Zodiac sign

Virgo

Direct answer

Virgo is the sixth zodiac sign: mutable earth, ruled by Mercury, associated with discernment, craft, service, repair, method, health, and practical intelligence.

Zodiac SignsThe Great Almanac DictionaryUpdated 2026-09-26

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At a glance

In astrology: Virgo is mutable earth, ruled by Mercury, opposite Pisces, and translates thought into practical method.
Found in: Zodiac Signs
Related: Zodiac, Sun Sign, Moon Sign, Rising Sign

Deeper Almanac guide: Virgo zodiac guide. This dictionary entry is a concise definition page; the linked guide remains the long-form topic page.

The zodiac constellation figures ranged along an engraved ecliptic — Zodiac field guide · visual guide **Virgo**
Virgo is mutable earth, ruled by Mercury.
The sign glyph and elemental field orient the archetype without reducing it to a stereotype.

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What sets Virgo apart

Virgo is the one sign where a planet is both at home and exalted: Mercury rules it and is exalted at 15 degrees here in the later tradition, and Ptolemy gives the reason that autumnal dryness first appears. It is also bicorporeal and the last sign of summer, the harvest before the equinox. Venus falls here at 27 degrees, and Jupiter is in detriment, opposite its own Pisces. Of the three earth signs, it is the mutable one, adapting rather than building like Capricorn or holding like Taurus.

Sun enters: about 23 August
Exaltation: Mercury, at 15 degrees, in the sign it also rules
Fall: Venus, falling here in the later tradition
Detriment: Jupiter, from the opposite sign Pisces
Class: mutable, and bicorporeal with Gemini, Sagittarius and Pisces

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Virgo in the traditional textbooks

Virgo is Mercury's sign in both senses: its domicile and the place of its exaltation at 15 degrees, with Venus fallen opposite at 27. Dorotheus says Mercury rejoices in Virgo. Spica, the bright ear of wheat in her hand, takes the nature of Venus and part Mars in Ptolemy. Abu Ma'shar gives Virgo the buttocks, intestines and diaphragm.

Ruler: Mercury. Ptolemy gives it to Mercury because it is never more than one sign from the Sun, nearest to both luminaries. Its detriment is Jupiter, the ruler of Pisces, the opposite sign.
Exaltation in this sign: Mercury at 15 degrees. Fall in this sign: Venus at 27 degrees.
Triplicity (earth): Venus by day, Moon by night, Mars as partner (Dorotheus, and al-Qabisi adds that Mercury shares in Virgo).
Nature (Abu Ma'shar): cold, dry, melancholic; taste acidic; feminine, nocturnal; double, with its end part equinoctial.
Ptolemy's class: bicorporeal (mutable). On the body, it enlarges the body and makes it shapely.
Body (Abu Ma'shar): buttocks, intestines, diaphragm (al-Qabisi: belly, innards, diaphragm).
Wind (Firmicus): the south wind.
Lands (Abu Ma'shar): Jaramaqa, Syria, the Euphrates, al-Jazira.

The bounds and decans of Virgo

The widest bound is Venus's, at 10 degrees, and the narrowest bound is Saturn's, at 2 degrees. Mercury, the ruler of Virgo, holds the bound at 1 to 7 degrees and the third decan.

Here are the Egyptian bounds of Virgo, counted from 0 degrees of the sign:

Mercury: 1 to 7 degrees (7 wide)
Venus: 8 to 17 degrees (10 wide)
Jupiter: 18 to 21 degrees (4 wide)
Mars: 22 to 28 degrees (7 wide)
Saturn: 29 to 30 degrees (2 wide)

Laid over the three decans of Firmicus Maternus and al-Qabisi, they fall like this:

The first decan, degrees 1 to 10, belongs to the Sun. The bounds inside it: Mercury 1 to 7, Venus 8 to 10.
The second decan, degrees 11 to 20, belongs to Venus. The bounds inside it: Venus 11 to 17, Jupiter 18 to 20.
The third decan, degrees 21 to 30, belongs to Mercury. The bounds inside it: Jupiter at 21, Mars 22 to 28, Saturn 29 to 30.

The stars of Virgo, and what the sources say it symbolizes

Hill reads Virgo as the woman of Genesis 3:15 and as the mother of the infant sun, shown in old zodiacs with a child. He says Virgo rises at midnight on 24 December, the nativity. The picture of Virgo with a child is attested in some medieval and Arabic zodiacs, but the reading of the Christmas story from it is Hill's own and Acharya S and Massey make similar arguments.

Ptolemy gave the stars of Virgo these planetary natures, in the first book of the Tetrabiblos:

the head and the southern wing tip, Mercury and some Mars
the other wing and the girdle, Mercury and some Venus
Vindemiatrix on the northern wing, Saturn and Mercury
Spica, Venus and part Mars
the feet and the hem of the robe, Mercury and some Mars

The story behind Virgo

Virgo carries maiden or harvest symbolism and belongs to the mutable signs.

The spiritual meaning of Virgo

Spiritually, Virgo asks what can be repaired, purified, and made useful with love.

Why Virgo matters

Virgo matters because it shows where a chart improves life through attention, usefulness, analysis, humility, and repeated practice.

How to read Virgo

Astrologers reach for Virgo when interpreting work, health habits, editing, skill, systems, service, anxiety, and the house where life asks for refinement.

Virgo in practice: an example

Virgo on the seventh house may seek partners who are thoughtful, observant, reliable, and willing to work on the relationship.

Where readings of Virgo go wrong

A common error is to reduce Virgo to criticism. Virgo often notices flaws because it wants life to work better.

Sources and editorial method

This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.

Source: The Great Almanac Dictionary
Category: Zodiac Signs
Aliases: Virgo sign, Virgo zodiac sign
Last updated: 2026-09-26

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ZodiacThe Zodiac is the twelve-sign wheel used as astrology's core sign language. Sun SignSun Sign is the birth sign of the Sun and the most familiar doorway into astrology. Moon SignMoon Sign is the birth sign of the Moon and a key indicator of emotional patterning. Rising SignRising Sign is the sign on the eastern horizon at birth and one of the most personal chart factors. ElementElement groups the zodiac signs into fire, earth, air, and water. ModalityModality describes whether a sign initiates, stabilizes, or adapts.

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