On September 1st there is a New Moon Solar Eclipse at the 10th degree of Virgo. New Moons are powerful times to plant a seed of intention for the monthly cycle. When the New Moon is also a Solar Eclipse the seeds planted reach far beyond the monthly cycle. Wherever 10 degrees of Virgo falls in your natal charts a new seed of healing is being sown.

There are layers meaning for this Solar Eclipse that need to be unpacked in order to understand the magnitude of the energy shift we are experiencing. And I will try, in my best Virgo manner (I have Mars conjunct Pluto in Virgo), to do just that.

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? 2016 from the perspective of Numerology is a 9 Universal Year. The ending of a cycle that began in 2008. Nine years are about endings and tying up loose ends while keeping your third eye open for the seeds of the future. In the 9 vibration we look through the fruits of our labors over the last 8 years and pick out the valuable pearls or seeds and let go of the rest. The discarded fruits are then sent to the compost pile where they will return to the earth as fertilizer for the new beginnings we see in the 1 cycle.

If we look to the symbolism of the Tarot, the 9 vibration is seen in the Hermit Card, The Hermit card speaks to us of searching and seeking the answers to life’s big questions by looking within. In many Tarot decks the Hermit holds up his lantern and inside the lantern we see a glowing 6 pointed star. The six pointed star or Star of David is the symbol of merging of the lower self and the higher self. In the Kabbalah, it is the symbol for Tipareth, the Sephorith in the center of the Tree of Life and the one connected to our Heart Chakra. Revealing the spiritual truth that we can only merge our lower and higher natures through love.

Astrologically the Hermit card is associated with no other than Virgo! So this year of 2016 has been awash in the energy of Virgo. With Jupiter in Virgo for 3/4 of the year and the North Node (the direction of our collective evolution) in Virgo, there has been no doubt that the best course of action is one of fixing what is broken in our lives.
Mercury, the ruling planet of Virgo has 4 retrograde cycles all in earth signs in 2016. In fact two days before this solar eclipse Mercury went retrograde for the third time this year and this time in Virgo! When planets are retrograde it is time to review, reconfigure and renew whatever the planet symbolizes in our lives. And with Mercury we are talking about or minds. Because the retrograde is in Virgo we have to see how our minds effect our bodies and what do we need to change to become healthier on all levels, mental, emotional, physical and spiritual.

As most of us are probably aware we have been dealing with all manner of health and healing issues; from our personal health, to the health of the planet, to the health of our social systems, and the health of our Human Soul. I could go on…

While all this Virgo has been happening the mutable quadrant (Virgo is a mutable Earth sign) has been busy with the likes of the Neptune (in Pisces)/Saturn (in Sagittarius) square. This configuration has created a crisis in belief and a reevaluation of the structure of our social order. Squares are difficult because the require us to change and with Saturn, the planet of reality at ‘war’ with Neptune the planet of unreality, life on earth has become almost absurd side show that would be laughable if it wasn’t so tragic! We are faced with images and stories of death and destruction which are actually happening somewhere fueling the fires of fear that just end up creating more destruction as people grasp at any semblance of normalcy, even if that normalcy is distorted caricature of the good old days. We feel powerless to change, despite our human need to aid other humans in distress (So very Virgo!).

Yet that’s just the thing, the idea that we are powerless to change things is an illusion. We can change things, especially now as reality is very fluid. So how do we do it? Well the Hermit has few ideas!

First we must unplug from the fear mongering techno-sphere, It’s not about hiding out, although an occasional vacation from reality can be helpful, it is about being discerning around what information you take in. Find reliable sources for your information, I watch Democracy Now and other alternative news sources that are not reliant on corporate sponsorship. We cannot ‘escape’ we need to face our situation (Virgo) and take practical, incremental steps to make our individual lives work better for us. For some this is new health regime, for others it’s about cleaning out the clutter, for others it is about reworking the political systems. Whatever it is that you excel at you need to apply yourself. And whatever you need to fix, you need to fix it.

A new day is dawning, as to what that day will look like it is really up to us. This eclipse and the lunar eclipse coming in two weeks is a watershed point of all the work we have done over this year. All the analysis, all the de-cluttering, all the understandings, all the pain and suffering, all of it will serve, if we let the past go and move into the unknown future with a certainty that we can make a difference. It begins in little ways on your own personal journey and as each of us uncover the valuable seeds for the future and start the process of tending the soil for planting we are taking our power back, taking our world back and creating the kind of world we want to live in.