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Jupiter trine Uranus
For the last three weeks of August, Jupiter, the principle of growth and expansion, new horizons and plans, has been connecting smoothly with Uranus, the principle of freedom from inner restraints. If you enjoy sudden leaps forward in growth, you will have had an exciting joyride to a new place in your life. To the degree that you are fearful of instability, you will have felt a slippery feeling as your fingers lose their grip on the ‘rock face’ of life. But, if you can remember to spread your wings of trust, you will be delighted at the resultant move upwards. We are usually most held back by our own assumptions, and our attachment to past experiences. These are the inner restraints that Uranus frees us from, and Jupiter is ensuring that our wings are caught by an up draught.

Venus and Saturn opposite Neptune
Last month, with the New Moon in Leo, we were hopefully able to radiate from our hearts, just being ourselves. This month, we still get to relate our heart-self to others (Venus in Leo) through deliberately sharing our truth (Venus with Saturn). We find out who we really are, partly by reflection from others (Venus/Saturn opposite Neptune), and partly by how we feel when they respond to our truthful sharing. In other words: if I share clearly how I really feel, people may, or may not, like it. If they feel attacked, they may want to protect themselves by being less open to me, or they may openly challenge me. So I get to see the kind of reaction I can trigger in others – is that what I’m doing to myself? - and I also get to know how I feel when blocked or challenged.
The more we can be aware of our own patterns of reaction, the quicker we can recognise we’re in them. This gives us the space to adjust, and come back to the reality of the person we’re relating to. None of this is easy, and it helps to ask for inner support and guidance. Neptune, the mystic, rules the North Node until 2008, suggesting that all our work is leading to a sense of trust in the Oneness of life, and developing our ability to intuit that direction.

The Zodiac sign, Virgo
The sign of Virgo represents the wealth of detail that goes to make up a completeness. It’s the organisation of a mass of notes to make a wonderful piece of music, and the ability to order the thousands of stitches that complete an ordinary knitted sweater. And, because Virgo contains also a sense of the completed thing, there is the recognition when any part of it is not quite the way it ‘should’ be. This is what feels, to all the other signs, like negative judgement and criticism! It is, in fact, Virgo expressing a love of the Oneness, and a desire to be in that. But, in everyday life, there is a need to follow the path to Oneness, step by step. And that needs an acceptance of how things are on each step, before being able to use it to move to the next one.
The question to ask of a Virgo person who appears to be criticising is: ‘How do you see the finished item?’ and ‘How would you go about it?’ This questioning is not so that you will do it their way, but so that they get to complete their thought. They are far more likely to let you do it your way, once they’ve had their say - and been heard. It will also help them to stay in touch with the bigger picture, rather than getting lost in the details. The problem many of us have, when we feel criticised, is that we feel the need to justify ourselves and our way, and this is usually totally unnecessary. Virgo may have some useful comments to make, and in any case may feel impelled to get you to understand what they see, so being defensive may just start an argument.
Virgo as a sign also contains the acceptance of the need to do something in order to get what you want, and the desire to help others to go the same way. It works best when each outward movement of activity comes from a still centre.

This New Moon in Virgo
On 23 August, the New Moon itself will be at the very beginning of Virgo, so whatever set us in motion last month, this month we will choose to do the necessary work. You may well have become involved with a mass of bits and pieces from at least 23 July, when Mars energy started expressing Virgo style - Mars continues in Virgo until 8 September. With the Sun and Moon entering Virgo together, you may get a better view of those bits and pieces as parts of a project, so you know what to put your heart into. From 6 September, we may well find that the work even eclipses our relationships (Venus goes into Virgo for the rest of September) as we organise our lives so that everything gets done. Aim to use the energy of this month in ways that help your friends as well as yourself.
When we set out to achieve something, we cannot know how it will be in its completed state. So much goes into a project that is unconscious as we do the work it requires, and the result of that work may not be what we intended. There are often times when, if we had consciously realised what was involved in aiming for a particular goal, we would not have chosen to go for it. But our results all belong to us, and the unexpected bits are showing us something of our unconscious side. So when things turn out different from what you intended, it’s best to say: ‘I wonder which part of me wanted this?’ I have a favourite response when situations I find myself in are not what I would have consciously chosen: ‘Ahh . . . I see . . . now, what shall I do about this?’ Having accepted the situation, my push to be active is probably my Aries Sun-sign kicking in! – so your best response could be different.
We do not necessarily have enough to understand our results immediately; some of the input could be from the threads of other people’s lives crossing our own. Fortunately we don’t need to understand it all - as long as I can bring myself to accept what happens, even if I don’t like it, then I usually find that the meaning becomes clear later. The next New Moon will be at the very end of Virgo, so hopefully we will be nearer to understanding the harvest that all our efforts are manifesting.

Virgo – the work involved in ‘being helpful’
(At this time, the Nodes of the Moon, pointing from Virgo to Pisces, are square to Pluto.) As Mercury trines Pluto in this chart, it is not a time to get caught up in talking about how we would have liked things to be, but rather a time for working out how to serve the bigger picture. The ‘work’ will be in those areas that require focused, sustained effort: health, diet and exercise; your gainful employment, whatever that may be; any activity you began and didn’t finish. You may enjoy this work, or not, depending on your own nature, but you will need to complete things so they can be tidied out of your atmosphere so you don’t keep tripping over the loose ends (if that’s not too many metaphors!).
One of the areas we often don’t finish is where we agreed, or even offered, to do something for someone else, that we either didn’t have time or energy for, or that we didn’t really want to do in the first place. The tidying up of these loose ends has two sides to it: 1. we need to complete the job to the degree that it’s still appropriate, and 2. we need to sort out what we are really able and willing to do, and what we would be better not starting. If you are unable, or unwilling, to help in a particular situation, it is far better for everyone if you are clear about not getting involved. There is a lovely book by Ram Dass called ‘How can I help?’ where he kindly and clearly points out the ways we are not helping when we may think we are, as well as showing us how to really help.

In a nutshell . . .
Whatever happens this month can be regarded as helping us to get clear on our own personal ways of being helpful to others. And, while we are in this area, how about peeling back a layer of unconsciousness and asking ourselves why we get involved beyond the natural boundaries of our well-being? It isn’t altruism! J
Remember that it is our involvement with life that produces the details, and our involvement is a blessing.