The New Moon forms at 18 Virgo 25 on September 10th at 8:26 PM PDT, and makes only one solid major aspect, a sextile to Mars in Cancer: criticism, judgment, assessment, evaluation, rationalization, description, explanation, deployed out of restless dissatisfaction with the Self, or out of misplaced anger directed at someone/ something one cares about–and done with some ease, and/ or little thought (the sextile). The Self-assertive urge in Mars is decidedly unhappy in touchy-feely-soft Cancer, where those ‘I am’ energies to do and act are asked to pause and sense the needs and moods of everyone else, of the very atmosphere–and that kind of hesitation makes the energy pile up like a rear-end collision, a jolt that can’t help but shake that Martian surety and resolve. What we’re left with is a New Moon that stops us as we try to move forward, forcing us to doubt our direction and making us unsteady as a new colt.

But New Moons are supposed to be beginnings, and what we’re contemplating launching is, like a new colt, in need of the time, space, and safe environment to gain its legs and develop a steady gait and a sense of confidence. It’s something we’ve assessed as needed and necessary, our Virgoan critical measure of the matter already taken, so that the emotional and intuitive impact of New Moon events knocks us for a loop–and potentially either sends our energy careening in an unplanned direction, makes us the recipient of someone else’s misdirect, or perhaps both, with the added upset of feeling more hostile, more agitated, and more aggrieved than we admit or even know.

So how do we handle it? Wisdom lies at 20 Aries, quincunx the New Moon in the form of Pallas, suggesting that if we can ground consciousness in a sense of Self that is consistent with our personal cause (that is, our idea of who we are and what we stand for), then we can find our best options by assuming that mentality–but uh-oh, the combo of Kassandra and Ophelia are sextile and conjoined that stymied Mars, suggesting we may not believe ourselves (which of course is a matter of trusting ourselves, and this says we can’t, somehow) and we may succumb to despair, especially, in fact certainly, if we’re looking to someone else to save us.

Notable current influences include Venus in Scorpio at 00 opposed Chiron in Taurus at 00, with Mercury in Libra at 00 quincunx Chiron. That’s a whole lot of energies newly arrived in a fresh form of expression–and so still getting used to that sign style. Venus in Scorpio gets sexy, ruthless, or deep–and may be a little awkward at first, moving out of the (overly) sincere Libran relationship orientation into something more emotionally driven and dynamic. This is opposite the healing and wounding energy of Chiron as it goes from Self-absorption that emphasizes the Will to Self-absorption that fixes on assets, creature comforts, and a sense of security–with these Chirotic concerns occupying the thoughts (and centering that wounding/ healing around what relationships may require) via that Libran Mercury. Of course, the ‘new’ degree of Mercury may prompt us to base our relationship ideas around what we think others need, rather than what they think they need–a common issue of misunderstanding when an energy is new to a sign.

The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘A Swimming Race’. This image points us toward the Water-associated bodies at present: Luna, of course, as symbol of feeling and sensitivity, but also Venus in Scorpio and Mars in Cancer, both Water signs, with Mars speaking as well to the competitive, ‘racing’ part of the image. Overall it implies that, especially around relationships, we’ll be immersed in emotion and feeling the urge to rush forward, to ‘win’–but what we’ve already seen is that this is inadvisable. We should remember that the Moon event is in an Earth sign–and that grounding ourselves and staying as steady and non-reactive as possible will be most productive.

A Virgo New Moon asks us to take a fresh look at things with a critical eye–but in this case that gaze will be informed by too much uncertainty about ourselves, too much stymied emotion, to launch something new right now. Instead try to sort the real-world wheat from the emotion-driven chaff, and ground yourself, and so encourage good judgment, by doing those things you consider healing, for yourself and others. It’s a moment to enjoy whatever makes up your current Virgo ‘harvest’–and to share that uncritically with those you care about.