September is an astrologically active month with two eclipses; Venus and Mercury are both changing direction, and Saturn is finally extricating itself from Scorpio for 26 more years. Venus resumes forward movement on September 5 after six weeks of backtracking through Leo; if you’ve felt that financial or relationship matters have been held up or that you’ve recently undergone a re-evaluation period in these areas, you can chalk it up to Venus being retrograde. Expect progress about a week after this date as this planet gets back up to speed.

A pervasive theme throughout September is wellness, which is fitting now that Virgo season has arrived. You may recall that last month’s column touched upon this topic. On one hand, this is great energy for improving health and even treating chronic conditions or addictions through methods such as diet, nutrition, exercise, and/or the use of nutritional or herbal supplements. On the other hand, it is also important to note that this can be a two-sided energy where it’s possible to take this too far as well. September is an important month for examining how “health” or “fitness” could become more than just a lifestyle and possibly veer toward a form of addiction. It tricky to see when a vehicle for wellness might actually be doing more harm than good because it tends to come from a well-intentioned place. A Virgo new moon solar eclipse on September 13 emphasizes this, along with Jupiter in Virgo moving opposite Neptune mid-month. The takeaway? If being “fit” or “well” involves guilt over giving your body occasional rest from your normally “healthy” routine – or if it causes you to overcompensate when you do get back to that routine – it may be an indicator of an imbalance that benefits from a more moderate approach.

Mercury does some backtracking in Libra between September 17 and October 9. Anticipate lots of dialogue in partnerships; there may even be a need to negotiate or renegotiate the terms of an agreement for the sake of fairness. Embrace diplomacy and tact as verbal finesse will get you far at this time. Also, on this date Saturn bids a final adieu to Scorpio and re-enters Sagittarius, where it stays until December 2017. Some central themes of this energy include curbing excessiveness, being respectful of one another’s truths (such as beliefs, religion, politics, etc.) and testing the veracity of certain paradigms including the challenging of certain biases. It also involves putting a stop to hypocrisy by practicing what you preach, understanding how structure and/or a plan can be beneficial, and reaping the benefits of hard work in the form of increased respect and/or an elevation in status.

Lastly, an Aries lunar eclipse on September 27 emphasizes the “we” vs. “me” polarity. Acknowledge any dichotomy between your needs and others’ while trying to come together to negotiate. Be articulate about your needs and feelings; not talking with your nearest and dearest can cause anger to surface. Evaluate the health of the relationship overall and talk it out rather than act prematurely based on feelings in the heat of the moment.

A practitioner of Western Tropical astrology, Alethea Hunt has been practicing for more than 17 years. Connect with her at 203-917-6312, [email protected] or EmpoweredDestiny.com.