Virgo New Moon Meditation for 2003:

The Maiden and the Mysteries of Cultivation

By Jean Hinson Lall

In Northern latitudes the growing season now reaches its culmination and the harvest begins. Virgo, the Maiden who embodies this astrological month, is typically shown standing with a sheaf of grain in her arms. Interestingly, she doesn't look like a farm girl straight from the fields or the threshing-floor. She is freshly coiffed and neatly draped in Classical style, betraying no hint of perspiration, and her armful of wheat is suspiciously tidy. Perhaps she is a ceremonial figure, embodying not only the literal harvest but the ritual meaning of the season and the inner secrets of cultivation.

Virgo completes the first half of the zodiac, the unfolding of the new growth that emerged at the spring equinox. We ploughed in Aries, planted in Taurus, watched the plants sprout in Gemini; in Cancer the nourishing powers of soil and water evoked the plants' organic growth potential, and in Leo the full force of the summer sun brought the growth to completion. In Virgo, as fruits, vegetables and grains ripen, we gather in the crops, thresh, mill, sort, preserve, distribute and store food for the coming winter, and set aside seeds for next year. The cultivator reviews the season's work, taking note of what methods worked well and what failed; which crops were lost to pests and diseases, which varieties proved economical to grow, which ones might do better in a different field. This critical analysis will be the basis for next year's planting and crop management.

In the season of Virgo, then, we become keenly aware of the role of human skill and technique, not just in farming but in any cultural activity, and evaluate our individual contribution. All through the growing season we have poured our talent and labor into the process of cultivation. Now we add up the cost and the output and assess our performance. The optimistic self-promotion of Leo gives way to a cool, objective critique based on actual outcomes. Virgo, the self-contained and practical Maiden, receives Nature's feedback on her work, digests it respectfully, and applies what she has learned.

Virgoans are notoriously pragmatic and literal-minded and tend to be seen as deficient in the qualities of their opposite sign, the imaginative, magical and mystical Pisces. Yet in its own way, Virgo is also a realm of magic. The Sabian symbol for the 5th degree of Virgo hints at this: "A man becoming aware of nature spirits and normally unseen spiritual agencies." Today we think of culture and civilization as products of human ingenuity and will conquering soulless matter and harnessing the powers of nature, which have no spiritual essence of their own. Traditionally, though, people understood all their work - agriculture, music-making, hunting, cooking, house-building, storytelling -- as a marriage of human spirit with the holy and living intelligence of Nature. Cultivation was understood as a divine activity, God's "tending" of the world, "tempering the lower things of the world to the highest" as Marsilio Ficino put it, a work which we human beings could emulate, not only to bring forth food from the ground but to refine the world and ourselves at the soul level. The Chinese philosopher Mo Dsi similarly speaks of the person so sincere he can refine his own nature, then that of other people, animals and things, and "assist the transforming and nourishing powers of Heaven and Earth."

At harvest time, then, Virgo in her pure white robes with her perfect sheaf of wheat joins the procession to the temple not only to give thanks for a bountiful crop but to celebrate the inner mysteries of cultivation. The spotlessness of her costume and her offering symbolize the inner refinement to which she aspires and the willingness to be "cut down" like the grain to feed the greater cycle of spiritual growth, death and renewal.

This New Moon brings particularly strong indications for this kind of piety, as not only Sun, Moon, Venus and Mercury are in Virgo, but also Jupiter, the planet of religion, which crossed from Leo into Virgo just eight hours earlier, commencing a year-long sojourn in the Virgin's realm. In close opposition to Jupiter, Sun, Moon and Venus we find Mars and Uranus in Pisces, both retrograde. These two unpredictable and sometimes explosive planets placed in the Mutable Water sign might take us in a variety of directions. Will they stimulate mystical experience, disrupt prayer meetings, energize dancers and poets, challenge the religious establishment, reform prisons and welfare institutions, prompt new waves of suicide bombings, or encourage scientific research on occult subjects? Certainly with Mars today at its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, we'd do well to acknowledge its surgical power and be prepared for change.

More on the Virgo-Pisces polarity at the Full Moon. For now, note that it often brings health and adjustment problems to the surface. Be especially attentive to any chronic problems you may have and give a little extra pampering to your digestive system (Virgo) and your feet (Pisces)! Meanwhile, hold in mind the image of the modest, reflective, studious Maiden in the procession to the temple, doing what she can to refine herself and care for her bit of the world even as bombs fall, peace negotiations collapse, and earthquake, flood and fire wreak havoc around her. And be ready to harness the energy of the opposition and the Mars approach by stepping up your meditation practice, artistic discipline or any other constructive activity that expresses your most deeply-held values.

Look for the Pisces Full Moon September 10, 2003.