VIRGO

Vacation Guide for Virgo

As the zodiac's hardest worker, you have a strong need to feel productive, even on vacation. A so-called laid-back trip won't interest youãin fact, that would be the LAST thing you would want. You hunger for action and intellectual stimulation, so plan a trip with plenty to do and see. You even like vacations that require new mastery of language, ettiquete, navigation or history.

Consider a journey to India or Peru, Greece, China or Africaãthe more different the city is from your native locale, the more there is to tackle, the better! A faraway, exotic place is ideal for Virgo. Such destinations allow you to immerse yourself in a new and unfamiliar environment and test your skills and ability to adapt. Take a few language classes (or buy a few language instruction tapes) before you go, and read as much as you can about the country's art, literature and music. You love being prepared.

Your sign has a tendency not to relax in the conventional fashion. While you may not be the type to sleep in and laze on a beach for a week, you do manage to escape your every day worries when you travel. When you go to a foreign country, you are too busy learning the currency, local customs and reading the map to be concerned about what is (or isn't) happening back home. That's good, dear Virgo. It •s how you unwind best! Redirect your mental focus!

Ruled by Mercury, messenger of the Gods, you relish travel, but are practical, discriminating and goal-oriented. For example, your goal may be to learn about Italian cathedrals. Or, it might be to add to your collection of silver antiques by visiting dealers or flea markets in London.

You are a skilled researcher, so the more preparation you can do beforehand, the more you will enjoy your trip. You like bargains, and are an ace at finding the best vacation packages, often on the Internet or by speaking with travel agents. When it comes to choosing a hotel, you'll check your maps to find the one that's most convenient to where you need to be, or that will offer the best view. No detail is too small for a Virgo.

Vacationing is nearly serious business for you. You have packing down to a science, so you rarely forget anything. You even remember things like a Swiss Army knife in case you need to open a bottle or cut a string in your hotel room, plastic bags to separate dirty laundry and contain any shampoo bottles that might explode in a pressurized cabin, a mini-first aid kit. You even pack a small duffle bag to fill with souvenirs for the return trip. Your amazing attention to detail always pays off laterãyour traveling companions have it made!

As an alternative to a trip to a foreign country, you might also consider a trip to a luxurious health spa. A spa would fit with in with your strong interest in improving your fitness, vitality and appearance. You would enjoy the privacy (Virgo is usually shy), the healthful meals (Virgo are often vegetarians), and all the emphasis on exercise and sports instruction (Virgo likes to learn new ways to stay fit).

If the spa is located in a particularly scenic spot, you might also want to explore the area by foot (Virgo, an earth sign, enjoys hiking or long walks.) If the resort offers a sauna, massage, seaweed wraps, paraffin manicures or special masques for guests, fastidious Virgo of either sex would be happy. You will prove to one and all that it is possible for a Virgo to slow down after all, and while you are at it, to enjoy every moment.

Virgo should consider taking a trip to an exotic place they never thought they would ever see. For Virgo dream vacations, try: India, Peru, Athens, China or Africa. Just learning the currency, local customs and how to get around will keep worry-prone Virgo too busy to think about anything back home. Busy Virgos might love taking a tour because they like getting regular, reliable informative details about the sights they see.

An alternative to international travel for Virgos is a stay at a spa or health resort, which tunes into their strong interest in health and fitness. Even for a trip like this, Virgo will set goals and make a "project" of it, but that's OK--why not? Virgo love the privacy (Virgo is usually shy and low key), the healthful light meals (Virgo are often vegetarians), the sports and exercise instruction (Virgo likes to learn), and opportunities to explore the area by foot (Virgo, an earth sign, is apt to enjoy hiking or long walks.) If a resort offers sauna, massage, and other exotic pampering as seaweed wraps, paraffin manicures or clay masques for all guests, fastidious Virgo of either gender will be happy! It is a rare Virgo that isn't well groomed! See? It is possible to get Virgo to slow down, or at least sit still!

The Virgo Man: August 23 - September 22
by Susan Miller
Your Virgo man is modest, meticulous and discriminating. He is a joy to live with as long as you understand the Virgo man's obsessive need to be productive on a daily basis. He is practical, patient and is able to handle detail, and the amount of details he handles would drive others up the wall. The Virgo's talent is knowing how to make dreams (their own and those of others) a reality.

Your Challenge

Virgos are worriers, so your first step will be to calm him down when you have time alone together. Often workaholics, your Virgo will have a hard time detaching from his everyday schedule. But you must, for they are incredibly passionate lovers once his total attention has been turned to you.

How to Handle Him

He's productivity oriented, so "goofing off" might be a foreign idea and too scary for him at the onset. Since Virgo is wonderful at fixing things--his sharp mind hungers for things to take apart and figure out--so ask him to help you out. Tell him that you are hopeless with home repairs and he has got to come over and take a look at your air conditioner. His small motor skills are the finest in the zodiac, so many Virgos like to putter around the house, looking for little projects. Puttering takes their minds off more stressful issues.

Remind him how turned-on you were when you saw him wearing worn jeans and a plaid lumberjack shirt, jump-starting his car. Tell him you fantasize about him walking around your apartment measuring walls for shelving, just wearing his tool belt. (This kind of flattery will accomplish two things: you will have a hot, passionate lover ready to ravish you and no more leaky faucets.) Cruise around Home Depot, just to get him in the mood. Then, one afternoon when he is putting in a new set of florescent lights over your kitchen counter, pounce on him and tell him you are getting hot watching him screw those huge bulbs in. Make love to him right then and there.

To thank him for all his home improvement, you might want to take him to dinner. When choosing the restaurant, remember that a Virgo's digestive system is delicate. Most Virgos dislike overly rich food and try to eat balanced healthful meals. Many are vegetarians.

Another point to consider is that Virgo has a strong need to be highly organized. So when seducing the Virgo man, be sure you have a neat bedroom and put unnecessary clutter out of sight. (Seeing junk around will make him edgy.) In bed, the Virgo man is like the Gemini (both are ruled by Mercury) in that his need to communicate is strong. Talking during lovemaking will heighten his pleasure and add to his passion for you.

Things To Do, Gifts To Buy Many Virgos are talented writers. Their reserved nature makes them express in writing what they would have difficulty saying in person. Happily, you may be the lucky recipient of one of the wonderful love letters only a Virgo could write. Drop hints that you would like to receive something written especially for you. A perfect gift for him would be a beautiful fountain pen or engraved stationary. He would also adore a P.D.A. or electronic organizer, a laptop computer, new software, or even a dust buster for his car. You could also buy him a deluxe tool kit (don't forget those metric socket wrenches too) and let matters take their own course!

The Virgo Woman: August 23 - September 22
by Susan Miller
The quality people notice first about your Virgo beloved is her alertness and unmistakable intelligence. It has been said that Virgo's gift is making order out of chaos. Send a Virgo into a hurricane-ravaged town, and in no time they've pitched the tents, organized the shipments of food and water, and started clearing the roadways. If it is one thing Virgo does well, it's organize people and things. If your life is a bit of a hurricane, you're in luck, for she will provide a willing ear and heaps of amazing practical advice-- ideas you will wish you had thought of long ago.

Your Challenge

Virgo women have lists of things to do, and sometimes you could wind up being one more item on her list. Becoming "Priority #10-D" is something to avoid at all costs! Once she writes you into her Filofax as "Sex with James, Thursday @ 9:00 PM" you know you've hit bottom, and it is time to do something drastic--and delightful!.

How To Handle Her

Your goal is to allow her to take time to relax and gently pull her away from her everyday cares. She hates being lazy, so accomplishing this isn't going to be as easy. Like the male Virgo, the female Virgo loathes making love in a hovel, so if this describes your place, you'd better spiff it up. Nothing turns off a Virgo faster than dirt or mess. She isn't impressed with luxury, so don't worry about having things "good enough" for her--crisp, just laundered cotton sheets and some soft pillows are fine. But if you don't get organized, before you know it, she'll be out of bed and cleaning up the place--the last thing you want her to be doing in her Victoria's Secret teddy! As good as it sounds, to have some lovely geisha cleaning up your pigsty, think about it. If she's stacking dishes in the dishwasher, she isn't making love to you, so get your priorities straight, buddy. Besides, god knows where she'll "neaten up" your collection of half-dirty basketball shorts TO. So take away the clamor of disorder that distracts her and when she's with you, you will be all that exists in her world.

Things To Do, Gifts To Buy

She adores high fashion and well-made clothing. As the saying goes, "God in the details," and details are this perfectionist's forte. Most Virgo women enjoy staying up-to-date on the latest couture trends (she is ruled by Mercury, so she is oriented toward staying current). Yet their appearance will likely be elegant and understated rather than flashy, often choosing neutrals over bright colors. She likes to dress up, so think of a nice restaurant where she can wear some of her new things. Tattered jeans and polo shirts are not her style.

Buy her an article of clothing or piece jewelry that is high fashion but enduring, top quality, like a Tiffany or Cartier watch that she can treasure for years. (She's madly punctual, so what better gift?). Her sign rules jade, the stone of fidelity, so a ring or pendant made of that stone is especially meaningful. You could alternatively give her a beauty service, like a year of manicures and pedicures (Virgo likes her nails fastidiously groomed) or six months of a personal trainer (fitness is a big thing with her) and still make a big hit with her.

In love, she is highly ethical and idealistic, so don't be surprised if your Virgo comes to you with little sexual experience. She's just very discriminating about who she will give her heart and body to. Don't think that means she lacks passion. Quite the contrary! Virgos are just better at controlling their intense, smoldering feelings, but once released, watch out! When she finds a man she is willing to devote her life to, she can be a tiger in bed. Her secret strength is that she communicates her needs well and will also listen closely to, and act on, what her lover needs.

Since Virgo prizes cleanliness so much, seduce her with a bubble bath for two. Set dozens of softly-scented votive candles around the bathroom and be sure to have some thick, luxurious towels nearby. A bottle of champagne would be good to have on hand, as would a bowl of finger fruits--grapes, strawberries, raspberries--to feed her one by one. After your bath, give her a full body massage. Later, when you make love, be sure to talk to her during sex because nothing as erotic to her as her vivid imagination. Describe places and situations where you would like to make love to her down to the tiniest details. (When she begins asking questions to keep you taking about a certain scenario, you're on the right track).

Virgo Man

Virgo is a highly productive sign. Give your Virgo man an exciting state-of-the-art laptop computer, with extra batteries (very important), so he can work on the run. Or get him a Macintosh Newton, that he can use to fax anywhere, any time as well as keep tract of other office functions. This Mercury ruled native needs to communicate constantly!

He reads a lot, so buy him new halogen desk lamp or an itty bitty book light to read while on the commuter train. Give him a sophisticated wireless head set for his phone, so he can talk hands free. He also likes to stay healthy, so fresh fruit-of-the month club is a great idea, as is a 12-month membership at a nearby gym. Since he enjoys working with his hands, get him an electronic drill, or, to clean up his car (Virgo likes things neat), a portable vacuum cleaner. An electric shoe polisher would be a hit too, or a deluxe tool kit with many unusual and hard-to-find- implements inside.

The Virgo man is smart and highly intellectual. He loves books and intellectual puzzles so give him a gift certificate to a book shop to stock up on more. Don't forget new interesting software--very high on Virgo's list. When you choose it, remember to include the clip of the review from the magazine that sold you on it--he'll be impressed.

Virgo Woman

Your virgo woman likes to work with her hands. Give her a year's worth of manicures and pedicures, 10 piano lessons, a portable sewing machine with many features, or a custom needlepoint kit. Analytical at heart, she would be fascinated with a personality analysis of her handwriting or her horoscope.

Since she is likely to spend many hours at her desk, a unique desk accessory would be a hit. If she doesn't have a computer or needs a new one, put this on the top of your list. Virgos are natural cyberspace commuters. She might like a paid-in-advance year of internet usage. She also likes to stay fit, so give her 10 visits of a personal trainer. Does she need home exercise gear like a stationary bike?

For jewelry, her sign rules jade, so a ring or pendant of this stone might be lucky for her. Her sign rules small patterns and prints--send her a colorful, yet elegant silk scarf to brighten her black coat. If you buy her a sweater, know that she prefers neutrals, and make sure it's cashmere or a slinky silk fiber. A classic white shirt in the best cotton or silk fabric and classiest cut you can find would be appreciated. Feeling flush? Buy her a navy blazer by a French designer. Surprise her with a silver brush and mirror set for her dresser, or a large mirror for her bedroom. (Virgo likes to know she's well groomed.) This lady likes classic things, so a portfolio of leather for her papers, or an elegant Filofax in hunter green would be good too.

Virgo: Get Organized and Mobilized

Your biggest talents are masterminding organizations that would overwhelm anyone else and concentrating no matter what distractions come your way. Highly goal-oriented, few things will deter you from finishing what you've started--you are no quitter. Still, be sure the things you devote yourself to are worthy of your hard work. You may get so involved in detail that you miss the long view of things. Step back now and then and reassess your assumptions. See if you can delegate some of your work. This is often hard for Virgo to do, but you will free up lots of time, as well as off-load some daily pressure! Simply because you are able to stand a great deal of tension doesn't mean you ought to live with it!

When stress strikes, Virgo feels a need to be in control of their overall physical environment. You'll want to burrow inside yourself to brainstorm, weigh the options, and plot your course (Virgo is nothing if not analytical). A worrier sign like Cancer, Virgo can often chew on problems too long and too much. But, unlike Cancer who will rely on intuition, earth-sign Virgo prefers to rely on logic and practical solutions. You'll go to extreme lengths to be thorough, investing considerable time studying your problem, and leaving no stone unturned. Both Virgo and Gemini are ruled by Mercury, and therefore highly communicative and intelligent. Gemini will ask questions of people around them to get an empirical feel of the situation and to assemble their plan of action. Virgo prefers to rely on documented studies and facts. Virgo is more pragmatic than Gemini but less flexible.

While your nerves are on edge, you may want to stay indoors more, working on projects that need attending. Your very best course of action is to clean out the closets, files, and rid yourself of niggling old paperwork. It could be a beautiful day outside, and your friends and family will scream for you to leave the house, but you know better. Get the physical environment under control and you'll feel enormously better. Organizing is therapy of the highest order to you. Your environment (and the contents of your handbag too) is always an accurate reflection of your inner state of mind. Toss out old junk, outdated records and clothing, reorganize your possessions, get new boxes to store things. You need to feel productive, and you like being physical (lifting boxes, filing, reaching, and so forth) as you think. Just the picture of your organized living and working space makes you breathe easier!

The lower stomach (intestines) are ruled by Virgo and receive the most tension when you are anxious. Since your sign will find digestion difficult when under stress, eat lightly. Unlike Cancer who will crave childhood foods, you will want to eat more leafy green vegetables and fruits, and perhaps even decide to be a vegetarian, at least for a while. A diet light in fats, which are hard for your body to break down, would be best when you are tense.

Keep a journal, write your thoughts down on paper. Like Gemini, which is co-ruled by Mercury, you can use your distress to create a moving literary effort, whether it be a short story, novel, hard-hitting documentary, or a poem. Virgo is very precise and your sign produces excellent writers.

Using your hands (another part of the body your ruler Mercury rules) in a variety of hobbies will relax and soothe you. Sewing, sketching, piano playing, or anything else which uses your fine motor skills would be a restorative activity now. While you work, you'll be able to think more clearly.

Crossword or jigsaw puzzles might appeal to you too, since Virgo is a sign that enjoys mental challenges. Try board games such as Monopoly, Scruples (moral or ethical battles fascinate you), Scrabble or complex card games like bridge, poker, or pinochle, to distract you--never an easy task for diligent, conscientious Virgo! Finally, your sign rules small animals and most Virgos make loving pet owners. If you have a pet, play with them. This could be the time to adopt a new puppy or kitten.

As a Virgo, luckily you are the sole mutable sign of the four earth signs, and therefore the most adaptable, versatile and best able to weather change. Throw away your worry beads Virgo! Ditch that work-first attitude for now, and relax. Better days are in store!

Fitness for Virgo

Your Ruling Planet: Virgo is ruled by Mercury, the inquisitive, intellectual and objective planet.

The Part Of The Body Your Sign Rules: Virgo rules the lower digestive track.

Your Metabolism: High.

Your Health Profile:

Virgo's lower tummy (intestinal tract) is, unfortunately, the first part of his or her body to feel stress. Before you run for the Milk of Magnesia, try making a change in your lifestyle that can prevent these attacks. Meditation and an exercise program that emphasizes total-body relaxation and proper alignment will appeal to your perfectionist tendencies, while combating their inevitable physical effects. Fortunately for you, Virgo, you tend to stay slim.

As the rest of the zodiac knows, never tell a Virgo to relax! A Virgo likes to keep busy and productive. In an average day you do the work of two people... or maybe four! Realize that others may be better able to take the time they need to put their feet up and relax, but having them watch you work makes you feel like a doormat. Learn to delegate chores and responsibilities. Set up a system of initiatives for those close to you. Allow for the fact that people will always do things on their own schedule (not yours) and "perfectly clean" anything isn't always possible.

Virgo is one who must be careful with his or her diet. You tend to eat the most fresh fruits and vegetables of all the signs, not surprising since Virgo rules the autumn harvest. Many Virgos are vegetarian. Just be sure you are getting a wide variety of all the right foods, since it will take good organization to be sure you are not missing iron, or any other nutrient, from your diet. Happily, Virgo is the world's greatest planner and well organized about anything and everything in life.

You do have the tendancy to see things in black-and-white extremes. Don't dump your diet for one transgression! Since you like things orderly, keep a food diary, or draw up a chart of your progress at the gym. Since Virgos need all the de-stressing they can get, add some easy, pleasant exercises to your routine just for the fun of it, like biking or walking. Everything doesn't have to be a project.

Most importantly, distract yourself now and then. Virgo worries. Virgo worries a lot! You run the risk of going a little overboard and getting somewhat compulsive. Remember Virgo: tomorrow is another day.

Your Biggest Asset:

Your best quality is great endurance, rather than brute strength. Try sports that require going the distance, like hiking, cross-country skiing, long-distance running, and, for the iron-man and iron-woman Virgo: triathalons! Just don't expect to have deep and abiding love for sprinting or downhill skiing.

Your sense of organization and sometime-motto "anything worth doing is worth doing well" are other Virgo assets, provided you don't go overboard.

What Drives You Crazy:

If you haven't caught my drift by now--it's you! You can be your own worst enemy, Virgo. Stop driving yourself crazy by worrying about what might happen. Go for it!

Health Risks:

Yes, all great athletes are driven, to some degree and yes, being physically fit means being careful with what you eat and do. But being too obsessive or driven can also mean stress fractures, muscle pain and unnecessary disappointment. It's good to strive, but you can over do it, too. Overweight Virgos (there may be one or two) beware: an eating disorder could crop up if you let your perfectionist tendencies run riot.