In Under 30 Days

...On the Virgo New Moon & Mercury's Station

Sep 13, 2023

I heard somewhere that it takes 60 days to form a new habit. I then heard it was 21. Truth be told, it's probably somewhere in between—and mostly variable due to the person attempting it, along with many other mitigating factors. In my experience, 29.5 days seems to be the sweet spot: A lunar cycle!

There is an interesting correlation between the lunar cycle and the dopamine cycle. In a recent Huberman Lab podcast, I listened to Dr. Anna Lembke speak about how it takes roughly 30 days to reset the dopamine cycle in the brain, thus having the capacity to cure addictive behaviors. If you're not familiar with how dopamine works in the brain, I recommend her book Dopamine Nation, and I also recommend studying your own behavior first. The seesaw we all experience of pleasure and pain which triggers our motivating force is a trickster incarnate. Mercurial, no doubt, in the way in which it perpetually fools us into thinking false narratives about our lives, but also in the way in which we are translating our experience in the world. Mercury's role is to take in information, process it along with the moon, and respond accordingly. If we are snagged by a dopamine doom loop, there is nothing but static in the signal. It is impossible to see clearly in that area of our lives.

This Friday may prove fruitful for many of us around this—that is if we are willing to participate in some simple astrological magic. With the Virgo New Moon and Mercury's station happening the same day, we are gifted quite a clever moment where we can dedicate our attention to re-sculpting our relationship to a particular addiction in our lives—performing what some may call neurogenesis and what others will call moon magic.

With Mercury's station in the morning sky (8º Virgo), his gags are ending and an inspiration for a fresh focus may arrive. We will know it. It's hard to miss. It could help us identify the dope-sick pattern, commit to the moon, and offer up a coin to Hermes for some help. Simple, yet so hard to keep our attention on for one entire lunar cycle. This is the work though. From New Moon to New Moon, we must commit to paying attention and doing our best to break the pattern.

To add an image (Chandra Symbol) to the lunation, which may enrich it for you:

22º Virgo

A woman writing with the tip of her fingernail

...we don't need a pen or a keyboard for this. We can do it in the air or on a fast-moving stream, just as long as a message is getting across. We may feel our voice doesn't matter because of where we are at in our story, but it's a lie. We may think there are so many others doing what we want to do, so what's the point: lies! We may even imagine that nobody will ever listen, but again, this is wrong. The Moon and Mercury and all the world have ears to listen. We just need to get the message out. Simple and terrifying all at once.

This lunation also begins with a trine to Uranus, an opposition to Neptune, and a looser trine to Pluto. Translation? Help is on the way from the outer reach—that is, from unexpected places. May it be so for all of us who give it our best. And remember: Each sextile is a sweet spot, each square a test, each trine a strong gust to our sails, and the opposition (the full moon) a celebration. Pay attention both in the chart and in the sky. Enjoy it. And good luck.