Virgo New Moon, 23 August 2025: The Portrait of Truth. The New Moon in Virgo on August 23rd at 6.06am gmt arrives with the quiet insistence of practical clarity. Virgo, mutable Earth, governs the rituals of the everyday. The habits that anchor us, the systems that stabilise, the details we often overlook. This lunation comes with a double pulse, reflecting not only our own lives but the wider collective story. We are being gifted two New Moons in Virgo. One now, at the beginning of Virgo, and the next as a solar eclipse at the very end, marking a season of potent initiation, refinement, and necessary release.
This first Virgo New Moon occurs at 0° conjunct the Sun also at 0, the purest expression of the sign’s energy. Zero degrees is always a threshold point. It carries the full potential of the archetype, not yet shaped by experience. In Virgo, this is the raw impulse to restore order, to refine, to serve. A blank page. A pristine workspace. The invitation to begin again, better. It is both an opening and a reckoning.
The Sabian symbol for this Moon adds another layer of inquiry: “In a portrait, the best of a person’s traits and character are idealised.” This image reminds us that what we see, or project, is rarely the whole truth. Portraits, photographs, curated online identities: all are filters, chosen representations of reality. Under this Moon, we are invited to look beyond appearances. Do we fall for projections, labels, or ideals? Or can we learn to perceive essence, to meet the deeper truth of people and situations?
The symbol cautions against superficial judgments but also offers a gift: the ability to see potential, to bring out the best in others, and to hold a vision of their highest qualities. At this New Moon, discernment is everything, not being deceived by masks, but neither denying the ideal that can inspire growth.
In Virgo, this can manifest as striving for perfection, the curated life, the polished façade. But healing doesn’t happen in the image. It happens in the mess. In the process. In the willingness to see clearly and love what is, not what we wish it were. Look beyond appearances and idealisations, to recognise what is real and what is performance.
We begin this cycle with the feeling of not knowing the full picture. The sense of beginning a puzzle without the box lid, of sorting pieces by shape and colour and trusting that, with time, the pattern will reveal itself. Virgo thrives on structure, on logic, on knowing. Yet the square from Uranus to this New Moon ensures there is no perfect plan. Uranus agitates. It disrupts order to reveal truth. It compels change, even when we don’t feel ready. And so, we enter Virgo season not with everything in order, but with the clear and unflinching knowledge that it’s time to begin anyway.
This lunation calls us to work with what is. To lay the foundation now, in preparation for the inevitable disruptions to come with the eclipse next month. If there are areas of your life that feel chaotic, disordered, or misaligned, this is your invitation to bring them into coherence. Virgo’s gift is discernment, the ability to see what matters and what doesn’t, to organise chaos into clarity, to align process with purpose. This Moon gives us the chance to put things in order before change accelerates.
What makes this New Moon especially significant is the precision and pressure of its aspects. Uranus in Gemini squares both Sun and Moon. This brings tension between the desire for routine and the hunger for freedom. Our nervous systems may feel overstimulated. Plans may shift unexpectedly. Yet beneath that surface charge, a rare and powerful Minor Grand Trine unfolds between Saturn in Aries, Pluto in Aquarius, and Uranus in Gemini. Together, they create a triangle of force that supports constructive transformation. This is less the chaos of revolution and more the art of building new systems with integrity. Saturn stabilises. Pluto purges. Uranus evolves. When these three, work together in harmony, the potential for meaningful change is immense. We’re invited to reinvent, but sustainably.
Saturn’s conjunction with Neptune in Aries continues to blur the boundary between vision and reality. This rare blending asks humanity to question what we are building and whether it still serves. Ideals and illusions collide with the bones of reality. It can feel like both anchor and fog. A paradox demanding clarity of vision as we are asked to bring the ineffable into form. To shape dreams into structures. To test the solidity of our ideals. Saturn asks: what are you building? Neptune asks: why? They are both supported by Pluto’s sextile, offering deep transformation of what motivates and sustains us.
Pluto continues its retrograde through Aquarius, closely trine Uranus and sextile both Saturn and Neptune. These deep harmonic threads suggest that even as the external world destabilises, something stronger is being forged beneath the surface. These are generational aspects. They shape the culture, the collective psyche. In the context of this Virgo lunation, they offer grounding for the work ahead. They invite us to align our personal healing with a broader evolutionary impulse.
Neptune’s trine to Venus invites us into deeper compassion. It offers gentleness in the face of pressure. A reminder that beauty still lives in the smallest acts of care. That service is sacred. That tenderness is power.
The overall picture is one of sober clarity, emerging from a backdrop of internal and external uncertainty. Virgo teaches us to find meaning in the ordinary. To restore order, not for control’s sake, but to better serve the whole. This New Moon is a moment to realign, to your purpose, your routines, your values. To clear out what no longer fits. To create systems that hold you steady, even as change looms.
And as we move into eclipse season, we’ll be grateful for whatever foundation we build now. Because eclipse cycles unravel what is no longer viable. They reveal what has been hidden. And if Virgo teaches us anything, it’s that what we tend to regularly, what we put in its rightful place, becomes what holds.
So, begin. Even if the picture isn’t clear. Sort through the puzzle. Find the corners. Lay the groundwork. The rest will come.
This New Moon doesn’t offer easy clarity, but it does invite honesty. The Sabian portrait reminds us to look beyond masks and projections. The planetary patterns show that profound restructuring is underway, stabilised by an underlying wisdom that may not yet be visible.
We are, in essence, mid-painting, the strokes of dissolution and creation happening simultaneously. Virgo asks us to refine what we can control and the Minor Grand Trine assures us that even amidst upheaval, there is design in the chaos, structure in the dream.
This is a New Moon of preparation. Of devotion. Of returning to the sacred work of care.
In the spirit of Virgo: align, refine, restore. Wishing you all infinite new Moon love and blessings.
5 Days to Unlock the Master Keys to an Effortlessly Tidy Life!
Join us LIVE for the Ultimate 5-Day FREE Clutter Challenge
Starts Tuesday 26th August | 7:00–8:30 PM (London/Lisbon time)
✨ With Karishma Sue Holmes & Davina Mackail ✨
Register for miracles here: https://themodernshamanacademy.com/free-5-day-clutter-challenge/
Looking for a vocation? If you LOVE energy, design, colour, houses….and are looking for a new, future proof, career. I’ve joined with Sue Holmes to bring you a fully accredited, 2-week certification training in feng shui, geomancy and space holding. We have 60 years’ experience between us to share with you. Discover how to transform your own and others homes and businesses into nourishing, healthy sanctuaries that support all who live and work there. Find all the details here: https://suefirehorse.krtra.com/c/UI3sXeaNxca4/0Lz2
Shamanic Ritual for the Virgo Full Moon
“The Portrait of Truth”
Preparation
- Timing: Night of the New Moon (23 August 2025), or within 48 hours of exact newness.
- Sacred space: Choose a quiet place where you can be undisturbed. If possible, sit outdoors under the Moon.
- Altar items:
- A bowl of clean water (Neptune element – dissolution, reflection)
- A stone or crystal (Saturn – grounding, structure)
- A candle (Sun – illumination, clarity)
- A feather or incense (Uranus/air – new vision, awakening)
- A flower or leaf (Virgo/Earth – service, healing, discernment)
- Optional: Drum or rattle for shifting states of awareness.
Opening
- Grounding Breath: Close your eyes. Inhale deeply, feel your spine as the axis connecting heaven and earth. Exhale slowly, imagining roots descending into the earth.
- Circle of Light: Call in the four directions and elements inviting them to witness and balance the work.
The Working
1. Releasing False Portraits
- On slips of paper, write down illusions or projections you have carried – masks you’ve worn, labels others imposed, or false beliefs about yourself.
- Place these slips into the bowl of water. As the ink blurs and dissolves, whisper:
“I release all false portraits. Only truth remains.”
2. Invoking Discernment
- Hold the stone/crystal in your hands. Feel its weight. This represents Saturn’s stability and Virgo’s discernment.
- Speak aloud:
“May I see clearly, beyond appearances. May I hold truth steady in my heart.”
3. Bridging Dream and Reality
- Light the candle and gaze into its flame. Allow Neptunian visions to arise – images, insights, intuitive flashes. Do not analyse, just receive.
- Then pass the stone/crystal briefly through the flame’s warmth. Say:
“I ground inspiration into form. I bring dreams into reality.”
4. Honouring the Minor Grand Trine
- Pick up the feather or incense and circle it clockwise above your altar. Imagine three great pillars of light around you:
- Uranus (innovation, awakening)
- Pluto (transformation, depth)
- Saturn (structure, wisdom)
- Visualise them weaving together, stabilising your path. Whisper:
“I am held in the harmony of change. Innovation, transformation, and structure flow through me as one.”
Closing
- Thank the four directions and elements for their presence.
- Extinguish the candle, knowing the flame burns within you.
- Pour the bowl of water onto the earth to release illusions back into the soil.
Integration
- Over the next week, practise Virgo’s medicine by doing one small act of purification: declutter a corner of your home, simplify your diet, or clear your schedule.
- Pair it with one Neptunian act of surrender: meditation, prayer, music, or time by water.
- Journal about what truths reveal themselves as you let go of the false and anchor the real.
So mote it be…..
