The New Moon in Virgo arrives on September 17th 01.00 pm CEST at 24 degrees Virgo. The ruler of the New Moon is Mercury. On the moment the New Moon arrives Mercury is at 17 degrees and 26 minutes in Libra. At that moment Jupiter is at 17 degrees and 26 minutes in Capricorn. Mercury exactly squares Jupiter on the moment of the New Moon. This makes this New Moon a threshold. Into what, you might ask?
From the moment Mercury entered Libra he was in a sign based square with Jupiter and approaching a degree based square. The degree based square builds up in the days leading up to the New Moon. After the New Moon and as soon as Mercury starts to separate from the square with Jupiter, he’ll be applying to a square with Pluto and after his meetings with Pluto he’ll come into contact with Saturn (both Pluto and Saturn are in later degrees in Capricorn). Mercury will also enter an opposition with Mars, who’s retrograde in Aries.
Jupiter is a benefic planet. Jupiter is the sage, philosopher and healer. Pluto is the Lord of the Underworld. Saturn shows us our karma, brings coldness and separation. Mars brings aggression, heat and war. These malefics have their positive qualities too. Pluto brings transformation. Saturn brings staying power and results. Mars brings motivation and energy. The aspects that Mercury will make with these planets will, however, bring struggle and challenge to Mercury.
So, from now until the New Moon Mercury is foremost in contact with Jupiter. Directly after the New Moon he’ll be approaching Pluto and the other malefics. Mercury knows this. He can see the lineup by sign based aspects. Jupiter, standing between Mercury and the malefics, is still protecting Mercury. But as soon as the square between Mercury and Jupiter starts to separate, that protection will weaken fast and soon disappear; it’s a threshold. I imagine feelings of dread and hope are both present in the messenger of the Gods. It’s interesting that the threshold exactly lines up with the New Moon that takes place in Virgo. Virgo is the sign of Mercury’s domicile and exaltation. The connection with Jupiter gives this New Moon a hopeful quality.
Jupiter in Capricorn is in the sign of his fall (meaning he feels weak there) and is overpowered by Mars by square and in conjunction with Pluto and Saturn who are all strong on their own and definitely stronger together. Jupiter can’t bring much luck in Capricorn, but he can do damage control and provide us hopeful perspectives. New Moons are about new beginnings. Though this is not the best time to start anything new practically, this New Moon can be about visualizing a new future. The world isn’t out of the pandemic misery and whatever else mess yet. Most of us feel tired. A lot of people don’t know what to do. Things will change though. The astrology at the moment is crap. The astrology will get better. This New Moon is about looking forward to that moment. What can we do better when we can start rebuilding the world?
Do we want to go on like we have been going? Or do we want to do better? Virgo is all about healing, fixing, providing and caring. How can we heal planet Earth? We have been exploiting her. Do we want to go on like that? How can we fix the broken systems we have been living in? Capitalism, patriarchy, racism; we need to burn systems to the ground in order to fix societies. Who do we provide for? Tax support for big companies that exploit the Earth and other humans? Or do we want to provide health care workers some extra financial support because they goddamn deserve it. What do we truly care about? A big fat shiny SUV in front of our house or honest and beautiful connections with the people who are dear to us. As a collective we should ask ourselves these questions with this New Moon.
In the end it all comes down the question: what is truly sacred?
It is that what we need to protect and care for.
The New Moon trines Saturn. Whatever future we start visualizing today: we can build it. Slowly and surely it will come. If Saturn teaches us anything, it’s that patience and hard work pay off. The New Moon is in aspect with Saturn in a positive way. Suggesting that whatever future the human collective visualizes today, is the one we will build. So, we have to be pretty damn careful about what we are visualizing.
One last interesting note on this New Moon: it marks the midpoint between eclipse seasons. We are at the midpoint between the eclipse season of last summer and the eclipses that will take place in Sagittarius season at the end of this year. What started in your life two / three months ago? How is it developing? The development can give a clue on where you’ll be regarding this topic/ situation at the end of the year because you’re now halfway.
Below I’ll go through some of the most important upcoming transits between the New Moon and the Full Moon.
Upcoming transits
Sun enters Libra September 22nd 3.30 pm CEST
Happy birthday to all Libra Sun signs!
The Sun entering Libra marks the equinox. In the northern hemisphere it’s the beginning of fall and in the southern hemisphere it’s the beginning of spring. Libra, the sign of the scales, is the cardinal air sign ruled by Venus. As the scales symbolize, Libra cares for balance, harmony and equality. Not surprisingly in Tarot the Justice card is related to the sign Libra.
Libra, being ruled by Venus, is also known for beauty and aesthetics. People with prominent Libra placements often have a certain softness about them that is very appealing. A gentleness. People with the Moon in Libra or Libra rising often have a soft beautiful look or charm. People with Mercury in Libra can have that soft beautiful voice. People with prominent Libra placements are known to have an eye for aesthetics. Venus the ruler of Libra, after all, likes beautiful things. In the end Libra cares more for beautiful connections than for beautiful stuff. Libra is focused on harmony and balance. Since Libra is a cardinal sign, and an air sign, it’s known for creating social connections and establishing harmony in groups. At his best Libra is a great mediator. But Libra can also sacrifice the self to a fault in order to please people, or sometimes actually not address injustice out of fear for conflict.
When the Sun enters Libra the house in you chart that contains Libra gets illuminated. For the collective this transit means that we need to focus on topics like equality, human rights, equal give and take, peace and justice.
Mercury enters Scorpio September 27th 9.40 am CEST
Mercury moved through Libra in a whim. In Scorpio, however, he will slow down. So much in fact that he’ll station retrograde on October 14th 3.05 am CEST at 11 degrees Scorpio, but I’ll get back on that on a later moment. Certain topics may arise in the next few weeks that will resurface again when Mercury is retrograde.
When Mercury is in Scorpio our minds get sharp and focused with emotional flair. Not sharp and focused as in crystal clear cold air thinking. But sharp and focused as in intuitive, deep, penetrative thinking. Mercury has the gift of getting into the darkest corners of the world and getting back out and into the light. Since he’s the messenger of the Gods he can travel from the underworld, connecting with Pluto, to realms of the living meeting with Venus. Mercury can get into places where other Gods and Goddesses can’t get. Scorpio is the zodiac sign that has a need to enter the deep, dark and hidden. Scorpio is a water sign and highly intuitive. When Mercury is in Scorpio we want to listen to our intuition. Mercury in Scorpio works best by following gut instincts. We might get a little obsessive on things, when Mercury is in Scorpio; but that doesn’t need to be a bad thing.
Saturn stations direct September 29th 7.11 am CEST
& Mars retrograde squares Saturn direct
In May Saturn stationed retrograde. Saturn had just entered Aquarius in March. During his retrograde period he traveled all the way back to 25 degrees Capricorn. With Saturn stationing direct he’s back on his journey into Aquarius. He will enter Aquarius in December. Saturn is pretty damn close to Pluto at the moment. When Saturn and Pluto were exactly conjunct in January, the pandemic started to spread the world. Saturn and Pluto aren’t exactly conjunct, but they are close. There will be a revisiting of themes from January and February this year. Almost simultaneous, with Saturn stationing direct, Mars squares Saturn. Again, because this also happened on August 24th when both planets were at 26 degrees Capricorn and Mars was still direct and Saturn was retrograde.
Mars square Saturn is one of the most challenging aspects there is. Saturn is slow and restricts, sets boundaries, brings losses and he disciplines. In Capricorn Saturn is strong and does his work armed with concrete and traditional values. Mars usually moves fast. Mars in Aries brings fire, destruction and separation. When planets are retrograde, their motives are hidden. Mars square Saturn is always challenging. Normally it’s a challenge that lasts for days. Now it lasts for months (August – November; with September and October being most intense). In this battle between Mars and Saturn, Saturn has the upper hand.
For each of us personally the battle between Mars and Saturn happens in different parts of our charts and will affect our personal planets and points more or less depending on personal placements. What I can say that will count for each of us: Mars wants us to press gas, Saturn urges us to press the breaks. In what area of life these clashing energies will present themselves, depends on your chart. But we will all experience the gas / break clash in some way, for months!
I’m here to tell you: endure. Don’t give up. Don’t stop. It doesn’t matter how slow you go. Don’t stop. Wait it out. You will likely feel like you are running into some kind of wall, continuously, throughout the coming months. Mars wants you to run. Saturn is the wall. Whatever the clash brings for you. Wait it out. Keep doing what you are doing, even if it goes really, really slow and even if the results are next to nothing. Keep going. It will change. Eventually… But it will, it will change. The obstacles will be removed. In the next months it will be all about endurance and acceptance. You can amp up on selfcare. You are allowed to feel sorry about whatever it is that sucks. But don’t give up. Wait till 2021 before giving up.
Expect things to go slow. It’s not you, it’s life / Mars and Saturn. Try to be okay with going slow while putting in maximum effort. Don’t be hard on yourself. Be forgiving. Do self-care. Don’t give up on things. Prioritize how you want to spend your energy. Stay connected to your passions.
Full Moon at 9 degrees Aries arrives on October 1st 11.05 pm CEST
I’ll get back to you on that soon!