This new moon in Virgo is about baby steps. It’s about digging our toes and fingers into the earth and letting it sustain us. It’s about harvesting the new knowledge and insights that have grown tall over the summer, separating the chaff from the wheat, and readying the millstone for grinding. This is the first new moon since the summer’s eclipses, and now it’s time to process all that’s happened, to turn it into something that will nourish us. This new moon, we make bread.
Although Virgo is called “the Virgin,” the constellation’s mythological origins are deeply rooted in fertility, harvest, and the nourishment of the earth—which, when you think about it, isn’t very virginal. In Babylonian mythology, the constellation was known as “The Furrow” and was pictured as a woman holding a sheaf of wheat, symbolizing fertility and the harvest. In Egypt, the constellation was represented by Isis, that most powerful mother goddess of sexuality, fertility, the earth and the stars, and even fate itself. And in Greek mythology, Demeter, the Corn-Mother of the harvest and the fertility of the earth, ruled the constellation Virgo.
So, instead of being maidenly and shy, Virgo is actually ripe, bountiful, nourishing, even sexual. Perhaps the misunderstanding of Virgo lies with us, in our perception of virginity as only meaning one thing, reduced to sexual innocence. Perhaps Virgo can be better understood not as innocence, but as integrity. Not as sexual abstinence but as self-sufficiency. Not as purity, but as a wholeness that is complete all by itself, without the need of another.
Here, we begin to see Virgo’s link to the Tarot card it rules: The Hermit. The archetypal figure of the hermit is fully comfortable being alone. They need no other—friend nor family nor society—to sustain them. But the card is not so much about being solitary as it is about being self-reliant, about venturing into the wilds of our souls and learning how to survive by our own powers, about finding our own internal light to guide and nourish us. With this moon’s themes of fertility, harvest, self-sufficiency, and integrity, the time is ripe to look inward for our way forward. To stop trying to plow other people’s fields, and to set to work on our own.
Astrologically, this new moon is supported by an Earth grand trine (another one!) between Mercury in Virgo, Saturn in Capricorn, and Uranus in Taurus, setting up a powerhouse for getting things done, clearing out what’s unneeded, tying up loose ends, and plotting next steps. Mercury’s recent ingress into Virgo, one of its home signs, brings a more practical and grounded mode of thought and communication after this summer’s largely unproductive but very bright blaze of Leo fire. Additionally, all ten of the primary planets are in the receptive signs of Earth and Water right now, making this new moon one that is fertile as f u c k for planting the seeds of our intentions. On top of that, the retrogrades of the summer are going direct, with Saturn stationing earlier this week, just in time to help us put our nose to the grindstone and make a plan before we launch off into whatever’s next.
It’s time, friends. We’ve been waiting all summer, feeling stuck or frustrated or unproductive while the retrogrades and eclipses wore us down to the bone. There’s been a sense of taking stock coming up to this moon, of wondering whether our efforts have been worth it. Maybe we’re staring down the tasks of the fall, not sure if we have the time or energy to do what needs to be done. Maybe we’ve lacked foresight and have squandered our resources. Maybe we’re burnt out, having given away too much of ourselves already. The Virgo new moon is here to help us figure out what we need in order to move forward, and to help us make a plan for how to get it.
As the start of a new lunar cycle, new moons are times for setting intentions. This moon, let’s set the intention to be intentional. To go about our work with integrity and with fairness to ourselves. To honor what we need and be smart with what we have. To pay attention to the details and to take our time instead of rushing. Let’s set the intention to rely on our own strength and to respect our limits. Let’s set the intention to do things right if we’re going to do them at all.
The best achievements—whether artistic or intellectual or practical—are the product of hard work and intentional craftsmanship. Store-bought white bread can’t compare to a from-scratch loaf made at home. So let’s dedicate ourselves to not just doing the work, but doing good work. Let’s make some homemade fuckin’ bread, my friends. It may be more work, but oh will it taste so, so good when we’re done.
NEW MOON IN VIRGO TAROT SPREAD
For integrity. For intention. For good work.
THE FIELDS: What area of life am I working in this season?
THE WHEAT: What has grown and is ready for harvest?
THE SCYTHE: How to harvest it.
THE MILL: How to do the work with integrity and intention.
THE FLOUR: How to process what I’ve gathered into a useable form.
THE BREAD: What I’m working toward / the nourishing product of my labor.
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