Astrological Forecast for September 14 to 20, 2006

by Ellen Zucker

The theme of this week is completion.

With today's closing Quarter Moon, we are not only coming to the end of the lunar cycle that began with Virgo's New Moon three weeks ago, but we are coming to the end of calendar summer.

Virgo is the third of the summer signs. Its theme is harvest. Harvest is a most appropriate word to describe our tasks this week.

The seeds we planted so long ago have sprouted into plants, flowered and bore fruit. It is time to pick the fruit and plow the dying stalks into the ground to prepare it for the next planting season.

Here in Philadelphia, the weather is begin-ning to cool. We will soon be exchanging summer's cottons for winter's wool. In fact, cleaning out and rearranging your closets is exactly the kind of task that isappropriate for this time.

So, your homework assignment, folks, is to tie up loose ends and release that which is no longer useful. Cleaning out closets is one way - a very concrete way- of doing just that.

Most people find the ending of a cycle to be its most difficult phase. We know something is afoot, but we often don't know what it is. We are asked to give something up but we don't know what will replace the void.

And people, like nature, abhor a vacuum.

At the end of a lunar cycle, the Moon shrinks and then goes dark. We can't see in the dark and it is natural to be afraid.

The coming darkness of this ending is accentuated by Pluto's participation in the waning Quarter Moon configuration. Pluto demands that we find the courage to face our deepest fears head-on and let them go.

The impulse is to rush ahead into the next stage. But it is premature to do so and our efforts will not be rewarded.

Completing the work of the waning cycle is critical to the success of the one yet to come.

After all, if you do not remove the summer clothes from your closets, where will you put the fabulous winter wardrobe that you plan to wear for the cold weather?

You must trust that the light will return in the approaching cycle. It will, as it always does.

The same themes of loss and release we experience on the small scale of this waning lunar cycleplay out on a much larger scale in the long-term cycles that mark our major life stages.

Next week will bring us two major occurrences: a Solar eclipse at the very, very end of Virgo and the Autumn Equinox marking the beginning of Fall and Sun's entrance into Libra.

The theme that ties the two together: endings and new beginnings. If you have done your homework to clear the ground you can make a quantum leap forward.

September 14
So many possibilities, so little time. How to choose? Today is the waning Quarter Moon in Gemini. Now is the time to look at the reorganization you started three weeks ago and implement it.

September 15
A day of emotional challenge. Mercury conjoins Mars and Venus opposes Uranus today. We are restless and impatient. We yearn for emotional independence and we are quick to say what we think. Maybe too quick. But Moon in Cancer makes us feel sensitive emotionally. You can't take back words once they have been spoken.

September 16
Sun squares Pluto. Yesterday's challenges can easily lead to confrontation as our egos feel threatened. Stay calm. Use the energy to focus.

September 17
As the tension of the last two days dissipates, we lick our wounds. The key to going forward is to know it is not all about you. Tonight, go out on the town.

September 18
We are in a good mood today. Venus makes a sextile to Jupiter, an aspect that will be exact tomorrow. Sextiles are opportunities. If you are planning to present a proposal or go for an interview, you will probably be well received. Go for it.

Just don't let things go to your head.

September 19
Our good mood lingers. It is a good day to tend to routine matters or just hang loose.

September 20
The Moon is in Virgo. Clean up loose ends.Or just clean up.

© 2006 Ellen M. Zucker