Insights for the Month of Virgo

August 23
Sun enters Virgo: 00:09 AM EDT
When you think of Virgo do you think uptight, anxiety riddled, analytical, critical, bitchy? Or do your thoughts align with images of an emerging goddess; one whose voice must be heard if we are to make it through these times of earthly changes? Is Virgo the virgin of patriarchal religions: A humble woman with downcast eyes symbolizing what seems to be an inhuman perfection imagined by those who would control her body and dismiss her mind? Or is Virgo the virgin a symbol of feminine wholeness: Acolyte to the cycles of life, the turning of the wheel of the year, aligned with the very soul of nature? Unfortunately or fortunately Virgo is all the above mentioned things. Imagine yourself a goddess, chained for thousands of years; reviled, desecrated, and stripped of power. You might be anxious and bitchy too. Yet underlying is and has always been a fierce, devotion to the notion of unadulterated wholeness, in men as well as women who partake of this sign.
Virgo’s greatest difficulty is with the myth of progress. Virgo prefers diversity and a more integrated world. In these times it matter where we position ourselves in this dilemma, even if it’s only in the mind. Possibly the greatest evolutionary step for humans, even when it comes to things like space travel, is compassion, awareness. The ability to see life as it is, rather than as it should or could be.
As the sun travels through Virgo it will trine Uranus, Saturn and Pluto, sextile Jupiter and oppose Neptune. It will even conjunct Mercury before it leaves. A busy month. Look for Virgo’s fierce compassion as we evaluate the harvest. And look for meaning in the way we actually live our lives. Virgo’s greatest wisdom lies in the awareness that all of life is sacred and we are all connected.

 

August 25
Sun trine Uranus
Sun trine Saturn
Saturn and Uranus are not officially making a trine because the actual degree is not exact to the minute. However the Sun, as it mediates a trine with both of them on the same day belies this detail. And if that wasn’t clear enough the Full Moon tomorrow underscores it.
Be real, real as you can in the virtual circus that surrounds us all. Having asked, ‘Whom do I serve?’ at the end of last month, now would be a good time to engage or put that service into action. On the ground.

August 26
Full Moon: 3 degrees of Pisces: 1:32 AM EDT
There is devotion both religious and charitable. It lives in our offerings to the ones we love. It can be selfless and practical. We can be aware of it or it can simply happen, undefined but experienced. It can be related to but is not the same as worship. It’s can be boots on the ground or thoughts in our head. It’ a factor in every life. It’s a kind of human glue that connects us. Look around. What are the devotions of your life?

 

August 27
Mars stationery direct
A journey, inner, outer or both has been made since mid-May. Somewhere in this period we have faced fears and made choices about which wolf to feed. We have asked the questions and even if there were no answers we are on a road: Traveling the path of our life. What will you do with this one wild and precious life?
Or maybe the question is, ‘What are you doing with it?’ Right here, right now.

August 28
Mercury square Jupiter
If it’s raining on your parade think back to July 9^th when Mercury squared Jupiter, before it was retrograde. Now it’s happening again, after it went direct. The possibility is that we are wiser’ less reactive, willing to live with paradox. Could be….Today is an opportunity. Hold on to your heart without closing it.  

September 5
Mercury enters Virgo
Mercury represents the mind and Virgo is its finest hour. It both rules and is exalted in Virgo. Here the mind is put to the test of solving the problems of the world. As we engage this, looking for solutions to our problems consider of course, the seven generations to come. How might they feel about our choices?

September 6
Saturn stationery direct
Subtle but tectonic shifts that happen this week, around this station point us toward 2020. Put your ear to the ground of your own life. You may be inspired to strengthen the supports that are truly sustainable; always remembering that your best is good enough.

September 7
Mercury trine Uranus and Saturn
Sun opposite Neptune
Like August 25^th when the Sun brought Saturn and Uranus together, now it’s Mercury’s turn. Problems can be solved. But it’s always wise to consider the difference between healing and curing. Look for sustainable solutions, remembering that as far as the soul is concerned, if it’s not beautiful, it’s not functional.

September 8
Venus square Mars
Beauty has never been the same as glamor yet we have a hard time seeing the difference. Beauty draws us toward it, glamor jolts us. There are some who believe the soul is found in the body. If we slow down even a little it is possible to experience beauty. The challenge of today seems to be the struggle of wanting what we don’t have and having what we don’t want; not easily resolved. There are times for wrangling. This is one of them.

 

September 9
New Moon: 17 degrees Virgo: 2:01 PM EDT
Venus enters Scorpio
The moon takes many different shapes in the course of a month but they are always round and she always comes back to new and reminds us that the end and the beginning are two sides of the same thing. Our lives in an individual way may seem linear, having a beginning, a middle and an end, but life itself is circular. We live on a big round ball, circling around a big fireball of energy, forever returning to the same place with new eyes. It matters, not only what we do but how we do it. Craft is as important as art. And so we shape the world.
As you open the door to your intentions, think seriously about what matters and what you might let go of to have it. We are in a ‘can’t have your cake and eat it too’ period for a while to come.

September 10
Mars re-enters Aquarius
So begins the last leg of the Mars retrograde journey which takes us through October 9^th. What concepts, ideologies, and policies have changed in your life? Possibly you have made changes but you also may be dealing with political or social changes in your environment. What’s different and how are you dealing with it? Don’t avoid the edges. Chaos is inevitable in times of Great Change. So be it. Rigidity is not nearly as useful as presence.

September 11
Sun sextile Jupiter and Pluto
It may be true that unholy alliances can flourish under this kind of influence but it’s also true that for that to happen many people must turn a blind eye to the situation. The awesome movements of recent times speak truth to power; and so we should, must and can, strive not to fall asleep at the wheel of change.

September 12
Jupiter sextile Pluto
Venus opposite Uranus and sextile Saturn
As Venus gears up to her retrograde period (October 5 – November 16) so we are stirred to grapple with difficult issues of trust and sharing; allocation of resources and what we might be holding onto that is getting in the way. Transformation makes for a good story, once it’s over. But the actual process of change is fraught with fear of loss, and the pains of shapeshifting (think childbirth). Even so, humans cannot resist a good drama. Don’t hold back. We actually are the change. For better and worse.

 

September 13
Mercury opposite Neptune
Don’t be confused by the singing or the suffering in the next room. It’s like waves on the sea, showing you the shape of the world right before it shifts into something else. Keeping our hearts open, even as our minds grab on to thinking we understand, that is the dance.

September 15
Mercury trine Pluto
There are things you are empowered to do that can make a difference. What are they? How should you organize your resources in preparation?

September 16
Mercury sextile Jupiter
As you prepare your resources look for opportunities to invite, include and welcome the feelings that arise. Going forward is easier and more honorable when the past becomes fertilizer in the present, helping to grow a future worth stepping into.

September 18
Mars square Uranus
The last square between these two for a while. A good-bye wave at the consequences of what the Mars retrograde period brought us (trade wars, mega fires, mass shootings?) A review is in order. What have you learned if anything or experienced since the middle of May? How has the chaos of the world touched you? Has it touched you? We are passing through a time of difficulty, of great manipulation of perspective, unspeakable cruelty to families and children at the same time as many struggle and strive to become kinder, more compassionate, generous and available to whatever arises. It matters that we struggle, how we struggle and who or what we serve.

September 20
Sun conjunct Mercury
Listen; focus, laser-like on the message which illuminates the meaning of the processes unfolding before you. If that seems vague, consider the season, the weather, the elements. What do they have to say to you? 

September 21
Mercury enters Libra
The trouble with information is the proliferation of it. For the next week in particular we benefit from separating wheat from chaff: Truth from lies. As well as bearing the weight of what that might mean.

If you hanker for Sun Sign astrology you can read my sun sign writings in Vitality Magazine.

You may wonder why all the days of the month are not represented in this column. What I have done with the days that are missing. On those days there are no mutual aspects between the planets and the Sun or Moon. The wanderers give those days to the ‘wayfaring moon’ only. The Moon by sign and phase always carries the underlying mood of the moment. The fluctuating of emotion. If you would like to know my thoughts about that you can follow me on twitter. juliesimmonsast.