Tonight we welcome the New Moon in Virgo, a time when the Moon is dark in the sky. Seeds are planted now we cannot see. Something new is coming forward but we can’t make it out yet.
It’s a quiet time after the excitement of the last weeks, with their unusual transits and startling world events. We have a chance to pause, take stock, and prepare for what’s ahead.
The Sun and Moon at 11º04’ Virgo are quiet, responsible, humble and also skillful, adept, observant, and clever.
This is the second decan of Virgo, associated with one of my favorite cards in the Rider Waite Smith tarot, the 9 of Pentacles.
The card shows a woman, clearly prosperous, standing in a walled garden of vibrant green vines covered with ripening grapes. She holds a hooded falcon on her wrist, facing forward as if welcoming us into her abundant, protected space.
This card signifies the prosperity and security we see in the image. There’s a sense of achievement, of satisfaction.
The themes for this second decan of Virgo include enclosure, encasement, and creating a safe space.
Yet the feeling is not one of stasis but rather readiness. Yes, the lady seems to have all she needs. But she is facing the world, not hiding from it. There is more to come.
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Mercury in late Leo rules this New Moon. This Mercury has turned direct after the retrograde in Leo and Virgo, but still moves slowly.
We’re not yet done with the retrograde process. Mercury at 23º16’ Leo is moving forward over the same degrees they visited while retrograde. Mercury won’t leave this territory until September 11.
This is the final review, the concluding days of a retrograde when we take stock of where we’ve been, what’s come up for us during Mercury’s back and forth, and what we’ve learned.
We can think of any retrograde as an enclosed space. Mercury, in this case, has been traveling back and forth between 21º24’ Leo and 04º06’ Virgo since July 16. Our attention has been focused on this small span of the zodiac.
Yet, just like the lady in the garden, we’re not meant to get stuck here. Instead, the enclosure of the retrograde invites attention, reflection, and learning. Our understanding has (hopefully) been refined.
At this New Moon, we are meant to pay attention to details.
Two events during the New Moon phase intensify our focus.
First, about three hours before the New Moon is exact, a retrograde Pluto reenters Capricorn for the last time for the next 200 years. This is our final review of Pluto’s travels through Capricorn since 2007. It’s also the final footnote of the Pluto return of the United States.
Pluto moves so slowly and retrogrades so often that part of Pluto’s pattern is to revisit and push us to reflect. Which fits the Plutonian focus on depth and a very long timeframe.
This particular Pluto retrograde will have the most impact on those with planets and points in the late degrees of the cardinal signs, Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. Pluto will conjunct, oppose, or square these positions. Pluto stations direct October 11.
Second, Mercury squares Uranus on September 7. This is an intense square because, as I mentioned, Mercury is moving slowly, having just stationed direct and also Uranus stationed direct September 1 and is barely moving at all yet.
This push from Uranus to Mercury is another signal we’re in a dynamic, change-filled time, not a static one. This is the third and final Mercury–Uranus square this year, and the most intense.
In such times, it might be tempting to lock the gates and stay in the walled garden, but the world will not allow this.
We are, at this New Moon, entering the fall eclipse season. The Full Moon in this lunar cycle is a partial lunar eclipse at 25º47’ Pisces. The next New Moon will also be an eclipse, an annular Solar Eclipse on October 2 at 10º02’ Libra.
This Virgo New Moon reminds us to appreciate what we have, notice the skills, capacities, and resources we’ve acquired, and prepare to face into the changes to come.
Mars and Neptune also have an interesting role in this Virgo New Moon. Mars in Gemini, planet of action, squares Neptune in Pisces, bringer of mists, mysteries, and confusion.
Mars creates an impulse to act, or at least, in Gemini, to talk, say things, make pronouncements. The square to Neptune offers a variety of potentials, including a lack of clarity, a false sense that we know exactly what’s going on, and a tendency to believe sketchy sources and bad information.
Neptune may also challenge Mars by asking whether we really know what we think we know. What are our perceptions based on? What other creative possibilities are out there? Do we really know where we stand?
Again, we’re brought back to this idea of noticing. These days around the New Moon may not be the best for Mars-led decision making, action, or, you know, shooting out mouths off.
Our role at this New Moon is to pay attention to details, study what is before us, and seek to understand where we’ve been and where we are now.
Mars and Neptune will both be important in the Pisces Full Moon eclipse, which is conjunct Neptune, with Mars squaring the Nodes. There’s time to sort out what we know and don’t know, and decide how to act.
The endpoint will not be resting on our laurels, but rather preparing for the time to come, when anything and everything may change.
We enter this New Moon focused on what we have, so we can leave the walled garden, release the falcon, and engage with the world and the change it brings.
