Dedication and Bravery: the New Moon in Virgo, September 17, 2020

Tension and uncertainty continue unabated as we make our way toward a Virgo New Moon on September 17th at 4:00 am on the west coast, followed by the September Equinox a few days later.

This New Moon is preceded a day earlier by a phenomenon called a “moon wobble.” It’s when the Sun, which will be at 24 degrees of Virgo, forms a 90 degree square aspect to the Moon’s nodal axis, the invisible points at which the Moon’s orbit crosses the ecliptic, the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. A square is an aspect of dynamic tension. Just as extreme events in the world often correlate with eclipses (which happen when New Moons or Full Moons occur close to the degrees of the nodal axis), so, too are the time frames between the eclipses when the Sun and Moon form a square to these nodes.

We need not be afraid of these phenomena, but we can be aware that extreme events may occur.

Between May of 2020 and January of 2022, the lunar nodes are in the mutable/changeable signs of Gemini/Sagittarius. These lunar nodes change signs about every 18 months. They symbolize key quandaries for humanity. Gemini is about curiosity, information and storytelling. Sagittarius, its opposite sign, is about faith, the quest for truth and meaning, and, in its darker forms, dogmatism. We are in a cycle of information overload, with many people unable or willing to separate fact from fiction.

This is the backdrop against which the September 17 New Moon in humble, nose-to-the grindstone Virgo, asks us to consider planting intentions with earthy Virgoan themes of attention to detail, health, wellness, and service to others. The New Moon at 25 degrees of Virgo will make a harmonious, facilitative trine aspect to the cluster of planets in Capricorn all this year: Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn. When planets are in trine to each other, they are in the same element. It’s as if they are having an easy conversation. Virgo Sun and Moon in an exact trine with Saturn in Capricorn speak to our ability to dedicate ourselves and to act responsibly to make something concrete and real.

Yet, we need to do so with caution.

Mars, the go-go-go planetary force of what we want and what we want to do, is in its fiery home sign of Aries from late June all the way into January 2021. Mars is in its retrograde period, from September 9 until November 13, 2020. When something normally fast-moving is slowed down, it can yield frustration and even aggression. This Mars in Aries is, over the next couple of months, making square aspects to the long-running Saturn/Pluto conjunction. It may feel like fire is being thrown at systems already under stress and de-construction. On our west coast, the fire is literal.

Saturn correlates with fear, Mars with impatience, anger and rage. What a combination. They are in a square, which is like driving each other crazy.

But Mars in Aries also represents courage. And that’s not just the courage to do and to act, but also the courage to just be with these difficult times.

For us as individuals, Mars retrograde in Aries is an opportunity to slow down and monitor one’s reactions, contemplating how to channel anger into something useful, or, at least, not to let it explode. That’s what conscious beings aim to do at times like these.

On September 22, the Sun will move to 0 degrees of the balanced air sign of Libra. This is the Autumn Equinox (in the northern hemisphere) when the length of day is equal to the length of night. Whew! A bit of balance. The bright side of airy Libra is that it’s a bit detached and seeks harmony with others.

Mercury, too, at this time, is in the sign of Libra, inviting us to re-balance how we think and communicate. But Mercury in peace-seeking Libra is opposing the god of War, Mars in Aries. We have to be ultra-careful about the stories we tell and the actions we take. Mercury in Libra opposite Mars in Aries form a T-square with the Capricorn planets. This heightens the tension for everyone.

To boot, at the Equinox, the Moon in Sagittarius forms an awkward quincunx aspect (150 degrees apart) with the outer planet Uranus in Taurus, underscoring discomfort and uncertainty.

By September 27, Mercury will move into Scorpio. As if we haven’t had enough, we can expect that collective information and story-telling will include revelations of yet more secret and murky stuff. Then Mercury, the Messenger—which governs, among many things, the sending of mail—will slow down and move into its retrograde period on October 15, shortly before the U.S. election.

Just about everything going on in the sky currently speaks to tightness, aggression, the dissolution of old structures and ways of being. While many of our fellow humans are drowning in lurid fantasies, how many more of us are poised to help birth new stories that point us toward the arc of justice?

Mars in Aries, now and continuing into January, is the conjurer of Courage, which we need now more than ever now. May we be brave.

Blessings for the New Moon!

~ Sara

P.S. I’m always available for astrological consultations about your natal chart and current and upcoming transits.

Sara Diamond

Sara R. Diamond, an astrologer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is a life-long student and practitioner in several esoteric paths. Her style of astrology combines modern-psychological astrology with insights from traditional astrology. Sara is also an estate planning attorney. In addition, she has published four books on right-wing movements in the United States and earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. You are invited to contact Sara via her website at www.SaraDiamondAstrology.com.