Today is a new Moon in Virgo, which appears after the full Moon in Virgo on September 2nd. That’s confusing, but not uncommon. The sequence feels out of order. It’s natural to think of the new Moon as the seed or the egg form of the full Moon. But that is just to let us know that sequence and time are at the will and the whim of the Moon and her relationship to the Sun. The Sun sets the entry into each sign on or about a certain date on our solar calendar. But the Moon begins her own cycle with her arrival at the Sun’s degree. She is the calendar in the sky which predates solar reckoning and is still retained as the marker of time by Jews, Muslims and all who feel the pulse of her journey.
The light has shifted since we moved into Virgo. Long shadows walk in earlier each day, and fall upon the quiet fields in strange patterns. The Sabian Symbol for this this new Moon, A BOY WITH A CENSER SERVES THE PRIEST NEAR THE ALTAR, suggests that we are in the presence of a great mystery. Twice a year dark and light come into balance over all the Earth, and celebration is natural to any who feel the living pulse of the planet, our body. Earth energy is abundant at this moment so it’s easier to create a tangible expression of how you feel….. like the altar in the picture above.
The Luminaries (Sun and Moon) are in close contact with many other planets at this moment. When the Moon joins the Sun to begin a new Lunar cycle, she is hidden from sight. But the power of the moment is felt through out the Earth and is reflected in human affairs. Over the next few days, we can feel the tide ready to carry us into new waters. Saturn is ready to help with any form of material creation. Pluto promises to make it last and carry weight. Mars and Black Lilith and Eris buzz around like bees on the last blossoms of the year. And since this is a world wide event, feel the spring energy of the Southern Hemisphere, awakening to fire and the advancing light of the Sun’s return.
Yes, we are in Virgo, the season of Harvest in the Northern Hemisphere, the season of Spring awakening in the Southern Hemisphere. Mercury is the planetary ruler, and he sets the pace of this sign. Mercury/Hermes, always close to the Sun is associated with message and movement. Messenger, magician, healer is Hermes. He comes and goes with no fixed residence, quicksilver. The element Mercury it does not hold a shape, but is always breaking apart or coming together, interacting with whatever is near. In Virgo, Mercury acts to diagnose and analyze. The sign is dedicated to the element of Earth, and like Mercury, mutable, ever shifting like this season of change. Because Virgo falls at the time of the harvest, that ability to mentally sort and choose is useful to determine which seeds will be food during the winter months and which will be stored for new plants in the spring.
This beautiful image of Virgo by Amelia Leonards expresses the special light of the season and contains many clues about the nature of this sign of the Zodiac. The painting ispart of a series to become an astrological oracle deck over the next year. I dedicate the fertile energy of this new Moon to that project, which began last January!
The wren is a tiny bird with a loud song. She is sacred to many stories and songs in the Celtic and other traditions. She builds her nest in cavities: holes in trees and walls and between stones. Her size does nothing to diminish her presence because her singing is her real nature. In the same way, Virgo is often an artist/crafter, making beautiful objects for use and pleasure. Virgo enjoys the whole process of work in many forms. She is the busy bee of the Zodiac.
Virgo is the physician with an excellent ability to diagnose what is needed and apply it. Herbs and diet are a specialty. Mercury, the ruler of the sign is often pictured with the double serpent wand which we call the cadeusus, the symbol of medicine. The serpent connection is important, because like the snake, Virgo has the ability to renew herself, she is always ‘virgin.’ That may account for her ability as physician as well. She knows the body is not fixed but her like her sign, is mutable, available to healing from wounds and sickness. Virgo is ever young because of the quicksilver nature of Mercury. He is never pictured with a beard, neither is he a boy, but a manly youth, with a quiver full of skills.
Foxes are Virgo because they are secretive, but curious. They are dedicated to their family, yet do not live in packs like wolves and coyotes. Virgo renews herself by solitude, even in small doses, yet with a deep commitment to community and her service to whatever group she joins. Like the ‘boy with the censer’ in the Sabian Symbol for this degree of the Virgo Moon, the nature of this sign is is to serve, and to serve wholeheartedly.
Sabian Symbols are the verbal images which were first notated by the astrology Marc Edmund Jones through the psychic channel, Elsie Wheeler. These were then notated and edited by Dane Ruhyar and can be found in the form I use in his book An Astrological Mandala.
Today’s new Moon in Virgo is associated with this symbol: A BOY WITH A CENSER SERVES THE PRIEST NEAR THE ALTAR.KEYNOTE: The first stage of actual participation in the great ritual of planetary evolution.
Photo: Robert Fuhro
Photo: Robert Fuhro 
Photo: Bruce Lhuillier
Photo: Sarah Fuhro
Painting: Amelia Leonards
Sarah Fuhro Star-Flower Alchemy 