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Libra’s Balancing Act  by Genevieve Vierling

9/30/2012

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After the busy harvest season of Virgo, and before the intense descent into the darkness of winter with Scorpio, comes Libra making great effort to maintain a delicate balance. From September 22nd, the well-known Autumnal Equinox, until October 22nd we experience those golden days when nature seems to take a pause and everything is a bit dreamy and hushed during the day light hours as the nights become ever crisper, colder, and darker.

The scales of balance known as Libra were called Zibanitum (scales) by the Babylonians, Zugas (yoke) by the Greeks, Tula or Tulam (balance) by those in India, and Tien Ching (Celestial Balance) by the Chinese. The Egyptians found a deep significance in these scales of balance. One mythic version has the goddess Maat, at the time of death, placing the human soul on one scale, and a feather on the other. Should the scale tip but slightly, the soul will have to reincarnate again with the goal of expiating that extra weight. In the Egyptian Book of the Dead, as recorded by Thoth, Anubis weighs the dead person’s heart on a scale, balancing it against a feather, symbolizing truth. This takes place in the Double Hall of Justice in front of the deceased, and an entire assembly of gods and goddesses, with Osiris, ruler of the underworld, presiding. If the deceased fails by being too heavy, his heart is consumed by a beast, the Devourer. Yipes. Delicate balance is an understatement!

CONSTELLATION OF LIBRA

The Scales of Libra is the only constellation represented by an inanimate object. There has been considerable confusion over the origins of this constellation. We do know that in 700 BC the Babylonians used qaran zaquqipi (the Scorpion’s horns) as an alternative name for Libra. Alpha Librae, it’s brightest star, is traditionally known as the ‘southern claw’, while Beta Librae is the northern claw.

Unlike the constellation of Virgo, Libra ranks 29th in size and consists of just 35 visible stars It covers but 1.304% of the sky. A globular cluster within it, N.G.C. 5905,5M was discovered in 1702, and William Herschel, the discoverer of Uranus, later discerned 200 faint stars in it.

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GLYPH

The glyph of Libra depicts the setting sun about to sink below the line of the horizon, symbolic of the withdrawal of vital day forces after the intense activity of spring and summer. It also reminds one of the beam of a pair of scales, which suggests the weighing of the self against the not-self in the hopes of achieving some kind of balance and equilibrium between subjective and objective consciousness.

QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS

Libra is a Cardinal Air sign whose ruler is Venus. The element of Air emerged first through Gemini, a Mutable sign, so that by now Libra’s thought processes are less inquisitive and more concerned with weighing everything to see both sides of any given issue, situation, or story. The Cardinality of the sign shows the ability to take initiative, but unlike its opposite polarity, Aries, Libra is more deft and subtle, so that others often do not realize that the initiative has been taken. This makes of Libra both an expert strategist as well as an elegant diplomat. Some famous Libras who showed these skills were Dwight Eisenhower, Winston Churchill, Lech Walesa, and Margaret Thatcher. The cliche for the females of the sign, ‘the iron fist inside the velvet glove’, most aplty describes Ms. Thatcher’s style. The leadership of Libra tends to be marked with the finesse of manipulating both people and circumstances through the art of diplomacy.

The need to dialogue with others, and to seek others advice, is very strong in Libra, whether one has Sun in Libra, a Libran Ascendant, or several planets in the 7th house. Librans are often fluent in the art of communication and can be very good at saying challenging things without giving offense. Not only is diplomacy their forte, but mediation as well, for they are adept at settling differences between opposing factions. It was John Milton, whose 400th birthday is now being celebrated, who wrote in Paradise Lost the praises of Libra,
‘The Eternal, to prevent such horrid fray,
Hung forth in heaven his golden scales, yet seen
Betwixt Astraea and the Scorpion sign.’

Probably Librans do better as counselors and advisers rather than debaters. They are really better at helping others to make up their minds than doing so themselves for they are known for ‘straddling the fence’ and endlessly consulting back and forth with others before making a decision, though ultimately they often make the right decision after such lengthy deliberations. Even so, when faced with hard choices, which demand taking a stand, their innate desire for justice and harmony may even collapse unless they are fortified with elements of fire or Scorpionic planets.

Venus, as ruler of the sign, shows her more ‘airy’ qualities in Libra rather than the fecund, earthy aspects of her other rulership, Taurus. The movie The Adventures of Baron Munchausen depicted with wit and style this Venusian quality. Aphrodite, played by Uma Thurman, takes the Baron up, up and away from her husband Vulcan’s dirty and fiery forge to the celestial dome of her idealized paradise. Such airy bliss is fleeting at best. Libra in its search for ideal love and union is often plagued with paradox along the way. Marriage, said to be under the jurisdiction of Libra, is often the ‘fiery crucible’ where true love is tested for its metal of endurance. The alchemical union of opposites is never as easy as it appears when young lovers are first star-struck by the arrow of Aphrodite’s son, Eros.

This search for harmony and balance can move into all sorts of other types of relationships such as the art of placement, interior design, floral arrangements, clothing and fashion design, etc. Good taste and manners go hand in hand with Librans, and their homes are often havens of peace and harmony, as well as centers for gatherings and soirees. Choreography is another excellent field for the Libran art of placement whether in dance, ice skating, or gymnastics.

Less artistic avenues of expressing balance are seen in the business world of accounting, banking, and merchandising.

Libra rules the kidneys, those two organs which regulate and balance the workings of the internal systems of the body by filtering and keeping the body pure of toxic substances. The lower back is Libran turf and its suppleness is important in maintaning good posture and grace of movement.

RELATIONSHIPS

Having progressed through the first six signs of the year symbolizing the soul’s journey to develop a sense of Self, the I of individuality is now ready to join with the Other and create union through partnership. Libra, of all the signs, has the most to do with relationship, especially of the one-to-one kind. It is a particularly romantic sign more akin to chivalrous love than the steamier Taurus/Scorpio types of love affairs. Libra truly enjoys the art of courtship.

Librans are ‘people persons’ and generally have a wide circle of friends. Their main thrust, however, is towards true partnership where equality and harmony are the ultimate goals. Libran rising people identify more as a ‘We’ than an ‘I’, as do those with strong groupings of planets in their 7th house. Sun-sign Librans are questing for partnership and will learn their greatest lessons in life by being in intimate relationship with another.

Contractual agreements come under the jurisdiction of Libra, and marriage is certainly a binding agreement. Historically, marriage was not about love but more of an arranged merger to aid political, social, or religious agendas. In mythology Juno/Hera, married to Zeus exemplified the power issues and struggles, which arose out of such a binding arrangement where true union was absent. She had been abducted and forced into the marriage, but she took vengeance on the ‘other women’ who allowed themselves to be involved with a married man/god. Vulcan, seemingly fared no better married to the goddess Venus, herself. His anger at her infidelities was sublimated into his art, but also used to trap her with her lover, Mars. These are not very encouraging ‘happily ever after’ archetypal tales.

Libra is a sign full of paradoxes and contradictions as it attempts to find the balance between life and death, consciousness and unconsciousness, peace and war, love and hate. Certainly marriage is the testing ground for learning to love and accept that which we are not. Eros and Psyche is a more fully-balanced myth exploring these deeper themes.

THE MYTH OF EROS AND PSYCHE



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This is a monumental story, which has been written and re-written in many and various ways for centuries now. My favorite version is by C.S. Lewis, Til We Have Faces. Both Erich Neuman’s Amor and Psyche, and Robert Johnson’s She explore this myth as they analyze feminine psychology.

Psyche, a mortal, is considered to be more beautiful than Aphrodite, whose vanity will not allow such competition. She thus arranges for Psyche’s death and asks her son, Eros, who is usually given the job of shooting mortals with his arrow, to make sure that she meets her demise. As he attempts to do this he accidentally shoots himself and is instantly in love. Hmmm.

He takes Psyche to his incredible castle in the sky where she is given every consideration to enjoy herself by day, but is blindfolded at night and told never to look at her husband, for he is an immortal. During their nightly trysts she is in total bliss. Finally, after wiling her days alone, she asks to be allowed to return to her home for a visit, and he obliges. While home she confides in her three sisters who place doubt in her mind that perhaps her husband is really a monster. This Air sign affliction to go up into the mind, rather than staying in the heart, creates a questioning that leads to Libra’s dilemma of ‘straddling the fence’.

Giving in to her doubt, once back with her Eros, she does the forbidden and lights a lamp to see for herself who her lover-husband really is. Of course he is absolutely beautiful and divine, but—alas—a drop of oil falls on Eros, he awakens and must then vanish from her. Thus begins her ordeal of mastering three nearly impossible tests, set for her by Aphrodite, to win the right to be re-united with Eros.

This tale, altogether too long to relay here, ultimately shows a triumphant Psyche completing all three taks with the help of the instinctual/animal kingdom, and winning her true love back, as well as immortality.

This myth is both symbolic of the outer, as well as the inner, alchemical marriage of opposites. In most modern-day romantic marriages there is the initial starry-eyed phase where love is ‘blind’ to all realities but the projections of ones anima or animus onto the other. Then disillusionment sets in at some point and the partnership must go through the tests, trials, and challenges of becoming conscious, sometimes through horrendous power struggles, before discovering how strong the bond of love really is. If these tests are endured and consciousnesses in love prevails, the couple is united, once again, in true equality where inter-dependency, not co-dependency defines the relationship in a bond of fairness, cooperation, beauty, harmony, and balance.

All three outer transpersonal planets made their way through Libra in the last 20th Century, changing forever the concept of partnership and marriage. Neptune was in Libra from 1942 until 1956, subtly but surely dissolving the older more patriarchal forms of pre-World War II. Those born with this signature have perhaps idealized romantic marriage, yet have wanted to maintain their right to individuality and creative uniqueness as a Pluto in Leo generation simultaneously. Uranus did its work of revolutionizing Libran concepts during the years 1968 through 1975. When Pluto passed through Libra from 1972 through 1984 great disillusionment and truth-seeking over-hauled the institution of marriage and brought a greater depth of understanding into the fields of psychology and sociology in understanding all relationships. Divorce was rampant during those years, but the ‘institution’ has survived and now encompasses more than just traditional hetero-sexual unions. The very nature of what it means to be ‘married’ has also changed as more and more couples prefer to create their own partnership outside the sanctions of church or state, or within those sanctions they are seeking greater equality and fairness in what each partner brings to the union.

The best way to learn about the real workings of astrology is to study the lives of real people and see how the characteristics of signs and planets play out in their lives.  I have chosen two examples of Libra for this article.

JOHN LENNON, ‘COME TOGETHER’

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John Lennon born October 9, 1940 in Liverpool, England, lived only 40 years before being assassinated in front of his home in New York City.  In those 40 short years we can witness an amazing evolution of a Libran’s search for harmony and peace in not just marriage, but in his relationship with himself and the greater outer world.  One of the better books to chronicle his journey is by Jon Wiener, Come Together, John Lennon in his Time.

I will someday write an in-depth article on his life and times in this blog, for he epitomizes Librans need to be in relationship in order to be true to this particular path.  Rather than choosing to be a super-star without conscience and live on the surface of fame, glory, and wealth, he chose another path that was enhanced by his marriage to Yoko and his love for their son, Sean.  He became a feminist father, he became an avant-garde peacenik, and he became a songwriter for the movement against war, racism, and sexism.  His famous song, ‘Give Peace A Chance’ was recorded in June of 1969. By 1972 when asked by Mike Douglas what he would like to talk about, his answer was “Love, peace, communication, women’s lib, racism, war, prisons.”

Jon Wiener wrote,”Those who find satisfaction in squalid ‘revelations’ about Lennon’s life face a problem.  John revealed his own weaknesses and failings ruthlessly.  He spoke publicly about his heroin use and his drunkenness, and about the feelings of envy and bitterness that intermittently overwhelmed him.  He also spoke publicly about his dream of peace and love.  But it wasn’t his dream that made him a hero, it was his struggle to expose and overcome his anger, misery, and pain.”

Yoko, his Asian wife, was his beacon of light and they shared a philosophy that wove itself into all that John later contributed both artistically and politically.  As a Libran, did he make the right choice in his partner?  I think he did.  Yoko said this, “…The difference between the privileged class and the people is that the privileged have put on blinkers.  They don’t look on themselves as part of the whole.  I don’t have blinkers on.  I’m aware that I am only part of the whole and what happens to others affects my life directly and very fast.  I try to do my best to help others because I know that that is the only logical thing to do if one wishes to survive.  We have to survive together or we’ll all fall…”

MOHANDAS GANDHI


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Born October 2, 1869 and killed at the age of 78 years by an assassin’s bullet, Mohandas Gandhi actively pursued the Libran dream of peace and love by dedicating his entire life to nonviolence and nonresistance as a collective and political path.  He was a Double Libran with Sun in the 12th house of service to the whole and renunciation of the ego, as well as Libra Rising/Ascendant.  He had enough Fire and enough Scorpio planets to break through his own resistance to ‘take a stand’.  The principles he stood for were Truth, Nonviolence, Vegetarianism, Brahmacharya (spiritual and practical purity, largely associated with celibacy and asceticism), Simplicity, and Faith.  (see Wikipedia)

The best way to learn about Gandhi is to go to the source, himself.  He wrote his life story in The Story of my Experiments with Truth.   Another excellent and easy to read book about him is Eknath Easwaran’s Gandhi the Man.

Like John Lennon, Gandhi stated that the most important battle he ever fought was in overcoming his own demons, fears, and insecurities.  He did his own inner alchemical work.  His relationship with his wife, Kasturba, began at the tender age of 13 years.  Imagine!  That he experimented with numerous active-celibate relationships with many other women later in life is no secret.  They kept him warm in bed.  He was certainly a skinny little man by then!  “His relationships with women were, from beginning to end, as pure as mother’s milk”, said one female disciple.  That he had an amazing mastery over himself is also no secret, and is mirrored in his birth-chart by a strong fixed-sign T-square.

The legacy that he leaves as a spiritual and political leader is immense.  The concept of nonviolence is still very much alive, but practiced by the minority in most of the world sadly.  Will the hearts of humanity wake up in time to end violence and misery on this planet?

Lennon said ‘Give peace a chance.’

Gandhi said, “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won.  There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall—think of it, always.”



Genevieve A. Vierling C.A.P.
Astrologer
www.bluelightlady.com  

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Autumn Equinox 2012: Where Much Hangs in the Balance  by Genevieve Vierling

9/20/2012

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The day and night are equal in length this year on September 22nd.  This commences the final quarter before the Winter Solstice of 2012.  The chart for this moment in time shows a mixture of ease, opportunities, challenges, and polarities as we enter what appears to be a highly charged and critical time as in the Northern Hemisphere we descend into the longer nights of winter, while in the Southern Hemisphere the opposite occurs.

During these next three months several key astrological events occur starting with the release of the second Uranus/Pluto square of the 19th, the strong and intense Full Moon of the 29th & 30th of September where this square is strongly emphasized by the Moon joining Uranus and the Sun opposite while both square Pluto, and Saturn’s ingress into Scorpio on October 5th where it will be in mutual reception with Pluto during it’s sojourn for the next 2.5 years.  Let’s not also neglect to mention Mercury’s stationretrograde on the day of the Presidential election in America, and finally the much heralded ‘end of the Mayan Calendar’ on December 21st.

It does feel that much hangs in the balance as America prepares for the election of a next President while political and economic turbulence continues to swell here, there, and everywhere in various hot spots around the globe, and environmental issues are once again swept under the proverbial carpet, not to mention the spiritual health of the collective.  Is there any balance in all of this?  From most perspectives it appears not.


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For those of you wishing a more mundane and politically oriented approach to the election ahead and especially the Inauguration Chart of January 2013, I encourage you to read Matthew Carnicelli’swell-written and very detailed article “Take Care of this House”, as well as Alex Miller’s articles on Election Day and the Presidential candidates themselves.  Both men work with fixed stars, the multitude of asteroids, black holes, quasars, etc.  Neither is too optimistic about the outcome of this very questionable election and the aftermath which may take months to resolve due to Mercury turning stationary retrograde on November 6th and in square to Neptune/Chiron. (Confusion and deceptions abounding).

To be a good mundane astrologer you really need a solid background in history.  Mr. Carnicelli qualifies in that department.  That is not my field of expertise quite frankly.
I prefer to read the symbols as straightforwardly as possible and move into the more psychological/spiritual realm which matters to me and hopefully to you as an individual working with these energies in your own life.  So here’s my assessment:

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In this Equinox chart (calculated for Washingon DC at 10:50 AM EDT) the Sun in Libra widely conjoins Mercury in Libra symbolizing a need to weigh and balance everything from the heart since Venus in Leo rises first, then comes the Sun, and finally Mercury.  Values are keys to correct action right now, and the more vacillation of values, the less self-actualization.  Strong values are being espoused between right and left politically.  There will possibly be a great struggle in the next three months as mirrored by Mars rising in Scorpio squaring Venus in Leo.  Yet Venus also trines the Moon in Sagittarius implying that now is a good time for women to be heard, to speak out, and express their values from their hearts.  Women have won some hard-earned rights and those equal rights need to be further strengthened by more women joining forces and getting politically involved.  Marianne Williamson speaks eloquently of this need and there is a major movement afoot right now called Sister Giant whereby women can be strengthened to gain a greater voice in policy making from local to global.  Note how Venus is near the top of this Equinox chart, yet still on the 9th house side implying further education and preparation is yet needed.

Back to the Sun in Libra:  This Sun placement is opposite Uranus in Aires and squaring Pluto in Capricorn.  Libra traditionally tries to find the golden mean, the middle ground, the moderate stance.  This is probably not going to be an easy path ahead since nothing mitigates this intense challenge save Mercury’s trine to Jupiter, which the Sun does not share.  The great tide of the inter-net can not be stemmed and net-working is now a bee hive of activity as all the social networks buzz with opinions and news of every stripe.  The danger of this trine is exaggeration as one piece of news is picked up and spread like wild fire into the Mercury/Pluto/Uranus conflagration of often reactionary actions.  Thoughtfulness is certainly not a signature when Mercury follows the Sun.  Act first, think later is the name of this game which often isn’t very fun to play as witnessed by the recent wildfire rampage following the infamously disgusting film ‘Innocence of  Muslims’ spread across the inter-net.  This is a good example of what I’m referring to, and the next three months are likely to produce more such incidents of mob combustive reactions.

With the final aspect to the Sun in Libra being an inconjunct to Neptune there is little likelihood for any sort of calm, thoughtful evaluation where the broader collective is concerned.  Neptune rules the visual forms of media and images can send subliminal messages that invoke irrational responses.  History bears witness to this.

From my perspective, the one well-integrated pattern in this chart that speaks of some sanity is Saturn, about to leave Libra in the 12th, sextile a questing Moon in Sagittarius in the 2nd, and trining Neptune.  The Moon is midpoint the Saturn/Neptune trine.  This strikes me as a highly spiritual and meditative configuration in the midst of much angst and turmoil.  These next three months can be well spent doing inner work, careful planning, as well as karmic completions.  Saturn in Libra is the one note that seems to state it is important to come into balance, first within oneself, and then by doing what one can to create a balanced and sane world outside oneself with all of ones relationships.

Saturn Entering Scorpio
Let’s look at what lies ahead a bit with Saturn entering Scorpio.  Given that the North Node is also now in Scorpio, I see this as a valid time to work with Scorpio as a means towards transformation at the deepest of levels.  Nothing about Scorpio is trite, superficial, or half-baked.  As most of you know, Scorpio is ‘all or nothing’.  Scorpio deals with the force of the emotional realm as it connects with the material realm of sexuality, money, and power.  These are great mysteries that we humans still haven’t mastered; certainly not on the collective level anyway.  Our relationship with all three is still enmeshed in the premise that sexuality must be controlled at all costs because it is at the core of our sinfulness as a species.  Most of the existing great religions on this planet espouse this position most forcefully and this in turn leads to all the twisted and convoluted ideas about money and power.  If the sharing of ones body with another in rapturous pleasure was truly treated as a sacred act because the emotional body was also encouraged to be in alignment with that act, and this scared sacrament was celebrated as part of life from the first awakening of puberty would there be a need for controlling so many other aspects of life?  This is a good question to ponder.  We have no societies other than indigenous ones who adhere to such a philosophy.  Instead we have systems which have created bondage rather than freedom, wars rather than peace, and untold suffering rather than gentle healing.

I say this because when two people exchange bodily fluids in the sexual act this is also a rite where emotions and energies are exchanged as well.  If both participants aren’t in true and loving alignment there is a terrible imbalance set up that creates power issues where one is controlled and even in bondage to the other.  The same principle applies to money matters.  Think about it.  Does accepting money from another put you in further obligation to them?  Is there a fair and even exchange going on between you?  From here we move to power issues and we begin to see the vast inequalities playing themselves out now on the collective scale.  We see the burden of debt weighing down huge populations while a very few control the strings at the top.  We see that often those at the top gained their profits through deceitful and treacherous means where nothing remotely passed for fair exchange of energies or work. Looking at the privately owned Federal Reserve System: does printing money out of thin air and loaning it at interest  constitute fair exchange? Who collects all that interest?  Who profits?

I know this may sound terribly simplistic, but our world is now fraught with complexities that reek with the undercurrents of these great themes; sex, money, and power.   Until we truly examine the sexual rite which not only creates further life for us as a species, but also brings through Scorpio the great mystery of true bonding with another through this same rite, not for procreation but ideally for ecstasy through sacred union of body, mind, and soul; until we dig for these core truths of what it means to be human in this deeper sense, we really won’t be able to resolve our polarization themes of good and evil, left and right, male and female, and on and on.  Keep in mind that Scorpio follows Libra where the principles of equality and fairness are sought.  Scorpio is thus about fair energetic exchange which is designed to deepen the bond with another.  Being bonded is not about being in bondage!

Saturn soon to be in Scorpio in mutual reception with Pluto in Capricorn as the North Node also moves through Scorpio certainly gives us an opportunity to dive deeper into the great mysteries and find solutions for our human dilemmas.  This is not about being children waiting for the big Daddy in the sky to come down and save us.  This is very adult stuff and it requires a time of growing up and taking responsibility for our mind-sets and actions.  We have acted in such infantile ways for far too long, and we have allowed infantile leaders to keep us in bondage to paths which always lead to more suffering. We can certainly start with seeing our bodies as sacred, as temples.  We can teach our children those truths.  We can look at all our relationships and question the authenticity of those relationships.  Can we open ourselves to another knowing we will not be violated in any way by them?  What is the level of exchange where our sexuality is concerned?  Where our money is concerned?  Where our power is concerned?  How do all of these exchanges impact our emotional life?  Saturn in Scorpio requires a self-scrutiny that is totally honest emotionally, and then it requires some self-discipline to say no to that which would essentially compromise or violate what we hold as sacred in ourselves, as well as disciplined action towards others not to violate or place them in a compromised position.  If we treated ourselves and all life as scared we would be in alignment with Saturn in Scorpio.

So this is going to be sobering and serious stuff ahead given the Uranus/Pluto clash of the titans heating up, and Neptune/Chiron’s potential for chaotic wounding.  On the other side there is both the potential for universal healing via Neptune/Chiron as well as break-throughs as Uranus leads Plutonian transformation of old structures and institutions now obsolete.

Tying in with all of the above transpersonal changes there are undoubtedly going to be major break-throughs and discoveries which may yet right the terrible imbalance now teeter-tottering us ever closer to self-annihilation.  One intriguing scientist is Mehran Tavakoli Keshe of The Keshe Foundation.  I first learned of his work through fellow-astrologer, Dr. Ingrid Naiman’s newsletter.  I spent a great deal of time on his web site and will ‘watch and see’ how he develops concretely his amazing theories which state that gravity and magnetic fields can be produced at the same time revolutionizing how we create energy from space travel to ways of healing the body, where he treats the body as a galaxy in itself.  I suggest you take a look for yourselves!  I am, however, going to quote one statement from his Category “A New Horizon”,
“Let us remember:
Planets do not have wings, but they have been flying round in their orbits for millions of years.
Planets do not have engine rooms or jet engines fixed to them, but they create energy and are in motion in several dimensions at the same time.
Planets do not have exhaust pipes, but they burn fuel and create heat, some internally and some externally like stars.
Planets do not have any defense headquarters, but they protect their inhabitants with a magnetic shield called the atmosphere.
Planets do not have valves and gaskets in their cores, but they bring together the material they need to maintain their existence through natural laws.
Planets do not need to hold on to their matter and their inhabitants by attaching them or keeping them underground, but they create gravitational forces that are weak enough for them to be free to move, yet at the same time strong enough to hold on to them.
Planets and stars, using the natural laws of physics and materials, do all of these things, all at once and together, without separate machinery and control rooms and fuels.  They do this as one fully integrated system.
Thus for the first time in the world of technology and research, we have designed and tested a new system that functions according to the fundamental principles of nature, and demonstrates how all these effects can be very simply attained, all at the same time, and in a natural universal manner in one system.”

Well actually, Viktor Schauberger’s brilliant work and discoveries on energy, biomagnetism and the true function of even trees could have revolutionized our world back in the 1930s through the 1950s, but sadly one department of the US government sabotaged his work and prevented him from making it more publicly known at a time when nuclear power was more coveted than other forms of energy that would have proven more benign and cheaper.  Mr. Keshe seems to be more aware of the pitfalls of trusting the wrong people with his information.

On a more local and personal level I always love to promote people I know who are trying to make a positive difference in the world around them.  These people actualize the meaning of Uranus in Aries which infers doing something new and different, even ‘out of the collective box’ that improves life rather than further destroys it.  They are the trail blazers using their innovative ideas in bright and fresh new ways.  One example is Robert Bengtson, a Bay Area fine arts photographer, who has created with the help of his friends and colleagues Inspiration Campaign (People-Powered Media for a Positive Planet).  By placing inspirational messages on city billboards and even buses a startling and fresh thought and feeling is planted in people’s minds and hearts that see them.  Since most are used to seeing a catchy slogan advertising something to buy, these billboards remind the viewer that an inspiring message is value enough.  Such a concept!  See for yourself here:


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And by all means check out their web site for more fresh ideas and tools that even you can use.

In closing I refer you to previous posts covering the Uranus-Pluto square, Neptune in Pisces, and Chiron in Pisces on this blog: Neptune into Pisces: Enchantment or Sorcery? (1-25-12); ……The Uranus-Pluto Cycle (7-13-11); Chiron in Pisces and Neptune/Chiron both in Pisces (5-28-11); Living Through Momentous Times (3-21-11); Pluto Journeys Retrograde in Capricorn (4-10-10).  In all of these articles I discuss these passages which are still with us and impacting us now even more so.

May you walk in balance, holding yourself and all life sacred, in the months to come.


Genevieve A. Vierling C.A.P.
Astrologer
www.bluelightlady.com  

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Relating to Virgo  by Genevieve Vierling

9/13/2012

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Let us take a moment in our busy day to think about all the Virgos we know, and while we’re at it to give thanks and show appreciation for all that they do to make our lives easier, smoother, and hassle-free.  They truly are the ones who diligently apply their knowledge and expertise to keep things well maintained in our daily lives.  Many of them literally keep us whole and healthy in our minds and bodies as medical practitioners, therapists, body workers, and nutritionists.

Virgos, as a rule, are well grounded souls who prefer some type of discipline that develops their fine intellect so that it can be applied in a practical way through fields which either serve or provide something useful for others.  If the arts are chosen they will dedicate themselves diligently to mastering the craft.  They are decidedly not interested in simply dabbling or messing around!

The application of discrimination in sorting things out through a process of ever increasing refinement of what is important and what is not is a pathway used by Virgos.  Their goal or basic drive is toward synthesizing all the different elements so that the finished result is as perfect and whole as possible.  A good example within our own body is the use of our small intestines.  The function of sorting out what can be used by our organism and what needs to be discarded is all accomplished within the narrow passage ways of this significant organ.  Our Virgo friends also serve us in unobtrusive, but highly significant ways solving problems, completing the details, and polishing the final results.


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The extroverted type of Virgo will systematically classify, order, and synthesize out in the world.  Take Warren Buffett, one of the world’s wealthiest men.  He’s not called ‘the Sage of Omaha’ without good reason.  His billions were acquired step by step in as methodical a process as any good Virgo would admire, philosophical reasoning aside.  He lives rather unpretentiously by contrast to the various flamboyant billionaires of late.  I’m sure he considers himself highly realistic and now in his golden years he is moving towards his Pisces polarity by giving 85 % of his Berkshire stock to charitable foundations which he feels will contribute to the greater good of the whole. 
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Another good example of Virgo diligence and industry out in the world was Margaret Sanger, co-founder of what is now Planned Parenthood.  Starting out in a good Virgo profession as a nurse serving the poor neighborhoods of New York City, she eventually began the first birth control clinic in the USA.  This was way back in 1916 when it was illegal to even publish information on contraception.  She must have seen first hand the terrible suffering of infants and children whose parents could not cope with even the demands of feeding, housing, clothing, and educating them under the weight of their abject poverty.  Using her Virgo realism she created a solution for a social problem.

It should be noted by both examples above that all the small steps Virgos take often lead to great accomplishments.  Today Ms. Sanger is ranked as one of the 20th century’s most influential people.

The more introverted type of Virgo will also step by step order, process, and synthesize in efforts to work on and improve themselves.  I certainly have a number of exceptional Virgo clients with whom I work. Many of them I have served for decades.  They are the ones who leave no stone unturned and ask for details on their journey towards self-understanding and wholeness.  They are also usually the ones who want to know why I see what I see.  They learn the terminology rather quickly as well.  They seem to love the process of self-analysis.  Astrology lends itself to the meticulousness of Virgos, for it is so incredibly precise and mathematical.  Many top-notch astrologers are Virgos, such as Liz Green who is also a Jungian analyst.

Keep in mind that Virgo is the final sign where individual development in mastered  preparing them for success out in the world.  Thus Virgo contains within it the synthesis and integration of the previous five signs.  Virgo seeks to be whole and self-contained.  Perhaps that is why you’ll see many Virgos being perfectly happy to remain reclusive after achieving great fame such as Greta Garbo and Michael Jackson.  This is not a sign that glories in the limelight unless the native has some Leo factors in their make-up.

Some Virgos may actually need to live alone for periods of time to simply have the space to be themselves, enjoy their own company, and integrate without the concern for another.  If they don’t develop a degree of self-possession, they can’t really give from their heart for there will always lurk that fear that they will lose themselves in the other.  This need to be alone describes the preponderance of truly gifted Virgo writers.  This is a must for anyone writing a book, especially.  They need the time and space to sit and put their thoughts and feelings onto paper, and they need to immerse themselves for hours, perhaps days at a time in this pursuit.  Writing is truly a solitary pursuit.

Let’s look at some well known Virgo writers briefly:  Ken Kesey’s book  One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest was made famous in the movie of the same name starring Jack Nicholson; Stephen King, the brilliant dark satirist of horror  wrote  psychological thrillers such asThe Shining also made into a movie starring—-guess who?—-Jack Nicholson. Another both comedic and ‘dark’ writer of childrens books was Roald Dahl whose works such as The Witches and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory also were made into movies.  And what about Agatha Christie the famous mystery writer whose many works were later made into countless movies for screen and television such as Murder on the Orient Express and The Mirror Crack’d  Even Upton Sinclair with The Jungle, Leo Tolstoy with War and Peace, Richard Wright with Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and H.G. Wells with his futuristicWar of the Worlds and The Island of Dr. Moreau, D. H. Lawrence with Lady Chatterley’s Lover; all these mens books were later seen on the silver screen.  I find it intriguing to realize just how very many of these Virgos reached the other end of the spectrum, Pisces, via films which are ruled by Neptune.

Virgo Women
If you value a sexy woman with brains you’ll love Virgo women.  Of course there may be exceptions to every generality, but I’ve known a great deal of these women personally who needed a man that could handle both their self-containment and their brightness intellectually.  Men with large egos should probably stay away from these women because their astute observations can cut to shreds any bluster or bombast.  Believe it or not these women usually aren’t that interested in housekeeping chores.  They’d rather be at the computer, or working on their favored projects.  They may, however, make great partners in bed because they understand the skills of Kama sutra love techniques instinctively.  This is an earthy sign, and within one aspect of the archetypal female is the ability to be orgasmic without the need for a partner.  Yet it is through partnership that lovemaking expresses the higher octave of sexuality which is love.  Virgos are just as capable of tender love as anyone else.  They have feelings and are incredibly sensitive.  Perhaps, also, it is their discrimination that keeps them particular about who they are willing to trust and open up to completely.  A man who is sensitive, caring and also intelligent, who appreciates a bright and fairly self-reliant woman, is more likely to captivate and keep such a woman.

My files are full of Virgo women who have been married and borne children as well as those who have never married nor had children. Many love and work with animals. Most are accomplished women with marked skills in their chosen fields of endeavor.

It’s interesting that Queen Elizabeth I was dubbed ‘The Virgin Queen’.  We know she never married, but do we know for certain that she never had a sexual liaison?  Virgo does not mean virginal in the puritanical sense.  It simply means ‘self-possessed’; she who is whole and her own person.

The dilemmas of the modern Virgo woman are especially dramatized now in the Middle East as traditional women’s roles, which are characterized by the archetypal Virgo-Pisces axis of the old patriarchal system, are being redefined.  Virgo was never a sign meant to be subservient to anyone!

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Virgo before the patriarchy was the Magna Mater, the Great Goddess in all her forms-in-one.  She was the sacred prostitute who initiated men into the mysteries.  She could not be owned by any man. 
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Queen Rania of Jordan is an interesting modern woman attempting to redefine her woman’s role.  She is a Sun sign Virgo with Pluto/Mercury also in Virgo, but preceding that is a conjunction of Mars/Moon in Leo sextiling a Venus in Libra and Jupiter in Scorpio.  She is anything but docile, demure, and discreet.  She is, in fact, angering many of Jordan’s male citizenry.  Some of their grievances have real merit considering the economic struggles of a poor country and her Leonine extravaganzas involving international jet setters. Other criticisms are based on a mind set that women have no place in politics, prejudice against her Palestinian parentage, and the fact that she is ‘feistier than her husband’. An interesting article was written by Mary Ann Sieghart in The Spectator, of March 5, 2011 entitled ‘Queen Rania of Jordan: the new Marie Antoinette?’

If you look her up in Wikipedia you see a long list of her accomplishments since her spouse, Abdullah II was proclaimed King in 1999.  She has championed education and learning with an effort to refurbish 500 of Jordan’s public schools.  She is the Chairperson of the Royal Health Awareness Society.  She has championed children’s welfare ‘above political agendas and cultural taboos’ establishing ‘The Jordan River Children Program and Child Safety Program.  She initiated the Al-Aman Fund for the Future of Orphans, set up scholarship funds and has worked tirelessly for literacy in undeveloped African countries.  She has promoted cross-cultural dialogue with other nations.  “For her work in cross-cultural peace dialogue Queen Rania accepted the PeaceMaker Award from the Non-Profit Seeds of Peace.   On and on the list goes…Some of her male critics compare her to Imelda Marcos which is an insult, yet she is certainly controversial in her own country given their mores and traditions.  She is intelligent, complex, as well as beautiful, and she is just now going through her mid-life crisis at 42 years.  This Uranus opposite Uranus year may help her to mature into the truly great stateswoman she is capable of being helping to bridge the East/West dichotomy and bring her countries women into the 21st Century.

Virgo Men
Do you want to be with a man who is careful, reasonable, and can solve most any problem if a practical solution is possible?  Do you want to be with a man who actually enjoys being needed?  Then perhaps you should pay attention to men with Sun, Mars, and/or Ascendant in Virgo.  These men are usually more understated and often sensitive.  They certainly don’t come on like blockbusters unless more volatile energies such as Leo, Aries, or the water signs are strongly present.  Virgo Sun signs can, however, be romantic simply because usually Leo planets or Libra planets border Virgo.

High-strung is often a quality attributable to Virgo.  Mercury rules this sign and their nervous systems are finely and tightly wired.  This is why they can’t handle angry, explosive scenes or even dramatic weeping ones unless they have chosen to be calm therapists looking objectively on.  They prefer order and routine in their daily life to give them a sense of control.  They need to play and relax in nature and they need a warm and trusting mate to lead them gently into the more mystical and magical realms of life.

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Charlie Sheen may not be the most positive example of a Virgo man, but certainly an interesting one.  It’s even amusing to note that he is now playing a therapist who specializes in anger management in his latest sitcom series. He is a master actor and good at comedy, another Virgo potential. A rather intriguing aspect of his present life is his penchant for surrounding himself with ‘Goddesses’.  On some level he does recognize the divine aspect of the Virgo triple Goddess, yet everything in his life now seems to be a distortion of the Virgo-Pisces axis, which is incredibly strong in his birth map with Sun/Uranus/Pluto conjoined in Virgo opposite Saturn/Chiron in Pisces.  This is one of those aspects that Barbara Hand Clow in her book entitled Chironnotes and warns against saying that the use of drugs can burn Uranus opposite Chiron types out with a ferocious intensity as they relentlessly search for transcendental experiences.  Mr. Sheen is certainly well on his way.  He also seems to have succumbed to one of Virgos biggest shadows, ‘the Hustler’, which in his case is surely a downward spiral into self-destruction. 
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Let’s not leave our Virgo men without mentioning some more positive examples:  Dr. Phil, discovered by Oprah, is a strong Virgo with a penchant for solving problems through his advice columns and shows.  Richard Gere, a famous Virgo actor, works tirelessly on behalf of the Dali Lama and the people of Tibet, and Adam Sandler, that famous wacky comedian, has grounded himself  by bonding with the right partner and honoring her as a true ‘goddess’ in his life.

Virgos Shadow
It would seem that none of us on planet earth can avoid having a shadow!  Virgo’s shadow, like all shadows, has to do with the effort to maintain control through various defense mechanisms.  One of these is to always know everything.  This ends up being a put down on anyone else offering a suggestion, a bit of their advice, or an offer to help.  If the other is Virgos ‘significant other’ they slowly and insidiously are crushed of their own creative expressions and self worth.

Another element of Virgos shadow is to defend against all spontaneity or unpredictability.  Such a shadow formed out of deep insecurities can also wither more playful and fiery types.  Both of these shadow elements push others away from Virgos or shut down more timid types so that the relationship goes flat and cold.

The ‘Hustler Shadow’ mentioned in relationship to Charlie Sheen can show up in either men or women.  These are people whose sensitivity was injured so deeply that they hide behind a hard-core shell.  Everything is up for bargaining and is reduced to bottom-line mentality involving money.  Our society is now full of these types who are disillusioned and seemingly hard, yet at their deepest of levels frightened and vulnerable.  The sadistic side of this shadow is the world of being at all costs the ‘top dog’ where an ‘under dog’ must also be in the equation as the masochist.  It is a vicious Virgo-Pisces cycle that sucks both sides down into a whirlpool of suffering.

Virgo as Lover
This is probably the antidote to the S-M bondage shadow side of Virgo.  Coming back towards being a sensitive lover who understands nuances of delicacy, which in turn release the deep sensuality that is this sign’s birthright, is one key towards wholeness.  A true Virgo is an erotic being who enjoys uniting their mind with their body.  Oneness includes both.  A Virgo lover can communicate with both words and touch.  Seeking a meeting of the mind with the heart takes time, and a Virgo can be careful and patient once they know trust is there.  This sign is able to commit and be faithful for the long haul, but the journey towards that end is often a bumpy ride as the hard knocks and unexpected curves are met and gradually passed through with less and less resistance, for Virgos are learning to flow by embracing their opposite, Pisces.

Let’s now look at Virgo in relationship with each sign of the zodiac and some of the famous couples who illustrate these combinations.  Again, keep in mind that Virgo is an Earth sign and is in basic harmony with Water and other Earth signs, yet Virgo may be drawn to Fire signs in its need for greater vision and inspiration, not to mention plain ole fun.  Virgo with Air can get awfully dry, yet we’ll see just how many of these combinations are coupled and why they work, for even though Virgo is an Earth sign, it is ruled by Mercury, a neutral planet which can mix and match with almost anything.  Feel free to skip to the combinations that interest you the most.

Virgo with Aries
As we have noted, Aries begins and Virgo climaxes the ego-building process unfolding in the first six signs of the zodiac.  Both signs encourage individuation in different ways.  If some of their goals are mutual, they can complement each other well.  It should be noted, however, that neither are going to refuel each other as Sun signs.  Fire truly does need Fire to get refueled.  Virgo, perhaps, can tend to refuel itself through work and various specialized pursuits; thus we have a need with two sun signs to adjust to each other energetically.


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Andy Roddick is a natural athlete who specialized in tennis early on winning again and again until he became the world’s top player in 2003.  He was also dubbed “Sexiest Athlete” by People magazine that year and is known for his charm.  In his case Venus in Leo precedes his hard-working Virgo Sun, while Mercury in Libra follows, so he’s quite a well-rounded Virgo.  He is now married to the very beautiful and popular Aries model/actress, Brooklyn Decker, made famous for her Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in 2010.  She is his ‘Virgo Goddess’ though she possesses no planets in Virgo herself.   What is the glue that may hold them together?  Andy’s ruling planet, Mercury in Libra, conjoins Brooklyn’s Moon in Libra.  This is a highly affectionate and communicative combination.  His Mars in Scorpio also trines her Venus in Pisces creating a smooth and flowing love match.  A troubling aspect is her Sun in Aries squaring his Moon in Capricorn.  Time will tell how strong their bond remains.

Virgo with Taurus
This is an Earth with Earth combination and should harmonize both people’s energy.  This is considered a positive combination where material improvement is greatly enhanced as both have the potential to work together to accomplish something solid.


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We see a good example of this pairing in country music stars Faith Hill (the Virgo) with Tim McGraw (the Taurus).  They have been married since 1996 and now have three children.    Their duet “It’s Your Love” was a top-ten hit and stayed at the top of Billboard’s country chart for six weeks in 1997.

They are true peers, both born in 1967.  Like Andy and Brooklyn, the cross aspects of Moon/Mars and Moon/Mercury between them enhance their earth Suns together.


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Ingrid Bergman was a complex Virgo woman.  Her Moon in Aries ruled by an obsessive Mars/Pluto in Cancer, further ignited by a risk-taking Uranus led her into all sorts of adventures and misadventures.  She caused quite a scandal in 1949 by falling in love with her Italian director Roberto Rossellini and becoming pregnant by him while yet married to Dr. Peter Lindstrom.  To quote her official website, “She became a pariah in America virtually overnight.  She was even denounced on the floor of the U.S. Senate, where she was called ‘Hollywood’s apostle of degradation.’”

Rossellini was sensual Taurus with Moon in Scorpio doubling his seductiveness.  His Sun fell in her 10th house (authority) while his Moon activated her 4th (motherhood and family).  His Neptune conjoined her Pluto/Mars/Saturn mesmerizing her for awhile.  Reality eventually set in.  He tried to keep her barefoot in the kitchen which never wears well with a Virgo!  Three children later he returned to his womanizing ways, she returned to escape through alcohol, they fought a lot, and she eventually found someone else.  This is a sad tale showing that trines between Sun signs aren’t always a blessing.

Virgo with Gemini
Here are two mutable signs, which can adapt to each other since both are mutually ruled by Mercury.  However, one is Air and the other Earth creating tension and nervous strain.  They decidedly don’t refuel each other and I’ve seen this with some of my clientele over the years.  The Gemini may feel overly criticized by the Virgo while Virgo may get tired of the scatteredness of Gemini.


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Ingrid Bergman’s third husband, Lars Schmidt, was a Gemini and even though they had a few good years, they did not stay married.  Their positive connections were her Mars conjoining his Venus, and their Venuses sextile to each other.  His Moon in Pisces also trined her Mars.  The truth, astrologically speaking, is that Ingrid’s Sun in Virgo and Moon in Aries made for a highly independent and self-contained woman not easily bonded with anyone for too long.  That isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it was just her path. 
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So let’s look at a Virgo/Gemini union seemingly made in heaven but sadly shattered by death.  I’m talking about Prince Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria.  Their Suns were exactly square!  Not only that, but her Moon was conjunct her Sun, also squaring Albert’s Sun.  He was actually the ‘yin’ to her ‘yang’.  He was her trusted advisor and many considered him to be the ‘power behind the throne’ which is often the case with those born with Moon in Scorpio.  He did many great things during his life such as becoming chancellor of Cambridge University and organizing the Great Exhibition of 1851 where his love of advancements in science and industry were showcased.  They had nine children together.

What bonded them together then?  They were true peers born in the same year, 1819.  Their Mars were in harmony.  His Sun in Virgo harmonized with her Mercury/mind.  She probably felt heard by him, and she learned from him as well.  His Jupiter harmonized with her Sun & Moon making him her best advisor and support.  His Venus was trine her Mars; a fitting combination for consort and Queen.  She did have to go on with her Mars in Aries after his untimely death.  That was her destiny, but she never ceased to mourn her loss wearing black until her own death after a long 64-year reign.

Virgo with Cancer
Earth with Water blend well and do energize each other.  This combination can be highly industrious together and work effectively as a team.

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Anne Bancroft (Virgo) and Mel Brooks (Cancer) married when both were mature adults and stayed happily married until her death in 2005 nearly 40 years later.  They collaborated professionally on several films and projects, but their private life must have been full of life and vigor with her firey Moon enlivening his Moon in Aquarius.  They had both the yin harmony of their Suns with the yang harmony of their Moons.  They also had great Venus/Mercury connections and Mars/Jupiter connections and Venus trine Venus in earth.  Sweet!

Virgo with Leo
Side by side even though totally different from each other, we often see this combination in partnerships which can last a long time.  These side by side combos are more common than traditionally noted probably because there is an over-lap between the two.  You would think that Virgo would serve Leo, but in the case of ‘Leo’ Tolstoy, the Virgo, with his Leo wife, Sophia, there seemed to be tragic paradox at work.

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Tolstoy, the great novelist with Sun/Mercury/Moon all in Virgo did have a Saturn/Venus in Leo.  His only planet in water was Jupiter in Scorpio in a square to his Venus.  Sophia was a Sun/Mars Leo with Moon in Sagittarius; very fiery indeed!  She also had Jupiter/Uranus in Aries in trine to her Moon.  Her Venus in Cancer was square her Pluto in Aries.  His Uranus in Capricorn opposed her Venus and formed a square to her Pluto exacerbating the terrible tension she felt around loving and being loved.  Here’s one quote from her diary after he had left their home, suffering from a bad cold, and gone for a long walk without telling her where he was going.  “A storm blew up, it rained and snowed, roofs and trees were smashed, the window-frames rattled, it grew dark—there was no moon yet—and still he didn’t appear.  I went out to the porch and stood on the terrace, waiting for him with a spasm in my throat and a sinking heart, as I used to when I was young and he went out hunting and I would wait hour after hour in an agony of suspense.”  She further writes upon his return after she is crying and rebuking him, “And to all my passionate and loving words his ironic reply was: ‘So what if I went out?  I’m not a little boy; I don’t have to tell you.’….I felt angry with him.  I devote so much love and care to him, and his heart is so icy.”

Here we see the pain of her Leo Sun and Cancer Venus facing the shadow of his Virgo Sun and Leo Saturn/Venus.  Her chart is full of inconjunct aspects symbolizing the enormous adjustments she went through to be his wife and bear all thirteen children in the process.  Her own creative talents and intellect (their Mercury’s were conjunct in Virgo) were marginalized by his authoritarian domination.

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Do we see anything easier and more harmonious between another famous couple who brought nine children into the world; Joe and Rose Kennedy?  Joe, the famous patriarch of the Kennedy clan was a solid Virgo with Sun/Moon/Mercury/Venus all grouped together complementing a Mars/Jupiter in Scorpio opposite Neptune/Pluto in Gemini.  Born in 1888 he amassed great wealth in investment banking, film/Hollywood, and bootlegging.  His strong Leo wife with her Moon in Libra undoubtedly gave him class along with all those children.  Her Venus/Saturn conjoined his Sun/Moon in Virgo, bonding them well.  They had a Mars conjunction. She had a grand trine in Air giving her an egalitarian and social bent with her Moon in Libra conjoining his Ascendant and within range of his Venus.  She was his ideal woman and Rose was elevated as matriarch fulfilling her Leo calling with Sun in the 5th house.

Virgo with Virgo
Two Virgos together—-imagine that!  My best friend in High school was a Virgo who married her college sweetheart, a Virgo.  I was Matron of Honor at their wedding.  There marriage seemed so harmonious and natural in the early years.  They lived in Boston where he worked as a physicist and she a dental hygienist.  They bought the old Stanley mansion, renovated it together and gathered together a large group of intelligent young people to nurture and mentor since my friend could not bear children.  They seemed the perfect couple until one day he simply walked out without an explanation, never to return again.  She was distressed, baffled, and never did get closure on why he left.  A mystery remains here……I don’t have their charts to analyze, but somewhere a canceling out occurred energetically and he didn’t have the courage to confront her with what wasn’t working for him.  Sad indeed.


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The only famous couple I could find is possibly suspect since there is no precise birth day for the second wife of H.G. Wells, another very famous Virgo writer.  Amy Catherine Robbins is listed as being born in September, though she could have been born after the 21st making her a Libran.  Wells later had a love affair with another writer, Rebecca West, a Capricorn.  Their affair lasted 10 years.  His Moon was in Aquarius and his Venus in Scorpio.  It probably wasn’t easy for him to find all that he was looking for in one woman with that combination, since he needed someone fairly objective and detached, but idealized passionate women.

Virgo with Libra
This could be the ‘harmonizing of diverse paths’ since Libra takes the mastery of techniques from Virgo and applies them to esthetically pleasing results whether social or artistic.  Virgo is earthy and particular while Libra is airy and diplomatic.  In one person this might translate as being socially correct; in a couple this translates into a nice couple like Adam Sandler and Jackie Titone.


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Have you noticed just how many great comedians are born under Virgo?  This is one of the pleasant virtues of this sign; the ability to look at ones own foibles and those of others with humor.  Laughter, after all, is the best medicine!  Adam is one funny guy starting his successful career on ‘Saturday Night Live’.  Adam has been a great support for Jackie in her career aspirations.  He is a very strong Virgo while she is a very strong Libra, both having stelliums.  Her Venus in Virgo, however, conjoins his Sun and her Moon in Capricorn trines all his Virgo planets.  With Moon in Cancer and Venus in Virgo, he has what he both needs and admires, an accomplished woman and a good ‘mama’ for his children.

Virgo with Scorpio
This is an earth with water combination and you would think a workable one as partners, but I could find no publicly known people with this signature.  Let me know if you have a good example!  Both are highly critical and analytical signs.  Perhaps in a couple it would just be too much.  Virgo is always re-evaluating while Scorpio will go even farther and ruthlessly tear down what it deems unfit in order to build it anew.  Working together on research projects might be fitting, or sharing similar techniques in any field from science to the fine arts might also be common ground for relationship.  I would also think that Virgo could be a good ‘container’ for the more passionate Scorpio to feel safe with while Scorpio, quite capable of deep commitment, could coax Virgo to open up and share more.

Virgo with Sagittarius
These mutable signs are by nature in conflict as one is earth and the other fire, yet mutable signs are highly adaptable and mentally oriented.  Virgo adapts through analysis while Sagittarius adapts through planning.  Beliefs would be the major
issues here.  If Virgo dares to criticize the beliefs of Sagittarius, antagonism is sure to rear its ugly head.  Also Sagittarius would not want to be confined by Virgo.


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I have found two examples of couples with this combination that are positive.  Sophia Loren (the Virgo) and Carlo Ponti (the Sagittarian) shared a long and loving relationship after he discovered her and mentored her career before their marriage in 1966.  They raised a family and she continued to act while he continued to produce films through-out their long marriage which ended with his death, at 94 years, in 2007.  They had many good cross aspects which mitigated the Virgo/Sagittarius conflicts.  Their Mars were highly compatible; his Moon/Venus in Capricorn (earth) was in trine to her Sun while her Moon/Saturn in Aquarius (air) was sextile his Mercury/Sun/Jupiter in Sagittarius.  Carlo valued her strength and self-possession and absolutely adored her. 
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Beyonce (the Virgo) and Jay Z (the Sagittarius) are another modern couple with this combination who yet must prove the test of time together.  Like Carlo and Sophia, there is a fairly large age gap between them, but unlike Sophia, Beyonce had already proven her worth as a star long before she and Jay Z married.  Her chart shows marked talent nearing to genius and she is certainly capable of running her own show.  She is Jay Z’s ideal woman as his Neptune/Venus in Scorpio conjoins her Moon/Uranus, while his Moon/Uranus in Libra conjoins her Mercury/Saturn.  Many bonds link these two unusual and highly independent souls.  Now that they are the parents of little Capricorn, Blue Ivy, the added note of responsibility may link them for the long haul for Jay Z’s Saturn in Taurus trines Beyonce’s Sun in Virgo and now his daughter’s Sun as well.

Virgo with Capricorn
Both earth signs, we would assume this to be a great combination and it is.  Concrete achievement is possible as Virgos ingenuity supports Capricorns ambitions to rise.  This combination is often related to business acumen and achievement.


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In love matches we have the classic, bigger than life romance and marriage of Lauren Bacall (Virgo) with Humphrey Bogart (Capricorn).  We do know that she would go on location with him and tend to his needs lovingly.  During the filming of ‘The African Queen’ while star Kathryn Hepburn insisted on having her own special flown-in portable bathroom, Lauren was roughing it and cooking for Humphrey out-of-doors.  Lauren has an amazing chart in a universal spread.  She has a lot of fire to balance her Virgo sensibility.  Humphrey also had a lot of Sagittarian fire that harmonized with Lauren’s Venus in Leo and Moon in Aries.  His Venus in Capricorn completed a trine to her Sun.  There was much love and devotion between those two strong and gutsy souls.

Virgo with Aquarius
This doesn’t seem like an easy combination until you look at qualities that both share in this modern world, especially.  Both signs are interested in achieving something intellectually and wanting to get the job done without a lot of ego fanfare.  They can probably work side by side, each doing their own thing without needing a lot of hand-holding in the bargain.  If the Virgo partner has some of the warmth of Leo in their nature, they help to draw out their cool Aquarian partner.  Of course if Virgo also has some Libran energy that blends well with Aquarius socially and intelligently.



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I found three good examples of this combination.  One I’ll simply touch on lightly; that of Charlie Sheen with his former wife, Denise Richards (Aquarius).  Her fixed energy steadies all of his mutable energy (6 planets + Chiron in mutable).  They had a pull initially with his Mars/Neptune in Scorpio conjoining her Moon and her Venus in Capricorn trine his Sun.  She, however, doesn’t tolerate nonsense.  Parenting does bond them for life however, and they seem to be trying to stay amiable and friends in that endeavor. 
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Queen Rania (Virgo) and King Abdullah II (Aquarius) are another good example.  They have four children together.  He has an enormous stellium from late Capricorn to early Pisces with five planets plus the S. Node in Aquarius.  She has no planets in those signs and their Moons are in a fixed square to each other.  Differences attract, so what holds them together?  There are curious and intriguing connections between his Pluto/Uranus and her personal notes (Sun & Moon).  There are a few trines; his Mars to her Pluto/Mercury, and her Venus to his Mercury.  Perhaps it is because he truly wants to be of the future being a Star Trek fan, etc.  She is a woman of the future in that ancient land steeped in patriarchal traditions.  Virgo and Aquarius are both, in their own way, quite independent and self-contained.  Obviously, something is working!  He, as King, is allowing his wife the ability to do her own thing. 
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The final couple is Trisha Yearwood (Virgo) and Garth Brooks (Aquarius).  This is another musical couple of Best Country Vocal Collaboration Grammy fame.  Both tops in their fields and seemingly happily married.  The glue here is more obvious:  her Moon/Saturn in Aquarius conjoins his Sun/Jupiter/Venus in Aquarius.

Virgo with Pisces
Our final match of opposites between earth and water brings analysis in Virgo to synthesis in Pisces.  Virgo picks things apart while Pisces draws them together again in an evolutionary creative increment.  Both can be service oriented and when devotion and love are united the sky is the limit to what can be attained.


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My first example sadly fell from heaven when Ingrid Bergman (Virgo) got seduced away from her 1st husband, Peter Lindstrum (Pisces).  Yes, they were opposites and she was young, but for arrogant Rossellini to brag “Swedish women are easy to impress as they have such cold husbands,” was an unjust falsehood, for Peter was a sensitive and caring soul with five planets in water.  He was wronged but ultimately triumphed by going on to become an acclaimed neurosurgeon pioneering work in so-called bloodless brain surgery.  He also later married Dr. Agnes Ronavec in 1954 and they had four children together, and he lived to be 93 years old long after Ingrid and Rossellini had left their respective incarnations, hopefully to learn from their mistakes in another time and place.


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Here’s a successful 41 year union, however.  Lily Tomlin, another famous Virgo comedian, and her partner Jane Wagner (Pisces) have united body and soul in this lifetime as professional collaborators (Jane writes Lily’s scripts) and personal mates.  Both are highly accomplished women but Lily is more in the foreground as famed actress/comedian.  Their fiery Moons are trine.  Their Mercury’s are opposite but complementary, just as their Suns are.  They have a Venus/Moon conjunction.  They genuinely love each other!


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Will Virgo Nicole Richie and Pisces Joel Madden make it that far together?  Nicole is maturing after some rocky trial and error stumbles in her search for self.  Her Sun is conjoining Joel’s North Node and his Jupiter is conjoining her N. Node. That means they help each other to grow.  For a Virgo she is deeply sensitive and quite nurturing with her Moon in Cancer and Venus in Scorpio.  Joel’s Mars in Pisces does create a grand trine with her feminine planets.  There are challenges between them energetically, but let’s give them our blessings for a long and happy union as we end this journey through Virgo and their relationships.


Genevieve A. Vierling C.A.P.
Astrologer
www.bluelightlady.com 




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Virgo Perfecto  by Genevieve Vierling 

9/1/2012

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What can Virgo do after ‘the glory of Leo’? Strive for perfection, that’s what. There is inherent in this Mutable Earth sign the desire and willingness to dedicate themselves to each task, no matter how humble, in order to arrive at a stage of self-mastery through disciplined hard work. This necessitates questioning all that the ego has previously created or displayed through a process of introspection and critical analysis. Anyone born between approximately August 22nd and September 22nd, or displaying Virgo Rising, or having any of the authority planets, Sun, Saturn, or Pluto, in the 6th house is going to display Virgoan traits strongly.

THE SYMBOL

The Virgin with the Unicorn represents symbolically the journey of Virgo. One of our sons, Benjamin, who illustrates many of my major in-depth articles, is also a very fine astrologer in his own right. I would like to share a portion of his description of this image:

“It should be clear that the mythical unicorn does not actually exist, and thus it represents perfection, which is what Virgo seeks to achieve, and which consequentially is unattainable. The only living human to which the unicorn will come is the virginal maiden, who waits quietly in the glen with perhaps a bowl of water from which the Unicorn is invited to drink. To achieve perfection then, the servant that is Virgo must tend to the details and be patient. There is no guarantee that the unicorn will come, only that we must be ready if and when it does come. The Virgo compulsion to clean, organize, nurse, and serve, all follows in the wake of this theory…if we only work hard enough, magic will happen…

There exists in this story a bit of tragic futility as well, which is also appropriate for Virgo; for if the Unicorn does come, it will be killed, and its horn will be removed by the hunters who lie waiting in the shadows of the forest. At its default level, Virgo will despair into an ever spiraling analysis consisting of endless criticism. Nothing will ever be good enough, pure enough, or in fact, Perfect. However, if taken to a noble and selfless level, Virgo refines and serves despite the futility. Yes, the plant may indeed whither and die, but that will not stop one from watering it today. Indeed the maiden may be wise enough not to slip into the awe of the Unicorn (delusions of perfection), she may be able to perceive the magic of the creature for what it is, to alert the beast and thus spare it from the sharp spears of the hunters. In this stance, Virgo strives for her ideals, but does not crucify herself with the inevitable realization that perfection is not obtainable. Indeed, it only spurs her to work harder.”
- Benjamin Vierling

MYTHS AND LEGENDS

No other sign has quite as many mythical stories connected with it as Virgo. Many of these myths derive from the Great Earth Goddess stories that have evolved and mutated through thousands of years. There is Demeter or Ceres and her daughter Persephone or Kore who is abducted into the underworld, there is Isis and Osiris and his death and dismemberment by the evil Seth, however Horus is born magically with the help of the guiding Thoth. Let us not neglect the Virgin Mary who conceives the immaculate Christ-child. All of these myths concern the transformation of the personality from a child-like or virginal/innocent state into the wiser and more mature individual represented by the fruition of the harvest. In Virgo we reach a state of crisis where there must be a total reorientation from the personal to the more collective and universal. To obtain this goal the personality must generally purify itself of ego self-centeredness by performing some type of service to others.

Other mythical personages associated with Virgo have been Artemis, the protectress of childbirth, small animals, and a lover of nature; Chiron, the sacred wounded healer and teacher of heroes; Hestia or Vesta, Goddess of the Hearth; and even Dike or Astraea who lived during the initial ‘Golden Age’ when there was no disease, violence or unhappiness, but suffered from the subsequent degeneration of humanity only to finally withdraw far away from it all.

I invite you to view if you haven’t already, the movie Legend. This is a modern-day revival of the Maiden and the Unicorn myth. Not only is this movie visually stunning, but it portrays the dilemma of Virgo quite dramatically, which is that there can truly be no innocence by the end of the journey through this sign. To purify the excesses of the ego one must face the shadow and confront all that is hidden in darkness. Virgo must take this journey in its quest for wholeness, both in itself, and by serving others who have suffered mind/body splits or imbalances.

VIRGO GLYPH


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This glyph comes from the Near East and the Semitic languages. The Hebrew letter mem stands for the Virgin, while the curving tail represents the Fish of the Piscean mystical polarity. 




STAR CONSTELLATION

The Babylonians named Virgos constellation Absin, which meant the corn-ear of the goddess Shala. This is the second largest constellation in our galaxy and it includes 58 visible stars. The best known of these stars is Spica (the ear of the corn). It is the 16th brightest star in the sky. Astronomer/astrologers of medieval times stated that if this star was rising or culminating overhead at someones birth, then good fortune, riches, happiness, ecclesiastical preferment, and possibly unexpected honor or advancement would be given.

Another star, Vindemiarux, known as the ‘Gatherer of the Grapes’ connects the mythical Bacchus with each years grape harvest. Virgo also contains an enormous galaxy cluster, which includes approximately 2500 individual galaxies including M87, which looks like a giant sparkler emitting jets of material 5,000 light years into space.

QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS

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Is it any wonder that Virgo is considered a highly complex sign? My files are filled with Virgos. Yes, they do like to use astrology as one of their useful tools! These people are all uniquely qualified in their chosen fields of endeavor with an above-average amount of education under their belts. They are an intelligent lot. The planet Mercury rules this sign as well as Gemini, but in Virgo we see more of the alchemical Hermes working as Psychopompous (Guide to Hades), or Trismegisthus/Thoth, the thrice born of Egyptian fame. Thoth was the wise sage/initiator who guided Isis in her tasks of finding Osiris, conceiving Horus from his deceased body, and ultimately remembering him back to a state of wholeness. Thoth as an introspective guide helps the Virgoan to deconstruct anything into its component parts in order to repair, rejuvenate, and regenerate it back into greater wholeness. The Medieval alchemists saw Mercurius as androgynous and symbolic of the inner vital spirit of the earth. Mercury was the agent which could transmute earthly physical reality into something greater than itself. No wonder so many Virgos enter the healing arts. They are so technically adept and precise in their diagnostic methods and in their therapeutic abilities.

Virgos can also excel in business, but especially businesses that are either technically or service-oriented. Virgos migrate towards earth-related products such as forestry, landscaping, organic farming, food industries, health-care products, etc. With the rapid proliferation of the computer-related industries many Virgos have become engineers and technicians. In fact, the conjunction of Uranus and Pluto in Virgo heralded this revolution in the mid-60s and many of the children born of that era are now the ‘techies’ speeding us into the digital future.

In the arts Virgos are known for their precision and detail, as well as their ability to often perfect an ancient technique that others may consider archaic such as egg tempera oil painting, fine-loom weaving, stone and marble sculpting, wood-cut printing, etc.

Probably one of the great keys to Virgos contentment and satisfaction is meaningful work and service. No matter how humble or routine, if their work provides them with structure, stability, and some measure of intrinsic reward, they will spend long hours at their tasks without seeking the fame and glory that some of their more flamboyant kin desire. Virgos are much more hermit-like than their Mercury-ruled Gemini cousins. Often high-strung, they avoid chaotic situations preferring quiet and privacy within their daily work routine. They like to focus on one project at a time and enjoy the continuity of mastering their craft step by step.

Virgos are learning to discriminate in their journey towards wholeness. This harvest time of the year implies separating the wheat from the chaff and Virgos must do this in their daily lives to sort out what is important and what is not, what is meaningful versus beside the point, what satisfies and what leaves one feeling empty. The small intestines are ‘ruled’ by Virgo. The body function of separating out what is of value nutritionally and what isn’t takes place in this organ. The body itself is such a marvel of mirroring the significance of the 12 zodiacal signs. I have a book which shows this graphically with an image of the head touched by the feet in a circular loop. Each part of the body is represented by its corresponding sign starting with Aries, the head, and ending with Pisces, the feet. Virgo leads us down towards the pelvic region of Scorpio, but in Virgo assimilation of nutrients takes place simultaneously with the discarding of anything which cannot be used by the organism. No wonder Virgo must analyze and discriminate with such exacting precision.

SHADOW

The shadow of Virgo stems from taking its natural tendencies to an extreme. As Benjamin Vierling states, “At its lowest, Virgo over analyzes irrelevant details that hinder the continuity of the big picture. Self-criticism can become self-loathing if one incessantly worries about mundane character flaws.”

The absolute extreme of this is sado-masochism where the sense of imperfection, as measured by some impossibly high perfect standard, reaches the self-destructive level of such guilt that one must be punished incessantly to be purified of ones flaws. This is the masochist. At the opposite extreme is the absolute rage, stemming from the same level of guilt, which pushes one to punish savagely that which represents ones weakness. This is the sadist. I was reminded of this on a trip to some of the Medieval churches and monasteries in the cliff towns of France where you could see the hundreds of stone steps which the ‘penitents’ had climbed on raw and bleeding knees with the hopes of having their sins absolved.

The healing of such a shadow starts with learning tolerance, first for ones own human self, and then for others who are like-wise still learning and evolving, each at their own rate.

RELATIONSHIPS

Virgo is fairly choosy and careful when it comes to relationship. Their natural initial reserve, or even hermit-like quality, can be misinterpreted as cool or even aloof. Some will carefully weigh up your assets and liabilities before making a commitment because their emotional considerations are often matched with the practical. That being said, however, I must make a huge plug for the ladies of the sign. Having served as confidant to so very many of these earthy women I must contend that they are often very highly sexual and sensual, and probably make fantastic lovers! As to their Virgo brothers, I can not judge based on the rather discreet disclosures I have been privy to.

Most Virgo men, however, seem to want and need partnership. They will often devote themselves tirelessly to their families as excellent providers. The women? So many truly enjoy their autonomy yet want the lover/companion. They don’t seem as keen to be ‘the wife’, however once they find the right partner they can be just as devoted and caring as their more watery sisters.

FAMOUS VIRGOS

Queen Elizabeth I, the ‘Virgin Queen’ was a Virgo, born September 7, 1533. Much has been written and conjectured about her romantic life. As a true Virgo, however, she devoted herself to her role as Queen and took her job seriously.

Michael Jackson is another famous modern-day Virgo. We can see the mythical aspects of the sign play out in his life, and we know, all too well, how hard he has tried to hold on to a state of innocent/perfection even as the underworld has compelled him to face the shadow. They even call him the ‘child-man’ in spite of his soaring big sellers, Thriller, Bad, and Dangerous. Hmmm…

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The famous Virgo that intrigues me the most is Greta Garbo. She rose to extreme fame in the 1920s and 1930s in such elegant and stylish roles as Anna Christie, Camille, and the Russian ballerina in Grand Hotel. Her acting style was superb. If you watch her carefully she uses her face and eyes to impart every subtle feeling and nuance of mood. You sense she was a perfectionist with her craft.

Yet she abandoned the world of spot-lights for her own quiet and sustained existence well into her 80s. It’s as if she quit when the work was no longer rewarding after World War II. She just wasn’t interested enough in the fame and glory to lower her standards into becoming ‘a sweater girl’. She was undoubtedly highly sexual but private. She never married but certainly had her lovers. She kept herself healthy and fit, and was an excellent business woman compiling enough of a nest egg to will her niece around 20 million upon her death in 1990.

MOTHER TERESA

The world knows her as the great and caring mother of the lowest of the low. Her life was dedicated to serving through the Missionaries of Charity. Born a true Virgo on August 26, 1910, she was ready to commit herself to a religious life by the time she was 12, and truly did join the Sisters of Loreto as a missionary by the time she was 18 years.

She epitomized the desire to serve that is the true spiritual calling of every Virgo. Her way of serving was absolute in its focused devotion. At the age of 28 she began her lifework with the poor in India. This chosen path kept her caring for “the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, and all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone.” This caringness grew into an organization of 4,000 nuns ‘running orphanages, AIDS hospices, and charity centers worldwide, and caring for refugees, the blind, disabled, aged, alcoholics, the poor and homeless, and victims of floods, epidemics, and famine.’ (Wikipedia)

In 1979 Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In true Virgoan modesty she refused the conventional ceremonial banquet normally given to laureates. Rather she asked that the $192,000 funds be allocated to the poor in India.

It is telling, however, to read of her own doubts and self-loathing, which are so characteristic of Virgos penchant to question and self analyze. “Where is my faith? Even deep down…there is nothing but emptiness and darkness…If there be God—please forgive me. When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven, there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul…How painful is this unknown pain…I have no Faith. Repulsed, empty, no faith, no love, no zeal…What do I labor for? If there be no God, there can be no soul. If there be no soul then, Jesus, You also are not true.”

Wow! Can there be any doubt that she herself had to face the Virgoan Shadow? No critic of her life and work could have been harsher in their indictment than she was of herself. Perhaps the lives she actually touched, those poverty-ridden and nameless souls living at the very lowest of the low are the only ones worthy of judging her life.

REACHING WHOLENESS THROUGH PISCES POLARITY

By measuring themselves and others against a yardstick of perfection so unattainable, the Virgo often suffers the extreme ‘anguish of the dark night of the Soul’. By incorporating their opposite polarity, Pisces, more fully into their lives Virgo can begin to see that perhaps God is also evolving and thus take a more kindly, and gentle attitude towards themselves and others. Their great wisdom, gleaned from devotion to their chosen path, is then merged with compassion. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-12) was given to perhaps encourage just such souls to realize that they are truly blessed and will inherit both the earth and the ‘kingdom of heaven’ by accepting themselves and others just as they are, and simply doing the work of refining one step at a time.


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    Author

    Genevieve Vierling is an internationally renown Astrologer, the famous Blue Light Lady.
    Genevieve lives in America but if you desire a reading (Skype reading or phone recording with MP3 recording), you can contact her via her website www.bluelightlady.com or her office phone number which is 001 530 272 57 78.

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