The Sun enters Virgo II, The Hammer and Anvil, (as named by Austin Coppock) on 1 September at 7:25 pm EDT, and remains there until 12 September 2024 at 2:40 am when he enters the third decan of Virgo The Sarcophagus, making ten days, seven hours, and fifteen minutes. T. Susan Chang called this decan, associated with the 9 of pentacles, Perfection Alone.
I've written about this decan before, in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Pamela Colman Smith illustrated this decan with an image of a beautifully dressed woman luxuriating in an elegant garden with her hawk, and called it Luxury. Yet it may be that she herself is less important than the jesses on her hawk, the cut of her cote, the quality of her plantings. The Decan is associated with Venus, and I tend to think of this decan of planetary Venus as being the craftsperson, or rather, the artisan's byproducts. Artists concentrate on producing objects and images of unique vision, sustained by personal genius. But artisans produce objects of genuine usefulness. If they have any genius, it's not the genius of unique vision or rare personal insight — it's the glory of being able to see their way to produce a particular object of general purpose, and do so with interior designer and printer William Morris's axiom in mind: "have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." To the best of their ability — they produce quality by creating in sufficient, succulent quantity, and becoming superior exemplars of their craft.
The Moirai, commonly known as the Fates or by their individual names, were regarded in this season with special honor — Clotho, the spinner of the thread; Lachesis, who measures it; and Atropos who wields the shears to clip it. I've spun just enough woolen roving into yarn to know that this can be challenging to do well. The result of doing it poorly or at least as a beginner, is the creation of slubs or thick and nubby places in a given length of yarn. Ironically, these slubs are proof that a skein of yarn was hand-spun… but an experienced spinner can work fine wool roving into fingering weight of the finest quality, completely without slubs… and it can be completely indistinguishable from machine-made yarn. The experts' highest ability, alas, winds up being unfavorably compared both with the work of the apprentice and the machines intended to replace her. This is something of Venus' detriment in Virgo — supremely skilled and yet disrespected.
The dodeks, or twelfth-parts, of Virgo II, are associated with Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces and Aries. The artisan's labor begins with the coldly pragmatic labors of making scarf, hat, mittens, coat against the winter. After the first successes though, comes the struggle of the knowledge you can do better — that's Aquarius — followed by the dithering that comes from the Piscean awareness that finished is sometimes better than perfect. Finally comes the fire of the artisan's new project, where their perfectionism and current skill level meet.
Planetary Archetypes
We can see the archetype of the ingress of Virgo II as being a bit like the crew of artisans in an exhibition hall, waiting for the doors to open and the buyers and gawkers to rush in. Virgo's placement in the seventh house puts intense analytical pressure on everyone around us, instead of viewing our own work with a more critical eye. The artisan knows her own dropped stitch in an afghan blanket; the woodworker artfully conceals his tear-out with resin and glue; the sewist hopes that customers won't realize how ugly the decorative top-stitching is. How does the potter feel about putting out seconds she doesn't love? She won't tell you, this time.
In select spots near the main door, the master printer and bookbinder Saturn and enthusiastic starting blacksmith Neptune have established their tables. Neptune is feeling a little less confident about their position, now that they've seen the quality on display; their own wares feel rushed and half-finished. Meanwhile, Saturn is stressing about humidity, and the curling papers, the way that her blank books are swelling strangely as the warmth of the day seeps in through the open door.
Uranus, farther from the door in a place where they can gab with friends, shows off a range of pottery — teacups and teapots, large salad bowls and small bowls for soup. The work is heavy, and the floor is unsteady for some reason, and none of their display racks is level. Every time someone even slightly overweight walks by, all the pottery jingles with anticipa— It's going to be a long day.
In a homey corner near the back exit, Jupiter and Mars are reluctantly placed together. They each look like they should be managing the other's booth; Jupiter is wiry, small, and athletic, yet mans a station filled with samples of heavy ironwork — decorative garden trellises, samples of stair railings, fireplace dogs and tools. Mars is old and big and burly, yet mans a booth filled with delicate gold jewelry of stunning craftsmanship — it's hard to imagine him producing such tiny earrings with such huge hands.
Mercury and the Moon should have been placed farther apart, with work so similar to one another, and they're both alternately snarling under their breath and cautiously (privately) stealing ideas and (publicly) comparing notes. Mercury is a scissors-maker, a wiry little fellow of vague gender presentation, skilled at producing complex tools for experts; while the Moon makes more general knives suitable for kitchens or back alleys. Both have beautiful displays, and impressive voices for hawking their wares.
The Sun is less of her own craftsman today, than a displayer of the textiles produced by her guild. Twills and poplins, denims and tabbys, intricate tablet-work, and subtly woven panels to use as table runners and shawls. Having drawn the short-straw, she's here today to present the work of others, and she's arrived late to be given the worst place in the hall, out the way and around a corner. It's not clear how many will see what she's brought, much less buy.
Venus in Libra hates doing these kinds of shows, and today will be especially difficult. She's brought the wrong storage boxes, and the credit card machine doesn't work; she's frazzled, her nerves are shot and she's agonizing about the time she's going to spend talking to people instead of doing her craft. Still, her knitted and crocheted pieces are going to be the big sellers of the day. No matter how much she breaks the rules of marketing and no matter how much grief she gets from customers, she's going to go home richer and happier than anyone else.
Seated by the door raking in the admission fees from customers, for the rental of the hall and other necessaries, Pluto has managed to rake in a double-dip here: he's screwed over the artisans by making them pay a table fee, and screwed over the customers by selling tickets, limiting how much people will spend on the crafts themselves. He bought most of his own booth's supplies from a factory in China, and only lightly re-shaped his Live Laugh Love signs on a belt sander to give them some "character." He won't sell as much as anyone else, but he'll go home rich — he just doesn't know that the artisans will figure out his scam tomorrow, and he may never be able to do this to his former friends again.
House Placements
The first house of self and self-presentation is Pisces, ruled by square Jupiter but containing retrograde Saturn and Neptune. Triplicity rulers Venus and the Moon are in aversion while Mars is also square. Wild enthusiasms and grand passions are easily sought but also easily frustrated — fear of injury, and actual stiffness, delay achievement.
The second house of money and possessions is Aries, ruled by sextile Mars, with triplicity rulers Sun and Saturn in aversion and Jupiter sextile; the North Node indicates a sense of urgency to find additional income, while the planets indicate that damage to your income is also likely to be repaired — but act with urgency.
The third house of siblings and close friends is home to retrograde Uranus; though ruled by inconjunct Venus and unsupported by Mars in aversion, it's the trine Moon which does the song-and-dance number that keeps a relationship from blowing up, and the clear communication from Mercury that shifts the conversation from personalities to project. Get things done by focusing on where the effort must go.
Though the fourth house of home and family is Gemini and thus ruled by sextile Mercury, it's the conflict between triplicity rulers Saturn and Jupiter that bring trouble into the privacy of our living rooms. The demands of work, a desire for expansion of possibilities, and a recognition of limitations, are all in tension with one another at the moment — and Mars stands at the ready with a knife to chop through the essential strand with one blow. Who stands firm, and who goes sprawling, remains to be seen.
The fifth house of pleasures is Cancer ruled by the Moon, but has only squaring Venus to look to for support — and Venus says, "you can have fun when your chores are finished."
The sixth house of daily labors and minor illness is Leo ruled by the inconjunct Sun, and receiving support from sextile Jupiter alone. If your labor or your illness is supported by your family, you'll make progress on those big chunks of heavy-lifting this coming week — ask humbly for forbearance and generosity, and you'll make it work.
The seventh house of spouses and business partners (and open rivals or enemies) is Virgo, ruled by inconjunct Mercury, and receiving support only from squaring Mars. If your spouse isn't being heinous and snarling, you are. According to extra material in the Star Trek universe, the great logician Surak said, "the spear in the other's heart is the spear in your own; you are he." Put another way, "pull out the log in your own eye before you pull the mote from your brother's eye" — it's a week for owning your own faults and flaws rather than throwing anger at partners.
The eighth house of obligations and duties is Libra, ruled by present Venus and supported by trining Jupiter and sextile Mars. You'll get the stuff done that needs doing — and rules that can be bent, will be; because of the South Node, though, expect that it will not be done without a little messiness and bad feeling.
The ninth house of travel is Scorpio, ruled by inconjunct Mars and supported only by the squaring Moon. Labor Day weekend traffic is likely to be hellish and frustrating, but conditions are also likely to ease rapidly. In the first few days of the new school year — expect to encounter technical limitations and a need to bend rules to fill out your class list.
The tenth house of profession and career is Sagittarius ruled by opposing Jupiter, with 'support' from squaring Sun and Saturn — you'd rather be at home, your spouse is doing enough, your body has issues that are being exacerbated at work, and your rival's star is shining brighter than your own. Everything feels heavy and burdensome this week. It'll work out ok, but it'll feel hard.
The eleventh house of friends and acquaintances is Capricorn, ruled by sextile Saturn and 'supported' by squaring Venus alone (Mars and the Moon are inconjunct). Serious, necessary duties get in the way of social commitments; illness or even just stubbornness prevent enjoyment of what you can attend. Remember to bend before you break.
The twelfth house of obstacles and opportunities is ruled by inconjunct Saturn, and 'supported' by opposing Mercury but trining Jupiter. None of your barriers are insurmountable, but they'll require both granular analysis of the problem, and a larger solution that you'll have to fight for — but it's likely to serve your long term goals. Retrograde Pluto promises that the hinderance looks costlier, uglier and more toxic to solve than it likely is.
Horoscopes by rising sign
Decan I of any sign (usually covering the 21st of the month to the first of the following month) is free to all visitors; Decan II is only available to Patreon and Ko-Fi.com subscribers; and Decan III is available to Patreon, Ko-Fi, and MailChimp subscribers.
This is a Decan II season, so only Patreon members will receive the horoscopes.
Pisces:
Aries:
Taurus:
Gemini:
Cancer:
Leo:
Virgo:
Libra:
Scorpio:
Sagittarius:
Capricorn:
Aquarius:
Colophon
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If you want to read some of my astrologically-oriented poetry, the largest collection is called A Full Volume of Splendor and Starlight, available through my Etsy shop, and containing poems and hymns to the planets, constellations, decan deities, and Moon Mansion angels. While not astrological, Festae contains hymns to some of the older Roman gods and spirits from the calendar created by Numa Pompilius, the second ancient King of Rome.
I use iPhemeris for my charting software, and screenshot it to make charts. I want to thank the team that develops iPhemeris for the addition of Terms and Decans to their charts. I also use Hugh Tran's Physis typeface to craft logos for this blog, as well.
I use Christopher Warnock's The Mansions of the Moon as the basis of my Moon placement delineations, and Austin Coppock's 36 Faces for much of my planetary delineations. Neither gentleman endorses me.
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