Virgo is a sign that focuses on details, with a keen eye for translating the way the world is at the current moment into what it could be, in the future. If they drive themselves and everyone around them a little nuts with their drive for perfection, they also are the ones who are there for us all when we need loyalty, dependability, life advice, and support.
Since Virgo can sense the best outcome, they feel it is their duty to facilitate that outcome for themselves and the ones they love. What’s more, this is something they believe they could fail at, and failure isn’t an option for Virgo.
As a result, they tend to be very hard on themselves and those around them. When it comes to preparing, planning, designing, arranging, and organizing, no sign will do it better… and they know it.
In the words of Steven Forrest, “The Virgin is an image of purity. Nothing has possessed her. She is attached to nothing, wants nothing, fears nothing. Nothing holds her. She is free, unbound by any earthly drama. Yet she is here, on the earth. What does the world offer one who seeks nothing but perfection? What can she do? She waits, aloof as the Madonna. She works on herself. And to pass the time, she helps out where she can.”
What Is My Virgo Spirit Animal?
While Virgo is one of the few signs of the zodiac that is represented by a human, the core values and attributes of Virgo can also be seen in many different members of the animal kingdom, and just as there is more than one type of Virgo, there is more than one Virgo spirit animal. Let’s take a look at some of the Virgo spirit animals.
Bear Necessities
Our first Virgo spirit animal is the Bear. Known for their industriousness, wisdom, and perseverance, bears are seen by many cultures as a symbol of inner strength and wisdom, as well as intuition, protection, and empathy.
While these are attributes possessed by Virgo at its highest expression, living in the patriarchal, capitalist society of the world today prevents most of us in the Western world from ever feeling like we are expressing our highest selves; along with a possibly contradicting tangle of planets in conversation with each other in the birth chart, which pull us in many different directions.
Of course, as humans, we contain multitudes and can be many things at once. The bear knows this, and it is here to guide Virgo on their path in life as a gentle reminder that perfection can come in small victories, close relationships, and the desire to put the work in.
While bears are generally seen as affable, lumbering honey-eaters, they can also be ferocious predators, especially when somebody is encroaching on their territory. Even wolves respect bears as the biggest and baddest in the forest community, abandoning kills when a bear in the area decides to drop in and claim their dinner as her own.
Bears are generally solitary creatures, trusting themselves and their instincts to keep themselves fed, and protected. They are also very protective over their cubs; just think of the trope of the Mama Bear as someone who will protect, fight for, and fiercely love their children.
Besides as a cub or new mother, bears – in particular, grizzly bears – only socialize peacefully with each other during the salmon spawning season, when all bears in the area come to wait patiently for the salmon to jump directly into their mouth.
This cooperation is reminiscent of the unspoken truce between animals of the Serengeti who come in peace to the few and far between water sources in the desert.
Perhaps most famously, bears are known for their winter hibernation. After getting fat on salmon in the summer, and gathering food stores during the autumn – which begins with Virgo season – bears find a den to spend the winter in a state known as torpor.
During this time of dormancy, the bear’s metabolism slows and their body temperature lowers. This is also the time that bear mothers give birth, spending their first months in the warmth of the den before greeting the spring.
These behaviors reflect some of the attributes of Virgo, especially the industriousness of their feeding season, solitary yet cooperative nature, and innate knowledge that what they need to survive lies within them, and them alone.
The bear is a Virgo spirit animal because there is a lot that Virgo in particular can learn by observing bear behavior. What are some other similarities you notice between the sign of Virgo and the bear?
Bee Yourself
There is no better animal to exemplify the values of productivity and community service than the bee. Bees have a complex social structure and organization, where every bee does her part in service to the Queen and the hive.
Furthermore, the bees’ hard work is not only in service to her own hive, but also to animals they share an ecosystem with, including the other Virgo spirit animal, the bear, and of course, humans.
Bee honey is a sustainable food source, as long as the bees are given the proper time, space, and resources to make it. And bees will go on about their business of pollinating and drinking nectar in service of the Queen as long as they have a Queen to be in service to, even if they are relocated elsewhere; and of course, another well-known bee attribute is their painful – and sometimes deadly, depending on the victim – sting.
Honey bees even protect their hive at the cost of their own lives. Each honey bee is equipped with a stinger, and each honey bee can only sting once. Because of their barbed stinger, once the sting has been deployed, as the honey bee separates from its victim, their innards are brought with it, making their one sting the ultimate sacrifice in service to the protection of the hive.
In the same way, Virgos are often selfless, although their sacrifices are more in the realm of time and energy, rather than their lives. They are capable of seeing holes in the workflow, unmet needs of the community, and various other ways they can jump in to help.
What the bee can teach Virgo is that they don’t need to rise to every challenge. Just as the bee will only sting if it absolutely feels the need to, Virgo should only help where they are asked, rather than jumping in to solve a perceived problem. Their need for perfection can often be seen as being overly critical of the work done by others, which has given Virgo a reputation as being a critical, nitpicky sign.
Rather, Virgo should find their place in the structure of the community. Whatever a Virgo ends up doing, they will do it to the utmost, just like the busy bee, but there is no need for them to take on projects or responsibilities for other people without being asked.
When we see bees at work in their colonies, it is easy to see why they are a Virgo spirit animal. What other things can you think of that bees bring to mind in regards to the sign Virgo?
Fox in the Henhouse
Cunning, analytical, adaptable. All of these words describe both foxes and Virgo. This Virgo spirit animal can be seen as more representative of the shadow side of Virgo.
Foxes are very intelligent animals, but they often use their intelligence in a self-centered way. They know their place in the food chain is often firmly in the middle, and they have adapted as predators and prey, resulting in a reputation as an opportunist and trickster. Virgo shares the Fox spirit animal with fellow Mercury-ruled sign, Gemini.
Foxes are not impulsive animals. When they are searching for prey, they do so in a very keen and analytical way and have no scruples about stealing someone else’s kill or even taking the fish-in-a-barrel approach of breaking into structures like hen houses to feast on the captive hens. While it may seem cruel, if it works, it works, and it keeps the fox alive – every animal’s number one goal.
Some may choose to see the fox’s opportunism as practicality. It’s simply easier for the fox to take a hen from the henhouse instead of spending precious energy trying to hunt for prey in the forest.
While Virgo’s pragmatism is usually more scrupulous than the fox’s, they nevertheless will often engage in activities that are a means to an end, even if it’s unpleasant or difficult. Again, we see Virgo’s willingness to sacrifice for the sake of the greater good.
In the same way as a fox’s habits may seem odd to those observing it, sometimes the things a Virgo is willing to do for the sake of the greater good may seem impractical to the outside viewer, but a Virgo always knows what they are doing.
Foxes are mostly solitary den animals, like the bear. Notice that every Virgo spirit animal has a home base of sorts, a place to go when they need to rest and regroup, whether it be a den or a colony. In the same way, Virgos have a tendency to have an attachment to their home base, where they can rest their minds after a long day of noticing patterns, distilling information and being all things to all people.
Because of their unsteady position in the food chain, foxes have evolved to adapt to new situations quickly and to use their adaptability to gain advantage over their environment.
Foxes are omnivores and will dine on fruit and berries in addition to rodents, rabbits, and even frogs and bugs, as well as carrion. Without a highly specialized diet, foxes are able to live in many different environments, even going so far as to change the color of their fur to match the seasons, in the case of the arctic fox.
Virgo is likewise an opportunistic and adaptable sign. Because they are so analytical, they often are able to catch on to what is going around them quickly, and change their behavior to suit.
Virgos can be highly empathetic, and able to sense the emotions of those around them. Virgos often make great healthcare providers for this reason, because not only can they be in service to their community this way, they can balance a natural ability to connect with other people on an empathetic, emotional level with the analysis and overall high intelligence needed to complete many years of medical training.
Foxes have a lot to teach Virgos, as a spirit animal. Sometimes a Virgo may forget to let themselves play, and enjoy life because they are so focused on reaching their goal. Foxes remind them that it is possible to have fun and be productive, and if anybody can turn productivity into an enjoyable activity, it’s Virgo. Foxes also remind Virgo not to take themselves too seriously.
The fox might not immediately come to mind when one thinks about a Virgo spirit animal, but if you examine them a little more closely, it becomes very apparent. A zodiac spirit animal not only possesses the traits of a zodiac sign but exemplifies a state of being that would serve the sign’s native to embody. What are some other similarities you notice between Fox and Virgo behavior?
Which Virgo Spirit Animal Are You?
The bear, bee, and fox are a few of the Virgo spirit animals. Arguments could be made for other animals to join this list, including tailorbirds and meerkats, but these three truly exemplify the many facets of what it means to be a Virgo, as well as what there is for Virgo to learn as they move through the human experience.
With the perseverance of a bear, the productivity of a bee, and the intelligence of a fox, Virgo is a sign that revels in being useful, practical, and pure. While their idea of perfection may vary from person to person, depending on other influences in the chart, Virgo as a whole represents the virtues that can be seen in each of these animals, and in turn, they can look to these animals in particular for guidance when they feel stuck.
Are you, or the Virgos in your life, a bear, a bee, or a fox? Which animal could you learn the most from?