A very SF horoscope: Virgo, Mercury and Mars enter the chat – SFGATE

After a tumultuous Leo season, Virgo arrives with the brooms, Airtable spreadsheets and herbal infusions to clean up your life.

Part witch and part taskmaster, Virgo is associated with health, ritual, purity and service. It knows that magic is in the details: a nine-step skin care routine, an overhaul of a messy closet, and a color-coded organizational system. Virgo energy is laying out your outfit the night before and having the impulse (and sometimes the audacity) to correct a typo in a public sign.

With back-to-school and back-to-work season upon us, I turned to SF astrologer Leslie Tagordaaka New Moon Creative for insight on how to leverage Virgos conscientious work ethic for our highest potential. Tagorda works with local business leaders to identify their natural strategic strengths according to their natal chart, and advises on astrological energies to help inform plans and strategy. The result of people tapping into the power of their own astrology is that they work easefully with purpose, she says.

And easeful purpose is just what we need as we come off Augusts Mars-square-Saturn energy and continue to face the burnout thats powering the Great Resignation.

Yes, Virgo gets a well-earned rep as a meticulous hard worker with a hot librarian aesthetic to match. But Tagorda reminds us that Virgo is really the harvest goddess, concerned with making a plan about what to harvest, what to save and how to prepare for the winter for the benefit of all.

Virgo energy is planning and synthesizing energy that can organize vast amounts of data that allows her to make a diagnosis for effectiveness, Tagorda says.

But effectiveness doesnt necessarily mean efficiency or perfection, she warns.

Efficiency and perfection is an outdated colonial way of looking at work routines and processes that prioritize growth at all costs. Perfection is the striving for conformity, and efficiency doesnt take into account downtime needed to regenerate and restore.

Tagorda says we can work with the Virgo energy by focusing on wholeness, not perfection. Make friends with your Virgo tools like Airtable, Trello or Slack but with boundaries. Take an actual break during the day. Plan those vacation days. Build in DAILY down time to regenerate. You will be able to synthesize and work much more effectively.

Plus, everyone knows that true SF summer starts in September, and this season brings the long Labor Day weekend and the beginning of wine countrys harvest season, offering SFers plenty of reasons to balance work with play.

The season also sees a Mercury retrograde Sept. 9 to Sept. 23, which is especially impactful because Mercury is Virgos ruling planet. Starting in Libra and retrograding back to Virgo, Tagorda says this cycle will bring an opportunity to rethink communications around partnerships (Libra) and routines (Virgo).

While Mercury retrogrades often come with fear of technological and communication mishaps, Tagorda says this retrograde can actually be helpful, especially at work and in collaborative partnerships of all kinds. Most importantly, this cycle will allow you to reconnect with how you communicate and express your needs around partnerships and daily routines, she says.

Meanwhile, Mars which represents our drive, action and will entered Gemini on Aug. 20, where it will stay for a whopping six months thanks to a relatively rare long retrograde this fall. Mars usually only stays in a sign for six weeks, so astrologers agree Virgo season is a great time to get curious about how you work and where Gemini falls in your birth chart because it will receive a lot of hardworking action over the next six and a half months.

Mars energy is the energy to turn fear into action, fight into advocacy, vitality into motivation and initiative into leadership, says Tagorda. And in Gemini, which is also ruled by Mercury, it gets its motivation through communication and the exchange of ideas.

Read on for how Virgo season can help you restore, rejuvenate, and reorganize your work and collaborations. Astro pro-tip: read your rising sign, too, for extra insight.

In the words of fellow iconic and hardworking Virgo Beyonce, who just famously quit her job, youre on that new vibration. With the sun shining in Virgo and your ruling planet transiting both your sense of identity and your sense of financial security, you have an opportunity to redefine what success means for you. And it doesnt have to break your soul. If your lifes goals are in need of a remix, a new moon in your sign is the perfect time to write them down, including everyone you want to collaborate with. (This will also help you learn from Queen Bey and give proper credit to your inspirations.) Its your renaissance and as you look for new motivation and build your own foundation, Mercurys retrograde will help you remember to add tax.

In tarot, Virgo is represented by The Hermit card, which shows a wizard-like figure atop a craggy rock. Its a card of retreat, meditation and solitude. This month you might feel your most creative while on solo walks to Hermit Rock in Lands End where you can recreate this card or at least explore the labyrinth of your mind amid a landscape to match. If theres anything you and Virgo have in common, its a love for an aesthetic. Silence notifications, carve out time for quiet contemplative walks each day and let the Virgo sun be the lantern that illuminates your path forward. Meanwhile, Mercurys transit through your sign may inspire you to free write your insights, which will set you up for success as you enter your season next month.

If recurring meetings have become a drag, the Virgo sun and Mercurys retrograde can help you create new, energizing habits for you and your collaborators. With the focus on group projects and networks, its time to rethink how you connect with your co-workers or clients. You know better than most that life is a ceremony and meetings are just seances for modern times. Virgos love of ritual wants you to energize the mundane and bring magic to the details and shared (Google) drives of your life. Use the Virgo new moon on Aug. 27 to reimagine creative connection, then celebrate your collective flow state under the Pisces full moon on Sept. 10.

Getting to inbox zero is the sort of perfectionism to resist during Virgo season, but do scan your inboxes for enticing missed connections. You might find fertile partnerships slipped through out-of-office cracks. Mercurys meticulous retrograde helps you resurrect them now. The new moon in Virgo on Aug. 27 is a good time to set intentions about how you want to show up in your public spheres. Use the Mercury retrograde to review your websites, resumes, LinkedIn headlines and even your email signatures to make sure theyre communicating what you want them to.

Virgo is the sign of the virgin and youre antsy to let your virgin skin feel the warmth of the sun after a long, cold fogust. It might finally be SF summer, but when Mercury goes retrograde, your inbox may be full of people disregarding your carefully crafted out-of-office message. Before you answer emails with sunscreen-slippery fingers, reflect if it truly requires your attention. If so, know that once Mercury slips back into Virgo, youll be able to set your sights on a proper vacation or an exciting adventure. Sometimes working on your tan is the most productive thing you can do.

Virgo season cracks the whip on your most intimate bonds, but a stroll through this months Folsom Street Fair reminds you thats far from a bad thing. Whether youre talking business or pleasure, your committed relationships benefit from you being unapologetically who you are. The new moon in Virgo on Aug. 27 is a great time to remind yourself that vulnerability is currency and your kinks help you find collaborators with staying power.

Your Virgo calendar is likely to be littered with one-on-ones, especially as Mercury retrogrades through the area of your life associated with close bonds in life and in business. You might be tempted to turn on track changes as you review the major contracts in your life. Mercurys retrograde makes for a great red pen, but youll probably get to a better mutual agreement face-to-face, where you can vibe your way through the sticky parts. Use the Virgo new moon to think deeply about the kinds of partnerships you want to cultivate over the next six months, make sure its in writing, and then toast to the partnerships of all kinds that prioritize a win-win.

Virgo rules the rituals of your life, from your nightly skin care regime to the morning routine that sets your day up for success. If there was ever a time to trade a morning scroll for a morning stroll, its the season of crisp, fog-free days. Its also the season to start cashing in on any wellness programs you might get through work, but whether or not you have a health savings account, the goddess of purity wants you to give your internal systems extra attention in any way thats available to you. Mercurys retrograde has you reviewing your partnerships, and healthy wellness routines will help you show up whole for any conversations related to how you merge and collaborate with another.

At its best, Virgo helps you revel in the details of a creative project. But at its worst, it could have you nitpicking your own creations into oblivion. If your files are starting to have names like clientproject_final-15, you likely need to ask yourself if youre seeking effectiveness or perfection. This month is all about finding pleasure in creative work and perfectionism is the enemy of both. Meanwhile, Mercurys retrograde through your wellness routines helps you make helpful connections between your body and your output. How do you need to care for the messy flesh of your personhood in order for divine inspiration (and productivity) to flow?

The balancing act between family and work, public and private is nothing new for you. You thrive when you have multiple gardens to tend to. The Virgo sun shines most brightly on your home garden, encouraging you to linger longer over shared meal time, even as your ruling planet Mercury beckons you back to your desk. Youll likely be revisiting the version history on a project or piece of writing as Mercury backtracks through the area of your life related to your self-expression. Perhaps there was something cut from the first draft that needs to work its way back in. However, its likely that these important epiphanies will visit when your fingers are in a flower pot or tasting a family recipe and not on your keyboard. Keep a notebook handy for the insights, but dont ruin the moment with work.

Make no mistake, just because its called happy hour doesnt mean that networking obligation isnt work, especially if it cuts into your home and family time. This month, as the sun shines a light on your house of communication and networking, you may feel the tension between desk-work and the professional glass-clinking that feels practically required. And adding to the pressure is your need to recharge with family, too. Instead of declining the invitations or sacrificing family meal time, Mercurys retrograde through these areas may help you reimagine office culture and team bonding in a way that is more inclusive to all. Youre primed to be a leader here because you know better than most how important it is to be protective of family time. With Mercury aiding your communication, you have the power to reset expectations and bring more balance to the social aspects of work. You might just find that youre able to enjoy team building more this way, too.

If you used Leo season to pitch passion projects, Virgo season is about making sure you have the budget to back up your dreams. Luckily, Virgos acumen with spreadsheets helps you balance budgets and track timelines like the project manager all big ideas need. If the numbers arent adding up, Mercurys backtrack through your house of communication helps you negotiate your way to abundance. Use the new moon in Virgo to reach out to collaborators that can help make the cash flow, then spend Mercurys retrograde checking the math (again and again).

Amy Copperman is a writer and artist, based in Oakland, Calif. Shes Cancer sun, Aries moon and Virgo rising. Find her on Instagram.

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A very SF horoscope: Virgo, Mercury and Mars enter the chat - SFGATE