September has a definite back to work, back to school, clean-up vibe. It’s giving plenty for us to work with, too, from habits and routines to the state of our information sources to old matters roaring back to life.
Don’t confuse this with boring, though. The pace promises to be hectic, requiring juggling, multitasking, and shifting gears – or direction – in a flash, especially when Mars sextiles expansive Jupiter on the 1st. It’s so packed with action you might beg for boring and take refuge in cleaning the house or dealing with piles of paper. The retrospective feel comes from all five outer planets being retrograde, with Mercury joining the pack, a condition that invites putting the prefix “re” in front of just about any verb you can think of.
The month’s clean-up vibe comes from the sky’s growing emphasis in Virgo, the sign of analytical thinking, intact boundaries, and looking at how anything and everything could be improved. It’s in the atmosphere from the get-go, with the Sun in Virgo until the 22nd. Our social mode gets on board when Venus, goddess of love, money, and creativity, joins September 5. Her move shifts the social mode out of the flamboyant, warm-hearted ways of Leo and into something closer to … well … persnicketyness. She does offer benefits in Virgo, though. Some call it a bad placement for her, but Virgo does give her an earth mother streak, encouraging simplifying, healthy behaviors and boundaries, and nature-based approaches. And everyone giving unsolicited advice. Don’t automatically reject it. You may learn useful tips.
Venus’ moments in the spotlight (or on a TED Talk stage) apply logic, a schedule, and a punch list to desires, creativity, relationships, and possibly finances. Demands fly for dealing with relationship issues, for clarifying understandings, and most of all for turning words into follow-through, when she squares Mars September 16. Breakthroughs and ultimately beneficial shocks come when she trines changemaker Uranus September 19. The fresh air and freedom of movement directly connect to matters that have been destabilizing and threatening to take new form since the beginning of July, when Uranus moved to 18 Taurus (where it will remain into October). Fantasies are on the radar but out of reach September 24, when an opposition to Neptune stretches ideals, illusion, and romanticizing. Use the distance to evaluate and gain perspective on a creative project or on someone to whom you’ve granted special status in your heart. You know what you want, and someone may meet you there, when Venus conjoins Mercury September 26. Go deep or go away. Either option flows from her trine to Pluto that same day.
The preponderance of retrograde planets also contributes to the clean-up-and-improve vibe. All five outer planets are retrograde, taking us back over or deeper into issues that may be personal, may involve the big picture, and may not be entirely in our conscious awareness. Many, though, are right in our face. Opportunities for do-overs become personal and unavoidable once Mercury goes retrograde, from September 9 – October 2. Communication and travel require extra care and attention and may not proceed as expected. While more misunderstandings, misinformation, and confusion than usual are likely, there are benefits. This is an excellent time for reorganizing, giving old business another look, and tying up loose ends of all kinds.
Learn more in my guide How To Handle a Mercury Retrograde in 2022.
Tricky moments come September 16, when a semi-sextile to Venus stirs an irksome relationship issue, and September 18, when an opposition to Jupiter impedes being on the same page and frustrates conversations and connecting, no matter how we try. This could bring a situation of trying actually making things worse; it could bring a revisiting of the same trying vibe that stymies us on September 2. Details grow more confused and actually more important after Mercury returns to Virgo September 23. Approach with care. (And writing instruments.) Watch for “can’t see the forest for the trees” syndrome, but also watch for openings to rethink, reorganize, and rearrange. (And restock those office supplies that turn up low or missing.) Clearing the air is rampant and easy September 26, when a conjunction with Venus puts relationships and agreements on the same page. Retrograde Mercury’s knack for summoning people from the past may deliver an old love or friend for just this purpose. A trine to Pluto September 27 knocks cobwebs out of brains, focuses thinking and messages, and has everyone shredding and tossing papers and unfollowing distractions on social media and in real life.
Welcome the backtracking. Embrace it. Work with it. Cosmic arrows are pointing; cosmic hands are pushing. Dealing with it all is for our own good. It’ll free up space, mentally and physically. And it has the potential of grounding and calming as life speeds into a whirlwind. Thanks, Mars in Gemini.
The month brings a few personal gear shift moments. The first comes in the wake of Pisces Full Moon, widely conjunct the dreamy, boundless, escapist waters of Neptune September 10. Don’t worry about going under. Awakening and liberation help you shake them off the next day, when the Sun’s trine to Uranus drive home the rumblings of change you’ve been seeing and sensing for the past two months plus. The second shows you illusion and deception in ways you can’t click off or evade, as the Sun opposes Neptune September 16; sit with it and you may see ways you’ve been deluding yourself. Milestones in empowerment and transformation come September 18, from the Sun’s trine to Pluto. It’s the end-of-season graduation exercise acknowledging how much you’ve evolved since the June Solstice.
A collective atmospheric gear shift arrives with September Equinox on the 22nd, the Sun’s annual move into Libra. The decluttering, freeing, and empowering of the Sun/Pluto and Venus/Uranus trines are still resonating in the air and continue, if you listen for them, in the background for the next three months. The Sun’s meeting with Mercury September 23 makes the potentials of the new season clear, and brings some clarity about yourself as well, perhaps through a message from someone dear.
Those potentials are all over the first New Moon of the fall (or spring, depending on your spot on the planet), in Libra, on September 25. It brings fresh energy and attention to how we get along. It comes with a new sense of cooperation and communication, with Mercury conjunct Libra’s ruler Venus the next day, as well as a new experience of power dynamics, with the love goddess collaborating with Pluto, her more fearsome counterpart in desire and money.
The combo provides lots to think and talk about. All the talking and texting and info flying around leads to something taking shape – agreements, collaborations, relationship issues firming up – by the end of the month, when he trines Saturn September 28. Playing nice moves onto the agenda when Venus moves into her relationship-friendly, artsy home of Libra September 29. Her recent contacts have made her freed and focused. Politeness just might come back in style. Briefly.