part0012

Those born with the Sun or other planets in earth signs are often the most skeptical about astrology. I firmly believe it’s because most of what is written about them makes them sound … a little dull. Who wants to be described as practical, resourceful, and reliable? It’s true, and absolutely part of what makes earth signs what they are. But it’s not the whole story.

Taken a moment to contemplate earth—which, for the sake of this discussion, encompasses not just dirt, but plants, trees, gardens, caves, and mountains. Picture the majestic Himalayas, the giant redwoods of California, the Blue Grotto on the Isle of Capri. Imagine a warm, therapeutic mud bath, the feel of wet sand beneath your bare feet, acres of ripe corn under the late summer sun.

No, earth isn’t dull, and neither are the earth signs or the people they symbolize. Like the earth itself, the earth signs are alive and sensuous. Those born under earth signs do, in fact, have an instinct for using the earth’s resources for practical purposes. They know how to build structures that endure. They are, however, anything but dull.

The Sun moves through Taurus in the second month of spring, when April’s showers begin to subside and the days grow longer and warmer. Seeds begin to burst open into a riotous profusion of vegetables and flowers. Winter and its cold and deprivation feel like ancient history now. It’s a time of plenty, and of pleasure. After the mad scramble of spring planting, there’s a little time for leisure—to let things be, before the hard work of the harvest. Taurus is symbolized by the bull, but this isn’t a season of hard work for beasts of burden, and he stands happily in a verdant meadow, chewing grass and flirting with cows.

Taurus symbolizes the gathering and happy enjoyment of resources. It’s one of the two financial signs (Scorpio is the other), but money is just a symbol for the resources one has to sell. Food, shelter, and clothing are Taurus’s main concern, as well as physical health and fully functioning senses with which to enjoy it all.

This is the time of year to tend the crops and the gardens as needed, but essentially to let nature take its course. It’s that steady stewardship, patience, and trust in nature that are Taurus’s greatest qualities.

You are most likely to identify with the sign of Taurus if

Whenever I travel, I find myself stockpiling objects along the way—a tiny bottle of shampoo, a bag of dinner rolls, an empty box. I’m always on the lookout for anything I think might make me more comfortable on a long, deserted stretch of highway.

It’s the Taurus in me, I suppose. Taurus symbolizes the desire to establish and maintain stability, comfort, and predictability. It’s about blooming where you’re planted, and working with what you’ve got—whether it’s a bottle of shampoo or another person .

Nurturing and caring for living things, an unshakable, unshockable stability in the face of life’s challenges, are Taurus’s birthright. The Taurus souls among us help us accept the world as it is and to commit to being part of it—to celebrate experiences and knowledge that can only be gained through being embodied. Transcendence is all well and good, Taurus might say, but you still have to get food on the table and make sure everyone has clean socks for the next day.

Taurus has a gift for making life comfortable, secure, and sane. The danger she faces is in becoming rigid, stubborn, and, in extreme cases, lazy. Taurus’s most valuable companions gently move her out of her comfort zone from time to time, encouraging her to dabble with the unfamiliar and to dip a toe into the murky waters of psychological discomfort.

A fixed sign, Taurus is both an immovable object and an irresistible force. You might encounter her on the day she is at peace, lounging blissfully in a hammock. Or your paths might cross on one of her bull-in-the-china-shop moods, set on a course of action and knocking over everything in her path. Taurus is essentially a slave to inertia: she has a hard time getting going, but once she does, nothing will stop her!

Taurus generally doesn’t get too worked up about things. Her typical response to a question like “Didn’t that make you mad?” is a shrug. She doesn’t care about money per se, as long as she has as much as she needs to be comfortable, but she tends to be particular about her stuff. She’ll have a favorite pillow, or a beloved sweatshirt that barely retains the properties of a solid. She loves plants and rocks. She loathes renting her home and will sacrifice other luxuries to buy, and if possible, to own it outright.

Taurus can sometimes be a little too secure, her confidence based in never moving too far from her familiar surroundings. This is a Taurus who is uncomfortable around people of different backgrounds and ethnicities, who always eats the same thing for lunch and never lets facts get in the way of her opinions. Scratch the surface and you find a Taurus who is afraid the world is moving too fast, and is worried that there aren’t enough resources to go around and she might have to share her stuff with other people .

Do not tease, taunt, poke, or prod Taurus. Don’t assume that because she is generally easygoing and slow to anger, it means she won’t someday charge at you. Waving a red flat in front of a bull can get even an experienced matador hurt!

A sensuous earth sign, Taurus is especially attuned to physical and practical expressions of romantic feeling. Taurus relationships do not go unconsummated for long; for you, a relationship doesn’t feel quite real unless it’s physical.

Giving and receiving gifts is important to a Taurus in love; you put a lot of care into choosing something that will please your loved one, and you’re deeply hurt if you receive something cheap, flimsy, or tasteless in return.

But although Taurus is thoughtful and caring, she generally dislikes sentimentality or excessive, gushing expressions of love, and generally eschews public displays of affection. In fact, you may like to give your partner a hard time in public to avoid the appearance of being “all mushy and stuff.” Nevertheless, like all the fixed signs, Taurus is constant in love, supporting your partner both practically and emotionally.

Taurus is an employer’s dream: utterly reliable and competent. But like all the fixed signs, you need to be left alone to do things at your own pace— and that pace will generally be pretty deliberate. Your idea of hell is getting teamed on a project with a speedy Aries !

But Taurus brings an additional element to the workplace that is at least as valuable as meeting deadlines and doing thorough work. Taurus brings down the blood pressure of a room just by walking in, and her own no-nonsense demeanor tends to provide an element of emotional stability and keeps the overall level of workplace drama in check.

An episode of the TV show Frontline profiled patrons of a hair salon in New York City, all of whom had lost jobs, businesses, homes, and retirement savings in the past year. The owner of the salon is exactly the sort of sensible Taurus type who, for an hour or so every few weeks, provides these lost souls, all of whom had lot all sense of normalcy and security, with comfort, continuity, and the sense that everything will somehow work out. I could understand why her clients kept making appointments with her, even though for many it meant charging her fee on their credit card. She was providing something much more than a haircut, and much less expensive than therapy.

Taurus-friendly careers : Ruled by Venus, Taurus is suited to careers in beauty, such as hairdresser or makeup artist; in the arts (especially singing); or in financial industries careers such as banking, budgetary management, or appraisals (especially of jewelry, art, coins, carpets, and antiques). The practicality of the construction industry might appeal to you, as well as farming, gardening, or landscaping.

Glyph for Virgo: Variously ascribed to the Greek word for “virgin,” a sheaf of barley, or an “m” referred to the blessed Virgin.

The Sun is in Virgo in the last month of summer and marks the season of decision. Are the crops ready for harvest, or can one wait a little longer and risk harvesting in the rain? There’s an analytical quality to this time of year, of weighing and determining, that also characterizes those born under the sign of Virgo.

Virgo’s powers of discrimination and knack for analysis have earned it a reputation for being critical and impossible to please. And it is difficult to satisfy Virgo, not because he wishes to be perverse but because Virgo is haunted by the specter of perfection when, as a practical earth sign, he’s aware that it’s an unattainable standard.

When Virgo is functioning well, it’s given to statements like “It’s good enough,” and “It will do.” When Virgo begins getting into a tizzy about imperfection, it’s a sure sign that he’s got too much of his ego invested in the outcome. Virgo’s role is to serve the most useful outcome—and imperfect but useful is light years ahead of theoretically perfect but nonexistent.

You are most likely to identify with the sign of Virgo if

Virgo’s motto is “I serve,” which reminds me of a famous episode of the classic Twilight Zone television series, about seemingly benign aliens who have come to earth and pledged their help to mankind. One of their most revered texts is entitled To Serve Man. Imagine the dismayed surprise of the humans who, having clasped these aliens to their bosoms, belatedly discover that the book is not a paean to intergalactic relations, as they’d imagined—but a cookbook.

It’s a clever twist on not just the word, but the concept of service—which is symbolized, in astrology, by Virgo. Virgo symbolizes the very noble impulse toward usefulness. It represents the hundreds of people who impact your daily life, whether or not you ever meet each other .

No matter how menial the task, others’ approach to their work can have a profound influence on the quality of your day. The barrista who serves up your morning coffee can set the day’s tone with a smile and a little joke, or can seemingly go out of his way to annoy you. A mechanic who’s having a bad day might forget an important step in servicing your car’s brakes—and that could influence the rest of your life.

Virgo wants to help, wants to do good work, and wants to make the world run better.

Unfortunately, the world tends toward perpetual unruliness; the dishes you just washed will need washing again tomorrow, and your car’s oil will need changing again in 3,000 miles. It’s this constant striving to clean up a world that can’t keep its corners tucked in that makes Virgo a little cranky, and prone to fantasizing about intergalactic cookbooks.

The women tend to be strikingly beautiful but may look a little downcast or nervous. The men favor an earthy, even sporty look, favoring baseball caps and unpretentious clothing made of natural fabrics. Virgo, like his fellow earth signs, has a soothing, calming presence. Animals gravitate to Virgo, sensing both his affection and respect, and in fact those with the sign strong in the birth chart tend to be devoted to animals and their humane treatment.

Like all earth signs, Virgo has a long fuse … which makes his eventual meltdowns all the more impressive and kind of scary. And because Virgo is ruled by Mercury, he can carve you up with an estimable blend of concise vocabulary choices and withering sarcasm, made more deadly by his careful observation of your character.

But these are the last refuge of a Virgo who feels unappreciated, or who is offended by shoddy work or mistreatment of the vulnerable. At heart, Virgo is a sweet, gentle soul who just wants to be helpful, and just wishes things could be better than they are.

The challenge Virgo faces in relationships is that while love tends to flourish in an atmosphere of unconditional acceptance, it can quickly shrivel up when exposed to Virgo’s critical faculties. Virgo’s powers of discernment extend to love, and it’s the rare partner who can meet his exacting standards.

But there is a very sweet side to Virgo as well. Virgo shows his devotion in a thousand small, practical, helpful gestures that help your life run smoothly and efficiently. As an astrologer friend once observed, “Virgo loves in detail.” Untying knots, fixing appliances, grasping the tedious syntax of a life insurance policy—these are all matters at which Virgo excels.

Don’t forget, too, that Virgo is an earth sign, which means a keen appreciation for the physical expression of love. You won’t rush into intimacy, but yours is a strongly sexual nature.

Most compatible signs : Your fellow earth signs, Taurus and Capricorn, who appreciate your practical expressions of love; and water signs Cancer and Scorpio, whose reserved but emotional natures are complementary to your more cerebral personality

Most challenging signs : Your fellow mutable signs, Gemini, Sagittarius, and Pisces. Pisces, your opposite sign, is somewhat too ephemeral for your tastes, while Gemini and Sagittarius tend to irritate you or make you nervous with all their chatting and moving around.

There are virgins, and then there are Virgins. Don’t make too much of Virgo’s symbol, the Virgin; yes, that term can refer to someone who hasn’t had sex. But it can also be used to refer to someone who is whole and complete on their own, without a partner.

Virgo is often referred to as the sign of work. Of course, all signs work, but Virgo, perhaps in common with Capricorn, strongly identifies with his work. Virgo is a true craftsman—thorough, excellent at analyzing and trouble-shooting problems, and exceedingly careful and detailed in his approach to any task. Virgo likes to have something to show for his work: a crisply-formatted report, a bushel of corn, a new and diligently notated piece of music.

Because Virgo is so detail oriented and ruthless at rooting out errors of logic or execution, you don’t always work well with others. Few meet your standards of craftsmanship, and you refuse to have your name associated with anything that’s substandard. You’re best working on your own, but need to guard against becoming a workaholic .

Virgo-friendly careers : Skilled manual work such as carpentry; work requiring analysis, organization, and attention to detail, such as editing, mathematics, analysis, library science, criticism, secretarial work, and accounting. Virgo can be a wonderful healer, including work as a doctor, nurse, veterinarian, dental hygienist, or nutritionist. It’s also the sign of social work, civil and domestic service, and volunteering.

The Sun’s ingress into Capricorn marks the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and the beginning of winter. At wintertime, the artificial construct of the calendar decrees a new year is about to begin. But our seasonal hearts experience winter differently, as the apex of an energetic cycle begun in the spring. In the cold, weak light of winter, all is revealed for what it truly is. We are either rich enough to buy holiday gifts and leave extraneous lights burning throughout the house, or we are not. We are happy because we have chosen to be so, or angry and unhappy because that was our choice. Winter solstice is a time of emotional reckoning and self-examination; like Scrooge, each of us must confront his or her own ghosts of the past, present, and future. In the long, dark days of winter, there is a lot of time to brood about what went wrong in the past and what might go wrong in the future.

When I offer Scrooge as an archetypal Capricorn figure, I don’t mean to be insulting.

A Christmas Carol hardly starts out well for the misanthropic Mr. Scrooge, but by the end of the story he’s a new man. Dry, brittle, and preoccupied with material success, Scrooge is transformed by an encounter with the spirit world (Capricorn is symbolized by the sea goat, and can make his home in both the physical and spiritual realms). Confronted with spectral visions of what he is, what he has been, and what he will be if he keeps going in the same direction, Scrooge sees the light—it is, after all, a solstice tale—and opens his heart to the true wealth of friends. He recognizes, at last, that the poorest of his employees is the wealthiest of men, because he has a loving family. Seeing that the only way to find real success is to be part of a tribe, Scrooge unbends like a rose in late June and stuns his friends with a sudden warmth to rival a summer bonfire on the beach.

You are most likely to identify with the sign of Capricorn if

People born in the winter were welcomed by a world of brisk and biting air, holiday celebrations that disappoint as often as they delight, and a tough and scraggly landscape with bare trees. Nature’s bounty was in short supply. Capricorn intuited that the world can be a harsh place, that it was up to her to make a happy and comfortable nest for herself, and that complaining was a waste of time.

Born when the midday Sun is at its lowest declination, Capricorn has a powerful urge to attain higher status. But the fame represented by Capricorn has as much to do with what other people make of us as what we make of ourselves. You might become known for doing something well, but you might just as well become known by accident—by being the son of someone famous, or being beautiful, or, like Capricorn President Richard Nixon, for resigning a powerful office in disgrace.

But achieving status is only part of what Capricorn is about. Capricorn is considered the paternal sign; her most noble path is to use its natural leadership ability and the authority she’s earned to shepherd others along a constructive path. Capricorn was born to be a role model .

In her presence, you tend to stand up a little straighter. You are a little more careful with your grammar. In essence, you behave as though you’ve just been reunited with your particularly strict third-grade teacher.

Traditional wisdom holds that Capricorn is born old and gets younger with age. And it’s true: most Capricorns seem a little out of step with their expected chronology. A teacher who is just slightly older than her students, perhaps, or someone who seems plucked from another (always earlier) era. He looks at home in tweed, likes portable typewriters, and would secretly love to carry a watch fob; she looks just right in a pillbox hat. Their clothing will be conservative and classic, of the best quality they can afford.

The dark side of Capricorn’s tenacity is a certain ruthless single-mindedness, and our bonds with others often suffer when we give too much to our work, sacrificing the soft, Cancerian shapes of domestic pleasure. Everyone wants love, but Capricorn in particular cries out for a partner. Specifically, he needs a mate who can help him achieve his ambitions while simultaneously keeping the home fires kindled and reminding him of his core values and important emotional connections.

Pride and Prejudice’s Mr. Darcy is an archetypal Capricorn—undemonstrative, occasionally cruel, and preoccupied with social status. Yet ultimately he is able to appreciate the proud and moral Elizabeth Bennett, realizing her strong ethics and values are far more admirable than a mere accident of noble birth .

Capricorn is one of the most sexually driven of all the signs (it’s sometimes represented by the satyr, a bestial and debauched centaur). You can easily slip into the unfortunate habit of being a bit mean to your lovers, so you need someone who’s not impressed by your temper and who can jolly you out of your occasional black moods.

Most challenging signs : Your fellow cardinal signs—Cancer, your opposite sign, who is good at stoking the home fires but can get a bit clingy about your late hours at work; and Aries and Libra, who refuse to follow your lead and do what they’re told

Capricorn, the sign that rules business and worldly achievement, is sometimes uncharitably described as cold and pragmatic. Not that all Capricorns are that way, of course; far from it. At her best, Capricorn is the kindly, sensible matriarch who guides us to achievement and to being our best selves. But each sign has its shadow side, and bottom-line pragmatism is certainly the archetypal province of Capricorn. Think of Scrooge, and of Mr. Potter from It’s a Wonderful Life. Or the CEO who engineered an acquisition of the company where you work, and promptly discontinued the pension plan, slashed benefits, and fired 10 percent of the work force. If a business practice doesn’t improve his bottom line, such a person can’t comprehend how it could possibly contribute to his success.

Capricorn-friendly careers : Capricorn is at home in your own business, or as the CEO or president of a corporation. Anything less will probably make you miserable. Your executive nature makes you a natural for government work or politics, and your pragmatism makes you at home in banking, economics, or engineering. Artistic Capricorns excel at sculpture or architecture; Capricorn craftsmen are drawn to carpentry, masonry, or watchmaking; and a medically inclined Capricorn would probably be a fine chiropractor or osteopath, orthopedist, or dentist. On a grim note, Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, the planet of undertakers, morticians, and those who serve the death industry. (And coincidentally, Capricorn also rules landlords—not that dissimilar from undertaking, except for the length of the lease.)