Virgo: Filtration, Humility, and Service

6th House / Mutable Earth / Yin Expression / Ruled by Mercury (or Chiron)

Virgo: the Process of Cleansing and Filtration

The evolutionary process that occurs in Virgo is extremely important in the progression of consciousness through the zodiac wheel. In Virgo, everything that has transpired in the previous archetypes from Aries to Leo comes to the surface for review.

Virgo’s major task is to cleanse herself of anything that she is carrying in her system that cannot move forward through the remainder of the zodiac. In a process of filtration, Virgo needs to determine what can stay and what has to go, what is nourishing, and what is not supportive.

What happens in Virgo will strongly influence how the following archetypes of Libra to Pisces will play out. It is all hinged on Virgo’s ability to purify any imbalances within her and become whole unto herself. This is necessary so that she can be ready to enter relationship as an equal in the next sign of Libra.

Preparing for Libra

Virgo can acutely feel that Libra is approaching on the horizon. Ready or not, soon it will be time to step onto the scales of justice with another person, comparing the weights of their personality, their history, and their needs. However, Virgo has resistance. She doesn’t feel ready. Just following the previous archetype of Leo, whose evolutionary function was the development of the ego and creative self-expression, there can be many imbalances in the personality, and adjustments need to be made.

Leo can experience an inflated or deflated ego, and often a mix of the two. Wherever the ego became inflated in Leo, then in Virgo, it will be humbled. Wherever Leo’s ego was deflated, then in Virgo, self-esteem will be restored. These adjustments must be made in order to prepare Virgo to relate as an equal partner in Libra.

If the balance that is necessary to make a relationship successful can be achieved in Libra, then the odds are higher that the movement into Scorpio will be successful as well. And so on through the zodiac wheel. Again, it comes back to Virgo’s ability to undergo the filtration process that she is tasked with.

Mercury Turned Inward: Taking an Inventory

A primary way of how Virgo enacts the cleansing process is to take an inventory of everything that she is holding in her system. Virgo must make a review of her life and of all of the messages that she has received from the outside world, and through careful discernment, decide what can stay and what needs to go.

This reflective and analytical quality is the yin side of Mercury, Virgo’s ruling planet. Virgo is working with this internally-focused Mercurial energy by zooming into the details of the here & now, to see things as they are and get practical about what changes need to be made.

The ability to zoom into the details and identify what needs to be improved is one of Virgo's paramount gifts to the world. We all may know a Virgo who will very lovingly brush the stray eyelash off of our face. However, the hyper-focus on details and tendency to be overly analytical can easily spiral out of control and cause overwhelm if it’s not appropriately managed.

When Denial Turns into Crisis

Any archetype cannot try to work against its energy. It must allow the evolutionary function that is encoded within it to unfold, otherwise, problems will ensue. In the case of Virgo, it is not enough to only make an inventory of what needs to be fixed or corrected. Action must be taken as well.

Virgo’s pitfall is to become so overwhelmed by all of the work that needs to be done, that a crisis of inaction ensues. An example could be knowing that the roof has a leak, but feeling so daunted by the idea of fixing it that no action is taken, and eventually there is water damage inside the house.

Another example is when Virgo’s denial of what needs to be done turns a simple task into a crisis. This could play out as not brushing your teeth for a long enough time until there is a crisis of cavities and dental bills.

Virgo cannot afford to glaze over the details. In fact, Virgo is learning that she must complete every step of the process. She cannot rush. This is partly how an inflated ego in Leo can become more humbled as Virgo faces the everyday earthly realities. However, if Virgo’s energy is very self-critical, a humbling experience could very quickly become a humiliating one. And there is a big difference.

Humility or Humiliation

One of the most beautiful, central qualities of Virgo is the sense of humility that she possesses. It comes from realizing the fact that her work is never finished. There will always be something more to adjust or improve- that’s life- and there is a certain sense of serenity and humor that comes with this kind of humility.

Unfortunately in Virgo, humiliation can often be experienced rather than humility. A humiliating experience is belittling and demeaning, one that makes Virgo to feel less worthy or significant than other people. It could include being bullied, ostracized, public embarrassment, shaming, or receiving harmful and extreme criticisms. Virgo has the tendency to internalize these experiences, allowing them to degrade her self-esteem and send her into a downward mental spiral

Virgo could feel incredibly threatened by external criticism because at a subtle level it validates the harsh critique that she has of herself. Virgo could go so far as to think that there is actually something wrong with who she is, as if she is broken and needs to be fixed.

Persecution and Servitude

This acute feeling of humiliation, inadequacy, and self-criticism that Virgo experiences can, in some cases, come from memories of having been persecuted or forced into lowly and servile positions in the past. A strong Virgo or 6th house placement in the birth chart such as Pluto, Uranus, Chiron, or the South Node can signify experiences of persecution and servitude in either this life or recent past lives.

This sense of persecution and servitude could take many forms, but at the core, the result is that Virgo received the message that there is something wrong with her, that she is unworthy of a good and healthy life, and that she must change, be fixed, or stay in a lowly position as a consequence of being who she is.

This is the deepest, darkest pain-point of the Virgo archetype. From this place, immense amounts of healing and reparative self-esteem work would need to happen in order for Virgo to enter Libra as an equal, and not be overtaken by the other person. This aspect of Virgo is why some modern astrologers associate Chiron with being the ruling celestial body, rather than Mercury. Indeed, in Virgo there can be a healing crisis, as well as a healing journey. This is without a doubt Chiron’s domain as the wounded healer.

If Virgo truly needs to make an adjustment within herself, it will be gentle and supportive, not persecutory and demeaning. Virgo must be discerning. Discernment is what helps her understand what can stay and what needs to go, what is healthy, and what is toxic.

Humble Service to the Everyday

Virgo can best channel her energetic design into a role of humble service. She is in service to the here and now- to the present moment. She is in service to the everyday maintenance of life. She is learning to establish a lifestyle of greater healthfulness through supportive routines, living with devotion to daily practices that help her overall wellbeing.

Whether those practices are spiritual or mundane, such as doing yoga or simply keeping a clean house, Virgo is coming to understand that with repetition and refinement, skills can be honed and greater self-esteem can be developed. By showing up and doing the work every day, an alchemical filtration process occurs, as Virgo begins to excrete from her system that which needs to be purified.

Opposite Pisces: the Challenge to Surrender and Let Go

The Pisces archetype is opposite Virgo, and is a polarity that balances Virgo’s energy. As the final archetype in the zodiac, Pisces is associated with divine love, God consciousness, deep healing, as well as release, surrender, and dissolving. It is starkly contrasted with Virgo’s desire to gain control of her physical environment, zooming into the details, and making many concerted efforts to fix things. The Pisces polarity challenges Virgo to let go and accept the perfection of things as they are, even in their incomplete state.

Pisces is teaching Virgo that some things are outside of her control. Pisces challenges Virgo to release her grasp, set aside the endless to-do lists, and instead see that everything is already in a state of wholeness and completion. Pisces shows Virgo a much larger force of reality that cannot be organized or managed.

Pisces is also the antidote to Virgo’s suffering from persecution, humiliation, or feelings of inadequacy. The divine love of Pisces beckons Virgo to break the cycles of suffering and find her way back to the loving support of spirit and the universe. Pisces is showing Virgo that she is already perfect as she is; she is already enough. She is not broken and she doesn’t need to be fixed or changed.

Square Gemini: Different Styles of Processing Information

Both Virgo and Gemini are ruled by Mercury, and therefor have a sense of intellectualism associated with them. However, the square between Virgo and Gemini shows an aspect of tension or challenge that they have together, and this partly has to do with different style of processing information.

Whereas Virgo has an internally-focused Mercury that is geared for analysis and review, Gemini has an externally focused Mercury that is curious, conversational, and constantly seeking more information. While Gemini will want to indiscriminately add more knowledge to its internal database, Virgo is trying to clean that up, and purge anything that is extraneous, impractical, or simply not needed. While Gemini will want to continue a conversation until every last point has been made, Virgo will want to take a step back, review what has been said, and reflect on what is and isn’t necessary to say going forward.

Gemini could overwhelm Virgo’s systems with too much information. However, Gemini is challenging Virgo to be open to more possibilities and creative solutions by forming an engaged dialogue with her environment. Gemini invites Virgo to communicate with herself and her space in a different way that is more curious and less critical.

Square Sagittarius: Internalizing Judgments, and a Call to Expand

Virgo also forms a square to Sagittarius, which among many other things is the archetype associated with religions, belief systems, dogmas, and all of the harmful judgments that they can harbor. These are in direct tension with Virgo’s tendency to internalize messages of criticism and use them as evidence against herself.

The square between Virgo and Sagittarius is most notably marked through human history as religious persecution, or any other form of persecution that is based from a distorted belief system. Sagittarius’ self-righteous ideas can invade Virgo’s sensitive system and contribute to her internal crisis that she then needs to work so hard to cleanse herself from.

On a much different note, in a higher expression, the Sagittarius archetype is also about expansion, travel, and truth-seeking. In this regard, Sagittarius challenges Virgo to not get so bogged down in the details of her routine. Sagittarius calls on Virgo to venture outside of her everyday world, to live larger, and not be afraid to expand her horizons.

An Apprentice in Alchemy and Presence

In the highest expression, the Virgo archetype is about alchemy. As Virgo cares for herself and her everyday needs, she cleanses herself of impurities and discovers what is sacred in the moment of right here and right now. With the focus of placing a piece of thread through the eye of a needle, Virgo is learning to live with greater presence and attention to detail. In doing so, she can refine and optimize things as they currently are, alchemizing them into a higher expression or form.

Virgo shows us that we already possess the essential ingredients for our health and happiness. All that’s needed is to continue building on what is beneficial, clear out what’s not serving, and show up each day to maintain and refine the process.

Over time, tremendous shifts can occur- but it’s not magic. It’s every day work, happening on the physical plain, through the power of devotion and repetition. Like an apprentice who is deeply invested in honing their new skill, Virgo shows up for her life with a spirit of humble service, constantly improving, and alchemizing herself up over time.

In the highest expressions, Virgo knows that life is sacred- her body, her home, her food, her physical environment, her interests, her work, her routine. This is why she continues to maintain and care for the details of her life day by day, doing what she can, and learning to let go of what is outside of her control.

We all have the Virgo archetype alive within us and located somewhere in our birth charts. Look to what planets or points you have in Virgo, the 6th house, or the placement of Mercury and/or Chiron in your chart.