Mary English - How to Soothe a Virgo: Real Life Guidance on How to Get Along and Be Friends with the 6th Sign of the Zodiac

6 Easy Steps in Astrology
The Birth Charts of Indigo Children
How to Survive a Pisces (O-Books)
How to Bond with an Aquarius (O-Books)
How to Cheer up a Capricorn (O-Books)
How to Believe in a Sagittarius (O-Books)
How to Win the Trust of a Scorpio (O-Books)
How to Love a Libra (O-Books)

I would like to thank the following people:

My son for being the Libran that makes me always look on the other side.

My Taurus husband Jonathan for being the most wonderful man in my world.

Mabel, Jessica and Usha for their homeopathic help and understanding.

Laura and Mandy for their friendship.

Donna Cunningham for her help and advice.

Judy Hall for her inspiration.

Alois Treindl for being the Pisces that founded the wonderful Astro.com website.

Judy Ramsell Howard at the Bach Centre for her encouragement.

John my publisher for being the person that fought tooth and nail to get this book published and all the staff at O-Books including Stuart, Nick, Trevor, Kate, Catherine, Maria and Mary.

Also Cherry, Alam, Mary Shukle and Oksana, for their helpful read-throughs.

And last but not least my lovely clients for their valued contributions.

This book that you are reading is part of a series of beginner Astrology books aimed at people who have an interest in Astrology and an interest in their Zodiac or Sun sign. It started with Pisces, my sign, and gradually grew into a rather large project to cover each sign.

As Id started at the end of the Zodiac, I thought Id go backwards and here I am at Virgo, the 6th sign.

The title changed quite a few times before I settled on the one youre reading. This was brought about by a combination of my Pisces wobbliness and the Virgo need for exactness and correctness. I apologise now if anything Ive written isnt as you expected or wanted, but Ive done my best to bring you a rounded view of Virgo.

Each book has been written with quotes from real people, people the same as you, living their lives on planet Earth. Full of questions about their lives, wondering and hoping that learning a little about their sign will bring some useful inner knowledge. Because, after all, learning something new is only helpful if it brings some sort of understanding.

Astrology is incredibly good at helping us to learn about our motivations, what makes us tick. Each sign of the Zodiac is different, and as there are only 12 signs, we could be accused of dividing humankind into rather small categories. However, as Astrology uses over 10 bits of information and 9 other celestial bodies other than the Sun that we take into account, by the end of this book youll understand that the Sun sign isnt the whole picture.

I work in private practice in Bath, UK. I have a Diploma in Homeopathy and a Certificate in Counselling Skills. Quite modest qualifications. I am a self-taught astrologer and embarked on my astrological studies after my homeopath, while she was taking my case, said, That must have been during your Saturn Return. As I had no idea what Saturn was, let alone a return, I went home and started studying. I read every Astrology book I could get my hands on. I badgered my uncle to give me my lovely deceased aunties Astrology books and I spent endless hours making up as many charts as I could.

I already had a thriving practice seeing Homeopathy clients and also doing readings for other clients. I read palms and cards something Id started as a teenager. I called myself a Psychic Consultant and travelled across the UK attending private functions through an agency in Chippenham. I loved (and still love) my work.

After a few years of home study, I started combining the Astrology Id learned in my practice. I must explain at this point that no one will spend money on a reading if they dont get the answers they need, or if they feel theyve been ripped off. I take my work very seriously and can safely say that the majority of my clients have been happy with the service they receive.

Over the years Ive been to various psychics and fortunetellers and know the difference between a good one and a bad one. A good reader will make sure that they address the current issues, offer some explanation for them, and will also offer sensible solutions to them. Its no good spending money on a reading if all you hear is, Things will get better. Things generally do get better. The major question is when will they get better and in what way?

Astrology is very good at answering those questions, as each planet that we use will move at a certain rate, thereby giving us a good idea of time scales.

In 2001 I was invited by Melissa Corkhill, the editor of The Green Parent, to write an Astrology column for her magazine as shed read my article about Indigo children and had heard of my research. I happily wrote her Astrology column for six years; then, as the writing increased for this series of books, I sadly had to stop.

I now am a guest on the Hannah Murray Show on Talk Radio Europe, which has a listenership of over 1 million all around the Costa del Sol.

So, thats enough about me. Lets get stuck into some Astrology.

Christopher McIntosh, a historian, tells us in his The Astrologers and Their Creed that Astrology was discovered in what is now called the Middle East Iraq:

It was the priests of the kingdom of Babylonia who made the discovery, which set the pattern for the development of astronomy and of the zodiacal system of astrology that we know today. For many generations they had been meticulously observing and recording the movements of the heavenly bodies. Finally they had, by careful calculation, discovered that there were, besides the Sun and the Moon, five other visible planets which moved in established courses through the sky. These were the planets that we now call Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

The discovery which these priest-astronomers made was a remarkable one, considering how crude were the instruments with which they worked. They had no telescopes, nor any of the complicated apparatus which astronomers use today. But they did have one big advantage. The area, next to the Persian Gulf, on which their kingdom lay was blessed with extremely clear skies. In order to make full use of this advantage they built towers on flat areas of country and from these were able to scan the entire horizon.