September Astrology - Sink or Swim
How is everyone feeling since last month’s alignments? I know I’m still cooking from this eclipse season. The shifts, the learning opportunities, and the immense amount of shedding have me feeling a bit destabilized in my outer shell, but inside, I feel as if something has shifted. The air has calmed a bit, and it feels like the storm is subsiding.
I know that sounds crazy because things in the world are anything but stable right now. Which is why my outer shell feels like it’s cracking under the weight of the pressure. Usually I would be a big ball of nerves, but do you remember the release valve I spoke of last month? Well, I’m doing my best to allow mine to flow out, because I don’t want to live in stress and anxiety.
I don’t care as much what the outer world is telling me to do. “Look here, look there, be afraid! Be very, VERY afraid!” I’ve bought into it long enough. I’ve disempowered myself long enough. If the world is not going to stabilize around me, then I’m going to try my hardest to stabilize within myself.
I remind myself that our ancestors have been here before. They got out, they survived, and they learned. We are doing the same. The Earth works in cycles, and rarely is anything truly new. The universe recycles itself, and as the astral bodies around us move here and there, we are going to witness repeating themes. The same storyline, different characters and circumstances. I know it’s hard not to get caught up in the noise, and wow, things are so loud right now, but the best thing we can do for ourselves is to witness the stillness that comes with being fully present in the moment.
Our bodies feel the cycles. They know the cycles. Even when we aren’t conscious of it, our body remembers everything, and it tries hard to keep us safe in the face of uncertainty. Right now, we are facing major uncertainty. It isn’t that we haven’t been here before, but there are certain alignments that are happening that we’ve never seen in our lifetime. Maybe in a life before this, the information that travels through our DNA remembers what came with it, and by looking at our history, I’m willing to bet there was struggle. But we have evolved. We have learned. We just have to remember our strength, and that is what September is all about astrologically. Let’s dive in.
The beginning of September is going to offer us a bit of an integration period from the movements in August. August was a gigantic month energetically speaking, and there were lots of things happening beneath the surface, in our faces, and outside of our consciousness. I personally believe the alignments from last month played a part in an overhaul of our DNA. We all felt it. We all saw it happening in our lives in different ways.
By the time September 10th rolls around, we are starting to be introduced again to the waves of the cosmos, and the first set of waves could feel like a tsunami. There has been a slow and steady buildup of energy, and on September 10th, we have the New Moon in Virgo, Uranus goes Retrograde, Venus enters Scorpio, AND Mercury enters Leo. They’re all walking hand-in-hand.
You know what it reminds me of? Playing the game back in elementary school where one set of kids locks arms and another set of kids runs as fast as they can to try and break through. These celestial bodies will be locked arm-in-arm, but each of them will be playing a different part. Some stronger, some weaker. But in the very beginning, they’re going to be a unit. It’s up to us to “break through” as each of them moves into different placements as the days go by.
I’ll sum up what I think we’re looking at without going into every detail about each alignment. When I look at these alignments, I see a system. This will be our system for going under the wave instead of trying to jump over. The wave will be too big to ride on top. If you’re a pro surfer, you have that option (with some risks), but for the average human, going under the wave will be what gets us to the other side without all the extra struggle.
First, we need to reorganize. Get your thoughts and ideas outside of your mind. Put them down on paper. Create a filing system for your thoughts. Which ones need to go in the shredder? Which ones do you want to be the most accessible? Which ones are good ones to remember in a pinch? Organize them all, and consciously start choosing which ones serve you best. All the fear-based thoughts… Shred if you can. If not, reframe.
There are AMPLE opportunities for fear right now. Remember, THEY DO NOT SERVE YOU. Fear is a horrible teacher. Nothing is gained from fear without reframing taking place. If you need to remind yourself you are safe 200 times a day, then that’s what it takes. Accept where you’re at. Notice your patterns. Especially blaming and taking accountability for the ways in which your mind has trapped you in a loop of suffering.
Trauma is awful, and many of us are carrying generational burdens. There’s no negating the complications that come with trauma, but the truth is, we can only choose what happens in the present moment. The past may try to reintroduce itself into your present moment, but we do not have to shake its hand and accept the deal. We can acknowledge it, reframe it, and move on to a different thought. We can move it out somatically; we can vent - whatever you need to do to bring yourself back into the present moment. Use the tools you already know.
Second is to reassess. After you have done your organizing, assess what’s left over. Are there any residual thoughts, patterns, behaviors that can go? Small or big. Micro changes done intentionally and repetitively create some pretty major change long-term, so don’t dismiss yourself when you’re not taking leaps. Jumping long distances wears down our energy faster. Small steps will make sure we stay steady.
After you’ve reassessed your thoughts, now you can really integrate the information you’ve always known, but haven’t been able to implement. The errand you’ve been putting off, the dream that’s been stirring, the friend you’ve been meaning to call… Do all of them during this time. Forward movement. Once you start to dive into the water, you don’t want to sit there and let the wave pull you up and under. You want to get a good push off the ground to propel yourself forward towards the back of the wave. Implementation is key. Being lazy will only end in pain.
Third is to feel the depth of what you are doing. You have this enormous, roaring wave right overhead, and you all you can hear is bubbles. Take this moment in. Recognize the power you hold in this moment. You are safe. You are held. Not by anything outside of you, but by yourself. You chose to dive under and to allow your body to take you back up to safety.
At the same time, this can be a terrifying moment. What lurks in the surrounding water? What about your breath? And what awaits when you return to the surface? All of this is unknown and very scary, but remember, fear is a terrible teacher. What teaches us, truly, is the overcoming of fear. Facing the hard thing and seeing our strength on the other side. You may not have chosen this path consciously, but there’s a part of you on the other side of this that knows exactly what it’s doing. As you are underwater, you trust your in-breath to eventually take you to your out-breath.
Lastly, once you reach the surface on the water, which way will you go? Will you fight the waves that are coming, and continue to swim into the depths of the ocean (with no end in sight), or will you return to shore and create safety where the Earth is still? We all have opportunities that arise in our lives that offer us stillness. Sometimes we ignore them, claiming we are too busy, or life demands we do something else, but what is more important than stillness in such a busy world?
We are in a time of great change. There will be plenty of opportunities for us to be busy, but what happens if we allow ourselves to slow down and soften? Our anxiety and fear certainly don’t change the world – we’ve seen that already. It will be our awareness that changes the world, and that awareness simply cannot come when we are distracted. It is within the stillness that we are guided to what to do next, and if more of us offered the stillness a place to land in our lives, we would become open to so many possibilities for true, sustainable change. Sustainable change does not happen in a rush. It takes its time.
If we stick to this system, we will be rewarded with a deeper connection and appreciation for the Earth, and for our strength. We will begin to trust ourselves and others again. We open up to who we truly are, and what our purpose is on this ball of stardust floating through the cosmos.
Five days after your journey, on September 15th, Venus enters Scorpio square Pluto in Aquarius. Venus represents relationships, values, love, self-worth, and how we allow ourselves to receive. Pluto represents transformation, power, shadow, endings, and rebirth. If there are any ways you try to control your life or attach to certain outcomes, you will be met with great resistance, and you will feel it. The theme of this alignment is to release and let go.
Let go of what you cannot control. Release yourself of expectations. Release yourself of greed, jealousy, fear of abandonment, and all unhealthy patterns around giving and receiving. Just like I was saying before, all of those patterns come from the past and need a reframing. If you continue to control or sit within these unhealthy patterns, you will become transparent.
What this means is people will see right through you. Your hand will be shown to everyone in the game, and they will know all the cards you have to play, and the game will not run in your favor anymore. To put it bluntly, people won’t have time for your bullshit. We all have bullshit, and most of the time we know it’s complete bullshit, but we ride the bullshit wagon right down candy cane lane and ignore the trail of shit we’re leaving behind us. Everyone else can see it, but you choose to keep your focus forward instead of witnessing the mess you’ve made.
You can ignore it as long as you want, but eventually your nose will show you what your eyes refuse to look at. Everything smells like shit, and there’s no hiding it. The only thing to do now is clean it up. We do this by admitting we were wrong, or we could have handled something better. Or we apologize if our asshole ran over someone’s shoe while we were riding our shit wagon around. Better yet, we offer our help to those people. We take accountability, then we ask, “What can I do to make this better?”
Our pride won’t like it a bit, but our soul doesn’t care about our shit wagon. No matter how much our pride thinks we’re driving around in a Lambo, our soul isn’t embarrassed to say, “I’ve been full of shit, and I’ve been driving this train right into oblivion.” When we do this, we grow. Not only personally, but as a collective. We teach others it’s ok to admit when you’re wrong, and sometimes we make messes. It’s how we gain trust in each other again. Fess up, and clean up. It doesn’t have to be a battle.
This leads me right into Mercury in Libra opposite Saturn in Aries on September 18th. This is a “get real with yourself” moment. You’re looking at the mess, and the gravity of your actions is sinking in. It’s SO easy to fall back to victim mentality here. “Woe is me. I am bad. I deserve the worst.” Don’t fall for it. When we play into those stories, we are abandoning our power to grow. Shit becomes manure for seedlings to grow. Even though you’ve made a mess, there are still opportunities for growth. Take them!
If you see someone you had “beef” with, take this opportunity to squash it. If you have a friend or family member that you were unkind to, reach out and offer an apology. If there’s someone out there that you know needs help, help them. It may not be comfortable, but growth never is. There’s an enormous amount of tension that happens when we are just beginning to stretch ourselves. Empathy is not something that we experience every day, and for those who have been shut off, it can feel pretty foreign at first, but eventually we remember this is who we are. We are made to feel empathy. At the end of this, you will have learned how to communicate truth with maturity instead of resorting to childish patterns that feel more comfortable.
By now, you are primed for the Full Moon in Aries on September 26th. This focuses on our relationship with ourselves. What do I want? Who am I? What is true for me? When we uncover our shadows, it can feel debilitating. This full moon will be the current that reminds you that you can swim. You can choose to go over or under these waves. You have a system built that will serve you as each new wave comes. With each wave, you will feel more and more confident going into the ocean of yourself. Instead of fearing what hides in the darkness, we can enjoy the sound of the bubbles.
We will learn that we can live in harmony with this darkness. That life is not about taking the easy road. Those who came to Earth know the rise and fall of the tide never ends, but waves don’t have to drown us. We can choose when to find our footing on land or venture into the grand water. Once we are able to fully trust ourselves in our darkness and in our light, we will breed a new type of authenticity that is unshakable. We will live fully as ourselves, with no apologies, no people-pleasing, no compromising, and no losing our identity anymore. We will be free to live life fully and freely, just as we are.
For the very last alignment series I will touch on for September, we have a Grand Air Trine happening from September 26th to 28th. What this means is that the air signs, Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius, will all be in a harmonious triangular aspect. While the Full Moon invited us to come back to ourselves, this Grand Air Trine will influence us to think differently about what’s possible.
There could be huge possibilities for emotional clarity, mental liberation, and new perspectives. What a beautiful way for September to go full circle. It is truly mesmerizing to see how these aspects tie so beautifully together. It just reminds me of the intelligence that surrounds us at all times.
By the end of September, we will be feeling more balanced and liberated. More than likely, we won’t talk out of September as the same person we were in the beginning on September, and I think that’s pretty exciting.
