Sabian Symbols · Virgo · Degree 17 of 30
Virgo 17°
The traditional symbol for this degree, one of the 360 Sabian symbols first recorded in 1925: “A volcano erupts, releasing pressure that had been building far beneath the surface.”
THE SYMBOL
“A volcano erupts, releasing pressure that had been building far beneath the surface.”
Virgo 17° · Sabian symbols, devised 1925 (Marc Edmund Jones, clairvoyant Elsie Wheeler)
Remember to round up: a planet or point at 9°30′ takes the 10° symbol, not the 9° one.
What this degree describes
Everything Virgo usually keeps composed and contained finds its counterweight here: force that was never actually gone, only stored, breaking through with more power for having waited. This degree is a genuine warning against mistaking quiet for absence, since what looks like calm ground can be sitting directly on top of real heat. There is something almost cleansing in the eruption too, pressure this old does not want to be managed forever, it wants an actual release.
When a planet or point falls here
A planet at this degree often shows real intensity held under a composed exterior, capable of sudden, dramatic release once enough has built up underneath. Pluto or Mars here can indicate emotion or force that has been quietly accumulating far longer than it appears. It rewards finding a release valve before the pressure decides to find its own.
What has been building underneath your composure for far longer than anyone watching you would guess?
Find your own Sabian symbols
Your Sun, Moon, Ascendant, and every planet each sit at their own exact degree. Cast a free natal chart to find yours, or let a full reading trace what they mean together.
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