Now What?

My oh, my, oh my.   As my mom used to day, “what a difference a day can make.”  In this case, what a difference a month can make.  Certainly looking back over this past month of August.  Whew. That was a doozy!

I truly hope you and yours, all of my readers are faring well despite the drama and upheaval of the last few weeks.  The great news is that celestially, September is an infinitely calmer month.  That said, now the work begins in earnest, to do the real clean up wrought by August’s chaos.

In the United States, we now find ourselves in the aftermath of the most damaging hurricane on record. Hurricane Harvey occurred just days after the total solar eclipse and during Mercury Retrograde.  For nearly one week, this storm just sat over South Texas spinning and dumping rainwater, as if to say, “You won’t forget this one!”  It made landfall not just once but twice on the Texas coast.  Nothing will make you slow down like the record setting 40-50 inches of rain this area received. Wow.

Imagine complete disruption to approximately 12 million lives and the ripple effect that causes to the rest of the country and world.  A massive humanitarian effort is now underway and it is debatable how long it will take to bring order to this region.  All this on the heels of a horrific racial event in Charlottesville, Virginia.  In these days of complete polarization, nature has forced people to join together to help one another.  To cooperate.  To get along.  And there is nothing like an act of God to inspire people to reach across self-imposed (and illusory) barriers and join together.

As one woman recently observed, “I truly don’t understand America.  One week we have Nazis running people over in cars [August 12th] and the next we have people coming out of the woodwork with their boats to save lives of people and animals.  And I am sure some of those people will save the lives of people they once thought they hated and I am sure some who once hated will get saved by the people that they claim to hate.  It just goes to show you that hate is learned and can be unlearned.  Love your fellow human.  Get to know someone different than you.”’

It is a key message for the coming months.

With this natural disaster greatly in mind, we push forward with our lives.  September opens with three planets in Leo, two of which conjoin our directional point, the Lunar North Node, and all aligning to change agent Uranus in Aries.  A whole new order is at play here.  What is going on for you?  Uranus says change and change now.  No excuses.  The creative power of this alliance is hard to overstate.  Motivating Mars is sandwiched between the North Node and Messenger Mercury.  We are called to take a chance, throw caution to the wind, break out of what keeps us down and holds us back.

More vitally, we are being given key messages now, strong ones, heart-centered, soulful messages.  Please listen.  Messenger Mercury is at the August 21^st eclipse degree (SUPER STRONG!) as it stations, comes to a complete halt, before turning direct motion on September 5^th.  Pay attention now.  Stop and listen.  What are you hearing?  No really.  Through the frenzy of our lives, carefully tune in.    Mars hammers Mercury’s point home between September 1^st and 10^th.  That is a significant stretch of time.  What are you being told now?  Who and what information is trying to reach you, teach you?  We are never too old to learn anything!   What are you supposed to hear?  Listen to children (out of the mouths of babes pours forth the truth), the cashier at the checkout counter, your subordinate at work.  Often the most vital information arrives when we least expect it from the most surprising voices, from those we often do not pay heed to.

With all of this Leo energy, please watch for drama.  Don’t be afraid to roar yourself.  Let your self- expression fly. Just make sure you truly have something valuable to say.  Try not to take up prime air space.  The first ten days of September can also be very romantic and surprising on many fronts.  Remember, Uranus, the ultimate game changer, is at work here.  When Mercury turns direct motion on Tuesday, September 5^th at last month’s eclipse degree, life really kicks into overdrive.  School begins in earnest; big purchases are made, contracts signed, deals sealed.  Leo is courageous.  Be brave.  You are being called to step up and step out now.  Where and how?

Mercury’s push forward in all shades of flagrant Leo bravado occurs on the eve of the September 6^th Full Moon.   In marked contrast, another aspect of this picture is the gentle, highly sensitive pairing of watery Neptune and the nurturing Moon in mystical Pisces.  If we allow, this Full Moon is deeply cleansing and healing.  Listening to music, meditating, journaling, walking near water or being in water will work wonders on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 5^th and 6^th.   The Pisces Moon and Neptune pair are profoundly intuitive.  As part of this Full Moon picture, we truly have a key opportunity to receive messages, information for our highest and best purpose.

Be still for a moment and tune into yourself.  What are you feeling emotionally?  What are you being urged to release, cleanse, purge?  This Moon’s healing potential derives from its opposition to the Sun in health conscious Virgo.  Emphasizing this is Motivating Mars entrance into Virgo just hours before this Full Moon.  What needs to be healed in your life?

Mars spearheads the shift of planets from Leo to Virgo.  This will be of tremendous assistance in the massive clean up of South Texas.   We don our thinking caps on September 10^th when Mercury joins Mars and the Sun (our energy and will) in Virgo.  Great for planning, analytical detail, maximum efficiency, health efforts and plain old hard work, Virgo energy compels us to roll up our sleeves and get to it.  Virgo is a numbers gal.  The Information Queen.  She will have all of the statistics and data you could ever want.   She shows us where to target our efforts and how best to accomplish our goals.

The caution with three planets now in Virgo is overthinking.  Losing the forest for the trees.  Overthinking leads to worry and anxiety.  Remember, worrying is like praying for something you do not want to happen.  Messenger Mercury, Motivating Mars conjoined in perfectionist Virgo can easily lose sight of the big picture, the grand goal(s) Leo had in mind.  When trying to accomplish your vision, keep an image nearby, a written phrase in a spot you see every day.  Use mentally wound Virgo Mercury and Mars for positive mantras, to plan the actual steps to execute and accomplish your goal.

At mid-month, planet of love and money Venus conjoins the North Node in Leo aligning with Uranus in Aries.  This pairing underscores precisely the above.  Here we are pointed toward, called to a larger vision than ourselves (Venus/North Node in Leo) to change (Uranus in Aries) our lives for the better.  While Mercury, Mars and the Sun in Virgo efficiently find exactly how to accomplish that.

The Virgo New Moon on September 20^th invokes precision and commitment to healthier routines and habits, work-life balance, service devoted to others.   The very same day, Venus joins the New Moon in this quest with her entrance into Virgo.  Messenger Mercury’s direct opposition to mystical Neptune at the New Moon heightens our awareness of illusion vs. fact, what is real and what is not, hyperbole versus the real deal. The large emphasis on Virgo now begs a “just the facts ma’am” attitude.  We are urged to streamline our thoughts, forget any extraneous ideas, eliminate what does not serve, what muddles the work to be done.

The Sun enters Libra on Saturday, September 23^rd, urging peace, harmony, reaching out to our fellow man and woman, encouraging the pursuit of art, beauty and an orderly life.  Already in Libra, Jupiter now opposes Radical Uranus in fiery Aries during the last week of the month.  You will feel this aspect.  Uranus in Aries breaks down boundaries and pushes everyone and everything aside regardless of consequence.  Meanwhile, Generous Jupiter in Libra says not so fast.  There is an order to be considered, relationships to self and others to be honored.  These are both tricky and delicate days.  At such a time it is good to have three planets (Venus, Mars and Mercury) in Virgo to ground us, our words and actions, to think before we speak.

Titanic planets such as Jupiter and Uranus in opposition heighten our awareness.  Push forward as Uranus demands but always with a strong eye and mind not to throw the baby out with the bath water.   Libra’s dilemma is to decide.   It sees both sides of the fence so very clearly and often, causes us to sit on the fence not choosing one way or the other.   So when facing your decisions to be made, ask:  does this (fill in the blank…job, project, relationship, prospect…) bring peace?   Ask, what leads you to calm?

Peace be with you.