On this Virgo New Moon, a few reflections on how the energy of this most most etheric of Earth signs relates to the Taoist element of Metal, purification, and divinity. Virgo is ruled by Mercury, the Messenger of the Gods. Thus, she is a conduit between the earthly realms and the spiritual realms, and she understands and moves through both. In Taoist 5 Element cosmology, Virgo is expressed as the energy of metal. Metal is concerned with spirit, purity, righteousness, and worth. Metal is often considered the most elusive and hard to understand of the elements, as its manifestation in the body is through the breath, and not via any actual physical substance. Metal and Virgo connect us to the most precious substance of life- the spirit…It’s what everyone is seeking for and yet, it is constantly here, all around us, just like the air we breathe. We mistakenly look for outer expressions of value and perfection, while forgetting that when we know our own inner worth, we can find value and divinity in even the seemingly most mundane. When we chose to contemplate our breath in meditation, it can become a miraculous vehicle which opens us to vast universes. Yet, the breath is always here with us, it is also ordinary and even unexciting. The breath is always changing and it’s the same. How we experience it is because of what changes is inside us….
Through her connection to sprit, Virgo intuitively senses the divine order in every circumstance, and how it must be expressed in physical form. The shadow side of this is that because she is so exquisitely tuned to the divine, physical reality can be too jumbled, coarse, and chaotic for her. When this happens, she can become critical and cutting, like a metal sword of righteousness. The lesson here for us is to stop criticizing ourselves for being unable to meet such an impossible standard, and simply remember our inherent worth, and the inherent worth of others, as we are…in this way we begin to step into divinity. Our shadows and imperfections come up- when we love and accept them, they broaden and deepen our understanding of the divine as it lives and breathes in us... we have the choice to use our experiences to expand our capacity as vessels of spirit, or not. In ancient Chinese alchemical medicine, Mercury, which rules Virgo and is therefore intimately associated with her, was used in the form of cinnabar to preserve the immortal aspects of life. Virgo is the alchemical place where matter becomes energy, where the physical becomes psychic, where scientific becomes spiritual. Virgo season, the months of late August through Septmeber, offers a very real portal of cleansing and purification, to connecting us more deeply to spirit in the process.
This New Moon in Virgo is squaring Mars in Gemini, thus it’s also a purification of our thoughts. Gemini is also ruled by Mercury, and governs the mind. Gemini considers all the possibilites, and can be fickle and indecisive, unpredictable. This can be a challenge for Virgo, who is rather infamously known for an obsession with cleanliness and details. It can amplify our own feelings of personal disorder and “messiness”. But if your inner world is looking messy, you’re probably right on track. Resist the war-like, Mars urge to cut yourself down with the Virgo sword. Giving ourselves permission to be imperfect makes space for truth and divinity to emerge. Taoist wisdom of inter-transformation tells us that when we reach one extreme, energy will naturally shift. Disorder ultimately engenders order. We can relax, put down the sword, and allow the alchemical quest for perfection to simply unfold in its own natural way. After all, noone needs to tell a flower how to become itself. it just does, when the moment is right. And so, we find our way one step at a time into the perfection that never went anywhere.