Complete, Authentic, and Uncensored
Dates and times are given for U.S. Pacific Time zone.
No false moves
As Mars in Virgo makes a trine to Pluto this week (Sep. 6, 2021, 5:19 am PDT), taking an organized, diligent, and pragmatic approach to things is the best protection from Pluto’s fierce gaze. Bring your most grounded, resourceful, and intelligent Mars in Virgo confidence to all you do today, and Pluto’s power will support and possibly elevate you. We often fall into the trap of framing Pluto in the worst possible terms, but he represents the influence and power that can be yours when you bring your most truthful, authentic self to the world. There isn’t a lot of room for false moves where Pluto is concerned – but luckily, Mars in Virgo is rarely false.
Sincere amends
Venus trines Jupiter this week (Sep. 6, 2021, 6:05 am PDT), so watch your spending, especially when it comes to luxuries. With Jupiter Rx casting inhibitions to the wind, it’s a dicey time for major purchases, especially those related to travel or education. But it is a perfect time for a thoughtfully chosen gift, especially after last week’s Venus/Pluto aspect. Learn from any conflict that arose from that, and make sincere amends.
No report card
This week’s New Moon (Sep. 6, 2021, 5:52 pm PDT) is at 14.38 Virgo, the sign symbolized by the virgin, a self-sufficient woman who needs no man to support her or to make her whole. Where Virgo falls in your birthchart, you are complete. Like Sun in Virgo actress Greta Garbo, who famously said, “I want to be let alone,” in the matters ruled by this house you are happiest when left to your own devices. Here, you’re absorbed in the happy work of Virgo – problem solving, figuring stuff out, and making things work. It’s also, funnily enough, the area of life where people look at you with a kind of respectful awe – possibly because you don’t seem to need or care about anyone’s approval. In this part of your life, you don’t need a report card from anyone else. You’re grading yourself on an entirely different (and probably much more punishing) scale.
We wander onto the bad side of Virgoland’s tracks when we go to extremes, starving or overindulging our love of solitude. As soon as a guilty voice in your head begins scolding that you “should” do something, anything other than spending time in some happy, quiet pursuit, then you’re in trouble. But when a sad voice in your head begs you not to join the human race because interacting with others is just too scary, you’re also in trouble.
Virgo is a sign of adjustment and compromise, and its symbolism contains an essential truth: That having things exactly the way you want them all of the time is not a reasonable goal, or a healthy one, and it certainly won’t make you happy. Even alone, contentedly pursuing our Virgo objectives in a hermetic cocoon, we can’t be happy forever; humans are social creatures, and every now and then we have to rub shoulders with our fellow man. Otherwise, something hardwired into the genetic code of our species turns us existentially gloomy. And as soon as we are confronted with reality by other people or simply by our own awareness of our limitations, the process of adaptation begins. (Read my full essay, Solitude and the Contented Heart, here!)
Exciting work
Today also features the Sun in self-sufficient Virgo trine independent Uranus (Sep. 6, 2021, 6:29 pm PDT). A trine (120 deg.) angle is considered harmonious, because it naturally occurs between planets in signs of the same element – in this case, earth. A trine is positive inasmuch as the two planets work together comfortably, even if their essential natures are radically different, which is the case with the Sun (unshakable sense of self) and Uranus (things that shake us up). But the sign of Virgo and the planet Uranus actually share in common a certain untouchable independence – and their harmonious connection points to an exceptional week for innovative, independent, exciting work.
Uncensored
This week, Venus enters Scorpio (Sep. 10, 2021, 1:39 pm PDT, through Oct. 8). Venus in Scorpio dislikes artifice and resists all efforts to control her. She asks us to find beauty in what we are and what we’re authentically drawn to.
That was sometimes a challenge for my family of formidable women. We’ve never been dainty; we’re fat and fierce and loud, and when we’re together we laugh so hard that we can’t breathe. Each of us married long-suffering men who had spent at least one major holiday with the family and knew exactly what they were getting into.
Back in late 1988, Scorpio comedian Rosanne Barr premiered a sitcom featuring a TV family that remains, to this day, the only one I’ve seen that really resembled my own. (The exterior of the Conners home was literally photographed in my home town.) Forget the real-life Roseanne and the baggage and controversy that come with her; I loved Roseanne Conner, her funny, sassy, bossy, opinionated, and irreverent creation. I recognized that woman, her daughters, her husband, her sofa. It wasn’t a pretty show, but it looked real to me. I liked that Roseanne wasn’t defined by her size. I liked that she never apologized for taking up too much space in the world.
As Venus transits Scorpio for the next few weeks, take pleasure in your authenticity. Remember that your life is not a democracy – it’s a wild, uncensored, technicolor garden. Grow what you like there, and love who you are.
Writing and images © 2019-2021 by April Elliott Kent
More about this week’s planetary highlights in our latest podcast episode!
