© 2018 by Joyce Mason
In 1990, after I wrote
an article for The Mountain Astrologer
taking a new look at the sign of Virgo at its evolutionary best; readers started
referring to me by the name of the article, The Radical Virgo. “The Radical Virgo” went on to appear in several other publications. It was an article, as
well as the person who wrote it—and on Mar. 21, 2009 The Radical Virgo also
became the name of this blog. This is our 500th post. A lot has
happened.
But before I run down the blog’s history on the cusp of nine
years running, I want to share how big an omen it was that The Radical Virgo came
to symbolize both a major piece of my astrological work and me. After all,
there are few Virgos, radical or otherwise, who don’t identify (more likely
over-identify) with their work. “Radical Virgo” also became a term to apply to
a certain kind of Virgo, who can be described as a Uranized Virgo, whether or
not she has specific Uranus to Virgo Sun aspects. (I have Uranus square Sun,
but anyone with a relatively strong Uranian influence and Virgo Sun might
express these qualities more than others.) That means a Virgo whose modus
operandi spans from inventive or shocking to a reformer or humanitarian--and
lots in-between. I knew the term had made its way into the astrological vernacular
when I began seeing articles that referred to people in the spotlight, who fit
the description, as radical Virgos.
These Virgos are not the old fussbudget stereotype—no Felix Ungers or Adrian Monks here. Radical Virgos have the potential to change the world through their ability to discover their unique pattern, becoming true human beings—not “human doings.” Radical Virgos give service in a whole new way by contributing to their community and world what they were designed to give. When we each do that, we have made heaven on earth. It’s like having all the cogs in the great wheel of creation turning like they were just oiled.
Surely, anyone of any sign has this potential, but what
makes the more radical Virgo so well-equipped to make the leap?
First, Virgo is self-contained. With Virgoan inner reliance,
there is ultimately less need to bend to accommodate others. This quality helps
the journey toward accepting and projecting one’s own uniqueness.
Second, if you subscribe to the theory that Uranus is the
higher octave of Mercury, Virgo’s ruler, a Virgo would grow more Uranian than
Mercurial with time and life experience.
Third, the workaholic Virgo can either have a heart attack
or evolve past the need to justify his or her existence through service that
too easily can turn into servitude. Once “enough” is reached, the natural
consequence is to learn that who you are is even more important than what you
contribute. That’s because who you are is
what you contribute.
The Original Vision
Like many if not most people, I have been highly influenced
by Hollywood and pop culture. I’d always counted on having at least 15 minutes
of fame, and with Jupiter trine Mars, I have a hard time thinking any way but
big. As it says in the sidebar:
This blog is a place where all signs—not just
Virgos—learn how to express their star map and are encouraged to do their best
for the evolution of the planet.
If being you is your work and calling, that idea is the
logical outcome of evolution. We grow. As a result everything we touch or
everyone we interact with, including our environment, community and planet—they
grow, too. Big thinking. I even thought that maybe we might get into
conversations here leading to group service projects or at minimum, try
mind-melds of prayers and intentions for healing the earth.
Like most ideas that come down to Earth, the blog took on a
life of its own. I can say that most of what I have written over the years is
mostly about being the best you rather than joining forces to change the world,
largely in response to readers’ interests. There has also been a lot of humor,
because I don’t think modern times—or any time—is survivable without it.
RV in the Middle
The mid-years of the blog covered an array of topics, ones
where I thought I had something to share or contribute. A sampler:
- Planets in retrograde (how to thrive during Mercury or Mars Retro)
- Major cycles (Neptune in Pisces)
- How the signs work in depth
- Live reports from the United Astrology Conference in New Orleans, 2012
- Astrology and aging, tarot and other oracles, flower essences and many other healing-tool combos
- Readers’ personal healing stories from an astrological perspective
- Outer Planetary People and outer planetary influences
- Inspiration: poems, quotes for the signs and humorous takes on the Tribe of Twelve
- Psychological aspects of astrology
- Revisioning Chiron as the “wholeness weaver”
With Chiron and the outer planets my specialty, these topics
have been highlighted with tools for working with your own planetary
configurations. Often these were experiential processes. To have some real fun and discover anything you might have
missed, click on Blog Archive low on
the sidebar. There you can click a year, and then a month and, one month at a
time, see all 500 offerings.
The Radical Virgo Now
Regular readers already know that The Radical Virgo blog has been on occasional post status for some time now. Since my husband lost his mobility
in 2015, the adjustment to being a 24/7 caregiver has consumed most of my
energy, especially since I’m far from a kid anymore. Nurturing two aging
boomers, one with significant disabilities, is the hardest work I have over
done. My biggest take-away is that caregivers need to be fierce about their own
self-care. They are the planet around which family life orbits. Their insights,
strength and coping skills create the quality of life for both care giver and receiver.
As long as we both have various medical needs compounded by
the changes that come naturally with aging, our care and keeping is seldom as easy as tea for two. I
do my best with our challenges when I realize that our current adventure is yet another place to
apply my creativity.
I am not complaining about this major change that keeps my
healing skills at home and less in the limelight. To my surprise, it has
allowed me to own my true nature as an introvert with frustrated nesting
instincts. What I have noticed is that day-to-day life is where the rubber hits
the road on all we have learned from astrology, various other oracles and
spiritual systems and metaphysics in general. I think I am applying many things I have learned unconsciously. There is more on my plate than
any other time of my life. For the first time, my responsibilities and concerns
are bigger than I can handle without help of various kinds. This is humbling, especially
to a Virgo with or without the radical modifier. Figuring out how to make it
work for now within my resources of money, time and energy, draws on every mental, spiritual and physical skill I’ve got. I also know I live in a shifting
landscape. We aren’t get any younger and there’s a slowly degenerative disease
involved on my husband’s part.
While I don’t want to say we live in the first chakra in
total survival, we definitely are not in our heads—something I’ve oft
complained that astrology in general can make us prone to. Quite honestly—and
this may sound sacrilegious to some—astrology has been of minimal help at this
stage in my life, which is probably why I’m not feeling as much like writing
about it. (I check my transits every few weeks instead of every day.) In the broad brush, for example, it has helped to know its position
as Pluto contacted each planet in my Cardinal cache. There were some hints on
duration and subject. Knowing the last planet he is visiting is Mercury
sensitized me to my need to change my mind about some things and to let my old
view blow up with new ideas yet to arise from the ashes. (We just rewatched the Harry
Potter movie where Dumbledore’s phoenix explodes and is reborn in the ash pile
as a bird chick. It really hit home.)
This blog isn’t dead or dying; it’s just changing. I admit it sometimes feels a little like it has narcolepsy, but I trust, at worst, that it’s semi-comatose working up the energy for a vivid resurrection.
Along with retiring from personal consultations, I have retired from any sense of being an authority, which I never really owned anyway. Rather than an astrological teacher, I see myself as a perpetual student of life and the stars and anything else that guides us back to the One. I love writing with my whole self in the PsychKicks posts
from the full spectrum of my spiritual and astrological learning. Perhaps I am
becoming the Wholeness Weaver, taking all the threads of what I know and
weaving them into new tapestries. What I finally “get” is surrender. To use
energy for faith and not worry. To know that whatever is happening will lead to
a better Self. Figuratively, I married Chiron and am learning that no matter
what our physical and emotional wounds, we need to turn them into medicine for
ourselves and others.
Where this blog will go in the future is also a matter of
trust—and most likely, surprise. I’m sure I’ll always have my two-cents worth
to give about living life to its fullest, just as long as anyone wants to read
those pennies for my thoughts.
Since I have become a daily meditator, I realized that “inspiration,” derived from “inspire” or breathing in, says it all. Meditation involves deep, mindful breathing—the source of life. Our opportunity on Earth is to breathe in all of it we can. I love to inspire and inspire myself as much as others in the process.
I hope you’ll join me in celebrating the energy of The
Radical Virgo in all her forms. If you’ve found comfort or insights here,
visit me on Facebook on my Joyce
Mason page for near daily shots of more inspiration and better you/better
world thinking. You might also want to like the Radical Virgo Facebook page
where I post more things relevant to an astrological audience, while my Joyce
Mason page is geared to everyone.
I can’t close without sharing my reaction to watching that
helpless new phoenix bird as he cheeped his first hello from the ashes in Harry Potter and
The Chamber of Secrets . He reflects the vulnerability I feel as so many
aspects of my life have gone up in smoke. I like to think I’ve got my personal
Dumbledore, a godlike but invisible mentor, always behind me as I step out in
faith yet again.
And as soon as I know where I’m going next, you’ll be among
the first to know. Meanwhile, I hope you’ll continue to enjoy and be part of The
Radical Virgo adventure whenever I’ve got a chance to send a “post”card.
~~~
Photo Credits: 500 candles - © vladvm50 - Fotolia.com. Joyce as Virgo by Sara Fisk, NCGR-Sacramento Open House, 2012.