We recently marked one year in our new home and this new home has given us a gift. It is as if this home had something to say to us and it drew us near in order to share that message.

That message is – slow down.

Slow down and pay attention to life.

Slow down and pay attention to yourself.

As we celebrate our first year in our new home, I am experiencing Neptune (transiting in Pisces) oppose natal Pluto and Uranus (in Virgo) that has me pondering these two signs: Virgo (ruled by Mercury) and the opposing sign of Pisces (ruled by Neptune).

We have always had a quote that we often speak of, partly because it represented an energy of the culture we grew up in – The Virgo Crisis!

In speaking of this, there are two astrological principles that will come into play:

1. Spectrum – Each sign has an archetypal expression that exists on a spectrum of energy with a frequency from positive to negative. Meaning, each sign has tendencies that reflect the highest expression of the archetype and tendencies that reflect the lowest expression of the archetype.

2. Polarity – Each sign in the zodiac has an opposing sign that introduces tension so that we can find balance.

When we put these two principles together, the ultimate goal is to lean toward the positive expression of any archetype and to enhance that expression by integrating aspects of the highest expression of each sign.

Virgo’s highest expression is that of the Vestal Virgin being of service to society by tending the sacred flame for the community.

Courtyard of the Vestal Virgins in the Roman Forum.

However, there is a lower expression of Virgo as well that can trigger the Virgo Crisis! Here it is.

Virgo is ruled by Mercury and can be very busy energy.

Virgo is a busy energy that is never good enough.

Because Virgo is a busy energy that is never good enough, Virgo must constantly be doing.

Doing multiple things at once and scattering attention, focus and love typically ends in a Virgo Crisis.

A Virgo Crisis is devoid of meaning and purpose and what fills the space left vacant by meaning and purpose is guilt, feelings of not being good enough and self-doubt.

The Virgo Crisis says next time I will be able to balance all of the balls perfectly and, to overcome our guilt and self-doubt, we keep our gears in overdrive.

The ah-ha for me was that Virgo’s ability

to make us see ourselves as not good enough

can only exist when we rush through life.

The illusion needs the power of busy-ness

to keep the illusion alive.

When we are living in the negative expression of Virgo, we are focused only on busy-ness and not meaning and purpose (Pisces).

This is an example of how living in the negative energy of an archetype can block out the ‘light’ of the polarity archetype. The busy-ness and resulting not good enough feelings of Virgo represent the negative expression of Virgo and hence the negative expression of Pisces is accentuated and our meaning and purpose and connection to the divine get buried deep in the fog of Neptune.

The illusion that arises from this combination is

‘if we do more, we will be more’.

That downward spiral becomes an ingrained pattern and years pass by under this spell, until we experience burnout. It does not have to be this way, but it can happen this way.

This is when we start hearing Neptune speaking to us through the mist, from his important point of polarity to Virgo asking us to slow down so we can dissolve into a purpose higher than busy-ness (yes, this can involve a battle of the ego and demons from the past). Slowing down might sound like an easy task, but it is actually very demanding.

When we begin to slow down, we energetically begin moving toward the highest expression of Virgo connected with the potential to be the Sacred Flame, honoring the flame within that leads to contentment.

The warmth of that Virgo flame grows as we slow down and it burns the fog of Neptune away.

The fog burning away is reflective of the day we wake up and say ‘this feels good and I deserve to feel good’.

After we regain our strength, since Virgo is about service, we can then say ‘when I feel good, I have more energy to serve myself and others from a higher perspective’.

To this time in this house, I say thank you! Our healing journey led us to this home and we say thank you for the gift of slowing down.

It should be noted that this brief post focuses solely on Virgo and Pisces. This is not to say that life is not rich in many regards while mostly being in Virgo Crisis. Life is complex and integrated.

Many of us reach a point where the thrust of life toward busy-ness needs to yield to the mist.

Much love to you as we each navigate this shared journey through life.

Sappho

The Virgo Crisis! Or, Burning Out In Order To Light The Sacred Flame!