This September seems to be a month when ‘the joint is jumping’. We start the month with a Mutable Sign Grand Cross by Sign with six planets in the Mutable Signs. We have the Sun and Mercury in Virgo, Jupiter and Pluto in Sagittarius, Uranus in Pisces and Mars in Gemini. We also start the month with a Fire Grand Trine, at least in the US Central Time Zone and east, with the Moon in Aries, Venus and Saturn in Leo and Jupiter and Pluto in Sagittarius.
We begin September with only one Cardinal Sign, that being the Moon in Aries although those west of the US Central Time Zone begin the month with a Taurus Moon. But setting the September chart up for New York City, we have one planet in a Cardinal Sign, three planets in Fixed signs and six planets in Mutable Signs. There are five planets in Fire Signs [with the Moon’s placement on the cusp of Aries – Taurus], two planets in an Earth Sign, two planets in Air Signs and one planet in a Water Sign. Seven planets are in Positive Signs, and three planets are in Negative Signs.
We could begin this month akin to the Mad Hatter in Alice’s Wonderland, assuming that we’re late for something and something rather important. We may find ourselves scurrying around, juggling a number of different things and doing the two step between summer’s stepping off the track and our getting back on the track of our normal routine. Normal might not be the most appropriate term for this month however.
September seems to offer a basket full of unexpected situations with some real whipsaws in our emotions and in our actions. We could be all over the place and at times wondering which end is up.
A major significant planetary event occurs at the beginning of the month with Saturn ending its two year plus transit of Leo and entering Virgo. Saturn is often referred to as a strict taskmaster and promises that whatever we get under the Saturn influence we have truly earned. There is no luck or easy ways with Saturn. Saturn is demanding, creates restrictions, enforces contractions and squeezes compressions. But although Saturn was often referred to as the greater malefic in traditional Astrology, Saturn’s energy is similar to the compression of rock that eventually becomes the diamond. Through the tests and challenges that Saturn offers, there is also the promise of refining, honing and eventually creating something and someone built of rock, solid, steady and certainly neither superficial nor shallow.
During the past two years plus of Saturn through Leo, we may all have felt as though there were times when the wind was knocked out of our sails. Our energy may have been flagging at times, and our creative projects delayed or frustrated by what Shakespeare would refer to as ‘the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’.
With Saturn moving into Virgo for the next two plus years, we are called to hone, refine and concentrate our daily activities, our work and our modus operandi, our health and physical well-being especially in relation to the gastrointestinal, and our analytical and critiquing abilities. We shall have to watch that we are not overly demanding, somewhat jaded, cynical and hypercritical. There may be times when we feel insecure and embrace the old dictum that a strong defense is a good offense.
Yes, we may find at times people to be offensive. And those whose Sun Signs are in the Mutable Signs of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces may discover that during times over these next two years they are being asked to address past issues and old habit patterns. An element of shapeshifting, of redefining oneself can be part of their walk down Memory Lane. Often, in order to move forward, we have to look back, look back over our past, go through our old baggage and address our old issues before we can move forward unhindered by subconscious engrained patterns that could trip us up.
Saturn moves into Virgo on the 2nd. With Saturn joining the Sun and Mercury in Virgo, we briefly have a stellium of three or more planets in the Mutable Earth Sign of Virgo, briefly since Mercury moves from Virgo into Libra on the 5th. Even if we are still engaged in summer recreational plans, the pulls of our daily circumstance might be beckoning us.
A fierce planetary makeup presents itself on the 3rd with Mercury square Pluto, Mars square Uranus, the Sun square Jupiter, and a Lunar T-Square with the Gemini Moon squaring Saturn in Virgo, squaring the Sun in Virgo and opposing Jupiter in Sagittarius. This day is Labor Day in the US, the end of a long holiday weekend that also signals the unofficial end of Summer.
This time could prove quite intense and we have to be especially careful regarding accidents. Elements of rashness and impulsiveness could be prevalent and could trigger verbal arguments with people lashing out in their communications and even to the extreme of becoming physically violent. People may not want the summer to pass and might try to grab for all the gusto they can on this long Labor Day weekend.
With Labor Day in the US officially ending Summer, we may become more involved with our daily routine. We might discover that we have carved out an existence that keeps us constantly on the go. Now is the time to strategize, plan and figure out the best methods to deal with our responsibilities.
Getting back on the track with summer a fading memory, we may become more serious about our ambitions and the means to realize our dreams.
On the 5th, Mercury moves into Libra. Our thoughts turn to our relationships, those special people in our lives. We are likely to be far more diplomatic and concerned about other people’s welfare. We can see from other people’s perspectives, and we are less likely to be caught up in merely the empirical facts and figures. Instead of a focused, microscopic viewpoint, we now have the ability to see other sides to an issue.
The 7th has Pluto turning direct. The intense internal feelings we may have had over the past few months can now be unleashed. We’re looking to make changes, to incorporate significant transformations to our lives in order to make our living more meaningful and with a greater sense of purpose. We may be looking at what we can get rid of in our lives, the extraneous, the superfluous that only fills up our time and clutters our activities. Whenever Pluto changes direction from direct to retrograde or retrograde to direct, there can be a radical unleashing of energies, an explosive force venting pent-up feelings and emotions. Often this shift in energy with Pluto is associated with bombings, explosions and violent outpourings of energy.
Following Pluto turning direct on the 7th, Venus turns direct on the 8th. Many of our relationship concerns can be straightened out now. We do have to keep watch that we or other people are not being too self-involved, measuring relationships from a self-important or self-obsessed viewpoint. We need to be certain that there is a give and take in our relationships, whereby there is a balance between giving and receiving in our interactions with other people.
The 9th has Mars trine Neptune and the Sun opposed Uranus. We could easily fall into a wide consideration of possibilities for our future. We may feel the urge to do something different, be someone different than our old accustomed self and patterns. This would be a good opportunity to explore the potentials of options and alternatives. We don’t have to throw baby out with bath water, but it would be important for us to scout out prospects and engage thoughts of new activities and new ways of doing things. We could also come up with some innovative ways to assert our individuality, to put more of a mark on our lives that truly resonates with us. We do need to be careful that we don’t go overboard in experimentation. We might be impelled to make vast changes and could take certain actions that might be more impulsive than well thought out.
The New Moon on the 11th gives us a Partial Eclipse of the Sun. This Virgo New Moon also reinforces the Mutable Signs by creating a T-Square with the Sun Moon conjunction opposed Uranus in Pisces and square Mars in Gemini. By Sign, this New Moon creates a Mutable Sign Grand Cross with the fourth element of Fire being occupied by Jupiter and Pluto in the Mutable Fire Sign of Sagittarius.
Under this signature, our fortnight ahead might reinforce that sense of Alice’s Mad Hatter. The sense of the only true reality being one where we have to expect the unexpected could keep us hopping and make us feel as though our lives and the world is in a state of topsy-turvy. And so it may well be.
While variables unanticipated could enter our lives during this time, these energies also allow us not to become too complacent to any semblance of stability or an engrained security. Now is a time for us to be nimble and quick, to work with peripheral vision, and to be open to the magic and wonder of the universe. More than once, we might shake our head and remind ourselves of the saying that ‘life’s too mysterious, don’t take it serious’.
With seven planets in Mutable Signs at the time of the New Moon, we could be pushed and pulled in various directions during this next fortnight.
While we are concentrating on our standing in our community, our work environment and our social circle, we might be thrown off center by the ratcheting up of our activities and involvements. We really have to consider whether we just have too much going on. We may scurry from one thing to another, having to address surprising situations that come up out of the blue, all the while that we’re considering more, more, more.
The fast pace of life can be invigorating but could prove exhausting. We have to watch that we don’t commit ourselves to overwhelm which might be exhilarating at the time of our decision but may also have adverse health consequences of burn-out, spiked blood pressure, or nervous anxiety in the future.
Now is a time to streamline our operations, to consider the most effective means by which to deal with our responsibilities and allow time for new interests. It is important that we learn to work smarter rather than harder, and this time could offer the proving grounds for more effective methods with less expenditure of energy.
Life is speeding up and we need to learn to quicken our pace without missing a beat.
Mid-September on may seem Fellini-like, somewhat surreal, out of the ordinary, with an emphasis on the unexpected. It would be wise for us to work with peripheral vision, keep our options open, and maintain the Taoist attitude of ‘bend like a reed or break like an oak’.
The 13th has Mercury sextile Jupiter and during this time we may find that part of our unexpected surprises are interesting connections or contacts from far afield. Our breadth of vision may widen as people who are not part of our daily experience enter, even if only briefly, to make us aware of greater opportunities that lie beyond our daily track. A sense of optimism and a willingness to embrace the goodness of the universe could permeate our attitudes.
In case we get too comfortable and too optimistic during this time, the third week of September offers us an accelerated roller coaster ride with some real whipsaws going on. During this third week of September, from the 17th through the 21st, we have an array of planetary configurations. Apart from that time around the 3rd of the month, this period is perhaps the most intense of September. On the 17th, the Sun squares Mars and Mercury sextiles Jupiter. On the 18th, Mercury trines Neptune. The 19th has the Sun square Pluto. On the 21st, Mars opposes Pluto and Venus opposes Neptune.
During this third week of September, the energy may be ratcheted up severalfold. We may try to cover all bases only to cast aside some of our involvements. We could feel confident, optimistic, assuming that everything will go according to plan. Nice concept and valid in the abstract, but the practical application and true reality might be a totally different story. We may feel like we’re itching to get on with things. We can have a sense of destiny tugging at us and could easily go forward without fully thinking through the implications or consequences of our actions. We could easily get carried away by our personal ambitions, which could prove taxing on our relationships. We have to watch that we don’t draw lines in the sand, demand black and white scenarios without considering the gray matter, or become overly adamant in our opinions.
If we do go off and find ourselves in a bind, we might fall prey to playing the blame game, seeing and accusing other people of our misfortune. Any sense of frustration could boil over into violent rage. This week is a time to keep a lid on things, to allow ourselves to be like a Dutch steam kettle with an escape valve to vent any sense of frustration. Otherwise, we might just try to bully our way through situations, feeling self-righteous and deserving of what we want, without taking into account the circumstances or the timing.
Fortunately, Mercury sextiles Venus and Mercury trines Neptune to offer relief from the stridency of this week. If we take time to think things through and discuss matters with other people, we can make the case for our interests by persuasion and reason. We don’t have to bulldoze our way through or win our point solely by aggression. We would be more effective combining brain and brawn.
On the 23rd, we enter the Autumn season with the Sun moving into the Cardinal Air Sign of Libra. The intensity of the previous week should quiet down. We may feel more on top of things or better able to navigate the vagaries of living life in the twenty-first century.
Instead of immediate reactions to situations, we can take some time to reflect and consider all sides to the question. Our thinking may be less emotional and more scrutinizing. Instead of being blindly optimistic, we can see the essence and fundamentals of any situation. Mercury sextiles Pluto on the 24th, followed by Mercury trine Mars at the time of the Aries Full Moon on the 26th.
If we haven’t created a total slash and burn during that third week of the month, then we can straighten things out and create more of an amicable accord during the latter part of the month.
The Full Moon on the 26th continues the intensity but we’re not as likely to rush headlong into situations without taking into account the parameters and conditions.
On the 27th, Mercury leaves Libra to enter Scorpio. Adding to the Water influence, Mars exits Gemini on the 28th to enter Cancer. We now have a Grand Trine by Sign in the Water Element with Mercury and Mars joining Uranus in Pisces for all three Water signs being transited.
Our emotions are turned up and we may find that we’re balancing our personal needs and our interests in other people. The keyword is balance. Like a metronome, we can be overly involved in people’s issues and immersed in their emotional drama and then swing back to recharge our batteries and regain the sense of our own identity. The balance point is to enjoy other people’s company without losing our own sense of self.
Our mind is razor-sharp. We have the ability of penetrating to the heart of any situation and see what is truly going on. We can realize how to cut away the non-essentials from our lives and focus on the truly important with extra time to enjoy the seasonal activities of Autumn.
September can be a month of ups and downs. At times, things will seem very placid, almost too peaceful, but it could prove to be the calm before the storm. Certainly times during September, especially around the 3rd and the third week of the month, may seem stormy, with intense unleashings. It would be wise to keep rein on our emotions, not react impulsively or immediately to situations and try to maintain an even keel as we navigate what would seem to be choppy waters.
September… the joint is jumping…
