Virgo season 2023 & Mercury retrograde in Virgo

On August 23, 05:02 AM ET, the Sun enters Virgo, and Virgo season 2023 begins. Just a few hours later, at 3:59 PM ET, Mercury stations retrograde at 21º51’ of Virgo. The simultaneous beginning of Virgo season and Mercury’s shift of motion invite us to direct our focus inward and be more discerning and intentional in how we invest our energy and focus. The Sun is going to remain in Virgo until September 23, and Mercury is going to be in retrograde motion until September 15.

These events will be more relevant for those of us who were born with planets or angles in Mutable signs. Those of us more strongly impacted by the Sun’s ingress in Virgo and Mercury’s retrograde in the sign will have opportunities to refine their discernment, gain more awareness of the impact of their choices on their health, and redefine their relationship to work and service.

From Leo to Virgo season: From Self-Expression to Self-Assessment

Wherever the Sun transits, the light of our awareness goes. Every time the Sun changes signs, the spotlight shifts. Leo season encouraged us to take center stage and shine without holding anything back. Just as the Sun takes his place at the center of our solar system, Leo season offered us an invitation to take space without hesitation, open our hearts, and let ourselves be seen as we are. The focus has been on creative self-expression and on recovering our connection with our joy, playfulness, and passion.

As the Sun moves into Virgo, we experience a significant energetic shift. Virgo’s analytical nature urges us to look inward, deepen our relationship with our physical body, and refine our skills. The Sun’s ingress into the sign introduces an element of conscious self-analysis that will temper the spontaneity and playfulness of Leo season. The focus now goes from self-expression to self-assessment.

Virgo season 2023: Mind-Body Connection, Discernment, and Alignment with Nature

Virgo is the second Earth sign of the Zodiac, a Mutable, Yin archetype. Ruled by Mercury, this sign is associated with the harvest season and with the process of carefully separating the wheat from the chaff, which can represent a metaphor for Virgo’s essence and purpose.

As an Earth sign, Virgo is innately connected to the cycles of Nature and the wisdom of the Earth. The emphasis in popular astrological interpretation tends to be on the analytical and intellectual side of Virgo: we may forget that, besides being connected to the mind, this sign has a strong, intuitive connection and understanding of the physical body and health.

Virgo can be associated with the archetype of the Priestess, who meticulously tends to the Earth and aligns with her cycles while cultivating a deep understanding of her own inner landscapes. The act of separating the harvest mirrors her ability to discern, not only in the external world but also in her internal reality, what needs to be cultivated and nurtured, and what does not.

Virgo season offers us an invitation to be selective with our focus and attention, to choose carefully how we invest our energy, and to be mindful of what we allow into our field, into our mind, and into our body. The Sun’s transit through the sign offers us an opportunity to refine our awareness of the impact of what we consume and to deepen our attunement to what our body needs on a moment-to-moment basis.

Observing Our Relationship to Service and Self-Improvement

Virgo season brings our attention to our relationship with self-improvement. Self-improvement and self-development tend to be paired with good intentions. However, an obsession with becoming a better person can also become a trap that keeps us stuck in cycles of perfectionism, procrastination, and self-judgment. Taken to an extreme, an excessive focus on self-improvement can prevent us from cultivating self-love and integrating aspects of our personality that we may be ashamed of. Virgo season reminds us that perfection is unattainable and invites us to embrace our humanity and love ourselves as we are today.

This time of the year is also an opportunity to observe our relationship to our daily chores and work and explore what happens if we choose to approach our work and mundane tasks from the perspective of service, recognizing their spiritual dimension. Virgo season is an invitation to find meaning in those actions and routines we tend to perform automatically and practice doing so intentionally.

Virgo season 2023: Upcoming Lunations & Planetary Aspects

During Virgo season 2023, we are going to experience a Full Moon in Pisces and a New Moon in Virgo. The Full Moon in Pisces, coming up on August 30, will invite us to find more harmony between discipline and surrender, between effort and flow. The Moon is going to be conjunct with retrograde Saturn, offering us opportunities to gain awareness of where we need to mature, both spiritually and emotionally, while pointing at the value of navigating our mundane responsibilities as an integral part of our spiritual practice.

The New Moon in Virgo, taking place on September 14, begins a lunar cycle filled with opportunities for expansion, individuation, and personal transformation. The Sun and the Moon are going to oppose Neptune and trine Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto. Every Virgo New Moon is an invitation to implement practical adjustments to enhance our experience of daily life. However, the activation of Neptune can indicate an inclination to confuse illusion with reality and a sense of disorientation relative to what we need, desire, or aspire to. Before focusing on improving, fixing, or organizing our reality, we might need to surrender to the chaos, to the feeling of being lost, and allow a new awareness to emerge from there.

Mercury retrograde in Virgo: Introspection, Inner Contemplation, and Self-Reflection

As the Sun enters Virgo, Virgo’s ruler Mercury stations retrograde in the sign. Transits of Mercury inform us of our changing orientation to perceiving reality and mark potential shifts in our thinking and communication patterns. When Mercury goes retrograde, the invitation is to question existing perceptions and perspectives and challenge habitual ideas and mental constructs we are used to relying upon. The upcoming weeks are a good time to work on our mindset, recognize disempowering thinking patterns, and reflect on our communication habits.

Mercury retrograde is always an invitation to slow down and reassess where we are instead of moving forward following the inertia. With most planets now in retrograde motion and Uranus stationing retrograde too in just a few days, we are being invited to stop living on autopilot and question habitual ways of being, thinking, behaving, and perceiving. Mercury’s shift of motion, together with the current astrological climate, invites introspection, inner contemplation, and self-reflection.

Challenging Existing Ideas about Healing, Work, & Service

Mercury’s retrograde in Virgo will offer us an invitation to question and redefine what health means to us, how we take care of our body, how we think about healing, and what we do every day to support our wellness on a holistic level. 

This transit encourages us to reexamine our daily routines and habits, offering us an invitation to ask ourselves whether our daily choices contribute positively to our overall well-being. Throughout the upcoming weeks, we have a chance to renew our relationship with our bodies and with our minds and to observe what represents nourishment and what doesn’t, both in a physical sense and in a spiritual sense.

This transit could be an opportunity to embrace a new approach to health and explore new healing paths and explore holistic practices that encompass not only the physical but also the mental, spiritual, and emotional aspects of our well-being. Mercury retrograde in Virgo is also an invitation to question our relationship to service, to the idea of service, to being of service, and to work as service.

Mercury in aspect to Mars & Neptune & upcoming Post-Shadow Period

Mercury stations retrograde while in opposition to Neptune, also retrograde in Pisces, and approaching a conjunction with Mars in the late degrees of Virgo. The Mercury-Mars conjunction suggests that, around this time, we may have opportunities to refine our capacity to assert ourselves and speak our truth. We may notice whether we are tempted to hold back from full transparency as an attempt to be polite, or on the contrary whether we tend to come off too strong when we speak impulsively, without filters.

The Mercury-Neptune opposition, which will go exact at the beginning of October, could indicate feelings of brain fog and lack of clarity, which could lead to miscommunications and misunderstandings. Being extra careful about details if we need to plan a trip or sign important documents, contracts, or agreements is recommended around this time. This aspect favors non-linear, intuitive, and creative pursuits over linear, analytical, and rational ones.

Mercury stations retrograde at 21º of Virgo, the same degree where the Virgo New Moon is taking place, and is going to retrograde until 8º of Virgo. Moreover, Mercury stations direct just a few hours after the Virgo New Moon takes place, on September 15. These cosmic events seem to be connected by a significant thread, and the lunar cycle that starts with the Virgo New Moon could facilitate a clearer understanding of the process we go through while Mercury is retrograde. Especially when Mercury travels again on Virgo 21º, completing its post-shadow period, around September 29, new information and insights are likely to become available.

Crystal Pick for Sun in Virgo and Mercury Retrograde: Chrysocolla

This is the Earth goddess stone, perfect for this Virgo season we’re entering to help keep you grounded and open-hearted, and to nurture understanding and gently spoken truths during Mercury retrograde.

Chrysocolla is painted in swirls of blue, green, and brown, much like the Earth itself, and is very connected to the natural yin power of Virgo and mother nature. It fosters calm, cool, ease and flow through all the ups and downs of life, settling stress and anxiety, helping you connect with your body and heed its messages.

It’s nurturing and rejuvenating, restoring your vitality and life-force energy and helping you direct it out into the world through truthful and kind expression, aligned with the integrity of your whole self. When you find yourself ruminating, unable to express yourself clearly, or lost in the mind’s hallways during this transit, use chrysocolla to bring you back to your center.

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It is absolutely powerful workbook that you deserve and must experience – for all zodiac signs, no matter your sun sign or configuration of your natal chart. Don’t think twice, go ahead and get workbook now – get your Virgo Season Workbook.

Leave a comment below with what resonated with you the most and tap on the heart if you liked this article.. Happy Virgo Season!