One of the most powerful ways to bring a concept to life is to physicalize it by relating an idea to posture or an aspect of the breathing process. Did you know that you can internalize the sense of summer’s waning during Virgo season by attuning to the tension you experience at the end of a retained exhalation. Exhaling and holding your breath out creates a feeling akin to the way we externalize our consciousness during summer.
Towards the end of summer, as our energy is exhausted, we feel we are ready for a change. This relates to the sense of discomfort we feel after holding the breath out for a while which then gives way to a rejuvenating inhalation. This ability to revitalize our inner life encompasses the Virgo mood.
In addition to physicalizing the Virgo mood, you can understand it through the story of Ganesh’s birth when Parvati (divine feminine creativity) is separated from Shiva (divine masculine self sufficiency) after a heated dice game in which Parvati got the upper hand. Baffled by this unexpected loss, Shiva parts from his beloved and heads to his icy mountain top to meditate for thousands of years to sort out what went wrong and regain his composure.
In the beginning of the separation, which akin to the distancing between the sun and the earth with onset of the summer solstice, Parvati was triumphant in victory. Over time though she began to feel lonely and indignant that her lover abandoned her. One day while she was bathing, she began rolling the skin on the sole of her foot fashioning it into a living boy. Her new son was her companion and protector. She tasked him with guarding the door to her bedroom, instructing him not to let anyone enter as she knew Shiva would return with an expectation of companionship.
When Shiva returns, the boy who is nameless at this point refuses to let him enter. A fight ensues between the boy and Shiva’s entourage of unruly sub-human creatures known as the gunas, and the boy is winning. Astonished, Shiva heaves his trident at the boy, decapitating him.
Parvati emerges from her chambers and informs Shiva that he has just decapitated his own son. If he ever wants to see her again, he must place the head of the first animal he sees on the boy’s body. The first animal Shiva sees is, you guessed it, an elephant.
The coming in being of the elephantine boy Ganesha, who has become arguably the most ubiquitous Hindu deity, results in a reconciliation between Parvati and Shiva and establishes a new familial order.
In this story Parvati represents the Virgo impulse to create out of one’s own being and to make known the conditions that restore to disharmony. May you be blessed and restored by the creative power of your soul as this is the energy that is supported during this time of the year.
Warmly,
Rey