The sixth sign of the zodiac, usually dated August 23 to September 22: a mutable earth sign ruled by Mercury, the Maiden, read as careful, helpful and exact.
Virgo at a glance
Virgo, the sixth sign, closes the summer quarter and ends as the September equinox arrives. It is an earth sign, sharing the element with Taurus and Capricorn, and a mutable sign, one of the four that turn one season into the next. Mercury rules it, as it rules Gemini, but here the planet of the mind works through earth instead of air: toward sorting, fixing and making things work. Its symbol is the Maiden, often shown holding an ear of wheat, the harvest of late summer, and its polarity is the receptive one. The tradition gives Virgo the digestive system, the body's own work of sorting. Its opposite is Pisces, the axis of order and surrender.
The Virgo character
The tradition reads Virgo as the sign of craft and service. Earth makes it practical, Mercury makes it analytical, and the mutable mode makes it ready to adjust. A Virgo is described as observant, modest, reliable and useful, the person who notices what is wrong, knows how to fix it and quietly does. Health, routine, skill and the satisfaction of a job done well are said to matter to it more than praise. The same eye that spots every flaw can turn inward, and astrologers often describe Virgo worry, self-criticism and trouble relaxing until everything is in order. Its lesson, in most readings, is that good enough is sometimes exactly right.
Virgo in love
In love Virgo is read as shy at first, then devoted in practical ways: it shows care by doing things, remembering details and helping, more than by declaring feelings. The earth signs Taurus and Capricorn are its most natural partners, sharing its steadiness, and the water signs Cancer and Scorpio its friendliest, bringing warmth and depth. Pisces, the opposite sign, is the classic complement: Virgo's order meets Pisces's imagination, and each can teach the other. Gemini and Sagittarius square Virgo, which the tradition reads as friction between its care for detail and their love of the big picture. Two whole charts say much more than two Sun signs.
Virgo at work
The tradition points Virgo toward work that needs care and precision: health and medicine, nutrition, research and science, editing and writing, accounting and data, craft, design and any job where quality depends on detail. It is read as the colleague who catches the mistake before it ships, organizes what others leave in a mess and improves a process without being asked. Being hurried into sloppy work is said to frustrate it. Many astrologers note that a Virgo is at its best when its skill helps someone, and that it can undervalue its own work.
Virgo beyond the Sun sign
A planet in Virgo is read as working carefully and practically. Virgo rising gives a neat, modest and observant manner; the Moon in Virgo a need for order and usefulness to feel settled; Mercury in Virgo, Mercury in its own sign, a precise, analytical mind; and Venus in Virgo love shown through attention and help. The birth chart calculator shows your whole chart. Below are the Virgo dates for the coming years, its relation to every other sign, its three decans and the slow planets' stays in it.
Virgo season dates
Virgo season is the part of the year when the Sun is in Virgo, and anyone born in it is a Virgo. By the US Eastern calendar it began on August 22 or 23 in the years 1950 to 2049, and ended on September 22 or 23, when the Sun moved on into Libra: the dates shift by a day with the leap-year cycle and the time zone. Times are US Eastern, to the minute; almanacs can differ by a minute.
How Virgo relates to each sign by the traditional rule: signs of the same element (four apart) and of friendly elements (two apart) are read as easy, squares and quincunxes as friction, neighbors and opposites as mixed. A whole chart says far more than two Sun signs.
Often said to come from ΠΑΡ, short for the Greek parthenos, “maiden”. The character is U+264D (VIRGO) in Unicode, which phones usually draw as an emoji.
Three of the four popular lists we compared give Virgo brown. William Lilly gave Virgo “black speckled with blue” in 1647, and its traditional ruler, Mercury, “sky colour or bluish”.
Each sign splits into three decans of ten degrees, about ten days of the Sun's stay. The modern system gives each decan a sign of the same element; the older one gives it a planet in the Chaldean order, and the Golden Dawn a tarot card.
When Jupiter, Saturn and the outer planets pass through Virgo: everyone born in those years shares that placement, with its retrograde loops counted as one stay.
Jupiter next in Virgo 2027 to 2028Last there 2015 to 2016.
Saturn next in Virgo 2036 to 2039Last there 2007 to 2010.
Uranus next in Virgo 2045 to 2052Last there 1961 to 1969.
Neptune next in Virgo 2092 to 2105
Pluto not in Virgo again before 2100Last there 1956 to 1972.
Virgo in the sky
In 2026 the Sun stands in front of the constellation Virgo from Sep 16, 2026 to Oct 31, 2026, about a month later than the sign's dates: the signs are measured from the equinox, which has drifted west against the stars since the zodiac was named.
Virgo is usually dated August 23 to September 22, the part of the year called Virgo season. From 1950 to 2049 the Sun entered Virgo on August 22 or August 23 by the US Eastern calendar, and left on September 22 or 23 at the September equinox, so birthdays near either end are worth checking to the minute.
What is Virgo's element and ruling planet?
Virgo is an earth sign of the mutable mode, ruled by Mercury. Earth is read as practical, the mutable mode as adaptable, and Mercury as the analytical mind, which together give Virgo its eye for detail and its wish to be useful.
Which signs are most compatible with Virgo?
By the traditional rule, Taurus and Capricorn, the other earth signs, and Cancer and Scorpio, in the friendly element of water. Pisces, the opposite sign, is read as the meeting of precision and imagination.
Is Virgo really a perfectionist?
It is the trait astrologers name most often. Virgo is the earth sign ruled by Mercury, so its mind turns to practical detail, and the tradition reads that as high standards: a gift for improving things, and a habit of criticism, often of itself first.