Sign of the Harvest
Photo by Greg Johnson on Unsplash
September 06, 2024
Last Monday, I saw two hummingbirds in our garden. This was thanks to my Dear Husband, who goes out there more than I do and saw them first.
The Fauna site tells me that the hummingbird, a spiritual totem, “symbolises joy, freedom, perseverance, creativity, love and healing.”
On Tuesday I met with a small group of friends, most of them a couple of decades younger than I am, and some have teenagers at home or going off to university. As this was the day after Labor Day, the atmosphere in our Zoom room was alive with back-to-school energy. The women talked about the joy of returning to the school schedule. Even those who were feeling some sadness about a child’s leaving home also expressed relief—freedom, at last!
Listening, I remembered all my years of this annual rhythm of change, with my two children in school or homeschooling. But it’s been several years since those kids moved on, and now I think that might be why the energy has changed for me. I’ve been feeling the approach of this September in a more diffused way, with few directional signs.
This sense of following an unmarked path might explain my recent interest in astrology and the tarot, which seemed to come out of nowhere, and much to my surprise. In searching and eventually finding some sources that seem reliable and accessible to a beginner, I’ve learned that what I intuited is true: these are modes of spiritual inquiry. I’m in need of new modes for this new phase of my life.
When I learned from Ali Murray in “The Smart Witch Podcast,” Episode 45, about the moon sign, I knew was on an authentic path. We all know our sun sign—it’s where we fall within the birth dates for the zodiac signs. I was born between March 21 and April 19, so I’m an Aries. But that’s just my sun sign. I also have a moon sign and a rising sign, and learning this is my first step into a vast store of ancient wisdom with more lines of inquiry and connection than I can count.
The sun sign, as explained by Murray and others, is about how we show up in the world and cultivate a healthy ego. Murray says, “The sun sign is a fascinating journey of figuring out what our essence is and then radiating that out into the world in a way that allows other people to experience us in an authentic way.”
The moon sign is our deepest, most private self, the place from which we love others and experience love. The moon sign influences how we want to be cared for and how we care for ourselves. It’s also about our psyche, instincts, and intuition.
Murray suggests that the world might be different if we all learned to identify primarily with our moon sign instead of the sun sign. We might be better able to understand ourselves and one another. If you don’t quite identify with your sun sign, she says, or if you sense there’s something missing, then you’ll probably find answers as you learn about your moon sign. This is true for me, after just a bit of exploration. My moon sign is Taurus. My rising sign, which is just as important, is Capricorn.
In the larger astrological perspective, we are now in Virgo season, which began on Monday with the arrival of the new moon. I’m grateful to Jeanna Kadlec, who writes astrology for writers, for her assurance, “But here, the morning of an ultra-precise Virgo New Moon, I want to affirm that it is okay to be a beginner. It is okay not to know.”
But here, the morning of an ultra-precise Virgo New Moon, I want to affirm that it is okay to be a beginner. It is okay not to know. — astrology for writers
Jeanna is also one of the three presenters, with Rebecca Scolnick and Meg Jones Wall, of a new podcast, “Call Your Coven,” which I highly recommend for beginners with astrology (Jeanna), numerology (Rebecca “Bee”), and tarot (Meg). I imagine the more advanced initiates also will find it insightful and enjoyable.
Jeanna tells us that Virgo, the sign of the harvest and the end of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, is a season to sort and organize and get our priorities more in alignment with our values. In her newsletter she writes, “This New Moon is a potent one for discernment, for distillation, for harvest. … It encourages a refinement of our priorities, and the exercise of discernment as to our actual abilities. In that, this moon also encourages us to set realistic goals that are actually achievable. The precision of Virgo demands that we not react to amorphous feelings of ‘not enough’ and really define what progress will look like, and the steps we can take to get there.”
This New Moon is a potent one for discernment, for distillation, for harvest. … It encourages a refinement of our priorities, and the exercise of discernment as to our actual abilities. In that, this moon also encourages us to set realistic goals that are actually achievable. The precision of Virgo demands that we not react to amorphous feelings of “not enough” and really define what progress will look like, and the steps we can take to get there. — astrology for writers
Photo by Rémi Müller on Unsplash
“Purifying our ideas and our practices,” as she says in the podcast episode. Definitely the work I need to do.
What am I clinging to that no longer serves me?
How do I move into the next phase?
How can I better serve, in my community, with others?
We’re told also that it’s best to complete the sifting and sorting before the arrival of the full moon on September 17th.
Last Monday was the first time I’ve ever seen a hummingbird in my own backyard. I take it as a sign beckoning me to go joyfully into the fields of soul-harvest: sorting, separating, distilling, and purifying.
“As a totem animal, the hummingbird symbolises joy, freedom, perseverance, creativity, love and healing. It encourages us to live in the moment, to be open to change, and to pursue our dreams with optimism. Its small size and ability to fly in all directions represent flexibility and freedom.”
