2021’s Virgo Full Moon

Even if we don't know any other phase of the moon, we always seem to know when it’s full or nearly full.

Perhaps because it’s so close to the Earth, and so visible—and so moving—we tend to spend more time gazing at the moon than any other celestial object. And we’re in good company. A top NASA scientist has said as much herself.

"When I go outside and look at the full moon, I feel very connected to the universe," says Michelle Thaller, assistant director of science at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "[It’s] so immediate. It looks like a place you could go, you could stand on, you could visit."

The moon resounds in myth and mystique. The Buddha supposedly achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi tree during a full moon. Ancient Siberian shamans believed they could acquire magical powers by standing naked in the moonlight. In many cultures, luna is a symbol of impermanence and rebirth because of her swiftly changing—and impossible to miss—phases.

As all women know, we are under her influence for our entire fertility time, and even after, if more subtly. All humans are 70 percent water—like the Earth—so it’s only natural that luna would control our bodily fluids and, in a sense, set the rhythm of life on the earth plane.

Yet the moon also turns our thoughts upward and outward. According to NASA's Thaller, the late great astrophysicist and cosmologist Carl Sagan believed that the moon may have led to man’s desire to leave Earth and explore the universe.

Early this Saturday morning (3:17am EST), the moon will reach its monthly culmination phase when it forms an exact opposition to the Sun a couple heartbeats before 9º Virgo (with the Sun in Pisces, of course).

All full moons speak to the two signs’ polarity, and to my mind, there’s something a little more powerful about this one, a bit more transcendental, if you will. And this year (like the past 14), the Sun will be in Pisces along with the sign’s modern ruler, Neptune. This intensifies their shared qualities: their other-worldliness, their dreaminess, their fertile imaginations and their innate connection to other realms and to Spirit.

Pisces, the last sign of the zodiac, is the gateway back to Source. It’s where we unlearn the lessons of the other 11 signs, and because it’s associated with the 12th house, we release and relinquish the grasping that happens in the previous 11.

And if Pisces and Neptune are about letting go and dissolving, what of the culminating moon in the opposite sign of Virgo?

The moon in Virgo can show up in many different guises. On a low-vibrational, “acting out the lessons” level, this can manifest as pettiness and an obsession with things that don’t even air-kiss the needle on the spirit plane.

Because Virgo has such high (ok, impossible) standards, it’s often hard on itself. And because how we treat others is always a reflection of how we feel about ourselves, it can be critical and judgmental.

But raised to a more positive level, these same qualities can save our lives by sniffing out something rotten, whether in our danish or in Denmark. Virgo keeps us in our lane, helps us find our keys, goads up to show up on time. (Although "showing up" is still challenging.)

Best of all, humble Virgo is the sign of true, selfless, devoted service. But don’t make the mistake of praising a Virgo. Want to make her happy? Thank her—just once—and sincerely. Tell her how her work made all the difference in the world to someone who really needed it.

The “natural” homes of these signs are the 6th and 12th (cadent) houses: places to hide and retreat and escape to, not to be seen or publicly celebrated.

Under the balancing beams of this Virgo full moon, there’s much to question and (dare I?) analyze. Where is excess in our lives, what are we clinging to—or grabbing for? What can be forgiven, cleansed, healed, released?

Take a few moments this weekend to soak la luna in, to let her beams infuse and inspire you. New moons are the time for beginnings and wishes, but full moons are times to acknowledge when something is finished, complete, and that it’s more than ok to let it go. Sometimes we need a friendly nudge. Sometimes we just need to find a Bodhi tree and sit.