September 21, 2025 brings a second New Moon in Virgo, following the first one of August 23. Two new Moons in the same sign are a rare event. This one is also a partial solar eclipse, happening a day before the September Equinox, when the Sun will enter Libra. This year, the September equinox coincides with Erev Rosh Hashanah, the eve of the Jewish New Year.
The September 21 New Moon will occur at the 29th degree of Virgo at 12:54 pm (3:54 pm ET). The 29th degree of any sign is called the anaretic degree, symbolically a last chance for a planet to express itself in a sign before moving on to the next. The New Moon at the last degree of Virgo is an invitation to reset one’s focus on Virgoan themes such as attention to the details of one’s health, duties, and work routines.
New Moons are beginnings, and the 29th degree represents endings. One might feel like one door is closing while another is opening. The chart for this lunation speaks to this idea of endings and beginnings. Mars will be at the 29th degree of Libra, while Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are in the first degree of their current sign passages. Venus, too, is in an early degree. Saturn has recently moved backward into the last couple of degrees of Pisces. Outer planets Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are all in a period retrograde motion.
It’s a time to look backward, to honor the past, before stepping forward.
The September 21 Virgo New Moon is opposite Saturn, which has now dipped back into Pisces. This Virgo/Pisces polarity speaks to a need to adjust one’s boundaries, compassionately (Pisces) while strengthening one’s commitments (Saturn) to get the job done (Virgo).
This lunation also features a harmonious Grand Trine in the air element, with Virgo’s ruling planet Mercury now in Libra and making an approximately 120-degree aspect with Uranus at 1 Gemini and Pluto at 1 Aquarius. A Grand Trine in the air element suggests ease and flow in socializing, just hanging out and talking.
The Moon/Saturn opposition, together with the Grand Trine in air, are forming a rare aspect called a kite, as Saturn/Neptune are also making 60-degree sextile aspects with planets Uranus and Neptune.
With apologies for the astro-jargon, a kite is an aspect of both tension and opportunity, consistent with the theme of endings and beginnings.
Saturn and Neptune are at the head of this kite. Saturn is in the last couple of degrees of Pisces, the last of the signs, conjoined with Neptune in the first sign, Aries. Pisces: endings, Aries: the start of something new.
Astrology is the study of cycles of time using symbolic language. The planets are like actors moving on stages called houses (areas of life and realms of the psyche) changing signs, which are like styles or costumes, as they move in cyclic patterns with each other.
Each year during Virgo season, I pull from my astrology shelves an old stand-by, the Shamanic Astrology Handbook by Daniel Giamario and Cayelin K. Castell. Their approach to astrology is archetypal, based on watching the sky outdoors, and rooted in knowledge of the religious mythologies of world cultures. They construe each of the signs as a Mystery School full of lessons, both for those “majoring” in a particular sign and for everyone as the wheel of the year proceeds.
In this shamanic astrology paradigm, the Virgo Mystery School is one of a priestess or priest. This is someone who has a sacred calling, dedicated to a life of service, paradoxically giving themselves to others while also maintaining a stance of independence, complete unto herself or himself.
Giamario and Castell associate Virgo with the Native American archetype of the Spider Woman. She weaves a web of life and tracks all the patterns of its tapestry. They note also that Virgo is “the archetype credited with the invention of agriculture.” People with a strong Virgo signature are often “out in the garden, performing seasonal tasks, channeling their energy and connecting with the earth.”
For anyone, strongly Virgoan or not, the garden is a metaphor as it involves patient attention to detail to produce something beautiful and of use.
This New Moon solar eclipse, at the final degree of Virgo, invites contemplation of one’s habits of work and skillful service. There’s the work one does to pay the bills, and there’s Work in a grander sense, the things one does for the benefit of oneself and others, in equitable ways. Work, as in dedicated effort, is something to revere. With Libra season beginning a day after this New Moon, balance is the keynote of this time.
Blessings for this Virgo New Moon eclipse, and Shanah Tova!
~ Sara
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