Virgo - Pisces
In previous articles, we introduced what Zodiac Signs are; we meditated upon the Principle of Polarity operating in reality and the paradigm of Polarization conditioning our consciousness; and we talked about how astrology correlates with this. We invite you to visit these articles in order to understand what will be discussed next.
In this new article, we are going to explore the images, metaphors, and concepts that the Virgo-Pisces Polar Axis represent, in order to observe how all of this can be experienced in our lives.
Virgo - Pisces POLAR AXIS
In the Zodiac wheel, Virgo and Pisces are located directly across from each other: together, they form an axis.
This means that, although they may appear to be opposites based on their placement, the design in fact reveals that they are actually the extreme points of one same substance; they form a polarity.
In correspondence with this, we will observe how, at first glance, the content of these symbols may seem contradictory, but upon delving into their meaning, it becomes evident that one contains and includes the other.
What do Virgo and Pisce symbolize?
Let’s begin by evoking some of the images and qualities that each sign represents, in order to later reflect on the inseparable link that exists between these apparent contradictions.
IMPORTANT
Remember, we are not talking about “people who are a Virgo or an Pisces”, but about Virgo and Pisces as what they truly are: symbols representing certain aspects of our existence.
Virgo
Element: Earth
Modality: Mutable
Ruler: Mercury
What does Virgo symbolize?
Order
Microcosm / Defined or small systems
Rationality
Daily Life
Body
Pisces
Element: Water
Modality: Mutable
Ruler: Neptune
What does Pisces symbolize?
Chaos
The universal / Macrocosm
Sensitivity
The transcendent
Soul / Psyche
VIRGO - PISCES: POLARITY AND POLARIZATION
The Virgo-Pisces axis describes the relationship between microcosm and macrocosm, between small systems (such as the body) and the Universal. This polarity reveals that micro and macro not only mirror each other in their functioning, patterns and structures, like a fractal, but that what happens in one happens in the other. This means that daily life has resonance with the universal.
Virgo-Pisces is known as the axis of Service. Virgo symbolizes daily service within one´s immediate surroundings, everyday work, help and contributions. Pisces represents transcendent, spiritual service that goes beyond personal benefit. However, these create a polarity, meaning that by acting on a domestic scale, I am also acting in a universal one. What I do with my body, how I take care of my health, how I respond to daily life, how I act in my immediate environment, is also how I act in the Universe; it has an effect on what´s beyond my ordinary life.
Yoga
What we read above is a way to understand the practice of yoga on the mat and the Yoga Practice.
What happens in a class, the stages or moments we go through in a practice, are more than that moment. We are the result of our lives and the way we practice is the result of what we do with our life. To put it more simply, in yoga practice I am reflecting how I manage my life off the mat. Therefore, what I apply during that hour of yoga I will also apply in everyday life: having patience, empathizing with what happens to me, etc.
While it is common to define Chaos as the absence of Order and Order as the absence of Chaos, the Virgo-Pisces axis invites us to perceive Chaos and Order as a polarity—meaning that one does not imply the absence of the other but that they actually shape each other. The universe, and therefore everything within it, exists in a constant state of order-chaos. Perceiving a state of order is in fact based on its comparison to a previous state perceived as chaotic. Yet, this same state of order is simultaneously chaotic in relation to a subsequent state of greater order. Thus, it is both order and chaos at once. The one being tossed by waves in the middle of the sea perceives chaos; the one observing from the shore perceives a clear order, pattern, rhythm in those same waves. There truly is no such thing as absolute order or chaos.
As humans we need to organize reality to understand it; we cannot tolerate confusion. However, to organize reality completely is impossible because order includes chaos—they are a polarity. Perhaps perceiving the order within chaos and the chaos within order can help us free ourselves from the absolutes that create tension and suffering.
This axis also reveals that Rationality and Sensitivity are a polarity. Culturally, we tend to think that sensitivity is irrational and that reason is compromised by sensitivity and therefore should avoid it. The Virgo-Pisces polarity invites us to perceive that sensitivity does not deny reason but rather goes beyond reason; and that reason, far from denying them, responds to sensitive perceptions.
Human experience includes being in contact with mystery, with something that transcends rationality (Pisces), to which we can only account for through rational interpretations (Virgo). Symbolic languages, myths, arts, spiritual practices or rituals, and even the sciences that seek to explain the universe are (to different degrees) sophisticated constructions of the mind that involve an order, a technique, a method, a logic, but that respond to perceptions that go beyond reason—they respond our contact with mystery.
Bali, Indonesia
HEALTH OF THE BODY ∞ HEALTH OF THE SOUL
The Virgo-Pisces axis reminds us that Body and Soul are a polarity; they are not separate parts to be addressed independently. It reveals that they do not respond to a linear and hierarchical order (whether we value the body more or the soul more), but rather correspond to each other. What the body experiences, the soul experiences, and vice versa. Health is both physical and spiritual. Not only do physical symptoms reveal conflicts of the soul, but bodily afflictions also affect spiritual balance.
The experience of this axis is often somewhat distorted. Some believe that the physical condition is an obstacle to spiritual development, which sometimes leads them to neglect even basic biological needs (“I don’t need to eat”). Others idealize the physical world, worshiping the body, focusing exclusively on diets, routines, etc., while completely neglecting the matters of the soul, denying and rejecting the spiritual, thereby deifying matter.
Caring for the body is caring for the soul, and attending to the soul includes attending to the body.
CONCLUSION
This article aims to be an invitation to rethink our perception. It in no way seeks to morally judge, nor does it set any guidelines to follow or objectives to be achieved.
What’s interesting is being able to perceive that often our suffering arises from a polarized perception of reality.
The Virgo-Pisces axis invites us to meditate upon the relationship between tangible and mystery. It encourages us to perceive that our personal and everyday lives are intimately related, deeply intertwined with another dimension that transcends and exceeds them. It encourages us to perceive body and soul as a whole, without hierarchy, understanding that the health of one is the health of the other, and that my personal life is part of the life of the whole. It invites us to see ourselves both as one drop in the ocean and the entire ocean in one drop.
Article written in collaboration with Steph S · Astrologer
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