The New Moon in Virgo opens the curtain on a quietly entertaining, versatile drama. The over-emotionality of the Pisces Full Moon has given way to a cool-headed, if rather fidgety, and nervy Virgoan need for both variety and order. We may be more grateful for bookshelves filled with a mix of useful nonfiction, fascinating and amusing novels, and inspiring poetry. We’re inclined to appreciate the order and variety of pharmacy shelves holding a plethora of remedies with promises of improved health. Within the healing realms, we may reach for more of the adaptogenic medicines that have the ability to adjust to our state and needs.

Despite all this — and despite an attention to detail and intricate knowledge — Virgo is, nonetheless, a sign marked by self-doubt. Will the story satisfy the reader? Will all the learned systems really support the great work to be done? Will the medicine cure the problem? Will people be pleased with the results?

Anxious, nervous energy may abound during this lunation. At an individual level, the Moon trining Saturn means that firm resolve and structure help us find the confidence to try to launch plans and attempt new things. Goals benefit from being broken down into small segments, so we merely need to take the next step to make progress. We truly can trust life and ourselves, even if we can tend to be cynical! Mercury reminds us that we all possess skills.

This lunation finds Mercury in Libra, suggesting a fine, alchemical balance. We benefit from a little pinch of this and that; by trusting our senses to find the right tastes, flavors, fragrance notes, blends, and shades. Careful balance applies in the physical world, but also in both personal and professional relationships. Does our situation fling us out of control, causing us to scream “stop!” and hold on tighter, or do we swing in harmony? We can identify where to go further, or when to realize we are overdoing things, or haven’t thought a plan through well enough yet. This attention to balance matters under the New Moon insofar as we are trying to lay the groundwork for new plans. If we hesitate, we may miss the chance to do something definite and positive. But if we get carried away, we may put someone off. So we must access some courage and feel our way, to judge the best direction forward. If we do slip up, we can possibly still retrieve the situation because Libra usually allows for constant rebalancing.

An opposition to Neptune makes this New Moon oddly a bit more like a Full Moon. However, this period is about beginnings, not endings. Neptune is retrograde, so we may need to accept limitations around a dream, rein in a bigger plan, and focus on one or two smaller projects or steps. Yet Saturn’s structure helps us, ensuring we avoid Neptunian traps like being too scattered and ethereal (oscillating through many impressions but initiating nothing definite). The flitting, butterfly aspect of the mind alights long enough to grasp sufficient, sustaining nectar to feed a more definitive course of action. The New Moon, in tight trine to Saturn–Pluto, means there is every chance of concrete answers arising, providing us with the clarity to take definitive action that feels important.

This article is from the Mountain Astrologer, written by Diana Collis.