Closing Pandora's Box: March 2020's Full Moon in Virgo

What is a Full Moon?

A Full Moon occurs when the sun is opposite the moon, representing the peak, or climax of the lunar cycle. Throughout history, Full Moons have been known to cause unexpected events, and strange behavior. Because the two luminaries are in opposition to one another, Full Moons are known to highlight any opposing forces or polarities in your life, such as the balance between self and the other, the balance between the masculine and feminine, and the balance between work and home.

Full Moons are also good times to reflect on where you are in life, and where you are headed. While the period between the new moon and the Full Moon is a time for setting (and achieving) goals, the period between the Full Moon and the next new moon is a time for letting go. Full Moons can also bring about climactic events, and awaken us to powerful truths and realizations. The effects of a Full Moon usually last about two weeks, until the new moon comes along and starts a new cycle.

The Full Moon in Virgo (opposite the Sun in Pisces) highlights the balance between logic and belief, practicality and idealism, realism and escapism, physical work and inner work.

It may help to think back to whatever intentions you set around the New Moon in Pisces, for they should be coming into fruition at this time, as well as six months back to the New Moon in Virgo. Certain themes may be repeating themselves. Whatever thoughts or intentions you plant now should come into fruition by the New Moon in Aries on March 24th.

Check your natal chart to see which houses Virgo & Pisces fall into. This will tell you more about how the Full Moon will affect you personally.

Those with personal planets or angles between 14 and 24 degrees of the mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) will most especially be affected by this Full Moon.

Full Moon in Virgo 2020

Virgo is a mutable earth sign ruled by Mercury. The constellation is depicted by a maiden holding a grain of corn, the sun's passage through the sign corresponding with harvest season.

To shed some more light on the meaning behind the sign Virgo, it might be helpful to look at Greek mythology. In Ancient Greece, the sign of Virgo was most notably associated with Astraea, the goddess of innocence and purity. When Prometheus stole fire from the gods, Zeus sent Pandora out into the world as a revenge against humanity for accepting. Pandora carried a box or jar that was never to be opened but due to her curiosity, she opened it anyway, unleashing every evil - most notably, sickness, death, and disease - out into the world. One by one, the gods and goddesses returned to the heavens, the earth now being too unbearable for them to live in. Astraea was the last to leave. She was immortalized as the constellation Virgo, and promised to return to Earth again to usher in a new Golden Age when humanity realized the error of their ways. Just as the myth of Prometheus shares parallels with the Judeo-Christian myth of Lucifer, and the myth of Pandora's Box shares parallels with the apple in the Garden of Eden, the myth of Astraea shares parallels with the Second Coming of Christ during Earth's End Times.

While the Sun in Pisces is associated with romanticism, idealism, and escapism, as well as spirituality and everything mysterious and ethereal, as a harvest symbol, the Moon in Virgo is associated with more earthly matters. Known for it's realism, practicality, and sharp organizational skills, Virgo is most comfortable when working towards a concrete and tangible goal or perfecting a skill of some sort. Virgo is known to be a symbol for the worker, a symbol of service, but also a symbol of healing. As a harvest goddess, Virgo has long associations with diet and hygiene, with those born under the sign stereotyped as germaphobes and hypochondriacs, as well as health as a whole.

With this in mind, perhaps, the Full Moon in Virgo can help shed light on the health crises of our days, particularly the coronavirus, as well as any other evils unleashed by Pandora's Box such as poverty and oppression. While the Sun in the idealistic sign of Pisces reminds us trust in God (or whatever it is we believe in) and not lose Hope, the Moon in Virgo will help us work towards finding the tangible solutions we need.

Of course, this Full Moon will be aided by many aspects as well. The most notable aspect most likely being the close conjunction of the Sun with Neptune at 18'26 degrees of it's ruling sign, Pisces, emphasizing hope, beauty, and idealism. Our interest in spirituality and our connection to higher realms may be greater than it usually is. This aspect favors compassion, empathy, kindness and generosity to our neighbors, oneness and interdependence, over the selfishness and egoism usually displayed by the Sun. Perhaps, the conjunction of Neptune and the Sun will remind us of where we went wrong, and just how great we could be, just what another Golden Age on Earth might look like.

However, the opposition between Neptune and the Moon, highlights the other side of that coin, the more negative aspect of Neptune. Drugs, alcohol, escapism. We may turn to vices to cope with the stress of our daily lives. As we are interdependent on each other, we may be easily influenced by others; easily manipulated into doing what they want whether it is in our own best interests or not, easily duped. Our immune systems may be weakened. Not only are our minds made more sensitive, but our bodies are more sensitive as well, and it won't take much to catch a strain and fall ill. We may not have much energy to go out and do things the way we normally would. Of course, there is a lot of hysteria going on as well, which this opposition also highlights. It's important that we separate fact from fiction, unnecessary hysteria from important precautions. Like, we should always be washing our hands regardless!

The Full Moon in Virgo will also be making a trine to Mars at 15'21 degrees Capricorn, where it is exalted, helping us work hard to achieve our goals. Even with all of these illnesses going around, this aspect helps keep us strong and vitalized, giving us the resolve to handle any conflict that comes our way, as well as the confidence to honestly express how we feel in a healthy manner. The Moon will be making an even closer trine to Jupiter at 21'05 degrees Capricorn, helping us stay happy and optimistic, giving us a sense of inner peace. No matter what is happening around us, we have an unshakable faith that the universe is on our side. Lastly, the Moon will make a trine to Pluto (and by extension, Saturn) at 24'27 degrees Capricorn. This aspect helps us to realize that the "dark side of life" is not something to be feared, and helps us to investigate it, in order so that we can heal. Why do we feel this way, why do we act the way we do, what circumstances in childhood have lead us to being this way? It's a good time to investigate the inner workings of our subconscious, maybe visit a psychologist or a spiritual counselor, but this aspect is also helpful when it comes to psychoanalyzing others. Our intuitions and psychic perceptions are heightened. Intimate connections are favored; it is a good time for exchanging secrets and sharing our deepest feelings with someone we trust. The Sun in Pisces will be making a sextile to all three planets; Mars, Jupiter, and Pluto.

Meanwhile, Venus will be making a conjunction to Uranus at around 4-5 degrees Taurus (exact at 3:38 PM EST on Sunday, March 8th) shortly before the Full Moon. Feelings of love will be electrified during this Full Moon. Meetings will be spontaneous, we might hear from someone randomly, just when we least expect it and we may feel the impulse to do things we don't normally do, acting on our feelings for our beloved, for better or worse. There may be a chance meeting with someone new; love when we least expect it, or we can find ourselves falling for someone we already know who we didn't expect. Bold confessions of love might surprise us. Both planets will be making a sextile to the North Node in at 5'19 Cancer and a trine to the South Node at 5'19 Capricorn, favoring karmic connections; fated meetings or encounters that help us in our development.

Lastly, Mercury has been Retrograde since Sunday, February 16th, causing verbal communication or technological problems and strange mix-ups, but also meaningful coincidences, and heightened nonverbal communication (telepathy, ESP, psychic dreams). As I point out in my article linked here, Mercury Retrograde isn't all bad, and the last three weeks may have given birth to some major improvements in your inner development, but if you're sick of hearing from your ex, or having your computer keep crashing down, have no fear because Mercury will finally station direct at 11:48 PM EST on March 9th, coinciding with the Full Moon in Virgo. Mercury will station direct at 28'12 degrees of the communicative, quirky and honest sign of Aquarius. With Mercury finally direct in this breezy air sign, communication problems will likely be lifted, and we can speak freely with greater clarity. Some themes or issues highlighted during the retrograde might stay with us for a while, however, needing to be explored a bit more, until Mercury retrograde's post-shadow phase ends on March 29th when Mercury leaves the retrograde zone at 12 degrees Pisces.

While all the disease and epidemics going around, as well as the over-sensitivity and addiction indicated by the Moon in Virgo's opposition to Neptune, might make us feel like Pandora's Box has just been unleashed, the Full Moon on March 9th looks like it's going to be a very positive one. The Sun in Pisces and it's conjunction to Neptune will give us the faith and spiritual inspiration needed to hold us together, while the Moon in Virgo will help us keep our feet on the ground and find tangible solutions to our problems. The Moons trine to Mars helps to keep us strong and confident while the trine to Jupiter will help keep us happy and optimistic, and the trine to Pluto favors the sharing of secrets, intimate moments, in addition to inner work and self-analysis. Meanwhile, the conjunction between Venus and Uranus in Taurus and their aspects to the Nodes point to unexpected but destined encounters with others, whether romantic or just platonic; surprise meetings that serve to aid us in our spiritual development. Hope is not lost, and if we learn from humanity's past mistakes, these positive aspects might help us find the Return of Astraea and the Golden Age.