A Few Punctuation Marks Away
As a writer for many years, I’ve worked with a number of editors. The best have had something important in common: their focus was on what was right with my work, instead of what was wrong with it. Eventually, we got around to refining the disjointed thoughts and cleaning up the sentences that occasionally trailed off without any ending at all. In this, they were every bit as exacting as their job required. But the process began with their enthusiasm for the best of my writing, followed by coaching designed to help me bring the rest of it up to the same level.
All this is soothing for the writer’s ego, of course. But there’s also a practical lesson in there for any of us who find ourselves in a position of critiquing others, as parents, bosses, coaches, or even friends: most of the time, high standards combined with encouragement inspires better results than criticism alone.
This week’s Virgo New Moon (Sep. 2, 2024, 6:55 pm, 11º04′ Virgo), with the Sun and Moon in a frustrating opposition to Saturn, is a good time to meditate on one of the keywords commonly associated with this sign: criticism. Virgo’s criticism derives from two other qualities, discrimination and discernment. Like its opposite sign, Pisces, Virgo is idealistic, embracing dreams of perfection—but Virgo can be a bit pessimistic about the capacity of mere mortals to live up to these ideals.
While Pisces (even with Saturn currently in the sign) is blessed with the ability to overlook imperfection, Virgo is tasked with seeing each failing that stands between us and the vision. Sometimes, it must be said, Virgo indulges in negative criticism; the world is full of faults and mediocrity, and Virgo’s inability to ignore these things can turn her into a cranky scold. But sometimes, Virgo criticizes because she is enraptured by a vision of greatness that lies only a few punctuation marks away.
The Charming Fast-talker
If you’ve ever let yourself get talked into something by a charming fast-talker, even as your intuition was thrashing madly like a fish trying to detach itself from a hook, you have some idea of the potential dangers of Mars in Gemini square Neptune in Pisces (Sep. 2, 2024, 9:09 pm PDT).
The world moves at a dizzying speed. We’re surrounded by endless messages urging us to do things, buy things, go places, and once we’re grownups we recognize pretty quickly that those messages are rarely designed to be in our own interest. Whether it’s buying a car, filing our taxes, or negotiating to buy a house, we have to learn to defend ourselves in a fast-talking world. This means sharpening our minds, learning to trust our intuition, and putting on the brakes if we need time to think things through.
The Power All Along
Mars enters Cancer (Sep. 4, 2024, 12:46 pm PDT) on the heels of many long, cross, exhausting weeks in Gemini. It’s such a relief to move on to a new battleground that it’s easy to forget that Mars isn’t all that comfortable in Cancer, the sign of its fall. Mars prefers to tackle things head-on, but Cancer’s style is oblique and protective.
Nevertheless, Mars in any sign symbolizes the way we react to threats and the things we feel are worth fighting for. As Mars enters Cancer, we’re determined to make our way home, either literally or figuratively. Maybe we feel estranged from our spiritual center. Perhaps someone we love is in danger, or we’re desperately longing to reunite with those we love and from whom we’ve long been separated.
But there may be conflicts with these loved ones, too. Not everyone sees eye to eye about everything, perceives the same threats, shares the same vision. However, Mars applies to flowing aspects during this transit – a trine to supportive Saturn, sextile to innovative Uranus, and importantly, a trine to gentle, loving, “all is forgiven” Neptune. By the time Mars makes this aspect (Oct. 28), we’ll realize we’ve had the power to get home all along.
The Protagonist
There’s a story we tell about ourselves, starting from our earliest experiences and encompassing all the milestones up to the present day. The experiences we choose to highlight in that story – and most importantly, the way we frame ourselves as hero, victim, victor, or loser – are up to us.
As Mercury, the storyteller, clashes with Uranus (Sep. 6, 2024, 9:21 pm PDT), the last in a series of three such aspects (the others were on July 21 and August 18), it’s time to rewrite that story. Mercury has made these aspects while still in Leo, so by all means, place yourself at the heart of the narrative; but remember that we all have blind spots, and being a true protagonist means earning your heroism, not defending your flaws.
Jasper’s Wall
My neighbor’s delightful cat, Jasper, spends most of his days outdoors. From our house, I can see him pace out a very specific route through the neighborhood. Sometimes, as my neighbor and I are embarking on a walk, he materializes to escort us. But about halfway down the block, he stops in his tracks as though he’s run into a glass wall. He stands there and meows plaintively as we disappear from sight, but he won’t breach that invisible wall.
Like Jasper, most of us tend to have a sense of our limits. We know how far we can wander before we’ve left our territory and things begin to feel unsafe.
When the confident Sun opposes Saturn (Sep. 7, 2024, 9:35 pm PDT), we want to strut proudly around the neighborhood, flexing our muscles – but Saturn is the invisible barrier that holds us in check. We may experience Saturn’s boundaries in the person of a tough boss, a strict parent, or other authority figure. But often, what’s holding us back is simply our own internal glass wall, a boundary that is intended to keep us safe.
Everyday Extraordinary
Peer through a microscope at something ordinary. Removed from its larger context, something like pollen or cells taken from your cheek becomes art. You lose the bigger picture as you zoom in, but isn’t it amazing to see its individual components in such detail?
Mercury, the planet of perception, puts on its magnifying glass when it enters Virgo (Sep. 8, 2024, 11:50 pm PDT). While it’s in this detail-loving sign (through Sep. 26), the everyday becomes extraordinary.
Writing and images © 2017-24 by April Elliott Kent
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