Sun Signs - Virgo

- VIRGO –
24 August to 23 September

Ruler: Mercury
Mutable-Earth Sign

When we have Virgo strong in our charts (i.e. Sun, Moon, Mercury or Ascendant) we value neatness, honesty and order above all else. We rigorously practice very high standards of living and conduct, and often we demand the same of everyone we meet. As children we may have been labelled “goody-two-shoes” by our less caring brothers and sisters. We are very good at practical skills and quite handy with tools of all kinds. We are also greatly concerned with hygiene, cleanliness and personal health problems. We are pernickety people to say the least and if someone doesn’t tidy up after themselves, we will moan and groan about it for the rest of the day. We simply cannot work or live in chaotic environments and are probably compulsively tidy. Our motto is “work first, play later”. We are turned off by bad hygiene. Because Virgo rules health, very likely our health is much better than we think it is, and we should either spend less time worrying about it or do something positive if we are in a bad health phase. We know more than any other sign that the physical body is our temple. We may not always look after our bodies like we would our favourite pets, cars or tools, but we often feel very guilty when we use or abuse it. We are very sensitive to junk food, stress and a lack of sleep, and when we get strange allergies in reaction to this, we know the time has arrived to take stock of our lives.

Because Mercury, the ruler of Virgo, says a lot about how we communicate, we are likely to be very precise and clear in what we say or how we write something. We may express ourselves in a flowing torrent of words and often our friends and family are hard pushed to get a word in edgeways. We will follow a logical sequence and place as many details as possible into our explanations. We may find we gain more clarity by putting our thoughts on to paper or talking aloud, and often we may keep a precise and detailed diary that will always be referred to and treasured. And even if we don’t have a diary, our sharp and retentive minds will file away dates, events and people like a computer. Facts, facts and more facts may be our intellectual diet, but we may be in danger of overloading our minds with too many details.

We may also have a sharp tongue that can be supercritical of not only others, but of ourselves too. But we are also very kind and helpful. We may also tend to spend so much time theorising that we don’t actually get around to applying our knowledge practically. Becoming too “bookish” or theoretical means we may not cultivate the breadth of vision that hands-on experience gives us to utilise our knowledge. If we were given encouragement and plenty of opportunity to express our thoughts and opinions and observations as a child then we will have a healthy ability to express our ideas as an adult, we will act on our precise thoughts. But if we were ridiculed or criticised as a child, then we may feel extremely self-conscious about voicing our opinions and will have to work very hard to feel confident in this area – this may keep us as the eternal student looking to perfect our minds and abilities. We feel we never know enough.

On the flipside, Virgo may also give us a quest for purity and perfection, whether of mind, body or action. We won’t undertake something unless we feel we can do the best that we possibly can. We make mental or physical lists, and when we have a new intellectual fascination, we read everything about it that we can get our hands on. Libraries and bookstores may be our favourite haunts along with stationery stores and the plastic container sections in supermarkets. Anywhere or anything that promotes the idea of structure and tidiness gets the thumbs up. This lends itself to developing a fine ability to research something until we know every single detail. Our painstaking diligence, our nitpicking, detail-loving, want-to-know-everything tendency may drive other signs mad, but we can’t rest until we have uncovered every stone, read every chapter. We often have an encyclopedic knowledge. You can see why Virgo’s are often in danger of information overload!

Workaholism is also a great and very real danger to serious Virgo subjects who never like to waste a single spare moment of their lives. Whether we are at our jobs, at home on a lazy weekend or wide-awake in the middle of the night, we will always find something to do, something to worry about. Our minds never rest, and often we are jumpy and nervous as a result! And when we begin to do this to excess we are in danger of burning ourselves out. Finding a balance between work and rest is the best thing we can do for ourselves.

Health wise, Virgo rules the abdomen and intestines. We may suffer in these areas when we are tense and overwrought. Our exacting natures may incline us to worry needlessly and so we can suffer nervous ailments too. Lack of sleep and bad diet affects us very quickly.

(c) Tracey Rizvi, 2006