I don't know about you guys, but for me August was an insanely transformative month. My birthday is in August, August 18th, and I look forward to it every year- being the Leo that I am.

This is the first year in my life that I have been sick during my birthday which put a lot into perspective for me. I found August to be a month of really allowing myself to face some dark corners within my mind, and I think I became truly honest with myself about what needed to change in my life. It became apparent that an old identity I was clinging onto needed to go, and that this next chapter needed me to be ready, really ready, to move forward. I also feel like August was all about me getting knocked on my ass so that when I got back up, I knew what needed to be done. While I felt like it put me behind in a lot of ways, I also feel stronger than ever before and am ready to conquer the rest of this year.

Interestingly enough, I got sick right after Mercury went Retrograde, and this flu lasted up until a few days ago, which seems like perfect timing considering Mercury will be going direct in 5 days. I am not one to blame planets for things like catching the flu- but I do know that I am naturally very sensitive to falling into the energies around me, you can thank my Pisces Moon for that one.

With August coming to a close, I can't help but hope that September means clearer skies ahead. And as I look into the American Ephemeris for this month, I do feel a bit more at ease seeing some of the shifts in energy at play for us to look forward to.

To start the Month off I will first address what I have already stated- Mercury goes direct, yes! It is here! Finally!!

Mercury will go direct on September 5th at 11:31AM Universal time at 28 degrees in Leo. This is the same Degree that we had the New Moon eclipse in Leo last month, which although the eclipse has passed, the orb of energy surrounding it has not. This will continue to linger into September a bit longer.

Following shortly after Mercury Direct, we will have our September Full Moon in Pisces on September 6th at 7:04AM Universal time at 13 degrees.

The impact of the Full Moon in Pisces with the Energy of Mercury still hanging out in Leo for a bit longer, will urge us to really think about how we express ourselves emotionally to ourselves as well as those around us. This will be an important day for us to really acknowledge communication patterns around our feelings that are no longer serving us and let them go. We may feel that we are finally ready to leave behind an emotional pattern or way of dealing with something that we have not dealt with before in the same way. A lot of this could be around inner child work, or issues around ways our childhood has shaped us into the adults that we are today. This will be a great time for releasing any memories from our past into the abyss and saying goodbye while welcoming knew ideas or ways of approaching our feelings in the future.

I will be writing a more detailed blog on how you can use the energy of the Full Moon this month to best serve you and those around you, so keep a look out!

While Mercury and the Moon tend to get most of the attention in Astrology- we must not forget about our other celestial influences this month.

Mars will be leaving it's comfort zone of fire energy to enter the more grounded energy of Virgo on September 5th where it will be in an opposition to our Full Moon in Pisces.

This could create some tension around our feelings again, but has the potential to give us the energy to push our creative energy forward as well as help us feel more confident in expressing what we need from others in a more straight forward way. On the down side there is room for self entitlement or feeling like ones own feelings take priority over others- be careful not to be too aggressive when establishing yourself with others on this day.

September 20th we will have our New Moon in Virgo, as well as the loving energy of Venus in Virgo as well.

This New Moon will be all about goals, and establishing our intentions around how we work to get things done in our material world.

Venus in Virgo will represent more of the Earth Mama energy of feeling connected to nature. This may be a good time to spend time outside connecting with plants and animals. It may be a good time to prioritize really putting your heart into what you do and establishing more of a loving relationship to your work and your home.

You may feel like you want to redecorate your home, or get a new hair cut, or change something physical about yourself or your surrounding. This would be a good cycle to do this in as the energy will be just right to make it go your way in all issues of beauty and physical appearances.

Shortly after this grounding New Moon our Sun will enter the harmonious sign of Libra on September 23rd, allowing the energy to shift into some great socializing opportunities. With the New Moon energy and the progression of the waxing moon, this will be a great time for networking and building connections with those around us. It will be a great time for going out or doing group activities, so set some friend dates for the end of the month!

Pluto has been Retrograde since April of this year but will be going direct on September 28th in Capricorn at 16 degrees. This will be a very transformative day in feeling like everything that was building up over the summer is finally ready to unleash itself on the world. Issues around how you establish this new self may come out- more surrounding your goals and how you accomplish them. You may be in a place of wanting to test out new methods and it may seem a bit daunting at first. The direct energy should help you in moving forward with the rest of the transformation. Allow yourself to have new ways of attacking old problems or patterns.

Last but not least- as I will be touching on many more transits as the month progresses- I just want to note that Mercury will be entering Libra on the 30th which should give us some good communication boosts and add some fun energy to our socializing time for the month.

This will be a great time for expanding on ideas, getting things down on paper, and putting our ideas out into the world.

The energy of this month will be quite a bit different than last month, where as last month was focused a lot on the Fire and Water Elements, ie; ego assertion, emotions, and creativity, we have a lot more on the focus of Air and Earth this month which has more to do with matters of our physical world and perceptions in our minds of how we digest old and new information. This should help us begin to feel more balanced, which is great, we are most surely needing it after that intense August!!

Below you will find a Month ahead Tarot spread for September that may also be used for any month of the year! Hope you enjoy! And keep checking back for more blog posts that go further in depth into some of these transits!