Hello, Stargirl! Virgo New Moon Magic for the Birth of Autumn!
Virgo season is ideal for a little auric detail-cleaning! I'm kicking off a few newly-minted self-healing rituals in the next couple weeks & amping up my contemplative practice. I'm devoting fall-time to stockpiling spiritual resources. Winter is hard enough without throwing in a little seasonally-affective dark night of the soul, so squirrel away those spiritual nuts while you can!
And if you need it, I've got magical ideas for crafting delicious Virgo new moon magic! My Patron Goddess for this month's magical intention: Isis!
THE DIVINE IS IN THE DETAILS
She is intricate, veiled, & taut. Isis is poised & ever self-perfecting. She’s the kind of Goddess who gets caught up on infinitesimally tiny details, delicately separating the wheat from the chaff, so that what you have at the end of the day is lovely & bountiful. Look into her eyes & you look straight into Source.
Isis wears meticulous winged eyeliner every day & has never chipped her manicure. She’s been growing out her hair since an ill-advised pixie cut in junior high, so now it falls in a straight black sheet to her navel. Not that you’d notice--she usually pulls it back into a preppy ponytail, a strand wrapped around & concealing the elastic. She shimmers like a soft colored foil; rose gold or copper.
Isis looks picture perfect every day, whether running errands in head-to-toe lululemon or dropping in a friend’s cocktail party. She’s the kind of girl who would rather over- than underdress, which unconsciously trains her friends to mindfully pull together their outfits when going to meet her. She wears heels at least once a week. She smells like a combination of Sephora & the medicinal herbs she mixes with her spring water.
People feel an instant simpatico with Isis, as though you lived whole past lives together. She communicates through silence & telepathy. She’s quiet, reflective, but still able to persuade power-brokers to share their secrets for success. She’s analytical, strives to feel useful to others, & is a master at creative visualization. Behind her Mona Smile lurks a patient mastermind. She orders custom inserts for her Filofax.
Her bible: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Isis programs phone reminders to vacuum out her dresser drawers & packs her organic / non-GMO lunch in a Bento box. She can be fussy, ending up underfoot as she polishes the world around her. She frays in noisy, unpredictable environments: you won’t find her in a club or at a concert.
Isis is evangelical about self-care. She gifts her friends spa-quality bath elixirs & detox potions. She drinks warm lemon water sprinkled with pink salt every morning & has a 25-minute make-up removal / moisturizing routine before bed. Her only vice: a lavender-flavored aroma-therapy e-cigarette, which she enjoys with a cannister of kombucha on her balcony in the evenings, as she watches the city lights twinkle.
In the Tarot, Isis would correspond with The High Priestess: the card of esoteric initiation & self-Awakening.
Numerologically, Isis corresponds with 2. One is the Self, two is consciousness of the Self. She is always watching, sometimes even scrutinizing herself. Her path is one where she applies all her tools & techniques for manifestation towards perfecting her Self.
Most interesting, Isis is the ultimate esotericist. While everyone else looks without, she’s looking within. She analyzes everything noticed outside of herself as a metaphor for what’s happening in her own psychic universe. She’s studying the Enneagram, dashing off to Kundalini yoga, meditating on rainy nights surrounded by a circle of white pillar candles & chunks of quartz.
Isis demonstrates that the basis for perfection is in cultivating the best of ourselves.
ISIS AS A PATRON GODDESS
Isis is the archetypal Initiate. She’s an open channel for holy energy to travel from within to without. She symbolizes the spirit of cosmic intelligence: of tasking oneself to feel deeply & clearly, so that one is actually capable of picking up the universe’s subtle cues.
As a Patron Goddess, Isis vibes with cosmic babes who want to synthesize mysticism with modern life. The kind of girls who put glamour spells on their favorite date-night outfit & who draw sigils on their day-timers. She’s the perfect Patron for the type of perfectionist with a track record for taking self-improvement too far: veganism that skidded into anorexia nervosa; productivity-hacking that culminated into 48-hour work jags until passing out.
Isis is the kind of Goddess who wants to shows us: You’re perfection. So, be perfect. The spiritual lesson is learning how to self-perfect by strengthening our strengths; not “correcting” our perceived flaws.
The Cult of Isis is one of the most ancient forms of deity worship in known existence. Temples of Isis were built throughout classical Egypt & Rome. Legend says a temple was also originally on left bank of the Seine in Paris, where the Louvre now stands. There’s currently a Temple of Isis in Geyersville, CA, which is always open for drop-in meditation & where you can book weddings or a girls-only weekend retreat.
If you want to learn more about magic specific to Isis, check out one of these books by M. Isidora Forrest: Isis Magic: Cultivating A Relationship With The Goddess of 1000 Names or Offerings To Isis: Knowing The Goddess Through Her Sacred Symbols.
Isis lore says that her tears cause the Nile river’s annual flooding. From the flood comes the bounty. Isis symbolizes the cycle of life, which is often reductively translated to “fertility.” What we lose comes back to us & that which dies yields the way for new life. Devastation levels us for rebuilding & rebirth.
VIRGO NEW MOON MAGIC
Decorate your altar with white candles, crescent moon shapes, & tumbled bits of bloodstone or carnelian. Light myrrh-scented incense. Wear silver jewelry & tie feathers in your hair. Wear something silky, like a kimono, or a boho summer dress that makes you feel pretty & comfortable. Focus on the details, even if some elements don’t seem to relate to others. Isis doesn’t command any sort of meta-theme, just as long as you’re not slip-shod with how you prepare for your ceremony.
Most important: take the time to tidy your ritual space, file your nails, & thoughtfully work out your magical intention with pen & paper.
First thing on the day of the new moon, drink 16 oz of warm spring water mixed with fresh-squeeze lemon juice. You can mix a pinch of cayenne pepper with it or a dash of pink Himalayan salt. Wait 20-30 minutes before eating breakfast. If you can, hit the gym or the sheets with your boo to work up a tingly-feeling sweat!
As I mentioned, put a lot of thought into your magical intention. Virgo season vibes with intentions for self-care & service. Whatever your intention, make sure it’s something you feel will make you truly better. Better at loving, better as serving, better at intuiting… whatever feels important for your personal evolution. Whatever’s entailed in realizing this intention over the next 6 months (by the Virgo full moon) should be something you’re willing to master.
To do this right, I suggest taking a yourself out on a date at the local cafe or another place where you can hole up with a pen & highlighter. Sketch out the overall vision behind your intention. Write out your core principles. Keep your mind & heart open (& uncluttered) for inspiration to strike. Listen to Tara Brach’s Smile Meditation beforehand or do a little gratitude journaling to help you feel tippy-top high vibes!
A good way to think about your Virgo new moon intention: consider the dominant concerns of your life. What you’re already great at. We focus so much on strengthening our weaknesses that we end up just “rounding ourselves out,” but this particular new moon is about strengthening our existing advantages.
Answer these 2 Qs: What am I already a genius att? How does the world benefit from my becoming a master at that?
Just before the ritual, take a detox bath. Mix 15-20 drops of lavender oil, about 1 cup apple cider vinegar (I love Bragg’s raw, unfiltered ACV), a few chunks of quartz crystal (charged by the waning moonshine), & about ½ cup of pink salt (Epsom salt works, too) into warm water & soak for about 20 minutes. (Find more detox bath recipes here.)
When invoking Isis, offer her figs, flowers, or a small vial of rainwater. If you like, offer an original poem about a loss you’ve felt in your life: someone who passed on or a time you let yourself down. Be ready to feel & process through this grief. The more raw & vulnerable you feel in front of the altar, the more astonishing her presence will feel.
For this cycle (from Wednesday’s new moon until the moon becomes full in Virgo, at the end of next February or early March), practice non-negotiable self-care. Figure out daily, weekly, monthly, & seasonal routines you can commit to--for no other reason than because they make you feel good. Fitness, nutrition, meditation, romance, creativity: braindump every single activity, object, or person who makes you feel delicious & prioritize that.
This is a great time to start keeping a schedule! I talk a lot about creating & sticking to schedules in this post.
This is also a great time for getting organized. Go on a closet cleanse. Convert your book of shadows into a planner-based grimoire. Pare down what you’ve got on your plate to only what you really enjoy & truly nourishes you.
Virgo season is ideal for getting serious about service & contribution. Sponsor a child who’s been orphaned by war, disease, or natural disasters. Have a look at this article: The 7 Best “Sponsor A Child” Charities To Help A World In Need. If you know a single mother, pack her a gift basket of pretty-frilly-girly swag that she can relax with. Take it over to her place & offer to babysit sometime, so she can get away to her favorite bookstore.
As the moon waxes full, lap up these final days of summer! Take selfies with your girlfriends. Wear your favorite summer outfit, 2 days in a row if you can, before you retire it to the back of the closet for winter. Stockpile memories you can draw on when winter gets rough & dreary. (I talked about building up your psychic reserves in last week’s Tarot Cast activity!)
Most importantly: introspect. Remember, you are a psychic antenna. Get in reception mode.
Care to chat about your Virgo new moon magical intentions? Drop me an email! Share your dreams, & I’ll give you my best advice for creating an action plan that gets you from zero-to-manifestation!
Here’s to your healthy, mindful self-perfection!
Altar image: Isiopolis.com. Beyoncé images: Pinterest. Help me credit their source.