Fortnightly Lunacy: Virgo Full Moon 2023
Fortnightly Lunacy
and the Virgo Full Moon
On the Darkest and Brightest of Nights
What's a Fortnightly Lunacy?
Fortnightly Lunacy is a tapestry of words woven through the light of the new and full moons meant to transport you into the heart of the sub-lunar realm. To immerse you in poetic prose and lyrical storytelling that initiates you into the oracular sight of the nocturnal sect. To facilitate your tuning-in to your very own synchronicity frequency.
To help you see like Luna.
Balanced with just enough linear astral logic and celestial correlation for you to begin building your own relationship with our Fair Lamp of Night, and to immerse yourself in the secret language of the Giver of Good Grace.
While it's preferred by the diurnal-dominant ways of our society to want to always look forward parsing apart objective facts in order to better control the future (to a degree that's basically tantamount to time travel) a nocturnal way of being simply doesn't do that – at least not for very long.
So perhaps it's only fitting that an invitation to "see like Luna" would entail a certain cyclical darkness, and periodic changes of perspective? That there would be moments of pause, and retrospective reflection, in the realm of a planet who 'rejoices in the still silence of night'.
This edition of Fortnightly Lunacy is for the Full Moon that occurred 8 days ago, as of the day of publishing. Thus, we'll be looking backwards, reverse engineering the process of delineation by examining the things that we know took place, and seeing how they relate to the transit in question.
Like with all Fortnightly's, there are a few pointers and guideposts for thinking about the (in)dignity of the chart, and this issue has a couple of questions and a handful of dates going to back to Saturn's entry into Virgo back in 2007.
Virgo Full Moon: 2023
Looking Back at the Virgo Full Moon
Full Moon at 16°40' Virgo
March 7th, 2023 at 4:40 am (PST)
The Virgo Full Moon was exact a week ago, ushering Saturn into the sign of the fish(es). Saturn entering the sign just under an hour later.
What does it mean to have Saturn's entry into Pisces all tied up with the the Virgo Full Moon? You can scroll down below for a set of question about a few dates related to Saturn, Pisces, and the Virgo/Pisces axis as a whole.
The Chart for the  Moon
[image description: chart cast for March 7th at 4:40 am PST in Pittsburg, California. The chart has 5° Aquarius rising with Saturn at 29°59' Aquarius in the first house of the chart. this being a night chart, the Moon at 16° Virgo is the sect light. The Full Moon in the 8th house opposes the sun is in the 2nd house at 16° Pisces. Mercury and Neptune are co-present the Sun in Pisces, while Jupiter and Venus are averse to the luminaries in the middle decan of Aries in the 3rd house. The Midheaven is at 25° Scorpio ruled by Mars at 21° Gemini. ]
The Headlines of the Virgo Full Moon
Taking a look backwards at just a couple of the headlines from the week of the full moon, perhaps it's fair to say that it's been about the dispelling of illusion, and the end of inflated markets (see Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, and the children of influencer parents pushing back and speaking out).
Saturn in Pisces is sobering reality – and the clear desperation / utter audacity of some folks who adamantly refuse to participate in it.
Aquarius Rising
The Full Moon following the February's Pisces New Moon is ruled by Saturn, in the very final minute of Aquarius. With Saturn moving into Pisces less than an hour later.
Though Saturn is in a sign that is averse to Pisces, Saturn is in the Pisces twelfth-part (dodeka) of Aquarius. This brings more connection to the planets in Pisces than we might otherwise expect.
Saturn Rules the Chart of the Virgo Full Moon
Saturn is a planet that has nothing at all to do with Virgo, save for Their term in the final two degrees of the sign. And in Aquarius, Saturn can't see Virgo. Interestingly, while the chart for the exact opposition of the Moon and Sun has Saturn in the first house ruling the chart form the very last arc minute of Aquarius, Saturn moves into Pisces to join long-time ocean-dweller Neptune within an hour of the exact fullness of the Moon.
In the first decan of Pisces Saturn can be related to the image of a man carding a bag of burdens on his back; or, seated amidst a punch of leather pots holding glittering jewels.
There's something here about Saturn as the one who creates the structures that allow for the transfer and distribution of wealth. Two things are largely more important than the sheer ability to generate or harness the resources, per se.
Saturn is a planet that rules irrigation canals, hidden treasure, and other minerals under the earth. Consider that in an agricultural civilization located in an arid clime a well was just about the most essential underground wealth imaginable. No mere luxury, but an the absolute most primary one.
While Saturn took a big demotion in terms of essential dignity, there is still a bit of something that Saturn has going for Them in Pisces, particularly in the first decan of Pisces – the place of the Pisces New Moon.
The other big headline of the astrology for the month of March is the ingress of Pluto into Aquarius.
Thinking along the lines of the lunar cycles which renew during the conjunctions and culminate to fullness with the oppositions, one can consider the times that Saturn was last in Virgo and Pisces, respectively.
Obviously, the last time that Saturn was in Pisces was a full Saturn cycle ago – nearly 30 years. Saturn was last in Virgo between September 2007 and July of 2010. You may recall that Pluto entered Capricorn around . And now, half a Saturn cycle later, Pluto leaves Capricorn not long after Saturn opposes that Pluto-Capricorn ingress chart's Saturn position.
Full Moon of the Virgin Goddexx
While there's plenty to talk about on account of the Sun's place in Pisces, and the impending Neptune-Mercury-cazimi, the Moon is in the sign of Virgo. Said to depict a Virgin Goddess. Likened to Astraea, Persephone, and many others, the key symbolism is that of a super-natural person. A Goddess, hermaphrodite, or "winged" while also "anthropomorphic".
Nocturnal Domicile of Mercury
The Moon graces Virgo, the nocturnal domicile of Virgo. Take a look at Mercury in the chart above - at 7° Pisces, sign of the New Moon and Mercury's detriment as well as fall. This is a place where Mercury's penchant for precise process isn't well exemplified.
Instead Mercury's ability to be two places at once is manifested as an ability to synthesize and abstract connections that facilitate the making of meaning. Though the explanation of the connections might be experienced as challenging for a person who has such a placement.
The Diurnal Earthy Triplicity: Venus, the Moon, and Mars
The diurnal Earthy triplicity is led by Venus. Earth is the heaviest of the elemental groupings. Downward moving and associated with things that are dense, slow, and dark yet somehow of the nature of the day. Perhaps on account of still looking to the present or toward the future, rather than being preoccupied with memories of the past (as you might expect of the Moon's nocturnal leadership).
In this case we've got the Moon in Virgo, so one of the two triplicity lords present, and the one of the two lights somewhat dignified.
The Venusian Decan of the Virgo Full Moon - Virgo II
The second decan of Virgo is one that's called the face of Venus – a planet who is somehow both 'depressed' or 'exiled' in Virgo and yet who has plenty of friends (triplicity by day), set the terms for a large portion of the sign (bound rulership from 7° to 17° of the sign, in addition to the middle decan. If you're counting that means that Venus can actually end up more dignified than not, in a sign that's supposed to be inhospitable to the convivial sphere of concord, grace, and harmony.
While the tropical projected ecliptic degrees of the stars will drift over time (on account of precession), it's still interesting to consider the fixed stars assocatied with the decans.
The fixed stars that projects to this part of the (tropical) zodiac (today) are: Zosma, Coxa, and Asterion. In Brady's Book of Fixed Stars, Zosma is related to "the place on the back of the Nimean Lion where the latter was crushed by Hercules."
Perhaps this place of sensitive injury is seen in the headlines related to one of the United State's biggest weaknesses: economic crisis born out of speculative capitalism run rampant and unchecked?
Virgo New Moon in the Bound of Venus
Our boy Vettius Valens says of this term that the degrees:
"...belong to Venus: censured, wronging their marriage and falling into difficulty because of this, lucky in theatrical matters. They are most unnatural in their passions, especially when Saturn is in aspect; when Mercury is in aspect, they commit adultery; when Jupiter is in aspect, they commit a great number of sins which are forgivable – but still there are condemnations. When the Sun is in aspect, they commit hidden actions; when the Moon is in aspect they meet with reverses and political opposition. If this term is beheld by malefics, it causes prostitution."
- Vettius Valens (Anthologies transl. Riley)
Now, Valens is talking about this term in a natal chart. And gives much more detail than most other terms when doing so.
Unsavory as it is, the connections between marriage and business are not just part of the legacy of marriage, but right there in astrology too. The seventh house is a place of marriage as well as contracts and business partnerships. The eighth house is one that hold the assets of the partnership matrimonial or strictly business. In fact, the language of some marriage licenses specifically addresses the concept of fiduciary liability as part of the legal responsibility of marriage.
In layman's terms: marriage is a type of a business arrangement that entails financial integrity. Which is clearly something that gets triggered and challenged time and again in the U.S. with respect to banks, banking, currency, and speculative markets.
It's an interesting story, but it understanding our little look-back at the Virgo Full Moon doesn't require unpacking that here.
Perhaps it'll get unpacked in the same way that Bear and Alex Mikinaak discussed a recent news related to NAGPRA and the number of remains held in educational institutions in the states?
The Pisces Dodekatemorion of the Full Moon
The middle two and half degrees of any sign are quite interesting, from the perspective of the dodekatemoria. These degrees reflect the nature of the opposite sign. Place the full moon in these degrees and you have triple testimony – the opposition, the combination of the Sun and the Moon, and the exchange of opposing dodekas.
Tracing the  Moon's Connection to You
Since this post is a retrospective, let's go ahead and make the questions a rear-view as well. Sometimes there's just as much information to be found by looking backwards at a transit and using that information for to reverse-engineer the calibration on your current trajectory.
Questions:
- Do you have any planets or angles around 14 - 18° of the mutable signs?
- Did the Pisces New Moon, or this Virgo Full Moon form a tight aspect to your sect light, chart ruler, or a prominent/highly dignified planet in your chart? If so, which one?
- Do you / have you noticed any prominent themes related to that planet's sphere coming up in the last week? Three weeks?
- What was going on for you during the following dates?
- January 19th/20th, 2023 – the Pisces New Moon
- August 27th, 2022 – the previous Virgo New Moon
- September 3rd, 2007 - October 29, 2009 and April 8th - July 21st, 2010 – when Saturn was in Virgo (and Uranus was in Pisces).
- of particular note would be September 11th, 2007's Solar Eclipse at 18° Virgo, February '08's 1° Virgo Lunar Eclipse
Those dates may not be of particular importance to you. Particularly if you were under the age of 14 at that time.
If you're learning how to utilize timing techniques and want a seasoned professional astrologer to review your work you can book a tutoring session.
Advanced:
4. Â What's up with Virgo, Mercury, and the luminaries for you with respect to your timing (profection, solar return, distribution, zodiacal releasing...)?
Have a question for Bear? Want to connect with other astrologers and astrology enthusiasts?
As always, I hope these words find and serve you well.
If you'd like to start a discussion or pose a question to your fellow members (and/or Bear) feel free to post down below!
If you'd like to reach out to Bear directly you can reach him at: contact@bearryver.com
