Saturn is leaving Leo and entering Virgo on September 3. The schoolteacher is wearing nun’s clothes. For all Virgos (Virgo rising, Pisces, Sagittarius and Gemini, aka the Mutable Signs) there will be points during the next 2 years when you’re humbled by the teacher… and are tested. You will be made smaller to be made bigger. No, you’re not the incredible shrinking woman or man (unless you’re a Virgo rising!). The Teacher and the Virgin both have an affinity for narrowing options to get to the root issue. And clarifying the root issue is extremely positive, helpful for finding your way out of a life rut.
In some area of your life, less will become so much more. The Virgin’s goal is to perfect you, to make you, as clever Virgo Fiona Apple sings, a better version of you – and that means examining what’s not perfect, what’s not quite right at all. For any area of your life that’s not measuring up, Virgo rolls up her sleeves like the Arm & Hammer gal and points your diligent attention toward your own self-improvement.
Virgo has her ways and means. She loves playing accountant, doctor, nutritionist or editor – effectively organizing systems of information and eliminating waste. To become CEO’s of our lives we aspire to learn the ways of our executive assistant. Efficiency is her means, effectiveness is her goal and G-O-O-D service is her top priority. During Saturn in Virgo everyone will strive to be useful and prudent with our time and energy.
If you’ve not a clue about exactly what your problems are, not to worry. Virgo will find the weakness in the system – you can count on her. She’s a problem solver par excellence. When you’re in a bind, some of her solutions will likely appear sub-par to your Ego or Id. That’s because Virgo isn’t about gratification or glory and neither is Saturn. The old crusty Schoolmarm and the Arm & Hammer gal are all about functionality, leaving things better than they were when you found them.
So the saying goes, haste makes waste. And in the things that matter, it pays to go slowly during Saturn’s passage through Virgo. Pesky problems that take work to fix also need our careful attention and critical thinking. In any endeavor requiring persistence and patience, leave no stone unturned. Imagine her as your own life coach, trainer or editor, catching the errors of your ways then calling you out on them. Anything less than your best effort may turn out substandard – to either your inner critic or an actual real world one.
Saturn always takes the role of the critic. The tough spot for Saturn in Virgo is differentiating critical thinking from criticism. We’ll need to learn the difference between helpful criticism and destructive criticism. Helpful criticism is focused on solutions and serving your Good. Destructive criticism mires you in a labyrinth of “not good enough.” Destructive criticism tears you down.
Correcting any problem may require a lot more leg work and mental concentration than many of us want to give. ‘Tis true: the devil is in the details. But so is God. Details can be painstaking and systematic. But the result, oooh glory of glories: getting closer to perfection.
For balance to Saturn in Virgo times, we’ll all need a long, tall drink of 
perspective now and then. Because for all that focus on breaking it down to build it up, we’ve got to remember the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The classroom of life can feel like a pressurized think tank, but life is a highway, too. It’s a long, open, spacious highway. Breathe deeply. Discover your sense of humor. Do yoga. Do yoga naked. Take periodic rest stops to appreciate the big picture from The Balcony Above. Virgo hangs out there, too.
As always I enjoy your wit and wisdom and taking a Virgo Saturn slowly certainly seems a wise dictum. My teacher, Terry Lamb, recently wrote that Saturn tends to highlight the flaws of the sign it’s in, and Virgo can quickly point a punitive finger while projecting it’s own self criticism onto others. With this in mind, I wasn’t surprised to read last weekend in the L.A. Times Calendar section the controversy about scrutinizing eco friendly celebs private lives. I feel a slight hesitation to bring this subject up, and bow with heart felt grace to your astute connoisseurship of the “rich and famous”, but I sensed a deeper anxiety between the lines.
I wonder if one of the challenges presented by Saturn in Virgo is to integrate a little Pisces “in-clusivity”, so we learn how to work together contributing what we can to improve the situation. After all, at it’s best, Virgo is seeking perfection and evolving is the model process of perfecting, so it seems to me if we can work together contributing the best of our skills we can improve on any existing model.
I also wonder if Saturn in Virgo, yes, but……., is going to teach Americans about attachment to what they work so hard to create. When you speak of Saturn teaching I’m reminded of a Tibetan Buddhist ritual of painstakingly creating a precise sand mandala in which the moment of completion becomes the moment of destruction when the creating hand quickly glides thru the sand obscuring all distinction. This is of course a Buddhist teaching on impermanence but I wonder if Saturn’s teaching, as it sojourns thru Virgo, might be letting go of what has been to improve upon what is and will be.
Dear Jessica – Do you have any specific recommendations for a Virgo while Saturn is in Virgo? It must not be a coincidence that a few weeks ago I felt compelled to pick up “Soul Without Shame” again (working on/with our inner critic) in preparation of something, what I cannot say. I can sense in a crystal clear way that this is my work for the next few years but my heart is heavy at the seemingly insurmountable work ahead despite my best efforts to gain a different perspective. If Saturn tends to highlight the flaws of the sign it’s in, won’t this be a challenging time for Virgos to find perspective on the whole since we tend to have overactive inner critics. How do we find the perspective when things appear double stacked?