Go Virgo, Go!

It’s September, the beginning of fall and seasonal change (one of the joys of living in LA is it’s still gorgeous out despite the changes) and it’s the month of Virgo. I am a Virgo and I have worked hard to keep the traits of a Virgo that work for me; organized, clear and goal oriented, while I leave the ones that do not work for me behind; like judgment, perfectionism and the tendency to cut people out of my life that hurt me.

Around my birthday I usually feel vulnerable. The idea of being given the gift of, God willing, another year, both humbles and frightens me. By being given another year, it’s the passing of yet another birthday but also, a new year approaches as Rosh Hashanah inches closer.

At this time of year I am filled with a real desire to change with greater trepidation. As we teach, the quickest way to change is to seek out the opportunities and put yourself in an uncomfortable position. So here I am. The opportunities are all around us and for the “ever-perfect”, Virgo this month’s a biggie.

The Hebrew month of Virgo falls in Elul, which is known as the Month of Repentance, and it is no small coincidence – You know I don’t believe in those anyway – that Virgo’s Tikkune is judgment.

When I first started studying Kabbalah I worried that all my years being a judgmental Virgo would finally catch up with me. Then I happened upon a delightful discovery: The great kabbalist the Baal Shem Tov was… a Virgo! This little breakthrough gave me great hope that I too could change the error of my ways – just as you can, too.

The sign of Virgo is that of the virgin, which denotes purity and the ability to cleanse. This month gives us the strength to identify our faults, really take stock of ourselves and reconnect with the Light to start “the new year” with a clean canvas.

Virgos are always aware of what’s “wrong with this picture” and “what’s missing from that.” They are very quick to illustrate problems and draw on their lack of perfection, but what they don’t realize is that if THEY can see them, if they can be AWARE of them then they must have it within themselves – a quick lesson from The Baal Shem Tov, my fellow Virgo.

Judging oneself is difficult, and because Virgos have a constant quest for perfection it’s a lot easier to point out and focus on other people’s flaws and wrong-doings as opposed to really confronting their own. During this month, it is especially important to make the decision to have a new outlook and change the prescription of your lenses. Grab yourself a set of binoculars…

Look through the eyepieces of the binoculars and take note of how it magnifies that which is in the distance – a tree perhaps, or a bird – the binoculars make it appear closer, larger. Now, I want you to turn your binoculars around, looking through the opposite side and notice how everything becomes minute, teeny, and seemingly very, very far away. Amazing the change in perspective can have.

Think about using the concept of binoculars and how they either maximize or minimize things according to the way you look through them, and apply that to the way you view yourself and the people in your life.

When most of us look at other people’s lives and how they live them, in an attempt to compare our own lives with theirs, against their flaws or triumphs we either diminish their doings or inflate our own accordingly. When we look through the eyepiece of the binoculars, we employ an instrument which enlarges the scope for imperfection and judgment.

Virgos focus too much on nitty-gritty details to the detriment of the big picture. When really, during the month of Elul, we are here to PURIFY ourselves and become a complete vessel, as well as bring about awareness of what can be changed, but without the judgment.

JOURNAL: