Have you also felt this collective disbelief that August is nearly over? It has exactly the same number of days as July, and yet everyone I talk to (including myself) has barely processed that we’re suddenly in Virgo season.
The current quality of time feels wrinkled, hilly and uneven. Despite the litany of collective conflicts and challenges, there have been collective wins but we are slow to celebrate. Perhaps after the last few years we are feeling a little jaded by the ups and downs, and that’s okay too. Being jaded is a part of the process of growth. We learn to accept the ineffectiveness of things we've outgrown, things that have rusted and blunted. I do hope you are offering yourself little celebrations with rest, sunshine, the smell of flowers, the taste of fresh fruit, and a new tool or two.
While Leo is a season of expansion, Virgo is a season of contraction. The quickness of this last month reminds us that our time really is precious and our energy is sacred. The Sun entered Virgo on Aug. 22, which signals the end of summer, coming down out of the treehouse and washing the sap from our fingers. It is bittersweet, if not softly tragic, to know that summer in all of her warmth and white hot glory is fading into the cooler mornings and earlier shadows.
There’s a richness to these last few weeks; a need to satiate our inner child before bedtime. We zealously lap up the end of summer as it drips down our proverbial hands, mouths ringed sticky and sweet. It plays a whimsical tune as it rolls away down the boardwalk, between brown legs and white hips and bare feet. We try to hold onto its possibility like the tide holds onto the sand. But with the “back-to-school” rush, the last firework pops, and a tearful promise that we’ll write until next year, we know that we’ll be leaving this moment.
We’ve had a huge week of transits. Mars entered Gemini on August 20th—where it will stay until March 25, 2023—bringing a wave of fresh expressive energy into the mix. The sun entered Virgo two days later. Uranus stationed retrograde on the 24th, and will be shaking things up until January 2023. And then on the 25th, Mercury entered Libra, which could help to soften some of the intense communication and relationship energy of this coming autumn.
Considering the New Moon in Virgo, exact at 1:16am PST tomorrow morning, we are passing “Go” with a whole lot on our plate. New moons are the launch of the lunation, the restart, the new beginning. It's time to embark on new projects, and if there’s anything left over from the last 28 days, to clear the decks and make room. It’s a time when we are emotionally raw, laid bare to our feelings. But a New Moon in Virgo goes one step further and seeks to detoxify and purify our emotional soup. It seeks organization and favors practicality. Journaling can be especially potent at this time as earth energy processes emotions through the tangible, the material.
Although there has been plenty of fear-mongering regarding the Mars in Gemini transit and Uranus stationing retrograde, personally I see an opportunity through this New Moon in Virgo to find one’s center of gravity and to use fear as a motivation to pause, inquire, and consider. The unknown is uncomfortable, but it is also what inspires our greatest experiments and fuels our discoveries. If you've been letting fear strong-arm you into subjugation, it's time to get curious about who's really in charge.
If you're a returning client, hit reply to this email and we can set up a single Counsel session to specifically discuss how to work with your fears.
We are likely to experience a significant shift in pace as Uranus Rx can make things feel like they’re slowing down externally, even if internally it feels like your heart's skipping beats. If you have been consciously attending to your growth this year, the Uranus transit can bring about the sudden and necessary shifts that launch you into the next evolution.
Use this lunation to filter what comes into your emotional world; what is the return on the energy you expend?
Venus is making some potentially challenging aspects on this day as well, square Uranus and opposite Saturn. We might encounter some instability in our relationships and with resources, fears around the loss of or changes to these relationships and resources. Plus, the Moon square Mars may generate emotional tension and indecisiveness. It will serve to practice patience and objectivity here, don’t beat yourself or others up for not meeting your expectations (especially if they weren’t clearly communicated). Being cautious doesn’t have to mean aloof, either. Allowing a pause to alchemize the moment can help you recognize where your own systems haven’t been operating smoothly and form a better strategy to move forward.
FOR THE BODY
Virgo rules the digestive tract, the small intestine, the colon, the pancreas, and rectum.
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Practice some seated twists to detoxify the intestines several times throughout the day. Facing front, deeply inhale; then twist to one side on the exhale. Inhale bringing length to the spine, exhale twist deeper. Repeat on the other side.
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Cook with dill, mint, and marjoram.
All excellent on white fish, eggplant, fennel or in Green Goddess dressing on asparagus or salad.
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Time to schedule any medical check-ups you've been putting off all year.
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Work with Moss Agate and Sunstone.
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Tune into your belly brain and reconnect with your gut. (Especially if you have a defined Sacral center!)
*I am not a doctor nor registered dietician. Please consult your PCP to make sure that any changes are correct for you and your body.
The Sun and Moon will be in Gate 59 tomorrow morning, the Gate of Sexuality. This gate is also known as the “aura breaker” insomuch as it dissolves the barriers to intimacy. As we come into a season of contraction, to face yet unknown shifts and challenges with curiosity, we are given the gift of melding intimately. What can be born out of the union of yourself with your fear, of yourself with the new people and new opportunities coming into your life? Remember that Virgo loves to purify and to plan, but releasing expectations of perfection opens you to the possibility of success in unimaginable ways.
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As always First name / my dear friend, I hope that this resonated with you. I'm OOO this week, but happy to answer any questions via email or DM (@honoredbody) after the 15th. If you want to share the Moonsletter with others, feel free to pass it along! And if you're reading this and you haven't signed up,join here!
