In September, we come to the precipice of a steep drop in the swimming pool. Despite all of the surprises and noise of summer, we’ve been able to feel the ground beneath our feet (even if it was quaking). As we continue to take steps forward, with our toenails grazing the bottom, the floor disappears, and we’re forced to swim. We’re in the deep end. Even though Mercury finally comes home to practical Virgo on September 9th, and the Sun moves into equitable Libra on the 22nd (the fall equinox), it’s no match for the churning emotionality of September’s water-sign placements.
First, Mars enters Cancer on the 4th for a prolonged period due to an upcoming retrograde. Our emotional sensitivities will be activated around topics of safety, tribal identity, and comforts of the past. On the 17th, eclipse season begins with a lunar eclipse in Pisces. Its proximity to Neptune in Pisces suggests tidal waves of empathy but also deep yearnings for escape and all forms of anesthetics. Finally, Venus enters Scorpio on September 22. We may develop a taste for the extreme or forbidden when it comes to relationships, beauty, and pleasure. With all three water signs in play, objectivity is not our strong suit and half-measures will feel unsatisfying.
This is all intensified by Pluto’s final return to Capricorn. It only visits for a couple of months before heading back to Aquarius, but it marks the end of a process that was started in 2008. Pluto, symbol of subterranean power and the corrosive force that is necessary for regeneration, also finalizes America’s Pluto return. A planetary return occurs when a planet comes back to the place it occupied at an entity’s inception. This marks the end of a 248-year cycle for the nation.
This article appears in September 2024.
