The flurry of social media posts of late regarding all this NEED to BE PERFECT - no matter the age or gender or social standing - caused me to ask WHY? Where does this stem from?
Delving into the Past is what we Astrologers do - the Planetary Cycles of the Past - what was happening back then that we're reaping in the Now? Virgo, our mutable Earth sign, is where we PERFECT our processes of Life, Work & Health primarily. The SHADOW side of Virgo is where Perfectionism / Workaholics comes into play. I know from the books I've read & movies I've watched from the period since World War II (WWII) that there was a post-war NEED to create a more PERFECT world after all that death, disruption & grief of loss & spiritual mayhem.
Looking Back In Time I found Neptune moving through Virgo from 1928 until 1943. Just before the Stock Market Crash that hurled thousands upon thousands of people around the world into economic devastation & heralded in the "Dirty '30's" or the Depression. Here people committed suicide over the shame of losing the family fortune, their jobs, their ability to look after kith & kin.
Throughout the 1930's, families were torn apart as fathers & sons travelled far from home to find work, to send money back home to keep the family fed & clothed. Women & children had to fend for themselves to keep the family going as best they could. Many, many, did not.
At the same time, from 1935 to 1942, Uranus moved through our fixed Earth sign of Taurus (where it is again, NOW, since March 2019, heralding in Unexpected Change with this current Pandemic!). The Second World War began in September 1939 & the world was drawn into another round of lack & loss, having to do without, grow our own food (if possible), work a job not normally ours to have (the men to war as soldiers, spies, & war room think-tanks; the women to take over the men's roles in warehouses, munitions factories, farming, Resistance groups, driving ambulances in the war zones & nursing there, even using their mathematical intelligence at Bletchley to decode enemy missives, to name a few).
Neptune brings two faces: the need to connect with the greater WHY beyond the physical reality - to have Faith, to find Hope, to "see" past current reality for the meaning of this horrid chaos lying in front of us. The other face - the Shadow - brings illusion/delusion & the need to ESCAPE reality in some regard - through our addictions, into fantasy, exit stage left into that Drama Triangle to create DRAMA (Victim-Rescue(r)-Persecution) role-play. Any or all of this can be true for any of us.
Currently, Neptune has been moving through the sign it rules, Pisces, since early 2012. Pisces, as it happens, is the opposite sign to Virgo! When a planet transits through any sign, the opposite sign is also affected - issues are PULLED OUT from it for us to "see" it from a different perspective.
Let's return to 1928 to 1943: after years upon years of lack, scrimping & scraping for food, money & work, then death & dying & loss - what ELSE would we want once WWII ended in 1945? To Rebuild, "get back to normal" which of course we're unable to do because the world & WE have changed. During this war, with the help of our transformative planet, Pluto, discovered in 1930 (!) we see the manufacture of many items - some more useful than others - the goods & appliances we could not, NOW, possibly live without! All to lure the little woman BACK INTO the kitchen/home to return to where all women are meant to be (good luck with that!) so our men (the remaining numbers there were, unfortunately) can return to their jobs you/women so willingly looked after whilst they were at war....
That need to move beyond war & its devastation & turn our backs on another dark period in history - THIS is what helped prolong that Virgoan need to PERFECT the PERFECT world, woman, home, land & man, etc., which we continue to have embodied within our psyches to this day! WHY?
Back in 1929 - 1943 people were mostly church-goers, connecting with their Spirituality as a religious group - in whatever religion they were born into or sought out. Dutifully doing what each could, for the "war effort." Being of Service, & volunteering through community, neighbourhoods, & country. The Shadow here: following the rules of engagement, protocol & war - To The Letter at times! So much of what occurred in WWI & WWII that went sideways "in the field" did not have to happen - yet did - due to the war room tactics & RULES of ENGAGEMENT that did not apply in practical hands-on real-life drama of war. Not. At. All. Even the shenanigans of folk reporting on each other - "he's a German Spy!" "she's stealing veggies from so-and-so's garden in the dead of night!" etc. Must we go there, again?
Back to now, August 2020, with Neptune still in Pisces (at 20 degrees 15' Celestial Longitude at the time of writing) pulling our attention to WHAT WAS DEEMED AS PERFECT & PERFECTION via the Virgo way of life since 1945. That's 75 years, 2-3 generations later. Have we had enough yet? Are we done with being slaves to perfection?
Truth be told: wherever Virgo is in your Birth Chart (& we ALL have the 12 signs & ruling Planets/Asteroids in our charts, so we have Virgo somewhere in a House of Life Experience therein!) indicates WHERE in your life Perfectionism shows itself. Any Planets you have in Virgo shows HOW you're using/mis-using this awesome mutable Earth sign of practical down-to-earth hands-on SERVICE, the need to energetically & physically bring ORDER out of CHAOS. Hence the rules of engagement, etiquette, work environments, & pecking order have arose especially through & since WWII.
PERFECT. PERFECTIONISM. This is where we have become ADDICTED to order. To the rules. To doing things RIGHT. Addictions are under the umbrella of Pisces/Neptune - currently pulling out the Shadow side of Pisces via that Drama Triangle role-play of Victim-Rescue(r)-Bully or Persecutor we're still learning to Let Go Of. So, Drama on one side; Perfectionism on the other.
The HIGH SIDE of BOTH VIRGO & PISCES? To BE of SERVICE for the Good of ALL - including the person doing the service! Yes, Virgo,
we all have learning curves to navigate throughout our lives. Yes, there are times we are student & times we are the teacher - no matter WHERE we are in our lives. If you ALLOW yourself to NOT KNOW IT ALL, you will have perfected the High Side of Virgo. To ALLOW yourself to FAIL, to make mistakes, to learn a new way of DOING/SERVING whatever it is you're doing/serving in the world. No matter your age - we ALL DO NOT KNOW IT ALL, ALL OF THE TIME! Our heads would explode if we did! Surrender to NOT KNOWING! Whew!
The High side of Pisces? LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF. Spiritual connection as Love. Knowing the Inner Wisdom of Intuition, honouring our feelings & those of others. COMPASSION. BE that Eternal Being of Light that You ARE. We ALL ARE - connected in this way. HONOUR THIS. Be True to your Spiritual One-ness.
During these COVID-19 times, what's been the MOST in your face as we isolate at home, social distance ourselves, NOT be of Service as we once were? Again, the RULES of ENGAGEMENT due to COVID-19 & who is working & who is not (essential vs. non-essential). Have we LEARNED FROM THE PAST, yet? Must we revisit those dark times & BE PERFECT? Be smart, be honest, be compassionate....
Interestingly, since late April & including just yesterday (Saturday August 15th) all the planets from JUPITER TO PLUTO have been turning Rx/retrograde! This includes ERIS & CHIRON, & as of yesterday, URANUS. This means Internal close up connection & conscious awareness to how we allow ourselves to:
take risks into Leaps of Faith (Jupiter),
restructure our long-term goals & responsibilities along the way (Saturn),
EMPOWER everyone involved as secrets & fears are revealed, exposed & healed (Pluto),
bring True Individuation & Future-oriented innovation/invention into the NOW (Uranus),
turn INWARD Spiritually to lean on our own Inner Wisdom & guidance (Neptune),
look to that which we've NEGLECTED of our INDEPENDENCE (ERIS),
heal the wound of Spiritual separation & fear of being rejected for BEING our TRUE SELVES (Chiron)....
All this summer we've been collectively & individually REVIEWING our Past!
Uranus' last pass through Taurus, remember, was just before/into WWII! Taurus brings in the Scorpio death/dying/fear-mongering. And we're here living with it all once again!
Neptune Rx through Pisces brings forth the viewing glass of its opposite sign, Virgo & all of what I've already mentioned above. SEE PAST THE CHAOS into FAITH & LOVE & TRUST.
Jupiter + Pluto + Saturn holding hands in Capricorn (building ambition WITH Integrity via long-term goals) bring in Cancer's need to BE SENSITIVE to our feelings & environment, as well as to those of others, our family & country.
ERIS & Chiron, both in Aries (warrior/pioneer/explorer of being independent, self-aware, self-actuating) are bringing in Libra - that need for BALANCE, Harmony, PEACE, Love.
ERIS has been squaring off with the peeps in Capricorn since March 2020 (!) creating stress & tension to FIGHT FOR OUR INDEPENDENCE once & for all! What does this mean to you, for you? ERIS continues to send this stress & tension until close to Christmas! Where is ERIS in your birth chart (all of us born have it in Aries btw) - THIS is the area of your life where you've NEGLECTED some aspect of your Independence.
Current ERIS sits at 24 degrees Aries AND so does her brother, MARS. As of this writing - Sister & Brother are together in the sign Mars rules - Aries. The Feminine & the Masculine aspects of War. MUST we be at war? Any more? Any longer? What have we, collectively, been NEGLECTING here? Aries represents the archetypes of the Warrior, the Pioneer & the Explorer. We can STAND UP & FIGHT - in a different manner. We can PIONEER something NEW (Aries is, after all, a Cardinal Fire sign - Initiating the NEW via INSPIRed (in-spirit) Action)! We can EXPLORE other avenues of going against those old rigid RULES OF ENGAGEMENT that are breaking our Collective mental, emotional & physical & spiritual bodies. LET. IT. GO. "I surrender!" Do you?
Currently the Sun & Mercury are moving through the late degrees of LEO - at 24 & 23 degrees respectively - asking us, Collectively, to FOLLOW YOUR HEART, soulfully & mindfully so! Vesta just entered Leo on Wednesday. Focused Concentration - to lead with your Heart, Stand Up for yourself & Support Your True Authentic Self!
The Heart Chakra comes to mind here for me. Venus & the signs she rules, Taurus & Libra, rule this Chakra, Astrologically. Here's more, with the Chakra issues/blockages info from Deepak Chopra:
The Endocrine Glands involved: Thymus & Pancreas.
The Colour is GREEN.
The Action: Social Identity, Love & Relationships.
Interestingly, the Element herein is AIR - the relating aspect of communication!
Main Issues: Giving & Receiving Love.
When IMBALANCED: Grief, anger, jealousy, fear of betrayal, hatred to self or others. Physically can be heart conditions, respiratory problems or upper back pain.
When BLOCKED: Difficulty with relationships, lack of compassion, hopelessness.
Use the MANTRA: YAM (yah-mmm) & Affirm: "I love myself Unconditionally. I give & receive Love fully & effortlessly."to regain BALANCE & HARMONY in this area.
LEO rules the heart & back of the physical body! If your back is "out"(Leo) or your neck is (Taurus) or you have a fever / headache (Aries) or your feet are sore (Pisces) or your knees are "acting up" (Capricorn) - have I missed anyone? LOL! These are the areas of your physical body that will SPEAK LOUDLY indicating the Inner Conscious/Unconscious work you're currently undergoing. LISTEN. Take note. Address that area & Look Within.
Follow the Astrological keys above - what risks, restructuring, responsibilities, secrets & integrity have I missed? This is Capricorn speaking to you from Jupiter, Saturn & Pluto.
What DRAMA role keeps popping up, refusing to LET GO of that addiction to Perfection? Or any other addiction preventing your exit from Drama? Pisces/Virgo through Neptune talking.
Why am I AT WAR with myself &/or others? ERIS & MARS in Aries...is your Inner Feminine side have issues with your Inner Masculine side? ....just saying :))
Why is my throat sore? Why can't I speak up when I know I must? Taurus through Uranus (Expect the Unexpected here, too btw...).
Key Takeaway: Follow Your Heart; BE Truly Authentic; Connect Within to your Spiritual Guidance system; Speak Your Truth; Make Peace through a BALANCE of Receiving & Doing; & above all else - strive to Build With Integrity, especially during these Auspicious Times! Namaste
Photo Credits: UNSPLASH artists - You All ROCK! Namaste :))