by Robert Wilkinson
September is the end of Summer, a time when the Solar force is beginning to wane. This month will sort out and adjust what of our Summer labors are useful and working as they should, and the distributive Earth energies of Virgo help us do the practical tasking needed to prepare us for Autumn’s arrival on September 22, 2006, at 9:04 pm PDT, September 23 on the US East Coast and points east. This point in time is the Autumnal Equinox, given that name because the lengths of day and night are the same. It is said that you can balance an egg on its end at that precise point in time, thus Libra's association with the sign of the balanced scales. For now, this time of Virgo prepares us for a new way of life and new relationships in the Libra time to come.
Early Summer was distinguished by no planets in earth signs, which is why things didn’t seem very grounded. However, the excess of Fire and Water fueling strong feelings ultimately gave way to Mars entering Virgo, setting the sparks in motion for the current inner planet transits. Since the Sun and Mercury entered Virgo in late August, we have been working on being more organized and practical, reworking point-of-view perspectives and adjusting on the basis of what Jupiter in Scorpio has taken away.
This year, Mercury, dispositor of the planets in Virgo, is ahead of the others and functions as a herald. Its transit through Libra will bring news of the future of what the Sun will begin to illuminate at the Vernal Equinox. Venus moving through Virgo will help us capture the experience and information the Sun and Mercury have revealed prior to now. This should bring an element of appreciation for what has changed as a practical necessity, and why it was necessary to go through recent adjustments.
In Virgo, we learn what characterizes certain things and people, and have excellent chances to sharpen our discernment and see why we make the distinctions we do, and how the parts fit into the whole in a practical way. It is a time of education, re-education, taking care of details, and refining forms to reveal a more pleasing appearance and function in Libra. If there is too much worry, criticism, or fussing over details, try to see the bigger picture and allow many things to pass by without being fooled or getting seduced into hyperanalyzing them.
September is usually dominated by the Earth (practical, material) sign energies of Virgo, but this month that is moderated in the second week as Mars and Mercury slip into Libra's Air. Air keywords are associative, interactive, communicative, idealistic. For the most part, all the elements are well balanced until late October, so enjoy what equilibrium and easy adjustments show up to grace your life.
When the Sun spotlights Virgo, we are shown the light in this phase of the twelve-step evolutionary process that what was stabilized in Taurus, expanded in Gemini, consolidated in Cancer, and creatively projected in Leo undergoes the practical refinements and adjustments of Virgo. This month the new initiatives and vision offered back when Jupiter was in Virgo (August 2003 through September 2004) will continue to take shape due to the Sun vitalizing that structure and Mars moving through its second transit of what promises are evolving from the work done then.
There was a string of extremely important conjunctions that happened then at 30 Virgo and early Libra that will be directly affected by the 2006 Solar Eclipse just before the Vernal Equinox. (More about those conjunctions at this link.
Virgo is symbolically associated with the Virgin holding an ear of corn, representing the harvest and the spread of the creative release of Leo confronting the problem of dealing with energy using discrimination. This sign's keywords are "I analyze." This is the sign of service and the readiness to serve and be served. In the year cycle we can now use the needs and decisions made in Cancer and creatively acted upon in Leo to act with an eye to the critical analysis of the fruits of our activities, and make necessary adjustments. This is the ordering and stabilization of the ideas we found in Gemini.
Mythologically, Virgo is the sign of the Healer, the Priest/Priestess who learns the proper methods for guiding self and others out of old ways through uncertain times into new lives, new days, new perspectives. Virgo is traditionally associated with health and hygiene, physicians and other types of healers. These are workers with fewer ego-demands than other signs who can acquire wealth through steady practical effort. They can be teachers of the highest order when not being too critical or nit-picky. As the great Manly P. Hall put it, they live "to serve mankind without thought of self," and are "ingenious, witty, studious, dexterous, versatile, introspective..."
Virgo, when freed of the traps of skepticism, fear, fault-finding, scheming, manipulation, nervous worry and self-centeredness, demonstrate a utilitarian dependability that is scientific, economical, precise, meticulous, honest, orderly, and unselfish. They are the embodiment of humility incarnate, and when well adjusted, show as methodical servants, healers on many levels using many techniques, and the faithful servant in any thing they are involved in. They are capable of becoming world servants showing a better way to do things.
Think Mother Theresa, living legend of tireless service to the poor whose ministry set an example of humility, efficiency, and effort on behalf of those who have been abandoned by the so-called "civilized" world. Or President Lyndon Johnson, a former school teacher who used his political muscle to give us the Great Society's Medicare and Medicaid programs that ensured a safety net for the elderly, the young, and the poorest in our very wealthy nation.
Other Virgo political figures were President and former Supreme Court justice William Howard Taft, Louis XVI of France (who actually instituted needed reforms helping the poor but was used as a scapegoat by Robespierre), reformed Dixiecrat George Wallace, Lafayette, Joseph Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth I, Geraldine Ferraro, Lech Walesa, Yasser Arafat, and Senator John McCain.
In the field of literature this sign shows in such pragmatic authors as John Locke, Samuel Johnson, Mary Shelley, Upton Sinclair, H.G. Wells, Bret Harte, William Saroyan, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Leo Tolstoy, O. Henry, D.H. Lawrence, Maurice Maeterlinck, Christopher Isherwood, Roald Dahl, Agatha Christie, Ken Kesey, Molly Ivins, and William Golding.
Aubrey Beardsley is the major artist among Virgos, while in philosophy we have the awesome Goethe, said to be one of the greatest philosophers the West has ever produced.
In the world of cinema we find some extraordinary talent. Timeless legends include Sean Connery, Lauren Bacall, Gene Kelly, Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Raymond Massey, Fred MacMurray, Buddy Hackett, Alan Ladd, Vera Miles, Daryl Zanuck, Ruby Keeler, Elia Kazan, Peter Sellers, Anthony Quayle, Roddy McDowell, Anne Bancroft, Greta Garbo, Sophia Loren, Jane Fonda, Mel Ferrer, Janis Paige, Tuesday Weld, James Coburn, and Sir Richard Attenborough.
Modern stars feature Elliott Gould, Tommy Lee Jones, Cliff Robertson, Michael Keaton, Bill Murray, Amy Irving, Oliver Stone, Jeremy Irons, Valerie Perrine, Richard Gere, Lilly Tomlin, Jack Warden, Keanu Reeves, Raquel Welch, Rosie Perez, Tim Burton, Barbara Bach, Damon Wayans, Timothy Bottoms, Marlee Matlin, Swoozie Kurtz, Jason Priestley, Salma Hayek, Steve Gutenberg, Charlie Sheen, Macaulay Culkin, Cameron Diaz, and Jacqueline Bisset.
In music, Virgo is represented by legends such as Charlie Parker, Jelly Ross Morton, Patsy Cline, Maurice Chevalier, Jimmie Rodgers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Hank Williams, John Cage, Charlie Byrd, Cannonball Adderley, Otis Redding, Billy Preston, Sterling Morrison, Keith Moon, Cass Elliot, Freddie Mercury, and Leonard Bernstein.
Modern era talents this sign has given us include Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Roy Acuff, B.B. King, Barry Gibb, Leonard Cohen, Mason Williams, Jose Feliciano, Mel Torme, Chrissie Hynde, Fiona Apple, Harry Connick Jr., Branford Marsalis, Michael Jackson, Roger Waters, Barry White, Moby, Harry Connick, Jr., Pink, and Beyonce Knowles.
In the world of television Virgo has given us some truly legendary figures. Think televison pioneers Clayton Moore, "The Lone Ranger," and funny man Sid Caeser. Other luminaries include "Columbo" Peter Falk, "Man From Uncle" David McCallum, "I Dream of Genie" stars Barbara Eden and Larry ("JR") Hagman, multi-faceted funny ladies Valerie Harper, Cindy Williams Carol Lawrence, and Jane Curtin, Bob Newhart, Adam Sandler, Ed Begley Jr., Tom Everett Scott, Peggy Lipton, and John Ritter, actor and nice guy extraordinaire.
Virgo has also offered us such diverse talents as Supremes Oliver Wendell Holmes and David Souter, educator Maria Montessori, surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku, sports figures Kobe Bryant, Lance Armstrong, Rocky Marciano, Arnold Palmer, Ted Williams, and Jesse Owens, Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov, "rob from the rich to give to the poor" American legend Jessie James, and General Norman Schwartzkopf. A special birthday nod goes to great astrologer Liz Greene and one of the most spiritual men I've ever been privileged to know, the esteemed Mike Miles.
Finally, it's the birth month of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote and Ike's decision to send in the 101st Airborne to integrate Little Rock High School, kicking open a few doors, so to speak. Also happy birthday to the cities of Boston, Basel, Heidelberg, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, Lyons, and Paris, the state of California, and the nations of Brazil, Greece, Switzerland, Turkey, and Uruguay.
© Copyright 2006 Robert Wilkinson
To Steven Robbins: While most things are not spam, some things are.
Posted by: Robert | October 02, 2006 at 07:27 PM