The last month of summer has begun. The Sun left the flaming Leo to step into the sign of the Lady. The Virgin dressed in pure white, holding a ear of golden wheat.
A purification process begins. The sulphur coming up from summer heat, bearer of the forces of the dragon, is counterbalanced by our rising discipline. Little by little, everything starts moving smoothly again as the air gets cooler and the days shorter and shorter.
You can almost feel it sometimes. A mixed feeling of nostalgia and relief after a late summer storm. The sunset light turning into a golden-honey shade, as the wind carries a different smell with it. The first signs of autumn peep timidly.
The Power of Kindness
As the excess of heat eases down, our instincts get dulled. Anger, agitation, frustration, sexual drive—the sulphur that wrapped us up begins to thin out like a morning fog. We start to perceive other people back again, beyond our ego-wall. And the virtue of the Virgo can rise.
Becomes
Sensitivity of Heart *
(*) Please note that this is my translation, the usual translation is “steadiness of feeling”
Kindness holds power. The image of a virgin taming kindly a lion. These virtues comes from H.P. Blavatsky and Rudolf Steiner. Starting from courtesy, which is mainly an attitude, we can develop an inner strength. It is the skill of being in touch, connecting to, and perceiving other people’s heart. It is a form of subtle tact that grants us the ability of reading other people’s feelings.
Personally, I feel a great distance between these virtues and what’s expecting us in September. It is truly a matter of keeping within us a little flame that the outside world will try to smothering out.
Moving with Grace through Challenges
September is a month full of challenges. We have already discussed the meaning of Mars in Aries. In September the God of War is going to turn retrograde, preparing to make several important squares through all the season.
Usually, in September everything starts moving again with a renewed momentum. And it seems that this fall we’re in for a wild ride. Starting from the medium-term consequences of the pandemic, to the elections of the President of United States.
Here’s a list of the aspects for September 2020:
The main event is without a doubt Mars turning retrograde. Followed by the consolidation of the Saturn Mars square (first arrow), and the formation of the Jupiter Neptune sextile (second arrow).
There is also an interesting interaction between Venus and Mars, making a square at the beginning of the month and closing it with a trine. Like two lovers who had quarreled because he’s decided to enlist for war, forgiving him just before his departure. Mars’ enemies are of course Saturn, Jupiter and Pluto.
We have here the dynamic we’ve talked about in the Neptune retrograde article. On one hand the rising of new solutions for a sick world, coming from a spiritual impulse (Jupiter and Neptune). On the other battles, violence and riots trying to blindly fight against the so called great powers.
The Subtle dominates the Heavy
Lies, mass manipulation, violence, repression, fear. Fighting fire with fire is not the solution, nor the way out in my opinion. That’s why I felt such a big gap between the highest energies of Virgo and the struggling forces of Mars. This image of purification is in my opinion one of the keys to go through this process.
The woman taming the lion can be found in the western spiritual tradition in the Strength tarot card (that I should rather call arcanum). However, the best description of this process I’ve ever found comes from the 78th stanza of the Tao Te Ching.
78.
Under heaven nothing is more soft and yielding than water.
Yet for attacking the solid and strong, nothing is better;
It has no equal.
The weak can overcome the strong;
The supple can overcome the stiff.
Under heaven everyone knows this, Yet no one puts it into practice.
Therefore the sage says: He who takes upon himself the humiliation of the people is fit to rule them.
He who takes upon himself the country’s disasters deserves to be king of the universe.
The truth often sounds paradoxical.
Tao Te Ching — Lao Tzi
I hope this way to counterbalance the rising powers of sulphur inspired you. As always, if you enjoyed this article please subscribe to the Astronomicon Newsletter with the bar at the top of the website. Thanks for reading, have a good week.
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
Thanks Rob
♂️
My pleasure :)