The cliche “follow your passion” has been countered with the advice to instead “follow your effort” by author Cal Newport and others. The theory is that passion is a byproduct of hard work during which you will gradually discover skills and interests you didn’t know you had.
Astrology speaks to this. There are three areas of the chart associated with work, covering the terrain of career, hard work/ sacrifice, and income/resources. All three of them are the same element of either earth, water, fire, or air. Two of them are hidden from view of the rising sign—the helm of the ship, so to speak. One of them is in a tense relationship (square) to it.
There was a moment during my first “real job” after college graduation that reflected this tension. My tenth house of career is the practical earth of Virgo and my rising sign is the meaning-oriented fire of Sagittarius. During my first performance review my boss gave me a nice raise and a glowing review, but I started to cry tears of sadness. I was horrified that I was crying in front of my boss because I knew I should just be grateful. But my idealistic, and very young, Sagittarius nature was wanting to find meaning and fulfillment beyond a cubicle. Vocation and occupation were at odds, although I had a sense then that writing was my vocation and had already taken steps to find outlets for it outside of my occupation.
Decades later I know that this tension between what the world asks from us and what the soul, which doesn’t concern itself with practicalities like mortgage payments, asks from us is to be lived and not eliminated. James Hollis has said he reminds himself daily to “Shut up. Suit up. Show up.” As prolific as he is, even at his advanced age with many health problems, he still needs to say this to himself, so I often call it to mind myself.
The season of Virgo, the sign of the harvest, service, and work has just begun. And before we can even properly get our footing, here we are almost immediately facing a Full Moon eclipse in watery Pisces, Virgo’s opposite, which could have us wanting to focus more on passion instead. Uranus with its startling insights and sudden changes will form a square to this eclipse, which may distract us all the more from suiting up and putting in effort.
To sit in this Pisces/Virgo tension it may be helpful to recall James Hillman’s reminder that vocation is not associated with a particular job and that “character is not what you do, but the way you do it” (The Soul’s Code). In other words, your calling is reflected in your effort and not completely separate from it.
A perfect image for this reconciliation of Pisces and Virgo is The Hanged Man in tarot. The Hanged Man is associated with the water element, yet there is earth present. It almost looks like The Fool lost his footing at some point after leaping off the cliff and got caught on the tree. He is choosing to not panic and is appreciating the new perspective (while expressing gratitude that he didn’t land on his head!). Or maybe for some of us it feels more like a deliberate, even arduous, climbing into position onto that tree.
Whatever the case for you, as you steer the helm of your ship, keep in mind an old adage the late Dolly Parton, who was a double Virgo, liked to say: “We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”
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Anita Ashland
AnitaAshland.com
