The Autumn Equinox clarifies what matters most and calls you to fight for it!
We’re in Virgo season as September begins...
...and Virgo likes to be well prepared. With Mars closely involved with September's New Moon and Full Moon both, it's time to get things moving, energise, balance and purify your world, and let go of what's no longer relevant.
Mars is a fighter and chances are you'll be doing a bit of that too, fighting the 'good fight' and standing up for the things that matter most to you.
A fantastic New Moon in Virgo kicks things off on the night of the 6th-7th, and all the planets are getting into gear for action, right from September 1st. By mid-September, Libra becomes more prominent, bringing relationships, (dis)agreements and negotiations to the fore. Time to see things from a different point of view.
The Autumn Equinox arrives on September 22nd, right on the heels of a very moving and romantic Pisces Full Moon - the last Full Moon of Summer
With Mars and Venus in mutual reception mid-September to early October, and with Mercury preparing to station retrograde on the 27th, we are in for a really juicy switch-over into Autumn. So let’s take a look at September’s astro-weather.
Mars-Neptune: a Wistful Start to September, Setting the Scene for the Virgo New Moon
September begins with Mars opposite Neptune on the 2nd, imbuing everything with a rosy tinge of nostalgia.
All initiatives require love, refinement and compassion when Neptune contacts Mars or they will come to bite you in the bottom. Spiritual, altruistic and creative endeavours are the best way to avoid the self-sabotaging elements of this aspect.
Pluto is also close by, trining Mars on the 6th, giving your every move nuclear fire power - that's a Monday. With Venus also chiming in on Monday the 6th (trine Jupiter and square Pluto), relationships get real exciting and perhaps a little over the top, intense, with a dollop of generosity for good measure.
Meanwhile, on the weekend of September 3rd-5th, Mercury trines Saturn and the North Node, creating the mental space for clear thinking - and how welcome that is!
Virgo New Moon September 7th: A New Way Forward...
And with the scene beautifully set, we come to the marvellous Virgo New Moon in the early hours of September 7th at 01:51BST. This lunation takes all this mental clarity and refined feeling generated in the first week of September and funnels them toward practical endeavours. Virgo is all about the nitty gritty, about fixing and improving things, becoming super-efficient, having a clear out and eliminating waste. And with Mars widely conjunct the New Moon, you're ready to roll up your sleeves and muck in!
Most exciting of all, this month’s New Moon is at 14:38 Virgo, exactly trine Uranus in Taurus.
This is a super-inventive New Moon! It’s perfect for spring cleaning and letting go of old attachments on the emotional level too. You'll find it easier to go along with changes and innovations now and find new ways of doing things.
The Sun-Uranus trine perfects right at the New Moon on the 7th, you are ready to explore unfamiliar territory that might have put you off only a month ago. Small improvements can go a surprisingly long way. This is the moment you can begin internalising the changes that have been sweeping you off your feet since January 2021 and which have only started sinking in.
Mercury, ruler of this New Moon opposes Chiron in Aries on the 8th, focusing the efforts of this lunation cycle on clarity and healing. This is a great time for understanding the past, for bringing debates and intellectual processes back into balance and for communicating difficult truths. It's time to bring those bits of yourself that may have fallen by the wayside amid 2021's rapid pace back into the fold.
The satisfaction for a job well done is the perfect promise for the discipline (or discipleship) required to get things done at this New Moon - an idea reinforced by this Virgo New Moon Sabian Symbol: "A fine lace handkerchief, heirloom from valorous ancestors" symbolising "the quintessence of deeds well done". [*]
Mercury in Libra enters Retrograde degrees: Into the Shadows...
Mercury is the ruler of this fabulous Virgo New Moon and on September 6th-7th, he enters his retrograde shadow. That's when Mercury starts losing momentum, as he enters the strip of sky that he’s going to backtrack over when he turns retrograde.
That's right, we are now approaching the third and final Mercury retrograde of 2021.
Mercury goes retrograde September 27th till October 18th, an important time of judgment and reckoning, a rebalancing of the scales wherever they may have leaned too far on one side or the other during the madness that was - and is - 2021.
And so the Virgo New Moon kicks off Mercury's shadow period too - a great time to wrap up projects and ideas that have been a key running theme all throughout the summer.
Tidy up loose ends and get your world in order. If you making fresh plans at this time, make sure everything you agree on has a caveat that reads “all other things being equal the other side of mid-October”. Because lots of new information will come to light between now and October 18th, when Mercury goes direct and goes over the same old ground he's about to cover this month. October is a huge month of adjustment, release and revelation.
Venus Mars Mutual Reception Sep 15-Oct 7: Acts of Love
We have a super-special situation taking effect from mid-September until October 7th, when Venus and Mars raise the bar emotionally. Right now, Venus is in Libra, feeling all peaceful and frisky, and Mars in Virgo, nose to the grindstone, crossing his t’s and dotting his i’s. But all that’s all about to change!
On September 10th, Venus enters Scorpio and on September 15th, Mars enters Libra. With Mars and Venus guests in each others’ signs - in so called ‘mutual reception’ - relationships take on a darker, sexier (& more co-dependent) edge mid-month. Each planet taken in isolation is in debility and unable to function at full capacity. But taken together, they can achieve a lot. So, collaboration is key!
While Mars will stay in Libra till the end of October, Venus leaves Scorpio on October 7th leaving Mars to fend for himself.
With Mars and Venus in mutual reception from mid-September, love and war go hand in hand. Yes, you may feel compelled to fight for a good cause. Mars in Libra can get hot under the collar when he sees injustice, and he is unable to let things slide.
If you value something, it’s time to fight for it. If you are enraged and ready to go to war over something, better use the legal or diplomatic channels and get others on board to your cause.
Mars in Libra negotiates like a fiend and fights for what is right. As for Venus in Scorpio, she loves to uncover all the things you’d rather keep hidden. Time to dig deep and unearth some secrets! Power struggles are what gets Venus in Scorpio going, especially when that means wrestling a bit of power back from those who seem to have too much of it. Put the two together and we’re in for a real passionate stint! Fights may be civilised (Mars in Libra) but that won't make them any less insidious or shocking (Venus in Scorpio).
Sun-Neptune: Mid-September High in the Run Up to the Pisces Full Moon!
The run up to this month's Pisces Full Moon promises some intense encounters.
An avalanche of feeling washes over you September 14th as Neptune opposes the Sun, shedding light on some of the biggest, most powerful yearnings that you’ve been nursing all year long.
Let yourself be inspired at this time. Run with what arises all the way to the Full Moon of September 21st! This is an emotional and spiritual high point and it will help you let go of ego preconceptions, re-assess your dreams and make some inspired decisions for the future.
The Sun trines Pluto on the 17th too, paving the way for important changes later in October. This is an empowering aspect when you may get a real sense of purpose and determination. Venus squares Saturn on that same date, the 17th, when love and money may seem hard-going, requiring commitment and sacrifices on your part. But, remember - this is part of a bigger conversation (more of this in a moment) and Uranus has the last word on the 23rd! The 23rd could be like the sword that cuts through the Gordian knot that may have you in its grip mid-month.
Full Moon in Pisces September 21st: Last of the Summer Wine...
The last Full Moon of Summer is a real romantic affair, sounding the end of the season. It arrives shortly past midnight on September 21st at 28:13 Pisces at 00:54BST, one day before the Autumn Equinox.
This Full Moon is widely conjunct Pisces' ruler, Neptune, picking up the echo of all sorts of dreams, yearnings and idealisations that hit their high note a week earlier, on September 14th. It's as if this Full Moon has an extended aura and it will catch you in its magnetic field long before the 21st.
With Mars in Libra widely conjunct the Sun and opposite the Moon, you may have to negotiate some tricky emotional terrain. There’s a sense of emotional and spiritual completion, now. Time to let go.
Mercury and Jupiter, rulers of the Sun and Moon trine at this Full Moon, generating great optimism and vision. A Mercury square with Pluto, meanwhile, lends you X-ray goggles to peer under the surface. Time for some big yet also deep thoughts... Mercury-Pluto’s mental vision and sharpness ties in well with this Pisces Full Moon Sabian Symbol: "Light breaking into many colours as it passes through a prism" symbolising "the analytical power of the mind necessary for the formulation of life processes in their many aspects." [*]
Autumn Equinox 2021: What Do You Value Most?
The Autumn Equinox arrives on September 22nd at 20:21BST. This is just as Venus, ruler of that Equinox, opposes Uranus, placing this year’s Saturn-Uranus square right at the heart of Autumn 2021.
Saturn square Uranus is all about uncertainty and instability, control versus freedom, tradition versus innovation. On a deeper level, it's about a breakthrough in consciousness. It trains you in non-attachment, eliminating familiar points of reference to the point where you can embrace change that was unthinkable only a year ago. And the Autumn Equinox brings all that to the fore.
Time to reassess your priorities! Venus square Saturn and opposite Uranus at the Equinox tests your values and principles, your relationships, money and resources - all your energy investments. It’s time to decide whether you’re putting store by all the right things.
Autumn 2021 is the time to revisit what matters most and adjust life accordingly. This is a great time to break free from burdensome attachments - whether to people, ideas or things - and renew your commitment to the people, things and ideas that really do still matter the most.
Libra Season 2021: Action Packed First Days of Autumn
September enters all guns blazing and Autumn 2021 doesn’t hold back. The first days of Autumn are active, intense, dynamic.
With Mars and the Sun edging closer and about to conjoin on October 8th, it’s time to wrap up old projects and prepare for a whole new 2-year action-chapter in your life.
Mars and the Sun meet every two years, generating cycles of ambitious goals and endeavours, and the last time was 2Nd September 2019. That cycle is now coming to a close. And the next cycle, starting October 8th, will take you all the way to November 2023.
At the end of September, between 21st-29th, Mars and the Sun lock into harmony with Saturn and the Lunar Nodes - exactly where Mercury left off on September 5th.
September 21st-29th creates the perfect space to make rapid, positive progress with your goals, and form connections with people who can help.
Mars arrives first, September 21st-25th. This is an opportunity to do the right thing, to restore balance by going through the proper channels and to score some wins.
The Sun puts his seal of approval on the whole endeavour by September 26th-29th, when you can connect with important people who can help you achieve your ends.
The end of September may be an important turning point for civil rights and all such social, political and legal matters - all the purview of Libra and of Saturn - leading into Saturn stationing direct early next month on October 6th.
Mark September 29th as super-romantic for a nice break, as Venus trines Neptune, waving goodbye to September in style.
Mercury Retrograde in Libra: September 27th-October 18th
Mercury in Libra finally grinds to a halt and stations retrograde on September 27th. Time to begin retracing your steps till October 18th! The most important Libra theme is all the relationships that hold our society together and renegotiating these will be a key theme this Autumn.
A redressing of balance is needed. Where the scales have tipped too far in a certain direction, balance needs to be restored. It’s time to revisit our democratic and social contracts - all Libra themes - and correct any wrongdoing.
We are in the final throes (till 2023-24) of a historic power-grab by governments, banks and big corporations - all Capricorn entities - that’s been going since Pluto entered Capricorn in 2008. All this rubs Libra's sense of justice, which lies in hard angle to Capricorn, the wrong way. So let’s see what Mercury retrograde in Libra (aided by a triple conjunction with Mars and the Sun) will bring this Autumn.
Image by Sarah Dorweller from Unsplash
[*] Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala (NY Vintage Books 1974), pp.159 & 287.
SEPTEMBER 2021 KEY ASTRO EVENTS
Sep 2: Mars at 23 Virgo opposite Neptune at 23 Pisces, 18:32 BST
Sep 3: Mercury at 6 Libra trine North Node at 6 Gemini, 14:18 BST
Sep 5: Mercury at 8 Libra trine Saturn at 8 Aquarius, 07:54 BST
Sep 6: Mars at 25 Virgo trine Pluto at 25 Capricorn, 13:19 BST
Sep 6: Venus at 25 Libra trine Jupiter at 25 Aquarius, 14:05 BST
Sep 6: Mercury enters shadow at 10 degrees Libra
Sep 7: New Moon at 14:38 Virgo, 01:51 BST
Sep 7: Sun at 15 Virgo trine Uranus at 15 Taurus, 02:28 BST
Sep 8: Mercury at 12 Libra opposite Chiron at 12 Aries, 05:30 BST
Sep 10: Venus enters Scorpio, 21:39 BST
Sep 14: Sun at 22 Virgo opposite Neptune at 22 Pisces, 10:20 BST
Sep 15: Mars enters Libra, 01:13 BST
Sep 17: Sun at 25 Virgo trine Pluto at 25 Capricorn, 02:52 BST
Sep 17: Venus at 8 Scorpio square Saturn at 8 Aquarius, 07:14 BST
Sep 20: Mercury at 24 Libra trine Jupiter at 24 Aquarius, 23:52 BST
Sep 21: Full Moon at 28:13 Pisces, 00:54 BST
Sep 21: Mars at 4 Libra trine North Node at 4 Gemini, 02:03 BST
Sep 22: Mercury at 25 Libra square Pluto at 25 Capricorn, 14:11 BST
Sep 22: Sun enters Libra Autumn Equinox, 20:21 BST
Sep 23: Venus at 15 Scorpio opposite Uranus at 15 Taurus, 10:40 BST
Sep 25: Mars at 8 Libra trine Saturn at 8 Aquarius, 22:50 BST
Sep 26: Sun at 4 Libra trine North Node at 4 Gemini, 08:03 BST
Sep 27: Mercury at 25:29 Libra (26th degree) Stations Retrograde, 06:BST
Sep 29: Venus at 22 Scorpio trine Neptune at 22 Pisces, 17:13 BST
Sep 29: Sun at 7 Libra trine Saturn at 7 Aquarius, 23:19 BST
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