Theia & the Evolution of Earth
Virgo Full Moon: March 7, 2023
peaking at 7:40 A.M. EST
happening at 16°40’ Virgo
click links above for timezone converter & to check the placement in your chart
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And in the night sky, I saw the outline of a woman’s face. The lines were drawn from golden light, and she was resting there, peacefully, with both eyes closed. Then, from her right eye, tears began to fall. Her tears were made of golden stars, and she shed just a few before I woke up thinking, It must be morning.
But it was just two hours past midnight, and the stars were hidden behind a thick layer of clouds. Despite the obstruction, I still saw her - in my mind - and I wondered who she was.
I remembered that in my dream, the stars fell from her eye at the exact moment that Jupiter conjuncted the planet Venus. A rare astronomical event that had actually just happened, just an hour and a half earlier, while I was sleeping, and had it not been for the clouds, I could have looked up at the sky in that very moment, and I would have seen Venus and Jupiter shining together as if they were one, but really, they were still 400 million miles apart.
Who was she? Can you see her too?
Maybe if you close your eyes right now, you will catch a glimpse of her, resting peacefully in the sky.
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I heard they discovered another layer of Earth. Well, some people don’t agree, but others think the evidence is clear: the heart of the earth is not what we thought. It’s not simply one inner metallic ball, but actually, there is another layer. A smaller ball within the larger ball, an inner inner core. The innermost core.
the innermost inner core
from the NY Times
The new study was published in Nature on February 21st, just weeks after yet another paper detailed new discoveries regarding the mysterious center of the earth.
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Who was she? I could still see her face, drawn of golden light. Perhaps I dreamt her up, but perhaps she’s from a story in the collective body of stories, a myth or something. It’s happened before - a dream of a story I didn’t know was real.
So I searched, “goddess crying stars in the sky,” and that’s when Theia appeared. Greek for “sight,” Theia was the goddess from whom all light began, the one who “endowed gold and silver with brilliance and value.”
Is she in the sky tonight? Perhaps as an asteroid, near the Jupiter/Venus conjunction?
I looked to see if there was an asteroid named after her, but instead, I was pulled back to the heart of the earth.
For Theia is not an asteroid but an ancient hypothetical planet. It’s theorized that she was once a part of our solar system, a planet orbiting the sun - just like us - but over time, the gravitational force of Venus and/or Jupiter caused her to shift off course, leading her to collide with early earth.
It’s been hypothesized (and evidence exists) that this collision resulted in the formation of the moon, the arrival of most of the water on Earth, and the forging of the earth’s core. For according to one theory, the heart of the earth is actually part Earth, part Theia, the blended consequence of a collision between two planets that thanks to Jupiter and Venus, eventually became one.
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The study was published on February 21, 2023: there’s another layer to the earth’s core that we didn’t know was there before.
What remains of Theia, some scientists believe, is also up in the sky, as part of the moon.
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I saw just a piece of her - her face - at the very moment when Venus and Jupiter were perfectly conjunct. I was on the bridge between March 1st and March 2nd, but still, on March 7th, the planets will be technically conjunct - just four degrees apart - and they aren’t alone.
They are aligned in orbit around the sun with the asteroids Maja, Chiron, Vesta, and Astraea. This massive conjunction of planetary bodies tells a story about a great mother in the starry sky - a wounded healer, tending the burning flame at the center of the home.
And I think again of Theia, colliding with the earth, wounding both it and herself, and through that pain, birthing a whole new earth and a moon, and ultimately forging the burning hot core of the earth, as hot as the surface of the sun.
I see her face aglow in the starry night, and I think of how, astrologically, Jupiter is associated with expansion and growth and Venus is associated with beauty, harmony, and exchange - aka every instance of giving and receiving in our lives.
I can’t help but see the poetry in all of this and the hypothetical collision between Theia and the earth - just two planets, out in space, tearing each other apart in places only to give part of themselves to the other in exchange, and in so doing, they grew. They grew.
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On this full moon, we are very likely to experience a similar sort of personal and collective growth. But this isn’t like the moment when Theia first hit the earth. No, this is about the moment when everything that seemed like a terrible jumbled mess - a huge cosmic collision, a tragic mistake - is suddenly newly formed and whole again.
A great cosmic hit has led you to a place that while different that expected, is beautiful and thriving. Not only that, but that terrible jumbled mess? It helped you grow. Through all of this, your heart has grown like the Grinch at Christmas. Just like the heart of the earth - once believed to have been much smaller than it is now. Why is it so big for a planet this size? The only explanation scientists could come up with?* Theia - a huge cosmic collision, something capable of breaking things open in order to put them back together again.
During this full moon time - from March 7th to March 20th - I hope you take some time to reflect on where you are and just how much you’ve grown. I hope you see just how whole you are and how whole you finally feel.
What was your big cosmic collision? Your jumbled mess?
Well, the cycle culminating on this full moon is much larger than with most full moons. It’s not even the result of just one cycle, but instead, three major cycles are all coming to a close with this full moon.
The first cycle is the six month moon cycle that we experience every full moon. This cycle started during the new moon period from August 27 - September 9, 2022. It also had an unexpected (and unique) peak moment right around November 16 - November 23, 2022.
This first cycle is connected to something that you were trying to create and plan for in your life. This was something that involved a lot of forethought and ideal conditions. Between August and November, you may have repeatedly felt a bit like you were experiencing “failure to launch,” but ultimately, you got on track and took off in the direction that was leading you to your desired result. You are likely to experience a very tangible “result” connected to this cycle during this full moon time. It’ll appear like the descent of grace and bliss into your life. Like the unexpected landing of two doves on your windowsill, just arriving, just being there, just blessing you and how far you’ve come. Congratulations!
The second cycle is the Mars retrograde cycle that started on September 4, 2022. Mars retrogrades are the rarest of retrogrades (happening only every two years), and this cycle, which just happened to start during the Virgo new moon time, is ending now during the Virgo full moon time. It comes to a close on March 17, 2023, and you can read all about it and reflect back here.
The third and biggest cycle ending with this full moon is the Saturn in Aquarius cycle, and while the other two cycles over the last six months really helped you polish and shine your new mature state, this cycle tells the story of this entire growth period - from torn apart to put back together again - so take some time and reflect back over the last two and a half years of your life:
Saturn entered Aquarius for the first time in 26 years on December 17, 2020. It’s been traveling through Aquarius ever since, and with this full moon, Saturn is leaving Aquarius and entering Pisces for the first time since 1996.
What happened in your life from March 21 - July 1, 2020? (Saturn quickly popped into Aquarius then before entering Aquarius again on December 17, 2020, and this period helped foreshadow the rest of the cycle.)
Then, what happened in your life from December 17, 2020 through now?
In what ways have you been torn apart and put back together again?
What major lessons have you learned? How has your perspective on the world and yourself changed?
Don’t you see? It’s like your very being is the embodiment of new earth.
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On this full moon, the destiny point is conjunct the asteroids Gaea and Euphrosyne. Gaea represents the earth itself, and Euphrosyne is named after one of the three graces in Greek mythology. She’s the embodiment of grace, specifically the aspect of grace that is full of joy and mirth. Her name quite literally means “merriment,” and it was believed that she and her sisters existed to fill the world with pleasant moments and good will.
This is a time of flourishing unity, the healing of love, the maturation of a whole new earth. Not the final earth. The evolution doesn’t stop here, but here, on this full moon, we step back, we take a deep breath, and we bask right where we are. We look and see just how far we’ve come and how seemingly against all odds, we created something new and beautiful and thriving from the broken pieces of what was.
The sun conjuncts the asteroid Lachesis. Lachesis is named after one of the three fates in Greek mythology. She was the sister who determined the length and direction of the thread of life. She was the one who determined a person’s destiny, and her name quite literally means “by fate” or “by will of the gods.” This point where you are right now? It may have felt like you were taken off course to get here. It may have seemed like your destiny was derailed at the moment of that cosmic collision, at the sight of that jumbled mess, but really, this was your destiny.
You got here by setting golden boundaries for yourself and for your mind.
On this full moon, the sun and Mercury are both conjunct the asteroids Midas (golden touch) and Botolphia (boundaries), and Mars? It’s conjunct an asteroid that’s name means “boundary valley.” You have arrived in a place that has new and different boundaries. It’s like you’ve created a whole new territory, redrawn it on a map. Like the earth after it was recreated in the likeness of Theia - the same planet but also totally new.
This new land, this new earth is built for JOY and MERRIMENT. Here, joy is prioritized over feeding your ego. Here, you don’t need external validation to know that you are worthy and safe. JOY has become your primary ambition.
As Gaea and Euphrosyne conjunct the destiny point with this moon, the asteroid Narcissus is perfectly conjunct the opposite point - the south node of the moon.
The whole world right now is being pushed to purge its collective trend towards narcissism. It’s being encouraged to soften into the joy that exists in simply being a part of everything versus standing out as YOU, separate and somehow better or different than the rest.
THIS is the big lesson that we will be embarking on as a society and as a collective body over the next two and a half years as Saturn makes its way through Pisces, a cycle lasting from now through May 2025.
The cycle overlaps with a major two-part cycle involving the asteroid Leukothea, that is also taking us through May 2025. (The Saturn in Pisces cycle then fully wraps up its message with a final passing through the sign from August 31, 2025, to February 13, 2026.)
And on this full moon, the sun is conjunct not only Lachesis but also Leukothea and the asteroid Ino…in mythology, Ino and Leukothea were two parts of the same whole. They represent a great before and after of personal development. Ino is like the earth before the collision with Theia, and Leukothea is what Ino became after the collision occurred and all things finally settled into place.
The message with this moon keeps repeating itself: a great transfiguration has occurred.
Let yourself enjoy it! Let your life be full of joy! Let this time now remind you to not take everything too seriously, but to instead, dance and be jolly. Allow that big growing heart at the center of your chest to keep expanding wider and wider with every break and every mend, and don’t forget that no one even knows if Theia was real or not. Much of this story remains just that - a story. But YOU bring it to life with your attention, your being, and your becoming.
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During this full moon time, multiple big astrological events are happening on March 11, March 12, March 13, March 17, and March 20. So…basically every day? I mean, not quite. But kind of?
In other words, not only is this period wrapping up three major cycles, but it’s also marked by multiple major points in other cycles. Anything could happen! I’m hearing this little song in my head that I sometimes sing to myself. It goes like this: Ev-er-y-thing is poss-i-ble! Ev-er-y-thing is poss-i-ble! Ev-er-y-thing is poss-i-ble, today!
So after you’ve taken some time to reflect on everything that’s happened - this great, big, 2.5-year-growth cycle we have just endured - I want you to then take that reflection and wad it up like a piece of paper and throw it in the trash! Maybe you even have a piece of paper and are journaling while you reflect, so you literally wad it up and throw it away. In fact, this might feel nice to do. I’ll probably do this. I’ll make it my full moon ritual. Maybe you want it to be yours too.
Remember how far you’ve come, but also know that you aren’t there anymore. The evolution is complete. You are a new you now! A new earth version of you! So enjoy it! Enjoy where you are. Don’t let the past get you down, and maybe don’t actually throw the paper in the trash but recycle it instead because of the earth but actually as I type that, I’m like no…throw it away! Or burn it! Just…get rid of it. No need to even recycle parts of the past anymore. You aren’t there anymore.
Be Here Now.
And then…whenever you’re ready…whenever it feels like fun and joy to do this, think about where you want to go next. This full moon is conjunct the asteroid Prometheus, the God who gave man fire (evoking all sorts of possibility around scientific discoveries and inventions at this time), but also, it’s believed that Prometheus means “forethought.” And while this moon time is a big finish line celebration, it’s also about using your human intellect to navigate where you are going next. Because next step: you cross the line. So let yourself imagine. Let yourself think on it. Let yourself be here and then be there. Maybe write it down and keep this sheet.
And remember, everything is possible!
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To be continued…
*P.S. Theia isn’t actually the only scientific explanation for the formation of the earth’s core - though it is largely agreed upon. :)
Long Story Short:
This full moon time takes us from March 7 - 20 and marks the end of a major 2.5 year growth cycle that started (mostly) on December 17, 2020, but really started in March 2020. You - like the earth billions of years ago - have been torn apart and put back together again. Take this time now to acknowledge and ENJOY your new form. Let this reflection allow you to put any lingering grief over what was lost behind you. Let it go, Let it go, sung in the style of Elsa. And be here now in your powerful, transformed state. Then, when it feels like fun to keep going, take time to prepare and plan for what’s next with the comforting (and, I think, mostly true) knowledge that you are right where you are meant to be. Nothing ever really fell apart. It was always just coming together.
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