08.30.26 Ask the SGs Weekly Reading: A Better Way

Hello everyone,

We begin this week only a couple of days after the August 28 Pisces lunar eclipse, so some of us may still be processing whatever came up during eclipse season. For me… it was a lot. How about you?

But now, the astrology is beginning to shift.

August showed us something, and as that month closes, September starts by asking: What do I do with what I know now?

Mercury is in Virgo all week, and Mercury loves it here. Virgo is home, and he’s getting comfortable. His favorite slippers sit right next to his easy chair; everything is exactly where he wants it to be… ahhh.

Virgo is the sign that wants to sort things out, deal with the details, and separate what’s useful from what’s just noise. Virgo wants to figure out what works. That means that when something shifts, Mercury wants to know, “What’s workable now?” And many of us are stepping back to take a good look. What we’re really asking is, “Now that I can see something differently, what can I actually do with that information?”

On August 31, Jupiter and Saturn are working together in a helpful and cooperative way. Jupiter wants growth and possibility. Saturn wants a plan that will hold up in the real world.

Together, they help us look at what we want to build and what it will take to make it work.

Then, on September 1, Mars and Saturn are working against each other.

Mars wants to move. Saturn says, “Not so fast.”

That can feel frustrating, especially if we’re ready to act but something is slowing us down or forcing us to rethink the way we’re doing it.

This may be the most frustrating part of the week. We could run into a delay or something that refuses to work the way it used to. But Mercury in Virgo steps up that day to help us think differently. He’s showing us how to adjust the plan and look for another way through.

So instead of pushing harder against something that isn’t moving, this is the week to ask, “Is there a better way to do this?”Venus also enters her retrograde shadow on August 31, beginning a longer story involving relationships, money, self-worth, and what we value. So that means we don’t have to figure that story out yet. It is just beginning.

It might be helpful to know that when I talk about a planet moving retrograde, I want you to picture Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk. The planet doesn’t literally move backward, but from our point of view here on Earth, it appears that it does.

Venus will do her moonwalk when she stations retrograde in October. Right now, she is entering what astrologers call the pre-retrograde shadow. That simply means Venus is moving through the part of the sky she will come back over later.

So pay attention to what begins showing up around relationships, money, self-worth, and what matters to you. We may not know yet why it matters. Venus is just introducing the story.

Later in the week, the Moon moves into Gemini and meets Uranus there on September 3. That can bring a sudden realization, a different way of seeing something, or one of those moments when something just clicks and you know exactly what to do.

Then, the Last Quarter Moon in Gemini on September 4 gives us an opportunity to let go of an old thought, assumption, or story that no longer fits what we now know.

That may be one of the most useful questions of the week: Are you solving the problem — or just chewing on it?

By the weekend, the Moon moves into Cancer and meets Mars, bringing us back into our feelings again.

So this week isn’t asking us to have everything figured out.

It is simply helping us take what August showed us and begin deciding what we are going to do with it.

This Week’s Tarot: The Two of Summer

This is a relationship card, but that doesn’t mean it only applies to romantic relationships. It can describe any relationship where there is an emotional investment or a desire to find a better way to relate to one another.

And that word — better — makes a difference this week.

The astrology is asking, “What is workable now?” And the Two of Summer brings that same question into our relationships.

Maybe something has been strained. Maybe there has been a disagreement. Maybe an old hurt has come back into the conversation. Or maybe you’re simply beginning to recognize that the way two people have been relating to each other isn’t working anymore.

This card says there may be another way.

But I think one of the most important phrases connected to this card is equal partnership.

A relationship can’t really heal if one person is doing all the bending, apologizing, explaining, forgiving, or trying to make things work. A better relationship requires two people who are willing to meet each other in the middle.

That doesn’t mean every relationship should be saved. It means that where love still exists and both people are willing to work on the problem, something can change.

And with Venus beginning her retrograde story this week, I think we may be looking more closely at questions like, “What do I need from the people I love? What do they need from me? And is there a better way for us to meet each other now?”

The Two of Summer reminds us that sometimes the solution isn’t walking away or trying harder to make the old way work.

Sometimes the solution is finding a better way together.

A Note from Faye

I had my own little “better way” moment this week.

On eclipse day, my partner and I had a disagreement after he left me behind in traffic while I was following him to the mechanic. I didn’t know where we were going, and when I finally got him on the phone, his first reaction was to blame me.

Normally, I might have spent a lot of energy trying to explain myself or smooth things over.

Not this time.

I stood my ground and told him very clearly, “Don’t you dare make this about me. You left me. I am not at fault here.”

And I meant it.

It took him a few hours, but he came back, apologized, and admitted that he had been wrong. I even got a gorgeous purple orchid out of the deal. Nice. Years ago, he told me that he loved an independent woman who knew how to stand her ground.

Well… this week on the eclipse, he got one. But here’s the part that matters most to me.

Standing up for myself didn’t damage our relationship. It actually gave us a better way to work together.

I didn’t have to make myself smaller to keep the peace, and he was able to come back and take responsibility for his part.

And I believe we came out of it stronger.

Sometimes “a better way” isn’t about finding the perfect words or avoiding conflict.

Sometimes it begins when we stop abandoning ourselves just to keep everything okay.

I hope this week’s reading gives you something to consider about how you might find a better way.

💕Faye