New Moon in Virgo – Aug. 23, 2025, 06:07 UT
Saturday, August 23rd, 2025The New Moon in the first degree of Virgo is in conjunction with the binary cubewano Sila-Nunam and square Uranus-Sedna conjunction in Gemini. The Sun, the Moon and Sila-Nunam form the apex of a yod pattern. Other planets involved in the yod are Pluto in Aquarius and Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Aries. Potent forces are present.
Ukraine celebrates its independence tomorrow. The declaration of independence was issued on Aug. 24, 1991. President Zelensky, president Trump and European leaders met in Washington on Aug. 18, when the Sun was in exact conjunction with the peace planet Praamzius. However, there are no great hopes for peace. This New Moon is right at Ukraine’s Sun. The New Moon is also conjunct asteroid Cardea in the last degree of Leo. Cardea is named after the Roman goddess of doorways and transitions, symbolizing the guardianship of thresholds. Is Ukraine now at a hinge moment of history? Time will tell.
This summer Finland experienced a record-breaking heatwave with 22 days exceeding 30C. The heatwave would have been impossible without human-caused climate breakdown. There were dead reindeer in Lapland because of the heat. The climate is warming fastest in the north.
Also worrying is the news from Spain that Posidonia, “Neptune’s weed”, the most important carbon sink in the Mediterranean, is disappearing. Posidonia grows on the seabed and binds more carbon dioxide than anything else in the world. It is one of the oldest living organisms in the world, partly up to 10,000 years old, and grows extremely slowly. The warming seawater is a significant threat to Posidonia.
Sila-Nunam and Sedna are both named from Inuit mythology. The entire Inuit way of life is under threat as the sea ice melts. Sedna is the goddess of the Arctic Ocean, who created the sea animals. Sila is the god of the sky, weather, and life force. Nunam is the Earth goddess, who created the land animals and the Inuit people. The presence of these Arctic deities in the chart reminds us that despite wars and other serious problems, combating climate disaster should be our priority.
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More Kuiper belt planets have been assigned names.
On July 21, 2025, cubewano Ritona was named after the Celtic goddess of river fords. Ritona’s orbital period is 267 years and its diameter approximately 679 km.
Centaur planet Petraios was named on Aug. 11, 2025. The orbital period is around 91 years and the diameter approximately 77 km. According to the official naming citation, “The centaur Petraios took part in the battle at the wedding of Pirithous, a symbolic clash between primal chaos and social order. His name means ‘rocky’, evoking strength and stability. As Ovid tells, Petraios fell while grappling with the rooted Earth. Like this minor planet, he marks the edge between structure and upheaval.”
Chiminigagua is a scattered-disc object and a binary named on Aug. 11, 2025. Chiminigagua is the creator god of the Muisca people that inhabit the Andes mountains in the central part of Colombia. When the world was created there was only darkness and the only light was given by Chiminigagua. The orbital period is about 450 years and the diameter about 740 km.

