The Full Moon is a lunar eclipse and takes place on March 14 at 6:35 pm EST in Virgo, the sign of discrimination that seeks perfection. The Virgo influence is cautious and geared towards helping others and being of service. This Full Moon is in conflict (square aspect) with Pluto, god of the underworld and transformation, showing that emotions (Moon) will be that much more intense (Pluto) and secrets and mysteries will be exposed and revealed (Pluto).

During an eclipse, the earth blocks the Sun’s light (conscious mind) from reaching the Moon (instinct and emotions). During these periods the world is immersed in total darkness, causing great fear among ancient civilizations. Some believed a dragon ate the Moon during an eclipse, plunging the world into darkness. During a Full Moon our instinctive nature is more powerful and the solar conscious principle is weakened. Full Moons in general are time of heightened emotions and passions, and during a lunar eclipses the instincts rule in the darkness. Our Truth resides in our instinctive reactions, and eclipses offer an opportunity to face a deeper reality than the one we encounter in our everyday world: the reality of our deepest feelings and wisdom.

During the eclipse, retrograde Mercury will trine Jupiter, bringing positive and optimistic (Jupiter) ideas (Mercury) to the table and offering expansion (Jupiter) to our everyday experiences (Mercury). Venus conjuncts Chiron at this time as well, inspiring the healing (Chiron) of relationship issues (Venus) and expanding our creative wisdom. Full moons are times of culmination, of completion. During an eclipse of the moon, some of our emotional scaffolding that we have built for our protection will begin to collapse if it is no longer needed. We may feel somewhat lost at first, but later we will see that we no longer need this scaffolding after all. Emotions will be intensified with the Full Moon in square to Pluto, and this will be a powerful time for ritual and meditation.