This evening we welcome the new moon in Virgo. As we explored a few weeks back, we’ve been in the throes of Virgo season for the past few weeks and we’re just preparing to wrap up in the coming days. Perhaps you’ve felt the grounding presence of shift into the winding down of summer. Our earthy element has come through to remind us we have shit to do, after all! We’re planning for the waning months, preparing to ensure we have what we need to survive the turning of the seasons.
Our sign of Virgo is ruled by Mercury, which has also been retrograding since August. We’ve also had six (!) other planets in retrograde during this time, which is quite the rarity. After an electric summer season, the sky has slowed way down, and the past few weeks you may have been tasked to exercise a bit more patience, a bit more mindfulness, a bit more TLC with plans and preparations. That Mercury retrograde, also situated in the sign of Virgo, returns direct on Friday. So on this new moon we are on the tail end of a Virgo double whammy, and thus the ways we communicate to ourselves and others come into view now.
Virgo: the pragmatist, the analyst, the organizer, the planner, the doer. If anyone knows how, Virgo knows how. And the beautiful thing about this Virgoan energy is that Virgo loves to learn how to do something better, more efficient, more streamlined. What’s lovely about Virgo is just this: the love of learning how to do something well. Virgo is very seldom too hard-headed or full of their own hubris to not take constructive criticism for the sake of improvement. Anything that helps to shift the circumstances for the best. And yet…and yet. The influence of analysis and practicality can occasionally leave us hard on ourselves and hard on others. Sometimes the most practical way to do something isn’t the prettiest or the most fun. Sometimes figuring it all out isn’t the purpose. Some things in life we can’t get to the bottom of completely and hand over for presentation wrapped in a nice shiny bow. And sometimes, that is absolutely infuriating.
Our new moon arrives now to provide you with a bit of breathing room. Take a moment to take stock. What’s working well? What isn’t? How are you treating yourself and others along the way? When was the last time you stopped writing the instruction manual of life to see how you’re feeling about it? Looking back over the past couple of weeks, what has your inner dialogue been? Have you been able to access compassion for self when things don’t quite go as planned, or have you defaulted to taking blame and responsibility for a situation, a mistake, or a facet of yourself entirely? Sometimes our constructive criticism spins itself in circles and serves to take us down instead of supporting our growth. This is where compassion comes in - a softening, a moment of reprieve, to acknowledge we come from a place of humanness, messy and intricate, complex and dynamic. Are you able to remember that now, and hold it close?
Our corresponding tarot friend for the season of Virgo happens to be the Hermit. The Hermit is a card that represents a need to draw closely into ourselves for the purpose of coming home to self. If you find yourself distracted, pulled in a million different directions at once, completely on the outside, look to the Hermit for encouragement. Sometimes it is the way of Virgo to attempt to do it all that we lose sight of our being-ness. Perhaps you have very few moments to be one with yourself - so take a breath now in presence. This one facet of our existence, breathing - it’s something we do for and with ourselves alone. Remembering that our Virgo friend is also the Virgin, one who is whole and sovereign unto themselves. One who carries all completely. Each breath you take, you are breathing as the Hermit, and you may let all else fall away, just for the moment. All but the moment at hand, that is all which requires your tending. It’s amazing the way one breath can allow all the other distractions and divisions, ruminations and mind puzzles to retreat. All else disappears, even if it is just for a small millisecond of a moment - this is it.
Today, as you are reading this, before you move on to whatever might be waiting for you, take a breath and take awareness in that this, right here, right now, is your only thing. Take a breath and be present. Your breath, your superpower, is always bringing you back to yourself. You cannot take a breath before its time, and you cannot get back a breath you have already taken. Take a breath and be here, in this moment.
May you take this time now to quiet, to still, to rest. To calm the senses and retreat, even if it is just for a moment, to come within and notice yourself breathing here now. We are using the influence of the Hermit to let go of our distractions and embrace a moment of solitude. If you find yourself with more time for solitude, use it to turn inward and see what’s there. Spend time with you, breathing and being. If your mind continues to go a mile a minute, try doing something. And even if you don’t have the time to spend on yourself, do it anyway! Our Virgo new moon is here to say that being in service to others means first and foremost we must be in service of taking care of ourselves. Do something just for the sake of you. Check in. Write. Make art. Go for a walk. Find stillness, in whatever ways you can. Soften yourself. As you move as one, we move together.
We are sending you blessings and love on this Virgo new moon!