[Red Whale, 2024, porcelain, glaze]
Let’s look at some highlights and how they may or may not influence your particular chart. When looking at transits, aka where planets are currently in the sky, how they interact with your chart is what makes it personal, but transits also flavor life in general. While you might not be affected directly, you might witness a transit in your environment, in someone close to you, or in the news.
We open the month with Uranus stationing retrograde at 27 degrees of Taurus. These slower moving planets retrograde often, like 5 months out of every year, so it’s not really a thing we need to focus on as a hair-on-fire phenomenon. The retrograde will last from September 1st through January 30th. What is significant and what the ancients have taught us about retrogrades in general is that they are most significant and “loud” when they are stationing or when the planet slows down to a halt to change direction. This creates an intensity on that planet that will be in effect as it sits at that degree wobbling in our geocentric imagination and reversing direction, which in this case will be for several weeks into September.
Most notably included with that will be Mercury making a square to Uranus starting yesterday-ish through Sunday. This will be especially prominent for people who have planets or angles in the late degrees of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius.
You may feel it as a sudden and unexpected communication. You may learn something surprising. Undeniable or rebellious truths are revealed. Your brainstorming is productive and radical. Because its a square, it might come off as over the top and disruptive. But the beauty of this transit is that it has the ability to bust through the status quo and offer a new way of thinking about something. Mercury is good at seeing the bullshit, so this transit can help with telling it like it is, even if it’s shocking. It could also be miscommunication. Much of this depends on where it lands in your chart. Mercury is moving through my 12th house which among other things, is the place of the hidden, what happens behind your back, your blindspot. I literally just got a weird phone call by an acquaintance who called the wrong Jeanne. I won’t go into the details, but yup, textbook communication out of the blue mishap. So, yes, it can hit signs that are not the 4 fixed signs detailed below, but I mention these because they are the angular signs for this transit and hitting prominent places in the chart - self, career, partners, home.
These are generalities that may frame where this intensity of communication/thinking/mindset or information manifests:
Taurus rising will feel haphazards of communication around topics of home or family or parents.
Leo rising will feel haphazards of communication around topics of self and identity.
Scorpio rising will feel haphazards of communication around topics of vocation and public life.
Aquarius rising will feel haphazards of communication in their one-on-one partnerships.
Mars has moved into Cancer. Not a ton of news on this for September, but the big thing with Mars is that it will retrograde in December and return to Cancer for a long stretch. We will be getting a lot of Cancer-flavored Mars until Spring 2025. If you have planets in early Leo or mid-Cancer, you might pay attention to the days below.
I’m not going too deep on this, but simply put, Mars is not at home in Cancer. They have opposing qualities. Mars likes direct action often through some kind of severing or conflict. Cancer likes to circumvent, be sensitive to emotion and environment. This could add up to you or people you know acting impulsively on emotion rather than rationale. Same for passive aggressive behaviors. Could involve people who do the wrong things for the right reasons or vice versa. All to say, check yourself on how you are reacting, recognize this in others, how are you wielding your power, are the intentions really to the best interest of others, or are you just convinced they are. Mars in Cancer can be selfish about what it considers the right thing, yet appears unhinged and self-righteous. Could also manifest in external ways such as problems that come up with family or topics related to home life because of Moon’s rulership over Cancer.
Again if you have planets near these degrees, you might feel it more personally (give yourself a few days before and after these dates, especially the stations):
October 5th - Mars in direct motion passes over 17 Cancer
December 8th - Mars stations retrograde at 6 Leo
February 12th - Mars stations direct at 17 Cancer
May 6th - Mars in direct motion passed over 6 Leo
The take away here is that if you have a planet or angle between 17 Cancer and 6 Leo, it will receive three passes by Mars. The direct pass, might give us the first inkling, the retrograde pass is a re-visitation of the potential conflict, the third and direct pass, could bring it up again, hopefully with some form of resolution. Not saying it will be tied up with a nice bow. You just might stop sweating and feel the lift of relief. Mars is never easy or fun. At its best, it can be energizing and direct, but less so in Cancer.
If you want a refresher of what the houses mean and where this long stay of Mars in Cancer might most affect you, see my post on Houses.
Secondly, if you want to see your chart, there are copious online sources to cast a chart for free. I recommend Astro.com. Use their chart calculator. You might need to create a profile. Very Important - Look for advanced options and choose Whole Sign for House System, so that we’re on the same page. If all of that freaks you out and you would love a visual of your chart, email me, I’ll send it to you.
Tell me something good! Two transits that happen this month that are highlights includes Mercury moving into its home sign and exaltation of Virgo right before midnight on September 8th, so let’s call it the 9th. Wherever Virgo is in your chart will get some clarity, movement, and productivity, like you just hired a qualified project manager for that area of your life and the dots start connecting.
Also, Venus who is in her home sign of Libra right now will be in trine with Jupiter around the 14th. When the two benefics come into contact by trine, expect some ease, harmony, growth in our relationships, possibly good money news, or general sense of things just being pleasant for a minute. You’ll feel this transit especially if you have planets or angles around 20 degrees Libra, Gemini, or Aquarius.
Back to Earth now. Everything I just wrote was preamble. The the main event of September is the Lunar eclipse at 25 degrees Pisces on September 17th. Lunar eclipses are full moons where the shadow of the earth is cast over the Moon. Eclipses happen in pairs twice a year. On rare occasions there will be three in a row. Last time we had that was June/July of 2020.
Eclipses like everything in astrology is a cycle. They bounce back and forth between opposing signs adding emphasis on that set of houses in our chart for about 18 months. The October Solar eclipse will be the last one in Libra so you may find the effects are a wrap on whatever has been happening in the house occupied by Libra. Personally, Libra occupies my 2nd house of personal resources, and it’s been a cycle of hemorrhaging money and purging belongings.
Because these are cycles, the effect of an eclipse isn’t always on the day of, but can reverberate for days if not weeks. So whatever houses those two signs - Pisces and Virgo - occupy will be getting some attention. You may find that you are holding a tension between giving up or changing things in your Virgo house as you gravitate and focus on the house where Pisces lives. It will be a push pull. Eclipses are triggers of change, whether you like it or not. If topics of those houses are ripe for attention, they will likely get it one way or another, especially if you have planets or angles in Pisces or Virgo. Eclipses might be our most ancient of omens. When the world turns the lights off, expect a happening.