Oh, Virgo. The corn bearing maiden. An archetype almost always represented as nervous and ready to DO.
Notice how I did not say ‘mis’. Because Virgo is often nervous, and the only thing that can keep Virgo from doing is thoughtful planning about what is the most efficient way to do it. Sometimes leading to paralysis because perfection is not something which belongs to the sublunar world.
The sign is of the Earth element therefore yin, and a mutable one. Mutability is best understood as the dispersion of whatever energy we’re dealing with, because the mutable signs spin the seasons into change. If a cardinal sign will be able to start something, a fixed sign will be able to keep whatever exists going for a long time, so a mutable sign is able to juggle several things at once.
And what better juggler than a sign ruled by Mercury, the trickster himself?
Mercury has in rulership two signs: Gemini and Virgo, but also many attributes which include communication, words, education, mathemathics, medicine, games, sports, markets, banks, and even music. In short, Mercury is versatile and flexible. Through Virgo, the facet shining the brightest is the Hermit. Not in the recluse sense, but the seeker of knowledge, though most often these come in a package.
Mercury is a keeper of knowledge and here is best described the difference between Gemini and Virgo. Mercury always wants facts, but the way they are gathered is different: the first sees something and thinks it understands how it works, then starts considering what it can be used for, while the second will see something, take it apart and put it back together, if possible better. Gemini is about watching and learning a little bit of everything, while Virgo is about getting to know every detail about a particular thing like an applied Mercury. Gemini cares about how something can be used, Virgo cares about how it can be improved.
A lesser known attribute of Mercury is the ability to travel between worlds, something which out of all the gods only Hecate – the goddess of witchcraft -was able to do. Intellectual curiosity is mainly a characteristic of the element of air – which in nature disperses and wants to reach everything- but when discussing this mental exploration they are often referred to as “the air signs and Virgo” lending it a liminal capability, between this world and the other.
The element of Earth deals and cares for material things. If Capricorn will work forgetting to eat, Taurus will eat forgetting to work, Virgo will have the meals planned for the next 3 days according to which kind of activities will be done during the day, even though sometimes one or two will be skipped because the to-do list is not checked through yet.
The Earth signs are also known for being critical, Virgo in particular leaning towards the hyper end. While not unfounded, this trait stems from the fact that Virgo can see what you are doing wrong, and is telling you, only so will stop hurting yourself. Often this is taken as holier-than-thouness, when in fact it’s only heartfelt advice, but it just happens that the heart it’s coming from is a steampunk analysis device able to identify faults.
And speaking of the heart, in the corrective function of the zodiac, Virgo gladly corrects Leo’s forefrontness, because if Virgo cares about the spotlight it is because it’s trying to sneak behind it. Virgo will do the work behind the scenes and will not care for the credit, because what Virgo wants is for things to run smoothly, and sometimes that takes doing the job nobody else wants to do because it will improve the overall process.
One very common everyday job nobody wants to do is cleaning. If ever there was a sign that equals cleanliness to godliness, then this is the one embodying it. It’s not that the process of cleaning is necessarily pleasurable, but the result is worth it. After all, cleaning is just purifying a space and getting rid of imperfections.
In the body, Virgo rules the intestines and process of digestion. In digestion, the catabolic process is the one by which unnecessary things get separated from the nutrients, absorbed then by the intestines much like Virgo seeks to smooth any process out and make it perfect.
This seeking of perfection makes Virgo a diagnostic tool, because perfection means optimal functioning, which in itself implies an understanding of how the pieces work together and individually. Virgo is in other words, the doctor of the zodiac.
Paired with Pisces the sign on the other side of the circle, they create a curative polarity. But while Pisces cares about healing the soul, Virgo cares about healing the body, creating a priest-physician axis.
And speaking of the body and the much giggled topic, in Latin the word virgo does mean maiden, though the connotation as sexually chaste has not always been there.*
In fact, virginity is synonymous with vestal which comes from the priestesses of the Roman state cult of Vesta. These six priestess played significant roles in ancient Rome, with duties such as tending the perpetual fire in the Temple, fetching water from a sacred spring, preparing ritual food, caring for objects in the inner sanctuary which was closed to the public except on the celebration of Vestalia which they officiated, and of course keeping their vow of chastity.
Here we have the Virgo archetype in all its purity, the cleanliness, the duty, the sacredness and perfection, coming of course, at a cost. Failure to fulfill their duties was punished harshly, often by being buried alive as their blood was not to be spilled. This came as a result of their responsibilities being tightly knit with the destiny of Rome, which made for a convenient scapegoating when all else failed.
In the zodiac, Virgo has the unique role of debilitating both benefic planets – Jupiter and Venus. Neither can function at their fullest here. While Jupiter likes knowledge, it is less interested in the facts as much as it is in cohesion and patterns of facts. In other words, Jupiter is wise where Mercury is clever.
Venus has her powers shackled because Venus loves pleasantries and pretty things and the thing Virgo takes pleasure in is perfection, without which enjoyment cannot be fulfilled.
Putting things in a more practical perspective, understanding an archetype can best be done by noticing the natural unfolding of the season when the Sun passes through it. Virgo is the season of the harvest – which has to be done when the fruits are exactly right, and only after a lot of planning and labour. A little earlier and it is green, a little late and it is overripe. Virgo knows how to find that sweet perfect spot.
The bottom line is you want a job done right, get a Virgo to do it, and expect it to come with the whys and wheres it hasn’t been done right before
* While the influence of Christianity has transformed a lot of matters, particularly those pertaining to the body and the naming of Mary as Holy Virgin has permanently changed the meaning of the word to mean unbroken chastity, the fault does not lie completely there.
The Vestals started their 30 year service around the age of 6, after which they were given emancipated social status (which meant equal to a man) therefore the ability to own their own property, and were allowed to marry (though most chose not to, because honestly who needs a man when you can have a house by yourself?).
The idea of female sexuality as a precursor to chaos was not concocted by the Romans, but by the Greeks. The Greek society was divided in clans or families, and at the moment of marriage the woman would leave one and join another, putting her not only in a liminal place, but also in the threatening position of affecting the patrimony of both clans – one which was supposed to provide a dowry, and the other which was supposed to provide for her. Adding to this the idea of heirs in an era long before DNA tests, the possibility of a child belonging to another father would mean that the inheritance might be given to someone else’s offspring, thus making the womb and its extension posing a potentially catastrophic risk. Hence sexual chastity was preferred and held in very high regard.
