Full Moon in Libra

The Scales Before the Fire

Libra carries the oldest measuring instrument in myth: the scales of Astraea, goddess of justice, who lived among mortals in the Golden Age and weighed every dispute herself before retreating to the stars as the world grew careless with the truth. She left the scales behind, hung between Virgo who holds the wheat and Scorpio who holds the sting, and once a year the Moon returns to stand exactly where she once stood, deciding what balances and what doesn't. That is what arrives on the 22nd of March, at forty-four minutes past ten in the morning UTC: a Full Moon at one degree of Libra, the Sun exactly opposite at one degree Aries, just two days after the Sun itself crossed into Aries and the astrological year began again. This is the Worm Moon, named for the earthworms that surface as the soil warms after winter, and it is also the Paschal Full Moon, the first of the year after the spring equinox, the one that fixes the date of Easter six days later. The scales are weighed one last time before the fire takes over.