What a time we have had.  WHEW!  A most challenging summer.  One for the record books really.  Usually summer is a treasured time of vacations and being outside enjoying nature and warmer temperatures.  But for many, this summer felt like a grueling marathon.  Even if you didn’t experience a crisis or significant stress, you may have felt just “off”, mired in the sluggish and difficult mucky energy, spinning your wheels.  For most of us, “normal” has been redefined. 

For those of us who used our time well over the summer, we reflected on our journey:  how far we’ve come and mapped out where we want to go next and how to get there.  You can just about hear the voice from the film “Field of Dreams” echoing Go the distance….   However, during these past two months many of us were completely knocked off the path they traveled; for some, it is the only path they’ve ever known.  This is known as a course correction. 

No matter what your experience, this summer has indelibly shown us who we are.  What is real and what is illusion, what works and what is broken, what our reality is in stark black and white terms.  Our time has marked each of us like a stamp.  September, then, is a most welcome reprieve of back to routine and regularity.  Back to school and work; yes, a new grade or perhaps a new job to carry on with. 

This September more than most others is for releasing all that pent up energy built over the summer.  Now is the time to move on all those dreams you harbor.  Helpfully underscoring the start of the new month is a grand earth trine – an immensely supportive alliance between the Sun (our will), Saturn (the taskmaster) and Uranus (the change agent).  This troika enables us to find the right resources and people while maximizing our time very efficiently.  In equal measure, Generous Jupiter continues to align with Soulful Neptune, bolstering our faith in our plans and ourselves.
Coming up for air out of the stagnant summer energy, the time to act is now.  The next 35 days are ripe to give life to any dreams, ideas and plans you’ve been holding on to dear life waiting to breathe life into them. Go, go, go.

Just days after the Labor Day holiday, life really shifts into high gear as Messenger Mercury enters its own sign of Virgo on the 6th, streamlining our thoughts and enhancing our efforts; while on the same day, Taskmaster Saturn turns direct motion.  BOOM!  You can fairly hear the cosmic choirs chant: activate, activate, activate!  Overnight, your to do list and time management seem to flow so much more smoothly.
What happened?
Within two weeks’ time, three of the six planets retrograde during August have now pushed forward, direct again.   The power of this gear shift cannot be emphasized enough.  Yes, of course, we still have our struggles, large and small; but the sheer battle of getting things done, signed, checked off and accomplished is greatly reduced now.
The New Moon on September 9this especially helpful.  It is a manifestation New Moon if ever there were one!  Hand write your goals and wishes for the coming harvest season.  What do you hope to reap now?  What do you want to create?  Beneficent Venus enters transforming Scorpio on the same day, encouraging our desires; while Generous Jupiter aligns perfectly with Powerful Pluto, the Sun and Moon, our will and emotions, turning our dreams into reality.  Pay no attention to those Naysayers!  Keep plugging away.  This cosmic combo says you will get there for sure.
Two days later, on the 11th, Mars re-enters Aquarius.  Back in June, Mars turned retrograde and reversed into Capricorn.  Direct once more, Mars pushes into the avant garde Aquarius again and joins the Lunar South Node, a point of release.  This duo emphasizes purging.  What do you need to let go of now?  The Mars/South Node duo square off with Radical Uranus, Scorpio Venus and the Leo North node.  This giant stubborn celestial square pushes our buttons big time.  We need to dig remarkably deep the second week of September. 

Any long-festering issues are forced on to the table, out in the open, now.  These may be on the family/home front, work arena, with our health and wellness…wherever you are struggling.  We are pushed to make radical (and necessary) changes and/or activate long-harbored desires no matter how difficult the obstacles before us.  These may present as overcoming inner/internal beliefs instilled in us or external hurdles to leap across.  For example, a woman who dreams of starting her own business but must tune out naysayers squashing her ideas and/or overcoming fears of taking out a bank loan to get the business off the ground.
Hold tight to your dreams and desires and just do it.

Because fortunately, we continue to have a plethora of cosmic support as we confront obstacles. Eight, yes 8, out of ten planets are getting along famously at mid-month.  Use their harmony to your advantage.   Pluto aligns with the Sun and Messenger Mercury, Jupiter syncs with Neptune, and cooperating Venus-Saturn-Uranus tell us Carpe Diem:  Seize the day!   
Try not to sweat the small stuff or refuse to walk across the bridge these planets offer by clinging to stubborn ways.  Best not to give in to the negative Nancys in your life and stagnate, fill with resentment; instead, when you hear the word NO, take a breath, step back, re-group then figure out your next moves to create a new, manageable situation.  Excellent problem solving possibilities abound now.  The point is:  keep going.  Move forward.  Do not take no for an answer.  Remember:  FEAR stand for False Evidence Appearing Real.  Don’t fall for that illusory trap.
All the while, Messenger Mercury is tightly conjoined to the Sun which enters Lovely Libra on September 23rd.  Aligning with Mars and the South Node in Aquarius, this pair helps us find inventive strategies to chart our future:  how to prioritize, what to keep and what to pitch.  Most critically, how to establish balance and order in our lives so we can honor our journey, selves and those relationships we treasure most.
This energy is in place for the Full Moon the very next day, September 24th.  Under its spotlight, the Libra Sun-Mercury oppose the Moon, Hygeia (health and wellness) and Chiron (healing) in fiery Aries.  Brand new opportunities for healing, health and well-being are ripe.  Tied fortuitously to the Leo North Node, creative solutions surround us if we keep our minds and hearts open.  Take the blinders off and try alternative approaches.  Experiment.  That radical/crazy idea your mom/wife/child…or you, have may hold more than a kernel of truth.  It may be the key to all your answers.  Instead of dismissing and doubting, try it out. 
Especially if you keep getting the same message repeatedly.  Once is notable; twice is intended for you; three or more times:  you are being shown the way.  Backed into a corner?  Give that crazy idea a whirl.  Take it for a test drive.   Necessity is most often the mother of invention.  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.  The Universe says so.