Virgo Basics: Personality, Myth and Constellation

Virgo Personality Traits

Do you know what to expect from a Virgo? Do rules, order and cooperation really come more natural to Virgo than to most others? Let us explore their strengths and weaknesses.

The strengths of a Virgo

Virgo has unparalleled keen eyes for details. They are exceptionally analytical in everything and won’t overlook even the tiniest possibility of mistake most of the time. When they are at work, perfection is what they are striving for. This makes them awesome people to have in your team, a Virgo gets straight down to work when work is needed the most.

They provide order in chaos and relief in crisis, no matter where they are. Virgos are as rigid and grounded as the earth so much that no hindrance or discouragements can shake them away from their set up goals. Out of all people, Virgos understand best that worthy accomplishments only come through persistent perseverance. Hence, they can be preeminently hard-working.

They are practical and will never waste time taking unnecessary risks. Virgos are very conservative in nature, together with their decision-making. Before arriving at any decision, Virgos deliberately consider the pros and cons to avoid their most hated feeling of regret. Virgos are also top-notch advisers, with their genuine and profound constructive criticism.

Sometimes their aptitude to everyday problem solving is even surprising to themselves. They naturally know how to deal with almost every challenge that doesn’t overwhelm them. They spot the problems core and their systematic approach makes sense out of most things. To top this all, Virgos are rarely selfish when it comes to their talents and have a deep feeling for humanity.

Virgo has one of the kindest and most generous traits and puts helping others at the top of the to-do list. However, although Virgos may appear fragile and tender out of their gentle-nature, they are far from weak. Virgos have strong characters with guarded hearts. They have a strong capacity to love, yet Virgos are patient enough to keep their heart while waiting for the right one.

Ruled by Mercury, Virgos also have highly developed skills in communications and a deep-rooted connection with the arts.

The weaknesses of a Virgo

As Virgos can be too logical sometimes, they have a tendency to suspend their gut feelings over logical reasons. They overthink everything, including the things’ nobody seems to care about after all.

Their obsession with perfection makes them constantly worried about their work and stuck with details for far too long. This can lead to anxiety and makes them vulnerable to emotional breakdowns. A constant fear of missing something in their work that will be impossible to fix emerges.

Often Virgos, somehow ironically, don’t take criticism well despite being well-versed in criticizing others. They can be aloof and stubborn when being corrected and would love to argue to prove their point. Most of the time, Virgos can be very uptight and rigid, so much that they appear to be intimidating to other people.

They are commonly misunderstood for lacking emotions when the truth is they are full of empathy in their hearts. It is just that Virgos have a game plan in their minds that they expect people around them to commit to for them to feel secure in sharing their gifts.

Because Virgos are great in problem-solving, they may unconsciously search and create problems to feel the satisfaction in solving them. With their strong sense of duty, Virgos have a high tendency to overwork themselves and go beyond their limits.

What does a Virgo like?

• Reconnecting to nature
• Coziness
• A good read
• Talking to friends

What does a Virgo dislike?

• Chaotic environments, from messy rooms to messy thoughts
• Discourtesy
• Being the focus of attention
• Laziness

The Mythology behind the Virgo constellation

Virgo is the constellation that represents Dike, the goddess of justice and moral order in Greek mythology. Dike was the daughter of Zeus, the god of the sky, and Themis a Titaness.

Although Dike and Themis are both personifications of justice, Themis represents divine justice, while Dike embodies human justice based on social norms and conventional rules. Dike lived during the Golden Age of man, which is the age of peace and justice. It is the age of accomplishments and prosperity, without sickness and old age. But all of that ended when Zeus fulfilled the long-lived prophecy and overthrew his father—Cronus, thus starting the Silver Age.

As Zeus created four seasons, humans needed shelter, to labor for food, and lived a less noble life for the first time. They no longer honored the gods, so worried Dike warned them about the dangers of their actions, saying that the worst is yet to come. When she saw that there was no hope, she turned her back on the humans and fled over to the mountains. Humankind only worsened and started wars, leading Dike to leave the earth and retreat back to the heavens.

Other myths call Virgo the Disappointed Goddess that seeks goodness in humankind but is only faced with countless disappointments.

Virgo Constellation

Virgo is the largest out of the 12 zodiac constellations first cataloged by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century CE. Today it’s ranked as the second-largest constellation in the sky, after Hydra. The name Virgo was the Latin word for a virgin or maiden. It is a fitting name for Virgo’s representation of a winged goddess holding an ear of wheat in her left hand.

Virgo occupies 1,294 square degrees in the sky at the third quadrant of the Southern Hemisphere (SQ3), in latitudes between +80° and -80°. Virgo is one of the two point, the other being Pisces, where the celestial equator intersects with the ecliptic, which is the Sun’s annual pathway. Hence, it contains the autumn equinox point, which is a rare moment in a year when the Sun is exactly above the equator, and day and night are of equal length.

Virgo holds eleven Messier objects, namely Messier 49, Messier 58, Messier 59, Messier 60, Messier 61, Messier 84, Messier 86, Messier 87, Messier 89, Messier 90, and Messier 104. Messier objects are 110 astronomical objects categorized by Charles Messier in his Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters.

Out of all these messier objects, Messier 49 is the brightest and the first galaxy discovered in the Virgo cluster. Virgo also comprises twenty stars with known planets, and fifteen of Virgo’s stars have names approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). They are, Elgafar, Flegetonte, Heze, Kang, Khambalia, Lich, Malmok, Minelauva, Mönch, Porrima, Spica, Syrma, Vindemiatrix, Zaniah, and Zavijava. The brightest star in Virgo is the Spica, classified as the blue giant and the 15th brightest star in the sky. Its name comes from the Latin word spīca virginis, which means “Virgo’s ear of grain’.

Two meteor showers are also associated with the constellation of Virgo; the Virginids and the Mu Virginids. Lastly, Virgo appears in the night sky during late May, June, and July in the Northern Hemisphere and during autumn and winter in the Southern Hemisphere.