Welcome Virgo season, from August 23 to September 23. It's time to get your To Do list done and get back to your routine – plus here are the major days to mark on your calendar, including mercury retrograde.
Once autumn-adjacent Virgo season starts, as it did today, it’s hard not to hear echoes of Philip Larkin’s magisterial poem, Mother, Summer, I, being recited in a posh stentorian voice: “Too often summer days appear/Emblems of perfect happiness/I can’t confront: I must await/A time less bold, less rich, less clear: An autumn more appropriate.” Whether we welcome or dread it, Virgo season coincides with the harvest and oversees that transition from the brilliance of summer to the bittersweet expanses of grey autumn skies with their “bird-abandoned air.”
Precisely because of its associations with harvest time, Virgo season is characterised by hard work, practicality, food, diet, routine, and health. Accordingly the first bit of advice for us to follow over the next month is to get back into a manageable workout and nutrition regimen. Some of us get fit for summer and stay fit. Others get fit for the beach, then lose it. And still others never get fit at all. That’s ok: Virgo season is that time of year for a cosmic nudge to the gym and toward foods like buckwheat, couscous, acai, and blueberries, all of which are supposed to help us live forever.
In terms of its element and modality, Virgo is a grounded, lowkey mutable earth sign. Rather than the frenetic and fanciful energy of Gemini season (mutable air), the Maiden represents a logistical approach to solving problems in the world. It’s the sign and season that asks how the clock ticks. As such, the next four weeks are especially suited to getting things done of a practical nature: finishing grad school applications, fixing the barn’s sagging roof, fine-tuning the car. The To Do list is Virgo’s love language.
Speaking of love, unlike kingly albeit self-absorbed Leo season, which just ended, Virgo rejoices in acts of service. In order to feel aligned to Maiden energy, commit to at least one helpful deed over the next month, whether that be for your helpmate, lover, or business partner. Take your sister’s kids so she can see Harry Styles play his guitar in his red and white striped pantaloons. That kind of stuff.
Ruled by Mercury (communication), Virgo season portends a time to focus on expressing ourselves in a clear, no-frills manner. Because each season is meant to give us some sort of lesson to learn, Virgo’s reign is not a time for poetry but straightforward prose (Cancer or Pisces is better for visionary verse metrics or emotional confessions). Speak directly and with a purpose. Some, if not most, of us need to learn this Virgo art of conversation.
Now, the major days to mark on our calendars this season to feel extra aligned to the greater cosmic purpose are the following.
Virgo season dates of note
On August 25th, quirky Uranus goes retrograde. Uranus energy is oddball and unexpected. Something strange might happen around this date, so be aware, be very aware (of what is unclear because if we knew then Uranus’ element of surprise would be found out).
The changeable New Moon transits through Virgo itself on the 27th of August. A New Moon is a time to start new projects for the next couple weeks. Virgo is a bit of a neat freak, so use this lunation to brighten the corners of your cottage in Kerry.
On the 10th of September, we have a Full Moon in watery Pisces. Full Moons are for celebrations, while Pisces is an emotional and boundary-averse sign. If Virgo is all keeping things organised, Pisces is about merging and being messy. Alleviate some of the uptight, workmanlike energy of Virgo season with a night out for pints and Pisces vibes.
Communications-expert Mercury, the ruling planet of the Maiden, goes retrograde on September 10th, as well. While the retrograde will last three weeks, this is a big day in particular to be aware of. Retrogrades are wonky transits where a planet’s influence gets all muddled. Communication and conveyances often experience delays or flubs this day–so while you’re out drinking some pints for the Full Moon, make sure you’re not signing any contracts (it could be your soul you trade away).
Venus (love and money) will be in showy Leo until the 5th of September, at which point it switches into practical Virgo. Venus energy prompts us to spend, Virgo to save. Meet halfway and buy something practical–like winter socks on sale–this day.
One major transit to pay attention to for all of Virgo season concerns bellicose Mars-in-Gemini, which will be “squaring” (or producing a difficult aspect) with the Sun (Self). This loggerheads energy between Mars (drive and aggression) and Virgo Sun could make us even more Virgo than usual: more detail-oriented neat freakery. A little Virgo is great. A lot of Virgo is intense. One overall challenge for the month is to be just right on the Virgo and not veer into angry Mars mode toward ourselves and/or others (nitpicking, fault finding, too much editing of other people).
Oh, and if you need a little Autumn-related playlist for when you’re cleaning the apartment (Virgo loves to clean), here are two recommendations to start: “Harvest” by Neil Young and “Harvest Time” by Pharoah Sanders, the latter being particularly transcendent. Enjoy Virgo season!
Illustration by pch.vector.
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