New Moon in Virgo: The Art of Discernment
Virgo the Harvest Goddess
This month’s new moon occurs at 2.56am on 3rd Sept, UK time. It's a Virgo new moon, with the Sun and Moon aligning in the sign of the harvest goddess, the fecund earth mother and symbol of feminine authority in the Zodiac. Virgo is so often misrepresented as a nit-picking critic, or servile adminstrator, when she is really the alchemist of the Zodiac, devoted in service to the restoration of divine feminine wisdom.
New Moon in Virgo: The Art of Discernment
This new moon invites us to consider certain important choices that we must make in our lives now. The strong presence of Saturn in today's chart should focus our mind to the consequences of our actions, and bring a sharper attention to the way in which we choose; which remembering that we do actually have a choice! It is all about timing and adjustment with Virgo, it is about mindfulness and discernment. Virgo is ruled by Mercury, but unlike Gemini which privileges intellect, wit and language, Virgo carries an embodied intelligence borne of everyday observance, practice and attunement to subtle changes in the rhythms of the earth and the body. This also implicates our work, and how we attend to what we do on a daily basis; to offer our work up in service to love and truth, rather than it simply being a toil, or as a means to an end. As Virgo rules the intestinal tract, it is also an opportune moment to assess what we are taking in to our bodies, as nourishment, and as medicine. This new moon is a good time to address the question of diet and nutirition, to set an intention to eliminate toxins, and to purify and make sacred our physical vessel.
New Moon Opposite Saturn
Tonight's new moon is in an applying opposition to Saturn, planet of time, order, discipline and accountability, and Saturn's position in this new moon chart suggests that we are to be held to account for the decisions that we make this month. It lends a certain gravitas to our new moon intention, to whatever seed idea we are sowing at this initiatory moment in the year. Saturn calls us to slow down, take our time before rushing to the next thing. As we emerge from the summer, feel the shifting dynamics of light and dark and the change of atmosphere that accompanies the approaching equinox in 3 weeks time, let us take a moment over this new moon to assess where we are, and how we move forward from here.
Pluto Returns Back in Capricorn!
Two major outer planet events have just occurred over the weekend. Pluto has dropped back into Capricorn in its latest retrograde passage. We might have thought we had seen the back of that Pluto in Capricorn energy! But once again we must face the dark shadow of corruption within establishment hierarchies and its social and political consequences, and we must confront the hierarchical, controlling archetype within our own psyche that overshadows our judgments and seeks to convince us that the 'ends justify the means' (they never do!!). Pluto will turn direct at 29˚ in the second week of October, and remain in Capricorn until 19th November. Only then will it commit fully and consistently to its 20-year passage through Aquarius, which presents us with a wholly different flavour of shadow work, connected to our abstract reasoning and utopian idealism; the shadow side of democracy as technocracy! We've been dealing with this for a while already, of course!
Uranus Retrograde
We have also just seen Uranus turning retrograde at 27˚ Taurus. This checks our activism: whatever revolutionary move we are trying to effect in the world needs to be weighed now against the truth of our own radical nature, and we need to make sure that the causes we are championing, the ideas we are promoting, and the organisations we are putting our weight behind are properly aligned to our core values - sometimes we can get carried away trying to bring about radical changes in the outer world, without paying due attention to what is truly moving within us. When Uranus turns retrograde it can provoke this deeper level of reflection.
The Mars-Neptune Square
There are major transformations afoot in the world, and in the energetic field, as the rate of accelerated change on our planet continues its exponential surge. Our socio-political, technological, psychological and spiritual landscape is changing so fast, it is hard to keep up. It may be hard to perceive the future, but we must act with integrity in our day to day dealings with the world, lest we lose our bearings, and find ourselves swept up in illusory dreams and false narratives. Mars (in Gemini) and Neptune (in Pisces) are perfecting a square aspect in today's chart, which can fuel our devotion to a particular course of action, political cause or spiritual goal to the extent that we might surrender our own will and personal autonomy in service of a deeper calling. This is sometimes beneficial, but under a Mars-Neptune square it is often be borne of confusion or self deception, so there is a warning here, if we are strongly gripped with an impulse to channel our energy in a particular direction, not to get too carried away with it, in case our conviction is premature!
The great value of a Virgo new moon is that it draws us back to the body, to the simple, everyday practices of life. It is best to cultivate consistent practices and let us ourselves be guided from there.
My Virgo Mantra
“I discern what is essential to my well-being, and it becomes my practice.”
New moon blessings to all.
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UPCOMING KAIROS ASTROLOGY COURSES
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More details about the astrodrama retreat here…