Edward Burne-Jones. Laus Veneris, 1873–1878.

Tomorrow night we’ll enjoy a Virgo Full Moon, but the energy’s already been building for a few days. Full Moons are often a time when we can see the results of efforts put into motion back at the last New Moon. It can be a time of total completion, or completion of a phase. And usually, a Full Moon will bring things to light that need to be seen.

In a recent blog on this month’s Full Moon, my wise mentor, Emily Trinkaus, points out how Virgo represents the Divine Priestess, despite this Sun Sign’s reputation for being an uptight neat freak. Sure, every sign has its shadow side, but it’s important to remember the highest expression of each sign. I see Virgo as a powerful, grounding force that can help me stay on task when I most need it. She is an earthy muse who helps me to believe that I can achieve my dreams if I just organize my time. She demystifies my creative process so that I can take my raw passions, my random inspirations and refine them into a sophisticated presentation that can be re-created and perfected to my heart’s desire.

I think that I’m feeling this Full Moon acutely since it is one degree away from Pluto in my birth chart. Since Pluto moves so slowly, this means anyone in their early 40s is also getting a dose of Pluto with their Full Moon. Basically Pluto plus Virgo equals questioning systems with the desire to tear down and reconstruct anything that isn’t working. If you have your Pluto in Virgo, it could be that you’re more comfortable with changing the systems from within – I think deep down we’re sort of hoping for an orderly revolution. But we are willing to work for what we want and we’re redefining work, in my opinion.

It could be the crowd I run with, but I know a lot of creative types and people making their living outside of the corporate 9-5 world. I made the leap into a life where I’m working in office about half of the time and the rest of the workweek I’m an astrology writer and saxophone instructor. This new creative life has taken a lot of organizational skills. Google Calendar is my Tetris puzzle and master of my productivity. And when I’m not “on the clock,” there’s the unpaid work such as practicing my instrument and writing blogs for my own website. Is my creative work fun? Yes. Does it take discipline? Lots.

So this is where Virgo can kick in. I have had great conversations with other self-employed creative types and we all struggle with structuring our time. Even when the work we do is our passion, the temptation to divert ourselves from it can creep up in the most self-sabotaging way. It’s no coincidence that when I am ready to dive into some challenging creative work, I suddenly have other more pressing things that pull at my attention. This sort of procrastination is just my own self -doubt tricking me into thinking that maybe my chosen work is not worthy of my time and I should be doing something more “important.”

Comparing notes with a good friend confirmed that I am not alone in this struggle. She told me about a support system she started with a writer friend. They will text each other when they are planning to do their creative work. It could be something like, “I will be working on my novel from 11-2 today,” or “I will be working on my astrology project from 3-5pm.” Then, they follow up later in the afternoon and ask, “how did it go?” and give praise and encouragement for a job well done. This sort of stick-to-it-iveness reminds me of a Virgo Goddess. She knows the “magic” of consistent effort. Practice makes empowered makes the perfect expression of your passions. Once I started treating my passions like a “real job,” they became more like work, less like hobbies and I started earning an income from them.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this topic of sacred work is at the forefront for me this Full Moon. Virgo wants us to get to work, no doubt about it. However, I think we’re being encouraged to honor our talents by making them a priority in our day-to-day lives. Consider the idea that organization and dedication can lead to liberation. Behind every great work of art, piece of music, dance performance or literature there are hours and hours of beautiful work.