Virgo - wonderful when you want it, irritating when you don’t

I love Virgo - she gets on with what needs doing quietly, and without fuss. With the descriptive word ‘Virgoan’, we tend to mean ‘precise, elegant correctness, appropriate response to the moment’ - but can we actually do this? This New Moon chart suggests that, if we can act with detachment and no investment in the outcome, we may get it right for others (Sun/Moon quincunx Uranus in Aries).

But the energy for most of this month continues to be potentially egocentric and fun-loving (Uranus trined by Mars and Venus in Leo) and, if that’s how we’re feeling, ‘Virgoan’ can imply picky and critical!

Compassion for self and others

What brings us back, this month, to considering the needs of others is a lot of discussion about justice for the dis-enfranchised (Mercury in Libra squaring Pluto). The focus would be how to make people’s lives more comfortable and enjoyable by supporting them while allowing individual freedom (Uranus trine Venus is important all this month).

This focus on the needy would also apply to the dis-enfranchised parts of ourselves - those aspects that we haven’t given ourselves time to unfold, or allowed ourselves to express; especially beautiful creative expression that allows such joy. So perhaps this month is about letting ourselves dance and sing, stroll in nature, cook what we really want to eat, hang out with dear friends - before getting down to what we consider to be ‘work’.

Helping - by giving needed help

Expressing that which give us joy can be so healing, can energise us, and also those around us. And when our need for the delights of our world is even half fulfilled, we feel again the desire to turn towards our community to share and give. This is us as human beings - Virgo as healer/helper is a natural part of being human.

The other energy that might surface as a problem is too much focus on the healer/helper without listening to what is actually needed (Jupiter opposite Neptune). Ram Das wrote a lovely little book called ‘How can I help?’ in which he shows the ways in which we fail in our intention to be helpful by thinking we know what’s best without finding out first - without asking. We think we know how other people should live - it’s like we would want to live, isn’t it? Certainly everyone wants respect and kindness, but each person has their own priorities and cares - we need to listen. This is where we need to hold back from reacting to what we see out there, or judging situations when we have no experience of them.

Transforming our way of life - Earth’s shadow totally eclipses the Moon

The Full Moon on 28 September is a total eclipse (2:48 Universal Time, 3:48am UK time) so the pressure to help (Jupiter trines Pluto) will be enormous. Anything organised will be transformational: impossible to do without upsetting the status quo (Mercury in Libra square Pluto). So we will need to keep the communication going in spite of difficulties that arise, and the result could be the surfacing of amazingly innovative solutions.

This is the month when all our hard-won understanding of the underlying problems and the roots of our old behaviours (Saturn through Scorpio) comes into the open (Saturn into Sagittarius). We now know enough - we are more than our fears and our old beliefs. We can now put in place the new thinking and behaviours that will allow our relationships with all people to flower (Saturn sextiles the North Node/Sun in Libra, trines Moon/South Node in Aries). All we need to remember is to look forward rather than back, to look towards possibilities rather than the apparently impossible; and to be hopeful rather than anxious.

. . . join me in meditation . . .

One reader drew my attention to 23 September as a possibly important moment, and the chart for that day is quite intense. Bear with me over a bit of astrological jargon: It’s the day the Sun goes into Libra - the Autumn Equinox. This year, that point is the position of the North Node, the finest direction we can face - so we could say that the Sun will be shining its light on humanity’s path. The Moon (our personality identity) entering Aquarius will trine the Sun, suggesting that humanity as a whole will be open to the light, and Saturn makes the third point of a great triangle from Sagittarius. All this shows a new and wise understanding of the direction humanity should be taking towards spiritual growth. Also Venus, the energy of relatedness, will be potentially healing our relationships by freeing us from old habits; this could be painful, unless we stay sensitive and loving.

So, I’m wanting to meditate on 23 September for two reasons:

1 - because I would like to be clear about what my next step will be as part of the human community; and

2 - because the following day, we may not want to do the work that becomes obviously needed (Mars newly in Virgo squares Saturn), and we may well find arguments cropping up around how to make changes without rocking the boat! (Mercury will be retrograding towards squaring Pluto again). the meditation would be partly to remain

Largely, it’s the fast moving planets and the Moon that energise this pattern, so it is very brief. But being conscious of the dynamic moments as they arise, we can add our own joy, peacefulness, positive well-being, and loving compassion, into the mix. We also may find that we understand a bit better how to move positively with the energetic flow of life. So may it be!