Moon Cycles with Danielle Beinstein: A Shift in Perspective

September marks change, not only in the weather, but also in our daily routines and state of mind. Whether you have kids that are going back to school, or are settling into a more structured work schedule after a summer vacation, there are many different ways your world can change. Today Los Angeles astrologer and meditation guide Danielle Beinstein explains how this circumstance is illuminated by this month’s new moon in Virgo and resulting solar eclipse, which will be visible from Madagascar and locations in Central Africa. Beinstein explains how this theme of change applies on a big-picture level, and what we can do to thrive and grow during the uncertainty. XXJKE

Solar Eclipses occur when the moon moves between the earth and the sun, blocking the sun. They pack a punch as they’re known to carry three times the weight of a new moon and often herald new beginnings. We may, for example, hear unexpected news or be offered an opportunity during a solar eclipse. Not everyone will be deeply affected by an eclipse, though. It’s really a matter of mathematics and where this particular lunation falls in your chart, but if your birthday is within a few days of September 1st, December 1st, March 1^st, or June 1st, or you have planets or points around 10 degrees mutable (Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces, or Gemini) then this one is sure to affect you.

Regardless of whether it’s hitting your natal chart directly, what are we looking at here exactly, with this eclipse? What’s at play? Well, it’s slippery, despite it being in organized, detail-oriented Virgo. Go with the flow has never been more apt. Virgo likes things ordered. It excels at efficiency and multitasking. But we may find ourselves unsure of the facts, and of what is real, as information is obscured or fuzzy. 

Think of the media. Culturally, we tend to accept things shouted on TV or printed in the newspaper as fact, but they’re not. They’re often simply a matter of opinion or spin. It’s one lens or perspective, but it’s not the whole picture. We’re swimming in a sea of subjectivity and calling it the truth.

We also see this in relationships all the time. One person has one recollection, while the other recalls something radically different. We have one memory and our friends, partners, or relatives have another. Is anyone really wrong? Likely not. It’s just that we filter things through our own conditioning, our own view.

So what do we do? Well, magical thinking isn’t the play here. But neither is gas-lighting those you disagree with, denying their reality. The key is discernment, rooting in our own self-trust, owning our feelings and thoughts, while being open to hearing another’s, no matter how different or radical it sounds. Life isn’t meant to be easy, but it also doesn’t have to be hard. We can choose our perspective. We can choose how to respond and react to what comes our way. We can adapt and re-direct our energy. And we can allow others the dignity of their experience.

Virgo is ruled by Mercury, the winged messenger. Mercury will be retrograde at the time of this eclipse. So we may feel the need to revisit conversations or negotiations. We may go over and over these things in our head (Virgo is associated with anxiety). But this same energy can be funneled into action. The more direct our communications, the more relief we feel. Because, at least in Virgo’s case, knowledge is empowering—to a point. So ask questions. Get the information needed, take any necessary inspired steps and then let go. Because as much as we like to think it’s all up to us, it never really is. 

Art: Savannah King 
Astrology: Danielle Beinstein