Preface
If your birthday does not fall during the Virgo timeframe for the year you were born, this DOES NOT mean that you do not experience the energy of Virgo, because somewhere in your natal birth chart, it is present. All twelve signs of the zodiac are expressed in your being, although some signs, and therefore their corresponding energies, may be more emphasized than others. The Sun sign is about your essence, your vitality (what makes you feel alive), and your self-image. Whatever your Sun sign, you are on a life-long journey to discover and fully embrace this sign’s energy.
The Sun began its transit of the sign of Virgo on August 22, 2013 at 4:01 p.m. PDT.
Virgo Energy at a Glance
Here are some of the descriptive terms used to describe Virgo characteristics:
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Virgos Speak
Franco Santero
Virgo developer of Astroshamanism (integrating experiential astrologer and shamanism)
Born September 16, 1958
“While I realise that many seekers do not resonate with the rigid fundamentalism and arid theology that they perceive in certain aspects of Christianity, this does not mean that the baby has to be thrown out with the bath water. As a matter of fact, learning to discriminate between the baby and the bath water is the crucial lesson in forgiveness. And if we become fundamentalists towards what we perceive as being fundamentalism this is surely not going to help…There is no way in which we can manage to tread on the healing path unless we cease to condemn one another or focus on what we perceive as wrong in others.”
Ann Richards
Late Virgo Governor of Texas
Born September 1, 1933 and Died September 13, 2006
“I always had such high expectations of myself. Whatever it was, I was going to be the best...the best mother, the best wife, the best entertainer, the best nurse. Of course, I could never live up to those expectations. So I drank. When I drank it repressed all my feelings of inadequacy…My alcoholism and my subsequent treatment ended up becoming the most wonderful, most instructive, most important experience I've had in my life…Sobriety has freed me to deal with failure and never give up.”
Jimmy Connors
Virgo and Professional Men’s Tennis Champion and Coach
Born September 2, 1952
“People say I'm around because I have a lot of heart, but I know all the heart in the world couldn't have helped me if I wasn't physically fit.”
Mother Teresa
Virgo and Roman Catholic Nun Serving the Poor in Calcutta, India
Born August 26, 1910 and Died September 5, 1997
“If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.”
Tavis Smiley
Virgo TV/Radio Show Host and Writer
Born September 13, 1964
“Failure is an inevitable part of the human journey. Fail up is the trampoline needed when you are down. When you take the time to learn your lessons, when you use those lessons as stepping-stones to climb even higher than you were before, you transcend failure—you ‘fail up.’”
Molly Ivins
Virgo Journalist and Humorist
Born August 30, 1944 and Died January 31, 2007
“There are two kinds of humor. One kind that makes us chuckle about our foibles and our shared humanity -- like what Garrison Keillor does. The other kind holds people up to public contempt and ridicule -- that's what I do. Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful. I only aim at the powerful. When satire is aimed at the powerless, it is not only cruel -- it's vulgar. ”
Leonard Cohen
Virgo Singer and Songwriter
Born September 21, 1934
“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything That's how the light gets in.”
(From the song Anthem on The Future album)
The Transition from Leo to Virgo
The Sun’s transit of the sign of Virgo occurs in late summer, when daylight still predominates, but the light is waning. The weather is still warm, and sometimes hot, but changes are perceptible. With respect to astrological personalities, we have experienced the bravado of sunny, creative Leo, displaying talents for all in a reciprocal exchange of love. Time, as expressed in the zodiac wheel, moves on, and we embark upon a new stage of development. As the signs proceed around the zodiac, the succeeding sign shows a tendency to display behavior to counter characteristics of the previous sign. Whereas Leo was a showcase for a personality on exhibit, Virgo’s energy turns inward, desiring a little more modesty. Those of us who have strong streaks of self-involvement know that such a perspective can get boring, and that we can quell that through identification with a greater purpose. Virgo represents the beginning of that stage in the zodiac. Virgo taps into the need for personal growth and humility through service.
I am now more cognizant of looking at what a sign “retains” from the previous sign. Virgo is intent upon taking risks, just as Leo was, but in a different style and with a different purpose. At the beginning of his book’s section on Virgo, astrologer Steven Forrest has a wonderful quote from author James Baldwin: “One can give nothing whatever without giving oneself—that is to say, risking oneself. If one cannot risk oneself, then one is simply incapable of giving.” [1] Leo took risks to perform and to love, and Virgo carries on, but with a different perspective and focus. Virgo is intent on discovering, perfecting, and transforming herself through being of service. Steven Forrest clarifies that Virgo is not about the servitude that astrologers of other centuries described, but rather about the desire to be of service as a form of self-expression. By perfecting herself, Forrest says, Virgo serves the principle of service. [2]
Virgo Symbolism, Rulerships, and Personality
The symbol of Virgo is the maiden or virgin (like the medieval painting shown at the beginning of this article). In modern times, the term virgin has a sexual connotation of inexperience, but that is a distorted view of the symbol. Astrologer Catherine Auman says the name Virgo derives from the Latin word “virgo” meaning unmarried, and the term virginal means that she belongs to no man, that she cannot be possessed.[3] The maiden, or virgin, in simplest terms, refers to the state of purity.
Astrologer Bruce Nevin explains that the sign’s glyph (shown above) suggests virginity by its self-contained final curve. The loops of the symbol resemble the loops of the intestines, which are ruled by Virgo. The “M” of the symbol stands for the Mind, which facilitates the talent for discrimination, like sorting the wheat from the chaff, metaphorically speaking.[4]
Virgo is the sixth sign of the zodiac, ruling the sixth house of work, servants, health, diet, and daily routines. This house covers the terrain of skill building and competence, so that we can meet our responsibilities as adults and contribute to society. It is the place where we are apprentices in the development of a trade. Conversely, it can also be the realm where we serve as mentors to others. Steven Forrest observes that modern astrologers have a gap in meaning for the sixth house. He notes that the western side of the chart has to do with various forms of relationships, but modern astrology leaves out the discussion of relationships for the sixth house. Forrest posits that the sixth house is about relationships, but ones that are no longer prevalent in our nuclear family constellation. These are the relationships that we traditionally had with aunts and uncles. These relatives cared about us, but they had the “emotional distance” to assist us with developmental issues that young people find difficult talking to their parents about. In our modern society, we may have mentoring relationships that substitute for the traditional ones, and in that case, the sixth house is where we might expect to find that activity.[5]
Virgo is a mutable earth sign. Mutable signs are often in motion, says astrologer Lynn Bell, but they are not about action in the way that cardinal signs are. Instead, mutable signs move between the realms of the cardinal signs and the fixed signs. Bell uses the analogy of the Tao, what the Chinese refer to as the one constant in the world. This is the center between creative and receptive energy. When this mutable energy is disregarded, Bell continues, a culture (or person) may be uncomfortably caught between the need for constant action (the cardinal principle) and the desire for permanence (the fixed principle).[6]
Because Virgo is an earthly manifestation of Mercury, the planet of the rational mind, it is characterized by both the urge to produce and the urge to analyze. This makes Virgo an excellent craftsperson, and someone who may be attracted to gardening, and to the practice of herbalism or other forms of healing. Interestingly enough, the earth signs are not viewed as particularly fruitful in childbearing.
Astrologer Deborah Houlding says that ancient and traditional sources cite “the benefits of Virgo as bestowing purity, diplomacy, a mastery of words, a discriminating intellect, a propensity for study, a talent for investigation and analysis, skillful creativity, and a keen appreciation of the mysteries of nature.” [7] Nevin observes that the more difficult sides to Virgo are pickiness, extreme criticism, skepticism, hypochondria, self-deprecation, and overly self-sacrificing.[8] Forrest says that in order for Virgo’s self-criticism not to be self-destructive, there must be self-acceptance.[9]
Updating Our Understanding of Virgo
The Virgo need to improve or perfect is often misunderstood or exaggerated. Any personality characteristic can be taken to an extreme, but this is true of any sign. With a Virgo Sun and Pisces Moon, Jan Posse, editor of The Mountain Astrologer, observes, “Virgo knows only too well that we live in an imperfect world. She doesn’t expect to be perfect—only beyond reproach.” Posse also notes that astrologer Stephanie Austin often substitutes the word impeccability for perfection.[10]
I have known many people with Virgo Suns in my lifetime. As with any sun sign, you will see variations in personalities because of the various combinations of energies in an astrological birth chart. I sometimes read that Virgos are very neat, clean, and orderly. Now, this certainly may be true of many Virgos, but it is not the common thread I see running through the personalities of Virgos. I have observed that Virgos seem to share a gift of knowing how to implement a concept in earthly reality, and the ability to articulate the steps one might take to resolve a problem. This does relate to orderliness, but it is the orderliness of the mind. It is analytical. It is the meshing of air and earth energy of the planet Mercury (Virgo’s ruler), which needs to utilize the rational mind, but in the context of earthly manifestation.
At her most balanced, Virgo has the powers of discrimination and discernment. She uses her analytic abilities to determine where to put her energy. This capacity for discernment reminds me of the discussions among working women with children I used to hear in the 1980s about the subject of how to balance demands. Inevitably, one of these women would observe that priorities change from day to day. What was a priority yesterday is not necessarily a priority today. Hence, some days women may need to devote more energy to career and other days more to family needs. This to me reflects the talents of Virgo energy—knowing why, where, and when to target their energy.
Popular western astrology often paints a picture of Virgos as demure, prudish, and perhaps sexually uninterested. Vedic astrologer Kenneth Johnson points out that jyotish (Hindu) astrology views Virgo as passionate and sensual with a soft, relaxed, languid, erotic quality.[11] Even if we use the western astrology framework, Virgo is an earth sign, in touch with carnality. I do not know how this western astrology image came to be, but it may surprise many to know that Virgo is associated with the sacred prostitutes in the ancient cultures of Egypt, Babylonia, Sumer, and Rome. The concept of sacred prostitution may be foreign to us in our present-day culture. In the Pre-Christian times of goddess worship, sex with sacred prostitutes was viewed as a sacred act. They were teachers of the mysteries, and of the healing, restorative, and transforming power of sexual energy.[12]
Astrologer Joyce Mason urges us to view the Virgo and Pisces axis as a continuum, and not a polarity. She explains that more advanced Virgos draw upon the qualities of both signs as required by life’s demands. She calls these individuals “Radical Virgos” because they easily find a balance between practicality and dreams, between mundane tasks and soul expression, as well as between form and formlessness. On a planet with a deteriorating ecosystem and broken souls, Mason contends that we need Radical Virgos to purify and heal both the environment and broken souls. She says that these times call for the discernment in decision-making for which Virgos are known, thereby enabling us to cast aside the insignificant from the germane in selecting what is healthy, helpful, and whole.[13]
ENDNOTES
[2] Ibid.
[3] Aumen, Catherine. (June/July 2002). Virgo, Sexuality, and the Sacred Prostitute. The Mountain Astrologer, #103, pp.17-21.
[4] Nevin, Bruce. (1982). Astrology Inside Out. Rockport, Massachusettes, Para Research Publishers, p.89.
[5] Forrest, Steven. (June/July 2002). The Case of the Disappearing 6th House. The Mountain Astrologer, #103, pp.9-16.
[6] Bell, Lynn. (August/September 2004). Virgo’s Wings and Other Musings on the Mutable Signs. The Mountain Astrologer, #116, pp.36-41.
[7] Houlding, Deborah. (August/September 2007). Virgo the Maiden. The Mountain Astrologer, #134, pp.25-31.
[8] Nevin, Bruce. (1982). Astrology Inside Out. Rockport, Massachusettes, Para Research Publishers, p. 147
[10] Posse, Jan. (August/September 2004). A Letter from the Managing Editor. The Mountain Astrologer, Issue #116, p.5.
[11] Johnson, Kenneth (August/September 2004). A Vedic Perspective on Virgo and Pisces 8/04 116 Vedic (Hindu) Astrology. The Mountain Astrologer, #116, pp.77-83.
[12] Aumen, Catherine. Op. Cit.
[13] Mason, Joyce. (1992). “Radical Virgo.” Retrieved on August 17, 2013 from http://www.aplaceinspace.net/Pages/JMRadVirgo.html.
A LOOK AT THE NATAL CHART OF VIRGO RACHAEL RAY:
Now the head of a cooking media empire, Rachael Ray hosts a nationally syndicated cooking and talk show called Rachael Ray, on which she invites a wide array of celebrities and prepares dishes geared to the mainstream busy American. She also publishes a lifestyle magazine and is the author of several cookbooks.
I chose to analyze the horoscope of Rachel Ray because of the predominance of planets in Virgo—seven in all! Her chart appears at the end of this article. It is important to point out that her birth time is not public, so therefore we use noon as her birth time. This means that we are unable to determine what houses the planets occupy in her chart.
Brief Biographical Profile
Rachael Domenica Ray was born August 25, 1968 in upstate New York to a family in the restaurant business. The family once owned restaurants on Cape Cod in Massachusetts and her mother later managed restaurants in upstate New York. Before becoming a television personality, Ray held various positions in the hospitality and food industry, including working in gourmet food specialty markets. During this period, she designed cooking classes called 30 Minute Meals, which a local TV station began broadcasting on a weekly segment. Soon, she was asked to appear on TV’s Today Show. Audiences loved Rachael’s bubbly but down-to-earth personality, and her popular program helped her launch a gig with The Food Network as well as a cookbook contract. Next came a lifestyle magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, followed by a talk show produced in collaboration with Oprah Winfrey. Now entering season eight, her Rachael Ray show is still going strong. Her business empire now includes a line of products. In addition to her enterprise, Ray devotes time and resources to her foundation, Yum-O!, which seeks to educate families about good nutrition and also provides food to children in need.
Although Rachael Ray admits to not having a background as a trained cook, she is often the target of ridicule. Chef Anthony Bourdain routinely mocks Ray’s cooking skills. Bourdain says that Ray is “selling us satisfaction, the smug reassurance that mediocrity is quite enough.” Martha Stewart also made some candid comments, describing Ray as more of an entertainer than a cooking teacher, adding that her recently published cookbook was a rehashing of her old recipes. I remember seeing a segment on TV where Ray responded to Stewart’s comments, saying that indeed Martha has a skill set way beyond hers. Ray also stated that in this business, there is room for various types of cooks, and that Martha’s teaches you the proper technique (I may be over paraphrasing here). My reason for mentioning this incident is that I think Ray answered in a very gracious Virgoan style, with humility and a respect for the excellence that Martha Stewart brings to the trade.
Some Observations About the Natal Chart of Rachael Ray
As previously mentioned, we don’t know Rachael Ray’s birth time, which limits us in knowing what houses the planets occupy. When this is the case, we rely even more heavily on observing aspect relationships, that is how the planets are related by geometric spacing.
If we begin by assessing the elements in Rachael Ray’s chart, we find that the majority of her planets, seven in fact, are in an earth sign, while the second most important element is fire, with two planets in this element. She has only one planet in water and NONE in air. Just from this knowledge, we might say that Ray is a passionate realist. Additionally, these planets are located in five houses at most. This clues us in to the fact that Ray targets her energy in a few key areas of her life.
Another apparent feature of Ray’s chart is the concentration of planets in Virgo. When four or more planets are clustered together within a span of no more than 10 degrees, this pattern is known as a stellium, which some term a “superconjunction.” Planets in a stellium blend their energy together in the area represented by the house or houses. The brilliant astrologer Sue Tompkins says that persons whose natal charts are dominated by conjunctions are self-motivated and self-driven. Moreover, Tompkins says that these individuals tend not to seek external approval for self-definition or for self-validation. The drawback of the stellium aspect pattern is that it can create a major imbalance in the chart, where excessive energy is devoted to one portion of life and not balanced with other concerns. If we knew in what house or houses this energy is concentrated in Ray’s chart, we could say more about this.
In Ray’s chart, Mars, the planet of applied energy and self-promotion, does not form major aspects with the other planets. Astrologers hold a variety of opinions about the meaning of unaspected planets. Some say that the planet may reflect an aspect of the personality that is not well integrated with the other facets of the personality, perhaps due to neglect. On the other hand, it may mean that the need or urge represented by the planet acts in an independent or even unpredictable fashion in the individual. Unaspected Mars may reflect the extremes of energy. Because Ray appears to be a “doer,” I might venture to guess that it reflects an abundance of energy that is not restrained by the considerations of other planets. Since Mars is in Leo, Ray may experience an ease in self-promotion because she has the talents of a “performer.”
In her natal chart, Saturn does not form major aspects with other planets, but it does “inconjunct” other planets. Inconjuncts, or quincunxes, represent a tense relationship between two planets that have virtually nothing in common. In other words, these energies do not understand each other. Ray’s natal Saturn in Aries inconjuncts the Moon and Uranus in Virgo, as well as Neptune in Scorpio. Aries is an independent sign that wants daredevil action, and the planet Saturn represents the need for limits, discipline, and efficiency. This planet may not be at greatest ease in Aries, but both do share the need to DO something. The Moon and Uranus are also in a sign (i.e. Virgo) that may quell their natural urges. Both the Moon and Uranus have an underlying unpredictability, but they are in the methodical and practical sign of Virgo. Already in uncomfortable signs, Saturn, Uranus, and the Moon must make adjustments in order to interact.
Looking only at Neptune in Scorpio without any consideration of aspects, I get the impression that Ray may be very good at sizing up people and situations because both this planet and sign involve the powers of perception and intuition. Although Neptune in Scorpio and Saturn in Aries are at odds, the two signs share a common traditional ruler, which is Mars. While Aries expresses externalized energy, Scorpio focuses on the internalized energy of investigation. Once again, these energies need to discover ways to adjust to each other. Neptune does sextile (harmonious energy) planets in Virgo, thereby acting perhaps as the most compromising planet outside of the stellium. Moreover, Neptune may be the planet that integrates the entire chart, bringing energies together. In her book Aspects in Astrology, Tompkins says that the underlying theme between Saturn and Neptune pertains to the fear of loss of control. Persons with a Saturn-Neptune aspect pattern are learning lessons of non-attachment. Tompkins also believes that individuals with Saturn-Neptune aspects must learn lessons of purification and refinement, a concept that echos the process of Virgo, which is so predominant in Ray’s chart. In her consultation work, Tompkins has found that persons with Saturn-Neptune aspects often have a weak or missing father. Additionally, these individuals find it difficult to be overtly controlling. However, I would say that in Ray’s example, her Mars in Leo might counteract those tendencies.
Neptune does maintain easier relationships in its sextiles (opportunity) to the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Uranus, and Pluto. Perhaps the Moon-Neptune sextile is what gives Rachael Ray her yearning for the “ideal home.” Her Mercury-Neptune contact might be the characteristic that allows her to refine the words of others (like Bourdain and Stewart) and give the content a more appealing spin. The easy aspect between Venus and Neptune reflects her ease in accepting other people as they are and the nature of the relationships she has with them.
Perhaps Rachael Ray’s chart signifies that she is working on becoming an autonomous individual, but cognizant of simultaneously serving some higher good (Neptune). Although Ray may not meet the high culinary standards of a Bourdain or a Stewart, I think Ray is offering weary households another alternative for what they put on the table. Virgo’s energy is not pretentious. Who says you don’t know how to cook just because you don’t attend some highfalutin culinary academy. Isn’t learning from mom’s and pop’s restaurant good enough? Hey, I loved Ray’s Moo Shu Noodles recipe! No, it’s not Ming Tsai, but we’ll do his version on weekends. I owe no one celebrity chef my allegiance, so I recipe hop all the time. What I find amusing is that Rachael Ray’s recipes are sometimes more complex than those of Martha Stewart. So there, Martha!
Sources for Rachael Ray Profile:
Sue Tompkins (2002). Aspects in Astrology. Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books, pp. 240-244.
