Virgo's Moon, a Total Lunar Eclipse:
The Virgo Solar Festival
Subtle Meanings of the Full Moon in Pisces 2007
Malvin Artley, our regular esoteric commentator returns at last to examine the subtle meaning of the Full Moon in Pisces for 2007, the Virgo Solar Festival. This is Virgo's Full Moon, as the Moon is Full in the sign opposing the Sun. The full moon of Virgo (full moon in Pisces) takes place on the 28th of August at 10:38 hrs UT, which is 8:38 PM in Sydney and 5:38 AM in New York.
Greetings Everyone!
I have a picture that hangs on the wall in my lounge room entitled “Spirit Dancer”. It is a painting by an Australian aboriginal that shows a female form, lost in the ecstasy of dance, her hair wild and disheveled, alone yet blissfully at one with all in the world in which she lives – the realm of the Sky Dancers (Spirit world). During the last full moon period we had a bit of rain here in Adelaide, much welcomed and sorely-needed moisture from the heavens, nectar for a land parched by drought and for spirits weighed down with concern for the land.
One night after that rain I was awakened in the wee hours of the morning and, unable to sleep, I ventured out into the darkness to see what was on offer, for the muse called to me. There is something quite eerie, yet compelling, about walking alone at 4 AM in pea-soup fog accompanied only with one's own thoughts and the occasional stirrings of the odd bird. The moon was like a veiled specter in the mists of the night sky, following my every turn and change of course. It was also like a comforting sort of guide. The suburban streets were silent and awaiting the coming day's bustle, yet my mind was buzzing already, for the Spirit Dancers had roused me from my sleep that morning and there was naught else to do but to go out and join them in the cool, damp night air. I had been searching for something within of late and I could not quite put a finger on it. Was I being coaxed out of my comfort zone? Spirit Dancers do that. I could feel eyes upon me occasionally as I walked along. Was it the Spirit Dancers or the cats of the neighborhoods? Was it my own imagination or were they the eyes of the nature spirits who come out at night and make the night hours such a strange mix of perceptions? I got lost in thought as I walked, for there was much to consider but I kept the veiled specter to one side of me, so I never lost my way.
Was I mad? No one goes out by themselves at 4AM in the suburbs of a major city alone, armed only with one's wits and a cell phone – not that I would need it at that time of day. Perhaps I was 'a bit tetched', as we say in the South, but I felt completely at peace and at one with the night and actually revelled in the experience. Some people would say that to be moved by the Spirit is to be touched with a bit of madness. To be out in nature in the early morning hours, even if it is the limited natural spots in suburbia, puts one in contact with subtle energies that one normally would not experience during daylight hours.
Parallel Evolution
There is an entire evolution that parallels our human one that is vast beyond our knowing and normally beyond our perception and it is easily contactable during the night hours. It is their 'playtime'. I could feel it. There was a strange sort of comfort in it, yet it was foreign to what we normally know as human beings. Soon enough, though, the Sun began to lighten the eastern horizon and the birds awakened from their slumber. I had been walking for a long time. I could hear the morning traffic in the distance as people went off to their early morning starts and as I made my way home. It was time for the nature spirits to return to their work as well. Soon enough I would be on my way to work, too. I had enjoyed my sojourn with the Spirit Dancers. My conversations with them had been illuminating. We are all busy creatures on this little planet of ours. Still, if we seize upon a moment when called and listen intently, then a lot of answers will come if we give ourselves to the bliss of the moment.
Yes, as many of you have communicated to me and as I know myself, there is something stirring within each of us that leaves us unsettled until we finally experience what that is. We are all being called forward in a spiritual sense and it upsets the normal flow of our personal lives, as well as the lives of those closest to us until that 'calling' becomes a firm part of our everyday personal life. Spirit and persona must be one, else one's life loses its meaning and we suffer. Before I get into the specifics of this letter, I wish to take a moment to thank all of you who have written in (and there have been quite a number of you) and wished me well on my sabbatical – the book is taking shape finally. And to those of you who have expressed concern because these letters have stopped coming, this is one of my occasional letters while I take leave of these missives for a short time. I said I would be sending out a letter such as this one in case I saw that there was a significant event on the horizon and just to stay in touch with all of you.
Eclipses
Well, as it turns out, there is something of note to be addressed, astrologically speaking. As we observe from the title of this letter, there are two eclipses coming up – one on the 28th of this month and the matching eclipse to occur on that now-infamous date of Sept. 11th next month. The former is to be a total North Node lunar eclipse (new starts in affairs of the heart and emotional matters) and the latter is a South Node partial solar eclipse (a release and finishing up of old matters and expansion into new arenas once the 'old' is done). As we will see when we get into a description of these eclipses, these are to be highly significant for people for a variety of reasons, but their effects are not likely to be easy and the after effects will be far-reaching.
At this point in these letters I usually go into the dynamics of the sign representing the solar festival – Virgo in this case. However, we will forgo that this time. A lot has been happening at a variety of levels and I would like to address some particulars, for it may be of help. For those subscribers who would like to read about the dynamics of Virgo my past letters are available if you would like to have them for reference. With that, let's get into the nuts and bolts of what has been happening and perhaps shed some light on what is to come.
Firstly, as we have seen in past letters, we had been impacted by the influence of a Saturn/Neptune opposition since this time last year. We experienced the final 'hit' of that in March of this year. That opposition has had some far-reaching effects for people because it signaled a fundamental shift in belief structures. That has had a dual effect. On the one hand it caused us to stop and take stock of what our higher reality really is and how we could possibly make that work in the outer world. On the other hand we found that certain personal scenarios that had suited us well in the past were actually quite confining and we had to make some rather major changes in order to accommodate what more closely matched our inner truth. Neptune represents our higher (Spiritual) truth – the TRUTH – in distinction to the normal association of Neptune in most astrology with deception, confusion, coming undone and the like. Saturn represents that which we must bear in order to lead us to the truth (our karma). We are offered opportunity under Saturn's influence, but that opportunity is only seen as such when we realize that all experience is a part of the Path back to the very essence of our Being. Without suffering we never learn to love fully. Saturn leads us to compassion and virtuous practices-the true sweetness of life. Really, if we want to know how well we are doing in our spiritual work, just take on a bit of Saturn experience and you will soon find out. Under Saturn, I would have but one piece of advice for those who feel hard-done by life, yet seek to be compassionate and loving regardless, and it was most eloquently stated by a very wise soul (whose name escapes me at the moment): “Rely continuously on a happy mind alone.” So, what is the point of all this?
Dedication to the Higher Life
In August of last year we began a process wherein our dedication to the higher life, the matching of that against the demands of the outer world, our shortcomings along the Way and the final realization of how to fully manifest the truth of our inner life in the outer world are slowly or quickly being revealed to us. Be clear, though, that something has changed within each of us since that time and if we are still unsettled, then we have not fully gotten the message, or have not figured out a way to manifest it yet. There is nothing to say that because we had the final Saturn/Neptune opposition in March of this year that the process is finished. Far from it. Esoteric astrology does not work that way. What we find instead in the majority of cases is that there has been an increased personal unrest since that time. If there is unrest, then the Spirit still beckons us. We have not heard in fullness. We feel that there is a “next step” that must be taken, whatever that may be. If we look around us and see that our life is not what we would wish, yet we do not feel a 'call', then rest assured that one is not listening or ignoring the call.
True, from one level we could say that all is as it should be and that all we have to do is to have a happy mind and that everything will work out as it should. The person who can truly do that is exceedingly rare – a true Master. And really, when it comes down to it, if one's life is a mess and one simply throws experience up to the heavens and accepts whatever comes, then the point of it is lost. Without struggle and effort there is no progress. True surrender – being one's Self in Truth – very often meets with stiff resistance from the world, especially with those closest to us who would rather keep the status quo. A spiritual life brings constant change. It is anathema to the status quo.
In part two of this article Malvin continues his discussion of the esoteric impact of the 2007 Full Moon Eclipse in Pisces, the Virgo Solar Festival.
 Now read part two of The Virgo Solar Festival 2007.
 Malvin Artley is an accredited member of the American Federation of Astrologers. His primary focus over the past 25 years has been on the sciences as they express occultism and with bridging work between the two. His special interests in those fields are the human subtle energy system and all the chakras, or energy centres, physics and technology, astronomy and all aspects of Chinese occultism.
He sends out periodic emails about astrological happenings and developments. These letters are sent out as a gift and a service. If you wish to be added to or deleted from the mailing list please let me know. If you feel inspired to pass them on please do so, but do so without alteration or charge. They are sent to people of many persuasions, not just astrologers. Blessings. Click here to subscribe to Malvin's periodic letters.
|
| Forum | Postcards | Glossary | Links | Site Map
