#virgos
August 26 – September 2
Strengths
- Structured
- Dependable
- Service-oriented
Weaknesses
- Rigid
- Emotionally unaware
- Self-destructive
OVERVIEW
The Virgo I period takes the System Builder as its central image. This period can be likened to the time in a person’s life when the instinct to consolidate and solidify existing structures, marriages or partnerships, businesses, etc, asserts itself. Also, at this time, many individuals take part in service-oriented activities, whether in their family, professional or social life. The desire to be helpful and to constructively influence the course of events manifests here. The days that comprise Virgo I symbolically reveal the mature adult beginning to apply his/her energies in the service of social ideals, perhaps working with and supporting a partner, building dependability and efficacy, and taking a more no-nonsense and businesslike attitude toward the world. This may indeed be a time when overly carefree or irresponsible individuals recognize it is time to clean up their act.
Structure is an important theme in the lives of those born during the Week of System Builders, a kind of insurance policy they inevitably fall back on in times of stress. It underlies many of their attitudes toward the world. Mental insistence and concentration are often their greatest strengths, and consequently they suffer most when emotional pressures leave them unable to think clearly or manage their affairs well. They are particularly upset by chaos, so building an effective daily routine, a practical home, or an efficient work space is essential to their mental health. Inflexibility or rigidity is also a possible outcome of such structuring, however, and must be guarded against.
Their careers often involve service. In their family role, similarly, they often care for those who need help, or provide the bulwark of dependability in everyday life. Not all of them are well cast in such roles, however, and despite their tendencies and talents to help others, they can find themselves resenting heavy responsibilities loaded on their backs. Although they seem to do well living and working with people who know how to cooperate and to share the burdens of everyday life, it cannot be assumed that they want to be team players. They need to spend a lot of time alone, and do best when their contributions to the well-being of a social or family group are made on their own terms.
They are not usually cut out for solo leadership roles, but can make excellent partners and co-workers. They like to sit back and watch, preferring to observe carefully before acting; this quality of objectivity, and the evaluations that result from it, can make them extremely valuable to a company or family. Writing reports, stating conclusions verbally, and chronicling in different media what they see around them are often some of their best-developed abilities.
These females can have a shy, demure appeal; the males are often taken for strong, silent types. Rather than acting aggressively, they typically prefer to be discovered by others. This behavior is powerfully ingrained, since they thereby avoid rejection and reinforce their power to choose. In fact, choice is crucial to them if they are to feel empowered. Yet they are capable of making unfortunate choices in lovers and friends—in personal matters their decisions are sometimes disastrous. Their objectivity about the world does not involve a corresponding realism about and awareness of their own emotions. Consequently, they can suffer from acute nervous instability and depression when they meet disappointment. Feelings of inadequacy or failure are prone to surface and can prove to be too much for them to handle.
They tend to be fixed in their mental attitudes, and this is likely to arouse antagonism, particularly from those who prefer a more spontaneous, flexible or free-flowing lifestyle. As dominant family figures or parents, they may be prone to making excessive numbers of rules, and to enforcing them overdiligently. Should they believe that people must be free to choose and act according to their own dictates, on the other hand, they may implement such beliefs with equal zeal. They may benefit from personal involvements or working relationships with more easygoing types, who just take things as they come without needing to rely on planning them out in advance.
Since learning to loosen up is essential for them, their best relationships are often with those with whom they can just let go and have a good time. These relationships with fun-loving types can prove mutually advantageous, with them providing structure and dependability and the other party providing the unserious, relaxed attitude that these folks may lack. In love relationships, alas, they may not prove so dependable, for if their emotional state is unsettled they can feel they have little to give. Seeking to withdraw, they become unable to cope with the other person’s feelings.
They can encounter problems when their service-oriented stance and practical abilities attract dependent, needy types, who drain their energies and exhaust their capacity to give. Fostering such dependencies may be a subtle form of self-destructive behavior for them, for although the need to share and to solve problems may initially provide positive common bonds, relationships with insecure and needy individuals can ultimately bring out a corresponding negativity.
Since living through others may be a temptation for these individuals, they must learn to stand up for themselves and become less self-sacrificing. Building a truly independent lifestyle, one less dependent on the needs and wishes of others, whether parents, clients, friends or lovers, may be the greatest challenge they face. In the long run, then, close relationships with highly independent people, particularly those who can demonstrate how to set limits in human interactions, may prove the most productive and rewarding for them. Even if such personalities initially seem selfish or egotistical to them, they are especially beneficial as role models. They may need to free themselves from the constant demands of other people if they are to gain the space they need to develop their own expressive, creative and financially productive side.
Feel free to ask me about Virgo I’s compatibility with other signs!
