Virgo Harvest and Cosmic Connections

The Sun is travelling through the astrological season of Virgo, which means it’s late summer harvest time! The fruits of labor from spring and summer are reaching a peak and ready to gather. Patience and perseverance (two Virgo traits) are now paying off with the abundance of fresh healthy food available. The exacting nature of Virgo comes from meticulously sorting through the bounty to “separate the wheat from the chaff”. A “critical eye” (a Virgo trait) is needed to discern the subtle difference between the unripe, overripe, and “just right” fruit at the peak of perfection with the most flavor and nutrients. Virgo is also known as the sign of work and service, and there’s much to be done now to harvest and preserve the many crops that are ripening at once.

Yellow Bean Harvest with Nasturtium Flowers

Traditionally, Virgo is represented by the maiden of wheat or corn, but for us this year, Mother Earth is bringing beans! We have pole beans, bush beans, green beans, yellow beans, and even purple beans. Not only are they extra tasty when fresh from the garden, but they’re packed full of nutrients! They‘re a good source of vitamin A, C, K, B6, calcium, iron, potassium, manganese, copper, and folic acid. They are a low fat, no cholesterol source of protein. Green beans (and the other colors) are good for the eyes, bones, heart, and help regulate digestion. They boost the immune system, and help eliminate harmful free radicals. They have high levels of flavonoids, antioxidants with anti-inflammatory properties. And they’re delicious too!

Fresh Tomato, Basil and Parsley

Gaia brought us lots of other garden goodies too, including squash, peppers, tomatoes, peas, herbs, and flowers. Fresh tomato and basil salsa is divine! Synchronizing and participating with Earth’s seasonal cycles of growth has many rewards in addition to the nourishing food: gardening calms the mind, exercises the body, builds self-esteem, and the communion with nature uplifts the spirit. It improves immunity, heart health, and brain health. As we nurture the Earth, the Earth nurtures us back.

Sunflower Center

Sunflower Seed Head

After delighting us with their giant yellow flowers that towered over 10 feet tall, the sunflowers now focus on seed production. While collecting the heads, we marveled at the intricate double spiral patterns. The seeds grow this way because it’s the tightest arrangement for optimum growth. The patterns they make follow the Fibonacci sequence of sacred geometry, in which each following number is the sum of the previous two numbers (1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144, etc.). If you count the outside row of seeds or the petals, you’ll almost always get one of these numbers. As the seeds grow outward, they turn 137.5 degrees, which is the golden angle / golden mean of sacred geometry. Any slight deviation from this degree and the entire pattern changes. These logarithmic spiral patterns are found throughout nature and can be seen in: pineapples, artichokes, cabbage, broccoli, plant leaves, flowers, pinecones, shells, hurricanes, and star galaxies!

Echinacea Coneflower Paleae

Pine Cone Scales

Nautilus Shell Interior

M74 Spiral Galaxy

It’s amazing how the Fibbonocci series is found from the microcosm of atomic structures to the macrocosm of the universe! The M74 galaxy demonstrates the pattern on a grand scale with its nearly 100 billion stars swirling out in a sacred geometry spiral. The young blue stars forming leave behind winding dust trails and red ionized clouds of hydrogen. Although it’s 30 million light-years away toward the constellation Pisces, it is similar in many ways to our own home galaxy, the Milky Way, giving us an outside view of our own place in the universe. For you astronomy fans, November is the best time for viewing this celestial wonder.

Astro-Talk

Related to the stars, the planets will be forming a lot of geometric (60, 90, 120, and 180 degree) aspects over the next couple of weeks, and here’s a guide to the energy currents:

The Virgo new moon on September the 9th begins a month long cycle of setting intentions and goals revolving around matters of health & diet, animals & pets, work & service concerns, and getting organized. During the window of the 10th-12th, the Virgo Sun will align with and amplify the harmonious energy of a 60 degree sextile between Jupiter in Scorpio and Pluto in Capricorn. Any efforts you’ve made towards personal and public advancement will receive a boost and possible support. On the 12th, Venus in Scorpio opposes Uranus in Taurus bringing some surprises in love relationships, shared assets, legacies, and possible investment opportunities. Venus is travelling in the shadow period of her upcoming retrograde next month where she’ll make the same alignment with Uranus on 10/31, and finally again on 11/30. The retrograde period is a time of corrections or shifts that must be made before continuing to move forward, and the events around the 12th may provide clues of the upcoming changes. Avoid making fast commitments or signing contracts for a couple days, as the Mercury in Virgo opposition to Neptune in Pisces on the 13th often brings miscommunication, confusion, and sometimes deception.

Mercury shifts into a positive relationship with Pluto and Jupiter on the 15th & 16th, returning clarity of mind and good communications. The following couple of days may be tense leading up to the Mars-Uranus 90 degree square on the 18th, which tends to make people edgy. Watch for ego based actions and reactions that lead to arguments, fights, and accidents. People may seem to be pushing your buttons and unexpected events may catch us off guard. Stay cool, especially when on the road, and let this one pass over. The Sun and Mercury join in Virgo on the 20th and things come into focus again, just in time to bring those new moon goals to fruition with the full moon energy on the 24th. The planetary energy settles down in the third and fourth quarter of the waning moon cycle, giving us a chance to reflect on the recent shifts.

We hope you enjoyed this Earth and Sky Alchemy blog post, and if so, please share and leave comments below!

Peace & Love, Christopher & Amy