Who Can Say Where The Road Goes?

Virgo New Moon + September's Virgo Season

Mercury Retrograde is over and the New Moon in Virgo is readied, broom in hand, to sweep up the debris from the backspin.

Mercury-ruled Virgo CAN weave the organized best from Rx when intent to ACTUALLY re-view and re-do. Alas, life on a regular day finds it oh-so-easy to fall on the wayside. Further complicated by the recent Rx’s negative effect on our close relationships, Earthlings have been experiencing the vague but potent powers of 4 Outer Planets in Retrograde this Summer. And though Mercury Retrograde is technically over, September is double-troubled by more Planetary Retrograde routes, shifting 2024’s trajectory dramatically.

The romantic-cruxed Mercury muddle possibly added (or obstructed) abstract enigmas in our intimate amorous spheres. Rather than wading thru the practical pranks Mercury Retrograde is classically known for, an anxiety-laden shadow period without clear solutions may now sit at our feet. Virgo’s healing aura is a softness ~with emo-ease in her sage advice and attentive listening~ a blessing after the glaringly hot spotlight of Leo Season. If we were disciplined enough to refrain from reactionaries AND avoided assumptions during the Aquarius Full Moon, we now have to muster Earthy diplomacy and approach what has been left unsaid.

Virgo, as always, is here to help.

Pop astrology claims Virgo to be uptight, but she just prefers to remain focused, delighted by detective work. She actually ENJOYS the puzzle of problem-solving but automatically shies away from combat, preferring empathy and compromise instead of arguments. However, not all humans are adept to work within shared responsibility and fair negotiations. Those who are paranoid about ulterior motives will blame prominent Virgo placements for “meddling” when she’s simply assisting what needs doing. She builds a plan from the vantage point of not just logistics but also how connections will be affected and what the outcome will look like for all.

Virgo is a well-oiled machine (Omega supplements, MUFAs, EVOO and all) but she’s also INCREDIBLY considerate and thought-through re: others. Very demure, very mindful.

Where Leo spearheads leadership, Virgo is the detailed little helper on the team.

And yet Virgo does sometimes lust to be “right”. She pushes a timeline, advocates for the “smart” choices, insists on tact and punctuality. When it comes to emotions, micro-managing sometimes leads to suppression or walking on eggshells around a situation that honestly needs to be expressed. Thus the switch between bold and sometimes brash Leo to the poised perfectionism of Virgo is a strain. And between both their Seasons AND during the recent Mercury Retrograde, the exchange may have ignited extra emotional dysresulation within the usual Rx suspects. Thru persnickety analysis and fierce spiciness, the Communication Planet got its fair share of opposite energies in August. We now desperately want to get grounded.

I’ve personally been burdened with incredibly trying home, marriage and health scares (plus the bills to prove it) over the past month… BUT I’ve also reconnected with a precious past person (Rx typical!) and finally kicked a nasty nicotine habit I picked up last Autumn Eclipse Season fueled by the onset of trauma betrayal. (On a lighter note re: the little helpers, huge props to alt treats like Full Moons Club CBD cigs as well as Ripple, recommended by the amazing Ghost Apothecary).

Ruling the 6th House of Wellness and Routine, Virgo honestly reviews if our habits heal or harm us, then encourages a plan to reach healthier plateaus.

Virgo also maintains that gratitude and pleasure are important to integrate in daily ritual. My Virgo Moon is a maven of balance who HAS TO schedule time for the finer spirit-soothing moments… or else my mental health suffers. In tune, a Virgo Moon exemplifies the joys of applying oneself. Making and sticking to decisions - but also being able to adapt and come up with a new plan if needed - is the grace of a strong Virgo placement.

What isn’t so easy for Virgo to do is staying in her own lane when she sees problems around her, a hard lesson for this soon-to-be New Moon. But at the very least we are freeing ourselves from ONE Retrograde. Furthermore, on September 1st, a day before the Virgo New Moon, Uranus in Taurus turns Retrograde and Pluto Rx moves back into Capricorn. These new Rx motions warrant their own section of concern towards the end of this post.

Mercury is in Leo until 9/9, the Rx shadow period ends on 9/11 and Mercury will be in Virgo until 9/26.

WHAT: Virgo New Moon

WHEN: Moon-day Sept. 2nd, 2024 6:56 PM EST

THEME: Harvesting Hope while Holding Ourselves (and Others) in the Light

Mutable Earth transmutes the ripeness of late Summer thru golden-grain’d horizons, gently blowing extra heat from the fruit-burst’d bake fresh out of the oven. Such sweltering sweetness as the Sun semi-evaporates the rain-soaked soil, leaves slightly drying-out. Suddenly new morning crisp carries my lazy bones to an excitement for Autumn. In the Southeast’s humid Hell, I’ve always felt doomed during Summer; thus the return of the Fall (*maple leaves, not Mark E. Smith*) somehow re-awakens me temporarily. I’m alive again, craving seasonal produce and comfort foods (ahem, Concoctionary cookbook!) with a side dish of nostalgic back-to-school new notebooks - How very Virgo Season of me! However, to-do lists are not enough to put one back on the path to get where we want (or need - 2 different things) to go.

Question now is how to be motivated and make moves in the residual emotional turmoil that absolutely exists after that Mercury Rx.

Imagine the cliche dark academia scene with the elusive student who minds to herself, involved in some very cerebral research journey, coming upon an adventure on accident… this is the caricature of Virgo. Tinkering with concoctions and pouring thru books until passing the torch to Libra on the Equinox is not enough DOING for Virgo’s contentment. With any mystery that needs solving, any foundation that starts to show sign of instability, Virgo HAS TO figure out the missing piece, how to get on solid ground again. Whether it be cracks in the practical or the personal, Virgo Season aims to get back on track while embracing pleasure in the process.

Virgo is the Astrological Alchemist, the Kitchen Witch, the Passionate Practitioner…

None of which are ever inclined to “fuck around” though LOVE to find out… as long as its in the context of a methodical and measured experiment. She treads VERY carefully, avoiding any traps or wolves in the woods, but will absolutely discern the hidden details from behind a tree trunk at safe distance, mentally taking note of important info to report back to the vigilante squad. The work is never done, which can sometimes cause trouble.

Virgo’s Acts of Service are in good company re: the body or the mind, but complicated when applied to murky mysteries of the heart.

For the lunar Virgo, the relationship with the Self is interconnected to everything else, an extension of “source energy”. Additionally, the idea that individuals are a product of their environment can be a bit of a blight. So many of us feel we are “made” from tragedy, usually caused by an external source. Ancestral, family-of-origin and other lineage-related wounds have a devastating effect on our identities and attachments if they are not gently but directly addressed within a youth’s time-frame. What and who we are at the core becomes difficult to separate from patterns of adverse experience and the narratives we create in reflection of those traumas.

What is nature and what is nurture after all?

Choosing to be open and honest can be terrifying in a society of poise. It’s not that calm and collected isn’t a worthy goal; when this becomes a curated mask to not express our true emotions at all, it becomes a cage. Discomfort when others are “messy” places an unnatural expectation on ourselves and everyone else to achieve perfection. When the slightest panic or vulnerability is subject to be judged, what we’re really dealing with is a conflict of control. Harmony is not achieved through harsh standards, only through doing the tough long-standing work of validation and acceptance, creating room to recuperate together and find stepping stones of peace along the way.

Earth Maidens desire to present a path towards wholeness all whilst knowing getting to the root of a problem and figuring out the proper direction is never a simple task. Getting to the heart of the matter means going thru layers upon layers that can take years and years to peel back… maybe even decades for those less-than-eager to identify their own root or afraid to own their change. While I’ve always advocated for “letting go” of expired intrinsic views, I wholeheartedly realize that growing up with “negative” narratives about oneself requires long-term determination to disengage from.

“Un-doing” self-deprecation, defense mechanisms and unhealthy coping styles is hard enough. Healing has no linear pathway.

There will always be roadblocks, setbacks, twists and turns. However, any attempt to move away from resentment and into joy, away from the Past and into the Present, will always be step towards a better Future. There is hope in the act of being compassionate with all of our thoughts and feelings. To see our feelings as little children that all deserve love, even the “bad” feelings - ESPECIALLY THEM - is to radicalize the polarization we’ve been programmed to act within. What happens when we are kind to shame, guilt, envy, anger, rejection, sadness, numbness, and so on?

Through injury, illness, losing wages due to injury and illness, possibly losing my beloved home, the hardest thing I’ve come to face this Mercury Retrograde is unconditionally loving a person who is deep in the well of their protective shell that I’m no longer able to reach them. In their own journey of realizations in how they’ve succumbed to a blanket of subservience for safety, they are now trying to figure out how to reclaim themselves.

For them, the only option might look like giving up on everything in order to start over fresh. Instead of resetting, advocating and making new with what already is, they feel they aren’t capable of doing more with the “bad” feelings they were holding onto. And I can’t force them to “let go” or “have hope”. I just have to love them from afar as they are, where they are now, and hope the best for them without interfering or offering unsolicited advice.

You can bring a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.

Veneration for the Virgo New Moon:

• The classic Virgin archetype prefers an intentional process and steady studious movement despite a fast-reactive world. Virgo knows there are no quick fixes to a severed psychic limb or a broken heart. She also knows that Time is not enough to heal all wounds. We must put in the work to pull through and not just in a way where we APPEAR to have it together. When we show up for our authentic selves (including “messy” emotions), we are that much closer to living lives of purpose and meaning.

• Do not agonize, organize AND prioritize. This New Moon earnestly asks us to take stock of what IS and what ISN’T working as we make plans to navigate the remainder of the year. Are there pastimes that are draining you more than filling your cup? Are certain long-form rituals not yielding the results you want? Are important items being neglected that cause chaos if continuing to put them off? Sometimes simple pure ingredients make the most hearty soup stock. Ensure you’re cooking with the best.