Welcome & Welcome Back, Witches!
How has the astrology been treating you this week?
I’ve personally been riding high since launching my birthday month giveaway last week (refresher below ICYMI).
As a reminder, this giveaway is running for the next two weeks through my birthday, August 29th. Each week, I’ll select 3 active subscribers to receive a surprise gift box full of my favorite magical goodies. Entering is totally free: all you have to do is be subscribed to this list, and share this or any post with friends, family, or on social media.
This afternoon, I’ll be notifying the first 3 winners, so keep an eye on your inboxes! And if you don’t hear from me today, be sure to share this post to enter for next week.
Ok, back to today! Back in April, I talked about this year’s Mercury Retrograde periods being predominantly in fire signs. At the time, I explored how this energy, in which was in Aries, was an invitation from the universe to make mistakes and get messy, Ms. Frizzle style:
Now, Mercury Retrograde is here again, and while it is mostly taking place in Leo, it did officially start in Virgo, adding a little practical earth to our chaotic fire vibes. So today I’m going to explore how starting in Virgo — and alongside Venus no less —changes the flavor of mess we’re being called to make.
What am I waiting for? Let’s get to it!
Plus August subscribers are automatically entered into my BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY.
Let Me Sum Up:
Let’s start with an overview of the key players at work here, and get a sense of how long this story might take to play out.
At the end of July, Mercury entered Virgo, one of its happy places, aka, a sign that it rules. In that time, its moved, slowly, through some early degrees of Virgo, potentially bringing some clarity to our thoughts and speech in the process. However since Mercury was approaching retrograde, it may not necessarily have brought the support we needed to make much progress based on that clarity.
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Last week on August 5th, Venus entered Virgo. At the same time, Mercury turned retrograde and moved backwards past Venus over the next few days.
Today, Mercury crosses back into Leo, where it will also cross paths with the sun, being reborn in the rays of the sun. Then on my birthday (8/29), Mercury will be done it’s backwards sky dance, and start forward progress yet gain, re-entering Virgo unburdened and unbothered in early September.
Yay.
What’s the Story, Morning Glory?
So what the actual hell does all that mean?
In short, simply that we will need to make a mess to make progress in some area of our lives. The status around something that has been getting by on autopilot is going to shift and under these transits, we’ll realize we just can’t take it the way it is any longer.
We tend to think of excess baggage — both emotional and physical — as something we simply release. Let it go, we say. Move on and be lighter.
Only that’s not actually how it works. Letting go is the last step of a longer process. Releasing requires reconfiguring. Finding donation centers. Arranging dumpster bins or furniture pick up. Packing. Unpacking. Repacking. (Yes I am moving this month, why do you ask?)
And you know what celestial energy is great for this kind of work? VIRGO.
As Mercury retrograde empties out our junk drawers, that little kiss of Virgo will be there, helping us put it back together. And as the cherry on top, the connection with Venus in Virgo will remind us that yes, it is worth springing for the color coding.
The TL;DR of It All
This energy is a bit like an episode of Marie Kondo: You have to pull all the junk out, take a good long look at each piece of it, and decide consciously what stays and what needs to go. Only then can you start to put the pieces back together in a tidy, organized system (and Venus in Virgo loves a beautiful system). You have to really embrace the mess to get there though.
August is going to be a month devoted to the power of the decluttering — our spaces, our minds, our commitments, you name it. Whether it’s a closet you’ve been avoiding, a garage you’ve been coping with, or an untidy corner of your mind, the energy in the air is going to urge you to finally roll up your sleeves and get into the weeds.
This month, the mess needs to get bigger before it gets better.
And That’s All She Wrote!
She, of course, being me. I hope you enjoyed the read — I had a lot of fun writing it for you!
Reply to this email or leave a comment to let me know what you thought and how these energies are showing up in your life. I love to hear your stories, plus every interaction really helps the newsletter’s visibility. 💜💜💜
See you all next Tuesday for more planetary fun and who knows what else!
PSST: Do you ever think about filling your life with more…magic? I have! And I have all kinds of ways to support you in doing so, and I’ve cataloged them all here:
Did you just see a picture of my house and write this? I am back in my flat after some months away and decided to take everything out to decide if I wanted to rent the place out - the chaos is very real. But I am enjoying the tangibility of the process. I am also an August birthday - but just marginally in the Leo part of the month!
1. Thank you for the Veep gif AND Parks and Recreation gif all in one post.
2. The "sorting through" energy is strong. I got mine in full force, perhaps a bit cruelly, through a stomach virus. While I was cycling through the bug, I could literally feel my spirit sorting through and saying "keep," "toss," "keep," "TOSS!!!" I hope next time I can do it without being physically sick. But I will say that I feel a zillion times lighter, clearer, and more stable in myself. One of the things brought into sharp relief during this process so far has been a sense of realizing the extent to which I've created my life to be really, right for me. Circumstances yes, but also relationships; a strong sense of belonging in my life. Really nice.