Thursday, August 31, 2017

Short Shrift: The Season Summer and the Sign Virgo



© 2017 by Joyce Mason


In the Northern Hemisphere, summer ends early in most people’s minds, either on Labor Day (first Monday of September) or when school starts, whichever comes first (nowadays highly varied by locale). In fact, until I studied astrology, I considered myself to be born in autumn. Only then did I learn my exact chart and the difference between 29 Virgo and 1 Libra—the fact that I had a very late summer birth (8 hours from the cusp).

What does this shortened sign and season mean symbolically? Opening thoughts as I started to think about it this morning:

I consider the purest essences of the Summer Signs to be Cancer – nurture and family; Leo—shining of self; and Virgo—serving others. In a perfect world, this sector of the zodiac gives us the loving foundation ultimately to shine ourselves, and then to go on to give back. When we cut summer short, we are truncating Virgo and the season of service, not to mention digestion. I’m not sure we leave enough space to “digest” those summer activities, some of which can be deeply transformative like summer romances, before we’re jumping headlong into fall, skipping up to a third of Virgo. 

I believe we have a subconscious tendency to match our activities with the seasons. Summer is full of family picnics and swimming in the Cancer element water. The family gatherings peak on the 4th of July in the USA, birthday of our bigger family, country. During Leo we catch even more sun on top of our new tans and go on adventures or participate in fiery sports events. Come Virgo, we are usually fixated on summer’s end (wah!) and getting the kids reoriented. Even if you don’t have schoolchildren, Labor Day brings the sobering realization that vacations and play time are over. It’s time to get back to work or school. It’s a psychological adjustment, and it seems to occupy us till the real summer ends at Autumn Equinox. At least the beginning of school matches Virgo’s well known mental pursuits—and maybe her picky planning given all those pencils, books and educational paraphernalia there is to buy.

I think we lose something being focused on these mundane events and how they interrupt the late summer’s Virgoan flow. And I think there’s a solution for overcoming it. Some thoughts:

Set aside 3-5 days, sometime after Labor Day and before Autumn Equinox, to tend to your inner Virgo. (We all have Virgo somewhere in our charts, even if only by house placement.) Think of it as a personal Mercury Retrograde with lots of review and reconsideration:
  •     Review your diet for any changes you might need, especially your digestion and how various foods make you feel after eating them.
  •     What’s the state of your charitable giving, whether financial contributions or volunteer work?
  •     When it comes to “doing for others,” are you doing enough or overdoing? (See The Converse Golden Rule.) Are you suffering from compassion fatigue?
  •     How are you feeding your mind? Set goals for new habits if changes are needed. Meditation and yoga are superb for integrating body, mind and spirit.
  •     How is your health and how are your health providers? On my checklist is getting a second opinion on an upcoming surgery.
  •     How are your small animals? How is your relationship, their health?

These are just a few ideas for celebrating Virgo rather than shorting her. I’m sure you can come up with many more.

I’d love to hear from people in the Southern Hemisphere to find out if you have any challenges in glossing over any sign with your flipped seasons.

And thanks for any thoughts you have on giving Virgo her due.

~~~
   
Photo Credit: © meon04 – fotolia.com


PsychKicks© returns on or about September 11.


Related Posts:

The Summer Signs

The Signs Do Summer--in Pictures
http://www.radicalvirgo.com/2014/07/how-signs-do-summer-in-pictures.html



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