From Neurosis to Gnosis : resolving the Virgo/Pisces polarity

This month our exploration in non-dual astrology continues with a look at the Virgo/Pisces polarity. We are now having the full moon in Pisces (with the Sun in Virgo), conjunct Neptune in Pisces (the ruler of Pisces is Neptune), but we will be dealing with this polarity a lot in the coming months because Jupiter has also recently entered Virgo and will be there for around a year, opposing first Neptune and then Chiron, both in Pisces.

Last month we looked at the Aquarius Leo polarity and saw how perhaps this polarity is about the process of attention, and its connection to the heart. So now we take it a step further, where we activate the substance of awareness in the body’s circuitry. Mercury is the ruler of Virgo (as well as Gemini), and in Virgo, Mercury is turned inward, much like the quality of Mercury retrograde. It rules the nervous system, and also the intestines, which are responsible for absorbing the nutrients from food. So the Virgo process has to do with our ability to metabolize and digest our experience.

Virgo’s Mercury is an introspective one. The mirror of Mercury is turned towards ourselves, for the process of self inquiry, and self-reflection. The creative output of Leo is put under the microscope, as Virgo deals with minute details. The self-critic is activated. The useful is sorted from the useless. It is the time of harvest, when the wheat and the chaff are separated. And it is preparation for the transition to the world of relationship (Libra), and selfhood (Aries).

Mercury is the alchemical substance in Virgo. The Virgo process involves sealing the alchemical vessel, so that heat and pressure can build inside the vessel of the soul. The way to seal the vessel is to not project. The temptation of un-evolved Virgo is judgement, to project our own shortcomings onto others. But when the alchemical vessel is sealed, hermetically (Hermes is Mercury), then we always turn the mirror back on ourselves. Any projection is simply an energy leak in the cauldron of the psyche. Thus, in the heat generated, the creative envisioning mind is developed, the power of dreaming in full awareness.

When Virgo and Pisces work together as one, we have discriminating awareness, or discriminating (Virgo) wisdom (Pisces), as the Tibetans would call it. This is when the critical mind works as the servant (Virgo) of the compassionate heart (Pisces). The true process of correction is activated, with the compassionate view (Pisces), and forgiveness. Criticism can be compassionate and constructive, without losing any of its impact.

In New Age circles these days there is a tendency to favor the Pisces end of things, which, without Virgo, tends to idealize, put on the rose colored glasses, and live in a fantasy world. So critical thinking, discriminating awareness, is often put down as “negative”. People tend to want to escape (Pisces) into “spiritual” things. When the Piscean escapism activates, the Virgo end degenerates into a kind of neurotic perfectionism, judgmental towards self and others, and depression from never being able to live up to ideals.

But clearly now more than ever, we have to wake up from this glazed-over “spiritual” trance of pseudo positivity, and start seeing with a more critical eye. This will be important for the next year of Jupiter in Virgo. Let’s face it, there are some things going on here on Planet Earth that need to be criticized! Let’s let go of this deadly political correctness, that chokes the flow of truth in so many ways. We are entering a great phase of correction now, with Jupiter entering Virgo. Also the moon’s North Node is just entering Virgo, which means that this is a very positive direction for us now. It is time for us to work together, to cooperate (Virgo), to bring the compassionate vision (Neptune) into reality, by embodying it (Virgo), and to change the things we cannot accept. Hexagram 18 in the I Ching comes to mind : Work on What has been Spoiled.

In this sorting of wheat from chaff, what are we doing? Really, we are sorting true from false. But somewhere along the line we seem to have lost the capacity to tell true from false. We raise impostors, liars, and thieves up into positions of power and influence, and we allow good honest people to be trampled underfoot.

The Hollywood illusion machine (Pisces, Neptune rule the movies and “entertainment”, as well as music) has manipulated our minds so much with deception (Pisces) of all sorts, that somewhere in there our capacity to sort wheat from chaff, to tell true from false, got lost.

And the most deadly part of this, is how politically correct it has become to believe that there is no Truth, that everyone has their own truth, different from everyone else’s, and that really, there is no way to truly KNOW, when actually, in fact, it is entirely possible for anyone to have absolute certainty of the Eternal Source Consciousness, if they are dedicated to discovering what is true on all levels. It is just a different kind of knowing. It is as self evident as the sun, arises spontaneously, needs no proof, and is not of the mind.

Traditionally, the Virgo Pisces polarity has had a lot to do with religion. So many of the religious traditions have been built on guilt, however, which is one of the qualities that arises when this polarity doesn’t work together. Guilt, anxiety, worrying, and nervous system disorders proliferate, which then in turn lead to more physical diseases.

Virgo has to do with health. But there’s a secret hidden here, and that is that for Virgo (health) to flourish, Pisces energy must be an integral part of it. These qualities include faith, devotion, and bliss. Truly, Divine Love heals all. Neptune dissolves everything it comes in contact with, it is the great solvent. Notice this word, “solvent”. The problems and worries and diseases of Virgo are solved, by being DISsolved. This is not a mental process, but the mental substance of Mercury is definitely the main ingredient for the recipe. The mind here is used in self-inquiry, to trace everything back to the origin. Eventually the inquiry becomes just “Who am I?”, and the sense of separation dissolves altogether.

As the mindstream (Virgo/Pisces) becomes purified, its quality changes to one of bliss. This is the Virgo/Pisces process at its optimum.

Neurosis transforms to Gnosis.

What is Gnosis? We have perhaps heard of the Gnostics before, but we tend to think of them as some obscure religious sect around the time of the early Christians, and little has survived of their practices and knowledge. According to John Lash, the Gnostic scholar, the reason not much survives from the Gnostics is because it was brutally suppressed, by the Abrahamic religions, because the Gnostics were anti-religion, and practiced direct knowing.

Gnosis is just another word for direct knowing. Direct connection to Source, without an intermediary. And Lash goes on to say that the Gnostics were, and are, in direct communion with the Planet herself, who is the Divine Aeon Sophia.

So Gnostics receive instruction and understanding directly from the Organic Light of Source, This light is the light which has no opposite, the primal light. Because it is not in the realm of duality, it has a very different quality than the light that we see here. The light in this dimension is only visible when it is reflected off something, a process that can only happen in duality.

The religion business is the business of maintaining 3D, the world of duality. But when we live without any religion or deities in between us and Source, this puts the churches and holy people out of business.

So i am going to speculate once again, that the Virgo Pisces process has really to do with Gnosis, direct knowledge, imparted through the compassionate current of bliss, that activates in the process of contemplation and dissolution into Source Consciousness itself.

When the polarity is separated we have religions. Perfectionistic (Virgo) ideals (Pisces), motivated by guilt (Virgo), and illusions (Pisces). The aspirant (Virgo) can never really achieve the oneness with God (Pisces). It is always over there, on the other side of the circle. Gotta do more prayers and rituals (Virgo), and suffer (Pisces) more, before you can be worthy to receive the Divine secrets. But whatever you do, don’t look in your own heart. You are a sinner, and you will only lead yourself astray.

But now, the veil is pulled aside, and there are the church fathers, caught with their pants down, quite literally. Turns out they weren’t so perfect after all. The churches, temples, and ashrams have no place for anyone who awakens. They are simply not welcome.

Virgo is afraid of space (Pisces). The Virgo end of the spectrum wants to fill all empty space with something. With thoughts, with stuff, with accomplishments, with spiritual experiences, with money, friends, possessions, you name it. At its extreme it becomes obsessive compulsive, totally focussed on the details (Virgo), without seeing the big picture, or the overall vision (Pisces).

Virgo rules the nervous system, and all of its delicacy and sensitivity. It is a very refined energy if the energy of Pisces is included in it. Then it is the quality of seeing infinity in the tiniest things, and being able to take great delight in very simple activities, and in blissful contemplation in silence. In this space, the purification (Virgo) happens quite spontaneously. In this way, it is Perfect (Virgo) Love (Pisces).

Also health issues are greatly relieved with Neptune and Pisces energy flowing in the bodily circuits. We can really go into the sensations in the body and receive information from the body in what we need for optimal health. We can be spontaneously drawn to the right healing modalities too. We can begin to understand our body, and how it works, from the way it feels from within. The true source of healing is within and beyond. It is our Eternal nature. Because it is complete harmony, just to bathe in it brings great healing.

Pisces also rules music. The Virgo side has to do with the method of learning music, and the technique. So technical practice becomes a kind of purification practice, like a yoga. Removing obstacles to direct and unlimited musical expression.

Here is where we can see the intimate connection between music (Pisces) and health (Virgo). Two sides of the same coin. It stands to reason that music can have a powerful effect on health, both positive and negative. And since the true makeup of everything is really vibrational, sound healing may turn out to be one of the most powerful methods of all.

This is Gnosis, a new but ancient way of knowing, knowing by BEING. The current of bliss brings information as light, something the mind can never understand or even verbalize, but the entire being can absorb this information just by allowing it to flood the system. The frayed nerve endings can release into this current, as the entire body-mind dissolves into oneness. This is the Current Event, the very substance of Now.

Virgo is the Virgin, Mary, the mother of Christ. Pisces is Christ Consciousness, Divine Love. Mary giving birth to Christ is the equivalent of the releasing of the nerve endings (Virgo) into bliss (Pisces), which dissolves all sense of separation and suffering. The Christ Consciousness actually takes birth in the physical body, in the nervous system. For me, it has always been obvious that the “second coming” is really the awakening of the Christ Consciousness (the Divine become human) in each and every one of us. And when that happens, one is a true Gnostic.

A Virgin is someone who belongs to themselves, not dependent on anyone to complete them or connect them to their true nature. This is a Gnostic, one who knows and lives his direct connection to divinity, beyond all form, concept or belief.

So with Virgo Pisces, we “follow our bliss”, (not that it is going anywhere but more and more HERE). This is the fine tuning process of our work (Virgo), where, when what we do is service (Virgo/Pisces), because it is what brings us bliss, which then we can impart to others. it is whatever we do that brings us joy. But this is more than just a kind of surface, “fun” kind of happiness. This is what comes to you, while offering your gift. It is the gift you receive from giving of yourself. And this can be done without the slightest trace of self-consciousness, in complete humility (Virgo).

The Tibetans have a term for their highest practice of Dzogchen, non-dual contemplation, which they call the Great Perfection. This is Pisces/Virgo. Perfection is not something we can impose on “reality”, it is something we discover is already the case. When we locate this innate, indwelling perfection, we can simply remain with it in contemplation, whether we are in some kind of activity, or not. As we remain with it, it intensifies more and more, until the point where we cannot turn it off anymore. We go into a kind of “overunity”, a resonant connection with free energy. The transformation continues 24/7, not only in our own life, but in the world around us. This is why even one of the great masters who sat in a mountain cave somewhere, or lived in very humble circumstances, very anonymously, has brought more to humanity, than most of the most famous of public figures.

We can see here below, in the last sentence, the perfect summing up : “As copper when touched by mercury turns into pure gold, so the afflictions when touched by pure gnosis become true causes of virtue.”

from Poison in the Peacock Grove : Two Buddhist Texts on Training the Mind

by Geshe Lhundub Sopa,

on
Transforming Poison into Enlightenment:

the Chandra symbol for the degree of the full moon:

PISCES 7
A candle burning. There is a ring of salt around it on the floor.
Spirit is well preserved from becoming untrue. It is held within its own matrix, and granted a pure and wonderfully veiled atmosphere and feeling tone and sphere to stay within. From this place spirit can empower itself to be whole, to commune, to remember, and to conceive. You are given what you need, and a specially-granted timing grace to be ushered through the world in a guided tour that leads only to the temples and the marvels that are here. However, all of this happens inside, deep inside. The outside situation may belie the inward experience. But here what seems in the moment is as nothing, and what is really there between the lines and through the cracks is everything. This is a domain set apart for special purposes, projects, and endeavors, and is the perfect retreat for one who wishes to remain in touch with the living spirit, who wishes never to forget what it is that stands under the phenomenal world and keeps the eternal flame burning without a flicker.

and the Sun at the full moon is here:

VIRGO 7
A pie thrown in someone’s face.
Action and reaction. Reflexive mirroring of self by world and world by self. You are forced to confront yourself everywhere. Starkly compelled to deal with karmas of the past returned: who did what to whom. Conflict, strife, tension, and pressure. Mischief and the unexpected . On guard. Agreeing to meet yourself through others and to find intimate reverberations from every side. You have an overwhelming experience of running into the consequences for even what you thought–a wrap-around world of breakthroughs, quandaries, alliances and dangers. On red alert twenty-five hours a day, knowing that you cannot turn your back on threat or opportunity. Everything is obvious and supersubtle, gross and elusive, tightly known and vastly beyond conception.