Full Moon of Surrendering Renewal in Virgo with Earth Star and Dead Man's Fingers
Welcome to the 8th Full Moon of Surrendering Renewal in Virgo at 0° 42' on February 19, 2019 at 7:53 in the morning (PST). The full moon is always a culmination and illumination of what we started during the previous new moon. Our last new moon in Aquarius brought a jug full of electric clarity to our nervous system. It reminded us that our mind in its primal nature is empty sky, to observe the subtle energies, and to circulate throughout our connective tissues. The Virgo/Pisces axis is now flowing strong and dishing us a hefty plate of bitter medicine. Our emotional lives are being illuminated to find the balance between criticism and acceptance, the need for order and the honesty of disorder, physical patterns and spiritual health, routines and visions, and the finite (our limits) and the infinite.
The jug of life-sustaining energy that poured over us in the new moon has since emptied. We are left with the cold and empty skeleton that once carried the rich and steaming liquid nectar. We have a sudden awareness that deep within our core exists a sorrowful and indescribable darkness. The Virgo/Pisces axis presses us to find a balance between our day-to-day tools (Virgo) and our spiritual selves (Pisces) -- a true reality check. A crisis, possibly one of the consciousness, sits exposed in the emptiness. The tension sets in and while there is not a way out, stagnancy will only induce more suffering. There is always a way in. Invite yourself into that dark, cold space so that you can love yourself with a bigger honesty and understanding than ever before. We are shedding habits we have outgrown so that we can reach a greater intimacy with our divine truth. Release control, trust the flow, and be gentle.
The Moon represents our bodies, heart, soul, and dynamic emotional landscape. The Sun represents a general symbol of the mind, will, or a primal vitality to continue to be alive. Our sanity/clarity relies on being true to our respective Sun signs. Our happiness relies on being true to our Moons. With this Virgo moon, we are being confronted with unseemly truths about ourselves, actions, endeavors, and intentions. We cannot heal until we have digested how we've contributed to our own suffering. Let the oncoming waning moon phases bring distribution and reorientation of what is being illuminated right now.
This is the third installment of four full moons in the zero degree -- next month's on March 20 will be the last full moon of this clean slate series. The zero degree holds unlimited potential for spiritual birthing and releasing, each as its own birth. We have immense opportunity to open deeper than before to our healing; unlimited potential similar to a baby's first breath or that of a spore flying in the wind.
Virgo Full Moon February 2019 MycoAstrological Associations:
1) Earth Star (Astraeus hygrometricus): progress, purity, addiction, cosmic connection, materialism, impulsiveness, optimism, extroversion, escapism
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mercury; Secondary Planet: Neptune; Day: Wednesday; Main Organ: Lungs; 2nd Organ: Mind; System: Respiratory; Tissue: Lymph; Action: Cold/Dry
2) Dead Man's Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha): renewal, courage, control, force, structural transformation
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mars; Secondary Planet: Uranus; Day: Tuesday; Main Organ: Blood, 2nd Organ: Gallbladder, System: Immune; Tissue: Muscles/Tendons; Action: Hot/Dry
February 18th marks a couple big shifts. The Sun has has entered into the unstable and flowing waters of Pisces season and we are less motivated to do than to feel. Pisces, ruled by Neptune, is the most fluid of the zodiac signs and can drift through change rather naturally. However, coupled with the Virgo axis and some big astrological shifts, this time is still likely to feel difficult. We may feel guided by our intuition or a sense of cosmic correlations. The Sun has entered the 12th and last zodiac season before starting over in Aries. Sun in Pisces symbolizes refining, maturing and transcendence through unconditional love, spirituality, sorrow, and necessary losses.
On February 18th, Chiron, the wounded healer, transits into Aries from being in Pisces for the last 7 years. We are entering a 7 year wave of Chiron in the warrior-of-self Aries through 2026/2027.
Venus leaves Capricorn and enters Aquarius on March 1st (until March 26, 2019). We move away from self-disciplined and calculated Capricorn towards exploring unconventionality and freedom in our relationships. Venus-Aquarius is definitely a time of personal freedom and to enjoy the wide range of connections. Venus-Aquarius is more likely to have trustworthy friendships because intimate involvements may be more emotionally binding than instinctive during this time. Venus-Aquarius is compatible with directing personal magnetism towards larger, humanitarian concerns and enduring projects than just romance.
On the day of the full moon, the Moon is trine with Mars and Uranus. There is definitely energy and emotion available toward new opportunities for improvements. When trine Uranus, the Moon is harmonious to feelings of intuition, independence, and self-reliance. There are many psychic frequencies swimming about and a spontaneous imagination gives rise to changeable moods that help us break through inhibiting patterns.
Take in the last couple of weeks of Uranus in Aries as it enters Taurus (for the first time since 1942) on March 6, and will transit Taurus until July 7, 2025. Uranus is the planet of revolution, sudden change, extremes, and moving physical matter. Coupled with Aries, we have experienced 7 years of radical reinvention through themes of being self-reliant. We received a cosmic jolt back into ourselves. We have seen many radical "advancements" in the remembering of our psychedelic connections -- the field of psychology has seen the reintroduction of psychedelic therapies. For better or for worse the relationship between human and technology has gotten even closer. As individuals we have definitely felt impatient or angry at the indication of someone impeding on our identity or values. Uranus into Taurus marks a big shift of our collective myth-making into a metamorphosing stage of diligence, resources, sensuality, practicality, and simplicity. Taurus is an earth sign governing sustenance and self-sufficiency. Social movements and our collective evolution might see some grounding, stabilizing, and resourceful changes in the next 7 years.
Mercury is in mid-Pisces and enters its shadow on February 19th. A Mercury retrograde begins on March 5th at the 29th degree of Pisces and lasts until March 28th, at the 16th degree of Pisces. This transit will be felt more during mid March and will be distilled in the next New Moon post. Also the next New Moon (March 6) will be in Pisces, so please note that much more Pisces is on the horizon.
Virgo Full Moon February 2019 MycoAstrological Associations:
1) Earth Star (Astraeus hygrometricus): progress, purity, addiction, cosmic connection, materialism, impulsiveness, optimism, extroversion, escapism
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mercury; Secondary Planet: Neptune; Day: Wednesday; Main Organ: Lungs; 2nd Organ: Mind; System: Respiratory; Tissue: Lymph; Action: Cold/Dry
As the lotus flower symbolizes rebirth and purity of soul -- so does the Earth Star. The unique beauty of the Earth Star invites us to look at the layers of our outworn habits necessary for the renewal process. The Earth Star reminds us we are divinely whole within ourselves, even in states of progress. A state of divinity does not mean perfect, a state of divinity means being true and grounded in love. Dear Virgo, "progress, not perfection".
Every Earth Star is like a lotus flower that blooms from the mud. An Earth Star un-envelopes itself -- from a brown, unsuspecting, swelling nurdle of flesh comes a fascinatingly unique star of the earth. Young specimen resemble a brown puff ball when unopened. Each youth are different and ugly in its own right yet still progressing toward something opening, full, and expanding. The Earth Star's emergence begins on the inside, unfolding its arms called "rays" outward and offering itself to the earth, not without immense internal phenomenon. When mature, the mushroom displays the characteristic Earth Star shape as a result of the outer tissue splitting open as a star.
Sun in Pisces represents the purifying, maturing, or refining by considering what we have outgrown. During this renewal, we are invited to discard elements of our unconscious that we are shedding. Growing pains!
The Virgo/Pisces axis presents a very potent time to allow our emotions to surface and wash over ourselves. Through embodying emotions we can allow them to be released, so that the soul can undergo transition. It's easy to feel like the universe is critiquing you right now, remember that healing requires taking the medicine no matter how hard it is to swallow. Feeling overwhelmed is not always a bad thing. Overwhelm can mean that a radical reformation is happening with the paradigms of how we relate to the things in our life. Let yourself be true to yourself and turn inward so that we can continue our progress toward beautiful radiating Earth Stars.
Our habits become layers preventing us from aligning with our highest potential. Underneath the layers of habits, worn out narratives, and recycled traumas, your purest self still remains in tact and whole within itself. Virgo's archetype is the virgin and it is important to note that before the coopting of the once pre-pagan word, the Virgin referred to somebody who is whole in themselves. To be virgin was to experience ecstatic pleasure and divine wisdom in your very own body.
Virgo is the Greek Goddess Astraea which means "star-maiden" (also see Astraeus as the genus in the Earth Star's scientific name). She is the goddess of innocence and purity. Even though Virgo is a virgin, she is often holding a sheaf of wheat and the Virgo constellation has always been associated with harvest. Originally, the word "virgin" did not mean chaste, but unmarried. Sexuality became divorced from spirituality during the transition from the old goddess religions to the religions of the solar gods. During the old goddess religions, ancient priestesses could enter into a state of spiritual transcendence through sexual union with a partner(s) in a manner that did not require marriage or commitment. Ecstatic illumination could be experienced as the descent of the spirit of the "god" (or cosmic flow or divine love, etc.) into the person of the priestess -- an inner union. With the advent of new gods during the Greek religious paradigm shift, if a woman wanted to follow a spiritual path, she had to remain chaste, thus redefining the word.
Most of us internalize our sexual energy as a symptom of our social culture and may devote ourselves to a spiritual, religious, or meditative path that follows in the footsteps of nuns and monks or priestesses and priests in contemporary settings. Or we may blindly devote ourselves to the demands of other contemporary social structures like our jobs, social expectations, or economic productivity. The great mystical union of the self with itself is something that mystifies many of us and can be seen as a process of psychological integration that is part of our life-long therapeutic un-doing. Virgo illuminates how we may find our most satisfactory intimate encounters in communion with yourself. You, in many senses, may be your own best lover. Be as present with yourself as you'd be with another person. How do you practice profound intimacy with yourself?
For more related knowledge look up the relationship of Vesta, one of the four main asteroids, and its location in your chart. Vesta symbolizes how we use our sexual energy to deepen our relationship to ourselves.
Along with referring to the Star-Maiden, the Earth Star's scientific name Astraeus hygrometricus also refers to the fact that it is hygroscopic, or water-absorbing. It can open its rays to expose the spore sac (its central puff ball) in response to increased humidity and can close them up again in drier conditions. This mushroom self-regulates and is resilient by doing so! It senses when conditions are harder and when it is invited to turn inward. Be gentle to yourself. With new emptiness comes a deeper pain than ever before and an invitation to love yourself with a deeper and truer understanding than ever before.
2) Dead Man's Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha): renewal, courage, control, force, structural transformation
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mars; Secondary Planet: Uranus; Day: Tuesday; Main Organ: Blood, 2nd Organ: Gallbladder, System: Immune; Tissue: Muscles/Tendons; Action: Hot/Dry
Citations
The jug of life-sustaining energy that poured over us in the new moon has since emptied. We are left with the cold and empty skeleton that once carried the rich and steaming liquid nectar. We have a sudden awareness that deep within our core exists a sorrowful and indescribable darkness. The Virgo/Pisces axis presses us to find a balance between our day-to-day tools (Virgo) and our spiritual selves (Pisces) -- a true reality check. A crisis, possibly one of the consciousness, sits exposed in the emptiness. The tension sets in and while there is not a way out, stagnancy will only induce more suffering. There is always a way in. Invite yourself into that dark, cold space so that you can love yourself with a bigger honesty and understanding than ever before. We are shedding habits we have outgrown so that we can reach a greater intimacy with our divine truth. Release control, trust the flow, and be gentle.
 |
| Transit Chart for the Full Moon in Virgo of Surrendering Renewal on February 19, 2019 at 7:53 (PST). (astrotheme.com) |
This is the third installment of four full moons in the zero degree -- next month's on March 20 will be the last full moon of this clean slate series. The zero degree holds unlimited potential for spiritual birthing and releasing, each as its own birth. We have immense opportunity to open deeper than before to our healing; unlimited potential similar to a baby's first breath or that of a spore flying in the wind.
Virgo Full Moon February 2019 MycoAstrological Associations:
1) Earth Star (Astraeus hygrometricus): progress, purity, addiction, cosmic connection, materialism, impulsiveness, optimism, extroversion, escapism
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mercury; Secondary Planet: Neptune; Day: Wednesday; Main Organ: Lungs; 2nd Organ: Mind; System: Respiratory; Tissue: Lymph; Action: Cold/Dry
2) Dead Man's Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha): renewal, courage, control, force, structural transformation
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mars; Secondary Planet: Uranus; Day: Tuesday; Main Organ: Blood, 2nd Organ: Gallbladder, System: Immune; Tissue: Muscles/Tendons; Action: Hot/Dry
February 18th marks a couple big shifts. The Sun has has entered into the unstable and flowing waters of Pisces season and we are less motivated to do than to feel. Pisces, ruled by Neptune, is the most fluid of the zodiac signs and can drift through change rather naturally. However, coupled with the Virgo axis and some big astrological shifts, this time is still likely to feel difficult. We may feel guided by our intuition or a sense of cosmic correlations. The Sun has entered the 12th and last zodiac season before starting over in Aries. Sun in Pisces symbolizes refining, maturing and transcendence through unconditional love, spirituality, sorrow, and necessary losses.
On February 18th, Chiron, the wounded healer, transits into Aries from being in Pisces for the last 7 years. We are entering a 7 year wave of Chiron in the warrior-of-self Aries through 2026/2027.
Venus leaves Capricorn and enters Aquarius on March 1st (until March 26, 2019). We move away from self-disciplined and calculated Capricorn towards exploring unconventionality and freedom in our relationships. Venus-Aquarius is definitely a time of personal freedom and to enjoy the wide range of connections. Venus-Aquarius is more likely to have trustworthy friendships because intimate involvements may be more emotionally binding than instinctive during this time. Venus-Aquarius is compatible with directing personal magnetism towards larger, humanitarian concerns and enduring projects than just romance.
On the day of the full moon, the Moon is trine with Mars and Uranus. There is definitely energy and emotion available toward new opportunities for improvements. When trine Uranus, the Moon is harmonious to feelings of intuition, independence, and self-reliance. There are many psychic frequencies swimming about and a spontaneous imagination gives rise to changeable moods that help us break through inhibiting patterns.
Take in the last couple of weeks of Uranus in Aries as it enters Taurus (for the first time since 1942) on March 6, and will transit Taurus until July 7, 2025. Uranus is the planet of revolution, sudden change, extremes, and moving physical matter. Coupled with Aries, we have experienced 7 years of radical reinvention through themes of being self-reliant. We received a cosmic jolt back into ourselves. We have seen many radical "advancements" in the remembering of our psychedelic connections -- the field of psychology has seen the reintroduction of psychedelic therapies. For better or for worse the relationship between human and technology has gotten even closer. As individuals we have definitely felt impatient or angry at the indication of someone impeding on our identity or values. Uranus into Taurus marks a big shift of our collective myth-making into a metamorphosing stage of diligence, resources, sensuality, practicality, and simplicity. Taurus is an earth sign governing sustenance and self-sufficiency. Social movements and our collective evolution might see some grounding, stabilizing, and resourceful changes in the next 7 years.
Mercury is in mid-Pisces and enters its shadow on February 19th. A Mercury retrograde begins on March 5th at the 29th degree of Pisces and lasts until March 28th, at the 16th degree of Pisces. This transit will be felt more during mid March and will be distilled in the next New Moon post. Also the next New Moon (March 6) will be in Pisces, so please note that much more Pisces is on the horizon.
1) Earth Star (Astraeus hygrometricus): progress, purity, addiction, cosmic connection, materialism, impulsiveness, optimism, extroversion, escapism
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mercury; Secondary Planet: Neptune; Day: Wednesday; Main Organ: Lungs; 2nd Organ: Mind; System: Respiratory; Tissue: Lymph; Action: Cold/Dry
 |
| Earth Stars (Liz Popic) |
As the lotus flower symbolizes rebirth and purity of soul -- so does the Earth Star. The unique beauty of the Earth Star invites us to look at the layers of our outworn habits necessary for the renewal process. The Earth Star reminds us we are divinely whole within ourselves, even in states of progress. A state of divinity does not mean perfect, a state of divinity means being true and grounded in love. Dear Virgo, "progress, not perfection".
Every Earth Star is like a lotus flower that blooms from the mud. An Earth Star un-envelopes itself -- from a brown, unsuspecting, swelling nurdle of flesh comes a fascinatingly unique star of the earth. Young specimen resemble a brown puff ball when unopened. Each youth are different and ugly in its own right yet still progressing toward something opening, full, and expanding. The Earth Star's emergence begins on the inside, unfolding its arms called "rays" outward and offering itself to the earth, not without immense internal phenomenon. When mature, the mushroom displays the characteristic Earth Star shape as a result of the outer tissue splitting open as a star.
Sun in Pisces represents the purifying, maturing, or refining by considering what we have outgrown. During this renewal, we are invited to discard elements of our unconscious that we are shedding. Growing pains!
The Virgo/Pisces axis presents a very potent time to allow our emotions to surface and wash over ourselves. Through embodying emotions we can allow them to be released, so that the soul can undergo transition. It's easy to feel like the universe is critiquing you right now, remember that healing requires taking the medicine no matter how hard it is to swallow. Feeling overwhelmed is not always a bad thing. Overwhelm can mean that a radical reformation is happening with the paradigms of how we relate to the things in our life. Let yourself be true to yourself and turn inward so that we can continue our progress toward beautiful radiating Earth Stars.
Our habits become layers preventing us from aligning with our highest potential. Underneath the layers of habits, worn out narratives, and recycled traumas, your purest self still remains in tact and whole within itself. Virgo's archetype is the virgin and it is important to note that before the coopting of the once pre-pagan word, the Virgin referred to somebody who is whole in themselves. To be virgin was to experience ecstatic pleasure and divine wisdom in your very own body.
 |
| Earth Star Progression, Sierra Gorda, Mexico. (Travis Fulton) |
Most of us internalize our sexual energy as a symptom of our social culture and may devote ourselves to a spiritual, religious, or meditative path that follows in the footsteps of nuns and monks or priestesses and priests in contemporary settings. Or we may blindly devote ourselves to the demands of other contemporary social structures like our jobs, social expectations, or economic productivity. The great mystical union of the self with itself is something that mystifies many of us and can be seen as a process of psychological integration that is part of our life-long therapeutic un-doing. Virgo illuminates how we may find our most satisfactory intimate encounters in communion with yourself. You, in many senses, may be your own best lover. Be as present with yourself as you'd be with another person. How do you practice profound intimacy with yourself?
For more related knowledge look up the relationship of Vesta, one of the four main asteroids, and its location in your chart. Vesta symbolizes how we use our sexual energy to deepen our relationship to ourselves.
Along with referring to the Star-Maiden, the Earth Star's scientific name Astraeus hygrometricus also refers to the fact that it is hygroscopic, or water-absorbing. It can open its rays to expose the spore sac (its central puff ball) in response to increased humidity and can close them up again in drier conditions. This mushroom self-regulates and is resilient by doing so! It senses when conditions are harder and when it is invited to turn inward. Be gentle to yourself. With new emptiness comes a deeper pain than ever before and an invitation to love yourself with a deeper and truer understanding than ever before.
2) Dead Man's Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha): renewal, courage, control, force, structural transformation
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mars; Secondary Planet: Uranus; Day: Tuesday; Main Organ: Blood, 2nd Organ: Gallbladder, System: Immune; Tissue: Muscles/Tendons; Action: Hot/Dry
 |
| Xylaria polymorpha fingers reaching to the sky with white conidia (asexual spores) over their surface. There are also a few golden Mycenas in the background. |
Dead Man's Fingers symbolizes the renewal from death and the release of control. They are the fingers reaching up from below, continuing the flow. As Chiron enters Aries on February 18th, it has made it through a whole zodiac year, letting go of Pisces, and having acquired an internal shift of perception. Chiron now transits Aries until 2026/7. Chiron has stepped out of 7 years of discovering needs and defining boundaries and is now breaking into Aries' path of courage, directness, the right use of force.
Xylaria polymorpha is a common inhabitant of forested areas and grows from the bases of rotting or injured tree stumps and decaying wood. "Xylaria" refers to growing on wood and "polymorpha" means many forms. This species is highly variable sometimes growing by itself or in clusters. The fruiting body can look like many separate fingers or sometimes look more bulbous like a whole hand. During its youth, or in spring, the fungus produces asexual spores called conidia that appear blue or white over its surface. This is called the "candlesnuff" stage. Later on in its life the fungus matures dark to black. This fungus is a wood-decayer, breaking down the glue-like structure of the tree, eating the lignin and causing a "soft" rot. Trees infected with this fungus show a gradual decline.
Chiron, the asteroid or planetoid discovered in 1977, is a tiny planetary body whose in Greek mythology was a wise centaur, teacher, and healer. Chiron represents the wisdom, patience, and faculty to reduce suffering. A shift in Chiron is a shift of profound astrological energy, and into Aries is one that bears the wisdom of the loyal warrior. In Aries, Chiron doesn't just heal but can regenerate and revive.
Citations
- George, Demetra (2008). Astrology and the authentic self: integrating traditional and modern astrology to uncover the essence of the birth chart. Lake Worth, Florida: Ibis Press
- Rogers, Robert (2016). Mushroom essences: Vibrational healing from the kingdom fungi. Berkley, California: North Atlantic Books
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