With the movement of the New Moon cycle into Virgo, we end the exuberant, dramatic, creative, playful and self-promoting emphasis of Leo.

Having spent some time seeking the limelight and establishing a center around which to satisfy emotional ego needs, the next order of business in the cycle of creative and personal development is to find work, engage in an occupation and generally "make oneself useful."

Another way to look at it is it that having created something, we now need to find a use for it to fill -- or put it to work in the application for which it was invented. We need to find the niche filled by our individual talents and enjoyments. (A dyed in the wool Virgo would say that having taken up space, we ought to give a return on the investment others have made in us. Having been supported this far, we now are obliged to give something back. Truly these folks can be quite puritanically devoted to the virtues of the work ethic.)

Having created art, we now should offer its benefits to others. Having played ... we need to get back to the daily routine. And, finally, having had children (and the romantic interludes which precede these ... additions) we have to put shoulder to the wheel with determination in order to support them!!!

That's what Virgo energy is all about.

One of the realities of astrology, and the order of the signs, is the fact that each succeeding sign is a "reaction" away from the excesses and highly emphasized qualities of its predecessor. Therefore, after the flamboyance and ostentatiousness of Leo energy, with its focus on issues of pride and presentation, comes the modesty, humility and self-effacement of Virgo energy.

And after some of that showy display of Leo energy seeking applause and attention, this quieter, more moderate influence may be welcome.

Virgo energy believes in work ... as a virtue, as a requirement even, for a virtuous, worthwhile, and fulfilling life. And Virgo people seem endowed with an innate desire to justify their existence through the work they perform that suggests something like an inborn inferiority complex drives them, their choices, and their actions throughout life.

Virgos offer service to others as their way of making their lives count for something. They believe deeply in the need to contribute their energy to the benefit of the greater social order, and they are quite willing to accomplish this by performing the routine, mundane, everyday chores and fulfilling the ordinary responsibilities that keep life running smoothly ... while asking nothing but a little quiet appreciation in return, a kind word of thanks, or just the simple knowledge that they have helped make someone else's path a bit easier.

Virgo energy can be remarkably selfless in its methods and tactics, quietly but insistently offering to do whatever needs doing. Arguably Virgo energy gathers up all the self-sacrificing instincts of Pisces -- its polar opposite -- and puts that impulse to physical, practical employment.. Without them to grease the wheels, the cogs of life wouldn't mesh nearly so nicely.

Obviously focusing on "work" as in "the job you do for money" ... is one thing, and Virgos do excel in this. They can be workaholics without equal in their drive to turn in a "job well done." But they are also famous for taking on "work" wherever they find it ... as in "energy spent primarily for the benefit of someone else." This means a willingness to take on chores, favors, errands, assignments, duties, tasks, commitments and responsibilities that can keep them in virtual overload on behalf of others if they aren't careful.

Virgos are fabulous people to know -- and to have around -- when you need to take on a bunch of unglamorous, distasteful little "jobs" in your life ... from filling out your tax forms, to ironing your shirts, to helping you clean out that god-awful garage ... the Virgos will be there, ready, willing, and able to help. In fact, they may insist on doing it all. You get an awful lot of stuff done when Virgo energy is available ... and are delighted with the tidiness that results.

Virgo energy is meticulous, efficient, focused, and intent on perfection. It does things carefully; it pays attention to details; it ties up all those messy loose ends that other signs are content just to let dangle. Virgo energy is analytical, logical, tidy, discriminating and critical.

It catalogues, organizes, concentrates and can always find "more to do." It is neat, and fastidious, and loves bringing order out of chaos. It is also patient, unemotional and shy ... convinced as it seems to be that no matter how stellar the performance it turns in ... enough is never enough.

Virgo's goal is nothing short of perfection. Always. And its notoriously discerning eye can spot the unfortunate flaw so tiny, so minor, so petty that less judgmental signs may need it pointed out to them to see the problem at all.

Virgo is the Mutable Earth sign, concerned with physical reality, the material result, the practical function -- and as such is the sign directly associated with health maintenance and care of the physical body through exercise, diet, nutrition, and effective stress management. These are certainly concerns Virgo itself needs to take to heart -- for stress and overload are notorious parts of the lives of most Virgo souls.

When this energy is not well-integrated into a personal chart, or when it conflicts with more preferred strategies, the results show themselves in actions and attitudes that are high-strung, inconsistent, indecisive, impatient, unfocused, superficial, fussy, nit-picking, carping, and "messy."

It's a most interesting point that when Virgo ... which in its pure form is unrelentingly focused on perfect performance ... finally is overwhelmed with tasks or demands, it gives up completely, sinks into total apathy, won't even make a start at a decent showing. While disorder and clutter pile up around it, it waits almost passively to be swallowed by the rising tide.

If even you need a view of how much work Virgo actually does when it's fit and functioning, just take a look at circumstances when it reaches this kind of paralysis. Suddenly all its invisible effort (or lack thereof) is right out in the open where people can trip over it ... as evidence of its value and contribution.

Virgo specializes in doing the work that doesn't get noticed until it doesn't get done. But when it doesn't get done ... suddenly the chaos and jumble of "order not applied" becomes the condition of one's world.

As I mentioned above, the polarity sign for Virgo is Pisces ... Mutable Water. The two signs occupy different ends of the spiritual / physical spectrum. Pisces traffics in the world of psyche and spirit, Virgo in the nitty-gritty minutiae of the physical body.

Pisces concocts the creative vision of life ... Virgo does the grinding work needed to bring the creation into physical reality and then works to support it. Pisces dreams ... Virgo does. Pisces may be the artist, ethereal, fragile, and ever-so-refined. Virgo is the all-important support network of effort needed to let the greater magic happen.

Without its diligence, critical standards, and willingness to go the extra mile and then some ... the rest of us would soon drown in a world of mediocrity. There are those who say that is happening already. If you're one of them ... consider how bad things would be without Virgo's tireless efforts to manage the backlog.

If you're one of them and a Virgo besides, I've said all I wanted to here, now, I suppose. In other words ... you can go back to work. I know you're relieved to hear that, at long last.

With the arrival of the New Moon in Virgo, the theme of life's creative cycle -- and the focus of people in general -- becomes more logical, analytical, discerning, critical, and oriented toward achieving useful, practical results. There is extra emphasis on being efficient, exacting, scrupulous, and even judgmental.

People tend to be concerned with both the "work" they have to do -- whether as a formal part of their paid job, or simply the business of life -- and with the amount of work involved in something they want to accomplish. They want to understand all the details, to know precisely what they are committing themselves to, to see "what good it will do" overall, and to fit it comfortably into their established, organized routine.

There is a lot of emphasis on the mundane, normal, unglamorous, unpleasant, and boring "junk" of daily life. People may find (or feel) they are overwhelmed with work, chores, trivialities, details, favors, responsibilities, tasks, and obligations. They may also start paying better attention to their stress and fatigue levels, and start taking better care of themselves physically -- because of all they have to accomplish and the toll they can tell this is taking.

Under stress, people may be unusually hard to please, closed-minded, opinionated, disapproving, intolerant, and unwilling to consider other perspectives and concerns. They will also be cranky, fault-finding, tunnel-visioned, and overly-tired.

Click here for the New Moon in Virgo Meditation