Living With a Progressed Virgo Ascendant: Confident Competence

There are some astrologers who believe that the signs represent the evolution of the human soul. Aries is the first and least evolved of the signs, and Pisces represents the pinnacle of spiritual evolution. I don't believe that's true, and I'm sure that the fact that I have three major placements in Aries has absolutely nothing to do with it.

I do believe, however, that we can sometimes experience the progression from one sign to another as a leveling up. Especially when we're using techniques like secondary progressions.

My ascendant is in the early degrees of Leo, which means that I was relatively old when my progressed ascendant moved into Virgo.

For the first 30+ years of my life, confidence came to me relatively easily. If I didn't know how to do something, I pretended that I did, and it usually worked out rather well. If it didn't work out, I was pretty good at laughing at myself, brushing myself off, and continuing on my way.

I was able to get away with this because I primarily identified as an entertainer. Creativity was key and the consequences for making mistakes were low. As long as I got an interesting story out of whatever I was doing, I could consider it a success.

By the time I reached my thirties, I became dissatisfied with playing around. I wanted to be taken seriously. Everywhere I went, I felt like I was being treated like a child. In astrological terms, the way I moved through the world (ascendant) needed to move from my first house Leo to my second house Virgo. I needed to show the world my competence, not just my confidence.

In my mind, real astrologers did astrology readings. I had been studying astrology for years, so I hung out my shingle and offered astrology readings on my website.

My first reading request was from a stranger who found my page on Google. She was twice my age and wanted me to tell her if she should get a divorce. I was immediately overwhelmed. Thinking the problem was that I wasn't experienced enough to give that kind of advice, I returned her money and told her I wasn't up to the task.

I retreated to safer ground and started offering to do written past life readings on Tumblr. This felt safer for my Leo ascendant because Tumblr was a playful environment where no one expected to be taken seriously. With past life astrology, I could lean on my fiction writing background to tell stories.

The Tumblr playground served me well for a while. I became more confident in my competence, and past life readings continue to be one of my most popular offerings.

By the time I was ready to offer consultations again, I had better boundaries. I understood my role and knew that insisting on it was an important part of being a competent professional astrologer. I became comfortable with the idea that my job is not to tell my clients what to do. It's to walk beside them on their journey and help them read the map.

I started working with clients who knew and respected my role, and I learned that emotionally mature adults don't come to astrologers asking to be told what to do. It was a sign of competence to expect my clients to take responsibility for their own choices.

My first attempt to become a professional astrologer was a decade ago. Since then, I have helped many of my clients through difficult life transitions. I've learned that I am happiest and most successful when I approach my work as a dance between my Leo ascendant and my Virgo progressed ascendant.

I need confidence, and I need competence, and I need confidence in my own competence.

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