Your September 2023 horoscope is in. After a stressful, contentious July and a somewhat disorienting August, the month ahead offers us a breath of fresh air—and some of the year’s best astrology. Venus goes direct on the 3rd, in tandem with Jupiter stationing retrograde on the 4th. Through the entire end of August and most of September, the two most pleasure-granting, wish-fulfilling planets will be egging each other on (and tempting us toward an excess of “the good life”). This not only brings closure to this summer’s Venus Retrograde story, but also grants us a conclusion we can probably feel satisfied with. If nothing else, this is probably not the month to try to travel on an austerity budget—good food and a vibrant social scene beckon.
Mercury’s direct station on September 15th helps course-correct any ships lost at sea, packages lost in the mail, and GPS signals scrambled in the airwaves. Mercury Direct is always a welcome relief for travelers familiar with the excess of airport chaos that ensues during retrogrades, and this one occurs in Virgo, where Mercury is most powerful. The second half of September is a fantastic time to problem-solve and book future travel, especially around the 25th, when Mercury trines Jupiter (meaning they are in the same element).
On the 23rd, the Sun enters Libra and brings us across the threshold of the equinox. Libra Season is for the culture fiends and museum pass holders. This is a great time to visit the world’s art and fashion capitals, or at least prioritize locations where you can scratch your itch to see and be seen in your best outfits. Fashion Week in Milan or Paris, anyone?
Below, find a complete September 2023 horoscope for every sign—and what you can expect in your travels throughout the month ahead.
Aries rising
Your summer of hedonism has a bit of juice left to squeeze, and with Venus newly direct as of September 3, you’ll be less prone to spending on experiences that won’t deliver satisfaction. Plus, this puts your love life (and any romantic getaways you’re thinking of taking) back on track. Even if you’re single and attending a destination wedding this month, the celebratory spirit (and quality of the catering) will probably sweep you off your feet.
Jupiter, which rules your ninth house of travel and long journeys, stations retrograde on the 4th, however. Though Jupiter affirms, indulges, and spoils Venus during her redemption arc this month, you might also be feeling the subtle nudge to acknowledge how fully satiated you are, and to maybe start reigning it in for a couple months for the sake of your wallet.
The full moon in Aries on September 29 is an exclamation point in your journey, a celebration of a personal milestone. You can end the month knowing that however far you have left to go, you’ve been to so many places already.
Taurus rising
September could easily be one of your best months this year. Your ruling planet, Venus, stations direct on the 3rd (if you’re an early riser or looking for an excuse to go camping, you’ll be able to behold her extra-shiny glory before sunrise). And all month, Venus will be receiving generous support from Jupiter in Taurus.
Life will feel like it’s opening up for you this month, even affirming you—and there will be fewer snags to sour the mood. If you’ve moved, gone home, or visited family this summer, that journey will start to conclude, and you might receive some parting gifts from the people and places you met along the way.
With Jupiter stationing retrograde in your rising sign on September 4, however, there’s also a sense that external progress might be slowing down for you right now. Instead, think of these next four months as an opportunity to digest all you’ve bitten off, and to truly internalize what you’ve learned. Wisdom lands most completely when it lands in your physical body.
Gemini rising
With Venus newly direct in your third house of local space and short-distance trips this month, your weekender bag beckons to be stuffed into the trunk of a rental car split four ways between you and your besties. And if that’s not on the agenda, you’ll get a lot of enjoyment out of the social and cultural events happening in your own neck of the woods.
An even bigger story awaits you in September: your ruling planet, Mercury, comes fully back online. The messenger planet stations direct in Virgo on the 15th, and this will make for a particularly empowered second half of the month for you, especially when it comes to organizing things around the house and getting your living situation squared away. However, September 6 also stands out as a bright spot in the month for locating any missing puzzle pieces, and on the 4th and 25th, Mercury will form the last two of three total trines to Jupiter. If you don’t find the solution early in the month, the answers (and maybe some good news) will turn up by the end.
Cancer rising
This summer’s financial issues and reappraisals start to resolve this month with Venus’ direct station on September 3. Better yet, if you had to put dinner parties on hold, this will be a good month to source high-quality ingredients from the farmer’s market and start hosting people at your home again, especially after the Sun enters Libra, your domestic nook, on the 23rd.
If “home” is a question mark for you currently, this might also be an important turning point in your search for a new home base. If you’re traveling this month, your nesting instincts might have you primed to relocate to any place that charms you sufficiently.
With Mercury wrapping up a retrograde in your third house of short trips, it’s likely that you’ll be busier exploring nearby cities than jet-setting to distant locations in September—possibly even revisiting places you’ve been before. You’ll be clearer on your directions around town (and freer of traffic) after Mercury’s direct station on the 15th.
Leo rising
Time to rise, shine, and return to the most inspired version of yourself. On September 3, Venus stations direct in Leo, prompting an about-face in your self-love journey, a big personal reveal, and/or a decisive turning point in your overall life trajectory. For most of the month, you’ll be basking in the glow of how much more magnetic you feel when you’re prioritizing your own heart. Your professional life will get a boost, too—and is likely a major factor in your glow up.
The Aries full moon lights up your ninth house of long journeys on the 29th, but it’s currently answering to a less assured Mars in Libra, and Venus is butting up against Uranus one last time on the same day. You might be realizing something important about the role travel plays in your life, and it might simply be that you’re bored of the same old things, but you’re not sure what to do with that knowledge yet. It’s important to weigh your options, but too much deliberation can keep you stuck, too.
Virgo rising
With Venus finally direct this month, you may soon be ready to emerge from hibernation. If life circumstances/visa issues/financial limitations detained you this summer, expect for some of those delays to begin resolving themselves in September. After a couple months of deprivation (and even loneliness), the spoils of life will start to feel less frustratingly out of reach.
There’s more good news: Mercury is wrapping up its retrograde in Virgo on September 15, and this gives you extra momentum beneath your wings, especially toward the second half of the month.
Mercury’s conjunction to the Sun on the 6th is also a powerful day for receiving inspiration, insight, and clues about your next steps, and Mercury’s trine to Jupiter (exact on the 4th and 25th, but in effect for most of September) is an affirming influence that delivers good news your way and says “yes” to any travel plans that are in the works. The 25th, with Mercury direct, is an especially good day to book flights and make reservations.
Libra rising
As a resident Venusian, you’ll be especially moved by the pivot from retrograde to direct on September 3. A sense of returning to yourself, and getting a clear signal that it’s time to move forward again, are all coming down the pipeline (and will get even brighter once the Sun enters Libra on the 23rd). Any discord that arose in your friend groups or wider networks this summer should begin to cohere into some semblance of harmony again. Harmony can arise because people are working on getting along, and it can also emerge within when you remove yourself from a toxic environment that no longer offers you a sense of belonging.
With assistance from Jupiter to Venus this month, there could also be positive returns coming in for any fundraising efforts you’re part of. If you’ve been trying to pool your funds together for an epic friend trip this year or next, you’ll have an easier time getting collective buy-in on your plans (and margarita fund).
Scorpio rising
September is largely for biding your time. As your ruling planet, Mars, transits Libra this month, a lot of your next steps will feel somewhat uncertain, or at least complicated by extra factors to consider. You might even feel a little trapped by decision paralysis. Knowing that you’ll have more momentum to get moving again in October, how can you use this time to carefully strategize and lie in wait, like a tiger stalking its transcontinental flight deals?
Besides, not everything is in standstill. Venus stations direct on the 3rd, which gets stalled momentum moving again in your professional life and partnership dynamics. Thanks to helpful tailwinds from Jupiter this month, you might be securing some sort of sweetheart deal, or landing a contract you’ve had your eye on for some time. In your personal life, this could just as well signal an update in your relationship status. Make sure you carve out time in September to celebrate milestones and achievements.
Mercury is also stationing direct on the 15th, bringing closure or resolution to any misunderstandings that might have plagued your friend circle or online community over the last few weeks. Now that the squad is on the same page, maybe it’s time to organize a meetup?
Sagittarius rising
Hope you have your suitcase packed (but not so full that you can’t bring back lots of gifts for your faves back home). Venus is stationing direct on September 3 in your ninth house of international travel, greenlighting a vacation, more favorable work-from-anywhere opportunity, or even a conference or convention you’ve been looking forward to for months. Even if you’re only traveling for work, expect to be pampered via the expense account. Nice accommodations and good food taste even better on the company dime.
Speaking of work, it’s probably going to feel a bit stop-and-go for you this month as you move forward on a stalled project and slow your roll on another one. Your ruling planet, Jupiter, stations retrograde on the 4th in your sixth house of gigs and daily work. You, too, might feel like you’re slowing down for the next four months to integrate everything you’ve learned this year.
Meanwhile, Mercury wraps up its retrograde in Virgo on the 15th. If you had to revise or rework a professional matter over the last few weeks, you’ll be back on track by the second half of the month.
Capricorn rising
With Venus newly direct this month, a professional collaboration you’ve been a bit stuck on might start to move forward again, and backlogged funding finds its way to you at last. If you’re still owed money from your last group trip to Mexico, debts should hopefully be repaid to you in September, but it also wouldn’t be a bad time (astrologically) to send a gentle reminder.
The forward momentum of this month will spill over into your globetrotting, by the way. Mercury also wraps up a retrograde on September 15, this one in your ninth house of international travel and learning. Whether you were reworking a thesis over the last couple of weeks or getting dragged by a spate of canceled flights, the turbulence will calm down by mid-month (and even smooth its way into a pretty hiccup-free adventure). Mercury is particularly empowered in Virgo, and it’s also harmonizing with Jupiter twice this month: on the 4th and 25th. Even if you were rerouted, you’ll probably enjoy the serendipitous detour—and learn something valuable about life, and the experiences that make it meaningful.
Aquarius rising
This summer’s Venus Retrograde mostly worked your relationships, and as the fairer benefic stations direct on September 3, you, too, might be reaching an important milestone or turning point with one of your most significant others. If you’re single, don’t sleep on your business partners, collaborators, or even competitors and nemeses as potential messengers of this process. Your own relationship to relationships—and your expectations therein—might be the ultimate site of this alchemy.
Venus’ September glow-up could bring fortunate, or at least satisfying, conclusions to this journey. But there might also be a sense of positive lift-off taking place involving questions of home and international travel. If you’ve been confused about where to live and establish your home base, you’ll probably be sufficiently charmed by a location this month and happily root there a little longer.
The Sun enters Libra on the 23rd, initiating you into your annual high season of jet setting. This won’t be your average Libra Season, though—eclipses are nigh (wait for October). Your orientation to the world as a global citizen will be shifting over the next year and change, and you’ll be getting your first set of clues as to what that will mean.
Pisces rising
Venus’ direct station on September 3rd is likely good news for any health concerns or workplace drama that stirred the pot over the summer. Look for support in unlikely places. A friend might know a doctor or specialist who can give you better answers. Harmony can be restored to your team again, and maybe all you needed was the right Slack channel or meeting slot on your calendar.
Progress and forward momentum is generally what’s on the menu when it comes to work and productivity this month. Mercury also stations direct on the 15th, resolving a delay or skirmish that may have stalled an important agreement or contract. If you can, wait to sign on the dotted line until the second half of the month, but if that’s not realistic, the Mercury cazimi on the 6th (or after) is your next best option.
In your personal life, you might be feeling less action-oriented this month as your ruling planet, Jupiter, stations retrograde on the 4th. These next four months will probably provide you with a quieter, more internal, and more contemplative opportunity to digest what you’ve learned this year. Revisiting your favorite neighborhood haunts and day trip destinations can be a great stimulus for this.
Enjoyed your September 2023 horoscope? Look back on August.