During a recent visit with astrologer C.A. Brooks on her radio show “Simple Tales” I joked that the best way to send a Virgo over the edge is to put a few soup cans in the cereal section of his/her cupboard. One Virgo in the 12Radio.com chat room instantly commented on just how unsettling that proposition was. While perhaps amusing to the rest of the zodiac, Virgo’s painful and often solitary quest for order is not the clear cut case of OCD this caring and gentle sign often gets the rap for. Virgo’s search for perfection is in actuality born of a deep, sincere and abiding drive to restore harmony in the world. The constellation Virgo is in fact home to the mythological Goddess Astraea. She was the last deity to leave earth and its inhabitants as they plunged into their self created darkness of greed, war and competition. She desperately wanted to help humankind restore the world to a perfect state, and we enter her intricate, detailed realms on Sunday, August 22nd at 10:27 P.M. PST when the Sun enters the mutable earth sign of Virgo.
Like her fellow mutable sign companions, Virgo closes her respective season and gives us an opportunity to wind down and clean up loose ends. Closing the tumultuous summer of 2010 is no easy task. But the Sun will get ample assistance with slowing things down from Mercury retrograding from August 20th through September 12th in Virgo, and wild card wielding Uranus safely recessed back into easy-going Pisces where it will be joined by generous Jupiter on September 9th. Uranus and Jupiter in flexible Pisces also offer a heavenly counter weight to Virgo tendencies toward excessive control and rigidity.
So how exactly does that meticulous Virgo mind work in the real world? Let’s take the common desire of losing weight as an example. Virgo needs the cold hard facts to formulate her methodical plan. Translation; get on the scale (and look). Next assignment; count calories, all of them, for one entire week, no exceptions. Once Virgo has calculated your average daily caloric intake, she will logically conclude that if you want to lose one pound per week, you will need to deduct precisely 500 calories per day from your diet, no cheating. Aries would likely suggest an intense crash diet to instantly shed the unwanted pounds and Leo is likely to opt for those pills that lose the weight for her while she sleeps. Both would make a run for the nearest plastic surgeon. Virgo patiently insists that small consistent steps toward life’s objectives are much healthier and more sustainable and effective in the long run. Her devotion to service and concern for health also strongly advocate a realistic exercise plan, 3-5 days per week. Fortunately In 2010, Virgo’s rules and regulations are sweetly counter balanced by Uranus and then Jupiter in adaptable Pisces. Translation; you get to eat whatever you want with your calorie allowance and you get to pick the day, different ones every week if you please, for any exercises you enjoy.
Elizabeth joins astrologer CA Brooks every 3rd Tuesday of the month at 11:00 A.M. PST on 12Radio.com.
It is worth noting here that all of 2010’s Mercury retrogrades have been in those grounded and practical earth signs. The earth signs help us put ideas and feelings into form. The support offered via Mercury’s current retrograde in Virgo will be reinforced by Pluto in earthy, disciplined Capricorn which forms favorable trines to Mercury and the Sun. Whether the goal is weight loss, debt elimination or improving one’s business, this Mercury through Virgo transit provides an ideal climate for uncanny analysis, synthesis and planning. So if a long forgotten New Year’s resolution fell hopelessly off the wagon sometime earlier this year, this cycle can help you get things in order and back on track.
As the saying goes, “No one likes a critic.” No one likes a cheapskate either. For that matter, an overzealous neat freak can be downright disturbing. So how does Virgo overcome her astrological reputation? She learns to accept life’s unavoidable chaos, inherent messiness and inevitable unpredictability. In short, she surrenders to element of mystery. Life’s greatest experiences cannot be defined purely by fact, comprehended by the rational mind, nor fully articulated by words alone. In her enlightened state, Virgo reveres the unseen, the intangible and the unexplainable, and she warmly welcomes them in to rattle her otherwise orderly world. In 2010, oppositions to the Sun and Mercury in Virgo by rebellious Uranus and jubilant Jupiter in unfathomable Pisces, encourage even the most persnickety Virgo to enthusiastically embrace the unknown. Because that, is where life happens.
