Dionysus: Pisces and Virgo at once.
“Wait, what?” — Aye, this one is unexpected, but hear me out.
Welcome back to my series on Greek gods that represent Astrological oppositions. In case you’re new here, take a look at the previous articles:
The concept of Astrological opposition is very underexplored. I wish there were in-depth articles explaining them, because they can teach us a lot about human nature, and nature as a whole — whether or not you believe in Astrology! Usually, what you’ll find is articles saying they are “bad” or “challenging”, but that is only half true. Oppositions are natural because they hint at paradoxes. We just THINK they’re bad because we dislike paradoxes… But if we just cast our prejudice aside for a second and look around, we’ll see the world is made of them: the strongest light casts the darkest shadow, the rotting earth feeds new life, and so on.
So… what exactly do Pisces and Virgo have in common?
This isn’t a rhetoric question. It’s a thing I asked myself while preparing this article, and it’s what led me to Dionysus. But before we get there, let’s break it down a bit.
On one hand, Virgo is known for its detail-oriented, serious and rational demeanor, sometimes bordering on OCD-like tendencies; On the other hand, Pisces is commonly known as an easy-going daydreamer who could easily become the life of the party. At first impression, these two archetypes sound like complete opposites — and indeed, they are. It’s called an “opposition” for a reason; But as we saw previously in this series, opposites tend to have a lot in common under the surface… If we just care enough to look.
Let’s start with the obvious commonality between them: they’re both considered “mutable” signs, and they’re also both “feminine”. What does that mean?
Well, first of all, these are technical terms. They don’t mean what you think they mean (in case you’re not into Astrology). A mutable sign doesn’t LITERALLY change; if you’re born a Pisces you stay a Pisces. It doesn’t change. Don’t take it literally. What “mutable” actually refers to is the belief that they represent a time of transition: winter to spring, spring to summer, so on. They’re neither here or there. They are “placed” in between. Hence, mutable.
Feminine is another technical term, so don’t be fooled by its common meaning. In Astrology, it simply means a sign is friendlier with the moon than with the sun; Hence, it is believed they acquire more “lunar” qualities such as avoiding the centre of attention and preferring to stay behind the scenes; “orbiting” a situation for a while before they fully commit; etc. (Don’t shoot the messenger. I didn’t make this up).
But “mutable and feminine” don’t give us the full picture, do they? It’s almost like something essential to understanding Pisces and Virgo is still missing…
That something is called “angst”.
If you’re a millennial or older anywhere in the West, maybe you’ll remember seeing Daria on MTV. She represents this Virgo-Pisces paradox just as well as Dionysus because… (let’s see if you recall the lesson from the previous posts in this series?) — Aye, exactly. It’s a cliché. Mythology is full of clichés, and so is fiction. But let’s not hate on them. Clichés are our friends. They can teach us a lot.
How would you describe Daria (even if just from the short clips above)?
If you guessed “NLOG”, sorry, that’s wrong. Try again. She does not quite fit into the “not-like-other-girls” trope, because she lacks that “cooler-than-thou” vibe they usually have. Daria is never on a high horse when making her sarcastic comments; Instead, she uses sarcasm as a coping mechanism for her disappointment with life — a disappointment that, by the way, she doesn’t hide to try to one up or look cooler than anyone. She’s more bitter than bitchy, if you will.
Another thing to keep in mind is the fact Daria isn’t exactly “unfeminine”. Her style, her poise, and personality in general do not negate the idea of femininity; And she doesn’t avoid interacting and/or befriending other women either. Her angst is directed towards the wider concept of popularity instead — as we can clearly see by the frenemy relationship she has with her super popular sister Quinn, but also with popular men and people of every gender. (I could go on a slight tangent and say Daria has the same relationship with Quinn as Dionysus has with Apollon in mythology; One craves popularity whereas the other despises it, but both are somehow still on the same path and sharing the same roof, aka temples. I’ll let you research that).
Virgo and Pisces are angsty deep down — but find it difficult to admit it.
If you ask a Virgo, or a Pisces (or, well, both) what they value the most, and they give you an honest answer, they’ll tell you essentially the same: something that boils down to “serving”. A Pisces might frame it as pursuing social harmony, or in other words “I just want everybody to be happy”; A Virgo could look at it from a different angle and say they enjoy “being useful and helpful” to the people they love. Both answers hint at the same core value though: selfless service. They do not want to be the main character. And just like Daria in her own show (or Dionysus in his own myths), even when they’re forced into that “main character” role, they try their hardest to show everyone there is something bigger they’re working on first and foremost; Almost as if saying, “oh, I don’t care about the spotlight. I’m just doing my job. Nothing to see here. Life goes on”.
Sure, you could argue all gods (and all characters, and all archetypes) are to some degree “just doing their jobs” and all deserve recognition, yadda yadda, but I’m not drawing attention to THAT. I’m drawing attention to THEIR ATTITUDE. There’s a difference. Some people pursue the spotlight; Pisces and Virgo don’t care much about it. They might agree their JOB deserves popularity and recognition; But not themselves as a person. That’s my point here.
“Who am I to enjoy myself in a world that isn’t perfect? Only if I play a character…”
Deep down, this is probably what they both believe; But it’s buried so deep, and so far down, that it might be difficult to access.
Virgos externalise this angst for imperfections with the usual obsessive scrutiny we’ve all seen before — they overanalise, look into things with a magnifying glass, worry about every tiny error in life. They wear the mask of “frowning inspector” when truly they just want community. This is the behaviour Virgos are often mocked for, and it has become a bit of a stereotype, but there’s truth to it. There is a lot of value in this kind of job, and mocked or not, it sure as hell couldn’t be done by any other sign in the entire zodiac. Only Virgo has the courage, the tact, and the cool-headed temperament (what a unique combination!) to truly provide people with constructive criticism. Virgo is necessary… But perhaps it needs to learn a thing or two from its opposite Pisces.
Speaking of Pisces, they’re also guilty of perfectionism. Oh, yes they are. Equally! It’s just a bit hard to see on the surface… But once you go deeper and see it, you can’t unsee it. They might seem very laid-back and easy to please, but underneath that “smiley face” mask, they hide an ocean of restless woes. They deal with it through escapism, hence the happy mask (and the wine, if you will). If only Pisces would listen to its opposite Virgo, embrace this perfectionism and admit it to themselves… They’d see they can benefit from actually getting a bit hands-on, identifying and fixing certain errors with their own hands. They’d realise escapism is cool and necessary, but it’s not the get-out-of-jail-free card for everything.
It’s not in vain that Dionysus is syncretised with Jesus.
Maybe this will be a fun fact in modern days for the curious readers who stumble upon my blog; In olden days, though, this used to be common knowledge. So, don’t shoot the messenger.
During the very early years of widespread Christianity, when the Roman Empire adopted the religion, certain Biblical characters got syncretised with the gods people knew in order to make this conversion a bit easier. As it turns out, Jesus and Dionysus share a birthday, a miracle (yes, you guessed the one), a sacrament (the communion thing, with wine…) and a lot of personality traits. Again, this is just me getting a bit nerdy with History. I’m simply a messenger.
They’re both humble, but social; both love partying, but preach moderation; both taught the public to cultivate good habits (or vines), but enjoy and share the fruit of this labour without avarice; both are Virgo, but Pisces, archetypally speaking. Above all else, however, both are concerned with doing the right thing for the sake of becoming a saint (or striving for it). It’s a very selfless endeavour, not without suffering, martyrdom, and social exclusion. I don’t fully understand it, to be honest, but I’m here for it.
Whatever your faith, keep one thing in mind: maybe perfection is worth fighting for. But in order to achieve that, you must not be 100% Pisces or 100% Virgo. Your goal might be somewhere in between.
