Sixth: Virgo

If you haven’t already, I urge you to read the article explaining how the zodiac may be seen as a collection of twelve psychological types and thus gain context.

Virgo is the last sign with the Day Force prevailing over the Night Force, as it has been since the vernal equinox. In Virgo, human consciousness focuses on analysis as a reaction to what transpired during the Leo phase. In Leo, the Night Force was hesitant and insecure in its social adaptation and the individual was forced to accentuate his emotional displays.

After finding a base at home in the Cancer phase, the individual must take part in society. In Leo, he must produce, engender, create. He understands, albeit not always consciously, the importance of such a “duty” and assumes the required responsibilities. He feels strong, proud of his creations and radiant in his paternity; however, he is not used to act under a social responsibility. His adventuresome demeanor may bring failures, and his self-assurance, a few mistakes. He may feel offended, his pride hurt; the stress may cause physical illness or emotional unrest. The load of having a home and social responsibilities while engaging in creative or productive activities can leave a strong impression on the personality.

A Practical Question

Something is not right, but what? A multitude of questions arise but, who can provide answers? So we keep on working, producing, investigating, teaching and creating. This is the essence of social life but, how can we advance when our faith and strength are weak? Who could teach us the technique for an easier and less exhausting life? Such is the stage for the Virgo phase of consciousness development. It begins with a question and may end with a true illumination at the autumnal equinox, the start of Libra. It must end with a greater comprehension of the social process and the nature of the Night Force. It should end with beauty and peace, or at least with social readjustment.

Every productive activity based on strict individualism and emotional self-expression presents us with a question: how can we avoid physical exhaustion, emotional tragedy and disappointment? The answer is twofold and both sides must be integrated, which is easier in theory than in practice. On one hand, the answer to the exhaustion caused by impulsive activities and dramatic gestures may be summarize by one word: technique. On the other, the emotional nature itself must also be reoriented.

Technique

A technique is a method based on some fundamental principles applied in such a way that it allows a man to develop his work with ease and less exhaustion, without wasting energy and as quickly as possible. A master of technique is someone who deeply understands the basis of the method and has applied it to the structures of his muscular, nervous and mental behavior. The Virgo type seeks to be such a master of technique but, first, technique must be learned. And, with few exceptions, it must be learned from someone who truly is a master (or mistress) of technique, by becoming his apprentice. As such, an apprentice must observe himself objectively, critically, analyzing himself and accepting his own defects. He will be honest when evaluating the activities of others, and his own. He will criticize without prejudices, impartially and without discrimination. He will be pure.

On Purity

According to Dane Rudhyar, purity has been misunderstood and often implies ethical images and confusing traditions. To understand purity take, for example, “pure water” which means having no sediments or organic compounds, like microbes. Just the same, a “pure man” should not be anything more than what he is by the rights of his destiny. When in a human being there are elements or wishes that don’t “belong” to the structure of his own essential character and his destiny, these are “impurities” motivating psychological conflicts and depression. Technique is a method to eliminate such impurities. A master of technique is completely sure of himself because he knows there is nothing within him that could inhibit, confuse or bother his behavior, nothing in his physical and mental mechanism, and nothing in the flow of energy from source to destination. He has steady hands due to his calm nerves, the stability of which is a result of having his psychic nature clear and unaltered by fear.

Other Principles

We have seen that technique is based on purity but it also depends on potency and ability. Potency refers to having the organs through which life can flow but, more importantly, that such “life potential” continues to be present in the organism. From here it follows the symbolism of the Virgin, which is pure and potent since it has not been corrupted and is full of new energies. Ability, as the result of proper training, comes in last. Training wouldn’t even be needed if the apprentice was truly pure and potent, because life-energy would flow intensely and without corruption resulting in the ability to adapt rapidly and by himself to any new situation. Unfortunately, men of late have forgotten this fact and spends too much energy on mechanical training.

Life is intelligence, says Rudhyar. However, men have obstructed such internal intelligence with social and personal illusions, thus needing to substitute it with tedious teachings. Of course, this doesn’t mean that training should be undervalued, a good half of the apprentice’s effort lies on purifying his nature to rid of all hurdles. We see that self-purification is also key to become a master of technique, reaching a state of “virginity”. The past must be excised, forgotten and reduced to the “essence of the experience”, thus extracting wisdom from it.

Reorientation

Any casual reader of astrology will recognize the Virgo type in the previous discussion about technique, based on some traditional “authorities”: analysis, discrimination, critique, work routine, purity, self-integration, body care and hygiene, and so on. Yet Virgo offers more to the seeker of self-perfection; to the wounded soul who, after venturing in the emotional world of Leo, is now empty and with a heartache; as well as to the parents whose children are suddenly ungrateful, the creative artist whose works don’t give rise to a social response, or to the leader whose followers have abandoned him. These are all images of a troubling Leo experience. To them, Virgo offers emotional reorientation.

The Sphinx

There is an astrological tradition saying that the zodiacal point where Leo ends and Virgo begins carries the symbol of the Sphinx, the mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of a virgin, sculpted in stone and resting in the Egyptian desert. The Sphinx looks ahead, to the equinox, when the Night Force will ascend to prominence urging us to relate. Yes, in the sunken stony eyes of the Sphinx we can see the source of the emotional disenchantment and bitterness we feel: our lack of “social sense”. Leo is proud of “going at it” alone, partly due to his social insecurities. Up to now, however, we have ignored the meaning of the Night, a cosmic power that joins elements to form ever larger organisms. We have claimed that our individual way of projecting emotion is the only valid one, we had the right to demand it all and impose our will to life. And the Night Force turned destructive, leaving us alone in darkness and terrified by the broken echo of our own desires.

We must be like the Sphinx. The body of a lion has an enormous mating power, the head of the virgin awaits for that which will arrive. The Sphinx has no pride, is in no rush, just waits for the moment as it is written. The Sphinx represents power and purity reoriented towards the realization of purpose and destiny. Virgo’s message is that the life-energies we feel are not ours, they belong to Life; but we can give them meaning and purpose more important than our home and family. So a Virgo aspect is the realm of spiritual devotion and discipleship. Virgo is the sign of sacrifice, which literally means to consecrate or “make sacred”, and in particular of sacrifice to a Greater Whole. Virgo also relates to the armed forces who, through the discipline and sacrifice of war, learn to participate in a greater Whole: the nation. More about this shortly.

Dark Side

Whereas the power of critical analysis and self-criticism is key for a good apprentice, it depends on the conscious mind and its ruler, the ego. The problem arises when the ego is made to realize that it will have to relate to other egos. And soon, for the Night Force in Virgo is “knocking at the door” of reaching the conscious mind. It will supplant the Day Force as the prevailing one after the equinox. By relating, he will only be one more ego among the many! The ego feels impacted and shaken. It seeks to explain, formulate, criticize, escape, invent many and wondrous substitutes, and even try to become the devotee of exotic gods. The ego tries everything to be on the go, thinking, evaluating, when all that is needed is to be still and silently bear the inevitable metamorphosis.

By criticizing one thing or an individual, does the ego not prove to be superior to them? By inventing new techniques or going on remote pilgrimages, is this not a testimony of his ability to meet new conditions and retain his control over circumstances? Yes, these are proofs that the ego can learn, but the activities are still ego-controlled. They are like grants from an autocratic king to his awakened and rebellious people. They seek to transform, literally to modify the form, rather than transfigure, where the substance of consciousness and selfhood is renewed. Under this renewal there is necessarily a restatement of purpose. The ego structures may be retained but the purpose of these structures and of the ego itself must be renewed. Writes Rudhyar: “… the self-seeking and jealous attitude of the ego has … to be superseded by the compassionate and all-inclusive understanding of the Self.”

The Virgo Crisis

However, the change does not depend upon the invention of new devices or new forms of worship. It comes only as consciousness, or rather its substance, is changed. It comes through new experiences and accepting new relationships with an open heart. New machines and techniques serve to produce new experiences, alter conditions of living, and force upon the inert minds commerce and communication with different minds. But the modern instruments of “progress” are only means to an end; means that can be easily used by the ego. Humanity must move on from the current egocentric model of “relating”. First of all, our generations must give up the illusion that our wars are merely between nations; an illusion based on the heresy of “national sovereignty” and on the refusal to understand the need to transfigure the substance of social relationships everywhere. Nationalism parallels egoism. Both can only remain in what I have called the new civilization if they are thoroughly transfigured and renewed in purpose and in will.

Gift: Tolerance

This is our Virgo crisis and challenge. It is our need. To this need, Spirit answers with a gift defined by a little-understood but profound word: Tolerance. When one hears the word, tolerance, one thinks of an attitude or feeling that is in contrast to sharp criticism and fanaticism. Indeed, to be tolerant of others opinions, feelings and habits is to allow everyone to think and feel as they see fit. But real tolerance is more than “live and let live”, often with a hint of smugness and self-centered indifference to anything but one’s own truth. Tolerance is not the absence of intolerance either. It does not mean simply to stop finding fault with other people’s thoughts, feelings or actions.

Etymologically, tolerance means: “to bear”, but to bear what? At the very least the burden of needing to change and grow by relating to others. To be tolerant is to bear the responsibility of a quest for broader knowledge, less constricted feelings and more adjustable behavior. It is the ability to grow by becoming ever more inclusive. Most of all, it is not a negative virtue. It is a conscious attitude which refers to oneself and one’s beliefs far more than to another person or opinion. The acceptance of opposites is the prelude to inclusiveness and integration.

Virtues and Palliatives

Tolerance, compassion and charity are the three virtues available in the path of the Virgo type of person, as well as to the rest of us. Tolerance is of the mind, compassion is of the heart, and charity refers to action. All three share the willingness to grow by assimilating more numerous and varied aspects of truth, love, and the sacrificial action. To the intolerant there can be no expansion of intelligence and understanding. Spirit blesses the Virgo path with these virtues because it is a path that especially needs them. It is a path of crisis and personal reorientation where it is easy to focus on the tribulations at hand. Virgo’s preoccupation with details of work, technique, health and hygiene, and the analytical and ruthless criticism of himself and others, focuses on the negative aspects of the crisis. These traditional Virgo characteristics should be shown for what the are: palliatives and substitutes for the real effort.

To successfully navigate the Virgo path, we must not only change the contents of the body or ego, we must rethink an entirely new approach to the container itself. To purify the body or the ego is not enough. The consciousness of the fully mature individual must not only illuminate and assimilate the energies of the ego; it must also assimilate the ego itself. Such a mysterious and puzzling operation is behind all lesser efforts characteristic of the Virgo phase. Men who reach this step in their evolution often recoil, due to fear or lack of understanding. They may seek teachers, scrutinize every detail of their past and analyze their feelings in the hope to find a magic key. And they will seek everywhere. However, the way to assimilate all truth is to assimilate the ego that seeks to know all truth, according to Rudhyar.

Epilogue

Rudhyar ends the chapter on Tolerance with the following: “Words cannot say more. The crisis must be won by being lived. The rose ever blooms at the center of the cross. God is found where the divine in man has assumed that man—and the shadow of that man.”

Always Love. 🌹🙏💖