On the evening of September 14th, the Moon will conjoin the Sun in the mutable earth sign Virgo, an annual reminder of the receding pride of summer transitioning into the lyrical modesty of autumn. As the fields and meadows exhaust their euphoric array of summer’s last blooms amidst withering earth tones, the Sun and Moon’s union in a portion of Virgo associated with Mars encourages us to seize these now quickly fading days. It is important also to be resourceful, laying the season carefully to rest while symbolically preserving caches of life, giving sunlight for the bleaker days of winter to come.
Mercury, also in Virgo, has very recently reappeared in the morning sky, heralding sunrise and will complete its retrograde on September 15th. From here on, all planets within the asteroid belt, casually referred to as the personal planets, are moving in forward motion from Earth’s perspective. Generally, this is an auspicious time to move through matters close at hand with lucidity and mettle. Mercury, who is the planetary guide of this new moon, is well positioned in Virgo. Ephemeral curiosities and mundane tasks are given equal focus, steered smoothly without the numbing drone of retrograde reverb in the air. See what your September horoscope predicts below.
Aries
While your planetary ruler Mars transits Libra, where it questions intertwined topics of self and others, the new moon occurs in your sixth house of obligations. As Mars can stir misdirected action in relationships, the new moon in Virgo offers a sound opportunity for learning to play by your own rules. As the month develops and culminates with a full Moon in your sign of Aries on September 29th, this moon cycle is an invitation to temper your stress levels by thoughtfully placing your ducks in a row. Focus on being of service to your gut feelings. As it is said, you must help yourself if you are to help others. Be led by your instincts rather than your inclination towards head-strong linear motion.
Taurus
Your guiding planet, Venus, has long been transiting your fourth house of refuge. You are concerned this month with placing the finishing touches on a home that prioritizes utility imbued with beauty. The new moon in Virgo occurs in your fifth house of pleasures. Mercury is in Virgo as well in a portion of the sign that responds to Venusian allure. Patience, time, and money invested in the godly details around the house will pay off after the full Moon in your 12th house of retreat on September 29th, when you may be longing for quiet time at home. Consider details that amuse the senses during everyday activities. Brass drawer pulls, porcelain door knobs, or a well-edited and arranged bookshelf come to mind.
Gemini
The new moon in Virgo occurs at the bottom of your astrological chart, where we are rooted astrologically. Mercury, your guiding planet and god of writing, is temporarily still in the heavens as it is turning direct in motion in its preferred sign of Virgo. Like our soulful bodies, words have roots and hint at the foundations of their meaning. This moon cycle makes a list of self-defining and defeating words. Be thoughtfully discerning, noting your gifts and faults. Now, comb through those lists and group analogous words. Finally, using those lists, generate a few sentences rearranging and juxtaposing conflicting descriptions into harmonious affirmations. Asserting your intellectual ingenuity, trick yourself into fresh approaches to self-awareness and a rooted sense of place solely by rearranging the language you use.
Cancer
The third house is considered the joy of the Moon. As the Moon conjoins the Sun in Virgo in your third house of matters close to the heart, you are drawn towards things that wholly feed the mind and body. This month you’ll seek the wonder of local, wholesome, salt-of-the-earth type goods. You’ll feel nourished best by the blessings of harvest-time fruits and vegetables, where nostalgia plays a vital ingredient in the nutritional quality of what you put inside your body. Revisit and patronize your local farmstand, an altar of humble bounty. Keep your ingredients simple, allowing your palette to be guided by the earthy flavors that only time and devotion can make.
Leo
Inventory is commonly taken just after the new year. But Leo, you have been taking stock now of what you have on hand. In your day to day, it is easy to forget and neglect the fine details of your finances and material possessions. An easy blind spot. This new moon in Virgo cycle begins in your second house of personal resources. First, be honest with yourself about any unresolved monetary issues. In a month’s time, sift through your accounts, pockets, drawers, and cushions for every bit of meandering cash. Consider also practicing a frugal approach as Mercury retrograde, also in Virgo, who guides your finances, will begin moving forward on September 15th, focused on your financial hygiene.
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Virgo
Virgo is referred to as the temple of planet Mercury. As your planetary guide, Mercury in Virgo has been retrograde in your first house of spirit and embodiment but will turn direct a day after the new Moon, also in Virgo. If your body is your temple here on Earth, what color would you paint its exterior and interior? What images would you hang on its walls? If you were to build an altar to your vital life force, what offerings would you place upon it? What food would be cooked in its kitchen? As Mercury, the Sun and Moon are together in your first house it is an auspicious time to sweep your temple and reconsider these questions.
Libra
As an air sign, inherently, you feel obliged to be a social creature. Add Venus as your planetary guide, and you further feel the need to connect, or at least be polite. Mars is still transiting Libra through your first house of self, where you may feel socially diminished. This month may be experienced as a purification process that requires letting go of some connections you naturally seek in order to get some work done. As the new moon in Virgo occurs in your twelfth house of withdrawal, a notion is planted that will draw forth devout musings requiring seclusion to be properly developed. Lean into this solitary holy brooding. Within its drifting realms, ferments sage foresight only you alone will understand.
Scorpio
As the Moon and Sun in Virgo conjoin in your eleventh house, you are renewing the vows of your alliances. Idling among casual acquaintances is not your style. You tend to shine in public but maintain a tight social circle grounded in mutual understanding; the kind of understanding you do not necessarily need to work at because it feels inherent. As Mercury stations direct, also in your eleventh house of associations, remember your friendships involve an appreciation for the mysteries of existence. Your fellowship draws from a unifying consciousness establishing connections from all external sources and meticulously filtered through collective discernment. Remember that your close friendships appear effortless but are rooted in a lifetime of astute camaraderie.
Sagittarius
The Moon in Virgo separated from a harmonious aspect with your planetary guide Jupiter who is retrograde in Taurus in your sixth house of toil. Clarity is often preceded by a generative cloud of chaos. You are gifted with the innate search for the big picture, building your infectious enthusiasm up with embellished hopes and dreams. But in order to make clear your natural ability to be heard, you must rise from your armchair philosophies and frame your vision. As the Moon, Sun, and Mercury are together in the reserved sign Virgo in your tenth house of visibility, consider a simple wood frame with no gold gilt or decoration. If only for a month, make things simple for yourself.
Capricorn
The macro and micro. The inner self, the outer self, and the other. As the new Moon in Virgo occurs in your ninth house of faith, order, and the wonder of the cosmos, you’re exploring the repeating patterns in your relationship to others, the Earth, and the universe. As an earth sign, you reveal in tactile certainty, but as your planetary guide Saturn is still retrograde in Pisces, familiar patterns have dissolved. Mercury will begin to move direct in your ninth house where it sets a microscopic lens on realities beyond the rational mind. While listening to your nonhuman teachers, be an intermediary, deciphering what patterns in relationships have broken apart and what new motifs are forming.
Aquarius
You’re weird and wonderful. You prefer to take care of things yourself because you believe in a just and fair world that only you are certain is possible. Your survival skills are admirable, but as Saturn is completing its retrograde in your second house of livelihood, what habitually feels like buoyant upkeep has become a labyrinth of obstacles. As the Moon and Sun conjoin in Virgo in your eighth house of other people’s “stuff,” fear, and the passing away of things, you’ll need to negotiate what can realistically be done alone and what good sense it would make to accept the advice and help of others. This moon cycle, focus on the possibilities of sincere reciprocity disentangling your ebb and flow of substance and sustenance.
Pisces
You are comfortable with indirect approaches to nearly everything. In close relationships especially, you savor the intellectual kink that is possible with any Mercury-guided sign (Gemini and Virgo). Together, you intuitively share a bond that only porous earth and seeping water signs can. As the Moon and Sun in Virgo unite in your seventh house of contracts and relationships, the idea of commitment is recognized not simply as a legal agreement settling into stale conformity. Combined with Mercury turning direct in its trusted sign Virgo, this new moon cycle marks an alchemical union of paradoxical love and possibility. See commitment as a catalyst for potential, where you mutually dot each other’s i’ and cross each other’s t’s.
Story and Imagery by Shane Powers, Enon Valley Astrology
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