Image: Ditleff Point from Fish Bone in Fish Bay. Watercolor by author.

This FULL MOON in VIRGO-PISCES, February 25, at 3:26pm EST, 12:26pm PST, 8:26pm GMT, is the same day that VENUS enters PISCES, the last to join the party of planets in Pisces that lasts well into March.

“Wings of angels, tears of saints…” sings Judy Collins. Universal love and compassion fill our hearts, like a belated Valentine. The edges may blur between unconditional love and the need to take into account personality issues in our relationships. Even as we forgive our human weaknesses, we don’t need to lose ourselves in some mistaken sense of sacrifice. Venus honors the beauty of the soul, while loving the personality with all its flaws, some that we can’t ignore in our daily dealings. Also, self-forgiveness and self-compassion enhance our love of self and others.

The FULL MOON in VIRGO balances Pisces reminding us that we have bodies, our own personal piece of Earth. We serve Earth in this vehicle and can bring in the increasingly finely tuned cosmic wavelengths when our bodies are well-oiled, well-rested, well-fueled and well-loved. The image of Virgo is angelic, the experience of the divinity inherent in matter, Mater, the Great Mother Earth. Imagine finding a quiet place inside yourself where it is still and peaceful, where you can hear the Piscean waves softly lapping at the shore of your life.

The true story of the LITTLE MERMAID tells us something about this Pisces-Virgo Full Moon.

Far out in the sea, where the water is clear as turquoise glass, you can dream your way deep down to the realm of Poseidon, God of the Oceans. Here the Piscean mer-people are quite at home swimming along the currents. Here, in her underwater garden, planted with a coral weeping willow and ruby iridescent sea anemones, lives “The Little Sea-Maid,” immortalized by Hans Christian Andersen in his Fairy Tales and Wonder Stories.

She is a quiet, thoughtful child, gentle and melancholic, who sings with the sweetest voice. She loves to hear stories about the world above the sea. At age fifteen, she is finally allowed to rise to the roof of the sea and look above the surface. The setting sun makes the clouds glow like roses streaked with gold; the stars gleam bright and beautiful in this higher world. On a ship, fireworks celebrate the birthday of a young prince with shining black eyes.

A sudden storm arises and changes the party to tragedy. As the ship sinks, the sea-maid pulls the prince to shore. She retreats back into the waves as a young girl approaches. The sea-maid goes down home, but cannot forget the handsome prince. Humans have immortal souls, her grandmother tells her, unlike mer-people who live 300 years and then turn into sea foam. Oh, how she wanted an eternal soul! But this could only be if a man were to love her and marry her as soul mates.

How can she find a way? She dares to swim through the black whirlpool marsh to seek out the sea-witch in her cottage of bleached bones. Yes, she could give the sea-princess legs to become human, but every step would pierce like sharp knives. And if the prince should marry another, her heart would break and she would turn into sea foam at sunrise. And her price, cackled the witch, was the lovely, pure voice of the princess, who could sing so beautifully that sea creatures gathered to listen. Ready to make any sacrifice, the little mermaid allows the witch to cut out her tongue. When she arrives at the place where the palace steps meet the sea, she drinks the witch’s magic brew. She swoons from the pain, but when she awakes, the prince is there. He is charmed by her beauty and grace, but he is to marry the princess that he believes saved his life. She suffers that she is speechless to convey the truth.

All night she gazes eastward, awaiting her death at the first morning light. Her sisters appear with a dagger from the sea-witch. If she kills the prince, she will finish out her mer-life. But she cannot. She plunges into the sea, ready to give up her life and her hopes for immortality rather than betray her love. Yet, as the sun rises, she is still alive! Along the sunbeams stream dancing angels that lift her into the sky. As one of them, she can earn immortality through doing good deeds. Her longing for human love is not fulfilled, but her desire for an eternal soul, for which she has suffered and endured much pain, has raised her to heaven.

Virgo applies the idealism and dreams of Pisces to serve the Earth through good deeds and helping to make our planet a place of well-being for all. What a beautiful dream to share under this Full Moon.

Read more AstroMythology Zodiac Stories in the Astro-Mythology section.