Multiple Planets in Virgo and in Earth

Just as August was an extremely Leo month, a generator of expressive passion and fire, September is even more profoundly earthy, beginning 34 hours after the new moon and with all the personal planets, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars all in Virgo.

And each of these, whether in early or later September, form flowing trines with the convergence of Pluto, Saturn, Medusa and Persephone in the earth sign of Capricorn. All of the transformative powers and possibilities of the convergence become that much more accessible, particularly our capacity to create or to go with, deep personal change and empowerment.

In fact, there are a series of grand trines, the best of flowing aspects, with either Uranus or the priestess archetype Vesta in the third earth sign of Taurus.

With some notable exceptions, a preponderance of earth energy tends to slow proceedings up, putting a greater emphasis on going for quality and not speed, getting more disciplined and focused with both the mind and in action and, a greater emphasis on creating form and stability. As we will see, this quality can be harmonised with the deep evolutionary movement being offered to all of us.  

Sun, Mercury, Mars, Venus trining Uranus in Taurus

While the above can sound rather boring, there is no lack of creative juice or expressive energy in this arrangement, with Venus and Mars close to the Sun along with Mercury, a tight four way combination that heightens the desire to get things done, creatively, intellectually and physically.

All this Virgo energy simultaneously acts as a lightning rod for bringing down to earth the uber-innovative and often magical energies of Uranus in Taurus, adding a higher voltage of creative Shakti to whatever we do. One of the many gifts with this is the ability to stay grounded when being exposed to heightened intellectual and spiritual energies that are bringing down surges of insight, intellection and vision, in turn having a greater capacity to translate those into form and manifestation.  

Sun, Mercury, Mars and Venus square Jupiter in Sagittarius

In the course of the first two weeks of September, these inner planets will form squares to the high energy Jupiter in Sagittarius. Squares are traditionally difficult aspects but usually Jupiter is such a positive energy that even squares to him are often far from difficult.

The main challenge though with excess Jupiter is just that; too much energy, too many options and possibilities, a restlessness that wants to get things done more quickly and even an irritability when more conservative parts of self, such as Virgo, appear to get in the way of one’s desire for freedom from constraint.

Squares between Virgo and Sagittarius always tend to bring up this tension, which forces us to seek some form of compromise that gives outlets to the different pace of each.
More practically, there is a caution about taking on too much or having exaggerated expectations of what can be achieved.

And they have a lot to offer each other in ways of rebalancing the excesses of each; Jupiter and Sagittarius challenge the methodical conservatism of Virgo, while the earth goddess brings a high-energy centaur into a better relationship with practicality!

Nevertheless, if we can avoid the excesses of Jupiter, there is almost always abundant opportunities and even grace that tends to come from unexpected sources.

And, as we’ll see below, while there is a great deal to appreciate in this month’s chart, we will also meet some considerable shadow areas in the middle weeks, and it is always good to have some quality light-filled Jupiter energy around.  

Sun, Mars, Venus opposite Black Moon conjunct Neptune In Pisces

These oppositions, which bisect the multiple grand trines in September’s chart, are the most challenging aspects for the month, ones that will get peak in the second week (fortunately, just as Jupiter is really kicking in as well!)

While all the earth energy allows us to build tremendous momentum, getting something like the Black Moon together with Neptune can be like driving into swampy water flooding the road ahead, where your steering gets loose and you don’t know what you are driving into.

The swampy water represents deep unconscious forces flushing up unresolved emotional and psychic energies from past, that set up various traps for the excesses of our egos and, seek to purify distortions around our sexuality and capacity for love (especially with Venus and Mars involved)

Psychologically this can be a difficult time for some of us, and we can expect some fairly junky stuff to arise, that can temporarily knock us off course. At times like this it’s important to remember a number of things;

• don’t attempt to plough your way through it, slow up, stop even and listen within.
• that this transit affects everybody and so you are not alone in feeling what you are feeling.
• it is a transit and so it will pass.
• see it as an opportunity for clearing out the old, using whatever practices work for you spiritually and therapeutically.
• be kind to yourself and look after your psychic boundaries, some of what you will be feeling doesn’t necessarily belong to you.
• you can have life changing breakthroughs in your spiritual and healing journeys at such time.

Often at these times we can feel incredibly disheartened, alone and at the mercy of things beyond our control. But like many “dark” transits there are great spiritual mysteries behind the initial manifestations. The Black Moon is associated with different versions of the Great Mother, which includes the Black Madonna and the great protective mother Durga. Neptune conjunct the Black Moon gives us access to these expressions of the goddess who support us in often hidden ways as we go through times of great transition. There are powerful meditations for connecting us with these expressions of the sacred feminine, from the work of Andrew Harvey, Matthew Fox and with Durga, from the brilliant Sally Kempton.

One gift of the Black Moon is true fearlessness!  

Jupiter Square Black Moon and Neptune

As I’ve said above, having Jupiter involved with the Black Moon/Neptune conjunction can modify the purificatory extremes of the Black Moon by adding grace and fluidity to whatever processes are going on there. Basically, he can help us get more confluent with the demands of these unconscious forces, to be able to move through even the darkest challenges, to be able to surrender more easily and to trust the hidden intelligence behind the actions of this form of the Great Mother.

However, we should not fall into the trap of thinking that Jupiter is simply all good. On one level, Jupiter energy will expand whatever it touches, whether positive or negative. For instance, all the leading Nazis had fabulous Jupiters, which contributed to the megalomania and the sheer scope of their destructiveness.

Less dramatically, one thing we need to watch out for with a Neptune Black Moon conjunction (which will be operating for the next months) is that instead of feeling the feelings, facing the shadows and consciously working with the purification processes, it can be a little bit too easy to take the path of anaesthetisation, to avoid such a necessary confrontation. Unfortunately, our culture encourages this shadow expression of Neptune, through the more obvious escape mechanisms of using drugs, alcohol, screen addictions et cetera.

And we have to watch out for upper chakra forms of meditation as well that can allow an individual to avoid where the real work is, around our lower chakras. However, any meditation that engages the latter can bear enormous fruit at times like this, as it engages the purificatory and transformative power inherent in each of us. By consciously drawing from the protectiveness of the Great Mother, we can feel progressively safer to go into this dark and mysterious territory. And Jupiter will have a good time in adding his gracious largesse to proceedings.

Spiritually this is such a potent alignment and can set the stage for some profound and spectacular spiritual awakenings. Just watch out for any slipperiness within ourselves on the journey towards this potential.  

Virgo moon in Grand Trine with Pluto conjunct Medusa in Capricorn and Vesta in Taurus

Firstly, the Pluto Medusa combination has also been around for months and is exact, to within a degree, at this time. I have written in earlier columns about how incredibly transformative this combination is, alongside the necessary inner work around ancient toxicity and rage.

In some ways this is also a Western version of the Shiva Shakti sacred marriage relationship, as within the Pluto archetype is both sacred masculine and sacred feminine, both Shiva and Kali. Historically and symbolically, Medusa and Kali are closely connected through a version of Kali known as Renukal.

So obviously this is a power hotspot in the collective energies of this time and having the Moon line up so well with these two, to be followed by all the inner planets in the course of the month, gives us flowing access to all the different transformative processes happening within and around this.

It also supports our capacity to make lasting and life enhancing changes in the different parts of our lives. Through this we can call upon the courage to dismantle outer structures and inner patterning that has belittled us, to cut the cords to relationships that have become emotionally and spiritually redundant and, to release past life and ancestral trauma.

In this clearing away of the old we are equally supported to step up in our degree of personal and psychospiritual empowerment, where we can affirm where we have done enough work to be able to act as agents of deep and healthy change in the world. We’re not talking about egocentric empowerment, because harnessing lower egos drives to this kind of potency always ends up becoming destructive, but where we can use or develop positive ego structures that allow transformative power and healing to work through us.

Now all of this is beautifully supported by the presence of a quieter goddess energy in the form of Vesta, who is extremely well placed in the sign of Taurus. Vesta in many ways is the archetypal priestess, a keeper of the flame of our core self, and one who knows how to contain and concentrate spiritual power, to be able to direct that accurately and effectively in the world. She has the capacity to keep us well-grounded and supremely focused, and so here’s another signal of how brilliantly all this earth energy can, not just get our lives in order but to set the stage for stepping into this next era, heralded by the Pluto/Saturn/eclipse conjunction in January.

May the power be with all of us!

With love and blessings,

Daniel