Don't Worry, Bee Happy (continued)

Mythologically, Virgo also is not just the librarian we think of culturally (Hermione from Harry Potter or Lisa Simpson), she is also represented by Astraea. From Wikipedia:

In Greek mythology, Astraea ("star-maiden") was a daughter of Zeus and Themis…She and her mother were both personifications of justice. Astraea was the last of the immortals to live with humans during the Golden Age. As mankind became wicked, she was the last to stay on earth, ascending to heaven to become the constellation Virgo; the scales of justice she carried became the nearby constellation Libra. She is also the symbol for the Tarot Card Justice.

So here again, we see Virgo as a mutable sign transitioning from Leo to Libra. Deborah Houlding says they feel with their gut an innate rightness or wrongness about situations.

In Liz Greene’s Astrology of Fate, she associates the Astraea myth with Virgo’s earthy sexuality. She is not virginal in the traditional sense but in the sense that she belongs to no man and hence the connection to the sacred prostitute who served young men into adulthood, but not owned by them. She also notes the need for ritual. These “virgins” had ritualized sex in ancient Greece during the Eleusinian mysteries and other religious festivals. Rituals are valuable in keeping us in tune with nature. This may be why pet owners (pets are ruled by Virgo) are generally healthier than the rest of the population since they are in tune the simple daily ritual of feeding and caring for an animal that ties us in to earth.

Creating the proper rituals for oneself will be a good way to work with Saturn-in-Virgo’s energy. Getting a pet, exercise which ties in the body to the mind, crafts, gardening and cooking which engages the senses, are all good way to grasp this energy. Remember how easy habits are formed and perfectionism can turn ugly? Do not let the ritual take over your life. In fact, as a metaphor for the upcoming Saturn-Uranus opposition, create a ritual and consciously do the opposite on occasion. One running coach in college made us run backwards every mile or so to keep us conscious of how we were using the body. This ritual becomes your time to come home to yourself as The Hermit in the Tarot deck.

Some of the difficulty of the sign of Virgo is due to their quest for perfection and wholeness. Surprisingly Virgo can become frequent victims of alcoholism and drug addiction despite one thinking this a Pisces disease; or they often project this and fall into the caretaker role of looking after an addicted partner. Part of this is their inherent difficulty of resigning themselves to life’s imperfections. The chaos can be overwhelming and hence one can turn to drugs or alcohol where there seems to be a safe structure. With Virgo, the shadow is often closer to the surface than with the other signs, and yes, underneath we often find a messy Pisces. In order to feel control, sometimes emotional clarity is sacrificed for surface clarity so you are not overwrought by worry.

The need for improvement can be projected onto others often and this is where Virgo’s bitchy reputation can come in. For many this can be to avoid turning their piercing insight and intellect on themselves, which turns into self-criticism. If I keep busy on something else, I don’t have time to look at myself. Work ironically becomes a tool of denial.

The danger now is that the South Node is also in Virgo adding to the Saturnine pressure. It will be easy to overwork oneself for a seeming sense of control because where the South Node is, we can fall back on old habits. “Oh the sky is falling, I think I’ll mop.”

Often you find a situation of a Virgo dutifully but ever resentfully doing everything to maintain an impossible situation. This leads to the dilemma of service versus servitude. Saturn will be making clear for Virgos and in your Virgo house, where you are being honestly of service and where it has turned to servitude. Instead of working with (service), we become working for (servitude). Don’t be surprised if it turns out to be through a Uranian disruption – it’s been building since Uranus has been in Pisces opposing Virgo planets (as your clients may attest). You may recognize this physically since Virgo is in tune with the mind-body connection. Wherever you are getting a repetitive strain due to overwork is an area that needs to be reexamined.

The Action

What does this mean on a practical and mundane level? Firstly, the Saturn-Uranus opposition starting on Election Day 2008 (what election I say) and continuing through April 2009 is the kickoff of the Saturn-Uranus-Pluto square of the 2010’s. This energy is similar to the 1960’s where Saturn-in-Pisces was opposing Uranus-Pluto in Virgo from 1965-1966. Saturn and Uranus do actually have an intrinsic 1:3 ratio of their orbital cycles and are very much related since both rule Aquarius, and in mythology Saturn overthrew his father Uranus. Secondly this means the coming of age en masse of the Pluto-in-Virgo generation as both Saturn and Uranus oppose themselves for Generation X, and these people gain positions of responsibility and power. Our priorities will change and become more down-to-earth. Expect the issues born in the mid 1960’s to arise again and again. Here’s a rundown of what we can expect.

Labor and Economics:

Referring back to Liz Greene’s interpretation of the Astraea myth, we are coming to a new work paradigm instead of corporate fealty, and replacing the family structure with the corporate family. This generation works especially hard at doing a good, thorough job for its own sake, and it understands team dynamics. As freelancers, they belong to no one, for good and for bad. Call us corporate whores. Small signs of unionism are peeping up (the Freelancer’s Union in New York is gaining legitimacy) and hints elsewhere in the country (airline unionism). Expect the outsourcing issues to arise even further as even the military and intelligence jobs are creating a shadow army.

We have a nation of workaholics (with many not even getting vacations and deserved benefits) and a Puritan work ethic turned on its head because of corporate and government policies that have done real economic violence to the workers since the 1980’s with stagnant wages after inflation. This is crucial since nothing motivates a rebellion more than a shortage of basics that you can’t afford after you’ve done your share. Your earthy Virgo gut has had enough of this innate wrongness. Strikes and protests will become once again more frequent, especially among immigrants (which may become the new civil rights movement). Virgo, being a common sign, is also a sign of the masses. It was the rise of fuel prices last week that caused rare street protests in Burma, protests against foreign companies taking water rights in Bolivia last year, and one can’t forget the Boston Tea Party was motivated by economics. We could care less that two amendments of the Bill of Rights have been overwritten by King George IV in the past two years - but raise the price of oil (or cable TV) and watch out!

With regards to the economy, retailers will be hurting (well maybe except for that cornucopia of Virgo organization – the Container Store – started in 1978 at the last Saturn pass) and the economy should be finally taking a huge corrective hit. But this is more of a confluence of larger issues such as the currency deflation of the Saturn-Neptune opposition, the tightening of the credit market and those hedge funds (Leonine speculation) gone amok.

Healthcare:

We will most likely see Medicare, which was born during the Uranus-Pluto conjunction, expand and be codified into national health insurance by the end of the transit. The reasons for this will be practical, not compassionate, as Congress just cowardly cut children’s healthcare access as a parting gift of Saturn-in-Leo (cruelty to children). It will most likely be born of hardship as lack (Saturn) of medical care (Virgo) becomes an unavoidable necessity and politically expedient (despite the lobbying from the health insurance and pharmaceutical companies, already weakened by the Saturn-Neptune opposition). It also will more be that insurance tied to work becomes a drag on a competitive economy.

On the bright side, in 1919 and 1979, previous Saturn-in-Virgo periods, the typhoid epidemic was declared over and smallpox eradicated respectively. Since this transit brings in the US Mars-Neptune natal square from Gemini to Virgo, we might see a sharp reduction in infectious diseases such as HIV, or at least HIV medications being made publicly available as someone realizes it’s still an emergency. Recently awareness has increased over the huge number of hospital-related infections leading to death that could be severely reduced by simple, better hygienic procedures. Interestingly enough, marijuana legalization may finally see some progress despite the conservative courts as Saturn nears the US Neptune in 2009-2010. It is a Virgo-Saturn herb, and finally may get serious medical studies by researchers.

Food and Environment:

Food shortages will also become more frequent as the price of wheat (ruled by Virgo) soared on the Sun’s first day in Virgo just to sound the alarm. Add to that poor harvests due to droughts or floods as extreme weather is now commonplace. In addition, labor problems forced by short-sighted immigration policies will affect most of the food workers in America, so shortages may be incurred by labor issues as well. Those bees are dying off in places where there is an overly-controlled bee culture. The bees had their natural immunity weakened by poor agricultural practices and only one food source instead of a varied diet, so many fruit trees and crops may not get pollinated. These and other typical agribusiness farming techniques will be reexamined with organic farming becoming more popular and GMO crops becoming challenged (Indian and French farmers are currently raising a stink). Obviously global warming will remain front and center but with a renewed awareness to do something about it. And the Pluto-in-Virgo generation will clean up after prior generations that saw limitless resources and a “what me worry?” attitude.

Nuclear Energy/Power:

Saturn-in-Virgo is related to nuclear power: in 1919, Einstein’s theory of relativity, in 1951, the H-bomb, in 1979, 3-Mile Island. Currently there is a huge pressure from corporations to restore the industry and the Pentagon wants low-level nuclear weapons. We will know when Saturn hits the nuclear axis at 9 Gemini-Sagittarius if this is a restraining of this and responsible use of nuclear power. Since the Pisces-Virgo axis is also related to the structure of atoms and the universe, we may see quantum leaps in our understanding in this science especially with the decrease in popularity in fossil fuels.

Technology, Media and Politics:

Virgo is also information and the processing of information (the first computer was built in 1951 and the computer revolution – Uranus – is widely regarded to have started in the mid-60’s during Saturn-in-Virgo – the UNIVAC). We may finally see a real opposition to the use of technology especially with regards to the domestic spying issue (which just shocks me personally that there wasn’t a bigger outcry – it was a blatant and criminal power grab). FISA was enacted in 1978 as a reaction to the abuses of the CIA under Nixon. It may finally be strengthened at its Saturn return, despite Congress’ caving in to fear-mongering this summer. In Virgo, we often see a desire for accountability and to curb the excess of Leo. This desire for control through data is the fearsome potential of ID cards, already mentioned in the UK press.

Virgos are good with numbers and want to balance the books – shades of Libra here. The accounting laws enacted after the scandals of 2001-2002 when Saturn was in Gemini are now being challenged (namely the Sarbanes-Oxley Act) at the square by corporate America crying foul. The media consolidation allowed by the FCC during that same time period is making itself felt as normal media (TV/radio/press) becomes a front for the government. Several bills are up about providing Internet content without corporate interference, never mind government surveillance. The Internet is the last free outlet of media, and is crucial to a democracy. Electronic voting will become a tremendous issue as inaccurate voting strikes at the heart of democracy during this most important election year.

Tied to all this is an opening square to the Patriot Act and we will finally see if the power given over to the government in lieu of civil liberties ends up leading to a police state or is changed into a reasonable set of laws. Also of course, Saturn will be going over the 9/11 Sun with the eclipse and maybe finally some more truths will come out. Finally, will Cheney’s secrets come out when Saturn crosses his Ascendant in mid-September? Let’s hope.

World Politics:

Iran will be getting its Saturn return of the 1979 government. An attack is overdue from a desperate White House which needs a distraction and already the drumbeats, fear mongering, etc. are sounding just as in the run-up to the illegal Iraq war. Though we forget it now, that revolution was a popular revolt against the excess of the American-supported Shah as was the Sandinista revolt in Nicaragua the same year. Positively in 1979 was the Camp David Peace accords, and since it is the second Saturn return of the Korean War which started in 1950, we may see a reconciliation if Kim Jong II falls from power. There are already signs that North Korea’s own internal economic instability may allow some economic integration beyond food aid from South Korea.

China, as well, gets its second Saturn return (October 1, 1949) and while it’s ascendance onto the world economic stage will continue, political unrest may be an issue as the Beijing Olympics take place. It is occurring in the countryside as the gaps in wealth are made obvious. Deng Xio Peng took over as the de facto head of state in 1979 and started China on market reforms during their first Saturn return, so the economy will mature now. A boycott occurred with the Soviet Union during the Moscow Olympics during the last Saturn-in-Virgo, so that might become an issue especially if someone decides human rights are more important than lucrative contracts. The pollution, recently surpassing the US, will also be an issue.

Finally, you can’t fix every little thing in the world (the Virgo worrywart thing) but you can do your best with what you have right in front of you. If you are busy as a bee, and not overly working, you will get by just fine. In the meantime, think of your other bees and get involved in the hive called Planet Earth. If you know a Virgo, help them take a load off –

Dave is the New York Membership Director and works in the corporate zoo as a button-pushing monkey keeping the public safe from reckless semi-colons and bad line spacing.  He can be reached at dtavalin@earthlink.net.