One thing I often don’t write about, but am particularly enthralled with, is astrology. I find it to be extremely “dead-on,” meaning people often do act like their Sun, Moon, and Rising signs. I find that the planets and their locations at the time of our birth really do influence the characteristics that we display in this lifetime. Perhaps it’s because I have studied religion and find that the more places I visit and the deeper I search, the more I can see astrology intertwined in churches and cultures. In Palermo, Sicily, one of the main churches in the city has astrological symbols etched into its marble floor. The city where I reside today, Florence, has a whole museum dedicated to Galileo, where astrological symbols reside right outside the building for all to walk by. This is because, before our time, people and churches often did not separate God from Science—or, to put it in a more understandable way, we allowed the universe to exist and be worshipped right alongside the God(s) we praised.
I am a Pisces, with a stellium in both my 8th and 12th houses, meaning I was put on this earth to work with and understand the things we might classify as “the occult”: astrology, tarot, meditation, chakras, psychic intuition—all of it. And considering I was born into a family that was part of a cult, I had an early education in the ways organized religion can become biased and tainted.
Having said that, I am also a true dreamer. I love the moon and the stars, the mountains and the sea, biology and ecology. I believe all of life was created by someone or something—some energy source that we always feel but may never fully understand.
As I worked toward my Master of Science, studying things like physics, anatomy and physiology, chemistry, and neuroanatomy, my belief in the idea of a divine presence only grew. In my head, there was no way this human design, or the earth we inhabit, could have been created by accident.
We are made of energy, as all things are.
And what we do with that energy matters.
Tonight is the Virgo New Moon, meaning today we set our intentions for the next six months around what we would like to see expand and flourish in our lives. Virgo is often given a bad rap, mostly because they are ruled by the 6th house of work and systems—and boy, do their personalities showcase it. Virgos are the doers of the Zodiac. They are often (but not always) the clean freaks, the organizers, the perfectionists, and the people who have routines and systems down to a T.
They are the friend who will both tell you (without a shred of remorse) what you’re doing wrong and, at the same time, show up to help you organize and clean your house after it has been infested with bugs. They are loyal and helpful to those they love, yet they also constantly push them to show up as the best version of themselves in the process. They are often in their heads (and are their own worst enemies), with lists of things they themselves could and should do better. The question is, will they ever get over their fear of being wrong and show up to do the work?
On the opposite side of the Zodiac wheel sits none other than (you guessed it) Pisces. The dreamer. The daydreamer. The writer. The poet. The creative. The two fish swimming in opposite directions, yet somehow always managing to just go with the flow.
Pisces are often the people who are extremely intuitive and believe that the world is full of magic, and because of this, they can often get stuck in their own delusional daydreams. They can have a million hobbies but never really hone in on one. They can often drink or smoke themselves away, wishing to be in their heads instead of in the real world.
I do this mostly with books.
We daydream for a reason, though—because Pisces can feel everything around them. They sense exactly what’s going on below the surface with everyone they come in contact with, and that can be destabilizing. As Pisces is ruled by the 12th house of spirituality, it is easy to imagine that we are either religious or spiritual people, often believing in forces greater than ourselves.
These two signs sit opposite each other (like all Zodiac signs have an opposite pair) because they need each other to learn. The Virgos teach the Pisces that they need to have routines and systems in order for their dreams to come to fruition. The Pisces remind the Virgos that without a dream, or a higher spiritual reason to work, what is the point? Life cannot be all work. Life cannot be all dreaming. We have to find the delicate balance in between the two to thrive.
As I sit back and write this from my apartment in Florence, Italy, I am surrounded by the reminder that who I am today is made up of the tiny, little choices I made prior to this moment. My apartment here in Florence is now organized and full of my things: little tidbits of clothes, books, shoes, and knickknacks that I have accumulated over my lifetime. But when I first moved here, I had only two suitcases of clothes to put in the closet and one bag of books to put in my bookshelf. Each time I went from the U.S. and back to my apartment in Italy, I brought another two suitcases to add to the pile. Here I am today, three years later, with a full apartment.
Now I also have oil pastels and Italian language books, a reminder that we are constantly adding to the concept of “Who am I?” or “What am I capable of?”
Another example would be that this morning, I went to the gym and was able to leg press 60 kg (not a shabby lift for a girl my size). However, I did not start going to the gym and lifting today. I started many years ago. First, I started working out my legs as a child during ballet and tap classes, followed by basketball conditioning in high school. I quickly became a gym rat in college to help manage the weight I was gaining from drinking.
This accumulation of sports and lifting has made me into the athletic and strong female I am today.
This is all to say that tonight, on the Virgo New Moon, I encourage you to think about who you would like to be in six months’ time, or in February 2027. What do you want to accomplish? Where do you want to be? Who do you want to be?
And then I want you to think of the small, daily steps it would take to get there. For instance, if you want to be a cleaner and more organized person, make a list of things you can do daily to get there (i.e., make your bed in the morning, do laundry once a week, clean your dishes after each meal, etc.). If you follow that list and turn those choices into habits, by February 2027, you will be a more clean and organized person.
Because that’s the thing about becoming who we want to be:
We don’t wake up one morning and suddenly become her.
We build her.
Choice by choice.
Day by day.
Habit by habit.
The apartment doesn’t fill itself.
The muscles don’t build themselves.
The dream doesn’t become reality on its own.
We have to participate in the process.
So this New Moon, my hope for you is that you dream big—and then take small steps to get there.
I hope you accomplish everything you’re after.
I hope you put into action the small, seemingly insignificant acts that slowly make your dream a reality.
And, selfishly, I hope you do it because I am hoping to do the same for myself.