New Moon in Virgo and Clearing a Path

The Moon was new in Virgo early this morning, and we have a fresh chance to emerge from the Saturn in Virgo depressive hangover we've been dealing with as the Sun and Mercury retrograde transit the sign. Saturn may now be in early Libra, but the arduousness and trauma of the past two-and-a-half years of Saturn in Virgo opposing Uranus in Pisces are far from being a memory...

This New Moon is a final emotional paring away, and we're reminded of Saturn in Virgo's admonitions about keeping things clean and clear in our lives - physically, emotionally, etherically.

This means releasing excessive habitual reactions like worrying, stressing and criticising and holding that Virgoan tongue a bit more often. But it also means releasing the situations and people who make you into THAT person - the one who has to nag and take care of the details and point out where others are falling short and wreaking havoc. Masterful Virgo, when functioning correctly, works to do things right. This is often taken advantage of by the less masterful who don't have such exacting standards.

At this New Moon, with Saturn, Mars and Venus in Libra, we can release the people and situations who habitually use and abuse the Virgoan drive to service, simply sidestepping them. Here, we can streamline and precisely define just what it is we are responsible for along these lines post-Saturn in Virgo.

No going back into old habits or patterns under this Moon, though the pull to old territory and old emotional quagmires is definitely there.

We have a South Node in Cancer, keeping us craving old haunts, old faces, the enveloping comfort of times past. Cancer South Node sees things with a dangerous level of nostalgia, so we have to be careful not to be sucked into a selective memory retro view of 'the way things were.' In reality, there were no good old days. Hank Williams was twanging on the jukebox while black men were being dragged behind cars full of drunken good old boys. And obedient wives cried silently into their cake batter waiting for them to get home.

In other words, keep on trucking.

Venus enters Scorpio today, too, a sign often caked with old layers and sticky attractions that are no longer in our best interests. Ahead of Venus' retrograde (October 8 - November 18), there are plenty of half-grown-over mine shafts we could fall down again here in our interpersonal relations if we're not vigilant.

We know where the trip wires are. We just have to stay conscious and actively avoid them.

The Moon enters Scorpio early morning September 11, conjuncting Venus, and we have an initial emotional status report related to the territory we're going to be going through and then back over during Venus' retrograde.

Add to this astro climate Jupiter re-entering Pisces late tonight (hanging out there for the rest of 2010), a sign with many a haunting siren song tugging at our wistful and self-sabotaging rosey-hopeful parts, and cutting a path through the chaos with this Virgo New Moon truly puts our post-Saturn-in-Virgo skills to the test.

Pluto and Mercury are stationing direct trine in earth signs at the moment - Mercury goes direct in Virgo September 12, and Pluto goes direct in Capricorn September 13. Things are tight, and we're being held physically in place as the gears shift. Every word and every action is weighted this week, and only what's necessary is allowed.

Pluto is kicking up a big case of the fears at times, rumbling through our emotional and energetic bodies from the epicentres. Mercury in Virgo keeps us worrying about it all, so release the mental stress in controlled bursts rather than letting it build up and boil over - and help others do the same, if you can.