The Virgo Path - Spiritualizing Matter

by Guru Rattana, Ph.D. - Issue #122 - September 15, 2006
Planetary Alignments
Virgo, the Second Earth Sign

Leo and Aquarius get us in touch with our ideals. Virgo tells us to get busy implementing our vision. Virgo's approach is practical. What needs to be done? What is not working, and what can we do to fix it and get back on track? Virgo distinguishes between what is important and what is not - what is essential and what is superfluous. Vigo discerns what is efficacious and what wastes time and resources. Virgo is not interested in theory. Virgo is interested in applying knowledge, so that healing can happen and improvements can be made. Virgo's forte is upgrading situations to their highest effectiveness, efficiency and expressions.

Virgo invites us to assess and hone the talents embodied in this mentally adept earth sign:

  1. Analysis and discernment. What is essential that we are missing? What is superfluous that we need to eliminate?
  2. Service. Are our analytical and healing talents being used optimally to add quality to our work environment and community?
  3. Integration and wholeness. Do our actions and mode of operation contribute to bringing the presence of Spirit into our daily lives? Health and wholeness are our goals.
The Evolution of Virgo
UnconsciousConscious
Criticism and judgmentDiscernment
RighteousnessAccurate assessment
OpinionatedPersonal opinion
CondemnationCompassion
Worrying Determining what needs to be done
WorkaholismGetting the job done and moving on
Self-effacement, feeling incompetentCompetency and producer of results
Self-disparagement, self-negationHumility
Obligations, compulsive dutiesGiving from our heart
ServitudeService as our life path
Narrow-mindednessAbility to mastermind
Obsessed with detailsAbility to see the whole
PerfectionismSeeing Divine Order
CynicismRealistic, practical
Virgo's Path - Integrating the Sacred and the Mundane

Virgo's path is to integrate the sacred and the mundane. Virgo teaches us:

  1. to eliminate our distractions and unproductive preoccupations, and get on with our soul's work,
  2. to choose what is important and focus on that and only that, and
  3. to concentrate our intent on completing the immediate task, which helps us reach our long term goals.

Virgo's greatest fear is criticism. Virgo's worst habit is self-criticism. Virgo needs to learn not to try to control or change others to line up with some mental ideal. Instead Virgo must learn to simply share insights and inspire others to be their perfect selves.

Below we discuss some of Virgo's main challenges on the path to self-mastery and how the priest/priestess can claim his/her gifts, by making unconscious programs conscious, and then using his/her special talents productively and responsibly.

Being Right and Being Righteous

Immature Virgo has a compulsive need to be right, which leads to behaviors that appear dogmatic, puritanical, and rigid. The preoccupation with being right covers up the authentic need to be acknowledged. Hiding behind Virgo's judgmental value system, and backed up by strict rules and regulations, is an honest desire to serve and be useful. The problem is, that Virgo's honest intentions are often misunderstood, because they are not communicated appropriately. Thus Virgo's first job is to use that discriminating mind power, to figure out how and why this humble servant projects haughtiness instead of humility.

When our focus is on wanting others to recognize our rightness, we automatically illicit negative reactions. Our need to be right positions others as wrong. No one wants to be wrong or feel belittled. If we communicate judgments of right and wrong, others are put on the defensive. If we use our mental acuity to appear superior, we distance ourself from others. Our critical comments then unintentionally reveal our own limitations.

The problem is compounded, because Virgo's critical tendency does not stop with pointing out the faults of others. Virgo is highly critical of self. When Virgo communicates in ways that are perceived by others as insensitive, overly critical and judgmental, the flow of energy between the persons involved is cut off. Feeling depleted and isolated, Virgo shuts down. The abrupt withdrawal from an interaction, that could have been spontaneous and well-meaning, results in a lack of confidence on Virgo's part.

Virgo needs to shift the focus from cold, mental analysis, of what is wrong or not functioning properly, to inspiring and uplifting others. There are so many ways that talented Virgo can serve others and contribute to their lives. To effectively support people, Virgo must first recognize the beauty and purity of the soul that is embodied in another human persona. When we operate from the perspective of every human being questing for his or her own soul's perfection, we can help people be more effective in their efforts to live meaningful and productive lives. (If we were perfect, we wouldn't have signed up for Earth School). When we do so, we can enjoy a sense of our own value and self-worth.

Helping others trust themselves, in turn, helps us trust ourselves. We can then relax, release our need for rules and judgments, and spontaneously interact in a manner that is lovingly appropriate in every situation. When our pure intention to serve is fulfilled, our need for rightness is elevated, to its most sincere desire to bring peace and wholeness to the lives of others.

Perfectionism Complex

Virgo needs to learn how to deal with the fear of being criticized, for being petty or obsessed with details and order. If we are controlled by this fear, we will withhold valuable information about the systemic disorder of a situation. The fact is, that Virgo's perceptive insights can and often do create temporary disruptions. Once the facts of the matter are addressed and dealt with, a new sense of order can emerge. In the meantime, Virgo must learn to deal with the initial reactions to revelations of dysfunctions, and people's discontent about the necessity for adjustments and change.

Both doing Virgo's job and not doing it can be uncomfortable. The consequence, of withholding the truth to avoid negative reactions, offends our inner need to be honest. We also feel uncomfortable, because we aren't sharing valuable knowledge about how to bring higher order to a situation. At the same time, exposing the truth to those who, either can't see it or choose to deny it, is also painful.

We must find peace within ourself, about the nature of our assignment and our gifts. We need to appreciate and respect the value of our gifts, of being able to understand what must be fixed, and to simultaneously perceive a higher sense of order. We have to develop a clear and steady consciousness, and keep our motives of simply sharing our awareness pure. The trick is to not try to defend our observations, and to not take reactions to them personally.

Perfectionism - Inward and Upward

One of the ways that our inner Virgo exhibits its perfectionism complex, is through post facto self-torment, i.e. should have's. Obviously, with the clarity of hindsight, we would do many things in our lives differently. However, this is not how Earth School works. We learn through experimentation. To disengage our judge yourself after the fact critic, we need to install a different program. Instead, we monitor our results and continually revise guidelines to follow in the future. We can build a sense of satisfaction, from designing and following our learn and perfect as we go process. We can even write a manual on the subject, and share it with our willing friends and co-workers.

Virgo's fixation on perfection makes sense at higher levels of awareness. The trick is to operate at the higher level of consciousness:

Our inner Virgo must learn to do the best we can, and then to let go and turn the rest over to a higher power. Sounds like a good idea, but it is something that most of us profoundly resist. We have to train ourself to surrender to a higher power. Daily practice is required. We have to program ourself to trust. To do so, we can take one situation every night, and turn it over while we are asleep. It is only as we witness the results that our inner control mechanism begins to let go.

How We Use Our Energy

There are several ways that Virgo can alienate others, by:

  1. seeking to be right by making others wrong,
  2. criticizing or judging others when their behavior doesn't meet our strict standards for perfection,
  3. focusing on errors instead of what works,
  4. taking what others say and do personally, and
  5. giving unsolicited advice on how others can straighten up their lives.

Virgo can reduce these negative reactions by:

  1. sharing responsibility for what is happening instead of blaming others,
  2. overcoming the need to be right and aim instead for peaceful and heart-centered understanding of situations,
  3. being more tolerant and non-judgmental,
  4. assisting others only when we have permission, and
  5. holding the space of order within ourself, and letting our sense of order radiate out into our environments.

Try it! And watch how you magnetize solutions that you hold in your mind. You may even get offers for assistance without even asking. A real sense of empowerment comes, from witnessing how our harmonious inner world can facilitate harmonious relationships and working environments.

How We Use Our Mind

The Virgo mind can get trapped in analysis-paralysis, by endlessly getting entangled in what is right and wrong. The inherent order that Virgo can perceive can get lost in the endless categories. Virgo can choose to indulge in insensitive petty criticism, or to engage in thoughtful objective observation. Virgo has the uncanny ability, to embrace disparate factors and weave them into a coherent pattern. Virgo's masterminding skills are invaluable in setting up all types of systems. Virgo's ability to see the whole picture, in the middle of chaos and conflict, is a well-needed asset.

To overcome Virgo's petty perfectionism, we have to use our mind to tune into the universal mind - where we can trust what we cannot see or measure - the unseen universal order. When we do so, we aren't so reactive to the natural imperfections on our human journey. Authentic detachment moves us to a higher octave, where forced tolerance becomes genuine acceptance of the way things unfold, and manifest, on the physical plane. We no longer have to justify our natural human experiences. Instead we allow them to teach us more about the evolution and sacredness of life.

Relationships - Isolation or Closeness

If we are self-serving in relationships, rather than serving in a practical and useful manner, we create feelings of isolation. Feelings of being unworthy, or of being unaccepted, get in the way of tuning into and trusting our inner feelings, that guide appropriate interactions with others. We need to monitor our inner reactions, and learn to distinguish between fear of criticism and authentic messages. When we do not sacrifice our inner integrity, and can be honest with ourself, we can move beyond the superficiality that we conjure up, in order to be accepted by others.

The closeness that we desire is possible, when we let go of the judgments of ourself and others, that create feelings of separation. When we express our helpful insights of a situation as our point of view, rather than what is right or wrong, others are able to hear, and discern, the value for themselves of what we have to say. Always keeping in mind, the fact that we all act from limited information and knowledge, can help us communicate without judgment. Virgo's ability to analyze information can be very helpful to others trying to figure out what to do, and the possible consequences of their actions. Virgo's job is to not let the need for perfection interfere with the flow of valuable intuitive insights. Virgo's piece of the puzzle makes a vision of the whole picture possible.

Virgo needs to learn to relax, to let go of rigidities, to be responsible for only what it has to offer, and to trust the evolutionary unfoldment of life. Doing so, we can operate from the integrity and innocence, that makes Virgo's presence and contributions such a valuable asset to the whole.

Virgo the Servant

Virgo is born with the desire to serve others less fortunate and to participate, in very practical ways, in the areas of ecology, health and well-being. One of Virgo's fears is being criticized, for what can be viewed as an over-zealous commitment to a sense of duty. At the same time, Virgo can resent the fact that others seem unwilling to do their share.

If we sacrifice ourself at the altar of duty, we end up sacrificing both our image and our health. If we try to measure up to an unrealistic ideal of the perfect worker (employee or boss), we create a work atmosphere filled with tension, frustration and even paranoia. If we seek to be recognized for our perfect performance, we wear ourself out and annoy the less motivated.

We have to stop trying to create an image, and focus on accomplishing the task at hand. If we direct our energies on getting a job done in collaboration with others, we can release ourself from the burden of sole responsibility, and enjoy camaraderie with our co-workers. In the process, our contribution may well be recognized and appreciated, and we can enjoy the emotional satisfaction of being of service to the cause we are serving, and to our fellow workers.

Service brings Satisfaction

Virgo is born to serve, but service does not mean servitude. Virgo has to discern the difference, and make choices on what is worth devoting time and energy to and what is not. To decide, Virgo can ask some of these questions:

Also - Can I live with the fact that I often see what others are not yet aware of? They may understand later or not. They may even take credit for my brilliant ideas later. Can I move on and simply be grateful that they finally caught on?

It is not Virgo's path to be a doormat, or a slave to anyone. With the perceptive ability to figure out the difference, healthy humility is also required to stay sane in this insane world.

On-the-Job Training

Withholding our gifts results in postponing the satisfaction that our service is meant to give us. Withholding and finding fault with our service results in a lack of self-confidence. A self-critical attitude makes us feel insufficient, which in turn means that we are always in the process of preparing, in order to be ready enough to offer our assistance. The problem with this approach, is that Virgo's training is on the job. We learn as we participate. We perfect our skills as we contribute.

Righteous standards are no substitute for getting our hands dirty. We have to be willing to make mistakes, and to develop ourself in the field, not just in the classroom. We need to respond to our heart's desire to be of service, find situations that need our assistance, and jump in and do our best. Theoretical concepts, of what service should look like, only limit our playing field. Being willing to expand our arena, can expand the opportunities to serve in ways far more satisfying than we could have ever dreamed of ourself.

Virgo's Maturation Process

Our inner Virgo is maturing when we begin to reduce the stress that we create for ourself, when we notice how we sabotage ourself, and stop some of these programmed behaviors. The Virgo litmus tests include (1) stress level, (2) health, and (3) the atmosphere of our work environment.

One of Virgo's biggest lessons is to learn to detach, instead of distance ourself, in personal relationships. This is possible by not taking others comments personally, interpreting their behaviors as a personal affront, or reacting to their critical comments as direct attacks. When we are detached, others do not feel imposed upon, coerced, pressured, punished or judged. We are all free to be responsible for ourself. For Virgo, this freedom is a liberating moment, and a stepping stone to self-mastery.

Emotional, Physical and Spiritual Health and Well-Being

The Virgo dilemma is, how to balance the desire to do a good job and a strong sense of duty and responsibility, with the need to maintain a balanced life, and a realistic perspective of what can be accomplished within the given resources and time. Virgo has a tendency to allow work to disrupt our personal life, which creates imbalances in our emotional and physical health. Virgo must always seek to maintain this delicate balance. For Virgo, health is the barometer of the balance we are achieving in life.

The need for perfection, and the fear of imperfection, can cause Virgo serious emotional trauma. Rigid internal guidelines block the spontaneous flow of energy and ideas. Failing to live up to our own self-imposed standards can create much inner anguish. We must come to terms with the abrasive self-criticism to which we subject ourself. We must acknowledge that we are our own worst enemy! We ourself are the source of our debilitating thoughts.

As we reduce our negative self talk, Virgo's precise analytical skills and power of discrimination can then be used to bring order, not only to external situations, but to our own inner chaos. The key is to observe what we are doing without judgment, and not to take ourself so seriously. In a lighter mood, it is easier to become effectively responsible for finding the balance, which peacefully integrates body, mind and Spirit.

Virgo's task this lifetime is to work on ourself so that we can manifest and enjoy the embodiment of Spirit. Spiritualizing matter becomes a practical task, which we deal with daily in many mundane and tangible ways. When we realize our sacred mission of bringing Spirit into daily life, we are able to transcend the tendency to feel (or need to feel) superior and perfect. We become immersed in the sacred mission, of spontaneously living every moment of life, in the perfection that unfolds before our very eyes. As the priest or priestess, we become devotees of life.

Pisces Lunar Eclipse, Full Moon - September 7th

Every six months, the alignment of the Sun, Moon and the Earth creates both a lunar and a solar eclipse. Eclipses add a powerful dynamic to the new and full moons. Eclipses signal pivotal turning points, including both completion of a cycle and the initiation of a new phase of our lives.

During a lunar eclipse, the Earth passes between the Moon and the Sun, causing the Earth's shadow to dim the Full Moon. The Pisces Lunar Eclipse Full Moon September 7th was at 15° or the half way mark in of the 30° cycles of each sign. The pull of both the past and the future are balanced. We must choose between the familiar and the unknown, between stagnation and transformation, between old comforts and new dynamism.

The interaction of both Uranus and Pluto in this eclipse obliges us to opt for change. Uranus, opposing the Sun and conjunct the Moon, may deal us some pleasant surprises if we remain flexible and willing. Pluto, having just turned direct September 4th (retrograde since March 29th), makes us feel the imperative message - Let go and move on!

During a lunar eclipse, the temporary blockage of light unleashes what has been hidden. Our repressed desires, fears and motivations (both positive and negative) bubble to the surface. The Sun in Virgo heeds us to evaluate our modus operandi, i.e. are we taking care of our health, using our time wisely, carefully determining how and why we engage in specific actions? We are being asked to discriminate, between neurotic busyness and worrying, and carefully planned and calculated tasks to accomplish specific goals. The Moon in Pisces invites us to examine our relationship to Spirit, i.e. are we indulging in cloudy escapism as an avoidance technique, or are we authentically tuning into, surrendering to, and flowing with a higher order?

Eclipses are felt at least a month before they occur, and their effects last for up to a year. So just because the date is past, don't be fooled that you have escaped the impact. If you are honest with yourself, you know that something major is happening. Embrace the transformation, and take advantage of the cosmic opening, to take a giant step forward in your life!

The first planet to transit over the eclipse point often triggers an important development. Venus reaches 15° Virgo on September 18th; watch for important insights or resources to surface around that day.(1) In any case, we need to stay grounded, centered, and focused, and listen to our heart.

Two Virgo New Moons - A New Phase of Our Lives

There are two Virgo New Moons this time around - August 23rd and September 22nd - the first was at 1° Virgo, the later is at 29° Virgo. The last degree of a sign signals the need to complete the spiritual lesson of that sign before moving on to the next lesson.

The Virgo New Moons are a time to review the details and practicalities of our life. Health: how are we taking care of our body? What is the state of our living and working space: what clutter needs to go? How efficient are we in getting things done: do we need to manage our time, energy and resources better? Our evaluation this year takes us to a whole new phase of our lives.

The September 22nd New Moon is intensified by a solar eclipse just before the moment of the Vernal Equinox. The shadow of the Moon eclipses the Sun's light. During a solar eclipse the normal flow of solar light or radiation is interrupted, destabilizing (the) existing configuration of energy, and reorganizing consciousness at a higher level. The amplified pull of the Sun and Moon strongly affects the electromagnetic flow in our bodies, altering neutral pathways and trigger points.(2) We are being realigned at the cellular level so that we can function more in alignment with our soul.

Freeing ourself from the past, and moving on, are the major themes for this solar eclipse new moon. Jupiter and Neptune square off for the third and final time on September 24th at 17° Scorpio and Aquarius. (Discussed next in Issue 123) For most of us, the major part of 2006 was a year of re-evaluation. Now that this contemplative phase is over, we will experience this eclipse as a significant ending, and major new beginning, in our life journey.

Astrological Note

The astrological symbols represent, and integrate, the elements and the three modalities of manifestation.

Elements - There are 3 Zodiac signs in each of the 4 elements:

Modalities - There are 3 modalities or modes of operation - Cardinal, Mutable and Fixed. One each of the elements - air, earth, water and fire - operates in each of these modes.

Each modality is a team. The four elements need each other to function optimally. When they interact through planetary alignments (as in the t-square to be discussed in Issue 123), they form squares and oppositions to each other. The initial energetic impact is a collision or standoff. We feel pulled in all 4 directions. Our life lessons reflect the necessity of learning how to use each of these energies, individually and together, to function at a higher level of competency and consciousness.

In the same issue we will also discuss the nature of the fixed signs in relationship to the t-squares of Neptune, Saturn and Jupiter.

Mutable Signs and Immutable Laws

The mutable signs are constantly aligning with the immutable laws and forces of the Universe. At every level, they are continually adjusting, adapting, moving, re-evaluating and evolving. Their nature and lessons are to be in the cosmic unfoldment and flow.

The mutable signs symbolize the immutable laws and forces of the four elements:

Virgo Needs Pisces and Pisces Needs Virgo

Virgo and Pisces need each other to understand and develop a functional relationship between matter and spirit.
Virgo is very practical, demanding and mental and understands how the physical plane works. Virgo uses analysis and reason to operate in the world.
Pisces relates to the non-physical world, and can be spacey, ungrounded and dreamy, as well as easy-going and accepting. Pisces uses intuition and psychic attunement to navigate through the world ocean.

Pisces and Virgo are both mutable signs. Together they integrate Spirit into our psyche, bodies and physical environments. Plugged into different circuits, their team work is a ZEN exercise, of merging the daily practical reality with the cosmic universal reality.

Transitions to a Heart Centered World by Guru Rattana, Ph.D.

 
Transitions to a Heart-Centered World by Guru Rattana, Ph.D., is a rich and unique compilation of the core teachings and Kundalini Yoga kriyas and meditations of Yogi Bhajan.

The new Second Edition, revised and updated,is ready to welcome a whole new generation of students to this life-changing technology. It offers powerful and effective techniques to both teacher and student, to empower your lower chakras and open your heart to unconditional love.

Contains literally dozens of meditations to access heart and soul consciousness.

Kundalini Yoga - Guidelines for Integrating Body and Spirit

It is important to realize that non-physical energy has to be integrated into the body, or it will just escape. If we don't consciously integrate higher frequencies into our body, we can have experiences that are ungrounded, spacey and short-lived. We can feel fearful, want to escape physical reality, and be in denial.

Integrating physical and non-physical energies, is a very subtle art and a delicate process, that requires cultivating stillness and awareness. Otherwise, we feel good for a moment and then revert back to the same old thing.

Kundalini Yoga powerfully activates the whole body and being. Meditation raises our vibrational frequency, attunes our body to non-physical energies, and helps us become more conscious. Practicing any physical Kundalini Yoga kriya is critical in the activation, alignment and preparation of our body to hold higher frequencies. For example, the kriya to Strengthen the Aura (done standing) in Transitions to a Heart-Centered World (page 116), greatly facilitates grounding spiritual energies.

Between exercises (any set) and at the end of a set, it is important to sit very quietly, tune into your inner space, and FEEL the energy in your body. Similarly, after you meditate, sit quietly, be attentive, BE with the SPACE inside your skin and FEEL your body. Let the non-physical energy integrate into your body. FEEL the aliveness. LOVE what you feel.

To cultivate the connection and integration between physical and non-physical energies, we have to simultaneously stay present to our stable inner space, and allow and stay with the flow of our emotional and physical sensations. Both stability and flow are required to spiritualize matter. Spacing out is not spiritualizing matter. We need to feel our body until it resonates at a higher level.

The techniques of Kundalini Yoga and meditation facilitate body/Spirit integration. They facilitate our task, but by themselves they are insufficient. Paying attention is required. Cultivate awareness. Be present to what you feel. Allow what you feel. Feel the flow (or non flow, i.e. resistance) of energy in your body.

Awareness, the vibration of sound, feeling our body, and emotional sweetness, are the glue that integrates spirit into form. Build your glue and you will strengthen your connection with the Divine, be more grounded, and invite your soul to manifest in your body. Being aware, of both SPACE and ALIVENESS inside your skin, merges universal energies with the evolving energies of our soul. The emotional sweetness that we experience, by bringing the vibrational sound current of divine mantras into our physical awareness, solidifies the glue, and encodes a higher dimension of being, into our sacred vessel.

Healing Mantra to Connect Earth and Ether

The mantra RA MA DA SA SA SAY SO HUNG is a healing mantra, with the power to integrate earth and ether energies. The vibration of RA MA DA SA integrates earth or physical energies into our being. The vibration of SA SAY SO HUNG integrates ether or non-physical energies. This mantra can be chanted in an ascending scale up the chakras, with the Hung vibrated out of the top of the head. Other versions of this meditation are found in Transitions to a Heart-Centered World.

This mantra is beautifully chanted by Gurunam (Dr. Joseph Michael Levry) on his CD of the same name. (see below).

Virgo/Pisces Touchstones

Virgo - Feel present in my body here now.
Pisces - Expand space inside my body now.

References and Footnotes

"Virgo New Moon, Pisces Lunar Eclipse, Virgo Solar Eclipse", by Stephanie Austin, The Mountain Astrologer, Issue #128, Aug/Sept, 2006, pp.102-4.

"Astrology and Spiritual Awakening", by Gregory C. Bogart, Dawn Mountain Press, Berkeley, 1994.

"Spiritual Astrology", by Jan Spiller and Karen McCoy, Simon and Schuster, 1985 and 1988.

1. Austin, p. 103 2. Austin, p. 104

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