Welcome to the Virgo New Moon, the time in the lunar calendar when the page turns to the daily duties and practicalities of life. Virgo is systems, particularly the systems that make our lives run. It’s health and wellness, purity and devotion, order and structure. The new moon is exact on September 2, 2024 at 9:56 pm ET, 11 degrees Virgo. That’s 6:56 pm Los Angeles, 3:56 am Johannesburg (September 3), 7:26 am New Delhi, 11:56 am Sydney, 1:56 pm Auckland.
New moons are new beginnings. Every four weeks we get a reset, a period to renew and turn our attention towards a different theme. If the zodiac is the wheel of life, then each lunar month is a progression and a revelation of the 12 key archetypes of creation.
When we reach Virgo, we’ve reached the sixth sign of the zodiac. Virgo is an earth sign “ruled” by Mercury. If element earth talks about our material and physical lives, then Virgo is the day-to-day structure that builds our lives. Mercury is the movement or flow of this structure. If you’ve ever made a move to a new town or city, you know what it’s like to have to remake your routine, to refind all the stores and services to maintain your life, to rebuild community. This routine and structure is a reality of the archetype of Virgo.
Virgo is also one of the “helping and healing” signs along with Pisces, its opposite sign. Opposite is not two signs in conflict with each other. Instead they are complementary, two differences that make a whole. Virgo is helping and healing on an earthly level. We go to the doctor. We eat healthy food. We make changes in our habits. Pisces is healing on a spiritual level. It’s not enough to tend to the body; we also have to tend to the spirit and the soul.
While this is a Virgo New Moon, which is to say that we’ve entered a four week period where we need to take care of our earthly lives, to be of service to others, to put things into order, to honor our duties and responsibilities, it’s also a Virgo New Moon with Saturn in Pisces in opposition. This Virgo-Pisces duality takes center stage into the beginning of October. Again, it’s not enough to tend to our physical lives; we also have to tend to our spirits and our souls.
This is the main driver over the next four weeks.
Keep in mind that Saturn has been in Pisces since March 2023. A story began at that time centered on transitions, endings, and culminations; the search for deeper purpose and meaning as well as existential longing. Pisces as a sign and archetype means different things for different people. Pisces is our most intimate experiences with ourselves and our spirits. No one else can experience our internal lives. No one else can tell us the meaning and purposes of our lives. (Read Saturn in Pisces: The Look Within.)
Whatever is happening around this new moon plus the Sun-Saturn opposition of September 8 and the Pisces Full Moon of September 17 is part of a larger story unfolding since last year. Since Saturn is about something becoming tangible in our lives, we may see something become manifested. This includes a commitment, an event, a role of leadership, or the conclusion of a chapter.
Speaking of the September 17 Pisces Full Moon, keep in mind that the Virgo New Moon officially brings us into eclipse season, a period that occurs every six months marked by a set of lunar and solar eclipses. And the Pisces Full Moon is a lunar eclipse, the first in a series of eclipses in Pisces and Virgo that take us into 2026.
Eclipses bring change; there’s no way around it. And change is part of the natural movement of life. With Saturn also a key player at the time of the eclipse, this is an important month in the year, one that may bring events, major decisions, reality checks, and a need to build our lives with substance.
Then here’s Mercury in Leo square Uranus in Taurus. Uranus is an evolutionary planet; something wants to grow and evolve over the coming four weeks. We may need to shake up how we think and see things. Something hidden may be revealed.
Both the Virgo New Moon and the Pisces Full Moon lunar eclipse are square Jupiter in Gemini, the sign of choice. Be open to new ideas and perspectives. Jupiter is trying to expand our world and our horizons. We may need to learn something important. We need to have faith or figure out what we believe in and stand for. We may need to make a major reorientation in our direction.