THE MOOD: Mess and Majesty
We are seeing glimpses of gold, the hint of harvest glimmering. There is much promise in the change of seasons, as gifts of beauty and renewal beckon us. However, we must honor that this transition is not possible without great transformation. September offers tantalizing tastes of rejuvenation, and we are asked to plunge into our depths to receive them.
The first week of September tests our sense of direction as Mars, needling through Virgo, opposes Neptune in Pisces. The organization and optimization that we mastered in August might be thrown off-kilter, making a mess of our efforts. To complicate matters, Venus tussles with Pluto soon after. Any messes that we’ve made -- especially in our relationships with our close friends, partners, and colleagues -- will come to a head, and we may need to confront some hard truths at this time in order to heal and repair. While this weather may feel intense and confusing, there is relief possible if we commit to undoing hurtful or harmful relationship dynamics. Thankfully, the first week ends with extraordinarily helpful trines between Mars and Pluto, Venus and Jupiter, and the Sun and Uranus. Use this energy to radically reimagine how you show up for yourself and your loves; use this energy to redefine what caring, generous, and joyous interactions can look and feel like.
The call to tend to our relationships comes again and again over the month as the inner planets traverse Libra. In Libra’s desire for balance, we may find ourselves speaking and acting with special attention to fairness, tact, and diplomacy. While this approach can be helpful in fostering connection, the danger here is losing ourselves in the process. By mid-month, we may start to especially feel the “ouch” of what happens when politeness prevents us from advocating for our unique individual needs. Paired with Venus’ entry in Scorpio, this weather propels us to question, excavate, and confront our habits that give others too much power -- or not enough. The month will ask us repeatedly to articulate our boundaries, show up for others with clear intention, and strive for balance on the seesaw of self and other.
On September 22, we enter autumn. The fall equinox brings us a day of equal light and darkness, beautifully reflecting our efforts towards equilibrium. From then onwards, however, the night will lengthen; simultaneously, the end of the month leaves us with seven retrograde planets, including Mercury’s retrograde on September 26. As sunshine turns into shadow, we are reminded that change is a dialectic of directions -- that we are constantly moving forward, messing up, reflecting and refining, traversing worn paths, and crossing new ones. Nothing may be completely fixed, but nothing is completely broken. We discover that the gold that glimmers is, in fact, light radiating between cracks.