virgo new moon - purification, self-possession and sacred service
monday, september 2, 2024 (9:55 pm EdT)
New Moon collage by Emily
Leading up to Monday’s New Moon are two MAJOR astro-events, both on September 1st. In the morning, Uranus turns retrograde, stirring up restlessness, revelations, breakthroughs, sudden changes and turnarounds. Uranus stations - appears to stand still and reverse directions - at 27 degrees of Taurus, and if you have planets in your birth chart at or near 27 degrees of ANY of the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius), you will be feeling this station very personally!
Later that same day, Pluto will return to Capricorn - until November 19th - for the very last time in our lives. For the next few months, you’ll be closing out a chapter that started in 2008, when Pluto first entered the sign of the Sea Goat. What do you need to complete, release, heal or alchemize in order to step into the highest expression of your future self?
The whole time Pluto is back in Capricorn it will activate the 29th (last) degree - the “anaretic” degree, associated with the extreme shadow or distortion of a sign. It’s possible that at a collective level, it may seem like we’re going backwards - back into extreme top-down control, abuse of power by the 1% (the “plutocracy”), and even lockdowns.
However! At an individual level, the 29th degree can also signify mastery, the culmination of what you’ve learned and how you’ve evolved since 2008. Pluto’s last hurrah in Capricorn is the final exam, asking: Have you fully owned your self-authority? Do you take 100% responsibility for your experience? Are you living by your own rules? Have you shed the fear-based, limiting conditioning from your family and society?
(If you want support for closing out this Pluto in Capricorn cycle with radical love and intention, and preparing for the highest expression of Pluto in Aquarius, join me and soul sherpa Anné Klint for a mini-retreat in Santa Fe on October 6th. Check out: From Limitation to Liberation.)
These activations of Uranus and Pluto can feel like a huge shift in energy - intense, potentially stressful, and possibly exciting. The Virgo New Moon on the following day calls for a time-out to digest and integrate all the change. The New Moon opposes Saturn in Pisces, highlighting the necessity of rest and downtime, and requiring discernment when it comes to what you actually have control over, and where it’s best to surrender to a higher power and “let go, let God/dess.”
The Virgo New Moon is the best New Moon of the year to focus on your overall health and well-being - to make improvements, adjustments and new beginnings in your self-care routines, diet, and daily practices. Virgo is a sign of purification, and this lunar cycle supports detoxing your body, cleaning out the clutter in your environment, and clearing your mind.
The purification process helps you to come into greater clarity, and you may get a new insight into your specific path of service. Mercury, the ruler of Virgo and presiding deity of this New Moon, is in Leo, reminding you that you serve at the highest level when you’re following your heart’s passion, lit up with love and joy. Mercury recently came out of retrograde, and is approaching its third and final square to Uranus, inspiring exciting new ideas and the potential for surprising news or information.
The Virgin archetype, often associated with chastity, is actually about self-possession - “she who is whole unto herself” (Marion Woodman). Improving your health, purifying your space and cultivating self-possession will serve you well as the astro-intensity increases over the next few months.
This New Moon marks the beginning of Eclipse Season - a 6-week, high-pressure period of accelerated change, often correlating with dramatic world events. Now is the time to get your temple - body and environment - in order, so you can feel grounded, healthy, and know your power to create your best life, no matter what’s unfolding “out there.”
For more insight into what this new moon means for YOU, find the house in your birth chart that contains 11° Virgo.
The areas of life signified by that house are where there’s powerful energy for a rebirth, and where you’re invited to:
purge what is no longer nourishing and realign with your essence;
reclaim your sovereignty and strengthen your self-possession;
make a new beginning in health, healing and service;
simplify, get organized and increase your efficiency and productivity;
and release judgment and perfectionism and start where you are.
I go into all the Virgoan details about how to work with these kick-ass planetary energies in my one-hour New Moon transmission, available to paid subscribers on Substack. You can gain immediate access to the recording, and all future New & Full Moon recordings, by becoming a paid subscriber ($16/month or $155/year). Founding subscribers ($185/year) can also join me for a quarterly livestream, and receive my Pluto in Aquarius webinar as a gift!
