The Astrology of September features Saturn and Uranus in opposition, highlighted by the September 18th New Moon, together with another important Mercury retrograde period that starts on the 6th and last through to the end of the month. The biggest news of this transitional month is that Saturn and Uranus are exactly opposed in this mid-September period, which will be the precursor to the cardinal T-square including Pluto that begins in October and continues right through 2012 and beyond. By the end of October Saturn will enter Libra and square Pluto with Uranus a mere seven degrees away from opposing Saturn and squaring Pluto from the other side. Uranus joins the party more fully when it enters Aries in the spring of 2010. This time period from 2010 to perhaps 2014 will be a time of great changes for America and indeed the world.
In the initial portion of this climactic period of time, the current standoff between Saturn and Uranus harks back to last November, when they opposed each other for the first time in this series. Saturn and Uranus are antithetical energies, and can be conceived as conservative support for the status quo versus youthful rebellion that wants to change everything. Of course it is increasingly clear in the final year of this decade that change is needed, and needed badly. Business as usual just doesn’t seem to be getting it anymore. On both a personal and a collective level we must accept that the structure of our lives as we have known it is changing forever in the dawn of this new era. The old structure has sustained us but it must now be allowed to pass away, however ungracefully.
Meanwhile, Mercury retrogrades in Libra for almost the entire month. The date of the retrograde is September 6th, and all during the first week of September, as Mercury slows down, we will find ourselves closer and closer to missed communications and the reflective stance that is the hallmark of the retrograde period. Moving backwards until the 29th, Mercury will dip into Virgo before straightening out and regaining Libra in early October, finally leaving its retrograde shadow on October 13th. This entire month and beyond will therefore be a better time for reflecting than for taking new action. All during this month we will be subjected to a sense of introspection and mechanical and communicative breakdown, especially strong since Saturn is simultaneously involved. After the Saturnian (and Uranian) New Moon of September 18th, Mercury’s contact with the Sun occurs in the early hours of September 20th. Then Mercury conjuncts Saturn for the second of three times as it moves backward into Virgo, on September 23rd. The final hit with Saturn will take place on October 4th. All these dates will reflect an especially strong dose of Saturn, with the limitations and restrictions implied, as Saturn continues to oppose Uranus.
This opposition of archetypal powerhouses is highlighted by the September 18th New Moon, which conjuncts Saturn and opposes Uranus, almost exactly. We will be called at this time to make sacrifices in the name of expediency, and also to allow inspiration carry us beyond current limitations. Neptune is also in the picture, occupying the 25th degree of Aquarius, thirty degrees away from Uranus, and therefore making an inconjunct aspect to the Sun, Moon and Saturn, an aspect whose key word is adjustment. As we struggle to make peace with ourselves in this time, we also must rise to the occasion. We can only move forward now in a way that is consistent with our highest expectations for ourselves. At this crucial time in history, nothing else will do. .ARIES (March 20-April 19) It’s a wild ride and a relatively undefined one, Aries. It’s been a rather amorphous time lately, especially regarding significant relationships. This month you are reviewing your relationship dynamic and reflecting on the effects of partnership in your life, trying to come to some more definite conclusion. You are also simultaneously pulling for more concrete definition regarding where your life is taking you. Once again, definitiveness and consistency is sought but not easily found. You might just have to learn to live with the paradox of the situation, becoming more aware as you do of the overriding power of Spirit working itself out in unexpected ways.
TAURUS (April 20-May 19)
If it feels like you’ve been over the waterfall in a barrel you are right on target, Taurus. You are toppling like the dictator’s statue in the public square after the revolution. The question of course is where do you go from here, and the answer seems to be two-fold. On the one hand, you are delving down internally, exploring private spaces within you, getting closer and closer to the bed-rock heart of the matter. On the other, with the help of friends you are seeking to redefine yourself totally, based on exciting input from an imagined future that seems almost doable. Your task is to meaningfully integrate disparate parts.
GEMINI (May 20-June 20)
Can you learn to live with paradox, Gemini, or are you going to insist on logic after all? Tangling with concerns of home and family you are stuck in some way and wanting to get unstuck, and yet also perhaps enjoying the conservative approach as a relief from the potential instability of constant change. Your ruler Mercury is retrograding through your self-expression sector and you might not be sure of anything until October. The unknown and uncertain might just have to be certainty enough for now. Are you an out-there brave explorer of the cosmos or unconcerned with the world outside as you settle into the safety of your den? The answer is a little of both.
CANCER (June 21-July 20)
This is a month of exploration for you, Cancer, a but not necessarily one of connection with others around you. Communication might be shut down for a while, creating a time and a space when introspection is the rule of the day. As you ponder the seemingly insoluble issues that currently encumber your life, the responsibility may make you want to fly away, to disappear from this world and pop out into a parallel universe on a far-distant shore of your own imagining. You are all these things, and more, simultaneously. Feeling the weight of the world, but equally able to get away into a universe of your own devising.
LEO (July 21-Aug. 21)
Time has come today, Leo, and the question is are you ready. A new universe is dawning over you. You are reinventing yourself, and your stand in this world, reviewing your commitments. Inevitably you are embodying a softer attitude both as a natural consequence of maturity and a result of planetary alignments that have been affecting you for many weeks now. Your personality is rounding out, as the stone is smoothed by the action of flowing water that it constantly engages. You might not measure the progress until one day after the end of the month you look back, and in a glorious instant you see how far you’ve come and how very distant is the memory of your former self.
VIRGO (Aug. 21-Sept. 21)
This is a good month Virgo, in spite of all appearances to the contrary. Through a combination of adversity, idealism and introspection, you are being asked to step up to the plate and take a swing at life and where it is currently leading you. You might have an easy time of it, especially if you have been doing your homework, or else more difficulty. In any case, adjustment is required; you could find yourself wrestling with helpful partners over the details. You have been sensing the drift over these past few weeks and the time has come for action, as you pursue an arc of development that is geared for you and you alone.
.LIBRA (Sept. 22-Oct. 22)
You are in rehearsal for the next phase of your career path, Libra. Introspection rules and while it does you are receiving epiphanies of where in your life you are going right now, and even why. As your vision creates a better future you find yourself in the midst of a tremendous process of review and renewal. This might be about neither vocation nor strictly avocation but a clever combination. Aiding you are flashes of inspiration that come more and more frequently now. These have the power to lift you out of the consensus mold. Pay close attention to everything that is happening to you. This is like a drug trip without the drugs, or a visit into outer space without the suit.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
You are quietly morphing, Scorpio. This month represents an introspective time, when you might find both satisfaction and also dissatisfaction with the way that things are with you. The good news is that you have the power of imagination that can take you out of your everyday world in an instant, leading to a powerful opportunity to make needed course corrections. As the cycle unfolds you will begin to fly your true colors, although the final denouement might have to wait until after the end of the month. You are deadly serious at this time about making a difference in the world, and the world in turn makes a difference in you.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 20)
It’s an exciting time to be alive, Sagittarius, although it might also be something of a conundrum where and how to put your energy to the best advantage. This month you are feeling career pressure as you have for weeks now, and have the decision to make of whether to continue to plunge full-force into your outer world presentation or to take a softer and more studied approach relating more to private than to public life. Steering between these choices will prove the most rewarding. Since other points of view are welcome additions to your own right now, communication is the name of your game as you deal with these and other issues.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 21-Jan. 19)
This is a powerful month for you, Capricorn, in the midst of a powerful year. As you find yourself reaching for the gold ring that comes from deep inside yourself, some level of new information that is coming your way right now will likely rock your world. This is not necessarily a bad thing as you could be in need of a shakeup. Active partners in your life are also claiming a piece of your turf and you find yourself reaching for a point of balance. Everything is truly all right. It’s a big bold beautiful world out there and it’s waiting for you to notice. You only have to turn your head slightly to see it.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 17)
This is a magical and a frustrating time for you right now, Aquarius, when you are coming into yourself anew. One way to think about this is that your natural rebel needs and wants more stability. It’s time to get a trim and to allow scope to your more considered and conservative self that has been waiting there all along in the wings. The other idea is the polar opposite, that you are learning more and more to think outside the box and to color outside the lines. Your process, which is a process of becoming more whole, demands that you move in the direction of your most unaccustomed and secretly fearful attributes.
PISCES (Feb. 18-March 19)
This is the crucial moment in a series of life events that has been building up for your next phase, Pisces. You are in the roller-coaster and just starting to descend. Relationship may well provide some of the thrills and spills as you negotiate the rebellion against your inner critic. Although you have a built-in safety valve of escape into your inner world, all this could manifest as trouble with others. You could on the other hand decide to recognize your life right now as one big projection, and perhaps that is the saner approach. The critical voice and the one who rebels, they are both inside you, and both valuable in the long run. As the poet says, you contain multitudes.
Henry Seltzer, transformational astrologer and creator of the TimePassages astrology software, is based in Santa Cruz, California. An extended look at this month’s star signs is available on his website. Holding degrees from MIT and the University of California-San Diego, Henry is a popular speaker and also offers life enhancing private astrological counseling. Call him at 831-425-3686, or visit his website at www.astrograph.com |
