March 16, 2014, Full Worm Moon in Virgo – “The Year Turns”

#9, The hermit is tarot's card
for Virgo. RWCS from US Games® 

“Shine on, shine on Worm Moon, up in sky....”  It just doesn’t have the same romantic ring to it as “shine on Harvest Moon,” does it?  Still, native Americans knew that March’s Full Worm Moon meant the ground had started to thaw and that robins couldn’t be far behind. This month’s Full Worm Moon extends the same traditional promise of springtime and occurs at twenty-six degrees, two minutes of Virgo on March 16th, at 10:08 a.m. PDST.

Virgo rules the sixth house of the Zodiac where we store our health, daily responsibilities and our capacity to be of service to others. Virgo is a mutable sign ( like Gemini, Sagittarius and Pisces) or, a sign that occurs at the end of a given season.  Mutable signs adapt easily to change and Virgo’s capacity for linear thought makes this Full Moon a great time to work the kinks out of systems.  Spotting errors is one of the things Virgos do best.  They continue to scan for problems and refine their work long after the rest of us say good enough.  That strive for perfection is the core of Virgo’s personality.  (See Blog: Virgo – Analytical And Precise, Or Fussbudget )  

Our Full Worm Moon in Virgo wants us to balance the

#1, Isis, represents The Magician in Kris
Waldherr's glorious "The Goddess Tarot"©,
tarot's card for Mercury - ruler of Virgo

components of our lives.  Have you sacrificed your exercise regime for more hours on the job only to find that you’ve made few gains other than poundage?  Time to make a change.  Streamline your systems with Virgo’s help.  Look at the extremes in your life: Control versus no control, total involvement versus complete apathy.  What areas of your life need adjustment for the sake of balance – physically as well as spiritually?  The 16th is a perfect time to make a contract with yourself – to establish a blueprint for the season ahead. 

Lady Moon's tarot card, #2,
The High Priestess from Corrine Kenner
and John J. Blumen's, "Wizard's Tarot"©

This year Uranus and Pluto want to bring sweeping changes in our lives while Jupiter offers us the opportunity for expansion.  Full Moon in Virgo is here to remind us that transformation, while messy, can still have order to it, even if no one understands that order but us.  On the 16th your best intention work (meditative, or ritual) will be in the areas of health, happiness and the greater good.  Use tarot’s astrological associations as your focal points: The High Priestess (Moon), The Hermit (Virgo) and The Magician (Mercury, Virgo’s ruling planet).  Work with candles: Yellow (joy), yellow gold (energy), white (high vibration), as well as purple (health). Full Moons are also an excellent periods to work on intuition and creativity.  Be sure to watch your Voids of Course on the  16th, 17th and 18th.

We are setting the tone for springtime with this Full Worm Moon – clearing away the old and preparing fertile ground for seed in the coming months.  Prepare your ground now and you will be assured of a plentiful harvest later.

LADY ORACLE

Here's information for The Ides of March - no not the one hit wonder band, the real thing! Read -  "I'm You Vehicle Baby"

These decks are available for purchase through "Lady Oracle Tarot"  email  ladyoracle56@yahoo.com

Nine of Pentacles - “Authority, Autonomy and Flying High”

RWCS, US Games Edition©
The Nine of Pentacles
What is she whispering to the bird?

The suit of Pentacles represents the element of earth and the material world.  In tarot, nines speak to us of compromise and difficulties, but if that’s the case, why does the woman in the Nine of Pentacles look like she’s doing so well? She stands in a field of dreams made reality – calm and elegant, seemingly without a care.  Is it a facade, or does she really have a nifty investment strategy tucked away somewhere?  

The Nine of Pentacles shows us someone (in this particular case a female, though the card lesson transcends sexual definition) who no longer struggles to secure their day to day existence. As in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the basic survival levels, food, shelter, clothing, have been surpassed.  Her current level of security and comfort allows, not only the expression of grace and beauty in her life, but also the ideation of a higher self.  

Clear and sunny skies always offer
encouragement even when you turn inward
RWCS, The Sun, US Games Edition©

A clear sky in the background denotes fair weather.  Two trees frame the world of the card, acting as a gateway to a rich and fertile vineyard.  The woman in the Nine of Pentacles hasn’t passed through the gates to this land without compromises. She is alone, turned away from the sun and turned inward towards herself.  Her right hand rests on a stack of pentacles; her casual possession of them born from her sense of security.  Her head and shoulders rise above the landscape indicating a higher connection with the universal flow.  She is elegant, graceful and assured of her position in the world.  A falcon perches on her left hand.  Its head is hooded like all trained hunting birds.  The hood keeps the falcon calm while it waits the commands of its mistress and the opportunity to take flight. 

Some tarot analysts view the hooded bird as a symbol of the

The Magician reminds us that we
can combine all the elements to create the
life we want. RWCS, US Games Edition©

lady’s darker nature held in check by her strength of will.  Others believe the bird represents stifled creativity and dreams – a necessary sacrifice some would say in attaining goals.  I disagree. I prefer Alfred Hitchcock’s explanation for why the bird is there.  In his masterpiece of environmental horror, “The Birds,” Hitchcock uses a lone seagull circling high over the town of Bodaga Bay to present a bird’s eye view of the movie’s world. In the Nine of Pentacles, the hunting bird is the omnipresent eye that gives our lady a broad over-view of her territory.  Her bird symbolizes imagination, creativity and focused skills.  Instead of representing a dark side, the bird lifts the woman beyond her own limited perceptions allowing her to implement her talents.  The bird’s hood represents not only her control, but her discretion as well.

Meanings for the Nine of Pentacles include discipline, self-reliance and sacrifice to obtain a goal.  The problem with using the word ‘sacrifice’ in what otherwise is a motivational card is that people frequently misunderstand the meaning of the word.  Its root word is ‘sacred,’ not ‘suffer.’  Too often people shy away from their dreams because they believe they must sacrifice – suffer a deprivation – to reach them.  Not so.  The woman is the Nine of Pentacles knows her worth, both inside and out.  She may appear to be alone, but so for all of us who take on a new challenge in life.  Ultimately, the burden of succeeding rests upon our shoulders, no one else’s. 

Use the positive messages about success and reward in the Nine of Pentacles to keep you on target no matter what type of goal you set for yourself.  Meditate by focusing on the imagery of this card and, like the falcon in the picture, you’ll soar above your perceived limitations.

LADY ORACLE