- Image: Iraj Nouri
Waiting on the Shore
By
Sarah Varcas
The Quarter Moon occurs at 5:20 pm GMT on 25th May in the 5th degree of Virgo. She sits at the apex of a T Square formed with the Sun and Saturn, making her sensitive and somewhat highly-strung. In one of her most creative phases she feels under pressure to deliver, perhaps before she is ready, and a certain defensiveness may result. This is a Moon approaching the limelight but lacking the confidence to perform and we may feel a similar pressure to act at a level beyond our comfort zone.
Sometimes stretching beyond our comfort zone is a good thing. It challenges us to better ourselves, increase our field of influence and discover aspects of our nature we’ve not encountered before. Often our deepest desires can only be met on the other side of reassuring familiarity and we have no choice but to step across the boundary between ‘I’m in my element’ and ‘What on earth am I doing out here?!’. This, however, is not necessarily one of those times, and discernment is needed between the excited trepidation of meeting a timely challenge and the fearful tension of knowing we’re simply not ready and need more time.
There is no shame in retreating under this Moon, even if everything in us says we simply need to march on stage and do what needs to be done. With Mercury still retrograde there may well be more we need to know or things we need to sort before we proceed any further. It is fine to ‘listen in’ rather than ‘act out’, to take stock rather than make it. Virgo wants things done well, which includes at the right time in the right way. If we force ourselves at this Moon we won’t thank ourselves for it later as energy depletion can happen fast but replenishment may be considerably slower!
If, on the other hand, we’re in the ‘excited trepidation’ group, we can go ahead and step out into the fray. Timely action at this Moon will deliver positive interaction with our environment and the people in it. An element of service in what we do, be it to an individual or in honour of a wider cause, will help us along considerably, for this is a Moon who resonates with others and offers solace and support to those in need. Purely self serving activities are not her way. Instead she finds the common ground which supports us all and focuses her attention there, identifying needs, tending to the vulnerable and generally reaching out from a place of inner calm which knows whatever the need, the universe itself will meet it through her.
Which is really the key to this Moon: we can do nothing of ourselves but once we open up to the greater forces of life itself – our Mother Earth, the resplendent heavens and beyond – we will have exactly what we need to meet the tasks at hand. We do not act alone, this Moon reminds us. If we feel we do, that being ‘out there’ makes us too vulnerable and demands too much of who we are, retreat is needed to reconnect with Sacred Source which flows through us, endlessly animating our every breath. It can be easy to lapse into the mind set of ‘it’s little me trying to save the world’ and out of the heart-set of ‘I am the world and there is nothing to save’, but crossing the divide from the former into the latter offers significant shifts of perspective at this time. Once we know ourselves in everything, the duality of saviour and saved becomes the healing unity of a single organism returning to a state of balance. As we honour the truth in our own heart, the connection we share with all aspects of life, life itself responds with a healing touch, a gentle embrace which reminds us we are forever contained in the arms of the divine. Whilst there may well be much to do and many to help, right now, if we do not know ourselves as whole, we can do nothing to change the world.
There exists a pure simplicity in this Moon, easily overlooked. ‘Life is as it is’ she whispers, ‘perfect in its imperfections and complete in each moment’. Our striving to change it, ourselves and everything else has its time and place but it may not be here and it may not be now. We must each know our place in the cycle of becoming: are we energised and ready to create, replete and enjoying the fruits of our creation, emptying out and slowing down or awaiting a refill from Sacred Source? Discerning the quality of our own energy against the backdrop of demands from the outside world is a precious ability in this time of deep change. The world has its own agenda and we need to be clear about ours. This gentle and protective Moon assures us there is no boat to miss if we don’t yet have a ticket. Sitting by the shore watching it leave is not an opportunity missed but an affirmation that we are exactly where we need to be: on dry land preparing to set sail when the tides and winds are right for us. Until then we are safe and secure, resting in the arms of our planetary mother who prepares us in her own time, to visit other shores.
Sarah Varcas
