A Tarot Reading for the New Moon in Virgo
Happy New Moon! The New Moon in Virgo on August, 30th, 2019 is a beautiful day to set intentions for the coming month. Virgo supports organization and the practical path of turning the chaos in your life into a down-to-earth plan of action. Now is a great time to look back at what goals you set at the beginning of the year and check in on your progress. Where have you fallen behind during summer holiday and need to get back on track? Where have your priorities shifted and you need to redefine your goals? This Virgo New Moon can help you make a plan for the rest of the year and give you the motivation to stick to that plan for the rest of the month.
Virgo energy supports the creation of new healthy habits that can be the impetuous to keep you on track towards your goals. The key to developing a habit is to recognize what will trigger the behavior you want to habituate yourself to and what reward you are seeking from that behavior. For example, perhaps you want to develop a meditation practice. You could set up a cue that each morning you will meditated for 10 minutes after you brush your teeth. The reward is that peace of mind you feel after a meditation. Allow Virgo to support you in getting into the routine of sitting for meditation each time you brush your teeth. That’s the trigger! Then remember how great you will feel when you are done, calm and relaxed. Over the course of the next month with Virgo New Moon energy at your back, you’ll be locked into this habit of meditation, automatically doing it after your cue and craving that reward of calm each morning.
(And if you’re wondering, yes, I did just read the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. I think it has quite a few oversimplifications but the ideas are still great and useful.)
Now let’s ask the tarot what can help you use this New Moon in Virgo to develop a healthy new habit:
Rider Waite Smith Tarot Deck: VII of Cups, Ace of Cups, The Sun
~ What trigger or cue do you need to take note of to change your habit?- VII of Cups reversed
Oh, this is an interesting one that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately- disillusionment. What do you do when you are disillusioned? Perhaps you are in the habit of getting a bit depressed or despairing about the world when you realize that the dominant culture believes in things like redemptive violence and “bad othering”. Everyday in the news there are updates on violence that is “justified” by one group because of the violence done against them by another group. One group, your group, is “good” and the other group is “bad”. Day in and day out, it’s the same news, the same violence, the same hatred, the same horrifying abuses and that can lead you to despair that the world will ever be at peace.
The habit to change here is your reaction to the violence and hatred reported in the news and witnessed all around when people state their opinion that they are right and you are wrong. Instead of despair, there can be a different habit, a different reaction, a new routine that you go through when you feel depressed about the world. The Ace of Cups points us towards what you can do instead of feeling despair that the world will always be a racist, violent, and warring place.
~ What healthy habit or routine are you ready to incorporate into your life?- Ace of Cups
At those times of disillusionment, when you just want to label yourself as woke and everyone else as completely missing the point (idiots!)- extend loving kindness. I know, that doesn’t sound easy, but it does sound kind of nice, right? Wouldn’t you rather feel like you were doing something productive and helpful instead of just bemoaning the sad state of the world? You can help this world by being a fountain of love, kindness, affection, and deep respect. You can acknowledge that we are all one, that we are all conscious, that we are all doing the best we can with the resources we have. Some people do horrible things, but that does not mean that they aren’t human, worthy, or capable of change.
Your energy matters. Your attitude makes a difference. Practicing love and kind can make the world a better place. Think of the lovely metaphor about how many snowflakes it takes to break a branch. Each snowflake alone is pretty light and seems like it won’t tip things one way or the other. But it does! Eventually, a snowflake will fall on that branch and the whole thing will come crashing down. Maybe you could be that snowflake that topples our culture of violence and hatred. It’s worth a shot, I think!
~ What is the reward you are looking for from this habit?- The Sun
The reward for developing a habit of loving kindness is a joyful, peaceful heart. It’s amazing how, when you are confronted with the insults and hate of another person and you don’t get all riled up and respond with more of the same, how absolutely wonderful you feel inside. You don’t miss out on anything but raised anxiety and blood pressure by not reciprocating a mean-spirited attitude by matching it with your own shitty attitude. There is another way, there is a third option open to you. You don’t have to disagree, or agree, you can simply opt out of needing to assert your opinion. Instead of submitting or saying, “My way or the highway”, you just allow what is happening to happen.
Accept people as they are right now. Allow that you don’t really know all the answers. Focus on the joy in life instead of bogging yourself down with all the negativity. If you want to be politically active, do that. Watch the news, go to protests, be part of the change you want to see in the system. If you want to focus on spirituality, don’t let others shame you when you opt out of mainstream media and focus on news of people who are changing the world through creativity and spiritual enlightenment. There is a way forward that leads toward peace. You can live in this world and find strength and hope and love. It is all around you!
Okay, I hope you enjoyed this reading for the New Moon in Virgo. If you did- share it with a friend! That’s how we spread the peace and love, by extending it to everyone we want to reach. I’m extending my love to all of you :)