METAPHYSICAL VIRGO

Before I address metaphysical Virgo, I want to mention that beautiful jewel of bright light in the west after sunset, the planet Venus.  About every two years, we are treated to this dazzling sight in the evening twilight and early night so appreciate her while she makes her appearance.  Venus will continue to grace the early night sky until August when she will quickly retreat into the glare of the Sun during her retrograde.  By the way, the words beautiful, jewel, dazzling, appreciation, and grace are all Venus keywords.

I chose to write about metaphysical Virgo for the Echo* issue published while the Sun is in the opposite sign of Pisces because the Egyptian initiates of the divine race of the Sons and Daughters of God (who lived according to the law of spirit, not according to the law of matter like virtually every human being alive today) used as their symbol of initiation the sign in which the tropical autumnal (fall) equinox falls in the precession of the equinoxes, which creates the epochs (Id., p. 259).  The autumnal equinox is thought by many to still be in Virgo and the vernal equinox in Pisces – hence the “Age of Pisces” epoch.  This corresponds to the concept that the divine is the exact opposite of the personal.  When we observe something or someone, we are in a dualistic relationship with it/them, but when we become one with something or someone, we achieve a state of divine unity with it/them.

Virgo symbolizes the potential fertility of the soil (it is an earth sign) and the potential bountifulness of the harvest when plants are tended and nurtured.  In human terms, this sign is the fertility of our human spirit and the potential it holds to manifest a bountiful harvest.  This harvest can take many tangible forms – power, wealth, property, children, or intangible forms such as inner happiness, inspiring others, expressing unconditional love, or making meaningful contributions to the world or in people’s lives.

Virgo is a bicorporial, dualistic, mutable sign so it is dichotomous:  the unplowed, fertile field and the harvest.  It is often depicted as a reclining, young, virgin woman (or queen) holding three shafts of fully ripened wheat or an ear of corn in her hand.  The virgin is symbolic of the fertile potential in the unplowed field and the fully ripened shafts of wheat or ear of corn portray the harvest at the end of the growing season (in most northern climes, harvesting of many crops takes place in September when the Sun is in Virgo).  Ironically, and despite this being an earth sign, Virgo is traditionally considered a sterile sign because the virgin is untested and has not yet birthed a harvest (child) so gardeners planting by the sign of the Moon are advised to avoid doing so while the Moon is in Virgo.  The depiction of the virgin holding the shafts of wheat is actually the Roman goddess Ceres, who was associated with the harvest and things coming to fruition.  The virgin in the depiction of Virgo also symbolizes the birth of our higher faculties or our divine mind because our choice to use our higher faculties is a divine or virgin birth not conceived by earthly pleasure or desire.  In addition, the virgin represents purity (and this is reflected by Virgo's position in the zodiac opposite the sign of Pisces).  Inherent in Virgo as the sign of the harvest is sharing one-tenth or a tithe of one’s individual harvest to help the whole community survive times of famine, natural disaster or pestilence.  Today, this means giving back one-tenth of our income (the fruits of our labor) to the communities to which we belong and from which we derive support.  The ancient concept of libation, pouring some the wine (fruit of the harvest) from our glass back into the earth (giving back or paying homage to Mother Earth) is another representation of the concept of gratitude for a good harvest.  Unfortunately, in the present culture the bounty of our harvest is often measured by the amount of money we earn.

In traditional astrology, Mercury is the ruler of, is exalted in, and rejoices in Virgo so this sign is much more strongly associated with Mercury than Gemini (G.B.I, pp. 66-67 (c. 1282/1994)).  Although Gemini as one of Mercury’s signs is certainly mental and astute, Virgo is the more profound of Mercury’s signs and, as such, characterizes our ability to utilize, analyze, apply, direct, and discipline our thoughts (all Virgo keywords) and ultimately to manifest (it is an earth sign) through our thinking.  The metaphysical meaning of the planet Mercury is the incredible power of our mind to create our reality through directing our thoughts.  The Greek god Hermes (Mercury) was the messenger with winged feet and a winged helmet and could even freely come and go from Hades.  This symbolizes the ability of our mind to freely “come and go” from anywhere to anywhere, including hell, but by directing and disciplining it, we can consciously choose the destination of our mind every time, like Mercury purposefully chose his destination.