meetings and retreats on embodied liberation and freedom from suffering.

Virgo Season: Hard at Work or Hardly Working?

The Virgin, Gustav Klimt - 1913

Last week, we welcomed a New Moon in the mutable, discriminating earth sign of Virgo. Lady Luna and her mate, the Sun, were joined by a cavalcade of accompanying planets, all in Virgo: Mercury (communication, learning, travel), Venus (love, relationships, arts), Mars (action, drive, passion), and the asteroid Juno (marriage and creative partnerships).

With such a large bevy of luminaries working diligently together in the cosmic conference room, one specific area of life is demanding cohesion, congruence, and clarity. No longer can we get away with pretending we don’t know the next right action – or non-action, as the case may be. The Universe has made it blaringly clear what needs to happen next in our consciousness. And, She is giving us the tools and fortitude to see it through.

Virgo embodies the German word fleißige (“hard-working, industrious”).  It’s no surprise that Virgo season is typically “Back to School” time around the world. Kids of all ages return to their education, whether in an actual classroom or by gearing up for a new work cycle after the Labor Day holidays.

Ruled by information-savvy, rational Mercury, Virgo energy brings us into alignment with the practical, discerning mind. Unlike info-hungry air sign Gemini, also Mercury-ruled, earthy Virgo carefully filters input, deriving the most pertinent points. Virgo then rolls up its sleeve and takes the organized data into the world to get down to business in a useful, formative manner.

And that’s what we’re asked to do now: look at the details of our lives, take stock, get down to business. Where are we being called to be of service in a hands-on fashion? Where do we need to go back to work, or back to school as the case may be? Where and how do we need to get organized?

We can establish good foundations and systems in our lives right now, preparing for the Harvest Moon on September 14, in dreamy, boundless Pisces. Sound structures in our lives enable us to trust the flow. With effective and tested systems, we will be able to make good use of the imagination and expansiveness sure to come during the Full Moon in Pisces. Maybe you need to get your calendaring up to date, your software installed, your proposals outlined, your tool shed de-cluttered, your kitchen cupboards organized. You’re going to want to do it before mid-September, making best use of the New Moon and her parade of planetary paramours also passing through Virgin territory.

At this time of New Moon in Virgo, remember: long-term planning and projects are favored, along with attention to detail, tempered and effective action, and patience. Hard work will be asked of you, but there is a guaranteed payout at the end of the road. You can achieve anything right now, so long as you apply the Virgo discriminating mind to it! Have fortitude and confidence that your ambition and dedication will enable to you to successfully launch a completely new chapter in your life, leaving a legacy that is uniquely yours.

One caveat for those of you who tend toward workaholism: everything stated above does not apply, UNLESS it means organizing your life so that you don’t have to lift a finger for a few hours, days, weeks. Your work is to use the smarts of Virgo to know when to STOP, put yourself on hiatus, and REST. This is applied wisdom – knowing when to let off the gas and coast. Use your Virgoan powers of viveka (Sanskrit for discernment and the discriminating mind); you will know which category you’re in.

Erin Reese, M.S. is a non-dual spiritual teacher, author, and intuitive consultant based in the SF Bay Area. Erin is deeply rooted in the the Divine Feminine and a channel of Kundalini. She spent many years studying yoga and non-dual philosophies in India, receiving transmission from masters and sacred sites. Erin works online with clients all over the world.