!! OMG Stars: New Moon in Virgo, September 2020 !!

OMG Stars is an astrology column written by queer astrologer Amelia Ehrhardt (@soft_aspects). Every two weeks, on the new and full moons, Amelia interprets the upcoming astrology with a focus on how to navigate current events (astrological and global). Book an appointment with Amelia here.

The sense of possibility that comes with the start of a new academic year is deeply nostalgic to me. There’s nothing astrological about September that suggests renewal per se, but I can’t help but find the orderly energy of Virgo following the wild energy of Leo to always feel like a reset. With a new moon in the sign, that feeling of renewal begins to make astrological sense to me as we experience the potential collective reset of all things Virgonic.

Virgo is just one part of the Zodiac that is poorly understood. The sign of meticulousness, of detail, of service is often seen as ornery, nitpick, and boring. I personally *love* Virgo and am here to affirm Virgo traits for all my Virgo readers. Virgo will help you move on a dime. Virgo will offer actually useful feedback. Virgo will have remembered to do the thing that you didn’t think needed to get done before you even thought of it. Virgo will pack you a lunch. This sign is helpful.

This new moon, alongside the sun having formed a brief trine to Saturn this week, gives us opportunity to evaluate the ways that we are in service. The ways we help each other. The ways we take on thankless tasks. Saturn in Capricorn has us clinging to old ways of being that Pluto is telling us are time to go: with this new moon in a fellow earth sign, the astrology offers us a gentle push towards seeing that letting go of these structures can actually be helpful.

The long lasting square between Mars and Saturn is highlighting tensions that are butting heads in distinct parts of our lives. Ways that one conflict highlights trauma in another area: the fact that our lives are interwoven. I hope that the changes 2020 has brought to us can be there to show us that it’s unrealistic to leave our personal problems at home (especially when we work from home), or to not let financial troubles bring us down every day. Some people can compartmentalize but many of us cannot, and should not be punished for it.

We are experiencing massive, existential, ambiguous loss and grief right now. Allow yourself to experience it. To experience and grieve the losses and changes that this year has brought to your own life and to the world around you. It is okay to be afraid of what is happening right now. Do not back down from your feelings. Show up for your grief and fear and feelings with your full self. I’m gonna really show my cards here and quote the Bene-Gesserit Litany against Fear:

“I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

As for me, I’m counting down the days til the new Dune movie is released just before the winter solstice.

Find your full horoscopes after the jump!

Horoscopes are written using whole house calculations and are meant as inspiration and affirmation of what you already know. They are written for both sun and rising signs, but specific information is calculated for the rising signs. You can also read the horoscope for your moon sign for extra emotional information. You can access your birth chart at www.astro.com or many other apps and websites using your birth date, time, and location. If you’re interested in getting a reading, you can book one with Amelia here.

Aries and Aries Rising
So this is my second sci-fi reference in one astrology column, but go with me: I watch a lot of Star Trek. I’m right now finally making my way through Deep Space Nine, a harder series to get into but one that is truly rewarding to be in now. A plot device used a lot in Star Trek is “everyone on the ship is acting weird except one person and it’s up to them to figure out why”. Usually the episode starts with whoever it is noticing people seeming secretive, or off somehow. And always it turns out to be something like an alien situation, or a spatial anomaly, or some other weird thing. In other news: it has nothing to do with them personally. Ok Aries? Other people being weirdos right now is not a reflection of you. They’re living through a pandemic, climate catastrophe, and a massive civil rights uprising. They’re just trying to remember to breathe like you are.

The forever Aries lesson could in fact be “it’s not about you”. But this isn’t bad! Mars retrograde in your sign might be really bringing out your angry side, and it could also be giving you an uncomfortable taste of your own medicine as people have the same relationship to anger that you usually do. Aries rising readers have this new moon in your 6th house of day to day life. What a beautiful time to practice patience. Practice a new daily ritual, practice a new habit. Go to bed thinking of what you want your days to look like and invite that in. If anyone can will change it just might be you.

Taurus and Taurus Rising
I’m thinking a lot, Taurus readers, about Venus lately, your ruling planet. Right now Venus is in Leo, a sign that can stress Taurus out quite a bit. Taurus is steadfast, sensual, protective: Leo is a bit more gregarious and demonstrative. I hope that you can encounter this energy via the showstopper end-of-summer dahlias and roses. Taurus rising readers have this new moon in your 5th house of creativity: what a wonderful time to work with Venus in Leo!

Think of beauty, of fun, of expression, and think of how you can incorporate these things into your life on a more regular basis from now on. The Mars-Saturn square highlights tension between your 9th and 12th houses: the part of you that wants to expand and the part of you that wants to dream. If you are a student, I suspect you are having bonkers stress dreams about school. Actually any of you might be having school-related stress dreams.

Let yourself be energized by your solitude and bring that energy with you into the external world so that you may grow. Change isn’t your favorite and this year has asked for a lot of it, so treat the difficulties we’ve faced as a learning opportunity and let growth happen s l o w l y.

Gemini and Gemini Rising
This year has had a lot going on for you in terms of your entanglements to other people, Gemini rising. The outer planets in Capricorn have all been riding around your 8th house, so your intimacy with other people has probably been going through major changes. If you also have any planets or positions in late Cardinal signs, it’s been a damn hard year. This Mars-Saturn square is possibly bringing out conflicts that exist between your community and your intimacy. Ways that your deepest emotional entanglements or sexual relationships are connected to friend groups, or changes to your social world that have come about as a result of deep personal transformation you have been going through.

I came across this great tweet today by user @_vicdagoat – I love the internet so much – and it made me think of how this year’s astrology is hitting Gemini rising folks: “one of the hardest yet [most] freeing things I learned to accept is someone’s narrative of me. their experience is valid. no matter who I know me to be, that does not mean that’s who I showed up as to them. only hey know how I impacted them, so it’s not my job to agree or disagree.” Mars flying through your 11th house has maybe mean that people are seeing an angry side of you lately. Work on both soothing your own system while accepting peoples’ perceptions of you.

This new moon, you can let go of visions for home that are no longer serving you. For Gemini sun people, the new moon will potentially be in a stressful aspect to your Gemini placements, so it’s possible to feel a little irritable at the way other people are asking for analysis while you want *everything*. If you’re into this kind of thing, sit in your living room, your kitchen, wherever, and speak out loud: “I release all of that which no longer serves my highest potential.”

Cancer and Cancer Rising
Cancer folks of all stripes, when was the last time you truly stood up for yourself? A lot of this year has seen challenges for everyone with Cardinal sign placement (of which Cancer is one) and with your shell-self it’s probably been easy to feel trampled by the aggressive 2020 astrology (especially with this Mars retrograde igniting tempers).

Cancer rising people have the new moon in your third house of communication, meaning it’s a good time to build new communication strategies for yourself. If the ways that you communicate don’t make enough space for your emotional needs, think of how you can change that. The Mars-Saturn square is igniting conflicts between your 10th and 7th houses: your house of career and your house of one-on-one relationships.

Perhaps there’s a conflict with a business partner, or a difficult interpersonal relationship that’s weighing down your work days. Whatever it is, try to remember that you are not other peoples’ perception of you. Have integrity in your behavior and face your conflicts head-on.

Leo and Leo Rising
Although the summer is drawing to a close in this part of the world, the late-summer flowers are all reminding me of the lion’s roar long after the sun has left your domain. This is appropriate, considering that Venus – planet of beauty – is currently in your sign.

I love Venus in Leo! It’s beautiful, it’s expressive, it’s showy, it’s sooo generous, it loves to be seen, it loves to see. This year has featured so much terrible astrology so I think that this time of Venus in Leo while we are moving into the cold months can be such a good reminder of the importance of indulgence. Leo rising readers have this new moon in your second house of resources: what a nice place for a new moon! Set yourself some new intentions for how you think about your resources. Sure, this is money, but it’s also: food, energy, your values. Give yourself some leonine care so that these areas may shine.

Also for Leo rising readers, the Mars-Saturn square highlights tension between your 6th house of daily life and your 9th house of expansion. You  might *really* wanna get out into the world but *really* know that you are completely stuck in place right now. Think about ways that you can have new experiences in your day to day life. Create a new routine, build a new walk into your schedule, visit a new part of your neighborhood. Try to let your daily life be a source of inspiration.

Virgo and Virgo Rising
Hi, Virgo. I need to say this to you, on the eve of a new moon in your sign, because I suspect you don’t hear it often enough: thank you. Thank you for remembering to do that thing. Thank you for helping with that task. Thank you for taking care of that shit so that I could do something else. Thank you for doing it all unasked. So many Virgo people are constantly doing thankless, though critical, tasks. This lunation, I ask you to learn to thank yourself. To know that if more of us served in the particular invisible ways that you do, then things would run more smoothly all over. Allow for new ways of seeing yourself.

Think of everything that has happened over the past twelve months. How have you grown? How have you learned more about yourself? How have you evolved? Congratulate yourself on having done the work and celebrate. Virgo rising people have the Mars-Saturn square bringing out tensions between your 5th and 8th houses – your house of fun and creativity and your house of intimacy and transformation.

This is an interesting one to interpret. I wonder, Virgo rising, if you can use your transformative processes to spark creativity, or use creative expression to work through any anger that you are holding via other people right now. Remember that their anger is not yours. It’s so in the style of your sign to hold onto it without caring for yourself, so remember that you cannot serve if you do not serve yourself.

Libra and Libra Rising
As the sun prepares to move into your sign next Tuesday the 22nd, we are moving into what is in the part of the world I am writing from (Toronto) one of the most beautiful, if most brief, seasons. How appropriate for Venus-ruled Libra! Libra is about beauty, harmony – the particular glow of a sunset during the autumn. This year there is a dark cast on those sunsets as even here on the eastern side of the continent, haze from the west coast wildfires clouds our skies and makes our sunsets an odd shade of pink. It’s a good reminder to Libra readers that beauty can be quite deceptive. Dear Libra, lots of this year’s astrology has been stressful to you, and it’s been on your lot to be the mediator at times.

I urge you, Libra reader, to remember the role of a neutral mediator is to not take sides and to not get personally involved in conflict that isn’t actually about you. For Libra rising readers, the Mars-Saturn square is taking place between your 4th house of home and 7th house of partnership. This is a tough one, as difficulty in your one-on-one relationships is gonna be particularly stressful for Libra folks, and most of you appreciate a harmonious home life. I encourage you to use your alone time to the best of your advantage.

This new moon is in your 12th house of dreams, mystery – and solitude! Journal, take walks, think of your dreams, just be sure to give yourself space to get away from any interpersonal stressors right now.

Scorpio and Scorpio Rising
Recently I’ve been doing  some work on loving my Scorpio side. The side of me that is “intense”, that is “too much”, that divulges, that loves to be divulged in. We have no choice but to love our Scorpio side. When we do, we have the possibility for some truly passionate love back. Scorpio rising readers have this new moon in your 11th house of community, so I suggest that you lean into your Scorpio self and see that your intensity is what people love about you.

Don’t shy away from yourself when you’re around friends. The Mars-Saturn square is bringing out tension between your 3rd house fo communication and your 6th house of day-to-day life. You might find your daily life being a source of conflict that prevents you from feeling heard. As best you can, leave the daily irritations with the day and let them go.

It’s not easy for Scorpio, you who never forget a wound, but just remind yourself that other peoples’ bad moods are truly not your problem.

Sagittarius and Sagittarius Rising
While Virgo and Sagittarius are signs that square each other and therefore can create tension, the tension between Virgo and Sagittarius is often so helpful. Sagittarius wants to go on an adventure: Virgo asks if they brought a lunch! Sagittarius wants to go to school to learn: Virgo reads the books and analyzes! Sagittarius wants to travel: Virgo bought the tickets!

This new moon during this most studious time of year can be a chance for your particularly carefree Sagittarians to think about how boring details are actually the key to your adventures. Sagittarius rising readers have this new moon in your tenth house of career: it is a beautiful time to rethink your reputation. Start over, start new, plant seeds. Know that you are in charge of the way you are seen.

The Mars-Saturn square highlights tensions in your life between your resources and your fun, your values and your creativity: dying to go out but broke? No problem, we shouldn’t be going out anyways. Just kidding, but let this tension be a way to think creatively about your values and your resources so that you can use them to the best of your advantage.

Capricorn and Capricorn Rising
Are you ready for 2020 to be over yet? In December Pluto and Jupiter move TF out of Capricorn, Mars moves out of Aries and away from the stress aspect to Capricorn. I’ve said to my Capricorn clients lately that since Capricorn is a sign that likes structure and reliability, a year in which there has been no structure or reliability is likely to have been real stressful.

Not to say that 2021 will be particularly easy astrology, but at least your lot will be personally out of the woods. The Mars-Saturn square has likely seen a lot of anger in your life, and for Capricorn rising readers this has highlighted tensions between your identity and your home/family. This could be your family of origin, chosen family or family you live with.

You may have felt a need to really *prove* yourself, or you may have been receiving anger from people in your family. Keep in mind that you know yourself best and that you don’t have to prove yourself to anyone other than yourself.

Aquarius and Aquarius Rising
I’ve been watching astronomy videos lately and learning about the planets from a more physical level. Uranus, Aquarius’ ruling planet, is fascinating. It’s magnetic field is tilted compared to other planets in the solar system, so that the north and south poles are where other planets would have the equator. This means that instead of the planet facing away or towards the sun during its day and night rotation, Uranus faces towards or away from the sun for an entire season – so each pole gets about 42 years of continuous sunlight or darkness.

It’s a weird planet, which I suppose is why astrologers assigned it to Aquarius when humans first realized it was a planet in the 1700s. Aquarius is the weird part of the Zodiac, the oddball, the freak, the outsider: Aquarius is the part of all of us that knows ourselves to be different and separate from everyone else. Which is particularly touching to me when I think of how Aquarius is also in rulership of friends and community groups. A freak who wants to fit in! That’s all of us and in Aquarians, it’s underlined.

This long (and very Uranian) intro is all to say: Aquarius, next year there is gonna be a lot of action in your sign and we’re gonna need you to teach us to roll with the punches. Aquarius rising readers have the Mars-Saturn square battling between your 3rd house of communication and your 12th house of dreams: if it feels like you’ve had a hard time getting people to understand you lately, the stars can affirm this experience.

You also have this new moon in your 8th house of intimacy and the ways that we carry other people’s baggage. I always say this to whichever sign has the lunation in their 8th house, so I get to say it to you this week: let that shit go!

Pisces and Pisces Rising
After the big beautiful full moon in your sign that started September off, I hope Pisceans are all giving yourselves a lot of emotional space to process any difficult situations that culminated around the last lunation.

Pisces rising people have this new moon in your 7th house of one-on-one partnerships, and all Pisces people have this lunation opposite your Pisces placements. Oppositions speak to things which need each other to exist but have differing perspectives: darkness is the absence of light, we have an “outdoors” because we invented “indoors”.

The Virgo-Pisces opposition is different perspectives on service. Virgo serves through detail and Pisces serves through the big picture: Virgo will make you lunch and Pisces will listen to your dreams. Let this new moon offer you new perspectives on how you engage with service in your life. Pisces rising readers have the Mars-Saturn square between your 2nd and 11th houses, of resources and community.

Look at links between these things. Do you make your money via community connections? Are your friends causing you to question your values these days? I encourage you to listen to your friends while also acknowledging any difficulty that you’ve had socially this year. And as always, protect yourself from the natal Piscean capacity for leaky boundaries.