New Moon in Virgo: The Healing Alchemy of this Solar Eclipse
Holy shiz, September. Autumn is THE time to start anew and turn a new leaf, but the last few weeks haven't been easy on us and here's why. A Solar Eclipse is a special type of New Moon when the Moon is directly between the Sun and Earth. This New Moon in Virgo on September 13, 2015 is a partial solar eclipse, blocking only a portion of the Sun. A solar eclipse is a New Moon with tremendous impact. The Sun which represents our ego, our inner light, our soul’s unique purpose is joined briefly with the dark, mysterious, intuitive, illusory qualities of the Moon. The Moon blocks the light of the Sun. In this moment of "darkness", our inner psyche joins our spiritual self, beginning another cycle of our soul’s development.
All eclipses indicate change; solar eclipses signify beginnings and usually manifest as events in the outer world. At solar eclipses we start something new, make new commitments or decisions, take on greater challenges and choose to rise to the occasion, feel anxious or restless or feel an excess buildup of emotions. We may even experience a crisis that pushes us to get out of our comfort zone or out of wherever we no longer belong so that we begin a new cycle of growth or maturation. Without the push, we'd stay comfortable. And stagnant. And in the long-run, far more uncomfortable.
This month’s intense New Moon + Solar Eclipse in Virgo represents a time of great healing and a time to face our deepest wound, staring it directly in the face, no longer allowing it to remain hidden or in the shadows. Virgo in astrology represents health, purity, wellness and our commitments to our daily routines. For this New Moon, the moon sits directly opposite Chiron, which is an asteroid that acts like a planet and represents our greatest wound in this lifetime. Depending on where Chiron falls in your natal chart and the aspects it makes to other planets will show your wounded self and how you’re able to transmute the pain into healing energy. As this lunar cycle represents a powerful shift in energies, it is pushing us to seek out new ways to approach our pain and new ways to transform it into something that will serve our soul's evolution. Because this is a “partial” eclipse and the Moon isn’t completely blocking the light of the Sun, metaphorically speaking we can view it as the merging of our feminine, yin and masculine, yang energies and how we integrate each part to create more wholeness within ourselves. We need both to be complete. What are you blocking? Do you subdue your masculine energy or let it overpower you (and others)? Do you turn off your intuition, your feminine energy? How are you able to allow both energies to work simultaneously to develop new skills and talents through independent effort?
The energy of an eclipse is amplified and may be felt as much as 3 months in advance and have subtle
reverberations for as long as 3 years afterwards. This MAJOR shift has been coming since the beginning of the summer. Although the energies are most prominent for a week on either side of the eclipse, its influence on events continues. Eclipse periods are extremely active, often associated with meaningful events and or exposure to the external world (what happens in public or with others).
The tarot card associated with the sign of Virgo is IX - The Hermit, part of the Major Arcana, one of life’s 22 major soul lessons (there are 22 cards in the Major Arcana, starting with O-The Fool and ending with 21-The Universe, representing an individual’s journey from birth to death, as we experience multiple “rebirths” in our lives, learning through experience and integrating what we’ve learned to move forward). This card relates to going inward, seeking knowledge and wisdom from within, taking refuge to nurture our spiritual side, solitude or isolation and the wise sage who acts as a guiding light for others. We can meditate on the meaning of this card to guide us through this New Moon in Virgo, focusing on whatever we’re able to do at this time on our own to heal the inflamed themes in our lives. Things are being recalibrated and it’s the perfect time to rest and revive our spirit. How are you able to take the power of your healing process back in your own hands and heart? What can you do for yourself now that has nothing to do with anyone else? What does your self-care practice look like? Does it even exist?
If Chiron, the “Wounded Healer”, in our natal chart is in the spotlight this month (since it's in opposition to the Moon and oppositions are always a need for balance), then there’s a deep calling to the depths of your essence to pay attention to any red flags or areas of concern that have been ignored surrounding “suffering” in your life. What themes yet to be acknowledged continue to repeat themselves? Are there toxic relationships still omnipresent? Are you settling to be underpaid? Do you feel undervalued or inadequate in any way? Are you loving and accepting yourself as you are? What are you resisting? Now is the moment to adjust your way of thinking, notice where you place limits on yourself and empower yourself to make changes, releasing whatever is no longer serving you and trusting that if you let go, something better will arrive as a replacement OR you'll create space to allow new things to develop. Rather than check out (there may be a tendency to fall into denial or avoidance right now), check IN to what’s staring you eye to eye and face your demons head-on. Once you stare your fears in the face, their power diminishes and you realize that fear is only an illusion that tricks us into thinking the limitations in our head are real. The truth is that Divine Will exists and you ARE in fact perfectly able to co-create the reality of your dreams, working in cooperation with the powers that be. You can and you will – if you choose it. Choose carefully. Tell yourself the Truth. And allow your light to catch up to your dark. Courage and self-love will go a long way. Your capacity for healing is in direct correlation to the amount of compassion you allow yourself to embrace during this personal transformational process. If shit is hitting the fan, forgive yourself and pick the pieces up off the floor to create something new from the hot mess. New perspectives, baby. Open up to the possibilities to create art from the madness. There’s massive potential to heal lifelong karmic patterns at this time. Karma wasn’t meant to be pretty or easy. We’re born with our soul’s karmic blueprint in this lifetime to get another opportunity to make different choices. It may be the first time in LIFETIMES that we’re seeing our stuff from a new perspective. So it hurts, it stings and sometimes it makes you want to jump off a bridge, plunging into the deep blue. Mostly it causes you to look in the mirror and admit the secrets you’ve been keeping. The fire of alchemy may burn, but diamonds are born from the flames. And you’re the alchemist.
