Feb 23, 2024 | by Silvianne K. Delmars |
This week’s astro news update begins on Saturday, February 24 with the Virgo Full Moon and ends on Sunday, March 3 with the 4th Quarter waning Moon square to the Sun. Here are the highlights (all times given in PST).
Saturday, February 24
The Full Moon in Virgo, opposite Sun in Pisces, is exact at 4:30 am. This Full Moon, in league with asteroid Pallas, is opposing not just the Sun, but also Mercury and Saturn in numinous Pisces, prompting us to ground ourselves in the natural world, and especially in the wisdom of our own bodies. Virgo thrives on ceremony: this 3-day window is a perfect time to carve out sacred space in the midst of our daily routine, and remember to express gratitude for what has manifested in our lives over the last couple of weeks since the New Moon. The energy also supports checking our progress, and making any desired adjustments to intentions we may have set at that time, steering our course through to the next New Moon.
Late on Saturday evening Venus (still hanging out near Mars and Pluto in Aquarius after her meeting with Mars earlier this week) makes an exact square to Jupiter in Taurus. Look for Venus in the morning sky, just before sunrise, as she sinks ever lower towards the horizon. And see if you can spot Mars, as he slowly rises higher above the horizon each day.
Jupiter is still shining brightly high in the night sky, although beginning to dim a little, setting in the west around midnight. It is near the constellation of The Ram, hanging below the Pleiades.
Sunday, February 25
The Moon is at apogee this morning (the point in its orbit furthest from the Earth), still within the 3-day ceremonial Full Moon window.
Later in the day, Mercury in Pisces, rapidly approaching the Sun as part of its psychopomp phase, will be making an exact square to asteroid Pallas in Sagittarius. This crisis-in-action aspect emphasizes the current Sagittarius overstory Mercury themes, challenging us to find new ways to align our rational mind with our creative inspirations, supporting the expression of our unique, original ideas.
Sunday, February 25 / Monday February 26
Look for the waning, just-past-full Moon near the bright star Regulus, the heart of the Lion constellation. They will rise in the evening and be setting in the west in the early morning. This is a wonderful opportunity to commune with this regal constellation and tune in to any messages it may offer, especially in support of your sovereignty and unique leadership capabilities.
Tuesday, February 27
Mars in Aquarius, still in the rebirth and growth phase of his Gemini synodic overstory journey, is slowly rising higher in the morning sky, after passing Venus last week on her descent journey. Today he will make an exact square to Jupiter in Taurus, continuing the intense emphasis on these signs of healthy self-exploration.
The Sacred Masculine is exploring what it means to be a free electron – and coming up against the immovable force of pleasure-seeking Taurus. How do we actively incorporate radical, evolutionary change in a way that supports and fosters abundant life for Mother Gaia and all her inhabitants?
This interplay of energies is yet another foreshadowing of the potentially world-shattering meet-up of Uranus and Jupiter in Taurus this coming April. An advanced opportunity, perhaps, to contemplate our readiness to embrace the unforeseeable tsunamis of change bearing down upon us.
Wednesday, February 28
There is a very strong invitation today for receiving, processing, and expressing information from the deepest spiritual realms, as Mercury makes its exterior conjunction (on the far side from us) with the Sun, at the heart of his pyschopomp phase. In a very rare, precise timing, Saturn is here on the very same day, joining first Mercury and then the Sun, in the exact same degree as the Mercury Sun communion. The message is undeniable: it is time to encode our spiritual intuitions into the actual fabric of our lives. Time to set healthy boundaries that will make this possible, participating in the sacred alchemy of bringing spirit fully into matter at this potent seed point.
The Sabian Symbol for this rendezvous degree of Sun, Mercury, and Saturn is Pisces 10: “An aviator pursues his journey, flying through ground-obscuring clouds.” By using our grounded Saturn mastery of the innovative knowledge of long past generations, we can find our way to fly through the clouds of ecstatic communion with the divine, while also fully conscious of what it takes to navigate these perilous times here on the ground with grace and compassion for ourselves and those around us.
Thursday, February 28 / Friday February 29
Watch for the waning gibbous Moon to pass by the star Spica in the constellation of The Virgin Priestess in the early morning of these two days. Spica is the brightest star in this constellation, placed in the sheaf of wheat, or corn, or rice paddy that she is holding. Throughout time and in many different cultures around the world, this asterism has represented the wisdom of the Great Mother who brings us sustenance. An auspicious timing for tuning in to messages from the Sacred Feminine.
Friday, March 1
Further emphasizing this Full Moon week’s Virgo/Pisces polarity, we have Mercury in Pisces opposing Juno in Virgo this afternoon. Demetra George, in her Asteroid Goddesses book, points to this aspect as highlighting the importance of learning to listen without judgment to another’s point of view. A good day to bring Virgo’s appreciation of sacred patterning into our intimate communications – including the internal dialogue between Self and self.
Saturday, March 2
The Moon goes out of bounds today until March 7, reaching extreme out of bounds next Tuesday. We are in the midst of the once-in-every 19-year cycle when the Moon is rising and setting either far north or south of the ecliptic, during those few days every couple weeks when it is in either late Gemini / early Cancer or late Sagittarius / early Capricorn (near the Solstice points).
This is an invitation to embrace the part of us that longs to venture “beyond the pale.” The origins of this phrase lie in pale’s definition as a pointed stick. To be beyond the pale meant to be outside the accepted, fenced in home area. In its earliest known printed reference in a poem from 1657 the message was clear – “decent people stay inside the pale.” In a world turned upside down, perhaps it is time to turn this accepted wisdom on its head, and henceforth proclaim that decent people revel in their proclivity to go dancing beyond the pale.
Sunday, March 3
Our astro week ends with Venus in Aquarius squaring Uranus in Taurus, followed a few hours later by the 4th Quarter Moon in Sagittarius, squaring the Sun in Pisces. Once again, we are being asked to perform a sacred alchemy. On the one hand, we have the ongoing, somewhat sparky dialogue between the need for Aquarius freedom and detachment (here embodied by Sacred Feminine Venus) and wacky Uranus in Taurus shaking the ground beneath our feet, making sure that we show up.
On the other hand, this week’s highlighted Virgo/Pisces complimentary energies are being enhanced by the waning Moon square in vision-questing Sagittarius, further emphasizing the mutable cross of Service to Spirit. Time to venture forth, boldly and selflessly, in our heartfelt desire to serve whatever we hold most sacred. And, at the same time, to foster our unique personal vision, following the desire to expand the limits of the known, simply because we think it will be fun. Enjoy the ride!