New Moon in Virgo. 9.2.24.
Happy New Moon in Virgo, friends.
And how fitting to have this New Moon on Labor Day, given that Virgo rules work! 💪
Tonight at 9:55pm ET, we marked a New Moon at 11 degrees of Virgo.
There have been some pretty significant astrological shifts in the past couple of days that are infusing the collective energy field. One of the New Moon’s co-rulers, Mercury, just stationed direct on August 28th after its August retrograde stretch. Uranus just stationed retrograde. And Pluto just stepped back into Capricorn to finish the last of its work in that sign. (More on the last bit below.)
So let’s get into how to work with the energy of this New Moon. ♍️
The core theme that’s coming through for me with this New Moon is that it’s an invitation to set intentions around our relationship to work; how we work; and any healing we’re ready to do when it comes to work.
New Moon in Virgo. New Moons are when we plant the seeds we’ll harvest at the Full Moon in the same sign, roughly 6 months later. So, in the case of tonight’s New Moon, the intentions we set now will be what we harvest at the Full Moon in Virgo around March 2025.
Co-ruled by wounded healer Chiron, and associated with the 6th house in astrology, Virgo is associated with work, service, how we work, our work roles, health, healing, sustainability, and work-life balance. Bodily, it governs the intestines (which can get super unhappy when we’re out of alignment with any of the above).
The shadow of Virgo is overwork. Workaholism. Being identified with our work and work roles. Martyring ourselves to our work. Never feeling good enough. Perfectionism. Inferiority complex. The never-ending self-critic.
Meanwhile, from a soul-centered perspective, Virgo is associated with divine service and healing. With birthing Christ consciousness, aka embodying the soul. With being a portal for divine presence—echoed by the soul-centered dimension of the 6th house, which is Be Here Now.
The recent Mercury retrograde stretch invited us to review how we express Virgo energy, with August 5-14th being the part where Mercury was retrograding through Virgo (before heading into Leo for a whole other set of reflection). Now, as we set intentions around this New Moon, we’re invited to benefit from those reflections and insights when it comes to how we’re ready to transmute how we’re expressing Virgo energy in our lives (which may related to some or all of the above themes).
Raising the vibration of work.
Some other classic Virgo shadow keywords are Anxiety. Stress. Burnout. As someone with a lot of strong Virgo placements—and for whom work has always been a HUGE part of my life—these are experiences I know well. (In a reading this weekend, the lightworker I was reading for talked about a toxic relationship to work, and boy do I know that feeling.)
For my part, a big a-ha during the Mercury retrograde in Virgo stretch was that the frequency I operate at when I’m doing my “day job” (i.e. public policy work, leading an organization focused on social insurance programs such as Social Security—a job I love, but one that I definitely allow to be a source of stress and anxiety and perfectionism and overwork) has been noticeably different from the frequency I’m at when I’m engaging with astrology, whether doing readings or writing this newsletter.
I realized the noticeably different frequencies I vibrate at across these two types of work stemmed from my different attitudes towards each—that I was viewing them differently. One I’d been viewing as WORK-work (akin to the Ten of Wands in tarot; you know, the card with the dude who’s all weighed down by the pile of sticks he’s carrying), with the underlying narrative being that work is hard and stressful. Meanwhile, the other I’ve been viewing as healing/spiritual work (which when I’m in it is full of joy and ease and feels much lighter, softer, subtler, and more relaxed—because of the much higher-vibration narrative underneath).
But here’s what I realized. Both modalities are healing work. Both are deeply spiritual callings for me. And both are forms of divine service. And I get to practice what I preach by choosing the narratives and frequency I bring to ALL the work/service I do in the world, irrespective of modality and role.
The remarkable difference in how I feel when I’m doing my “day job” work at the frequency of my astrology work is difficult to put into words—and is a powerful reminder of the power of the internal narratives we hold. Making this shift a durable one in my life is a big part of the intentions I’m setting around this New Moon (along with healthier, more sustainable routines). (The two alternating reminders I set on my phone to support me in this read: “How easeful and joyful can it be?” and “It’s all healing work.”) <3
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A Labor Day side-note. To be fair: I don’t mean to romanticize work. America’s in the throes of witnessing the evils of late-stage capitalism. Huge numbers of people in our economy—particularly lower-income people, people of color, immigrants and other marginalized groups—face terrible working conditions and oppression under the thumb of wealthy corporate oligarchs who profit from their undervalued labor. I’m painfully aware that it’s Labor Day in the U.S. as I write this—a day that was literally created to recognize the importance of the American labor movement.
But/and: For lightworkers (aka the Group of New World Servers, in the parlance of Alice Bailey, or whatever language speaks to you), our work IS service. And while it might not always be work we consciously choose (sometimes IT seems to choose US)—when we remember that we are lightworkers, we remember that in all the work we do, no matter the modality, or job title, or role we find ourselves playing in that moment. . . what we are doing is spreading light.
Adding another layer: For many of today’s lightworkers, part of our work/service in the world involves healing wounds related to work in the modern era, in one way or another (whether that’s giving reiki to lightworkers facing burnout or illness spurred by overwork, or working to change our economic and work-related policies and laws to make work healthier and fairer and less oppressive, or organizing workers, or writing a book on these themes, or doing self-care coaching—and/or something else entirely).
So, some food for thought around this New Moon in Virgo: What are you ready to change when it comes to your relationship to work and how you work? How might your relationship to the work you do change if you embrace it as divine service and/or healing work? And what intentions do you want to set when it comes to the next phase of your work in the world?
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P.S. Pluto’s last hurrah in Capricorn. I can’t wrap this energy update in good conscience without a quick note on Pluto moving back into Capricorn, which for some of us may relate back to some of the themes of this New Moon. As I’ve talked about a few times in these energy updates, Pluto’s been toggling back and forth between the final degrees of Capricorn and the first few degrees of Aquarius since last year (as slow-moving planets generally do when they change signs). Pluto’s return to Capricorn yesterday is notable since it will be its last before it returns to Aquarius to stay (for the next two decades) on November 19, 2024.
Pluto loves to bring shadow to the surface. And as it’s been finishing its work in Capricorn, at an individual level, it’s been an invitation to reflect on and wrap up any shadow work we feel called to do when it comes to our relationship to material/ego ambition, compulsive need to achieve, and over-identification with our work roles/public reputation/how people see us.
Transmuted to a higher vibration, Capricorn is about spiritual ambition. The drive to pursue spiritual initiation—aka reaching for (and ultimately merging with) our highest self so that we begin to live as a soul enthroned in form.
But to get there, we must purify (another good Pluto keyword) our motives. Our “why” can’t be about being seen and recognized, being celebrated for our achievements, being validated societally for our professional status or job title (all ego-based drives)—or else we can’t be a vehicle for the soul. (You can see how for many of us, this may connect to the Virgo New Moon and its connection to our relationship to work/how we work. When our validation comes through our work achievements, it can feel unsafe to stop being productive.) Two reminders that feel apt: “your work is not your worth” — and “you are not your work roles.”
Whether it’s any of these themes or other stuff coming up for you with Pluto finishing its work in Capricorn, this upcoming Sept 1 - Nov 19 stretch is a ripe stretch for reflecting on how you’ve grown and transformed over the last 15-16 years, since Pluto entered Capricorn in 2008. (Bonus: if you know where Capricorn falls in your chart, you can go deeper by reflecting on the transformation that’s taken place in the area of your life where it falls).
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I’m sending you all good wishes and many blessings in this New Moon week—and without further ado, scroll on down for the 6-card tarot spread/journal prompts I crafted to work with the New Moon energy at its highest vibrations. As always, take only what resonates, and leave the rest. <3
XOXO,
Rebecca
New Moon in Virgo prompts.
Here are the prompts for the 6-card tarot spread I crafted to work with this week’s New Moon in Virgo energy at its highest vibration. As always, feel free to use any/all of these as journal prompts and to skip the cards—and to work only with whichever of these resonate.
What intentions am I ready to set when it comes to the next phase of my work in the world?
What new beginnings are coming up for me now when it comes to work and/or healing?
What am I ready to change/what is up for review when it comes to how I work/my work roles?
What am I ready to change or heal about my relationship to work?
What is one thing I can do to make the way I work more sustainable and healthy?
How might my relationship to the work I do change if I embrace it as divine service/healing work/lightwork?
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BONUS: Where is Virgo in your chart? If you’re familiar with the 12 houses in astrology, you can go even deeper with New Moon intention-setting by knowing which house Virgo occupies in your chart. Whichever house Virgo occupies is the area of life that’s up for review—and where you’re being invited to set intentions for the next 6 months with tonight’s Full Moon. (And likewise, you can look at where Capricorn falls for the reflection I suggested above re: Pluto in Capricorn.)
Here’s a cheat sheet of keywords associated with the 12 houses:
1st house: the self, approach to life, body, appearance, personality, self-development, self-mastery
2nd house: livelihood, money and how you make it, material resources, self-esteem/self-worth, grounding
3rd house: teaching, communicating, siblings/extended/chosen family, daily routines and schedules, lower mind, integrating into 3D
4th house: home, family, foundation, roots, ancestry, history, self-care, base of operations, your private life
5th house: creative projects, play, pleasure, children, actualization of the higher self through creativity
6th house: work, service, health/healing, mentoring, be here now
7th house: the other, committed relationships and partnerships
8th house: other people’s money, shared resources, spiritual rebirth, regeneration, letting go
9th house: higher ed, politics/policy/law, long-distance travel, foreign languages/cultures, religion, astrology, Akashic Records, spiritual law, higher mind
10th house: career, vocation/calling, what you’re known for publicly
11th house: groups, networks, humanitarian work, hopes and dreams, the gifts you’re here to share with the collective
12th house: the unconscious mind, shadow, dreams, spirituality, soul liberation, all types of liberation work, at-onement
