Happy New Moon in Virgo! This New Moon at approximately 4 degrees of Virgo becomes exact at 4:16 AM New York time (08:16 GMT) on Saturday, August 27. This New Moon in the detailed and picky mutable earth sign of Virgo forms an abrasive, nearly-exact square to fiery Mars in Gemini.
Virgo is an earth sign that is represented by The Maiden. It is associated with Persephone in Greek mythology. Virgo is very much associated with the wheat crop, as the ancients thought that Virgo—the second-largest constellation in the sky—appeared to be a woman with wings carrying a sheaf of wheat.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the final third of summer (Virgo season) has historically been the time when the most crops are reaped. In order to reap crops, it requires discipline, planning, and pragmatism. These are three qualities that the sign of Virgo models for the rest of the Zodiac.
Virgo means virgin in Latin. The sign of Virgo is also associated with purity and self-sufficiency. The Virgo glyph is an 'M' with a tail that turns inward, representative of Virgo's ability to introspect and discern. It also may represent sexual shyness, as Scorpio, the most outwardly sexual of signs, has a glyph that is an 'M' with a tail that is an outward-pointing arrow, representing a phallus.
Virgo is a mutable sign in Western astrology, because it comes at the end of a season. In many parts of the Northern United States, Canada, and Europe, the deciduous leaves change colors (or at least start to) during Virgo season.
Virgo is the ruler of the 6th House—the House of Health. This house is the realm of health, daily routines, and repetitive tasks (including those that are involved in work/career).
Being a New Moon, it is the best time during the lunar cycle to start new projects. Any projects that you start in the wake of this particular New Moon should have a lot of good energy behind it to succeed in the long term, as long as you stay committed and disciplined and plan things wisely.
The most significant aspect in this New Moon chart is that Mars in Gemini squares the sun and moon nearly exactly. With the sun and moon making this nearly-exact square to Mars, there is an increased threat of war and violence, especially with Jupiter still (Retrograde) in Aries, and the energy from the Mars-Saturn square on the most recent Full Moon still being in play. We also have a newly-Retrograde Uranus squaring Saturn, which adds to this powder keg effect (more on Uranus and Saturn later).
The Russia-Ukraine war has reached a tragic milestone: six months of fighting. With this potentially violent Mars square going on, it is certainly a powder keg situation for things to get potentially worse in Eastern Europe. It’s a very sad situation—for both Ukrainians and Russians—and the world, I wish the war would end and a peaceful treaty can be reached.
It is also a dangerous time for violence of all kinds to take place in the streets. It’s really important to steer clear of angry people around this New Moon and during the 28 days that follow. Angry people could very easily turn erratic and violent. Now is a time to retreat from confrontation and de-escalate (unless of course you need to defend yourself for your safety).
With Mars being in Gemini, people will naturally want to get into intellectual debates. Intellectual debates are great (I love them), but during this time it is wise to avoid them, as arguments will be found way too easily. With Mercury entering its Shadow Phase (more on that later), miscommunications could very easily create arguments. It is best to be very clear in your communication during this time, and to be nonconfrontational when possible.
People will tend to be more gossipy with Mars in Gemini and Mercury being in its Shadow Phase. It is best to avoid gossip, as it generally carries a low-vibrational energy and doesn’t really do anyone any good.
Mars does make some positive aspects in this New Moon chart that are worth discussing. It forms a harmonious trine to Mercury in harmony-seeking Libra—meaning that there is a good opportunity for resolution and progress through peaceful discussion. This can apply to the world-at-large, but also to social situations. The key to activating this aspect in social situations is to be a good listener like Libra, who weighs the scales only after listening to both sides.
The best interviewers out there are the ones who you can tell listen very well. They are present in the conversation and thus they ask compelling follow-up questions that make for a really interesting interview. A poor interviewer will usually be nervous, stuck in their head and ask only the pre-written questions, as they are not really listening to what the interviewee is saying.
Being present in our interactions with others enhances our quality of life immensely. Conversations become much more enjoyable when you listen better. And by listening better to someone else's stories and experiences, it is more likely that they will reciprocate to you by listening to your own stories and experiences. Being heard opens the heart and makes us want to make space to hear someone else.
Another great tactic is taking a pause before you respond to anything anyone says. It is never wise to respond to anything someone says with anger, as anger only will make a communication issue worse or cause further problems. Making it a habit to pause before responding gives you a buffer that ensures you won't say something you later regret.
Even when you're not feeling triggered, taking a pause before responding allows you another moment to collect your thoughts and to make an even more effective statement. Those with high levels of charisma generally pause before speaking or responding.
With Mercury trining Pluto, it is quite possible that deep, transformational positive change can be made in healing family relationships, especially—as long as people are able to stay away from the explosive Mars energy.
Mars also sextiles Jupiter in Mars-ruled Aries. This means that there is the opportunity present for tremendous growth to occur in any projects you are undertaking when you activate the Aries aspect of life, by taking the lead and being aggressive. Since Mars is in Gemini, this especially applies to any undertakings that involve speaking, writing, or organizing people.
Virgo is a wonderful sign that helps us to get in touch with the logical, the practical, and the everyday things that really take up the majority of our lives on earth. Let’s discuss how we can best utilize the Virgo energies to improve our daily lives.
USING THE LEFT BRAIN: DISCIPLINE, LOGIC & PLANNING
Virgo the Maiden can seem cold, but she is simply focused. She is a model of discipline, pragmatism, and logical planning—all tenets of the left (logical) brain, or the yang energy. Applying this Divine Masculine aspect to our lives can help us to experience greater success in life. With Mars--the planet of action—in Gemini, which like Virgo is ruled by Mercury—the planet of communication--this is the perfect time to reacquaint yourself with these Divine Masculine virtues.
Two of the best traits of Virgo are being organized and detailed. Having things in order improves efficiency in all areas of life, and helps you to avoid unnecessary hang-ups that are due to being disorganized.
I'm a Lunar Virgo and I tend to be pretty organized when it comes to keeping track of numbers and records. When I was a kid, I ran a backyard baseball league and obsessively kept stats (I was batting champion one year). I really, really love statistics, whether it's about baseball or finances or whatever. One thing that isn't an inherent strength for me, though, is organizing possessions.
I'm committing to doing some cleaning and organizing of my physical environment during the remainder of this Virgo season. What are you committing to organizing or cleaning during this Virgo season?
As a Lunar Virgo, I have a discerning, skeptical and logical mind. It's seemingly an odd trait to have for an intuitive, but I find that the skepticism and discernment helps me to more often than not separate true intuition/psychic receivings from illusion of my mind.
Logic and pragmatism are important virtues on the spiritual journey. Science says that adults make approximately 35,000 decisions every single day. Most of these decisions are relatively inconsequential--and most of these decisions are made with the left-brain/logical mind (e.g. following directions to cook something, how to drive to your destination, following protocols in your work).
I believe that we should strive to establish a healthy balance between the left brain/logical side (yang) and the right brain/intuitive side (yin) in order to be the most effective humans. Learning to plan effectively and to follow through with plans and protocols helps to 'water' the left brain side. My Awakening the Divine Masculine Mastery Empowerment Course dives deep into this topic and gives you practical exercises to improve in these endeavors.
Here are some general tips for improving your use of discipline, logic and pragmatism:
Write down daily and weekly goals. Set intentions soon after every New Moon for the next 28 days. Put these goals in a journal or somewhere where you can see them daily [e.g. a wall in your office or the refrigerator (after you remove any inessential postings on your refrigerator, of course)].
Keep a list of daily rituals on a clipboard or a whiteboard and check off each completed ritual as you do them. The key is to not overload yourself. Stick with 5-8 daily rituals at most. If you have too many on your list, you’ll actually be more likely to feel overwhelmed/overburdened and do less than if your list is smaller!
Schedule a weekly or bi-weekly cleaning and organizing time
Schedule daily, weekly or monthly rituals (e.g. meditation time, cleaning the house or backing up your files) in your smartphone or Google Calendar, if you use one
Keep a journal on your bedstand and commit to spending 5-10 minutes each night writing down some thoughts on your day and some thoughts/ideas for the days ahead
IMPROVING INNER DIALOGUE
As I have said, Virgo is concerned with communication, as it is ruled by Mercury. Thus far we have discussed the theme of communication with others, but what about dialogue with yourself?
One of the most difficult aspects of the Awakening journey is the challenge of mastering your mental body. In order to master this lesson of the mind, it requires a great amount of discipline and practice. Someone with little control over their mind will be able to progress spiritually in many ways, but will simply not be as happy or content as someone who has really learned to master their mind.
When it comes to this topic, one of the most important things to understand is that thinking is not always the same mechanism. Sometimes you are actively thinking thoughts--for example while you are logically trying to solve a problem; while other times thoughts are actually thinking you. The reason for this is something called T-Fields.
T-Fields are clouds of energy that are located within your energy field and in spaces in homes and businesses, or wherever people congregate. T-fields can be passed from person to person kind of like a virus. This is why if you have dinner with some pretty negative people, for example, you're probably going to start thinking negatively yourself. And if you have dinner with some really positive, upbeat people, your thoughts are going to become more positive!
This is why your living environment really matters. If you live with negative people, you are going to be more likely to be haunted by negative thoughts because of the T-fields. If you live in a building with a lot of dark energy, you likewise are going to be subject to more negative thoughts if you haven't sufficiently cleansed your living space spiritually.
So whether you know it or not, most of the time thoughts are actually thinking you, and not the other way around. The more that you cleanse your energy field and your space and do your spiritual work, you are able to let go of the subconscious patterns that were unconsciously imprinted on you by your parents or caregivers when you were between the ages of zero and seven.
As you shift these subconscious patterns into more supportive subconscious patterns, naturally the resonant T-fields in your aura will shift to more positive T-fields. If you are then able to surround yourself with positive people more of the time, you will find your thoughts permanently shifting for the better.
The other thing that is really important to remember when it comes to improving your inner dialogue is the breath. People who breathe shallowly most of the time tend to not have the most supportive inner dialogues--as when the breathing is shallow, the nervous system is stressed. A stressed nervous system will generally produce stressed thoughts.
When you remember to breathe deeply as you are going about your day, you are likely to experience a levity in your thoughts. This is why, as I said, I recommend a daily deep breathing practice for most everyone.
Here's a good 3-step process for getting yourself out of a spiral of negative thinking:
1) Take 3 deep breaths into the abdomen, extending the length of the exhale with each successive breath
2) Ask yourself this question: What can I be grateful for, right now? Find anything to be grateful for—anything! Speak what you are grateful for out loud, ideally. The words that you speak out loud carry much more power and weight than the words in your head.
3) Force yourself to smile for 10 seconds or longer!
An extremely effective way to improve your inner dialogue, especially for the long term, is to use affirmations. As our subconscious mind makes up 95% of our thinking, the way to truly make a difference in our inner dialogue is to make a change in the subconscious mind. This can be achieved through hypnosis, subliminals and affirmations.
The subconscious mind is like a hardened rock that is difficult to change. But by chipping away at the subconscious with new, higher-vibrational statements repeatedly, the subconscious then begins to gradually shift. This is the idea of affirmations: what we repeatedly say eventually becomes our reality.
A great exercise for this Virgo New Moon is to make a list of 10 affirmations and repeat them 10x each morning and night in the mirror! I'm committing to doing that for the next 28 days, who's with me?! ‘
Go ahead and take a moment to write down 10 affirmations that you are going to do daily!
DAILY RITUALS TO IMPROVE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH
The pragmatism and ritualism of Virgo also assists us in improving our physical and mental health and vitality. Use the remainder of this Virgo season to implement new strategies to enhance your physical robustness and mental well-being. Start taking some new supplements (or start taking ones again that you maybe had taken in the past), and recommit to daily meditation and exercise.
Take a moment and write down at least 3-5 new rituals (this could include a new diet and/or supplement regimen) that you will be implementing this Virgo season.
If you'd like assistance in maximizing your physical health and vitality, whether you are in great health already or struggling with chronic health conditions, then please consider booking a Medical Intuitive Reading with me.
URANUS RETROGRADE & SQUARE WITH SATURN/FIVE (AND SOON SIX) PLANETS RETROGRADE!
Uranus--the planet of rebellion, innovation and all things unexpected--is currently exalted, as it just left its Station Phase and went Retrograde (the Retrograde began on August 24). During a Uranus Retrograde—which as outer planets do, tends to affect the collective more than individuals—the focus moves from achieving freedom, independence and innovation in the outer world to achieving said virtues in the inner world.
Over the next five months, we will be doing some deep soul-searching—and when we come out on the other side and Uranus goes back Direct in January, we will be ready to take great leaps forward.
With Uranus going Retrograde, it is tracking back toward a closer square with the Retrograde Saturn. Right now the orb is just over two degrees apart, but between September 23 and October 23, these two outer planets will be within one degree of a square aspect with one another.
Saturn and Uranus have been squaring one another throughout the pandemic. Uranus is the energy of change and revolution (as it rules Aquarius)—while Saturn is the planet of restriction and legacy structures (as it rules Capricorn). When the two meet in a contentious square, it creates an energy in the template for social revolution and progressive ideals to face off against restrictions and structure.
It will be interesting to see what the next few months will bring with this square once again becoming more active; it’s possible that with Uranus moving backward, it will reignite old flames of social revolution in certain parts of the world.
Right now, all five outer planets from Jupiter onward are Retrograde. It can seem like life is actually moving slowly now; it can seem like events and sagas going on in the outside world are stuck in the mud.
A sixth planet is going Retrograde soon! Mercury—the ruler of Virgo—enters its Pre-Shadow Phase around the time of this New Moon. It will appear to slow down in the sky as it approaches its Direct Station on September 9.
As we approach that date, Mercury’s influence will grow by the day; during those days, it’s best to follow the ‘Mercury Retrograde rules’ and be extra careful about your communication, backing up your files, and being careful about making long-term contracts or commitments, among other things. I’ll have a lot on the upcoming Mercury Retrograde in Libra and Virgo on the upcoming Full Moon in Pisces (on September 10).
A ROCKY TIME FOR ROMANTIC PARTNERSHIPS
Speaking of Uranus, it squares Venus (as does the North Node, which is just two degrees away from Uranus). These squares to Venus—the planet of love and romance—in fiercely-individualistic Leo may create challenges for romantic partnerships. Partners may question whether they are truly on the right path with one another—do they have shared values, goals and aspirations?
With Venus opposing the Retrograde Saturn in Aquarius, partners may be questioning whether they can sustain for the long-run. Relationships may be feeling unstable, if a solid, sustainable long-term structure that works for both parties hasn’t been previously established and maintained. If one partner feels restricted by the other (or if both partners feel restricted by one another or their living situation), this could cause conflict and quarrels.
Partners may act impulsively during this time, if they are not careful. Arguments may come more easily than usual, with the Mars square with the sun and moon. If partners are able to be mature and put aside their egos, relationships will do OK; however some relationships may fall victim to egoism during this time.
Strong relationships built on a strong foundation will be able to survive the astrological rockiness of the next six weeks (with the Mercury Retrograde on its way). Ideally, couples will learn to communicate with one another more maturely and productively during this time. But for some couples, the rocky astrology will amplify pre-existing poor communication, feelings of restriction, and lack of shared goals/values—and for some couples, could lead to a break or even a breakup.
Wishing you a happy, healthy and productive New Moon in Virgo!
With Love,
Matthew John
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