Tuesday, March 7th
Full Moon
in Virgo 16°40'
4:40 am PT

Sacred Sensuality: Full Moon in Virgo
by Gabriela Herstik

The journey into the sensual begins in the body. In the subtle realms of flesh and feeling that exist veiled in the internal world, or as occultist and dancer Alkistis Dimech calls it, the “occulted body.” The body is hidden from the world, the tissues and organs and muscles that can be felt with eyes closed and thoughts subsided. The subconscious realms of Self are embodied and expressed when we begin to turn ourselves towards the ways in which the erotic permeates who we are, and not just what or who we do.

The sexual exists in the cyclical, reflective of the lunar, of those who menstruate and shed month after month, unceasingly, relentlessly. The red tides of blood flush out old layers of self as if the Moon guides us in our monthly renewal. We can call in the healing we need by honoring the ebbs and flows of our lust and our erotic truth. We can work with the Full Moon in Virgo to claim this for ourselves, to step into our sexual sovereignty as Virgo is the sign of the Virgin, the one who belongs to themselves.

Expanding our definition of the erotic into something that has the potential to ignite our senses and draw us deeper into the numinous and occulted body, into Spirit and gnosis, can allow us the gift of seeing the sexual as something we have a claim to—regardless of how we move through this with others. When is the last time you treated your body in an erotic way? A sensual, soft, or sacred way?

This Full Moon in Virgo is a time of illuminated sensuality through the corporeal, through the physical joys of the body. Those that you experience for yourself, as a ritual of self-love, self-lust, and self-devotion. This Full Moon—supported by Mercury in watery Pisces and Venus in fiery Aries—highlights the stories you tell yourself about the erotic and the ways you share this with yourself and others. The power of this lunation is in expressing pleasure in a way that aligns with where you are right now. While the Moon shines in her ecstatic potency, the shadows of the past still linger. You can use this time to excavate what’s been brewing underneath the surface through breath, touch, and movement.

— Excerpt from the 2023 Many Moons Lunar Planner. To read Gabriela Herstik's exclusive, magical ritual suggestions for this Virgo Full Moon, get your copy of Many Moons 2023. The benefit edition is here. The digital edition is here. 

Listen to Gabriela on the Moonbeaming podcast! Click here to hear Gabriela and Sarah talk about sensuality and the erotic as magic, healing imposter syndrome, and more.

Gabriela Herstik is a practitioner of erotic witchcraft who is devoted to the Goddess of Love and Lust. She is the author of the books Sacred Sex, Inner Witch, and Bewitching the Elements as well as the guided journal Embody Your Magick. Gabriela’s work lives at the intersection of the esoteric and erotic which she explores through her writing, and by leading discussion circles and kinky rituals. You can find her work and writing at gabrielaherstik.com and more about the rituals she leads at kinkcoven.love. Gabriela is an angelic succubus residing in the city of Angels.