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Virgo New Moon September 13

Posted by Sheri Horn Hasan - September 13, 2015 - Astrology

SOLAR ECLIPSE ACCOMPANIES VIRGO NEW MOON!

The Virgo New Moon is upon us! This monthly Moon/Sun union–when the Moon races up to and then past the Sun–ushers in decidedly Virgo-esque energy.

Now and for the next two weeks, this Virgo New Moon energy kicks off the lunar month. As the Moon waxes larger and larger (until she moves into Aries and opposes the Sun in Libra on September 27), she calls us all to make the highest and best use of our intuitive energies.

The cycles of the Moon affect us all…and all New Moon’s are seed-planting times.

So whatcha gonna plant this month?

I’ll tell you what, your best bet is to make it something centered around a Virgo-related theme…

And what is that? What does Virgo represent?

The Mercury-ruled sign of Virgo–the polar opposite of the sign Pisces, concerns itself with making order out of chaos.

To many who carry Virgo energy–either via their Sun, Moon, Ascendant, rulership of a planet, angle, or South Node–cleanliness equals good health, and work equals service…

This means that–when present in your individual energetic makeup–helpful Virgoan attention to detail is key. I always say that those of us who carry Virgo energy CAN’T not notice the details! And this can drive some of us–and often our partners, friends, colleagues, etc.–a little bit crazy!

In addition, Virgo-influenced individuals (because Virgo is ruled by Mercury, the god of communication) may speak, write, create, or otherwise communicate in a straightforward, precise, accurate, right-on-the-money kind of way.

In short, Virgo does not care for sloppy, slovenly, messy, or inaccurate people or things!

When this energy is utilized for jobs and activities that require attention to detail (such as editing, graphic design, financial accounting, carpentry, etc.) it shines forth in our lives as a beacon to follow…

However, when Virgo energy is taken to extremes, it may manifest as someone who’s overly critical (particularly of herself!), TOTALLY in control of her environment, and uber neat, fussy, or otherwise inclined toward the impeccable…

VIRGO AND TRAUMA

This may be the result of an early life that was fraught with chaos. Those who experienced the trauma of never knowing when something unexpected might happen may create an environment NOW in which there is a place for everything and everything is in its place…

This provides a modicum of sanity to those who carry Virgo energy. Especially if one experienced not knowing when dad might come home drunk, a brother might sneak into their room at night, or mom might retreat yet again into her bedroom and forget to make dinner, Virgo compensates for such shocks by developing a hyper-vigilant stance.

Thus, one becomes uber-alert and extremely sensitive to one’s surroundings, noticing every missing button, every hair out of place, every crooked picture on the wall, and so on…

Such sensitivity is a defense against the unknown. If early life was inconsistent, threatening, or scary–regardless of why–those who carry Virgo energy prominently will likely seek to shield themselves against surprises by seeking to always be on top of their environment and consistently in control.

On the other hand, if life was relatively calm during one’s early years, the possibility exists that one may simply have felt the sting of criticism often and taken it to heart until that outside criticism ultimately becomes internalized.

This insidious internalized “voice” then perpetuates the notion that one needs to be “perfect” to be accepted.

Tendencies toward perfection may help explain why many people who carry Virgo energy gravitate toward animals, particularly pets.

When everything seems out of control, when that external OR internal voice has brought you the point where you’ve taken just about all the negative criticism you can, turning to souls who love us unconditionally often proves to be good medicine.

Great comfort of the kind that requires no speech can be derived from such gentle, patient, understanding, and loving spirits…

BEST USE OF NEW MOON/ECLIPSE ENERGY

Start your month off right with new beginnings!

Since a partial Solar Eclipse accompanies this Virgo New Moon @20 degrees Virgo, it ushers in a time not only to set new intentions but to expect the unexpected as well…

Solar Eclipses are likened to a jump start (think dead car battery and you’ll get what I mean…) They can set us off on a different, previously unplanned, path and–depending on what house they fall into in your chart (ditto for the Virgo New Moon!)–expose us to new information or ways of thinking.

As noted, unexpected events may not particularly please those who carry Virgo energy, so it benefits those of us who do to not only take it in stride, but to use what we learn in new ways by looking at it from a different perspective.

What if, instead of guarding AGAINST the unexpected, you took charge and co-created yourself a new reality? What would happen then?

For example, New Moon time is perfect for making a list of what you’d like to see occur or what you’d like to accomplish. This can be for the month or for the long term, it doesn’t matter.

Put this list in writing or speak it aloud as doing so solidifies your intent.

THE VIRGO CREATIVE

If you are a writer, creative, or intuitive, use the both the Virgo New Moon and eclipse to jump start your writing or other creative endeavors. Setting the intention to work on a project is perfect! (Soon Mercury will station retrograde again on September 17, denoting time to work on old projects rather than anything new!)

Set the intention to befriend the voice in your head that tells you your efforts are “not good enough, need improvement, aren’t original,” or “that no one will like or need you…”

Virgo is always about being of service, and the highest and best service you can perform is to eliminate the need for perfection from your life. In this way, you help yourself first and then have plenty of energy and time to help others…

The bad news is that you ARE NOT PERFECT–AND NEVER WILL BE!

The good news is: a) you’re not supposed to be; and b) you’re perfect in your imperfection!

Chew on that for a while and then get out your paper and pen (or computer) and have at releasing all those “written-in-stone” beliefs that will no longer serve your new reality–the one you’ll start creating today…

Namaste…

chaos, detail health, discernment, energy, order, partial Solar Eclipse, perfect, perfection, service, Virgo New Moon

Sun Shifts Into Virtuous Virgo August 23

Posted by Sheri Horn Hasan - August 24, 2015 - Astrology

Spotlight’s On Transforming Service Into Joy!

The Sun shifts gears from bold, brassy, bright Leo into the more demure and less demonstrative energy of Virgo.

While Leo grabs the microphone, belts out a few bars, and waits for the crowd to cheer, Virgo’s the one in the audience keeping track of which lyrics he’s missed and noting not only where he’s off key, but his specific sharps and flats. She then presents Leo with a list and tells him to work on it…

In short, Leo’s about performance while Virgo’s about the details that make up that performance. She sweats the small stuff.

And, aye, there’s the rub! How do we segue from summertime’s height of heat when the Leo Sun’s in its glory and reckless abandon runs amuck, to the quieter, more studious energy of virtuous Virgo?

Seems it’s no surprise that Virgo energy coincides (in the West at least) with back to school schedules.

But putting one’s nose to the grindstone does not have to be all work and no play. There is joy in service, as this quote by the 19th Century Bengali poet, writer, artist, musician, & philosopher Rabindranath Tagore so aptly points out:

“I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy.”

Creative Leo New Moon Energy Still High!

How can you make the best advantage out of the still waxing Leo New Moon energy as the Sun shifts into picky Virgo?

The first thing to remember is that Leo represents the archetype of creativity. While the Moon’s still waxing until August 29, now’s the time to continue to plant your creative seeds, water, and nurture them.

At the upcoming Pisces Full Moon (August 29), these seedlings may sprout into something tangible. They will have–fed at first by the uber-creative energies of the Leo Sun & Leo New Moon–and tended now by the more discerning Sun in Virgo–an excellent chance of blossoming into something real in the future.

What are you working on? What creative seed did you (or can you still) plant this month?

The trick is not to let the Virgo Sun’s energy become overly critical! While you’re enjoying your creative ideas, try not to shoot them down immediately.

Why? Because the combination of these energies right now create a perfect incubator out of which one may give birth to something special and something real…

Instead of annihilating an idea before it has the chance to grow, why not allow Virgo’s discerning energy to refine or review these creative ideas?

Eventually, under the Pisces Full Moon on August 29, the Virgo Sun’s energy will help you to weed out any unnecessary parts and to begin to prune your creative ideas into something that stands a much greater chance of surviving into the future.

I’m reminded of Rachel Platten’s Fight Song, in which she sings:

“Like a small boat
On the ocean
Sending big waves
Into motion
Like how a single word
Can make a heart open
I might only have one match
But I can make an explosion

And all those things I didn’t say
Wrecking balls inside my brain
I will scream them loud tonight
Can you hear my voice this time?

This is my fight song
Take back my life song
Prove I’m alright song
My power’s turned on
Starting right now I’ll be strong
I’ll play my fight song
And I don’t really care if nobody else believes
‘Cause I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me!”

Don’t let the Virgo Sun’s energy become the “wrecking balls” inside your brain!

If you can allow that match to set alight the creative spark within, you can better utilize Virgo’s energy once you’ve fought to believe in yourself and allow that spark to shoot up and become a flame…

Then you can make the best use of Virgo’s energies to ensure your flame is well tended and safely guarded.

In other words, you serve yourself best by allowing Virgo energy to be the keeper of the that creative Leo New Moon flame, not the destroyer of it…and through that flame you eventually enable yourself to serve others…

Namaste…

creativity, flame, joy, Leo, new moon, service, Sun, Virgo

Jupiter Expands Into Virgo August 11

Posted by Sheri Horn Hasan - August 11, 2015 - Astrology

How To Expand AND Contract At The Same Time?

Virgo = Service

Jupiter = Expansion

In addition to being of service, the Virgo archetype includes health, daily routine, orderliness/cleanliness, and the capability to get down and dirty with the details.

Jupiter, known as the Great Benefic, can bring blessings, usually by making a bad situation better, or a good one great. However, Jupiter’s energy is definitely one that’s over the top.

When Jupiter enters the sign of Virgo, this expansive energy becomes imbued through Virgo’s more myopic lens.

Astrologically, Virgo is the sign opposite Pisces. Pisces is ruled by Neptune in modern astrology, and Jupiter in traditional astrology. The ancients considered Jupiter to be in detriment when in the sign of Virgo, mostly because it’s difficult to think or act expansively when you’re mired in the nitty-gritty details.

On one hand, Virgo’s opposition to Pisces signals the need to integrate service with a higher, more spiritual calling. On the other hand, it highlights our potential capability to bring together enlightenment and practicality in ways that benefit us on a conscious level.

Pisces is about chaos. Take the beginning of the world for example. Anyone remember Haldane soup?

That’s what they taught us in school represented the mixture of chaotic gases, etc., that existed prior to the formation of our universe. And from out of this chaotic mess–when conditions were miraculously and perfectly right (Virgo!)–came expansion (Jupiter) and then order (Virgo again!)

Virgo is about discernment, or making sense out of chaos. As such, this archetypal energy represents a sweating of the details, as opposed to ignoring them in favor of the bigger picture…

I think of this combination as the greatest potential of which integrated Pisces/Virgo energy is capable.

“It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” ~ John Wooden

Reconciling these two energies may prove difficult for some, easier for others.

When it comes to creativity, however, Virgo presents us with a difficult pitfall to avoid.

Jupiter’s influence may fill our soul with hope, spirituality, and greater consciousness. Positive feelings may abound where Jupiter transits. Ditto for where we chose for him to take up residence in our natal charts.

I sometimes liken this energy to that of a helium balloon. Without the ability to ground itself, however, this helium balloon may fly too high and disappear amongst the clouds, never to be seen or heard from again.

Such is the case with those whose grandiose ideas never come down low enough to allow their feet onto terra firma.

While Saturn in one’s chart can go a long way to ground Jupiterian energy, Virgo’s influence may be a positive one as well. But Virgo–as part of its role to distinguish the wheat from the chaff, to recognize nuances and details–may also instill in us the mantra “work hard for the sake of being perfect.”

That’s because–or so some believe, be it consciously or unconsciously–perfectionism brings one closer to acceptance into the divine realm.

In other words, the thought process goes: if orderliness/cleanliness and being perfect is next to Godliness, the Virgo archetype is placed in the position of equating perfection with goodness, and chaos with all that is bad…

How To Make Jupiter In Virgo Work For You?

If you’re a writer, creative, or intuitive, you’ll want to allow Jupiter’s energy to continue to fill you with a direct line to the divine source of your special and individual brand of inspiration and creativity.

However, Virgo’s uber-discernment can make one overly critical. As difficult as it is to be overly critical when one is consumed with only the big picture, imagine the problems of keeping Jupiter’s optimistic boat of hope afloat when all one expresses is criticism!

So, easy does it…

Mercury’s still in early Virgo, and the Sun will follow soon enough…but Jupiter in Virgo until September 2016 is the backdrop against which these more temporary Virgoan influences will prevail.

Don’t lose sight of your bigger picture, your creative dream!

Meanwhile, however, don’t let your perfectionism hold you back from dreaming at all…

Out of chaos comes clarity…when the fog lifts, all becomes clear…we all start with Haldane soup.

What we add to it and how we mix and stir it is what allows us to perform the magic that leads to exactly the right word or phrase, note or harmony, dance move, picture or video shot, etc., that perfectly expresses what it is we are trying to say!

Namaste…

blessings, creativity, details, detriment, dreams, Great Benefic, health, hope, Jupiter, pisces, service, spirituality, Virgo

Venus Visits Virgo July 18 — 31

Posted by Sheri Horn Hasan - July 19, 2015 - Astrology

When Venus Visits Virgo, What Kind Of Love Have You Got?

Venus, the goddess of beauty and that which we value, visits Virgo, the archetypal sign of work, health, and service from July 18 – 31.

During this time the goddess of beauty and love takes a far more serious, practical turn–especially in contrast to the past month she’s spent in Leo, a much a flashier–albeit creative–look at me, look at me! energy…

While Venus normally takes approximately a month to travel through a sign, this time she will spend her first week in Virgo moving forward, and on July 25 will station retrograde (appear to stop moving in the sky and travel backward.) Venus then spends her second week visiting Virgo until she re-enters the sign of Leo on July 31.

With Venus it’s always about that which we find beautiful. What we find beautiful translates into that which we value. Venus in Leo called us to seek out and honor the value in ourselves and our creativity.

Often, however, we may mistake that our value lies only in the reflection of the eyes of another. Through the eyes of the OTHER–lover, sibling, parent, friend, co-worker, boss, neighbor, etc.–we may find we derive a great deal of self-value.

However, Venus, now in nit-picky, detail-oriented Virgo, calls us to do away with our mirror and to ask: From where do you derive your personal set of values? Is your value determined by others? Do you listen to your heart or to your mind? Do they often say different things?

Precision, accuracy, conciseness–in short discernment–is the name of the game when Venus comes to town in the sign of Virgo! Making clarity out of chaos is Virgo’s archetypal mission.

Can you dig down deep inside and find your REAL value? The one that doesn’t go away if and when the other disappears? Can you honor your own divine creation through what you create?

In short, can you ask yourself: what kind of love have you got?

Venus in Virgo asks us to get down to the practicalities of the matter: do you love yourself FOR yourself, or do you not?

Getting real about this is difficult for many of us. The tendency to criticize, judge, and nay-say away our own worth is what’s being highlighted now.

Why do we do that? More than likely it’s because we have the critical, judgmental voices of others in our head. Yep, you got it–the others through whom we gain our own sense of value when we see ourselves reflected back through their eyes…

I like the way the Eagles put it in their song “Victim Of Love”:

“Some people never come clean
I think you know what I mean
You’re walking the wire, pain and desire
Lookin’ for love in between…

Victim of love, we’re not so far apart
What kind of love have you got?”

Things happen for a reason, or so many of us astrologers believe. It’s no accident that Venus will retrograde back into Leo after her short stint in Virgo.

In a sense, Venus in Virgo is our pre-requisite for the course in values we’ll be getting during Venus retrograde, which will last until September 6.

Now is the time to start some of the harder work–to re-train our brains away from the ideal of perfectionism and toward the reality of getting to the point clearly and concisely.

And what’s the point? No more B.S.! Learn to love yourself and your creations, be they children, works of art–including writing, dance, music, film, photography, athletics, whatever–or anything that stems from within!

It’s time to get real and fill your well from within. Once you begin, you’re on solid ground, no longer dependent on another’s idea of your TRUE value to sustain you…

Namaste…

health, Leo, love, retrograde, service, Values, Venus, Virgo, work