The second of a pair of eclipses—this one, a full lunar eclipse—will occur in the early morning hours of March 3 with the Sun at 12°53′ Pisces and the Moon at 12°53′ Virgo. The totality phase of the eclipse will last about an hour. The eclipse will be visible in parts of California and elsewhere in North America.
In folklore, the March Full Moon, eclipse or not, is called the Worm Moon. It’s still cold in the north but beneath the surface, the earthworms are wiggling like they’re dreaming about spring.
Each Full Moon highlights a polarity of zodiacal signs. Virgo and Pisces both have to do with work and service, albeit in distinct ways. Virgo’s style is one of cultivating a skillset, not (just) to be persnickety, but in order to create value. Pisces is big-picture and not too discriminating in the extension of care for all beings. Virgo wants to make things right. Pisces says: accept things as they are.
Both Virgo and Pisces are oriented toward purification—Virgo in a literal sense of hygienic cleanliness and scrupulous ethics; and Pisces with the sense of knowing that on some level, everything is already perfect.
An eclipse is a super-charged new or full Moon, its intensity reflected in how close the Sun and Moon are, by degrees, to the lunar nodes. These are the invisible points in the sky where the Moon’s orbit intersects with Earth’s orbit around the Sun. On March 3, the Moon’s nodes will be at 8 Virgo (south node) and 8 Pisces (north node). The Full Moon will be only four degrees from its own south node. This south lunar node represents what is “past,” and I like to put that word in quotation marks because the “past” is never really over. Our personal and collective histories remain relevant.
But if this eclipse were to speak, its advice might be to release emotional preoccupations with our flaws and infractions. Easier said than done, and yet Virgo’s opposite sign Pisces shows the way.
With each pair of opposite signs, one is medicine for the other. Pisces is the water element at maximum size and depth. It is toward the Ocean that every drop of water is headed for return. I’m reminded of a quote from the Sufi mystic Hazarat Inayat Khan:
When I open my eyes to the outer world, I feel myself as a drop in the sea, but when I close my eyes and look within, I see the whole universe as a bubble raised in the ocean of my heart.“
What about the March 3 Full Moon eclipse might allow for this kind of binocular vision, knowing oneself as both drop and sea?
Clues are to be found by looking to the planetary rulers of “the lights,” the Sun and Moon. The planets move in ever-shifting geometric configurations with each other. These are the transits.
The planet Mercury “rules” the March 3 Virgo Full Moon. Mercury is currently in Pisces, traveling close to the Sun as it always does, currently in one of its regular periods of appearing to move backwards. When Mercury is in one of these “retrograde” periods, it’s time for heightened introspection—not to freak out over scheduling snafus, but to review and revise one’s thinking. Mercury (words) in Pisces is spacious and unrestrained.
On March 3, Mercury and the Sun will be close by degree to the Moon’s northern, or “future-oriented” node. The eclipse is a call to reorient one’s internal view.
Mercury and the Sun will be flanked by Mars and Venus, both in Pisces, too. Such an abundance of the water element at this time may leave one feeling emotionally overwhelmed. Yet opposite Pisces, the Moon will be shining in the grounded simplicity of earth sign Virgo. The prescription is to pay attention to details and to separate (a Virgo function) what is useful from what is not.
Pisces is ruled by planet Jupiter, a star of this March 3 lunation. Jupiter is a force of magnification. It spends about a year in each sign and is currently at 16 degrees of water sign Cancer. Jupiter—making everything bigger—in Cancer, the quality of mothering, is a boon to processes of healing and care.
At the March 3 Full Moon eclipse, Jupiter will be the receiving planet of two “easy” transits from the lights. The Pisces Sun will be making a harmonious trine aspect with Jupiter, while the Moon will be forming an encouraging sextile with Jupiter. Trines and sextiles are gentle aspects facilitating the exchange of planetary energies.
Around the time of the eclipse, one is invited to imagine an exquisite flow between the Sun, Moon and expansive Jupiter. One might remember for a moment that even from our view on messy Earth, this Universe really is a gentle place.
Blessings for the Pisces Full Moon eclipse!
~ Sara
Sara R. Diamond, an astrologer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is a life-long student and practitioner in several esoteric paths. Her style of astrology combines modern-psychological astrology with insights from traditional astrology. Sara is also an estate planning attorney. In addition, she has published four books on right-wing movements in the United States and earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. You are invited to contact Sara via her website at www.SaraDiamondAstrology.com.
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