If you’re feeling blocked this week, then don’t fret—because it’s more than likely the new moon pushing out all its got in Virgo. You see, Virgo is indeed hardworking, but it’s also very particular and precise and the details are all very important. This is all great and good, except it could lead to the extreme of perfectionism, blockage and wanting all to be great.

The post for this week was supposed to be about the earth signs, since the new moon this week is going to highlight a beautiful, grand trine with this element. Virgo has the Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars and Mercury, while Uranus in Taurus with Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn.  The only planet off forming it’s on thing, although not too much doing its own thing, because it’ll be opposing all the planets in Virgo within the next few weeks, is Neptune in Pisces. Neptune, the big planet of disillusionment and boundless energy is going to actually oppose the Moon and Sun soon… meaning a lot of the strictness we’ve been feeling is getting an outlet.

CHECK OUT: Last Year’s “3 Writerly Things To Do This Weekend: Labor Day Edition”

The new moon in earth is a beautiful one. Let us take a moment to sigh with that. It’s strong, doing all the right things with all the right planets. It has grace and strength with Venus and Mars conjunct, plus can help communicate clearly all your goals with Mercury in its ruling sign of Virgo. Then there’s Capricorn and Pluto, two of the strictest, giving this all a boost in Capricorn, the sign that wants to see you succeed. Earth is about feeling our feet on the ground, our bodies and what it means to be a functioning, working creature on this planet. Neptune will challenge this concept all a bit, but it’s an opposition that’s welcomed to give meaning (and balance) to all the goodness. How do we releasing our stress and the strictness that comes with not being flexible enough?

CHECK OUT: This week’s printable is a cool Virgo word search!

This new moon and Labor Day weekend brings a great respite for summer, as it wraps up.. to understand the true concept of Virgo and this idea of working it out, and how often just plowing through the dirty, hard and the grind will lead to our brightest work.

1. Sit sternly with your work. Sit alone with your work, in silence, and see how it speaks to you. It could be that it needs you to ask different questions about the work, give it a different outlet and maybe even a different platform (i.e. if it’s not a fiction story, but a poem or a song instead). The Neptune in Pisces energy opposing the Moon and (soon) the Sun in Virgo energy will allow you to do this more efficiently. What does it mean when you release the boundaries that you’ve been working with? To work in a different space, add a different character or scene, or maybe even use a different medium (crayons anyone)?
2. Break down what the work means. The concept of work has a bad reputation, and often because of it, so does Virgo. But work, as work, is really a good thing. What you’re doing has value and worth and your time… which in astrology is really what matters in life. So what are you putting your time into this weekend—work you find dreadful, or the kind that fulfills your life?
3. Reading will always be worth the time spent. We are rereading Women Who Run With the Wolves, and besides Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, which we’re slated to read next, there might not be another Virgo-ish book around. Also worth the time is a good word search, which is the printable we created for this week’s astrology worksheet.