Full Moon of Fertile Balancing with Fairy Rings and Wolf's Milk
Welcome to the Full Moon of Fertile Balancing on March 20, 2019 at 18:42 (PST) in 0°09' Libra with the Sun in 0°09' Aries, it's polarity. This Full Moon features Fairy Rings (Marasmius oreades) and Wolf's Milk (Lycogala epidendrum), which is actually a slime mold -- but we don't discriminate! This Full Moon is one of balance and harmony that weighs on the Aries/Libra axis as well as the axis of light and dark. The Full Moon arrives in the Northern Hemisphere on the day of the Vernal Equinox, an occurrence happening for the first time in 40 years. This is surely an enchanting time and a turning point in relationship dynamics with yourself and others. Libra brings a strong sensitivity to and attraction for others. How can you celebrate your fertility? How can you, with balance, gentleness, and slowness, integrate what you've learned through winter and apply it toward the birthing of yourself into fire?
As day and night are equal, the spring equinox marks the tipping to the side of light. We stand at the doorway of light and dark. The Vernal Equinox is a celebration of balance and fertility as the earth cycles into the next season. The Spring Equinox reminds us to not only remember but honor and celebrate our path of darkness that has led us to tip into the light. In a place of balance we are much more grounded and powerful to spring into our own fertility. In slowness we can grow into strength, resilience, and wisdom. In a place of balance and tact our actions are more sustainable.
What are you fertile for?
As day and night are equal, the spring equinox marks the tipping to the side of light. We stand at the doorway of light and dark. The Vernal Equinox is a celebration of balance and fertility as the earth cycles into the next season. The Spring Equinox reminds us to not only remember but honor and celebrate our path of darkness that has led us to tip into the light. In a place of balance we are much more grounded and powerful to spring into our own fertility. In slowness we can grow into strength, resilience, and wisdom. In a place of balance and tact our actions are more sustainable.
What are you fertile for?
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| Transit Chart for Full Moon of Fertile Balancing in 0°09' Libra on March 20, 2019 18:42 (PST) (astrotheme.com). |
The Full Moon symbolizes the culmination and fulfillment of the intentions of our previous New Moon, the Moon of Porous Purpose in Pisces with Pilobolus and Amethyst Coral. During the dark Moon, we sifted in a time of questioning and imagining. We remembered our soul's truest and highest purpose, and have been offered the space to practice sustenance during our every day life. This is the last of four Full Moons in a row that have all been in the zero degree. There has been a potent stream of information in the language of epiphanies, significance, important beginnings, and fresh starts.
Libra Full Moon March 2019 MycoAstrological Associations:
1) Fairy Rings (Marasmius oreades): birth, fertility, inner child, menstruation, circadian rhythm, melatonin, pregnancy, labor
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mars; Secondary Planet: Neptune; Day: Tuesday; Main Organ: Blood; 2nd Organ: Gallbladder; System: Immune; Tissue: Muscles/tendons; Action: Hot/Dry
2) Wolf's Milk (Lycogala epidendrum): gentleness, fertility, primal nurturing, attention, heart centered
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Venus; Secondary Planet: Neptune; Day: Friday; Main Organ: Kidney; 2nd Organ: Bladder; System: Genitourinary; Tissue: Mucous; Action: Warm/Dry
Aries receives more fuel with Chiron's recent transit into the sign. For the next 7 years, we have immense potential to really dig deep into the instinctive fire and psychological functioning of our own suffering. Our self-actualization is beginning on a 7 year journey of healing.
Pisces is also maintaining the soulful, whimsical, intuitive, and impressionable seas into March. Mercury is now mid-retrograde in Pisces and will station direct on 3/28, still in Pisces. Venus leaves independent Aquarius and will enter Pisces on 3/27. The way we feel secure, nourished, and loved is about to shift from progressive, intellectual, inventive Aquarius into affectionate, unconditional, spiritual love that transcends all physical limitations. Pisces is the desire to merge with the object of our affection. And, of course, Neptune is still in its favorable Pisces. In the next year or two, Neptune approaches the midpoint of Pisces for its 13 year transit between 2012-2025.
We are experiencing Uranus in the first degree of Taurus (as of 3/6), forging its first degree on 3/27., and staying in Taurus for the next 7 years. Read more on this transit in the previous New Moon post.
Mars is in Taurus and changes into Gemini on 3/31 until 5/15. The planet of will move from slow, steady, sensual Taurus into Gemini's curiosity, versatility, and adaptability.
Next month's full moon is also in Libra, but toward the end of the zodiac degree. With the Moon in Libra, there is be a strong sensitivity to and attraction for others. During this Full Moon something comes to full bloom and sets us on a path. Exercise care, for it doesn't mean we're particularly rational or practical yet, especially with the enthusiasm of Aries and the flowing seas of Pisces.
1) Fairy Rings (Marasmius oreades): birth, fertility, inner child, menstruation, circadian rhythm, melatonin, pregnancy, labor, protection
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mars; Secondary Planet: Neptune; Day: Tuesday; Main Organ: Blood; 2nd Organ: Gallbladder; System: Immune; Tissue: Muscles/tendons; Action: Hot/Dry
Fairy Rings have held immense folkloric wisdom for generations and have long been associated with full moons and mystical fairy dances. Depending on who you ask, Fairy Rings can be a place of benevolent enchantment or a portal of punishment and dire consequences. It seems that the key question is whether or not a fairy ring boundary has been "crossed". Fairy Rings speak of a duality between what is on the outside of the circle, possibly the structure and ignorance of human life, and inside the circle, where the fairies dance and the rules of social conditioning, physics, and time are not the same.
Fairy rings have an interesting association of protection that has been noted inside as well as outside of the circle. Fairy Rings also connect us to our wounded inner child and helps reestablish trust and freedom. They help us learn to play and bounce between light and darkness. Fairy Rings help us feel protected and to be a protector of our loved ones, akin to Aries protection of the self and Libra's protection of others.
Fairy Rings remind us of life's inherent Yin and Yang energies and the space in between. Yang corresponds to the strong, active, solar energy whereas the Yin qualities can be more internal, receptive, and lunar.
Day and Night are symbolic of life's inherent Yin and Yang energies. Though the Equinox indicates symmetrical balance, the Yang now outweighs the Yin -- spring is here and summer is on its way. As our days become longer, the inward Yin of winter has been digested and is melting away. We are now invited to step into the fire and grow into the fullness of Yang in the summertime. The life that has stayed hidden and underground for the duration of the long, deep sleep of winter begins to shift and stir.
The ring marks a boundary, and those who cross it, perhaps those without attunement, balance, honor, or awareness might receive a consequence of exhaustion, death, or madness. A curious human could very well visit the Fairy Rings and leave with only a bruise or perhaps a lifetime of wisdom. One thing is for sure, a human cannot stay with the Fairies forever. They are beautiful, intriguing, but ultimately unknowable. Interestingly, invasions of the Fairy Rings are usually fatal for men. If you enter a Fairy Ring, remember life's essential balancing of Yin and Yang. Some advise you to only enter if you dare... but remember where there's fear there is power.
As Libra is the process of harmonizing, the Fairy Ring reminds us of harmonizing the two worlds of Yin and Yang, light and dark, of being outside and inside the fairy realm. The pictograph for Libra is the scale in perfect equilibrium, which is the first non-nature-based symbol in the zodiac. The symbol was the ancient Egyptian symbol for the setting sun, which was regarded as the doorway between 2 worlds.
In Germany, Fairy Rings are called Hexen Rings, meaning "Witches Rings". On the Eve of May Day, the rings are formed by the witches' dancing. The Dutch believe the rings were the resting place of the devil's churns. Some traditions believe the rings are formed by lightning, while in others they were thought to be the sites of buried treasure that could only be retrieved with the help from fairies or witches. In France, they are called ronds de sorcieres or "sorcerers' rings" and also sometimes faux mousseron meaning "mushroom scythe". In various parts of Europe, Fairy Rings were believed formed by spit, urine, or sperm from elves. One indigenous American belief is that Fairy Rings are caused by dancing buffalo. Some legends say the only way to safely investigate a Fairy Ring is to run around it nine times, according to some only under a full moon and toward the direction of the sun. In Tyrol, the rings were believed to be caused by the hot breath of dragons, while the Irish believe they are caused by the devil spilling milk while making butter. In a similar story, our next fungus is little old Wolf's Milk, to boot!
Marasmius is from the Greek meaning "withered", referring to the ability of the mushroom to revive itself after rain. Oreades means "Growing in the mountains", which isn't always true. There are about 60 mushroom species that can grow in a Fairy Ring, and the best known is Marasmius oreades or Scotch Bonnet.
There are two recognized types of Fairy Ring fungi. If found in the woods, they are called tethered because they are formed by a mycorrhizal symbiosis with trees. If found in a meadow, they are deemed free because they are not connected with other organisms.
They are caused by soil inhabiting fungi Basidiomycetes, breaking down organic matter in the soil or decaying tree roots. The growth of a fungus depends on the mycelium's growth underground by absorbing nutrients by the secretion of enzymes from the tips of their hyphae. The mycelium often expands outwards from the original center. Older mycelia die in the middle and new ones obtain food at the periphery, forming a ring. Subsequent generations of fungi grow only outward on the "living edge" because their parent generations deplete local nitrogen levels. The fruiting bodies of this fungus can spring back to life with a new rain.
Long-term observations of Fairy Rings in Dorset, England suggests that their growth cycle depends on the continuous presence of rabbits. Rabbits crop grass, keeping a balance between the grass height and fungus, allowing the mushrooms to grow and flourish above the grass height. Rabbits do not eat Fairy Rings and also produce nitrogen-rich droppings. A balanced ecosystem is created for the mushrooms who need more soil nitrogen than grass does.
One of the oldest growing and largest Fairy Rings in the world encircles Stonehenge and is approximately a millennium in age. Fairy Ring mushrooms contain hydrocyanic acid, which gives an almond odor or sometimes an oak scent when cooked in butter. This acid is very volatile but poses no health concern after cooking. Marasmius species possess anti-microbial, anti-bacterial and phytotoxic properties. Marasmius troyanus, a related species, has been studied for mycoremediation at Tulane University and has shown activity against PAHs, TNT, and other contaminants.
2) Wolf's Milk (Lycogala epidendrum): gentleness, fertility, primal nurturing, attention, heart centered
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Venus; Secondary Planet: Neptune; Day: Friday; Main Organ: Kidney; 2nd Organ: Bladder; System: Genitourinary; Tissue: Mucous; Action: Warm/Dry
During this Full Moon and Spring Equinox, Wolf's Milk represent the pink fertile eggs of our fruiting on damp, rotting wood. Wolf's milk is actually a slime mold! Slime molds do not have a cell wall as a fungus does.
In many traditions across the globe, eggs are a symbol of the Spring Equinox and fertility. Many myths describe the curious way an egg can be balanced upright perfectly during the exactitude of the Spring Equinox. It is as if the great egg of the whole earth has hatched anew. All of nature is a spiraling reminder of the fertile force. Life is seeking surface, space, air, and light.
In a way, each of us is our own pink, supple and soft egg being offered out into the sunlight. As we balance between light and dark, our spiraling pours out and continues changing, learning, dancing and growing. As we are part of the earth, we also undergo seasons of change.
Life is about cycles and the ever-weaving synchronicities that occur within those cycles. By tuning into cycles we begin to see that they are actually more like spirals. The personal development of each cycle is impossible without the learnings and processes of the previous cycle. The cycles do not come back to their point of origin. Instead, each cycle may be seen as a turn in a continuously widening spiral like a helix or spiral staircase. Each turn does not bring us back to our starting point, but to another level above where we started. Our journeying is not round and round, but rather onward, upward, and outward.
It is important to live in the space of awareness of the interplay between Yin and Yang. It is easier to become attached to one side of the duality than to flow between them. We can become attached to the highs and lows of each. To continue our growth and change, it is vital to remember the exchange between darkness and lightness -- decay and growth. The universe is a manifestation of the interactions between pairs of polar energies. Life inherently has Yin and Yang, as life inherently has the dilemma of Aries/Libra in the language of astrology. Until we align with the natural flow of darkness, we will exhaust our lives in the attempts of control.
While it is possible to take a leap into the light, it is more nurturing and gentle on ourselves to slowly balance into our blossoming. It is more difficult to move with slowness. Through integrating what we have learned from the wintering of our spirits, we can embrace what we have embodied, shed, and practiced, and can apply it to our movement forward and outward into our subsequent spirals of cycle.
Citations
Full moons illuminate conflict as the Sun and Moon are in opposition. We have just began Aries season, a season that the Sun is exalted in, which means that even though the Sun's ruler is Leo, it's potential can be expressed in a powerful and pure form through Aries.
The Aries/Libra axis represents the personal and the relationship. The Aries/Libra axis balances self assertion/compromise, independence/dependence, and autonomy/companionability. The axis balances personal needs and the needs of people closest to you. Both of these signs take a lot of joy in simply being, so this is sure to be a passionate and adventurous time.
Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac, the fire of pure existence and new beginnings that plants seeds in its steps. Aries is the spark of life and lives in each moment intensely. This sign is more inclined to commit itself in the present and to start from scratch. The Aries Ram is dynamic, active, assertive, sexual, opportunistic, open to change, and able to climb great heights. Aries is primitive self-expression, self-actualization, choices, and taking a stand.
Libra is intimacy, commitment, empathy, and relationships based on equality, negotiation, and compromise. Psychologically, Libra is outer-directed and its energies are focused on melding and combining with other people. The Moon in Libra harmonizes inward processes and excels at understanding another person's point of view. Libra is the astrological sign of partnership and will heighten magnetism and flair to put ideas into successful action, especially in the Aries fire Sun.
The Aries/Libra axis represents the personal and the relationship. The Aries/Libra axis balances self assertion/compromise, independence/dependence, and autonomy/companionability. The axis balances personal needs and the needs of people closest to you. Both of these signs take a lot of joy in simply being, so this is sure to be a passionate and adventurous time.
Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac, the fire of pure existence and new beginnings that plants seeds in its steps. Aries is the spark of life and lives in each moment intensely. This sign is more inclined to commit itself in the present and to start from scratch. The Aries Ram is dynamic, active, assertive, sexual, opportunistic, open to change, and able to climb great heights. Aries is primitive self-expression, self-actualization, choices, and taking a stand.
Libra is intimacy, commitment, empathy, and relationships based on equality, negotiation, and compromise. Psychologically, Libra is outer-directed and its energies are focused on melding and combining with other people. The Moon in Libra harmonizes inward processes and excels at understanding another person's point of view. Libra is the astrological sign of partnership and will heighten magnetism and flair to put ideas into successful action, especially in the Aries fire Sun.
Libra Full Moon March 2019 MycoAstrological Associations:
1) Fairy Rings (Marasmius oreades): birth, fertility, inner child, menstruation, circadian rhythm, melatonin, pregnancy, labor
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mars; Secondary Planet: Neptune; Day: Tuesday; Main Organ: Blood; 2nd Organ: Gallbladder; System: Immune; Tissue: Muscles/tendons; Action: Hot/Dry
2) Wolf's Milk (Lycogala epidendrum): gentleness, fertility, primal nurturing, attention, heart centered
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Venus; Secondary Planet: Neptune; Day: Friday; Main Organ: Kidney; 2nd Organ: Bladder; System: Genitourinary; Tissue: Mucous; Action: Warm/Dry
Aries receives more fuel with Chiron's recent transit into the sign. For the next 7 years, we have immense potential to really dig deep into the instinctive fire and psychological functioning of our own suffering. Our self-actualization is beginning on a 7 year journey of healing.
Pisces is also maintaining the soulful, whimsical, intuitive, and impressionable seas into March. Mercury is now mid-retrograde in Pisces and will station direct on 3/28, still in Pisces. Venus leaves independent Aquarius and will enter Pisces on 3/27. The way we feel secure, nourished, and loved is about to shift from progressive, intellectual, inventive Aquarius into affectionate, unconditional, spiritual love that transcends all physical limitations. Pisces is the desire to merge with the object of our affection. And, of course, Neptune is still in its favorable Pisces. In the next year or two, Neptune approaches the midpoint of Pisces for its 13 year transit between 2012-2025.
We are experiencing Uranus in the first degree of Taurus (as of 3/6), forging its first degree on 3/27., and staying in Taurus for the next 7 years. Read more on this transit in the previous New Moon post.
Next month's full moon is also in Libra, but toward the end of the zodiac degree. With the Moon in Libra, there is be a strong sensitivity to and attraction for others. During this Full Moon something comes to full bloom and sets us on a path. Exercise care, for it doesn't mean we're particularly rational or practical yet, especially with the enthusiasm of Aries and the flowing seas of Pisces.
1) Fairy Rings (Marasmius oreades): birth, fertility, inner child, menstruation, circadian rhythm, melatonin, pregnancy, labor, protection
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mars; Secondary Planet: Neptune; Day: Tuesday; Main Organ: Blood; 2nd Organ: Gallbladder; System: Immune; Tissue: Muscles/tendons; Action: Hot/Dry
 |
| "Free" Fairy Ring (Appalachian Magazine) |
Fairy rings have an interesting association of protection that has been noted inside as well as outside of the circle. Fairy Rings also connect us to our wounded inner child and helps reestablish trust and freedom. They help us learn to play and bounce between light and darkness. Fairy Rings help us feel protected and to be a protector of our loved ones, akin to Aries protection of the self and Libra's protection of others.
Fairy Rings remind us of life's inherent Yin and Yang energies and the space in between. Yang corresponds to the strong, active, solar energy whereas the Yin qualities can be more internal, receptive, and lunar.
Day and Night are symbolic of life's inherent Yin and Yang energies. Though the Equinox indicates symmetrical balance, the Yang now outweighs the Yin -- spring is here and summer is on its way. As our days become longer, the inward Yin of winter has been digested and is melting away. We are now invited to step into the fire and grow into the fullness of Yang in the summertime. The life that has stayed hidden and underground for the duration of the long, deep sleep of winter begins to shift and stir.
 |
| "Tethered" Fairy Ring in Forest (Appalachian Magazine) |
As Libra is the process of harmonizing, the Fairy Ring reminds us of harmonizing the two worlds of Yin and Yang, light and dark, of being outside and inside the fairy realm. The pictograph for Libra is the scale in perfect equilibrium, which is the first non-nature-based symbol in the zodiac. The symbol was the ancient Egyptian symbol for the setting sun, which was regarded as the doorway between 2 worlds.
Marasmius is from the Greek meaning "withered", referring to the ability of the mushroom to revive itself after rain. Oreades means "Growing in the mountains", which isn't always true. There are about 60 mushroom species that can grow in a Fairy Ring, and the best known is Marasmius oreades or Scotch Bonnet.
 |
| "Come, now a roundel." Illustration to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream by Arthur Rackham (1908) |
They are caused by soil inhabiting fungi Basidiomycetes, breaking down organic matter in the soil or decaying tree roots. The growth of a fungus depends on the mycelium's growth underground by absorbing nutrients by the secretion of enzymes from the tips of their hyphae. The mycelium often expands outwards from the original center. Older mycelia die in the middle and new ones obtain food at the periphery, forming a ring. Subsequent generations of fungi grow only outward on the "living edge" because their parent generations deplete local nitrogen levels. The fruiting bodies of this fungus can spring back to life with a new rain.
Long-term observations of Fairy Rings in Dorset, England suggests that their growth cycle depends on the continuous presence of rabbits. Rabbits crop grass, keeping a balance between the grass height and fungus, allowing the mushrooms to grow and flourish above the grass height. Rabbits do not eat Fairy Rings and also produce nitrogen-rich droppings. A balanced ecosystem is created for the mushrooms who need more soil nitrogen than grass does.
One of the oldest growing and largest Fairy Rings in the world encircles Stonehenge and is approximately a millennium in age. Fairy Ring mushrooms contain hydrocyanic acid, which gives an almond odor or sometimes an oak scent when cooked in butter. This acid is very volatile but poses no health concern after cooking. Marasmius species possess anti-microbial, anti-bacterial and phytotoxic properties. Marasmius troyanus, a related species, has been studied for mycoremediation at Tulane University and has shown activity against PAHs, TNT, and other contaminants.
2) Wolf's Milk (Lycogala epidendrum): gentleness, fertility, primal nurturing, attention, heart centered
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Venus; Secondary Planet: Neptune; Day: Friday; Main Organ: Kidney; 2nd Organ: Bladder; System: Genitourinary; Tissue: Mucous; Action: Warm/Dry
 |
| Wolf's Milk Slime Mold (Lycogala epidendrum) |
In many traditions across the globe, eggs are a symbol of the Spring Equinox and fertility. Many myths describe the curious way an egg can be balanced upright perfectly during the exactitude of the Spring Equinox. It is as if the great egg of the whole earth has hatched anew. All of nature is a spiraling reminder of the fertile force. Life is seeking surface, space, air, and light.
In a way, each of us is our own pink, supple and soft egg being offered out into the sunlight. As we balance between light and dark, our spiraling pours out and continues changing, learning, dancing and growing. As we are part of the earth, we also undergo seasons of change.
 |
| The Celestial Feasts (Chris Turner) |
It is important to live in the space of awareness of the interplay between Yin and Yang. It is easier to become attached to one side of the duality than to flow between them. We can become attached to the highs and lows of each. To continue our growth and change, it is vital to remember the exchange between darkness and lightness -- decay and growth. The universe is a manifestation of the interactions between pairs of polar energies. Life inherently has Yin and Yang, as life inherently has the dilemma of Aries/Libra in the language of astrology. Until we align with the natural flow of darkness, we will exhaust our lives in the attempts of control.
While it is possible to take a leap into the light, it is more nurturing and gentle on ourselves to slowly balance into our blossoming. It is more difficult to move with slowness. Through integrating what we have learned from the wintering of our spirits, we can embrace what we have embodied, shed, and practiced, and can apply it to our movement forward and outward into our subsequent spirals of cycle.
Citations
- Rogers, Robert (2016). Mushroom essences: Vibrational healing from the kingdom fungi. Berkley, California: North Atlantic Books
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