I am sorry to have been away from you during this substantial eclipse season - I disappeared into paradise for much of my summer, to study with one of my teachers and vacation with my children. 5 weeks in Bali Indonesia, the heart Chakra of Asia, where life is sacred and the air crackles with invisible friends.

I missed 3 postings, due to technical issues on the other side of the planet. But I am now back on line! And here to talk with you about dear Virgo.

Her New Moon is now - September 9th. As today is the first New Moon following a tumultuous season of powerful eclipses and tremendous personal growth, it is a day to ground the lessons we have gleaned from this hot summer of love.

And in the mean time, let's meander into the Archetype of Ms. Virgo, shall we? Please... come along and play

In this month of the Pisces/Virgo axis, we play with SPIRIT and MATTER... and the intersection of the two.

Imagine for a moment - Infinite Spiritual Love.

The divine.

The All That Is.

The mysterious sway of cosmic consciousness… everlasting and warm, generous and abundant, constantly moving and entirely whole - the glorious ocean of life. Blissful, expanded, complete, entire. Totally PERFECT.

THAT is Pisces.

Now for a moment imagine – you ARE this Expanded Love. You ARE perfect consciousness, a being of energy and light.  And for whatever reason (God help you), you want to come to earth, into form.

Imagine how hard that expanded self would work to squeeze into the minutia of a human body.  What a precision of effort, to flood each molecule... what an exact mathematical calculation, to reduce, reduce, reduce… without losing... the love.

Such a glorious descent… one might even call it sacrifice. A loss of innocence, of beauty. Certainly of boundless freedom!

To come IN to the moment, IN to time and space. To be PRESENCE in a form.

THAT is Virgo.

(No wonder she gets a little snippy.)

Oh where, oh where did my perfect self go???

Virgo is an earth sign. Relentlessly hard working, consistent and organized, specific and orderly. With an exacting eye and an appreciation for the minimum. 'Ducks in a row’, everything in its place, just enough, perfect fit.

The personality of Virgo often gets a bad rap. 'Naggy', perfectionist, obsessive compulsive, critical. And it’s true!

She appraises with a Mercurial eye, noting all ways this world is NOT measuring up to its ideal. Every aberration screams for her attention.

She is Vigilant.

admonish – there is a cherry tomato on the floor.

shame –the shoes at the door are not perfectly arranged.

scold – that painting is hung askance.

reprimand – the tailoring of that coat is wrong. 

Yes, Virgo can get a little uptight. And yes, she can be mean (more often to herself than others, though I’m guessing a Virgo parent could be formidable.)

For Virgo has within her the essence of perfection – of infinity – of ultimate divine love.

Let’s appreciate what a tough job she has!!!

Host: 'So Virgo, how would you describe your ultimate purpose?'

Virgo: 'Well, so thoughtful of you to ask... because I give this a great deal of careful consideration. To be precise, I am on a timeless quest to perfectly merge the sacredness of infinite love with the relentlessly miserable physical reality we are all living - essentially to bring purity into these filthy little human bodies filled with need, hunger, excrement and pain.'

So you see... no matter how hard she tries to squeeze herself into this tiny little life, she can’t ever get it right.

Because spirit is spirit, and matter is matter.

And, when comparing it to the perfect bliss of ultimate oneness, this life will never measure up. There will always be more work to do. And there will always be another sock on the floor.

Poor Virgo. She is just LOVE, after all! Purity to the core.

So what if we stepped away for a moment and thought about this differently.

Let’s just admit that life is hard. Most of us are NOT on a constant Piscean Opiate High (though clearly there are those who take that road as a means to escape the pain of being human).

REALITY IS : We are here. We are in a BODY. And we have to deal with it.

And while the Piscean love is available to us, all of the time, so is our suffering. They walk, it seems, hand in hand. The paradox of life.

So why not TAP that Piscean love to channel a little COMPASSION into the mix? If we're not going anywhere any time soon, maybe some kindness might make it more bearable? Some forgiveness? Or even, horrors of horrors, we might completely surrender to our emotional experiences and pain?

For when Virgo accepts her pain, accepts her feelings of loss and grief and shame for not being EXACTLY what she wishes she could be… when she just lets go and allows the moment to be itself, allows her SELF to be her self... regardless of how horrible that may seem... then a little of that unconditional Piscean love can SQUEEZE into the sausage casing of human flesh... and illuminate this moment... right... as... it... is.

Perfectly imperfect.

And THEN the polarity redeems, the light within Virgo shines forth.

Kindness, Virgo. Patience. Care and compassionate grace, Virgo.

It’s okay to be okay with imperfection. It’s okay to just be here, and not try to change. And it’s okay to make mistakes.

Love is within all of it.

And suffering… sweet suffering… it is simply part of the dance.

We cycle in, we cycle out. We expand, we contract.

And the magical secret of Virgo is that, once she accepts where she is entirely, she enters into a sacred state of embodied PRESENCE. And in this state she becomes pure love again... not a love that is infinitely boundless and freed,  but a love that channels OUTWARD in precise and careful service to others. In service to the moment. In service to life.

Perfectly in line, perfect in her design.

THE MEDITATION

So what will we meditate on today, at our New Moon in Virgo?

Perfection? That which gets in our way of it?

Forgiveness? Acceptance of our mistakes?

I've been considering this ALL DAY! Considering this while in deep meditation - dreaming into the geometric dance of consciousness. Considering this as I held my weeping 4 year old who didn't want his sister to eat ANY of the cherry tomatoes. Considering this during an abusive altercation with someone who should know better. Considering this while playing in freedom filled joy with my 6 month old Border Collie puppy. Considering this while contemplating the chronic pain in my right hip.  Considering this as the smile of my beautiful friend who came to my rescue for a late evening walk put everything into perspective again. Considering this as tonight's pink and purple sunset looked like it belonged over the Serengeti!!

Considering this as I contemplated the fact that, no matter how high I go... how clear I get... there is always something human waiting to knock me back down again.

And that is absolutely okay.

So this is NOT a day to disappear into the ether.  It IS a day to consider the ground.

Because as much as we are able to be PRESENT TO OUR LIFE is the degree to which we are able to be in service to the divine. 

Because there actually is no difference between spirit and matter. Though they appear so disparate. That's why matter really MATTERS! Why our lives matter. Our selves matter. There is no where to escape to, and nothing to escape from.

So today I call you to consider giving yourself the Present of Presence. Feel how it actually is to be in your body, in the reality of your life without trying to change it.  Right here, right now.  Pain? Fear? Joy? Pleasure? Anxiety? Feel it. And see what happens. If your goal is just to BE, without contemplation, judgement, criticism, boasting, striving, commenting, reviewing... what actually happens to you? Holding presence is a fascinating practice. It has been POUNDING on my door all day today. So I believe it is what I am supposed to share with you. Try it. Share what you find.

A few minutes ago, a friend of mine posted on Facebook these words, along with her picture below. She just returned from her first trip to Burning Man. I hope she doesn't mind my sharing... as it is a perfect quote to cap off our ode to the Virgo New Moon.

"There comes a time in your life when you just gotta say YES to your damn self." - Jennifer G.

Enjoy your beautiful day, Ms. Virgo!