“I,” she said, “I saw the Lord in a vision and I said to him, ‘Lord, I saw you today in a vision.’
He answered and said to me, Blessed are you that you did not waver at the sight of me. For where the mind is, there is the treasure.’ I said to him, ‘Lord, now does he who sees the vision see it through the soul or through the spirit?’ The Savior answered, ‘he does not see through the soul nor through the spirit. ‘Rather the mind, which exists between these two.”
– The Gospel of Mary of Magdalene
By Victoria Emory
At 3:17 am Eastern Time on Saturday, the Moon in Virgo opposes the Sun in Pisces for the final Full Moon of this astrological year. What a year it has been.
In the early Christian tradition of this (so-called heretical) text above, Mary Magdalene was the chosen, authoritative leader of the group, post-crucifixion. The world-view implicit in the excerpt considered the soul to be the aspect of spirit that incarnates. Intimately connected to the body, the soul (psyche) is the part of us which learns from lifetime to lifetime, as it traverses the challenges unique to this physical realm.
In a nutshell, that is the Virgo-Pisces axis: Spirit and its Embodiment. As the Earth sign in the polarity, Virgo is that body temple. A tall order, hence the whole ‘Virgo perfection’ thing. It’s a humbling prospect, calling for no less than a kind of ongoing alchemical process of purification and reconfiguration. Virgo sees too clearly all that stands in the way of that Great Work. She is the poster-girl for personal transformation.
Mercury rules Virgo and this Full Moon, and is now direct and moving into a conjunction with Jupiter, the classical ruler of the Sun (and now Venus) in Pisces. Both are still in Aquarius, and in keeping with the revolutionary and future-oriented theme imprinted on this year, I’m breaking with orthodoxy here.
Virgo–Pisces is traditionally associated with Mary as virgin mother and the incarnation of divinity born through her. Fair enough; but the time has come to liberate Virgo from the role of asexual, passive vessel to that of star pupil and teacher. Without the intelligence inherent in all that is associated with the ‘female polarity,’ creating a whole and healthy future on this planet is impossible.
Mercury and Jupiter – like Virgo and Pisces – describe mundane and spiritual expressions of the same principle. Mercury is the mind that navigates this terrestrial experience; the agent of perception through which we learn.
We study with Mercury, seeking the wisdom of Jupiter. Jupiter (Guru, in Indian astrology) teaches, Mercury comprehends. Jupiter is the Big Picture, Mercury brings it into focus. Jupiter inspires the vision which Mercury – the only god that traverses all realms – can see.
That the ruler of this Full Moon has turned direct, to meet with Jupiter, since the New Moon two weeks ago is one sign of progress evident in the Full Moon chart.
There are others. Saturn and Uranus, the star players in the script for 2021, have lead roles in this chart, as does Chiron, considered by some to be Virgo’s co-ruler.
Saturn in Aquarius will remain in a close square to Uranus in Taurus all year; these two had not yet come into exact alignment by the New Moon on Feb. 11th. Now that first pass is separating. We have a better sense of what we’re dealing with.
To achieve, one must believe. And beliefs are powered by emotion.
Moreover, Uranus (the agent of awakening and revolution) harmonizes with the Virgo Moon and Pisces Sun.
Moon-Uranus inspires emotional vitality; a rebirth of some kind feels possible, and that possibility is exciting. In the Earth element, this involves our physical experience; our bodies, health and relationships. The Saturn-Uranus square describes the struggle between restrictive patterns and liberation. Uranus touches this Moon to stimulate optimism around that quest for freedom.
To achieve, one must believe. And beliefs are powered by emotion.
When this Full Moon is exact, it’s highlighted as the apex of a yod, or ‘finger of God,’ pointing to the Virgo Moon (those green lines forming an arrow, pointing to the Moon.) Saturn sextile Chiron forms the base of that triangle.
Chiron and Virgo both connote healing; not only physical healing, though that is very real, especially with the Earth element emphasized here. But healing is a whole-person affair. It’s impossible to separate emotion from the body, especially in the context of a Virgo-Pisces dynamic.
With healing comes wisdom; an alchemical process that Virgo understands. The Virgo moon is in a tense relationship with both Saturn and Chiron, but that stress highlights what must be transformed. And help is at hand, in the supportive role Uranus plays in this pattern.
This time last year the world rocked. The imperative for transformation hit like the cosmic wave that it was. Now the ending of the last complete lunar phase of that year is upon us — governed by the planet of Mind in the sign of the Future — ruling the fully illuminated Moon in the sign of healing and female intelligence.
Uranus–Moon contacts can have a visionary quality; especially given the mystical pairing with the Sun in Pisces. Uranus corresponds with intuition, or flashes of insight. In this chart, that perception can be – must be – applied to incarnate, embodied experience.
This time last year the world rocked. The imperative for transformation hit like the cosmic wave that it was. Now the ending of the last complete lunar phase of that year is upon us — governed by the planet of Mind in the sign of the Future — ruling the fully illuminated Moon in the sign of healing and female intelligence.
Soon light will overtake darkness. The Spring Equinox. Ostara, or in the Christian world, Easter.
Mary Magdalene, the ‘Apostle to the Apostles’ in that resurrection drama, has been misunderstood and maligned for millennia. Yet the goddess is integral to divine rebirth, and that vision was only available to one in her form. In true Aquarian fashion, she was a wisdom teacher ahead of her culture and her time.
Heresy is derived from the Greek hairetikos “able to choose.”
What creates the future is the choices we make.
Where the mind is, there is the treasure.
