New Moon in Virgo Tidings! I hope this Late Summer finds you well and thriving, enjoying this last month of warmth before our transition to Autumn.

Recently at a family wedding, which was a truly beautiful and heart-warming event, a few of my friends with Virgo Suns in their birth charts shared the awesome phrase they've been working with, "We're Virgo'an/Virgo'in places". This has since become one of my favorite expressions! As a person who's got a fair amount of Virgo in her chart, it's an energy I've been working with my whole life. With the Virgo New Moon falling today, Sunday, September 9, and the Sun having been here for two and a half weeks, we are certainly in the reign of the virgin. This energy is one of purification and organization, perhaps of "getting ducks in a row" in order to facilitate a more smooth and easeful sense of being. While Virgo tends to get a bad rap for being too detail-oriented for her own good, relegated to the Dewy Decimal system of life, as my teacher Steven Forrest points out, there's no sign of the zodiac so willing to grow and evolve! The energy here is one of commitment to working toward a vision that is deeply fulfilling. And details are important for this vision to be seen through! The details support the whole, inviting the expression to be efficiently and effectively crafted, while Virgo refines her gifts as she goes along, something deeply fulfilling for her.

The downfall here is that create what she may, Virgo may seem like she never actually gets to her vision, falling short of an ideal she's built that is just that:: too idealistic. But here's where the crux of Virgo really is! As astrologer Jason Holley shares, Virgo reminds us that pure potentiality brought into the world of form gives us the capacity to concretize our dreams. And in so doing, perhaps we are able to make a sacrifice, which comes from the word "sacrificio," as in making something sacred and doing it in the best way we can even though we're not totally perfect at it. To recognize that we've done the best we can requires letting go of expectations we have of ourselves and to simply allowing the process to unfold in the clearest way possible. I included this topic in last year's Virgo New Moon post, which speaks to the Sanskrit word "purnatva", or "perfection." Another translation for this word is "fullness," as in offering fully from the totality of our being in order to bring "pure potentiality into the world of form." When we do our best in the moment, recognizing that we don't need to create in order to be more full or whole, that our innermost nature and the true nature of Reality is already that, we can give ourselves a break and both enjoy and appreciate the process of bringing to life in this physical world what isn't yet. I used to think that because there were SO many amazing yoga teachers in the world, I should certainly not contribute what I had to offer because of this feeling of falling short, of never measuring up to the unreal expectation we're talking about here. With time, practice, and openness, I realized that everyone's gifts are important, and since we're all unique expressions of the One big energy that is everything, no one person has more importance than another in terms of sharing his/her gifts. Your gifts are just as valid and beautiful as anyone else's, just different in their expression. And what a benefit this was! This realization freed me up from pain and suffering and allowed me to recognize that releasing limiting ideas of how or what something I create should look like invites the process to be full, whole, and "perfect" just as it is.

These past couple of weeks for me have been an invitation to getting organized in a way that Virgo is pro! She has major gifts in the realm of systemization, and an ability to make lists and carry them out in ways that support life's flow. I've switched internet plans (rural peeps can be challenged in this arena!) as well as mobile phone companies, ensuring that my bills are way lower and my coverage way better. Score one team Virgo! And the purple bedroom that's been sitting just too, well, PURPLE, for the past year is now a neutral color for our guests to enjoy more when they come and stay. It was either that or paint a unicorn on the wall and sprinkle glitter everywhere! And with school starting again this week, I've felt called to refine my daily schedule so that an overall balance in life is supported, which definitely feels great.

Virgo corresponds to the element of Earth in Western Astrology. In the Five Phase Theory of Chinese Medicine, the Earth phase corresponds to Late Summer. This is when the last of Yang energy is expressing itself before the turn to more Yin-like times in the Fall and Winter. We still have ample light in the day to formulate routines in our lives that give support for a nurturing daily rhythm. Earth in this theory has an affinity for the Spleen/Stomach pair and especially the Spleen's capacity to regulate the mind. It's the Spleen that's connected to making associations and cross-referencing like a librarian might. Sense the Virgoan connection? The Spleen is associated with the mind's capacity to relate what it's seeing and experiencing to the memories of what we've experienced previously. Yet if there's imbalance in the overall system, we might over-think, over-analyze, get too in our heads, and honestly feel somewhat nuts. Here, balancing the Spleen-Stomach with the whole body-mind-spirit allows the Spleen to carry out its function of discernment and separating the clear from the turbid more efficiently. For example, rather than wasting time and vital energy thinking in circles about the same topic, when the Spleen is properly functioning it gives access to putting the appropriate life force where it needs to go, then letting go. This is a bit like Virgo's capacity to let go of expectations and the worry that something's not perfect, freeing herself up to be productive in effective and fulfilling ways. The Spleen's ability to provide nourishment is allowed here, and we're able to release all that isn't worthwhile and helpful in the larger scheme of things.

I know that my mind can obsess on things if I let it! Thankfully mindfulness practices have helped balance this over a couple decades. I've also learned that if I employ the use of lists to help me organize my thoughts and my time, carefully appropriating my energy where it's most effective, I feel accomplished and empowered to create what's being called for. While my mind could stew on the purple bedroom for longer than is helpful, my just deciding how to go about getting it done allowed my Spleen to discern the importance of this matter, and my Liver (more on that later!) helped carry out the plan. The Spleen's (and Stomach's) energies were freed up, as was the Liver's, and a sense of balance and freedom from what could have been an overwhelming situation ensued. Hence, a healthy flow of qi and blood, promoting a more healthy digestion of food, thoughts, and life itself! And for more on the topic of the Spleen Stomach and Late Summer, you can read here:: https://www.tcmworld.org/late-summer-the-season-of-nurturing-and-transformation-2/ .

How can you access Virgo's gifts of organization and creating order to enhance your daily rhythm? Which routines need to be created or shifted in order for a more healthy flow of life? How can you help out your Spleen, employing discernment well, effectively using your life force energy to keep you vibrant and balanced during the Late Summer?

May you continue Virgo'an places! As always, the Force is with you. Enjoy!