Pesky Progress
Many of you may know that I am a personal growth enthusiast. Conceptually I just love it. Mostly, I like it after it’s over because when you get down to the incidents that provide opportunities for personal growth, they are often quite annoying. That’s on the high side I suppose because these circumstances can also be downright soul-crushing.
Last week, many people that I know were experiencing something on the spectrum between deep annoyance and spiritual torture. So I took a peak at the stars to see what might be the matter.
The Sun began squaring the Lunar Nodes August 24th and will continue to do so through September 2nd. I think this aspect might just be the culprit at hand.
With the heavy-hitting planets of Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Jupiter all retrograde, the bi-annual event of the Sun squaring the Nodes was perhaps even more noticeable. In addition, both the nodes have conjunct astroids weighing heavy on them and providing some themes for the ways that we navigate our personal progress in life.
The South Node in Gemini is nearly finished with its conjunction to Juno that began in mid-June and has been providing consistent, if not nagging, reminders of the commitments we have from the past all summer long. Juno’s commitments aren’t the rational kind and can be quite burdensome to make good on. This aspect is magnified by so many planets retrograding and raking issues from the past.
The South Node also represents our comfort zone which is one reason why a square to the nodes can be experienced as annoying since it has the power to kick us out of that comfort zone. Luckily, Juno will drop its hold over the South Node by September 4th — just in time for the New Moon in Virgo September 6th to swoop in and change the pace. I’ll get back to this beautiful New Moon in a moment. First, let’s talk about the future.
The North Node is always 180 degrees opposite the South Node and they function as a dynamic axis. You can read more about them here. The North Node represents where we are going in life. It shows us a path towards progress and embodies that desirable personal growth that resides just outside of our comfort zone.
Now in Sagittarius, the North Node is conjunct Ceres from August 11th through September 8th. Ceres is the goddess of harvest and fertility and is highly grounded, organized, and rational unlike opposing Juno. Not only is the North Node and Ceres supported with the Sun and New Moon in highly conducive Virgo, but it will also become supercharged by a grand trine with Mercury in Libra and Saturn in Aquarius indicating that progress, self-growth, and self-actualization will be highly favored and well communicated. Meanwhile, the duty we have to our past will be quieted by a harmonizing sextile from Saturn. The Black Moon is also hovering around Ceres and the North Node indicating that there may be a strong “no more!” or dramatic departure from whatever or whoever Juno and the South Node were holding you to.
There are many opportunities presenting right now that support the development of personal freedom. The Sun and New Moon in Virgo September 6th (5:51 PM PT) is in exact trine with the sky god Uranus, teeing us up to see things from a different, yet grounded perspective and further allowing us to break the chains that might be holding us.
Though we are undoubtedly experiencing a broad cycle of upheaval on a societal level with Saturn square Uranus and the disruptive astroid Eris in Aries squaring transformative Pluto in Capricorn this year, this New Moon offers respite from these difficulties, especially if one chooses to focus on their own individual realm.
This New Moon encourages us to clean up our mental chatter, and re-write our inner narrations and our life plans in a grounded and detailed way. During the New Moon Venus is conjunct Vesta and Haumea in trine with Jupiter and in a T-square with Pluto and Eris. This brings an additional positive note that speaks of peace at home along with the potential for collective unity and regenerative earth practices.
I hope this month brings you freedom and joy and recharges your batteries. There are surely more challenges — and personal growth - on the horizon. Now is the time to drink in the harvest of the work you have already accomplished. Cheers!