Virgo season rides in on the wings of Mercury, the smallest and the fastest of the planets. Known as the messenger of the Gods, Mercury and its sign of Virgo represent how we communicate and help to determine how we think and how we learn. In “Astrology For Real Life”, the brilliant astrologer and tarot reader, Theresa Reed, writes that Virgos have a “thirst for knowledge” and are “not content to just scratch the surface. You want to get down to the details. You want to know what makes things tick” (pg. 100). Virgos are the analyzers of the Zodiac who constantly seek to refine their ability to perceive the truth. They know how to intuit this truth through the way that it resonates in the body as well as the mind.
This innate ability of Mercury to bring together ideas and information along with Virgo's deep desire for understanding encourages us all to hone our own abilities of perception during this season of Mutable Earth. The mutable signs are harbingers for change and guide us from one season to the next. In the case of Virgo, we move from the current heat and fecundity of summer to the harvesting and composting of fall. We can model our behavior after the wisdom of the cycle of this season which invites us to pay persistent attention, to make intentional choices and to shed the thoughts and behaviors that seek to keep us from evolving into our most genuine selves. While the cycles of nature are constant, earthy Virgo energy is here to help ground us in the present moment and to create a stable foundation from which to observe the world.
Virgos embody the energies of self-determination and individuation. The Virgoan capacity to “separate the wheat from the chaff” - to perceive that which is valuable and that which does not serve - provides us with a design for authentic living. Virgo season serves as an energetic guide for how we can manifest a material experience that supports body, mind and spirit. Fundamentally, the essence of Virgo and Virgo season is discernment. And what better way to access this power than through developing a mindfulness practice?
With its home in the 6th House which contains within it the brilliant systems of the physical body, the body of routines we create for ourselves, the body of work we do as well as the cyclical nature of our embodiment on Earth, Virgo season truly offers us the perfect time to attune to our needs. Through careful and considerate discernment - the kind that removes the word “judgment” from our vocabulary - we can begin to be more mindful of the world within and the world without. A mindfulness practice asks us to focus our full attention on the present moment without distraction. It requires that we make time to sit or lie down and be still, to focus on thoughts, feelings and sensations without adjudicating our experience. It is within this sacred pause, that we can begin to connect with our inner wisdom, that quiet voice that speaks our truth. Mindfulness encourages us to trust our intuition - our gut instincts - to lead us to a place of deep peace. It is a powerful service to ourselves that also seems quite Virgoan, for Virgos, in their highest selves, seek to be of service as a fundamental force of their being.
There are many different ways to practice mindfulness - meditation and working with Mantras (repetition of sacred sound) are great options. But, since it is Virgo season, it makes sense to look at the somatic arts for helpful activities that can support focused attention and presence. With the intestines, gut, spleen and digestive systems comprising the parts of the body that are ruled by Virgo, a physical practice of yoga can help cleanse and heal the temple that is the body. As the vessel for the soul, the body holds every experience - every memory - that we have encountered. Through the various poses that yoga offers, we are afforded an opportunity to practice paying attention to our experience within the body without judgment and without a sense of needing to accomplish anything. We can begin to untie the knots that have developed over time. This can reduce stress and encourage a deeper connection to the body and to our hearts. Each pose presents us with a shape in which we can explore how we are feeling, be present to the sensations that arise and, quite simply, can find a space to just be - with our bodies, with our breath, with the heart of the moment.
It is so often the case that we humans get stuck in the “doing”, in what we think we are supposed to be creating and disseminating. If we aren’t “doing”, then who are we? And if we aren’t making money, growing a business or trying to solve a problem, what value do we bring? The body of our work begins to usurp the soul's desire to know itself in an intimate and loving way. We can so easily become mired in the need to be constantly harvesting that we miss the sacred moments of stillness that keep the nervous system healthy and the heart feeling its true nature of wholeness. When we create more space for “being”, we step out of the routines that lead to more “doing”. We can make the time to cultivate routines that support instead of those that feel like they control us. Yoga provides a wonderful system to help develop more discernment which, in turn, can lead to a more mindful way of being. It brings the body into the moment and those moments of presence bring us closer to the unique, luminous essence of our individual souls.
Virgo Considerations
- Yoga Poses for a Mindfulness Practice:
- Seated Twist/Parivrtta Sukhasana
- Reclined Twist/Jathara Parivartanasana
- Child’s Pose/Balasana
- Cobra Pose/Bhujangasana
- Relaxation Pose/Savasana
- Tarot Cards and Mantras:
- I The Magician (Mercury): “Manifestation”
- VI The Lovers (6th House, Gemini/Mercury): “Compassion”
- IX Insight/ (aka The Hermit) (Earth/Virgo): “Invitation”
- Ace of Air: “Discernment”
- Poem for Virgo Season:
“Mindful”
by Mary Oliver
Every day
I see or I hear
something
that more or less
kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle
in the haystack
of light.
It is what I was born for -
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world -
to instruct myself
over and over
in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,
the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant -
but the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,
the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help
but grow wise
with such teachings
as these -
the untrimmable light
of the world,
the ocean’s shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?