Oh I love this. So informative. I have a virgo moon in the 5th. My son has a virgo sun as well as my dad and my sister. Lots of virgo energy in the family. I love this time of year. Leo season overwhelms me.
Thanks Claire! I’m a virgo sun & mercury and have found myself surrounded by virgos in my life too- but not as many right now! I do love the harvest goddess!
I’m glad to see you place Virgo in the 30s of the life cycle. Why?
Well, not only because of the many logical reasons you spelled out in this article, but because I had one of those intuitive connections a few years ago that said the Saturn Return was connected to Virgo, and while it made total sense to me, some of my astrology teachers and fellow students weren’t so quick to agree.
However, as you point out, Virgo is the final of the personal signs before we get to the collective ones starting in Libra, so it seems pretty clear to me that it’s about that major transition from childhood to maturity when one takes the process of becoming oneself and then incorporates it into the Service of the collective.
Not an easy experience, but it requires we slow down and do the Work, which signifies Saturn in its Earthly expression.
I’m just riffing here, but it strikes me now that Saturn is the traditional ruler of both Earthy Capricorn and Airy Aquarius, and while it’s not given any association with Virgo, it is exalted in Libra which tells me if we do this Saturn Return right, if we “harvest” what we’ve been through in our childhood and separate the wheat from the chaff, when we reach exalted Libra, our chances to end in a fulfilling partnership not only in marriage but with the World at large, are greatly improved.
Anyway, just a few thoughts and as always I thank you for how your connecting these cycles contribute to my deepening appreciation of them. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for your comment Bryan! I completely agree about Virgo feeling identified with the Saturn return time of life. I rounded to the entire decade of the 30s here but I do think it’s more like late 20s/early 30s for this archetype.
Its interesting to think about lifespan- obviously when these mythologies were being downloaded and coded for the first time, humans lived a lot less time on this planet! But i think the stages of the lifespan could have still be associated with the zodiac then, just with less years being associated with each sign. At this point in the wheel it gets a little soupier how to delineate adulthood by sign!
With the average human lifespan of 75 years globally, I’d say that both Virgo and Libra would be the 30s, leaving the early 40s for Scorpio (when all the deep outer planet midlife transits happen!) and late 40s/early 50s for Sag (Chiron return, there’s the centaur!), late 50s/early 60s for late career Capricorns, late 60s/70s for eccentric Aquarius, and Pisces as the end of life as well as the liminal time after death and before rebirth…! It’s really not about the actual years of our lives, just the sequence of phases in my mind.
Yup, you've tracked it the same way I have! Just like the constellations aren't all of equal length in the sky, the periods of time that these archetypes map onto our lives aren't all equal in length. I think we're right on the same page with the ones you listed and I'll just share how I think about it---for the time being---for the first six:
Aries: Birth to around Age 2
Taurus: Age 2 to around Age 4-5
Gemini: Age 4-5 to around Age 8-9
Cancer: Age 8-9 to around Age 15-16
Leo: Age 15-16 to Saturn Return
I have my reasons why I have it mapped like that, but I'm open to being flexible and you've had the same idea I have had about how human lifespans have varied over the centuries.
I also have something where I've mapped Ken Wilber's Integral Theory stages---at least the first six/seven---onto these archetypes, but will save that for another time. Are you familiar with Integral Theory? (Connected to Spiral Dynamics)
I find this stuff endlessly fascinating which is why I love your work and why I do what I do, as well! Okay, gotta scoot...
Oh I love this. So informative. I have a virgo moon in the 5th. My son has a virgo sun as well as my dad and my sister. Lots of virgo energy in the family. I love this time of year. Leo season overwhelms me.
Thanks Claire! I’m a virgo sun & mercury and have found myself surrounded by virgos in my life too- but not as many right now! I do love the harvest goddess!
Good stuff, Alison!
I’m glad to see you place Virgo in the 30s of the life cycle. Why?
Well, not only because of the many logical reasons you spelled out in this article, but because I had one of those intuitive connections a few years ago that said the Saturn Return was connected to Virgo, and while it made total sense to me, some of my astrology teachers and fellow students weren’t so quick to agree.
However, as you point out, Virgo is the final of the personal signs before we get to the collective ones starting in Libra, so it seems pretty clear to me that it’s about that major transition from childhood to maturity when one takes the process of becoming oneself and then incorporates it into the Service of the collective.
Not an easy experience, but it requires we slow down and do the Work, which signifies Saturn in its Earthly expression.
I’m just riffing here, but it strikes me now that Saturn is the traditional ruler of both Earthy Capricorn and Airy Aquarius, and while it’s not given any association with Virgo, it is exalted in Libra which tells me if we do this Saturn Return right, if we “harvest” what we’ve been through in our childhood and separate the wheat from the chaff, when we reach exalted Libra, our chances to end in a fulfilling partnership not only in marriage but with the World at large, are greatly improved.
Anyway, just a few thoughts and as always I thank you for how your connecting these cycles contribute to my deepening appreciation of them. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for your comment Bryan! I completely agree about Virgo feeling identified with the Saturn return time of life. I rounded to the entire decade of the 30s here but I do think it’s more like late 20s/early 30s for this archetype.
Its interesting to think about lifespan- obviously when these mythologies were being downloaded and coded for the first time, humans lived a lot less time on this planet! But i think the stages of the lifespan could have still be associated with the zodiac then, just with less years being associated with each sign. At this point in the wheel it gets a little soupier how to delineate adulthood by sign!
With the average human lifespan of 75 years globally, I’d say that both Virgo and Libra would be the 30s, leaving the early 40s for Scorpio (when all the deep outer planet midlife transits happen!) and late 40s/early 50s for Sag (Chiron return, there’s the centaur!), late 50s/early 60s for late career Capricorns, late 60s/70s for eccentric Aquarius, and Pisces as the end of life as well as the liminal time after death and before rebirth…! It’s really not about the actual years of our lives, just the sequence of phases in my mind.
Thanks for your thoughtful engagement!
Yup, you've tracked it the same way I have! Just like the constellations aren't all of equal length in the sky, the periods of time that these archetypes map onto our lives aren't all equal in length. I think we're right on the same page with the ones you listed and I'll just share how I think about it---for the time being---for the first six:
Aries: Birth to around Age 2
Taurus: Age 2 to around Age 4-5
Gemini: Age 4-5 to around Age 8-9
Cancer: Age 8-9 to around Age 15-16
Leo: Age 15-16 to Saturn Return
I have my reasons why I have it mapped like that, but I'm open to being flexible and you've had the same idea I have had about how human lifespans have varied over the centuries.
I also have something where I've mapped Ken Wilber's Integral Theory stages---at least the first six/seven---onto these archetypes, but will save that for another time. Are you familiar with Integral Theory? (Connected to Spiral Dynamics)
I find this stuff endlessly fascinating which is why I love your work and why I do what I do, as well! Okay, gotta scoot...
Those are some spot on age mappings in my book! I am familiar with Wilbur and would love to hear more about your mapping there!