VIRGO NEW MOON / SOLAR ECLIPSE - 1 September 2016

Exact at 10.03am BST, 5.03 EDT.

Well, this is one powerful New Moon, that’s for sure! It is also an Annular Solar Eclipse, so it will have more of a far reaching impact on our souls’ journeys than an average New Moon. This is a time of significant soul growth and represents the end of a chapter in our lives and the beginning of a new one. Solar Eclipses involve the North Node of the Moon, which means that they prod and poke us to move out of our safe, known place and take a step forward into the unknown. It is always somewhat uncomfortable to change the way we do things, but it is so worth it! On an individual level it will help us to continue the journey from our own South Node towards our North Node, which is shown by the house and sign of the Nodes in our individual chart. The Nodal axis is called the Destiny line and is very important indeed. The South Node represents where we come into this life and what we are carrying forward from past lives. As such it is quite a familiar, comfortable place for us to live in, but staying there does not help us to grow. The North Node represents the potential for growth and where we want to get to on a soul level in this life time. This Eclipse is definitely encouraging us to step up to the plate and grow.

On a collective level the South Node, which is where we are coming from, is currently in sensitive and empathetic Pisces, while the North Node is in practical and discerning Virgo. This is the healing axis, and it seems as if we are being asked to be more in our bodies and to find ways of doing something practical, tangible and useful with our compassion, sensitivity and empathy. This is certainly showing itself with the refugee crisis, that’s for sure.  It’s a great time for giving and receiving healing, but it is very important to stay grounded. Virgo asks us to make some concrete decisions in order to help ourselves, rather than merely feeling like we are at the mercy of fate or the victim of circumstance. In short, the Virgo North Node tells us to get a grip! Virgo and Pisces ask us to find a more holistic way of approaching our lives and health, and there is also a sense of the finer, more subtle energies becoming more grounded on the earth plane. Virgo helps us find tangible, grounded ways to express what Pisces intuitively senses. We have a chance to really embody our spirituality at this time.  

The Sun and Moon are forming their monthly union in Virgo. This is an interesting sign, as it shows where we feel like we need to improve ourselves and do better. When Virgo is highlighted it can bring about some kind of crisis whereby we feel like we are not good enough, or feel inferior, or become very critical of ourselves. When we are critical of ourselves we also tend to be more sensitive to any real or perceived criticism coming from the external environment.  Virgo strives for purity and perfection, which can be very difficult to attain and can mean that we beat ourselves up somewhat! Virgo season correlates with going back to school and so at this time of year we may concentrate on getting into healthy routines. It’s certainly a good time to get organised and put our lives into order.

Virgo is the sign that comes after playful and confident Leo and before Libra, the sign of relationships. It is a sign of transition and can bring about some kind of crisis in terms of how we relate to others and show what we still need to learn in order to relate to people successfully, as equals. We may go through a period of intense self-analysis whereby we realise that we still have a lot to learn and so this is an opportunity to take a long hard look at ourselves and make the necessary adjustments. This can be a bit of a painful process, but very rewarding indeed if we learn our lessons well! Virgo is also the sign of discernment. As such, we may need to make some important choices during this time and think long and hard about what is truly good for us and what needs to go. Again, this can be quite painful and challenging and we may have to be quite strong.  It is time to separate the wheat from the chaff and to step back a bit instead of acting impulsively. This is a time for self-evaluation and self-care of the highest order.

The ruler of the New Moon is Mercury, who goes retrograde in Virgo on August 31^st. Lots of this discerning Virgo energy around at the moment! The few days before and after Mercury going retrograde can be quite challenging in terms of communication and there is strong potential for misunderstandings to occur. It is important to be very clear in our communication and to hold off rushing into any conversations or decisions that are important. Be patient, hold back a little and wait until Mercury has settled into going backwards. The chances are that whatever we are thinking about can wait, and things might look very different by then! Mercury Retrograde is a great time for looking within and re-evaluating our lives. In Virgo it is a great time for some inner analysis, providing we are not too hard on ourselves!  We must try not to look back and feel guilty or pick ourselves to pieces! It is much better to simply see how we could have done better and work with that. Mercury will be retrograde until 22 September. During this Moon he will be sitting right next to Jupiter, which will really help us see the bigger picture and expand our viewpoint.

The Saturn Neptune square is being directly activated by this Moon/Eclipse, which will bring its energy to the foreground of our lives. The square will be exact on the September 10, so it is currently building in intensity. One of the ways this can manifest is by Neptune dissolving Saturn’s structures. It is as if the structures that we have come to rely upon are falling away and it is unclear what will take their place. This is where the ongoing theme of “Faith and trust” comes into play. We are not in control, much as we might like to think we are, so we much just learn to let go and go with the flow of life. Saturn can hold on too tightly to people or situations through fear, while Neptune urges us to gently let go and see what happens. If they come back to us, all well and good. If not, then it was simply not meant to be and something much better awaits us just around the corner.

The square can also highlight our blind spots and show where we prefer to live in the land of fantasy rather than facing up to reality. Neptune likes to avoid reality but Saturn will make sure we face the truth in no uncertain terms, whether we like it or not. It is very important, however, that we don’t become too rigid in our beliefs and remain open to other people’s version of the truth. We may also find it hard to know what the truth really is, because what we thought was true may actually be an illusion. Squares between planets to prod and poke us to grow and do better, so while this square can feel quite heavy and has the potential to bring up vague and irrational fears and anxieties, is can also help us to ground our dreams and ideals into reality. Neptune dreams the dreams, while Saturn is willing to put the time and hard work into making them real. Indeed, this could be a very good time to practicing manifesting our intentions.

Mars is conjunct Saturn during this Moon as well, which feels somewhat in line with the Mercury Retrograde energy, in that it could put the breaks on us acting impulsively or asserting ourselves. Mars is a doer and represents our assertive, active desire nature. Saturn says to Mars “Hold on, wait a moment and look before you leap.” This could be quite frustrating but is also quite sensible, because it makes us act more consciously and mindfully. It does seem like we are at a moment in time when we have some choices to make, but are being asked to slow down a bit and consider them wisely. What is the saying – “Only Fools rush in”? We need to take a moment to decide what is really good for us rather than acting by default, or on auto-pilot. We may feel like we are being held back, blocked or reined in, but there is a reason for it. Wait and watch. All will be revealed in the fullness of time. Mars and Saturn were exactly conjunct last Wednesday 24 August, but the energy would still be active now as the New Moon is activating it.

The Sabian symbol for the New Moon at 10° Virgo is “Two heads looking out and beyond the shadows.” This feels very much like the Saturn Neptune Square, as it shows how we can perceive the same situation from two different perspectives, such as Love and Fear. It is important for us to be able to see whatever we are facing from more than one side, because the truth of the situation may be shrouded somehow. We are being asked to look out from the shadows into the light. Maybe we need to look at things in a different way before we can shift or move beyond.

I always wonder what people must have thought during Solar Eclipses when they looked up into the sky and saw a great ring of fire! They must have thought it was the end of the world, or that the great sky god was trying to tell them something very important. Certainly they do have a powerful impact on our lives and are not to be scoffed at! Eclipses move in 19 year cycles, and this one is linked to one that occurred on 1 September 1997. As such, whatever is happening now could have a resonance with that time, or some kind of echo. It could be that we are moving onto the next phase of whatever was started then. It is also linked to the Solar Eclipse on 8 March this year. There could be a sense of completion now, as one phase ends and another begins. There is definitely a sense of us being asked to step back and re-evaluate ourselves and the way we approach life and relationships. It is very important not to be hard on ourselves, but rather to recognise what might need tweaking in order for us to be more effective in our relationships. We need to practice the Virgoan art of discernment and remember that in each moment of our lives we have a choice on how to act and react. We get to decide what is good for us and what must fall away as we move onto the next chapter.

Much love

Amy

xoxo