The constellation Virgo depicts the people of God, Israel, through whom the promised Seed — Christ — was to come into the world. Scripture itself calls Israel the 'virgin of Israel'. The main star of Virgo is Spica, whose name means 'ear of grain'; already in ancient Mesopotamia this region was called AB.SIN — 'Furrow', and its depiction represented a woman holding an ear of grain. Thus the ancient picture joins the Woman and the Seed: from the Virgin the promised Offspring was to come, who would crush the ancient serpent. The specific fulfillment of this prophecy became the virgin Mary, a daughter of Israel, from whom by the action of the Holy Spirit Jesus Christ was born.
Full interpretation
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The constellation Virgo represents Israel — the people of God to whom the promise of the coming Savior was entrusted. This same people is depicted in another part of the heavenly map as the Little Bear — the Little Flock. But if the Little Flock shows Israel as a people preserved by God, then Virgo reveals another side of its purpose: from Israel the promised Seed was to come.[Kunitzsch & Smart][IAU · имена звёзд]
Scripture itself repeatedly uses this image. Israel is called the 'virgin of Israel'. Therefore the image of the Virgin here does not have to be imported from outside — it already exists within the biblical language.[Kunitzsch & Smart][IAU · имена звёзд]
The first promise of a Savior God gave immediately after the fall:[Kunitzsch & Smart][IAU · имена звёзд]
'I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.'[Kunitzsch & Smart][IAU · имена звёзд]
Here for the first time appears the image of the Seed of the Woman, who shall crush the serpent.[Kunitzsch & Smart][IAU · имена звёзд]
It is this image that is remarkably preserved in the constellation Virgo itself.
The main star of Virgo is Spica, α Virginis. The Latin spica does not literally mean 'seed', but 'ear of grain'. In the Greek tradition it had the same meaning, and in depictions of Virgo it is located precisely in the ear that the woman holds in her hand.[Kunitzsch & Smart][IAU · имена звёзд]
This image goes even deeper into Mesopotamia. The ancient constellation in place of Virgo was called AB.SIN — 'Furrow'. In MUL.APIN it was associated with the goddess Shala and the ear of grain. On a surviving Seleucid depiction, the celestial woman indeed holds a stem with an ear; the star Spica corresponds to that ear.[Hunger & Pingree · MUL.APIN][Rogers · Origins][Вавилонские звёздные каталоги][Stellarium · MUL.APIN][Kunitzsch & Smart][IAU · имена звёзд]
Therefore the ancient picture actually joins three images:[Kunitzsch & Smart][IAU · имена звёзд]
A Woman. A Furrow. An ear with grain.
In biblical history this becomes a clear prophecy: the Virgin of Israel shall bring forth the promised Seed.[Kunitzsch & Smart][IAU · имена звёзд]
Virgo lies directly next to the Lion. Therefore the heavenly sequence also matters. The Lion represents God and the royal line, and beside it is the Virgin from whom the promised Offspring comes out. Between them we need not artificially seek a 'common star' — much more important is the direct proximity of the two ancient figures.[Kunitzsch & Smart][IAU · имена звёзд]
Later, next to the Lion appears the Lesser Lion — the image of the Son. Then the picture becomes even clearer:
Great Lion — the Father. Virgo — Israel. Seed of the Virgin — the promised Christ. Lesser Lion — the Son of God.
The promise given to Israel was fulfilled literally in the virgin Mary. She herself belonged to the people of God, Israel, and to the house of David. The angel told her that she would conceive not by a man: the Holy Spirit would come upon her, and the holy thing to be born would be called the Son of God.[Kunitzsch & Smart][IAU · имена звёзд]
Thus the prophetic image reaches its fulfillment: the promised Seed of the Woman comes through the Virgin of Israel, and the specific woman through whom it enters the world is the virgin Mary.
But the Seed comes not merely to be born. It comes to wage war against the serpent.
Therefore Virgo must be considered together with the surrounding sky picture. Nearby are the Lion and further the images of the adversary — Hydra, the Dragon, Scorpius. The whole history begins with the promise: the Seed of the Woman shall strike the serpent's head.[Kunitzsch & Smart][IAU · имена звёзд]
It is Christ who becomes the fulfillment of that promise. He is born of a woman, belongs to Israel according to the flesh, comes from the tribe of Judah, and comes to destroy the works of the devil.
Therefore the main meaning of Virgo is:
Israel guards the promise. The Virgin receives the Seed. From her comes Christ. The Seed of the Woman crushes the ancient serpent.