Insights for the Month of Virgo

August 22
Sun enters Virgo: 06:21 PM EDT
Mars trine Saturn (before Sun leaves Leo)
Virgo has gone through mighty changes over the last six years. You can read what I wrote about this theme here. In this post-eclipse moment it’s useful to remind ourselves that the dominator world is crumbling and the very nature of domination suggests that the weaker it gets the more posturing of power we will see. You can watch it on the news, every day.
When you think of Virgo, think of goddess. Think of nature restoring rhythm and wholeness to the world. As the Sun travels through Virgo this year it will meet up with Mercury in retrograde, Pluto, Neptune and Saturn; each meeting a reminder to consult with the nature of things, even your own nature, before taking action.
Mars trines Saturn before the Sun enters Virgo but on the same day, reminding us that discipline is a useful quality. It’s a shame to confuse it with punishment. Kindness is not weak. Courage is not always about heroism. Rigor, effort and commitment are different than rigidity and restrictive control.

August 24
Venus square Uranus
Astrology is a map of energetic confluences. It suggests themes, tendencies. It doesn’t always know the specific details of what you will actually encounter around the next bend. Today our most cherished values – the things we count on for security, could be shattered, broken, scattered. An excellent time to make mosaic from shards of breakage.

August 25
Saturn stationary direct
This very circumstance you find yourself in is exactly what needs your attention. Between now and November the efforts and lessons of the last two years are calling to be integrated. This could create solid foundations for moving forward in our chaotic world.

August 26
Venus enters Leo
Sun Conjunct Mercury retrograde
Listen, just listen to your own heart’s song. It’s enough. It may lead you to something but it’s also good to simply listen and possibly to hear.
May our love of shiny, glittering things be simple delight rather than greed based grasping.

August 27
Jupiter sextile Saturn
The Theory of Everything wants application. Give it a try. Ask yourself what your overriding vision of reality is. Failure is a sure-fire goad to invention for some hearty folks. If you need inspiration to remind you that you belong in this world try this. 

August 31
Mercury retrograde re-enters Leo
As Mercury continues on its retrograde journey it returns to the degree of the August 21^st eclipse. It will stay in these late degrees of Leo, triggering events related to the eclipse until after it goes direct on September 5^th. Mars is catching up to that point as well. The ‘great men’, the ones who are enamored of power have been less than stellar in their behaviors. These next two weeks will make for a significant chapter in the story of our human drama. May we be strong of heart and have true courage.

September 2
Mars trine Uranus
More eclipse stirrings. Look for the new shoots that grow after a fire has done its destruction. Anything could happen. Let your heart find a way to move you to taking a risk based on the wisdom you have gained through the fires of adversity.

September 3
Mercury retrograde conjunct Mars
You could say this aspect lasts till mid-September. Once upon a time actions spoke louder than words. In these days when everyone is entitled to their opinion as if there is no such thing as truth we are a lot like puppets, jerked around on our electronic strings, more knee-jerk reactive rather than responsive. This is a great time to let a shift happen: To slowly, steadily do what you can to move from reacting to responding.

September 5
Sun opposite Neptune
Mars enters Virgo
Mercury stationary direct
As we approach the full moon, energy rises like a tide of confusion needing to be sorted, ordered and hopefully, understood. Go easy on thinking you can find perfection. And be careful not to invest people you think of as more powerful than yourself with the notion of their perfection. Look for an organic unfolding to find an order you can live with. Perfection is in the process, not the product. Every time.

September 6
Full Moon: 13 degrees Pisces 03:03 AM EDT
We forget that this very life is the gift. Once a month, at the full Moon we are reminded of this simple, profound, sometimes unappreciated truth. Each month has a theme, a suggestion of what aspect of life you might focus on. This month’s full Moon suggests that we look for the value in our dreams and take note of whether the world we long for is aligned with the world as it is. Given the nature of full moons we don’t need to fix anything; just be witness to the gap. Whatever the discrepancy – it’s only human.

September 9
Sun trine Pluto
Mercury enters Virgo
If you really truly want to understand something you should take it apart and then try to put it back together again. This strategy works better for some things than others. If you’re faced with something or someone you can’t destroy and remake use your deep bodily instinct to help you better understand. It offers a different kind of understanding but nonetheless useful.  

September 12
Venus trine Saturn
If something matters to you it’s worth making the effort to find creative ways to strengthen possible outcomes.  Your vision of what these outcomes could be, matters. 

September 13
Sun square Saturn
Don’t let blame or criticism from the authorities keep you from your task. There is a big difference between opinion based on one’s subjective view of things and wisdom based on experience. Your job is to spot this difference and follow the path of wisdom. 

September 15
Venus sextile Jupiter
Strength and justice work well together as do melody and harmony. If you have a song to sing, sing it. If you want to right a wrong bring your heart to bear on the effort you make to do so.

September 16
Mercury conjunct Mars
Passionate ideas are easily turned into action. As the saying goes, ‘Measure twice, cut once.’ Passion works best when powered by intelligence.

September 18
Venus trine Uranus
What is freedom? And why does it matter? What are we fighting for? And if we’re not fighting, why aren’t we?

September 19
Venus enters Virgo
Mercury opposite Neptune
Shadow boxing with people whose agenda is only to confuse is pointless. Don’t sell your intelligence out to the con artists. Try waiting and letting yourself dream a little. Clarity will return soon.

September 20
New Moon: 27 degrees Virgo: 01:30 AM EDT
Plant seeds of health and wholeness in the little spaces of your life: the gap between the plate and the mouth, the thoughts you have right before you go to sleep, the coolness of water on a hot day or the warmth of it on a cool day, the sweetness of the first taste and the gratitude for the last. These moments that don’t show up on social media are the ones that stitch our real lives together and make them worth living.

September 22
Mercury trine Pluto before the Sun enters Libra!
There is a kind of magic on the day before a change. Mercury trining Pluto heralds the sense that we are on a powerful cusp. Maybe we are and everything will be different from here but more likely we are meant to pay attention to the sensation of being on the verge.