Astral Weather Report: September 18, 2022

The Week Ahead

We begin this new week with Venus and Saturn in an inconjunct aspect. This aspect will be exact on Tuesday, and will slowly diminish toward the end of the week. This is also known as a quincunx. Vedic astrology calls this a “six-eight” or shasta-ashtakam, because on one side, the two planets are six houses apart (150 degrees), and on the other, they are eight houses apart (210 degrees), and this count is inclusive.

The inconjunct aspect suggests the need for an adaptation and new solutions for certain conditions that are simply not harmonious. The aspect between Venus and Saturn can point to feelings of loneliness or alienation. It can also suggest a financial or relationship crisis, or the need to make a decision in these areas, which will require a sacrifice or trade-off.

The last-quarter phase of the Moon began on Saturday, September 17, at the Sun-Moon waning square.

I like astrologer Dana Gerhardt's description of the last-quarter lunar phase:

Out of nowhere, we can find ourselves unhappy, even desperate, turned upside-down, with no clear reason why...Something inside wants to redirect us, to change our course. That's the tension...We're between worlds at the last quarter...There's the earthy one that's falling away-and the possible one that's beckoning, brighter and more beautiful, if only we'd make room for it. Our perception needs cleansing at the Last Quarter. Our field is clogged with residue from our [previous waxing Moon] growth cycle. (Moon Watching Series 8: The Last Quarter Moon, by Dana Gerhardt).

The waning crescent Moon is 22 days old and 44% illuminated on Sunday, September 18.

The waning crescent Moon will be 23 days old and 39% illuminated on Monday, September 19.

When the Moon and Sun reach their waning semi-square late Wednesday, September 21, the Moon will be 25 days old and 18% illuminated, and we will enter the balsamic lunar phase.

The balsamic Moon is the “dreamtime” period of the month for clearing, cleansing, contemplation, resting, healing, and letting go in preparation for the new Moon ahead. The balsamic phase of the Moon will occur within the equinox window from Thursday through Saturday, which is just a perfect synchronicity. Please see my previous article about the equinox in case you missed it.

The new Moon will occur in sidereal Virgo on Sunday, September 25, 2022, at 5:54:32 PM EDT (please use the World Time Buddy to convert to your time zone if it is different). The darkest day preceding the New Moon is the Amavasya tithi. This is an especially good day for releasing rituals, meditation, healing, and ancestral propitiation.

The new Moon day (from the start of the new Moon into the following day) is the period in which to set new intentions and perform rituals for new beginning. This is an especially lovely new Moon because it sets the stage for Sharad Navaratri, and for the Jewish high holy days, as well (which I wrote about previously in an article titled Autumn Glory).

This new Moon is also quite a lovely one as it falls in the auspicious Uttara Phalguni nakshatra, in conjunction with two benefic planets, Venus and Mercury. This nakshatra is ruled by a Vedic god named Aryaman, who represents charity and patronage. The Moon also occupies the most fortunate pushkara navamsa of Pisces, which brings higher vibrations of kindness, friendship, cooperation, collaboration, and compassion.

The Virgo new Moon brings a focus on health, work, and service, and new intentions and activities in these areas. Such matters are exponentially emphasized as the Sun also entered sidereal Virgo on September 16, where it will remain in transit until October 17.

Retrograde Mercury will reach its inferior conjunction on Friday, September 23. Around this date, we may access some important information and guidance and can begin to plant metaphoric seeds for something new to develop. What is revealed at this time is likely to emerge around Mercury’s direct station on October 2.

The Mercury retrograde period after Mercury’s inferior conjunction is about preparing to take new action which will have been inspired during the previous introspective period that began on September 9. But we may still need to wait until after Mercury goes direct to make any life-altering decisions or to initiate anything significant.

The Venus Virgo ingress will occur on Saturday, September 24. Venus will remain in Virgo until October 18. Venus will be quite closely conjoined Mercury in Virgo from September 24 to October 2. This period may reveal the blossoming of some new creative inspiration connected to a professional or business concern.

This inspiring Chinookan prayer feels perfect for the week ahead:

Teach us, and Show Us the Way

We call upon the earth, our planet home, with its beautiful depths and soaring heights, its vitality and abundance of life, and together we ask that it

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the mountains, the Cascades and the Olympics, the high green valleys and meadows filled with wild flowers, the snows that never melt, the summits of intense silence, and we ask that they

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the waters that rim the earth, horizon to horizon, that flow in our rivers and streams, that fall upon our gardens and fields and we ask that they

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the land which grows our food, the nurturing soil, the fertile fields, the abundant gardens and orchards, and we ask that they

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the forests, the great trees reaching strongly to the sky with earth in their roots and the heavens in their branches, the fir and the pine and the cedar, and we ask them to

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the creatures of the fields and forests and the seas, our brothers and sisters the wolves and deer, the eagle and dove, the great whales and the dolphin, the beautiful Orca and salmon who share our Northwest home, and we ask them to

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon all those who have lived on this earth, our ancestors and our friends, who dreamed the best for future generations, and upon whose lives our lives are built, and with thanksgiving, we call upon them to

Teach us, and show us the Way.

And lastly, we call upon all that we hold most sacred, the presence and power of the Great Spirit of love and truth which flows through all the Universe, to be with us to

Teach us, and show us the Way.