Prevention

Archetypes - Virgo, 6th house

Virgo, and its opposite sign, Pisces, while both concerned with pain, have different strategies for dealing with it. Pisces, as a water sign, feels the pain, suffering through it. Pisces is willing to acknowledge its helplessness and need to surrender. It realizes that "this too will pass" - the "wisdom of suffering". Virgo, on the other hand, as an earth sign, hates to feel helpless. It sees pain, in most cases, as unnecessary, requiring only careful preparation in order to prevent.

Virgo views pain as a problem to be solved. It uses its analytical mind to determine the cause of the problem and to devise a solution. Its purpose is not just to fix the current problem, but to prevent the problem from reoccurring. Anything less than this is considered a failure, Virgo's greatest nemesis. Virgo can be very critical toward anyone, including itself, when it sees the repetition of a problem that could be prevented.

Virgo uses the prevention approach to health. It emphasizes good diet and exercise to maintain the health of the body. It uses the purification approach, keeping bad stuff out of the body (as opposed to Pisces' innoculation approach). Again, while eminently qualified to diagnose the cause of disease, it strongly prefers to prevent the disease from occurring in the first place.