Virgo Last Quarter Moon at 24°22’—December 16
This degree of Virgo—the degree through which this morning’s very very early early last quarter moon occurs—is one which describes reputation…
How will you be remembered?
For what will you be remembered?
Will you be remembered for the ‘right’ reasons?
It is often that our reputations become memorable, for better or worse, through those very human duties we all both require and are capable of—those small reminders we take on to remind and remember that there is still good in the world, right?—the holding of doors, helping others with carrying things, smiling at strangers and daring to ask them about their day… these may not add up too significantly within the scales of societal ‘success’, though the score tends to add up rather dramatically when we abandon these acts of humanness.
This degree, particularly through a last quarter lunar phase, inspires ‘being entirely honest with oneself and others [through] brutal revelations about society, other pale, or oneself; putting old issues to rest; living up to one’s own expectations; commitments to achieving one’s personal goals; being ‘on top’ of one’s todo list and ready to deal with whatever comes up; going forward despite setbacks; and cultivating a pleasant family life…’
Today’s energies require a bit of ‘matter-of-fact’ acceptance of reality—along with some intestinal fortitude and resilience…
Shamanic astrologer Raven Kaldera refers to this moon as Fates Moon, a moon when we “set boundaries with those commitments that have been preventing us from getting the alone-time that we need… it is a good time for setting rules—with oneself and with others—and for a solitary time of meditation…”
This is the time, suggests Kaldera, that “we go to the wilderness to find ourselves.”
Emotional distancing, overall, is essential now… anything that is taking up too much of your emotional reserves is part of the issue needing balanced—still, caring and compassion for others’ needs, now, is also quite important: again, part of the balance…
Where do you draw your own boundaries—those between you and the world at large—and where are boundaries and/or limitations drawn upon you? There’s a difference here, you realize—and if you’re not beginning to realize this already, you soon will.
Kaldera writes of this moon, that through this phase we are “required to render service to others—that service consists of saying No, of setting boundaries, and perhaps of causing death…”
Further, named for them, the Fates are “forced to confront the difficult aspects of fate—that we are all left alone to die eventually…”
Finding the ‘right’ balance between all and none, between always and never, between self and others… between life and vitality, and death and decay… how these lines are drawn are critical—particularly if you’re allowing an/Other to draw them for you.
If you’re not struggling with boundaries and limitations, then per chance you may be privately yearning for either overdue recognition or simple acknowledgement toward a job well done or an endeavor taken up… particularly so if you are no longer working on it or toward it—to be mentioned, admired, and/or celebrated for something you’ve already accomplished, for something you’ve spent a heavy amount of time doing.
There may even be a shadow or hint of grief or grieving now.
Something is no longer… and there may be no fanfare at all.
This last quarter moon falls within the third decan of Virgo, a decan that honors what astrologer Austin Coppock writes is the “fate of all matter—to be brought to perfection and then crumble to dust, for there is naught created which is invulnerable to the ever-shifting tides of generation and corruption…”
Further, Coppock adds, “in this face we ponder the ultimate result of material things… the limits of all created works are here considered—the decan thus has the power to break the pride of all created things by showing them their inevitable end…”
The 10 of pentacles is associated to the third decan of Virgo… and this is a card that represents legacy.
You’re needing to feel as secure as humanly possible now—whatever that means for you… and if some of that security comes in knowing you’ll be remembered for warm fuzzy things, or remembered at all by anyone—these will be things to be worked on and out as you move forward in your goals.
If something isn’t actually ending, tarot writer TS Chang suggests that maybe something might be ‘advanced’… “advanced in our years—tied in our careers, or of our usual pastimes, or of the people we surround ourselves with…”
But how do we get ourselves out of the rut?
Sometimes new scenery helps. Sometimes opening to learning something new, to create a new opinion of something… or sometimes it inspires us to create something new from within or through what you already know—through new experiences, new hobbies, new topics of conversation, or new projects.
Happily, there is a real, almost palpable, feeling of satisfaction and abundance and security with the 10 of pentacles, and it’s reassuring to see it connected to such a phase of the moon… particularly within the climate these days, astrologically speaking. Still, Chang adds, though, that it can also as easily represent the accompaniment of “deep fatigue, aches and pains, agoraphobia…”
Chang also asks you to ask yourself: what larger purpose will your gifts serve?—who shall benefit from them when you no longer can?—when your life is harvested, in what form shall in take root next?… and these are much more user-friendly ways of navigating these rather extreme realities that are both largely within our control and almost nearly heavily beyond our power in some way simultaneously—much more subtle than: how will you be remembered…
And I’m considering how powerless we may sometimes feel toward much of this, tarot writer Jessica Dore writes her sentiments of this card, because this card is so intrinsically embodying, most historically, within the idea of soul and fate, of death and boundary… Dore quotes psychologist Mary Watkins, that “the hoarding of soul within interiority has served a defensive function, protecting us from tragedies and travesties in our midst… [Dore writes: were we to throw ourselves from the tower of individualism and relinquish those protections, or] as Watkins put it, “to break our attention free from its circumscription by purely personal pursuits, we will find ourselves feeling small, amidst many bits and pieces that do not seem to cohere… [and importantly that] to accept a sense of being overwhelmed and inadequate to the situation is necessary.”
Dore writes that there is much diversity here, “and the overwhelming experience of connection.”
Indeed.
Dore asks us to consider what it would take to re-member ourselves, and “what would we need to be willing to feel in order to give up the life jacket of individualism and the idea that freedom for any single individual is adequate…”
The moon then moves on into Libra by 11:49am PST; 12:49pm MST; 1:49pm CST; 2:49pm EST… and will also evolve into its balsamic phase, which shifts the energies quite dramatically. And may I suggest that personal boundaries will continue to be a very significant illumination from now until the new moon on the 23rd… and increasingly challenging to navigate and balance.
❝If your contribution has been vital there will always be somebody to pick up where you left off, and that will be your claim to immortality.❞
—Walter Gropius
🖋 by Jamie James
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Coppock, A ‘36 Faces’ Three Hands Press; ©2014. Chang, TS. ‘36 Secrets.’ Anima Mundi Press; ©2021.
Dore, J. ‘Tarot for Change.’ VIKING; ©2021. Goldsmith, M. ‘The Zodiac by Degrees.’ Weiser Books; ©2004.
Hill, L. ‘360 Degrees of Wisdom.’ A Plume Book; ©2004.
Kaldera, R. ‘Moon Phase Astrology.’ Destiny Books; ©2011.
Reed, T. ‘Tarot: No Questions Asked.’ Weiser Books; ©2020.
Roche, D. ‘The Sabian Symbols.’ Astrology Classics; ©1998, 2010.
Rudhyar, D. ‘An Astrological Mandala.’ Vintage Books; ©1973.