Summer Recap / Virgo Season / Pisces Full Moon | 8.25.18

Wow, what a summer, y’all. I’ve been bracing for it all year, knowing at least a year ago that it would be a doozy, because a year ago I was dead-set on moving to Los Angeles. As an astrologer would, I looked at my birth chart and my solar return charts (charts that forecast your year ahead), my relocation chart (to see how my natal chart changes in CA) and the ephemeris to determine the best possible day to move. In this pursuit, I saw the line-up of retrogrades and eclipses that would be 2018, and in particular, the intense Mars Retrograde that would be taking place for two solid months of summer, in addition to the eclipses intertwined within it. It’s been a lot, I know you felt it, and I feel for you.

While it’s been rough, even devastating for some, it’s been a slow burn. The energy of the summer has been that of intense cleansing, through heat, fire, and combustion. It may have come through in relationship dynamics. Perhaps it has been through the body, or in your work environment. Anger, strife, and the intense compulsion to quit and leave everything behind. Burn it. When something is burned, set on fire, it is changed completely, forever. There is a total transformation of the material from one substance to another. And somewhere in our lives, fires have been lit, and we’ve been burning, sweating, cleansing.

The eclipses have brought karmic events, stirring us from a guttural level to get back on track, letting people and situations shed so it’s easier for us to stay in alignment. Collectively, we’re realizing that living our authentic truth is imperative, and that being with people and in situations that aren’t serving us is wasting precious time and energy. The last solar eclipse in Leo on August 11th asked us, what are you here to create? What allows you to shine your authentic, beautiful light? What brings you immense joy?

And now, after a summer of extreme heat, we’re able to soak into cooling, healing, grounding Virgo Season, kicked off by a Grand Earth Trine and a Pisces Full Moon. The temperature always seems to drop the first day of Virgo Season. The shift is palpable, I swear. All of a sudden, we’re thrown into the flux of hot to warm to chilly to breezy and back in the 30 days before Fall officially begins at the autumn equinox. Virgo is a mutable sign, meaning its quality is always changing, moving, shifting, in transition. Virgo season is somewhat of a frenzied pause. It’s the season when we go back to school or come back to work after vacation. We’re in a space focused on process, progress, organization, sorting, and efficiency. Virgo is a critical point in the zodiac, after Leo and before Libra. In Leo, we learn about our natural gifts, what makes us unique and beautiful, and how we can share that with the world and inspire others. It’s how we shine and how we want to be seen. Virgo then cleanses our egos, and ground back down to earth, so that we are able to see the purity of self when meet our mirror (our partner) in Libra. Virgo is the process of sorting, elimination, processing, and organization. We’re asked to take a look at the details, all the parts that make up the whole, and evaluate their efficiency. It rules our digestive system and digestive organs, which process the food we consume, sorting out what’s useful for our bodies and what can be discarded. It’s exactly what we need after a Leo season filled with overflowing information and feelings, things to be processed. We’re able to put our feet back on the earth and get some work done, making use of all the info we’ve received.

Today (8/24/28)  as I write this, the Sun in Virgo, Saturn in Capricorn, and Uranus in Taurus are making an exact equilateral triangle around Earth, each standing at a 120 degree angle to each other. How beautiful! This is called a Grand Earth Trine, when three planets are forming a triangle in earth signs. Excellent energy to get some serious work done under, or to simply ground - be in your body, feed yourself, tend to your garden, repot & prune your houseplants, craft something, clean your space in a loving way. It’s wonderfully productive. I sold my Afropunk ticket to sit in my favorite cafe and work on this, and some other projects (exciting announcement coming soon!!).

The Pisces Full Moon tonight & tomorrow is the soothing, healing balm you need after a summer of retrogrades and eclipses. I say this because there’s a beautiful, nourishing, creative, fertile mix of Earth and Water energies working together at this lunation. Full Moons are always a moment of culmination, the exclamation point of the month, the climax. This Moon in particular ends Eclipse Season, and marks the end of the Mars Retrograde (Mon 8/27) as well. A few days later on September 2nd, Mercury leaves shadow, and on September 5th, Saturn ends its nearly 5 month retrograde, and begins to move forward again through Capricorn, it’s home sign. The energy begins to shift. I’ve told many of you to hold out until the end of August. You’re going to see what I mean very soon.

This Full Moon in Pisces can feel like a big swell of emotions and energy and feelings, and you may not be sure of the exact source of all of it. You may be feeling the energy of those around you, or of the collective as a whole, as Pisces rules that universal web of spiritual energy that connects all of us. It’s universal compassion and love. In Pisces, there are no boundaries, there is nothing that separates one person or thing from another. We’re all connected and all boundless, forever expanding. After this summer, it may all feel to come to a head this weekend. Luckily the trio of Earth energy aids us by providing a container to support the gush of watery emotions. Be sure to allow yourself to feel, honoring whatever may come up with space, and acknowledgement. Use this triple earth energy to ground, feel into your body. Use Venus in Libra to find a mirror to confront and process through, in a healthy way with established boundaries. Venus in Libra wants to connect. Find that person and allow yourself to be seen. Mercury and Leo allows for passionate and creative communication for the ability to lift us up and out of the body and emotional realm.  Jupiter in Scorpio and Neptune in Pisces provide access to the deep waters of the psyche and subconscious. This moon is a beautiful invitation to feel and perhaps process what happened this summer with love and support. I hope you all have access to that this weekend and into next week. Take care of your body and your heart.

Love you lots
Shakirah, The Strology