THE ANTINOUS AESCULAPIUS MOON THE VIRGO THIRD QUARTER MOON

TONIGHT's Virgo Third Quarter Moon brings down powerful healing energies to ring out the calendar year on a propitious note. 

In Antinous Moon Magic, we call this the AESCULAPIUS MOON in honor of the Classical god of the physician's art, Aesculapius.

Aesculapius, as he was called by the Romans, was also called Asklepios or Asclepius by the Greeks. 

He was the son of APOLLO and the Trikkaian princess KORONIS. 

His mother died in labor and was laid out on the pyre to be consumed, but his father rescued the child, cutting him from her womb. 

From this he received the name Asklepios "to cut open." The boy was raised by the kentauros (centaur) CHIRON who instructed him in the art of medicine. 

Aesculapius grew so skilled in the craft that he was able to restore the dead to life. However, because this was a crime against the natural order, JUPITER/ZEUS destroyed him with a thunderbolt. After his death Aesculapius was placed amongst the stars as OPHIUCHUS ("the Serpent Holder"), sometimes called the 13th sign of the Zodiac. 

Some say his mother was also set in the heavens as Corvus, the crow (korônê in Greek). Aesculapius' APOTHEOSIS into godhood occurred at the same time. He was sometimes identified with Homer's PAION, the physician of the gods, as well as the Egyptian god of science, architecture and medicine IMHOTEP.

Aesculapius is depicted as a handsome man holding a serpent-entwined staff representing his powers to convert poison (venom) into medicine.

It is the source of the symbol which alchemists, pharmacists and physicians have used throughout the centuries to represent their medicinal prowess. 

The cult and cult statues of Aesculapius were widespread throughout the ancient world.

In Antinous Moon Magic, each Lunar Phase represents a Divine Spirit or Archetype. The Spirit of the Aesculapius Moon is the Spirit of Remedies and Repairs.

This Spirit heals all that is ill, it remedies all that is out of order and it repairs all that is broken. This Spirit sees damage and destruction and sets about putting things right again.

It sees ailment and finds a cure. It sees cracks which could lead to catastrophic failure and it mends them before they can spread. It sees suffering and alleviates all that  it can.

This Spirit is the embodiment of the human desire to leave imperfection behind and to become Divine.
 
Meditation and rituals carried out during the cycle of the Aesculapius Moon are ideal for bringing down healing energies for yourself and others in your life.