Astrology & Archetypal Stories
Hello! I am delighted to have been invited by Yoga LYFE to share the benefits of astrology and how integrating astrology can help you gain a deeper understanding of yourself and others. I aim to shine a light on the deeper, evolutionary meanings behind each sign as the sun shifts into that sign each month. — Dijana
The Myth, Symbolism, and Archetypes of Virgo
I believe that Astrology is the language of humanities archetypal stories and a cosmic blueprint for our evolutionary journey. Yet astrology still offers us free will and choice as to how we chose to work with these energies in our daily lives. Each sign can be expressed in both positive and negative manifestations and can offer us a luminated path to our souls’ purpose.
To understand the Archetypal story is to understand the true meaning and intention behind each sign's essence and energy, which stems from the mythological stories. The typical traits you hear about a sign have been watered down and miss out on some real juice.
Archetypes of Virgo – The Perfectionist, The Servant, The Analyst
Virgo is the collective myth around the 'Virgin Goddesses' archetype, women who did not partake in the sexual act but were instead 'impregnated' with the essence of divinity. That's a pretty big call, but we see it in The Vestal Virgins, the consecrated priestess of Isis, and the most famous, Mary, mother of Jesus. The symbol of her holding Christ is replicated with Isis holding her son, Horus (the sun god).
This brings us to the very name, Virgo, derived from The Virgin. The symbol of Virgo is coiled energy that can represent the virgin's essence and a crop that has not borne harvest. Therefore Virgo energy in some way is associated with purity, but it is not necessarily purity in its sexualised form; it can represent the need for things to be better, the urge to purify. This need drives the energy to look after one's body, manage one's health and hygiene, and be somewhat organised about it all. Being associated with health, you will often find strong Virgo energy in the charts of health practitioners, physical healers, yoga teachers, and students.
THE PERFECTIONIST
A need for purity can move into a need for perfection. Everyone knows there is no such thing as perfection except Virgo. Virgo views the world through a window of seeing how things could be better, improved. They cast a 'critical' eye, leading to excellent analytical ability and insight or simply being critical. Virgo energy can swing either way. As they cast their 'critical' eye over everything, they see every detail. Again, this can manifest as genuine love and appreciation of detail that serves some greater purpose or a detail freak who may not see the bigger picture and nit-picks everything.
The soul lesson for Virgo is to see the world somewhat 'critically', literally checking the finer print of life, then attempting to find a way to improve it and then humbly offering it of service to the world.
THE SERVANT
Back to the vestal virgins. Like it or not, the vestal virgins were here to serve the sacred, give up physical pleasures and be the keepers of the sacred fire. In essence, they were here to serve, and this is where Virgo's happy place is. In some way or another, Virgo serves and needs to do so to feel satisfied. This service can manifest in the most subtle ways, but if you find Virgo energy who is unhappy, they are either not serving at all or serving the wrong cause, putting all that detail and organisational energy into something they don't genuinely care about. This is when this energy can fall into the trap of martyrdom. If they serve and serve and are not appreciated or acknowledged for it in some way, conflict can arise.
There is a deep-seated divine quality to Virgo energy and not in the 'virgins are good' story we told ourselves for millennium but in serving the sacred. They are wired to see things as they believe they absolutely should be, and human existence is often far from the divine potential Virgo observes. This explains why they have a reputation of being the organisers of the zodiac. They want everything in order; they are hungry to improve an immediate situation and themselves.
THE ANALYST
Virgo energy can manifest in being overly self-critical, not feeling as though they are good enough. On one level and in its highest manifestation, Virgo is here to walk a path of continuous improvement of the self, better health, better details, better skill sets. Once they achieve one, it's onto the next. Hence they are also known as the workhorses, the classic servant. Looking for the next way, they can improve themselves and potentially point out how others can improve.
If they can see a way something or someone can be improved, they will be sure to tell you about it. The trick for others is not to get too tied into Virgos's critical eye and understand that what they are critical about in others they are equally critical about themselves.
They are blessed and cursed with the brush of being able to see potential versus reality. For Virgo, the evolutionary aim is to learn to love and accept themselves, flaws and all, to learn radical self-acceptance.
We are all here to grow, but Virgo energy in its purest form can become a master of self-growth and improvement, constantly pushing themselves and never resting on their laurels.
When Virgo chooses to express itself creatively, it almost always does so in a practical way. It is an earth sign, after all. Virgo energy rules the world of craft, repurposing something and turning it into something practical and useful. The Virgo artists of the world are most likely not to be the ones whose art hangs on the gallery wall but more likely to be the ones who have quilted a blanket, knitted a jumper, made a piece of furniture, sewn a dress. Their artistic talents must be put to a practical purpose; their craft must serve the community in some way.
A critical element for Virgoan happiness is the need to find the 'right work', work that matters, that offers betterment in one way or another and gives them a sense of purpose. They need an opportunity to hone their craft or skill, the unique talents they are born with; the trick is finding that skill and then polishing it. When these elements align, no one works harder than a Virgo.
The downside of Virgo energy can show up in those who are obsessively critical of others. Virgo can be impatient with themselves and others and become worry worts who like to entrap others into their 'worrying.' This can mean they waste a considerable amount of time in details and forget to look up and see the big picture. They can fall into a cycle of doubt, obsessive questioning and then fulfil their commonly associated trait of being nit-picky, fault finding and defensive, which can push people away.
What the Virgo in Your Life Needs to Be Happy
They need to feel needed, there is no doubt about this. So when your Virgo friend insists on cleaning up after a dinner party and before you go to bed… let them.
They need order most essentially because order stays off chaos. Virgo needs to know what is happening, when, what is expected of them and how they can be of service, and they need to be of service. Spontaneity is not one of Virgos strong points as this does not allow for precision planning.
They love organising people and events, caring for others, working hard, critical thinking and analysis and finding the answer to a complex problem.
They hate people being late, being sloppy and missing the detail. They're not great at expressing soppy emotions; Virgos show their love by doing something for you rather than dedicating you a love song. They can get easily frustrated with other people’s incompetence.
Their life lesson is to master radical self-acceptance, continue to grow, and do so without focusing too obsessively on what is wrong.
Virgo must be able to learn the fine art of tolerance and acceptance of others and themselves. When they can do this, they become one of the vital energies for the harmonious functioning of humanity; they see the detail, fix the problem, teach and mentor others, fine-tune skills and become precision wizards.
My name is Dijana Dawe ( pronounced Dearna), and I am a professional Melbourne based astrologer. I run a business called Aspect Astrology and am delighted to have been invited by Yoga LYFE to share the benefits of astrology and how integrating astrology can help you gain a deeper understanding of yourself and others.
I have been practising astrology for over 20 years but only decided to step it up to becoming a professional last year after Covid taught me to follow my passion and step back into this sacred art of cosmic language interpretation. I offer individual chart readings to help people gain a greater understanding of their make-up, subconscious drivers, their evolutionary purpose and what energies are at play in their life at any specific time.
I had a lengthy career working in book publishing and was lucky enough to work with Penguin Books and international mind, body, spirit publisher Hay House. This offered me an incredible insight into the mind, body spirit world, an understanding for people's thirst to find meaning and solace and how it should and should not be done. I hope my insights and contributions to Yoga LYFE can offer you some food for thought, some ideas and an increased understanding of astrological energies that you may be able to integrate into your yoga practice and your life.
If you are interested in discovering more about your personal astrology, head to www.aspectastrology.com.au to book a professional reading or email Dijana with any questions Dijana@aspectastrology.com.au