Earth Series Part Two: Virgo
Earth Series
Part Two: Virgo
February 12, 2023
In his Book of Earth, Steven Forrest makes his claim that Virgo is the most exciting sign in the Zodiac. I personally have a hard time selecting which sign I would consider to be the most exciting. For my Neptunian self, I am not sure Virgo is my definition of exciting. Yet, what I know Virgo to be for sure is some strong energy that has likely shown up for you in big ways. And for me, it is critical energy so that I don’t tip too far into my Neptunian tendencies.
If you are reading an Evolutionary Astrology blog, then chances are that you have wrestled with some heavy Virgo themes at some point in your journey. Virgo is a Mutable Earth sign, and like the Mother Earth herself, Virgo can be harsh, unrelenting, critical, and perhaps misunderstood. Sounds exciting right? Well that depends on your definition of exciting. But, we mustn’t forget that like every sign/planet archetype, Virgo has its high side and this energy can be so damn beautiful. If you have ever wrestled with self-doubt, self-loathing, jealousy, resentment, or any of the like…then buckle up. This one is for you.
Perfect: The Enemy of I Tried my Best
Think about the word perfection for a moment. I mean really think about it. Close your eyes and meditate on it for a moment. What comes up for you? I can not speak from the male perspective, but I know for myself as a woman, this idea of needing to be perfect started being engrained in my mind so young. Our media and pop culture has conditioned us to believe that women should look a certain way to be considered beautiful or desirable. Traditionally, Virgo represents the virgin and as we know, sex is everywhere in our face. But, if we explore our sexuality then we are deemed a “slut” or worse. Virgo as the virgin could be an entirely separate blog but here, we will focus our attention on the more modern face of Virgo.
Conditioning Runs Thick
Times are changing (slowly) yes, but if you were born before today’s generation, then you grew up with this idea of “perfection” in your face. Fun Fact: it was not until 1994 that a plus size model was chosen as one of “the most beautiful people” by People magazine. The fact that People Magazine has this “contest” based mainly on outer appearances is part of the issue itself but we will save that for another day. The point is, society has conditioning us to believe that we need to be thin, have big breasts, perfect hair, perfect makeup, perfect children, and the perfect life to be seen as beautiful or someone who deserves a place in the world. This conditioning happened to our mothers and their mothers too! This is deeply engrained in our DNA.
Perfection is Virgos specialty, and as we just explored, perfection can have an ugly face. Perfect can lead us into constant comparing and never feeling good enough. Consider jealously around someone else’s “perfection”. The idea of perfect as we just explored is something that can drive us crazy, but it can also be a good way to move ourselves toward growth.
What if we never had any motivation to do better or be better? Nothing to compare our own standards to? Would we even care enough to want to evolve? Perhaps if we steer our focus away from the idea of striving toward the perfect body, perfect life, perfect home, and perfect relationship then we could apply this drive and effort in a more useful manner for our soul’s evolution. Maybe we could learn to love ourselves completely and totally even despite, or better yet because of our imperfections. Ahh hah! That’s it. That is Virgo on its best day.
Brutal Honesty
Have you ever had that friend who was just so brutally honest? And I am not talking about the friend who tells you when you have food in your teeth. That is just a basic expectation of friendship in my book! I am talking about the friend that would say to you that yes, in fact your ass doesn’t really look very great in those jeans. What a good friend! I wouldn’t want to be out in public with my ass looking half assed (haha). Maybe those words stung a little? Do not let it be misunderstood, your friend really meant no harm, she was being her Virgoan self. If it makes you feel better, she would have the same brutal honestly with herself. We all need a Virgo friend in our lives.
When did brutal honestly become a crime anyway? Again, this type of honestly has been conditioned out of us in many ways. Especially as women, we are taught to believe that nice is part of the whole perfection thing. We don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or rock the boat. But, when we are talking about Virgo, we aren’t really talking about being loved for our niceness (although at the heart of it Virgo does mean well). Virgo energy brings us the capacity to see things as they really are. Will we learn to love what we see, or will we fall victim to self-doubt and a life of constant comparing?
Mercury
Virgo is ruled by the plant Mercury. Mercury has a dual rulership as it also rules the sign Gemini. The Mercury influence brings a slightly different flavor to each sign, and I don’t want to get too far into that right now. For now, it is important to know that with Virgo, Mercury brings the capacity to humble oneself, think critically and implement changes that will move problems into solutions. Mercury is fast moving and loves to stay busy. This provides that Virgoan drive and desire to not waste a minute of this precious life! There are so many things that Virgo could touch and make better. Time to get to work!
The High Road
Fueled by Mercury, Virgo has the motivation and desire to make anything it sees better. As we have explored, that can drive someone crazy. Yet, if this energy is applied to something meaningful, then Virgo has the capacity to move proverbial mountains so that the homeless have a place to call home. You see, Virgo wants to be of service and he or she wants this service to be meaningful to other people. Virgo wants to make all it touches more beautiful. Virgo wants to do a great job and be seen for this great job.
On Virgo’s best days, the hypercritical energy of perfection can break down problems through critical thinking and propose a solution to solve issues. The great task of Virgos existence then lies in finding that meaningful work for which others will approve and validate Virgos being. On the high side, Virgo can do some amazingly beautiful things.
The Sixth House
Virgo resides in the sixth house of the Zodiac. Remember that each house represents an arena of life. We know that there are a lot more than 12 “events” in life, so it’s safe to say that each house covers a lot of material. The sixth house encompasses daily lifestyle, habits, details, rituals/routines, and general health. The sixth house is also about mentorship. Steven Forrest places great emphasis on this mentorship aspect of the sixth house. When we are talking about Virgo’s soul mission to find meaningful work, then we can see how important mentorship is to Virgo achieving its highest potential!
There was a time before the world became so busy and high tech, that raising children was certainly more of a family affair. Biological families lived close, largely out of necessity. In many cultures, multigenerational households remain the standard. Perhaps in these cultures mentors outside of the biological parents are simply built into the family structure! This is less of the “norm” in our culture. We live far away from our biological siblings, parents, and grandparents. Without some time spent with Uncle Joe or Grandma D, how do we discover the great work that our Virgo energy wants us to pursue?
Mentors
We still need mentors. I think that this concept is particularly difficult in society today. Again, speaking from the female perspective, it feels like there is a lot of pressure on everything we do! We are expected to do everything and do it well. Asking for help in any arena can feel like weakness (there is that critical face of Virgo again). We don’t always have “built in” mentors around us, so mentorship has to be sought after. How can we possibly learn and grow without someone a bit wiser showing us the way?
If you look to your sixth house, you can find some answers on where you likely need some mentoring. What planets are in your sixth house? What sign rules your sixth house? Begin to explore this more deeply and you will find the mentors meant to point you towards your Virgo works of service. If done right, then eventually you will be the mentor someone else seeks.
What about Career?
It is important to make the distinction between work and career. Virgo work may not show up as the work or career you are paid to do (that’s more 10th house and we will get to that next time). Perhaps your meaningful work is volunteering at a homeless shelter. It would be hard to find someone who would argue against that as being meaningful and beautiful work.
The Medicine
As with every sign we have explored thus far, we know that you can get too far into the shadowy side. As we have seen with Virgo, that shadow looks a lot like seeking perfection in areas of life that in the grand scheme of soul evolution, are less meaningful. Constantly seeking the best car, the best clothes, the best school for your children is all great, but eventually resentment and jealously are going to boil up to the surface with volcanic force.
You are working so hard for all of these things, yet somehow you feel less than fulfilled. Your life spirals out of control, and you fall into a dark meaningless hole. For you, maybe the shadow side is less “keeping up with the Jones’”. Perhaps it looks more like negative self-talk and that relentless inner critic. That manifestation of Virgo will equally get you buried into a dark place. The good news is that we know there is some medicine for this, and it lies across the Zodiac.
Across from the sixth house of Virgo lies the 12th house of Pisces. In a general sense, the 12th house deals largely with the unseen, more spiritual side of life. Its ruler Neptune invites you to dissolve illusions. Is that 100K car you are seeking really going to make you happy or is that some kind of illusion? Are you really some kind of ugly monster like that hypercritical voice is telling you? If you are falling into the constant chase for perfection then the invitation is to begin to develop a spiritual practice.
The balance of these signs looks like a continued desire to be of useful service but not sacrificing yourself to the Gods of perfection in the process. Developing some type of spiritual practice can help you maintain the high side of Virgo. It never hurts to understand that in the eyes of the Divine, you are already a perfect being on a journey of service.
What Now?
Perfection, desire for service, need for growth, spirituality. I encourage you to reflect for a while on these subjects. Get that journal out and write down some ways these things show up for you (or don’t show up!) These are such interesting and important topics especially when we think about evolutionary astrology! We are all here in this life, we might as well try and achieve some personal growth! This archetype of Virgo/Mercury/6th house can really point the way towards serious evolutionary growth. I encourage you to get a copy of your natal chart. There are several websites where you can generate a free copy. Look to where Virgo and Mercury show up for you. Also look at your sixth house-what is there? Even if you know very little about astrology you can get a good idea of how you deal with these issues by looking at these placements. But it’s complicated and here we have only scratched the surface. A natal chart reading by a trusted evolutionary astrologer would be helpful for a deeper understanding of how this shows up for you! Stay tuned for next time as we continue our Earth Journey with the Capricorn family!