The Zodiac Dispatch: Knuckle down, it’s Virgo season
It’s time to get studious and hit the gym as we enter the hardest working sign, says astrologer and member, Clarisse Monahan
Monday 22 August 2022 By Clarisse Monahan Illustration by Jer Dee
We leave behind Leo’s reign of flair and move towards the harvest season of Virgo, whose element is earth, whose modality is mutable, and whose symbol is the Maiden. If Leo was about enjoying the sunshine of other people’s attention, the Maiden delights in working behind the scenes to get stuff done. After a hazy summer, we should all welcome this jolt of Virgo practicality, as school starts and and our annual KPIs must be met at work.
Ruled by analytic Mercury, Virgo energy has to do with looking into the mechanics of things. It asks: what makes the clock tick? Governing over routine, diet and service, Virgo season also signals a nice moment to get back on track with fitness and healthy food choices, if you’ve veered towards beer and ice cream this summer. Overall, this is a month for working hard, eating better, and reading the fine print. So, if you find yourself poring over the legalese of yet another YouTube user agreement, you can thank Virgo season for that.
Ruled by analytic Mercury, Virgo energy has to do with looking into the mechanics of things. It asks: what makes the clock tick? Governing over routine, diet and service, Virgo season also signals a nice moment to get back on track with fitness and healthy food choices, if you’ve veered towards beer and ice cream this summer. Overall, this is a month for working hard, eating better, and reading the fine print. So, if you find yourself poring over the legalese of yet another YouTube user agreement, you can thank Virgo season for that.
Virgo
The practical Virgo Sun will be supercharging your selfhood zone all season, meaning your penchant for order, routine and good diet should feel extra alive. Take advantage: alphabetise the titles on your bookshelf; get on top of your meal prep; arrive at all appointments comfortably on time (which for you means 30 minutes early). This is your moment to shine in all your slightly fussy, though Virgo-unique glory. Also, pay particular attention to the new moon in the Maiden on 27 August. New moons, especially in one’s sign, are the most auspicious time to set a six-month plan. Get your calendar out on this day and mark where you want to be in March in terms of finances, health regime, or partnerships.
Libra
The analytical Virgo Sun will be lighting up your zone of the unconscious and secrets over the next month. These solar transits through this part of the chart are like those long dark nights before dawn, during which we lay awake and catalogue the past. Rather than dwell on what has been, it might be helpful to think of this transit as a yearly rite of passage towards spiritual development and letting go. What emotional baggage are we holding onto? Anger towards a friend, bad deeds done to others or ourselves? Locating and releasing some of these hang-ups in order to forgive and move on is the month’s lesson for you.
Scorpio
Two things to keep in mind this month, Big Sting. First, the Virgo Sun has to do in part with acts of service to others. Second, your friendship zone will be lit up by this service-oriented solar power over the next few weeks. The cosmos is saying it’s time to shoulder some burden for your friends. Maybe one of them needs a child looking after, or a ride somewhere. Focus on being practical and helpful – your BFFs will appreciate it. A full moon in your romance zone on 10 September suggests a good night to take some time off from friends for a dalliance with a romantic lead in the rom-com of your life.
Sagittarius
The precise Virgo Sun will be highlighting your career sector this season. Your natural sense of devil-may-care adventurousness and risk-taking should welcome the steady, earthy order that the Virgo Sun will bring to your work zone. This is not a time for speculating on the newest crypto fad, but rather getting into the specifics of a project and mastering its arcana. While you’re a big picture sign, this is a detail-oriented month. Impress your supervisors by showing that you can go small, as well as big, if necessary. A full moon on 10 September in your home sector marks a great day to celebrate with friends over at your place.
Capricorn
As the meticulous Virgo Sun transits your zone of higher learning, your theme this month revolves around knowledge, spirituality, and philosophy. Virgo is a sign that loves to understand the inner workings of something – be it a clock, a car, or Rudolph Carnap’s The Logical Syntax Of Language. In other words, the Virgin’s version of higher learning will be drawn to practical forms of reason (no hazy spiritual metaphysics of the Upanishads here). What that means for you, dear Goat, is that you should use this month to look for concrete ways to better your mind, body or spirit through a methodical reading regimen. Such an approach suits your likewise earthy nature better anyhow.
Aquarius
With the precise Virgo Sun lighting up your intimacy zone, your detached, big-picture nature faces a two-fold challenge this season. First, you’re an independent sign, but the intimacy sector of a chart deals with sharing (everything from finances to fantasies). Second, you see the forest, but Virgo is all about the trees/ details. Accordingly, this season is really meant to push you more into the nitty-gritty of the world (the Maiden is mutable earth opposite your fixed air). Descend from your eagle-eyed aerial view and partake in the pleasures of the nest, by which we mean intimacy.
Pisces
Here comes the Sun (the service-oriented Virgo Sun, to be precise). It will be highlighting your partnership zone this month. While we could quibble and say that there are better placements for relationships, this current transit is an excellent one for teaching you about the practicalities that go into building something with someone. Listen, care, attend to, think about the other (by which we mean any kind of partner, from romantic to business). This is a big other-oriented month for you. A full moon in your selfhood sector on 10 September, however, foretells a day for some me-time.
Aries
The Virgo Sun lights up your routine, health and diet zone over the next four weeks. Herein we find a strong placement for a number of reasons. First, Virgo season is all about the harvest, food, and how we nourish ourselves. There is a deep sympathy, therefore, between this sign and the health zone of the chart. Second, your ruling planet, Mars, has its ‘joy’ in this sector. The red planet loves routine and direction, which this part of the chart provides in spades. And, of course, Virgo itself delights more than any other sign in the daily pleasure of routine and practicality. It’s a time to channel your energy: get in the gym, introduce a high protein diet, create a detailed schedule. A new moon in your health sector on 27 August 27 signals the best day of the month to begin a new workout routine.
Taurus
Your romance and fun sector will be highlighted by the service-oriented Virgo Sun this season. While Virgo can be called a bit prudish, there is a certain frisson that comes from serving and/ or servicing others when it comes to romance. The old adage, ‘it is better to give than to receive’ applies here. A new moon in your fun zone on 27 August indicates a particularly fertile day for romantic excursions. But we don’t use ‘fertile’ loosely here. New moons and the romance zone are times for procreation, as well as recreation. Make sure you plan accordingly.
Gemini
Virgo is a sign that does well when it comes to details, while your flightier nature tends to get lost in them entirely. Luckily for you, then, the precise influence of the Maiden will be energising your home sector over the next few weeks. Use this Virgo dose of cosmic Adderall to brighten the corners of your place. Summer is ending and it’s time to starch the collars for autumn. A new moon in your home zone on 27 August heralds the best day of the season to look at your life to start getting things in order.
Cancer
Your theme this month: communication. Why? The crisp and clear Virgo Sun will be lighting up this section of your chart. Now, communication can come in infinite forms, of course. Your flowing nature (emotional but at times indirect) tends toward a kind of Sylvia Plath-like poetic style, all full of affect and cryptic accusation. But if you have an application, personal statement, memo, or other such writing assignment due this month, you should thank your lucky stars that the precise light of the Maiden will be nearby to guide the demands of this more workmanlike prose. A new moon on 27 August portends the best day of the month to dip quill to ink.
Leo
Your big theme this month has to do with finances, as the practical Virgo Sun crests your money zone. Your nature tends to be more flash with the cash, but slow down here and follow the lead of Virgo’s more prudent influence. Frugality is the law of the land over the next few weeks, even if you’re tempted to splash out. A new moon in your financial sector on 27 August augurs the best day of the month to buy a piggy bank, if you must make a purchase. A full moon on 10 September in your debt and taxes sector suggests it’s time to pay the piper.
The practical Virgo Sun will be supercharging your selfhood zone all season, meaning your penchant for order, routine and good diet should feel extra alive. Take advantage: alphabetise the titles on your bookshelf; get on top of your meal prep; arrive at all appointments comfortably on time (which for you means 30 minutes early). This is your moment to shine in all your slightly fussy, though Virgo-unique glory. Also, pay particular attention to the new moon in the Maiden on 27 August. New moons, especially in one’s sign, are the most auspicious time to set a six-month plan. Get your calendar out on this day and mark where you want to be in March in terms of finances, health regime, or partnerships.
Libra
The analytical Virgo Sun will be lighting up your zone of the unconscious and secrets over the next month. These solar transits through this part of the chart are like those long dark nights before dawn, during which we lay awake and catalogue the past. Rather than dwell on what has been, it might be helpful to think of this transit as a yearly rite of passage towards spiritual development and letting go. What emotional baggage are we holding onto? Anger towards a friend, bad deeds done to others or ourselves? Locating and releasing some of these hang-ups in order to forgive and move on is the month’s lesson for you.
Scorpio
Two things to keep in mind this month, Big Sting. First, the Virgo Sun has to do in part with acts of service to others. Second, your friendship zone will be lit up by this service-oriented solar power over the next few weeks. The cosmos is saying it’s time to shoulder some burden for your friends. Maybe one of them needs a child looking after, or a ride somewhere. Focus on being practical and helpful – your BFFs will appreciate it. A full moon in your romance zone on 10 September suggests a good night to take some time off from friends for a dalliance with a romantic lead in the rom-com of your life.
Sagittarius
The precise Virgo Sun will be highlighting your career sector this season. Your natural sense of devil-may-care adventurousness and risk-taking should welcome the steady, earthy order that the Virgo Sun will bring to your work zone. This is not a time for speculating on the newest crypto fad, but rather getting into the specifics of a project and mastering its arcana. While you’re a big picture sign, this is a detail-oriented month. Impress your supervisors by showing that you can go small, as well as big, if necessary. A full moon on 10 September in your home sector marks a great day to celebrate with friends over at your place.
Capricorn
As the meticulous Virgo Sun transits your zone of higher learning, your theme this month revolves around knowledge, spirituality, and philosophy. Virgo is a sign that loves to understand the inner workings of something – be it a clock, a car, or Rudolph Carnap’s The Logical Syntax Of Language. In other words, the Virgin’s version of higher learning will be drawn to practical forms of reason (no hazy spiritual metaphysics of the Upanishads here). What that means for you, dear Goat, is that you should use this month to look for concrete ways to better your mind, body or spirit through a methodical reading regimen. Such an approach suits your likewise earthy nature better anyhow.
Aquarius
With the precise Virgo Sun lighting up your intimacy zone, your detached, big-picture nature faces a two-fold challenge this season. First, you’re an independent sign, but the intimacy sector of a chart deals with sharing (everything from finances to fantasies). Second, you see the forest, but Virgo is all about the trees/ details. Accordingly, this season is really meant to push you more into the nitty-gritty of the world (the Maiden is mutable earth opposite your fixed air). Descend from your eagle-eyed aerial view and partake in the pleasures of the nest, by which we mean intimacy.
Pisces
Here comes the Sun (the service-oriented Virgo Sun, to be precise). It will be highlighting your partnership zone this month. While we could quibble and say that there are better placements for relationships, this current transit is an excellent one for teaching you about the practicalities that go into building something with someone. Listen, care, attend to, think about the other (by which we mean any kind of partner, from romantic to business). This is a big other-oriented month for you. A full moon in your selfhood sector on 10 September, however, foretells a day for some me-time.
Aries
The Virgo Sun lights up your routine, health and diet zone over the next four weeks. Herein we find a strong placement for a number of reasons. First, Virgo season is all about the harvest, food, and how we nourish ourselves. There is a deep sympathy, therefore, between this sign and the health zone of the chart. Second, your ruling planet, Mars, has its ‘joy’ in this sector. The red planet loves routine and direction, which this part of the chart provides in spades. And, of course, Virgo itself delights more than any other sign in the daily pleasure of routine and practicality. It’s a time to channel your energy: get in the gym, introduce a high protein diet, create a detailed schedule. A new moon in your health sector on 27 August 27 signals the best day of the month to begin a new workout routine.
Taurus
Your romance and fun sector will be highlighted by the service-oriented Virgo Sun this season. While Virgo can be called a bit prudish, there is a certain frisson that comes from serving and/ or servicing others when it comes to romance. The old adage, ‘it is better to give than to receive’ applies here. A new moon in your fun zone on 27 August indicates a particularly fertile day for romantic excursions. But we don’t use ‘fertile’ loosely here. New moons and the romance zone are times for procreation, as well as recreation. Make sure you plan accordingly.
Gemini
Virgo is a sign that does well when it comes to details, while your flightier nature tends to get lost in them entirely. Luckily for you, then, the precise influence of the Maiden will be energising your home sector over the next few weeks. Use this Virgo dose of cosmic Adderall to brighten the corners of your place. Summer is ending and it’s time to starch the collars for autumn. A new moon in your home zone on 27 August heralds the best day of the season to look at your life to start getting things in order.
Cancer
Your theme this month: communication. Why? The crisp and clear Virgo Sun will be lighting up this section of your chart. Now, communication can come in infinite forms, of course. Your flowing nature (emotional but at times indirect) tends toward a kind of Sylvia Plath-like poetic style, all full of affect and cryptic accusation. But if you have an application, personal statement, memo, or other such writing assignment due this month, you should thank your lucky stars that the precise light of the Maiden will be nearby to guide the demands of this more workmanlike prose. A new moon on 27 August portends the best day of the month to dip quill to ink.
Leo
Your big theme this month has to do with finances, as the practical Virgo Sun crests your money zone. Your nature tends to be more flash with the cash, but slow down here and follow the lead of Virgo’s more prudent influence. Frugality is the law of the land over the next few weeks, even if you’re tempted to splash out. A new moon in your financial sector on 27 August augurs the best day of the month to buy a piggy bank, if you must make a purchase. A full moon on 10 September in your debt and taxes sector suggests it’s time to pay the piper.