Hello, hello,
How are you doing?
Today, I'd like to talk about the sign of Virgo in astrology. Ah, Virgo, the virgin maiden running through summer field.
The most methodical, organized and clever of all the zodiac signs.
But maybe a bit too methodical? Maybe a bit obsessed?
Maybe a bit too much in their own system? Not very open, flexible or adventurous?
Maybe actually a bit boring? / gasp! /
Hey, that’s nothing personal.
I’m just reciting from the books and the memes. I actually think Virgos have a very mean reputation.
And I want us all to remember that we all have all of the 12 zodiac signs in our birth chart.
So think about that before making fun of Virgos, haha.
The question I want to address in this post is, is the reputation of Virgo actually true?
Today, we’re going to learn all about the sign of Virgo. Or at least, all about the basics.
Before diving in, I’d like you to know that this post also has a video version. So if you’re more in the mood to watch rather then read, here you are:
All About Virgo
If you want to understand any one of the signs, you only need to think about 3 tiny things:
1. their element
2. their mode
3. their ruling planet
So the plan is to run through those 3 things for the sign of Virgo, and consider whether it works with their usual reputation.
The Element
There are 4 elements in astrology: fire, earth, air and water.
An element corresponds to certain types of qualities.
I’m not going to go much too much into the details of it here, because there are actually whole books that have been written on the elements, but Virgo is of the earth element.
And the earth element is how you probably already imagine it to be. It’s grounded, stable, slow, heavy, concrete, practical.
It’s the slow burning type of energy.
So this fits like a glove with our image of Virgo, right?
Now for the Mode
The mode flashes out the qualities of an element.
If you’re focused. If you’re not actually zoning out while reading this post with some lofi in the background, you should remember that I just told you that there are 4 elements in astrology : )
So we’ve got 12 signs. That’s how many signs per element?
That’s 3 signs per element.
Haha, I'm trying to make this more interactive but it's not really working.
Now we’ve got to differentiate those 3 signs with the same elements.
So we add the mode.
That’s not exactly how the zodiac signs were designed, but whatever. This is not a history class, okay?
So boom the mode helps us to differentiate Virgo from Taurus or from Capricorn. Because those 3 signs are very, very different.
The mode of Virgo is mutable. It’s a mutant, kids.
The mutable mode is the mode of every sign that ends a season.
Virgo is more or less from the 23rd of August to the 22nd of September. That’s the end of summer in the northern hemisphere
Mutable signs have this quality of it’s the end of a season. They’re volatile, flexible, adaptable and they like to nuance, merge or make stuff more complex.
Ho ho ho…
Here we already get to the stereotype of Virgo.
That sign is earthy, so it enjoys practical stuff, but it likes complex practical stuff, or it likes to make practical stuff more complex.
Just blend the element and the mode and think about how it makes sense.
What kind of behavior could it mean?
Before we dig deeper, let’s look at the most important thing to know about Virgo, which is, the planet it is ruled by.
And Virgo is ruled by Mercury.
The Ruling Planet: Mercury
Dear Mercury, planet of communication, ideas, thoughts and information.
Planet of all kinds of mental exchanges.
But also physical ones. Because Mercury also rules markets, money and travels. Mercury is a planet of change and exchanges.
So here the mutable mode of Virgo is emphasized by Mercury.
Virgo actually has a speedy quality that is too often eclipsed by its earthy nature.
Because Mercury can be a bit of a capricious planet. It’s a bit like a kid that loves to be stimulated by all the bright shiny stuff the world is made off.
Mercury loves to think, to learn, to share and to act.
But it’s not so good at processing and integrating.
The earth element of Virgo allows to ground all this, and at the same time the mutable mode and Mercury helps to make the earth of Virgo more malleable.
It gives it some stretch so it can adapt to new stuff.
So it can go to places that the earth cannot usually reach.
So actually Virgo might be one of the most balanced signs of all the zodiac.
So now what?
Well, now you know the basics of what makes Virgo, Virgo, and you’re free to make your own interpretation of that sign.
Let's rethink the stereotypes
Is Virgo actually methodical, organized and clever?
Well, yes.
I mean it is ruled by Mercury, the god of thoughts and ideas, while being an earthy sign, which allows Virgo to apply in a practical way all those ideas.
Could it be actually too methodical or obsessed?
Well… maybe?
That doesn’t seem like an inherent quality based on the element, mode and planet, but it could be an accidental quality.
If you’ve got so much stuff happening in your head, and at the same time you want to patiently apply all this mental stuff, you might go overboard on the organization part.
But what means overboard might be pretty relative.
Like my definition of organized is probably pretty different than yours.
And in that sense, I think that the organized quality of Virgo is kind of a stereotype.
Because many Virgos will have their own system of organization, which is actually total disorganization.
Like the cliche of the mad scientist’s lab, full of junk, but if you disturb anything in it, the scientist will scream bloody murder.
And I’d say that Virgos can be pretty flexible and, dare I say, adventurous.
Because after all they’re a mutable sign ruled by Mercury.
Mercury, the god of travel for Jimmy’s sake.
And for the cliche of Virgos are boring, that’s bullshit.
Mercury is the planet of tricksters. It’s the planet that loves a good old prank, however bad it could go.
And Mercury also rules Divination and Mysteries. How is that for boring?
Virgo is actually a sign directly connected to the art of astrology and tarot, so if you find that boring, I don’t know why you’re reading this article.
Final Words or a Conclusion
There are many others things, stuff, that flesh out the qualities of Virgo.
But the element, the mode and the planet, that’s really the foundations.
And it’s actually a pretty broad foundation that allows to include very different personality types.
Like Hermione Granger, a true Virgo, who is actually a lot more flexible, and has a real trickster side to her, than we give her credit for.
Or Beth Harmon, of the Queen’s Gambit (a Scorpio sun and moon, surprise, surprise), who’s very cerebral, clearly primarily works in her mind, and thrives on patterns and repetitions.
That’s why she loves chess.
And that’s how she feels the most grounded in her life.
But she can also be very chaotic. She has her own particular way of working with things, and she heavily relies on intuition too (the divination side of Mercury).
She's stubborn, moody (mercurial) yet surprisingly flexible and curious.
In a nutshell, it’s good fun to build a stereotypical image of Virgos.
But it’s also very fun to see the infinite and complex kinds of people Virgos can be.
I encourage you to develop your own understanding of Virgos.
What movie or book character could be a Virgo, based on the element, mode and planet of Virgo?
Theory vs Reality
In reality, things are actually even more complicated. Because no one is just a Virgo.
There’s a difference between a Virgo moon or a Virgo sun,
between a Virgo Jupiter or Venus,
between a Virgo 3rd house or 9th house.
And so many more stuff.
So if you would like to explore how the sign of Virgo is present in your life,
or really how any sign manifests itself in you,
or what signs are the most present in the make-up of who you are.
But in a non dogmatic, judgmental way, more in a dialog where you can deepen your understanding of astrology and of yourself, you can book an astrology reading with me.
Alright pumpkins, thanks for reading.
As a final gift, here's a little summary I made for the sign of Virgo.
Stay wise and kind and all that jazz.
Jin the Wizard
thunder and coffee