Astrology of September 2007 by Henry Seltzer (www.astrograph.com)

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The Astrology of September features Venus, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto. Venus completed her Heliacal Rise last month and has now become the Morning Star, visible just before dawn. Although still retrograde as the month begins, she has symbolically reentered life after passing through the underworld. Venus returns to direct motion on the 8th and as she does, forms a tight quincunx aspect with Uranus, indicating surprising developments in store for us in the area of relationships and aesthetics. A few days later this aspect is triggered by the powerful Solar Eclipse New Moon on Tuesday the 11th, and brought to an even more poignant peak of energy.

In another turning point, Saturn enters critical Virgo on the first weekend of September, so that the beginning of the month might find us more concerned over minute particulars than on raising our gaze to embrace the big picture. This kind of narrowing of our focus can be a kind of escape and also encourages the interior critical parent in us all, but it also brings our awareness back to our bodies. The deliciousness of life as well as the devil can be found in the details.

The September 11th Solar Eclipse exactly opposes Uranus in Pisces, bringing the concept of unexpected and undeserved cosmic epiphany directly into consciousness. Instead of a shot fired across our bow as a warning, this one comes like a shaft of light to remind us to tune in. Nothing is as simple as it seems, and yet the answers we seek can be extremely obvious in their clarity when we finally stumble upon them. You benefit, as always, when you keep your head up and your eyes wide open.

One powerful time in the midst of this period is triggered by the First Quarter Moon of Wednesday September 19th. At this time we are likely to feel quite strongly the possibilities and the potentiality of our path forward, the cosmic imperative for implementing meaningful change into our lives. Pluto is opposed by Mars while the Sun squares it, so the transformational energy is very powerful at this time. All nature has the mandate for change, and we humans are no exception to this rule, even though we are constantly tempted to consider ourselves exempt. The draconian efforts to resist change and the counterpoint revolutionary ardor reminiscent of the sixties might well be returning over the next few years on the largest scale. Bob Dylan said it best during those times when he declared that "everybody not busy being born is busy dying."

Transits to the U.S. Chart

Last month we were pretty sure that there would be some fairly startling and surprising events in the direction of further eroding confidence in the Bush White House, especially in the mid-month timeframe, with the New Moon strongly affecting the U.S. Chart, and that has indeed been the case. The resignation of Karl Rove, who continues to dodge questions into his role in the outing of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame, was certainly one such surprise. Another came on August 22nd, when the President addressed an audience of World War II veterans and stated that Iraq was quite similar to Vietnam – something that his critics had been claiming for years. The lesson that this president drew from the comparison was that we should, once again, "stay the course" or the Iraqi people would feel abandoned. This is of course yet another example of the Orwellian double-speak that has been all too common with this administration, especially since the Iraqi people themselves are over 60% in favor of a unilateral withdrawal of U.S. troops. The astrology of the times is right in line. The August 12th New Moon had triggered the natal Neptune – Mars square in the U.S. chart, while the Moon that day conjuncted transiting Pluto as it squared and opposed this configuration. With Mars in the U.S. 7th house, all of this could be viewed as deception regarding the actions and activities of the nation as it reaches out across its borders, and specifically with the military. Another prominent case in point that will not go away anytime soon is the death by friendly fire of American hero and football star Pat Tillman, and the subsequent cover-up that seems to reach to high places in the U.S. military command.

In the current monthly alignments, the sixth anniversary of 9-11 coinciding with the Solar Eclipse at 18 plus degrees of Virgo, powerfully conjuncts U.S Neptune and triggers again the Mars – Neptune square that exists natally in the U.S. chart, as described above, so that we might expect further mid-month developments in all these areas. On September 23rd, Jupiter will cross the U.S. Ascendant and quincunx the U.S. Sun degree, so that will also be a powerful and hopefully positive time. Three days later, the Full Moon in Libra – Aries will align with the U.S. Midheaven and square U.S. Venus, also in the 7th, just as Saturn aspects U.S. Pluto, so that the entire month of September will likely be a doozy for the political scene in this country, and specifically for the office of the president.

Later on the same day as the eclipse, Mars will reach 21 degrees and 28 minutes of Gemini, squared by the eclipse degree, and also conjunct U.S Mars to the minute. In other words, the 9-11 anniversary that is coming up is the U.S. Mars return, as well as a powerful eclipse New Moon that strongly aspects it. There are likely to be political fireworks, as fresh revelations can only take the credibility of this administration another few notches lower. Providing further food for thought is the fact that in addition to deception regarding one's actions, another meaning ascribed to Neptune is oil.

Current Configurations

This is a powerful month with a powerful series of lunations. The Last Quarter Moon of Monday, September 3rd (see chart ), Labor Day, begins the month with a bang. This time of increased tension coincides by square and opposition with Jupiter in Sagittarius while Mars squares Uranus in an entirely dynamic configuration. Along with the mandate for change represented by these planetary energies, Saturn is newly entered into Virgo at this time, changing the tone of the mandate for limitation also.

The New Moon and Solar Eclipse of Tuesday, September 11th (), is exactly opposed to Uranus in Pisces and squares Mars in Gemini, promising fireworks of new ideas and rapidly forming insights. This especially powerful New Moon thus includes as a bonus a strong dose of the energy for the changing of the guard. Mishaps and other unexpected outcomes also cannot be ruled out. Venus, now direct since the 8th, opposes Neptune at this time, and sextiles Mars. Uranus remains quincunx to Venus as well. Our relationship energy is no longer turned inward, although we are still evaluating and revising our estimate of where we are headed right now in this important area of our lives. In any case, our connections with others are very much on our minds, and are subject to surprises.

The First Quarter Moon of the 19th () is another extremely powerful lunation in this series. This is because as the Moon comes into square aspect with the Sun, it exactly conjuncts Pluto, bringing up in spades the transformative pressure to get on with the necessary changes in our lives. Mars opposes Pluto at this time as well. This crucial period, as the Sun is getting ready to leave Virgo for the Fall Equinox a few days later, is a moment of tension in our process and grist for the mill of our evolving awareness.

The Full Moon of Wednesday, September 26th () brings the softer Libra energy into the picture, as the Sun there opposes the Moon in Aries. However since Mars is also opposed to Pluto currently, the Aries energy is particularly strong.

While we are apt to be fearless at this time, we do well to take care that our courageous intuition does not lead us into reckless or impulsive behavior. We are prone to acting instinctively, and while this can be positive it can also work against us if we exert too much emotional intensity without just cause. We benefit when we try to balance our passionate feelings and a potentially confrontational temperament with inspired action.

Since Mars, ruler of this Moon degree is trine Mercury and very much in our conscious awareness as it continues to oppose Pluto, while Jupiter moves toward its square with Uranus, all this makes for a volatile end of month period, a powerful reminder that nothing living stays in stasis, that life itself is nothing but change, and plenty of it. This is especially true in these climactic times that we currently have the privilege of living through.