Your September 2023 Horoscope Marks A Bright New Beginning

What are the dangers of expansion? Since Jupiter entered Taurus in May, we’ve enjoyed what has felt like the biggest summer ever: one of disco balls, “Padam Padam,” and Dua Lipa; of nightlife worlds and protest movements building power; and of a world melting and burning. Indeed, as the month starts with six planets in retrograde, we have a moment to catch our breath, process all that’s come, and ready ourselves for what’s around the bend.

Enter the Mercury retrograde in Virgo, in the sign which rules the lower intestines, which help us to digest and release. Virgo is the sign of service — not to be confused with doing good. Service speaks to our role, the thing each of us is here to do, and do well, so as to function in harmony with a larger ecosystem. Midway through the month, we’ll enjoy a new moon in Virgo (September 14), followed by the end of Mercury retrograde, conveniently on fall tax day (September 15). Your assignment for the first two weeks of the month is to take account of your role, your place, and your service. The world is spinning a bit too fast these days. But have you considered your personal rhythm, and how it may reverberate around you? On September 6, the sun and Mercury form a magical union, or cazimi, revealing how your personal accountability can reshape reality.

On September 3, Venus ends her summer retrograde in Leo, where she is said to emerge from the underworld, reborn and in a hot new guise, much like when Gandalf gets a new wig for The Two Towers. Are you ready to depart the underworld with her? You don’t have to be. This retrograde likely connected you to your inner Juno, Medea, and Lilith, to those selves which were overlooked and discarded, only to return demanding grand and fiery vengeance.

But come the fall equinox on September 23, it’s officially Libra season, when Venus most demands to be seen and displayed. The day and night come into balance; Jews celebrate their new year with Rosh Hashanah (September 16); Hindus praise the opener of gates Ganesha on Ganesha Chaturthi (September 19). This is a payoff for the processing, a chance to bring all the treasures of your underworld into the light of the sun. Astrology is a study of cycles, and this September certainly marks a bright new beginning.

What is the cost of a new beginning? As embodied by Gwen Stefani, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kim Kardashian, Libras aren’t much into looking back, not when there’s always a perfect future ahead. You have time to process what you’ve been through at the start of the month, to get perspective on your place in this world. But don’t wait around. We’re at the dawn of a new season. On September 29, an Aries full moon marks a culmination, and a point of recreation. Get closure on this summer, open up space for what’s to come, and fight hard for optimism. The morning light beckons.

ARIES & ARIES RISING

The advent of Libra season on September 23 sets off a new term of back-to-school social dynamics. But for you, this is a celebration. It’s been six months since Aries season, and in that time, you’ve done a tremendous amount of interior work. With Mars already in Libra, in your seventh house of public visibility, you’re ready to feel seen and adored. People should be buying you drinks! We know that Venus retrograde in Leo, in your fifth house of pleasure, reconnected you with what makes you happy. The Mercury retrograde in Virgo, which ends on September 15, delivered lessons in your sixth house of boundaries. You’re ready to launch anew, this time with a stronger-than-ever sense of self, limits, and desire. Treat the Aries full moon September 29 as a culmination point —for six months of growth.

TAURUS & TAURUS RISING

Jupiter has been in your home sign since May, delivering spectacular opportunities, invitations, and reinventions. But expansion can feel precarious, as new joy awakens ancient grief, and open horizons yield cold feet. On September 4, Jupiter goes retrograde for the rest of the year, giving you a chance to catch your breath, review all the evolutionary leaps you’ve made this summer, and root down in your needs. With Venus stationing direct on September 3, in your fourth house of home, you’ll be best-served reconnecting with family — like Moses hydrating in Midian before heading back to face the Pharaoh. The quantum shifts have only just begun. Take this moment to deal before the next wave launches.

GEMINI & GEMINI RISING

August was something of a pause, with Venus and Mercury retrograding at the base of your chart, demanding a moment to regroup and get organized for what comes next. September launches with a boom in the wake of the August 30 Pisces full moon in your tenth house of career. Let’s go! Mars burns brightly in Libra, in your fifth house of creative expression. Do everything you can to feel embodied and activated: book a double Kundalini session, challenge your pole-dancing instructor to a face-off, give yourself permission to post your shitty poems online. We know that the Mercury retrograde, in your fourth house of roots and psychic stability, will give us information about what you need and how to stay sustained as you launch off. Allow yourself to learn on the go. You’re no stranger to dualities: you can make your creativity, pleasure, and health all of equal priority.

CANCER & CANCER RISING

On September 13, the asteroid Vesta enters your home sign, where she’ll pitch a tent until Christmas. The Vestal Virgins were high priestesses, protected behind temple gates and worshiped by the tribe. We’ve spoken about how the current Mercury retrograde in Virgo affects your third house of rituals and daily culture. The call for purification has never been clearer. Nearly all the personal planets are in the root arena of your chart — impacting the people you speak to every day, the fancy tea you pour yourself in the morning, the meal you cooked for yourself last night, the presents you bought for your niece. Treat these motions with holiness, and dare yourself to break from your big ambitions. On September 29, the Aries full moon lights a beacon into the future, from your tenth house of career and grand ambitions. All this patience will pay off. In the meantime, you might as well enjoy the silence.

LEO & LEO RISING

What is yours to spend, and yours to save? On a literal level, we know that a Mercury retrograde, in Virgo, in your second house of earning, will affect your pecuniary reality. But the second house concerns all which we own — our tastes, our beliefs, our values, our aesthetic. As Venus ends her summer retrograde in your home sign, and Mercury goes direct September 15, you are more aware than ever of the gifts you command: your talent, your light, your skill, your style, and beyond. How should they be best embraced? For what cause? How do you want to be deployed? After a summer of metamorphosis, you can finally value yourself clearly, without the old distortions. What is yours to keep for yourself, and what do you want to share with the world? There’s power in consolidation and discernment. And now you have access to it.

VIRGO & VIRGO RISING

On September 3, Venus ends its summer-long retrograde in Leo, in your twelfth house of the underworld. She’s ready for her rebirth and her triumphant debut. And so are you. With a Virgo new moon on September 14, followed by the end of Mercury retrograde in your home sign on the 15th, you’re so close to a clear and complete new dawn. Treat every remaining day until mid-month as purging and preparation. After everything you’ve processed this summer, you have to have faith, now more than ever, that you’re entitled to a new beginning. Libra season launches on the 23rd, in your second house of self-worth and style. Be ready to declare your power; the time for waiting in the wings is officially over.

LIBRA & LIBRA RISING

On August 27, Mars entered your home sign, igniting a renewed drive to conquer. And yet, with all that vigor, there’s still a Mercury retrograde, raging in Virgo, in your twelfth house of self-sabotage and unprocessed grief. What, or who, is blocking you? Are they present antagonists, or phantasms from the past? Who have you made — consciously or unconsciously — into your dark master? Where is all this anger coming from? The Mercury retrograde ends on September 15, followed by the launch of Libra season on the fall equinox on the 23rd. Next month brings a new moon solar eclipse in Libra. It’s always darkest before dawn. Face your demons now so that you can emerge reborn in the weeks ahead.

SCORPIO & SCORPIO RISING

How much do you trust your gut? Mars is in Libra all month, in your twelfth house of intuition, psychic health, and buried truths. Libra aspires to objective good, while Mars connects us to our urges, desires, and base feelings. Are you in contact with your inner sense of right and wrong, of where you won’t compromise, of what you know to be true, even if you can’t explain it? We’ve been yapping at you all summer about the big career shifts commanded by the Venus retrograde in Leo. As Venus goes direct and your public profile continues to bloom, you’ll have to trust yourself more than ever. It all builds up to the Aries new moon, on September 29th, in your sixth house of work and boundaries. Only you know what you need. Face your fear of your own instincts, and the cost of believing them, so that you can cruise the tidal waves to come.

SAGITTARIUS & SAGITTARIUS RISING

Let’s ride! All the personal planets peel off the road this month in the public domain of your chart: Venus goes direct in Leo, in your ninth house of expanding horizons on the third; Mars goes on a month-long tear in Libra, in your eleventh house of socializing; and, as for Virgo, in your tenth house of career domination…where to begin? With a sun-Mercury collaboration, or cazimi, on September 6, a Virgo new moon on the 14th, and the end of Mercury retrograde on the 15th, the race is on. Many of the goals and big-picture dreams you’ve long gazed over the horizon are now tangible, and within reach. So what are you waiting for? If ever there was a time to be out, involved, and highly visible, it’s now. You’ve done the interior work. You’re ready to soar.

CAPRICORN & CAPRICORN RISING

Libra occupies your tenth house of public acclaim and career achievement, an interesting placement for the sign of relationality. You can’t get anywhere alone. With the Mercury retrograde in Virgo still raging in your ninth house of gatekeepers and institutions, you’ll likely feel blocked for the first two weeks of the month. Get ahead of Libra season and start asking for help now. Build up your base. Surrender to needing people. As the sun enters Libra on September 23, Venus and Mercury will have gone direct, and you’ll be back in action. But the real gift will be the support you’ve cultivated, and the sense of communal stability you’ve gathered around you. The Aries full moon on the 29th goes down in your fourth house of home. Make sure you celebrate it with all the people who have sustained you this far.

AQUARIUS & AQUARIUS RISING

Virgo occupies your eighth house of sexuality, unions, and marriage. Essentially, this is where you cast off the roles of childhood and take your place in adult relationships. If you are someone’s significant other, parent, or creative partner, how does that redefine you? The Mercury retrograde in Virgo runs until September 15, and asks you to consider your role. We know that the summer’s Venus retrograde in Leo, which has gone down in your seventh house of others, made you confront a lot of old demons in the relationship arena. Now you have a chance for clarity. How do the people in your life perceive you, and how is that at odds with what you see? What is your place, your service, your lane, in all your relationships? Experiment with how you identify, and you’ll have more freedom for expansion in all your unions.

PISCES & PISCES RISING

This summer’s Venus retrograde in Leo has gone down in your sixth house of the body and its boundaries. You’ve come a long way in affirming yourself. And yet, the Mercury retrograde in Virgo, in your seventh house of others, has revealed blocks in expressing your needs to others.

Hang in there — and trust in the work you’ve done. On September 6, the sun and Mercury make a magical conjunction, or cazimi, in Virgo, revealing the rewards of your efforts. With a Virgo new moon on the 14th and the end of Mercury retrograde on the 15th, it looks like new beginnings await you in all of your relationships. If you can hold fast to the changes you’ve made, you’re in for a very happy ending.