Sept 2020 | wk1 (9/1-9/5)

Full Moon in Pisces – September 2020 opens up under a waxing moon until it fulls, on 9/2 at 11 degrees Pisces and leads us to a realization or a truth with themes focusing on the relationship between our greater interconnectedness and our isolation, about our place in the world and the world itself and how quickly circumstances can change and erode. Full moons are a direct result of an oppositional relationship between the Sun and Moon. At this lunar phase, the Moon becomes gorged on the light it has sought for the last two weeks and then finds itself full. The Moon, the storyteller of our Spirit, our hunger, our need to nurture and be nurtured and orb of our instinctual-self, when in her fullness often reflects the story of when we’ve had our full of something and with all needs satiated tend towards actions that we may not otherwise when we’re hungry. As such, we become full in Pisces and can see the relationship with detail-focused Virgo. At this point, we prefer to lift our heads out of the day to day, the details of life and tune in to the greater hum of the Universe.

Pisces full moons often productively yield peak times of creativity, compassion and detachment from physical and material concerns. In the borderless Piscean seas we lose individual identity and difference. The lapping waves ring our Spirits clean of categories and rankings. But there too, we tend towards drifting, becoming lost, and retaining fluid during the peak of Piscean Lunar periods. Our feet and lymphatic systems are emphasized and a sensitivity to medicine, modern or otherwise increases. Truth may be elusive during this Full Moon and while that can be a source to draw from for creative projects it can also be a slippery slope.

At the culmination of the Full Moon, the Sun in Virgo productively connects with our wild card, Uranus in Taurus. The resulting dynamic flows to the very same light the Sun feeds the Moon and we experience its transcended brainstorms and brilliance, and tendency to buck the norm.

Full moons offer us times to open our eyes and develop greater awareness. This particular Full Moon hits closest for our placements in Pisces/Virgo and Gemini/Sagittarius. While we all have this degree placed in our chart somewhere, for those born around March 1-3, September 3-5, June 1-3 and December 2-4 the Full Moon rings with a bright spotlight on their sense of self and identity and may find a particularly strong urge towards mind/body/spirit connections and activities such as meditation, yoga and dream work.

Grand Mutable Square – Shortly after the Moon fulls on 9/2 and begins to wane it quickly conjoins Neptune in Pisces and then quickly opposes Mercury and stirs up challenges with both ends of the karmic dragon, the North Node in Gemini and the South Node in Sagittarius. Our heads begin to spin. Much like the amount of work we like to do when we have a full belly, this Pisces Moon – still full of light gets herself into a challenging conundrum and stirs up a lot of work and difficulty that isn’t on solid ground. The situation is destabilizing and tends towards fragmentation. What is the truth and what is really happening is difficult to discern due to the speed and the disjointed manner in which it occurs. Again, this hits hardest for our four Mutable-signed placements (Gemini/Virgo/Sagittarius/Pisces) that were hit hardest at the Full Moon. Productively, we can offer this shaky ground towards affairs we’ve been looking to end or dissolve. Setting intentions to yield a space for the storylines to play out can, at times, help channel its impact.

Cardinal T-square - Before the week wraps up, the Moon picks up dynamo speed entering Aries on Friday, 9/4. While there’s a little respite in the early part of the day, by evening the Aries fire begins to crackle and pop and extends into Saturday.

First, the Moon conjoins the degree of the Mars retrograde shadow. This is a little journaling spot for you to watch. A bell of some sort is likely to ring as this happens. Our preferably forward-moving warrior, Mars is ensnared during the 2nd half of 2020 in an unusually extended retrograde, during which he will fiercely tangle with malefics, Saturn and Pluto and our fallen benefactor, Jupiter. So, as the Moon zips across the degrees of this activities’ zodiacal range, we are likely to hear the echo of what this event means for us and for the world each time these degrees are activated by another planet’s transit. This weekend it is the Moon that knocks on the door first.

During this same time frame, the Moon in Aries squares Saturn in Capricorn and immediately after, Moon conjoins the warrior Mars himself. Venus quickly joins and exits the mix from the late degrees of Cancer. Venus, our storyteller of relationships and connections faces a fierce stretch of uncomfortable energy. In the last 10 degrees of Cancer, she faces off against malefics, Pluto, Saturn and squares Mars in Aries. Venus is inclined to bring together and unite and in the trenches with the malefics, she is unable to find that common ground. While Cardinal sign placements (Aries/Cancer/Libra/Capricorn) are impacted most, what happens to Venus also happens to the signs she rules (Taurus/Libra). As such, the impact of these aspects extends to those of us with significant planetary placements in these signs. Our relationships peak with intensity during this time.

Mars is in his fiery homeland of Aries, standing still and is about to station retrograde while Saturn is in its rulership, Capricorn and is nearly standing still and about to become direct. This is Saturn’s last retrograde in Capricorn for the next 27’ish years and by December 2020 will be in Aquarius. This is one part of September’s multifaceted astrological impact on our life experience in 2020. We have these two mighty malefic planets, each in their own cardinal signed rulership holding their ground. One is about to fall back (Mars) and one is about to march forward for the last time (Saturn). Looking at the story this reflects, we find the pressure building. While aspects between planets are very often experienced in the outer world by way of other people and our interactions with them, we also will experience these aspects within ourselves by way of choices we make and how we feel subsequently about them. Cardinal sign placements Aries/Capricorn and Libra/Cancer are squarely targeted by this.

Simply put, Mars is “go” and when he realizes he can’t, tends to implode in fiery flames internalizing disappointment and anger. Saturn is “stop” and has been moving at a slow speed for quite sometime in a supportive environment. Saturn has the upper hand and now overcomes Mars through the end of October 2020. But Mars will never know when to say when and will continue to rage despite Saturn’s shackling.

Our placements in Mars-ruled signs, Aries and Scorpio are directly impacted by the condition of Mars.

The first week of September is a preview, a peek behind the curtain of the meat and potatoes of the Mars and Saturn showdown perfecting again (last on 8/24) on 9/29. Cardinal signs are the initiators of the zodiac, like seasons in the Northern hemisphere – they start things. Cardinal signs tend to make the pattern, to break the mold, to lead the way. The planets are telling us the story of how September and the duration of 2020 will contain antithetic Cardinal energy as Mars retrogrades and continues to be shackled by Saturn. We are bound to experience frustration and anger and not make as much forward progress as we’d like.

Even with remediations, this is no easy time. We will be more busy, have more work to do, be at odds with and be more challenged. We’ll begin seeing how we are running ourselves quickly dry as Saturn is a cold dry planet in a cold dry sign (Capricorn) and Mars is a hot dry planet in a hot dry sign (Aries). The Cardinal placements in our charts will have their hands full and quickly feel like their running on fumes.

We shouldn’t overburden ourselves with worry or fear anticipating what September will bring. Sometimes we need to push ourselves, or be pushed. If we never go past our limits, we never learn where our limits are. In September, limits will be tested and boundaries will be pushed and within these challenges, our grit is found.

Mercury - A bright spot in the first week of September is the mental clarity offered by Mercury. Ruling both Gemini and Virgo placements, Mercury yields quality communication, edit, review and clarity this week. Our minds and communications are in good position to be sharp and clear, despite the surrounding difficulties. Mercury, the planetary storyteller of our mind, communications and the general exchange of information will be spending its last week in its rulership, Virgo.

Within this last decan (last 10 degrees) of Virgo, Mercury rules both the sign and the decan itself. Mercury enjoys being here and gorges on fractions, fractals, the parts of any larger system or multitude and discerning keen insights from them. This week, in addition to enjoying a welcoming landscape, Mercury connects productively by trine to current fellow earth sign placements Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn. Engaging with Pluto and Saturn, our minds focus on what is absolutely essential, we see what’s really going on below the surface and we get organized about it. We zero in on the devils and the details swinging closely together. Do keep mindful that this aspect can roll in obsessive or runaway thought processes.

As the week closes, on 9/5 our Mercurial messenger exits Virgo and enters the Cardinal realm of Libra.

September Week 1 detail dates

9/1 - Mercury trine Pluto (23 Vir/Cap)

9/2 – Moon enters Pisces

9/2 – Full Moon at 11 Pisces

9/2 – Sun trine Uranus (11 Vir/Tau)

9/2 - Venus opposing Saturn (26 Can/Cap)

9/3 - Mercury square Nodes (26 Virgo/Gem/Sag)

9/3 - Mercury trine Saturn (26 Vir/Cap)

9/3 – Moon conj. Neptune (20 Pisces)

9/4 – Mercury sextile Venus (28 Vir/Can)

9/4 – Moon enters Aries

9/4 – Moon oppose Mercury (28 Pisces/Vir)

9/4 – Moon square Nodes (26 Pisces/Gem/Sag)

9/4 – Venus square Mars (28 Can/Ari)

9/5 – Mercury enters Libra

9/5 – Moon conj. Chiron (9 Aries)

9/5 – Moon conj. the degree of the Mars retrograde shadow (15 Aries)

9/5 – Moon squares Jupiter (18 Ari/Cap)

9/5 – Moon squares Pluto (23 Ari/Cap)

9/5 – Moon sextiles North Node (26 Ari/Gem)

9/5 – Moon squares Saturn (26 Ari/Cap)