5 Things to Know About Virgo

On August 22, 2024 the Sun moves into Virgo, initiating Virgo season and offering us an opportunity to learn more about this part of ourselves.

Even if you have no planets in Virgo, you have the sign in your chart.

It’s archetype and the style in which it operates are a part of your personality — perhaps a part that you own without shame, or perhaps a part that you try to repress.

Virgo season is an opportunity to bring focus on the area of life where Virgo falls in your chart, as well as to come into deeper relationship with the Virgo part of your psyche to bring healing to these parts of you.

5 Things to Know About Virgo

Virgo is the sixth sign of the zodiac. It is a mutable earth sign ruled by Mercury and symbolized by the Virgin.

Let’s break this down:

(1) Modality: Mutable

Every sign has one of three modalities: Cardinal, Fixed, or Mutable.

Cardinal signs initiate seasons. Fixed signs anchor seasons. Mutable signs bring us from one season to the next.

Mutable signs are the transitions between the extreme of one season and the beginning of the next season.

Virgo is a mutable sign. It shares this quality with Gemini, Sagittarius, and Pisces.

Virgo corresponds to the time of year in the Northern hemisphere when we are moving from summer into autumn.

In ancient times, mutable signs were called “double-bodied” — reflecting the fact that they have two distinct natures.

The mutable nature of Virgo can be readily perceived in the Northeast United States. As Virgo season arrives, mornings and evenings suddenly become notably cooler, while the middle of the day can reach summer temperatures. At the start of Virgo season we are still in the summer energy.

As we progress into Virgo season, the temperatures will cool significantly and summer vibes will give way to back-to-school energy and the more rigorous structure that often accompanies that shift.

Mutable signs are not one thing or the other thing; they are both things at once. They are not taking us on a linear path to the next place; instead they circle back on themselves.

This is the time of year marked by endings and beginnings: we say goodbye to the freedom of summer as back-to-school vibes start to kick in.

(2) Element: Earth

Every sign is associated with an element: fire, earth, air, or water.

Virgo is associated with the earth element, like Taurus and Capricorn.

As an element, earth is associated with qualities of being grounded, consolidating, and practical. Earth signs are known for stability. They are tactical, strategic, and efficient. There’s a desire to make things that are useful and high quality. With an earth sign there’s no fluff or fire.

This is a place where we make things tangible. Instead of turning “ideas into action,” earth signs turn “ideas into form.”

(3) Ruling Planet: Mercury

Every sign has a planet that is said to “rule” that sign or be at home there. Virgo’s ruling planet is Mercury, which also rules Gemini.

Mercury is the archetype of the Messenger. It’s associated with processes of the mind and nervous system. Mercury is also the planner, accountant, teacher, and salesperson.

In Gemini, Mercury is all about the conversations and ideas. Mercury in Virgo wants to plan, sort, and get into the details for the purpose of bringing those big ideas into form.

This gives Virgo its association with detail-oriented planning.

(4) Symbol: The Virgin

Virgo is symbolized by the Virgin, which tends to give it an association with purity culture. This fixation on purity may be what Virgo its association with perfectionism and being hyper-critical.

However — fun fact alert! — before the word “virgin” was associated with an “untouched” or “pure” woman, it was used specifically to describe a free woman: a woman who was independent, autonomous, untied. Her own sovereign.

(5) Season: Late Summer: Discernment and Sorting

Virgo arrives at late summer in the Northern hemisphere. Agriculturally, this is a time for picking, sorting, and preserving the summer crops to prepare provisions for winter.

The process of picking the crops involves discerning which fruits are ripe and ready to be picked. Once picked, the crops must be sorted to determine which are of the right quality to preserve for winter.

This process is also a means of self-preservation and survival: if crops weren’t preserved to last through winter, people would die of starvation.

At their best, these qualities give Virgo its association with discernment, having high standards, and being excellent planners. At their extreme, they can be overly picky, resulting in a situation where nothing feels good enough.

In addition, the task of sorting can lead “black-or-white” or binary thinking, where we categorize things as “good” or “bad.” This can lead to perfectionism and a hyper-crictical nature that results in paralysis and procrastination.

A Summary of Virgo Qualities

Virgo deals with discernment and helpfulness. It assimilates, digests, and applies information. It seeks to makes things more efficient, with a focus on quality and high standards.

Virgo is incredibly skilled and tries to make things that are practical and useful.

This is a sign that loves a detailed blueprint and to-do list, so it can check off the boxes. It uses planning as a survival skill.

At the extreme, Virgo can be overly detail-oriented and often hyper-critical, struggling to see the bigger picture.

When it comes to the tendency to binary thinking, it’s important to remember that Virgo is a mutable sign, which means that it’s true nature is to seek the “both/and.”

In Virgo, nothing is one thing or the other thing. It can be both things at once.

5 Things to Know About Virgo