September Struggles

Has your September felt like a struggle? This month has been a little rough for me where I am putting in so much to move myself forward in various aspects of my life, but feel like I’m pushing against a brick wall. It’s as if progress is very slow moving considering all the effort I am putting in and it is both tiring and frustrating. I am thankful that I do not sense I am taking steps backwards at least. I blame this feeling on all the planets that are currently in retrograde. NOTE: A majority of the interpretation of each retrograde is sourced by Maressa Brown, InStyle’s resident astrologer, who’s articles were used as my reference for this blog post.

I’m sure there are many who’s heard of Mercury in retrograde. What exactly does it mean when a planet is in retrograde? In astronomy and astrology, retrograde refers to the illusion created where planets orbit around the sun and appear to slow down and move backwards. From an astrology perspective, when planets go into retrograde, life may seem to slow down or take a few steps backward. The planet that is in retrograde and even which zodiac sign it is located will govern the effects that may be noticed. There are six planets that are in retrograde simultaneously between September 10 to October 2, 2022. It is a bit unusual to have this many planets in retrograde at the same time, so I decided to do some research on it. I wanted to see if all these retrogrades were affecting me in a specific way, especially since my spiritual journey is something very different and not like anything I’ve done previously in my entire life.

1) Mercury is in retrograde during September 10 to October 2, 2022. This inner planet, which has more influence on our daily lives due to it’s proximity, is notorious for causing technology and communications to go wrong.

From September 9 to 23, Mercury was in the cardinal air sign of Libra and from September 23rd to October 2nd it moves through the mutable earth sign of Virgo. During this time you may feel called to reprioritize self-care from all aspects including physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.

How has this Mercury retrograde affected me? I’ll start with the technology aspect first. My work laptop has been causing me problems for a couple months now, but it has been much more challenging the last couple of weeks. I have received the blue screen of death several times a day and several days in a row this past week alone. Luckily I am due for a refresh in early November so I only have to stick it out until then.

With regard to self-care, if you been keeping up with my blog posts you will know that I am very much focused on my spiritual and emotional aspects. However, I do not think I mentioned on my blog that I am also taking more care of myself from a physical perspective by choosing more healthy habits such as cooking at home a lot more than going out to eat and working out more regularly.

2) Venus is in retrograde from December 19, 2021 to January 29, 2022. Venus represents beauty, love, money, self-esteem and relationships. Venus rotates opposite of the earth so when it slows down its effects are usually felt more than when other planets go into retrograde. This shows up by causing us to reflect on what we fundamentally value in these areas and could bring in a new way of thinking. Supposedly Venus in retrograde could cause unstable relationships to finally break up. However if you are in a strong relationship, it can actually strengthen it. Lastly Venus in retrograde could cause overspending so it is recommended to be mindful of that during this time.

The retrograde for Venus occurs in the sign Capricorn a cardinal earth sign known for its hard-working ways which prioritizes business and money, but the retrograde forces us to dive into what we are professionally investing our time and hard work effort into. This will especially affect those with Capricorn natal chart placements. My rising sign is in Capricorn, so affects me more so.

Since this retrograde causes reflection with regard to profession, money, and self-esteem, I can see how this has affected me in my life. Since the beginning of the year I have been thinking more about where I am spending my time and effort in. This is why I have been making a concerted effort not to spend all my time working long hours at my day job as I have for most of my career and spending my weekends and evenings doing things that I love. Knowing that my self-esteem is low, this has translated to starting my spiritual journey to put more time and effort with changing myself from the inside.

3) Jupiter is in retrograde from July 28 to November 23. This planet is associated with expansion, inner and spiritual growth, abundance, prosperity and good luck. When going in reverse, it actually presents more opportunities for you, which is a great thing!

This retrograde in Aries and Pisces provides an opportunity to be inwardly thoughtful and taking a magnifying glass to the big goals in relation to where you want to end up in life and finding new avenues for experiencing healing. This will especially affect those with cardinal sign natal chart placements. My rising sign is the Earth cardinal sign of Capricorn, so will affect me more so.

Once again the biggest planet going into retrograde is the theme of going inward and for me that only adds to my drive to figure out for myself who I am, what I want to do and my greater purpose in life, while healing myself through addressing all the negative aspects deep within, from pain, trauma and self-sabotaging tendencies. I would not be surprised if Jupiter’s retrograde has provided me the opportunities I’ve had since August 1st with all the spiritual teachings, people and live experiences I’ve constantly been provided through various avenues.

4) Saturn is in retrograde from June 4 to October 23. Saturn governs discipline, effort, responsibility, structure, and tendency to abide by rules as well as how you define success and if you care about other’s approval. It also governs your limitations, fears and areas you need to grow and be successful. Like most other retrogrades it may cause you to reconsider and revise aspects of your life including career, perspectives on money to find foundational changes for the better.

Saturn will be in the fixed air sign Aquarius and affects us by compelling us to do inner work to get to the bottom of any deep-seated fears that are holding us back from driving forward with a particular life goal. This will impact all fixed signs more than others. My sun is in the water fixed sign of Scorpio and my moon is in Taurus which is a fixed earth sign, so will have a very strong effect on me.

Not to sound like a broken record, but once again this other retrograde is also pushing for inner work which obviously I am doing, especially with getting to the root of my fears through shadow and inner child work.

5) Uranus is in retrograde from August 24, 2022 to January 23, 2023. This wildcard planet can lend to sudden unexpected major changes with its free-spirited rebellious energy and provides understanding into the ways change comes from or happens to you. This is a period that lends itself to pretty wild breakthroughs and potentially going against convention and boundaries that have been holding you back through self-reflection that results in changes to your mindset from the inside out.

With Uranus in Taurus, this could bring major enlightenment to relationships, values, and money and inspire you to break free of mundane aspects that aren’t serving you anymore. An example given for this is quiet quitting, which when someone does not outright quit their job, but quits the idea of going above and beyond at their job. Doing a lot of inner work to make internal changes that you’ve been resistant to could lead to big external changes in life. The effects will be felt mostly by those with natal placements in Taurus and fixed signs. My moon is in Taurus and my sun is in Scorpio so I am doubly influenced by this one.

I can say from my perspective since August I have done a form of quiet quitting. As I mentioned previously, I had workaholic tendencies that resulted in me working 15 hour days 6 to 7 days a week for many years of my career. I no longer work more than 9 to 10 hours a day and purposefully do not work on weekends anymore. I am spending the newfound time I used to work for my day job, working on myself instead.

6) Neptune, the dreamy planet, is in retrograde from June 28 to December 4, but does not have a strong energy compared to inner planet retrogrades like Mercury. It has to do with anything and everything related to our subconscious mind such as psychic abilities and creative inspirations. Neptune retrograde is the perfect time to dive deeper into self-development, spiritual practices like mediation and journaling and other self-love activities, especially of a creative nature, that allow you to explore your innermost thoughts. It is also an ideal period to connect with your dreams deeply with a knowingness of the ability to manifest them into reality.

As an outer planet the effects of this retrograde is gradual and because Neptune rules the dreams it is even less likely for this planets backward movement to be noticeable. With the retrograde happening in Pisces, it will affect those born under Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces most. This is the only one of the six that does not have a stronger energy for me with my top 3 natal chart signs of sun, moon or rising, but I do have my Venus in Sagittarius.

It is recommended to check the house that Pisces rules in your natal chart to determine what area to focus on during this retrograde. My natal chart shows Pisces rules my 2nd House, which is related to the Taurus sign and called the House of Value. This is the area of material security and values ruling money and personal finances, sense of self-worth & basic values, and personal possessions. How has my spiritual journey affected my thoughts regarding my 2nd house? I have been questioning my own sense of self-worth as it relates to my self-esteem and confidence issues. I know I need to let go of my negative self beliefs around this area in order to stop holding myself back and move forward with a positive perspective and attitude. I also have been putting more thought on my materialistic tendencies with finding happiness by purchasing physical goods and want to focus on finding happiness from within instead.

With all these planets in retrograde and researching all their locations and meanings, especially knowing that most affect me more so due to my natal chart placements, it only further explains why I had such a burning desire this month to draw inward and spend so much time dissecting myself. I expect to continue to feel the drive moving forward through early next year since some of these planets will still be in retrograde through then. I hope all this effort will eventually lead to great changes for me and my life by the time these planets all move direct.