The Moon comes to New Phase on Tuesday and will wax through evening twilight all week while Venus is bold as morning star. What can we expect in a week when the goddesses stand as guardians of the visible horizon and bookend the opposite ends of the day?
The astrological omens surrounding this week’s New Moon point to nurturing those things that we most love, so it’s worth noting that not only are Moon and Venus prominent this week, but they’re joined by two of the season’s brightest stars: Vega and Spica. Spica is the star of abundance that’s held by the maiden Virgo, which is now setting into the arms to the Sun, but not before her meeting with the Moon on Saturday, August 22nd; while at the same time the star Vega reaches up to touch the zenith, directly overhead.
This scene of celestial feminine standing as pillars of the heavens with Venus at dawn, Moon and Spica at dusk, and Vega directly overhead makes now an ideal time to consider a tales of the feminine. There are myths of the feminine being lost, banished, or abducted, but the one I most like for this week is connected with Vega, because the star belongs to the constellation Lyra, known as the lyre or stringed instrument of Orpheus, who lost his beloved Eurydice as soon as they married.
When the star of his constellation touches the zenith, especially when the feminine guard the horizon, then it’s as though Eurydice can emerge and sing a song of the Earth, much like the ancient greek poet Sappho, known for her lyric poetry which was written to be sung while accompanied by the lyre. Sappho was so highly revered that many considered her the “10th Muse” and she wrote: Stars veil their beauty soon, beside the glorious moon, when her full silver light, doth make the whole earth bright.