Much like February’s Supermoon in Virgo, August’s second New Moon holds the promise of a major personal reboot – provided we’re willing to do the work to enable this to happen. Self-improvement and greater wellness are the name of the game. Once again, the luminaries will be making a trine to Uranus in Taurus, which brings with it the possibility of making tangible and lasting lifestyle changes this month. This is an earth trine, so slow and steady wins the race. Gradually introducing better, more sustainable ways of living and working (including any new technologies that can enhance or improve how we do things) is far better than doing anything too drastic or ‘out there’ right off the bat.
Uranus is also retrograde, so there may well be links to the past. Think back what occurred in February close to the Mars-Uranus conjunction for clues about what areas from your past may need attention or healing between now and the next New Moon.
SIGN
Like February’s Supermoon, the second New Moon of August takes place in health-conscious and service-oriented Virgo. Don’t be surprised if you feel the energy of this sign coming through really strongly, thanks to the large concentration of planets (known as a stellium) that will orbiting close to the Sun and Moon at the time of the New Moon. As a result, Virgo season is likely to be more pronounced and significant than usual, especially for those of us with planets in the early degrees of earth and water signs.
General Virgo Themes
Overall, the Virgo New Moon in Virgo is great for working on themes such as:
- A desire to be helpful and to serve (it’s important to feel you make a contribution but are not a doormat)
- A penchant for details, minutiae, small things (but not to the point of being a jobsworth or sweating the small stuff)
- An interest in health, wellness, hygiene, nutrition (Virgo rules the digestion and bowels) but again, not the point of eating disorders and rigid eating regimes
- A drive to create order through activities such as list writing, decluttering, tidying (but without losing ones sense of flow and spontaneity)
- Importance placed on usefulness, utility, practicality, simplicity, punctuality (without sacrificing an appreciation of beauty or a need to go with the flow sometimes )
- An emphasis on observing ritual, rules, etiquette and modesty (but not to the point of becoming puritanical)
- Mundane matters: writing, editing, handicrafts, critiquing, analyzing
Sensible Personal Standards and Self-Care
Healthier choices is likely to be one main themes of September, along with the need to be more discerning/protective over who or what we give our energy or attention to. In many ways, this New Moon is about finding more mature, disciplined and constructive ways to practice self-care and self-protection so that we don’t fall into the victim-martyr trap of opposite sign Pisces, or become overly carping and critical of others who do not meet our (often very high) expectations.
Equally, it is about reassessing our own inner standards to see whether they are helping or hindering us. Are they setting a bar we can attain and driving us forward? Or are the so impossibly high that we become workaholics/depressives/masochists that can never allow ourselves to receive praise, relax or go with the flow?
Wholesome Self-Discipline vs Perfectionism/Neuroses
In today’s hyper-aware, super critical and intensely health-obsessed world, Virgo is enjoying a bit of a resurgence in popularity. Just think of the buzzwords surrounding nutrition like ‘clean’ eating (exclusion diets are very much about pruning/editing/excluding), virtue signalling through diet (veganism currently being closely tied to identity politics), and the emphasis on personalisation (details, precision vs. a general ‘one size fits all’ approach). So far, so Virgo.
However, this preoccupation with self-improvement does have a dark side: it can lead to an unhealthy preoccupation with what we – or others – are doing wrong, rather than on what’s going right. Too much emphasis on perfectionism and we can lose perspective. This can be enormously detrimental to our self-esteem and lead to a fear of failure. And yet, practise makes perfect. The irony here being that we can never truly become good at anything unless we’re willing to try – and fail – a few times before finally cracking it….So, at this New Moon, consider ways to let go of perfectionism and introduce healthier ways to grow without sweating the small stuff.
Solutions Rather than Problems
Virgo also loves nothing more than to be in control, especially of those seemingly trivial details and day-to-day routines that don’t seem to matter in the grander scheme of things, but which can quickly lead us to unravel get out of hand or be neglected if we get busy/stressed. Like that ‘can’t live without’ PA or events coordinator, Virgo bestows on us the ability to fix problems, sort out routines/schedules and tidy our in-trays, cupboards and lives so that life can run smoothly again.
At this New Moon then, you are being urged to:
a) Make healthier choices that improve your lifestyle, health and sense of wellbeing; and
b) ‘Get it together’ ie finding ways to be more organised, stay on top of our schedules, fitness regimes, workloads etc This is especially important if we have a busy last quarter ahead of us.
SABIAN SYMBOL
This New Moon takes place within the first decan of Virgo. The Sabian symbol for the seventh degree of Virgo is:
Restraint: A Harem.
Sabian Symbols by Marc Edmund Jones
Rather James Burgess summarises this Sabian symbol as follows:
To focus on what is important, we need to insulate ourselves from intrusion
Full Circle: 360 Degrees of Wisdom, p.194
He suggests that, rather paradoxically, this Sabian symbol is all about creating a safe, contained space, away from the demands of everyday life/the outside world in which we are free to let ourselves go, or to really hone in on one particular pursuit/area of study. Rather like in a monastery or spiritual/writing retreat.
The withdrawal from one aspect of reality is a means to re-grasp it in another – and some of us need this level of constraint, otherwise we simply cannot focus on what is of greatest importance to us.
By contrast, Lynda Hill sees this as symbol as being about the dynamics within a group where there is competition for attention/approval from an overriding ‘pack leader/top dog’, just as there is amongst a pack of dogs or wolves. On an individual level, she also interprets this as possibly referring to situations in which there are either:
…too many people in a relationship or finding happiness through women friends and the sacrifices that may have to be accepted to achieve this.
The Sabian Oracle offers us a few more suggestions on how to work with the symbolism of this degree:
Keywords: Rising above jealousy, arrogance and passion. Waiting to be bestowed with the gift of being “chosen”. Women’s circles, sometimes closed. Women’s groups. Working together. Sharing feminine rituals and stories. Egyptian tales. One person calling the shots. Beauty salons. Seduction of the senses. Having one’s needs serviced. Women pampering each other. People who serve. Adoring the other. Sultans. Polygamy.
The Caution: Being just one of “the mob”. Not having a sense of personal importance. Mistrust of other women. Seeing people as competition. The spread of socially unacceptable diseases. Locked doors. Sexual infidelity. Needing the love of many. Eunuchs. Assuming the right to dominate others.
KEY ASPECTS
Incremental but Lasting Change: Sun & Moon trine Uranus
August’s Virgo Moon offers us an opportunity to introduce healthier routines, lifestyles, relationships and ways of doing things Both the luminaries will make a harmonious earth trine to Uranus in Taurus. The upshot = POSITIVE CHANGES, especially when it comes to health, psychological wellbeing, and domestic and family matters (although much will depend on where these planets fall in your natal chart).
If you’ve been wanting to nip self-destructive behaviour or unhealthy habits in the bud, and replace them with healthier ones,then this is the perfect New Moon for you! Worth bearing in mind is the mind-body connection, represented by the Virgo-Pisces axis. It absolutely key that you address the emotional/psychological reasons behind any lingering health conditions or eating patternsif you have any hope of succeeding.
Earth trine – more tortoise, less hare
Because this involves two earth signs, it’s also very likely that whatever shifts we decide to make will actually take hold and grow roots, so it’s important that we get very clear about what exactly we want to upgrade/overhaul so that we can sew these ‘seed’ intentions at the waxing moon.
Ideally, we should not try and rush this process but instead, break it up into a series of steps that can be implemented gradually. Earth signs are really practical and don’t really like to rush things – worth bearing in mind when developing your action plan or setting out your timetable.
Added motivation – Mars
Fortunately, the Virgo Moon will also very close to Mars which should give us the added resolve and willpower carry through our intentions consistently until they become habits.
Virgo Stellium
In addition, most of the personal planets will also be clustered in the early degrees of this sign, from where they will all take turns to connect with Uranus. Some of these will occur in the week leading up to the New Moon (Venus and Mars), suggesting that many areas of our lives will now be ripe for positive change/improvement.
The upshot: the Virgo New Moon will give us the green light to spend the month giving our lives a major overhaul. If you have been itching to begin a fresh personal cycle, then this is the moment!
Environmental tipping point?
With so much going on in the world, including the tragic and ravaging wildfires in the Amazon rainforest, these trines could also coincide with a major cultural tipping point for the world – a ‘waking up’ with regard to animal rights, environmental crises and any form of suppression involving the sacred feminine, from the rape of our planet to patriarchy. Uranus is retrograde, so I suspect we may also see this revolutionary dynamic spreading to include social justice for those who have been victimised in the past, including those involved in the Epstein saga, #Metoo campaign, and negligence cases involving big pharma.
