Virgo Solar Eclipse September 1st & Pisces Lunar Eclipse September 16th, 2016

This month (September 2016) there are two eclipses… a solar one (at the time of the new moon) in the sign of Virgo on the 1^st. And a lunar (at the time of the full moon) in the sign of Pisces on the 16^th.

Both indicate key stages in the lunar cycle – solar eclipses tend to indicate new phases or new beginnings, and lunar eclipses often indicate closure or letting go. Especially emotional closure. The Moon is about emotions and feelings, and so they are coming to the forefront this month, to be acknowledged, processed and integrated.

In astrology eclipses are about major turning points, where certain situations have been building up momentum through events for quite some time, for good or ill, and the events at eclipse times are release points, or trigger points for long-term change. You can look back with hindsight at an eclipse period and see how events around that time were movers and shapers of future direction.

September 1^st Eclipse = Preparation is Key

During the September 1^st eclipse, the planets suggest there has been pressure to act in a certain way, or to act on certain things, but the timing might not be quite right to take action, even if you want to. Withholding or holding fire doesn’t mean failure to launch, it is more about good preparation. The time for action might be more mid-month or beyond, when Mars aligns with the lunar eclipse.

Saturn square Neptune

This planet alignment has been one of the key themes of the year, and it figures highly in the eclipses, especially the solar eclipse on the 1^st. This alignment has brought our fears to life in some respects, only for us to find out that our fears hold no power over us in reality.

It’s also about being very careful what we believe in or buy into, as what seems real often turns out to be just a façade. It’s been a year of remembering not to judge books by covers.

Mercury Retrograde

This retrograde period started near to the solar eclipse on 30th August, and will continue for most of the month, ending on the day of the Autumn equinox, 22nd September.

Although Mercury retrogrades three times a year, this one is a strong retrograde because:

-          Mercury is in Virgo, the sign which it rules.

-          North node is in Virgo, which is an indicator of opportunities or open doors that feel ‘fated’ or like ‘destiny’ to walk through. Mercury is therefore planet associated with this north node, which means it’s the planet to watch for the way these opportunities will manifest (Mercury is about communication, logic, pathways, transport, siblings and sibling relationships, and neighbours). As Mercury is Retrograde it means the concept of retrograde is also how those opportunities manifest. Retrograde means reconnection or returning to the past in some way… looking to the past, looking in a different direction, etc etc. 

-          Mercury meets Jupiter at eclipse time. Jupiter is the planet of good luck, good fortune, faith and expansion. Jupiter uplifts what it touches, which gives this Mercury retrograde period a touch of miracle mindedness; a sparkle of extra confidence and self belief. 

Lunar Eclipse = Ready to Receive

When the moon stands opposite the Virgo sun, from the sign of Pisces on the 16^th, it also stands next to the asteroid Chiron. This asteroid is about healing, and specifically about being receptive to healing. Being open and accepting of solutions can be a challenge when the problem or symptom is dominant… it takes imagination to look past what looms large in our life, and be open to answers and opportunities. It also means accepting we are deserving of being given to in this way.

Ask and it is given is the mantra of the universe according to Law of Attraction, but the universe can only give by us being open to receive. The lunar eclipse on the 16^th suggests events that highlight this idea of being receptive and open to solutions and problems. The time might be right for action too, according to Mars...

Full Moon In Virgo

This years full moon in Virgo (11th March @ 2.40am GMT) happens right on that Saturn/Uranus opposition that's been hanging around since last November. While the alignment of Saturn/Uranus isn't exact at the moment, this moon sort of fills in the gaps of the degrees and pulls it together again, focusing and amplifying the energy through full moon-esque events.

I was pondering with furrowed brow what a Virgo full moon-esque event might look like, then got distracted by a sudden need to bleach the bathroom grouting with a toothbrush. Which is so utterly Virgo it's not funny (especially the furrowed brow ponder while doing so). Then I decided I must ask my four-planets-including-Saturn-in-Virgo friend about painting my living room (he'd pointed out all my patchy paintwork and offered to finish the job properly, and now all I can see is my patchy paintwork), but was interupted by my Virgo relative who phoned all wired and excited to say she was going to see a psychic to attempt to contact her deceased father, and she felt it was going to be 'electrifying' (Sun/Uranus in Pisces). So though I couldn't see for looking, the energy is there and flowing, and I do get the sense there might be a rather a lot of over-stimulated, jangled nerves about, especially with Virgo and Pisces.

Also, for me and a lot of Pluto in Virgo generation this Saturn/Uranus opposition is hitting Pluto in the chart. Pluto is about trust versus control in situations, so you can add that into the mix of moon energies if applicable, as well as a thought I had the other day about the Virgo eclipse of mid-September 2007. I remember it because it happened around my Pluto in Virgo degree... but I just have a feeling that because this full moon is so close to that spot, with Saturn right on that eclipse degree, it's going to be echoing events from around that time somehow, or breaking a stalemate feeling, or moving things on, or amplifying that eclipse theme in a Saturn sort of way... oh the possibilities are endless; so if you notice this in your experience at the moment, do share with a comment. Anyhoo, back to me grouting :)

New Moon In Virgo 30th August

It's happening around 9pm UK time - the moon in Virgo meets the sun in Virgo at 8 degrees. New moon's indicate new phases of experience coming into being, and with Virgo involved it means bringing definition to intentions for the future. Defining and diagnosing the intention brings more clarity, makes things more specific, and brings desires into sharper focus.

Virgo is the problem-solver when focused on the solution, but can't move beyond critic when focused solely on the problem, so assume a solution is out there, even when it seems far-fetched to do so (which draws in the polarity sign of Pisces the dreamer, symbolising the fulfilment Virgo is reaching for between now and the upcoming full moon in Pisces). Saturn sitting so close by this new moon might make it seem more sensible or inevitable to face a less than ideal reality, but thankfully uplifting Jupiter is in on this too, feeding Saturn some faith in it's own process; a process that in Virgo emphasises how reality is always a work in progress where it's safe to assume there's room for improvement on any less than ideal scenario.

Saturn In Virgo Story

I love this. Two men have been banned from national parks after 'vandalising' a sign by correcting the grammar.

Jeff Michael Deck of Somerville, and Benjamin Douglas Herson, of Virginia Beach, Va., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Flagstaff after damaging a rare, hand-painted sign in Grand Canyon National Park... Authorities said Deck and Herson, both 28, toured the United States from March to May, wiping out errors on government and private signs.

...An affidavit by National Park Service agent Christopher A. Smith said investigators learned of the vandalism from an Internet site operated by Deck on behalf of the Typo Eradication Advancement League, or TEAL. According to the Internet posting, TEAL members agreed to stamp out as many typos as they could find in public signage and other venues.
Rest of story here

How Saturn in Virgo is all that? Saturn is authority, tradition, and the law, and Virgo is about getting stuff right, especially the little things that mean a lot; like mending signposts of their broken grammar. And they are both 28, which means they are going through their Saturn Return, which means they must have Saturn in Virgo in their charts too. So it's the established law ("it's been like that for years, leave it alone!") against their law ("no one should be forced to endure grammatical errors in this day and age"). So whose right? That's the trouble with laws isn't it, it depends what angle you're coming from. Vandalism? or the result of sticking in at school?.

New Moon Eclipse In Virgo - When Less Means More

Willard Wigan MBE is an artist who makes sculptures so small they can't be seen with the naked eye, some are so small they are only three times the size of a blood cell. He paints the sculptures with a hair plucked from the head of a housefly, and sets them in the eye of a needle or on the tip of an eyelash.

As a child he had undiagnosed dyslexia, and was made to feel small by teachers who singled him out and told him he would never amount to anything. His response was to run away from school and hide in a shed, watching the ants that lived there. He began constructing houses for them out of splinters, and his obsession with miniature worlds started to unfold, born out of a desire to prove that 'less is more' and that 'nothing could be everything'. And he just sold his collection to date for £11million.

Virgo is the sign which has an eye for detail, and often astrology focuses on the downside of that - the nit-picking, the criticism, the scepticism, the fussing. But when a new moon eclipse comes along in Virgo there's not much time to dwell on the negatives, especially when hard working Saturn has just arrived in this sign, and law-breaking Uranus, the paradox planet that has the power to turn any situation completely on its head, is linking up to the new moon from opposite sign Pisces. The message being, that because in reality anything is possible, now's the time to whittle it all down by choosing what it is YOU WANT to be possible. Scientists and sceptics doubt this artist's creative ability because they don't see how it can be done, but thankfully disbelief didn't dampen his desire to make great things happen out of apparently nowhere.

You can read more on Willard Wigan here
and here
watch an interview here
and here's a YouTube montage of his works:



The 2007 new moon eclipse in Virgo takes place on 11th September at around 1.45pm UK time.