September is a month when we look to get back on the track and focus on our everyday life experiences. This September seems paradoxical in the sense that we can be very productive and successful in dealing with our responsibilities and yet we may also be feeling a level of discontent whereby what we are doing is not necessarily what we would like to do.
While summer is usually a time for us to relax, re-create and regroup, this passing summer seems to have been more a time of heightened anxiety, extreme whipsaws and tendencies towards overload and overwhelm. With everything that was going on this summer, we might not have had the chance to catch our breath, much less to restore our spirit and invigorate our soul.
If we look back on August, we can see various world episodes that could have proven traumatizing — the riots in the UK, the debt ceiling issue in the US with the liability to default, the continued economic concerns in the Eurozone and the US with fears again expressed of a double dip recession, the wild swings in the equity markets and the rush to gold as some form of safe haven from the daily crises of national economies and the world economy. And some people could add on earthquake activity and devastating storm systems. All that went on during this August period not to mention some of our own personal affairs and our emotional whipsaws.
We might feel that September allows us to find refuge in the familiar and accepted patterns of habit. And during early September we could convince ourselves that we are back in the driver’s seat, able to circumnavigate the issues that present themselves and successful in moving our projects forward. In early September we may feel at the top of our game and able to accomplish more now than many other times when we were merely bumping along.
The beginning of September is under the influence of the Virgo New Moon back on August 28th, a New Moon that created a Grand Trine in the Earth Element with the Virgo Moon trine Pluto in Capricorn and trine Jupiter in Taurus. We have come off of August’s Mercury retrograde and even though the early part of September has us in the ‘shadow’ of the Mercury retrograde, we are likely to be confident, optimistic and enthusiastic about our possibilities.
What we do need to keep in mind is that the playing field has shifted and will continue to change. And part of the essential change in our game play is to avoid our belief in our total control over circumstances and conditions. Any assumption that we are masters of our world will be shown the lie. Increasingly, we have to accept our role as co-creators of our destiny, working with the energies unfolding, the unexpected events and situations that demand or even force us to be flexible and adaptable to the shifting sands of these times.
While we could easily fancy ourselves as being up for the challenges and capable of bending things to our will, any lack of humility is likely to trigger one of those universal lateral lobotomies, those whacks on the side of the head that give us a heads-up that we might be legends in our own mind but such a disposition being ineffectual in true reality.
A sense of confidence to the degree of over-optimism could be strong at the beginning of the month due to the Sun trine Jupiter and the influence of last month’s Virgo New Moon. We might gloss over specifics. We may go on a spending binge, all with the justification of what we consider to be essential personal makeovers — with expenditures to our wardrobe, our environment and our equipment. Budgets may go out the window as we consider our purchases necessary to deal with the immediate conditions and our future plans.
On the 8th, Mercury opposes Neptune just before Mercury re-enters its own Sign of Virgo on the 9th. With a crescendo of ego assertiveness and ego gratification, our ideas and our future goals may be based more on a best case scenario than a practical trajectory of what could be pragmatic and realistic. We might prove susceptible to our own good fortune, embracing the idea that nothing can go wrong and everything will go right just as long as we are in control. Such lack of humility could be a stumbling block and entice us in buying into illusions and fanciful beliefs, even beliefs of our invincibility and omnipotence. We have to be wary not to over-commit or negate constant checks and evaluations
Mercury moves back into its own Sign of Virgo on the 9th, creating a Stellium of three or more planets in the Mutable Earth Sign as Mercury joins Venus and the Sun in Virgo. We can be focused on the details, the specifics and the particulars. Our analytical ability may be razor sharp but our attitude could also tend towards the hypercritical. With the idea that a strong offense is a good defense, we could nitpick other people’s frailties and flaws in an attempt to mask our own personal insecurities. The Stellium is brief, however, for Venus exits Virgo on the 14th to enter its own Sign of Libra.
Before Venus leaves Virgo, the 11th has Venus sextile Mars, a pleasant Sunday afternoon before the Pisces Full Moon on the 12th, also a day when Mercury trines Pluto. We bring closure to the fortnight but the influence of the Earth Grand Trine lingers on. We are able to focus on the truly meaningful, reinforce the purpose of our lives and make the necessary changes that will lead us closer to the realization of our dreams.
The one caveat for this mid-September period is not to buy into our expectations. Especially during this period of paradigm shift when things can change rapidly and dramatically without a moment’s notice, it is far better to let go of our expectations, take off the blinders of the way we want things to be, and be open to the magic and the miracles of the universe. There is a saying that the universal forces have far greater plans for us than we could ever imagine for ourselves. We just have to let go and allow the unfoldings to occur.
We are on the threshold of an epochal paradigm shift, whereby what has been will never be and what will be has never been.
Exciting times are afoot if we can embrace the limitless possibilities, refrain from grieving the losses and eliminations necessary to clear the decks and to make way for the new, and accept in all humility the gifts from the universe!
Our mind will be sharp, our thoughts relatively upbeat, for the Full Moon on the 12th is reminiscent of the New Moon at the end of August. There is a Grand Trine in Earth. The August New Moon had the Moon in Virgo trine Jupiter in Taurus and trine Pluto in Capricorn. The Pisces Full Moon on the 12th has Mercury in its own Sign of Virgo trine Pluto in Capricorn, followed on the 14th by the Virgo Mercury trine Jupiter in Taurus. Our analytical skills are likely to be exceptionally sharp. We are able to focus on the fundamental issues and we can feel upbeat about our intended journey, even if we have to accept that the itinerary may not be clearly indicated from the outset.
Whenever we make dramatic changes, we are also asked to look in the mirror, take an inventory of who we are, what we have and what we are doing. We may find that we have to let go of certain items, situations, people, in order to move into the next phase of our life experiences.
Out with the old before we can engage the new.
The 16th through the 18th of September could prove dicey especially in regard to our relationships. Things could prove explosive thanks to Pluto turning direct on the 16th. Bomb blasts could occur and issues with certain traditional institutions could blow up. Let’s keep in mind that these are transitional times and not only are we individually going through our transformations but so too is society and society’s varied institutions and traditions.
Problems with other people could be pronounced as Venus in Libra triggers a T-Square by Venus opposed Uranus on the 17th, followed by Venus square Pluto on the 18th, the day that Mars moves into Leo and exits Cancer.
This weekend of the 16th through the 18th could hear the drumbeats of anger and frustration with consequent actions of people likely to be acting out. It would be wise to keep a relatively low profile now, out of harm’s way, and resisting any inclination to immediately react or respond impetuously to anything said or done.
The 23rd ushers in the season of autumn with the autumnal equinox as the Sun moves into Libra. This day also has Mars in Leo trine Uranus is Aries. While the season speaks to balance and a focus on our selves vis-à-vis significant other people in our lives, we might find that balance is hardly struck but rather like a metronome the autumn swings wildly.
We may be far more interested in exploring new senses of our selves, feeling restricted or constrained by our associations and committed connections. We might want to stretch beyond our usual parameters but in so doing we have to be fully aware of the liability of the law of unintended consequences.
Mercury moves into Libra on the 25th, creating a Stellium of three or more planets in the Cardinal Air Sign as Mercury joins the Sun and Venus in the Venus-ruled Sign of Libra.
The questions of who we are and who we are in regard to our relationships and who we are defined by what we do and who we are with the backdrop of the shifting world-at-large will be highlighted during this latter part of September.
While the weekend of the 16th – 18th had Venus creating a Cardinal Sign T-Square with the Libra Venus opposed Uranus in Aries and square Pluto in Capricorn, the end of September revisits this T-Square with the Libra Sun opposed Uranus on the 25th, and the Sun square Pluto on the 28th, and compounded by the Libra Mercury opposed Uranus at the time of the Libra New Moon on the 27th, and Mercury square Pluto on the 28th.
This Libra New Moon on the 27th has five planets in Libra — the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Saturn. The New Moon configuration sextiles Mars, squares Pluto and is in orb of an opposition to Uranus. The question of the ‘other’ to ourselves is raised, with a recognition that the ‘other’ — whether people, our community involvements, our self-identity — with which we have been fully comfortable could now prove more of an irritant, somewhat akin to the grain of sand in the oyster which eventually becomes the pearl. So too for us, as individuals and as a society; we may not like the aggravations of this alchemical process but the process itself promises the potential of a pearl.
This end of September can be explosive. People’s tempers can be short and the liability towards arguments and extreme actions is strong. Now would be a time to count to ten, be certain to temper our actions and not allow ourselves to get caustic or sarcastic in our conversations. Our tongue can be sharp and our intensity severe. We may be itching to break free from situations and people. There can be various endings, some sudden with no looking back or any thought of possible reconciliation. Instead of unleashing full force, if we could contain the energy and clearly direct the energy, then this can be a time of dramatic transitions — endings, yes, but also clearing the decks for new beginnings.
It is hard for us to be born anew amidst familiar surroundings. We could be champing at the bit, desirous of change but unaware of what changes we need to make. Other people could question our actions, our decisions and our ideas. Everyone may be a little on edge, both by reason of the changes in interpersonal relationships but also with a lack of trust regarding traditional institutions and once secure organizations.
The world is spinning and we might feel ourselves spinning with it.
Things can settle down around the very end of the month on the 29th and 30th. The 29th has Mercury sextile Mars and Venus conjunct Saturn. The 30th has the Sun sextile Mars.
If we would keep in mind the importance of testing the waters of the new, all the while that we are tidying up the messes of our past, then we might find that our transformations can be far less excruciatingly painful. If we hold on to the ways things have been, a false belief in stability and security, then we could find our world rocked.
This last week of September is energetically intense and may blare headlines that speak of catastrophic natural disasters, major storm systems, and incidents of people acting out. Not everyone can cope with the energy being ratcheted up to such an extreme. But it is through this dynamic, this extreme intensity, that the alchemical process can occur and that we can burn off the dross of our past and shapeshift into the new format of our being.
September 2011… highly productive before autumn leaves…
