Batten down the hatches!
The wizened sea captain gazes out at a thick black bar of storm clouds across the horizon line. He calmly watches as bolts of lightning dance off the ocean surface. Half of him is lost in the chaotic splendor and beauty of nature, and the other half has peacefully surrendered to the unavoidable. He knows his crew will have to weather the storm. After a thorough calculated assessment, he gives the order to his shipmates, “batten down the hatches!” The crew immediately jumps into action. Having done this many times before, they deftly fasten battens to the open hatches on the ship, and their execution is flawless and efficient.
This serves as a useful metaphor for September. The astrological weather in the first half of September is fairly calm. In the last half, clouds start to form, and in October and beyond it gets progressively stormier until the energy crescendos in late December as we hit our 3rd and final exact Saturn/Uranus square. We could call September the “calm before the storm.”
During the new moon in Virgo, there will be five of the ten planets in earth signs. The sea captain is a beautiful representation of earth energy. He’s wise, practical, stable, and tempered by life. When he sees the impending hardship before him on the horizon, he doesn’t freak out. He’s been here before, many times. From a place of calm action, he does what needs to be done. His crew went through a period of preparation. September is like that, we hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
During the fall months, bears eat and drink nearly nonstop to prepare for hibernation. I’m not recommending you stuff yourself silly, but perhaps stuff your pantry? I’m not being alarmist or doom and gloomy, I’m simply trying to convey earth energy wisdom. Sometimes life has hardship, and to be properly prepared for what’s to come without any fear or tension, is incredibly wise. This isn’t a “brace for impact” moment because that implies a tensing. If you are about to have a car accident and you know it, it’s a good idea to keep your body completely relaxed as you calmly adjust to what’s coming, because if you’re all tensed up you will suffer greater injury.
I don’t exactly know what’s going to happen, but what I do know is “as above, so below”. The last Saturn/Uranus square will be dramatic as this year long event is hitting its last high. We will continue to feel these two planets in 2022, but the energy will start to taper then. Best thing to do in the first half of September is prepare in very earthy and realistic ways. Also, Mercury, Venus, and Mars will be trined by the outer planets, inviting us in a supportive way to learn new curriculum to develop useful skills to help with the process of preparation. Earth means anything practical, and tends to manifest as things in our physical reality. It’s a good time to focus on anything health related: food and water, nutrition, exercise, enough rest, as well as anything that can help to protect you and those you love.
The storm front gets a bit thicker in the last half of September as we shift into more watery energy. Venus enters Scorpio, Pisces full moon, and Pluto square Mercury are some of the highlights of the energetic shift. Each one of those events is a big subject, but we can distill it into a more inward period of fierce introspection. Mercury is of the mind, and it will be in a tension based square with Pluto the God of Hell. It’s good to develop a deeper mental awareness of your own emotional reactivity to external circumstances. Nothing wrong with emotion, but becoming alert to our more egoic emotional reactions that stem from past trauma, and then work to reoriented your conscious awareness of the source of the trauma.
We work with earth and then water. Both aimed to help foster emotional growth and prepare practically for the stormy season so that all our hard work doesn’t get flooded away.
Good evolutionary astrology questions to ask yourself this month are:
Can I stay in my reason instead of reactionary fear?
Can I become like the sea captain, who’s prepared for anything?
How can I develop more emotional awareness and fortitude?
I think almost all of us want the tribulations to be over, I know I do. It’s going to get better. This is the last hurrah of the tension based Uranus/Saturn square that highlights themes of restriction and freedom. We grow the most through suffering, and it’s how we choose to act instead of react to that suffering that is an indication of our own development. We didn’t come here to drink piña coladas on a beach, although that sounds nice right about now. Ultimately we came here to grow, and it’s through times like these we can have the greatest growth spurts!
Almost there!
These are the core evolutionary intentions, with the goal always – to expand our consciousness.
Your ally in evolution,
Astrologer at www.BryanColter.com
Bryan…I thoroughly enjoyed your update using the batten down the hatches as your introduction. Thank you for your shattering your information. We will survive!! 💫💙
“Pluto the God of Hell” Oh swell . . .
Bryan, for as hard as you seem to be trying to say, don’t freak out folks, the past few weeks have been authentically freakish here in these once United States.
Great sea captain story! I’m going to stock up on cupcakes.