Criticism and Judgment
Love, ideally, is unconditional. Unfortunately, however, love is often conditional, for most people. It's dependent upon others measuring up to their standards, satisfying their needs and desires. Conditional love requires criticism and judgement in order to determine whether or not another individual measures up, is good enough.
It's human nature to analyze, criticize, and judge each other, to some degree. We judge and evaluate each other on many different things - ex., physical appearance and attractiveness, personality, intelligence, heart, character, values, beliefs, spirituality, occupation, ambition, success, status, wealth, possessions. Judgement and criticism can, of course, be constructive, and may be very helpful. When they're negative, however, they can be very hurtful, harmful, and destructive.
When criticism and judgement are negative, they can lead to many things that are very detrimental. They can, for example, lead to being deeply hurt, to believing that one is not good enough, in some way, to low self-worth, low self-esteem, to feeling inferior, and to feeling, therefore, that one is not desired or loved enough, and to insecurity, to fear - fear of being hurt again, fear of being rejected, abandoned, and to building walls within oneself to protect oneself from emotional pain, walls that can cause one to feel much less, because they not only wall out the pain, but they may also wall out a lot of the good feelings, and these walls become emotional blocks that can be very difficult to be free of. Self-protective walls also often come between people and cause them to be emotionally disconnected, separated, much less in touch with their feelings and love for each other. Being criticized and judged can not only be very hurtful, create fear and the building of self-protective walls, they can also cause great anger, resentment, hatred, and conflict.
A birthchart will show if criticism and
judgement is to be a major weakness and problem in one's life. If,
for example, the planet Saturn makes strong, negative aspects to the sun
or moon in one's chart, then one would probably have a tendency to be too
critical and judgemental, at times, and would probably have a parent who
is too critical, judgmental, and demanding of oneself, and a parent who
does not meet one's emotional needs, is not positive, encouraging, supportive.
Negative criticism and judgments coming from one's parents can, of course,
be very harmful because of the importance of one's relationships with them,
and because their criticisms and judgements come when one is most sensitive
and vulnerable during one's formative years. Severe parental criticism
and judgements can amount to verbal abuse, and they can adversely affect
one's adult relationships. When, for example, one is hurt by, and
feels anger toward one's spouse because of their critical remarks, it may
be because they are triggering old hurts and anger in ones' subconscious
that were caused by one's parents.
One must be careful not to blame one's parents, however, because
if one's chart shows critical and judgemental parents, it is probably for
karmic reasons. That's because what is in one's chart is there at
birth, before one's parents ever said or did anything of a negative nature,
and is, therefore, self-created. If there is a karmic reason, it
may be because one was too critical and judgmental toward one's children
in a past life, and now must learn how wrong that is through seeing how
badly it feels.
There are, of course, other sources of hurtful
and harmful criticism and judgement - ex., from one's teachers, boss, spouse,
children. And one of the greatest sources is oneself! When
we see what's wrong with ourselves, we often strongly criticize and judge
ourselve, are too hard on ourselves. When we do this we use great
energy and power against ourselves, and this makes it more difficult to
be strong, positive, and grow. There is another important source
of criticism and judgment, and that is from the fallen angels, the forces
of darkness, evil, that
powerfully oppose our growth, success, and happiness. The
fallen angels come to us, and they project their thoughts into our heads,
dark thoughts that are highly judgemental, very harmful, and potentially
destructive.
Negative criticism and judgement is much more powerful and potentially destructive because of how long it has been done. It hasn't been for just our present lifetimes. We have been criticized and judged (and have criticized and judged others) for many lifetimes, and a lot of the negative effects (ex., hurt, anger, fear, thinking that we're not good enough) of this is still in our subconsciouses. That's a good reason why we have to do the work of purifying our subconsciouses, as well as our minds, hearts, chakras, and auras
The most important negative effect of criticism
and judgment is on our identities, our sense of who we are. Philosophically,
the two most important things in life are knowing who we are,
and knowing how to become who we are. The great Greek philosopher
Socrates said "Know Thyself". Who are we? Since we were made
in the "image and likeness of God" (Genesis 1:26), we are God, in Reality,
His Sons and Daughters. That is our true identity and potential.
We all have Higher Selves, Divine Selves that we are destined to ascend
to and become. Yet, all the criticism and judgment that we have received
over the eons has caused most of us to see ourselves as very finite, imperfect,
sinful, inadequate beings whose nature is human. While it's true
that we've sinned when we've not used our free will to do and obey God's
Will, we're still in essence divine. Yet, the fallen angels, who
powerfully influenced
Christianity (and other world religions) from the astral and physical
planes, would have us believe the ultimate judgment and lie - that we are
miserable sinners and not Sons and Daughters of God, that Jesus is the
only Son of God. The truth is that the Universal Christ, not Jesus,
is the only Son of God, and that we, like Jesus, have our own individual
Holy Christ Selves who are part of the Universal Christ (or Word, Logos).
We are meant to do what Jesus and many others have done - to ascend to
and become our own Christ Selves.
Rather than criticize and judge each other
and ourselves, we need to remember and see the God in others and in ourselves.
We need to visualize and hold the Immaculate Concept of
divine perfection for others and for ourselves. That is what
Jesus and other great Ascended Masters do for us. Doing this helps
us to raise each other up so that someday we can realize our divine natures.
Criticism and judgment does the opposite - it brings us down to lower and
lower levels. Our God Selves cannot be criticized and judged because
they are perfect. Remembering to see the Higher, Divine Selves of
each other would help us not to criticize and judge each other, and that
would greatly improve our relationships, as well as ourselves.
People react to criticism and judgment in different ways. Some become very fearful and close down emotionally in order to protect themselves from being hurt. They feel inadequate, inferior. Some become very angry, rebellious. Others manage to remain relatively open, strong, confident, and harmonious. Everyone, however, has some fear of being judged, rejected, and abandoned.
We know that love should be unconditional,
but all of the criticism and judgment over our many lives has caused part
of us to feel, think, and behave as if love were conditional. So,
in order to be approved of, accepted, liked and loved, we try to
fulfill the conditions, needs, and desires of others. We try to measure
up to their standarads, to be good enough for them. Different signs
do this in different ways. For example, Aries may try to prove themselves,
Tauruses may do it through wealth and possessions, Geminis by knowing more,
being wiser, Libras by pleasing others, Capricorns through their positions,
status, and power, Pisces by trying to become what another person desires
and needs. All the ways are doomed to failure, however, because we
cannot expect to always be approved of, respected, and loved by others
by trying to be good enough for them. We can't because everyone is
human and far from perfect. Others, therefore, can't always give
us what we need, desire, and depend upon them for. What we must do
is learn to unconditionally accept and love ourselves so that we are not
not dependent upon, and vulnerable to, the judgments and treatment
of others. The more that we identify with, and become our higher,
spiritual natures, the easier this is to do. And the more that we
become our real, divine selves, the more that we will be able to love as
God, Jesus, and all the Ascended Masters love - totally unconditionally.
They love us even though they see the worst in us.
The sign whose natives are thought to be
too critical, at times, is Virgo. That's partly because Virgos are
perfectionists, and their critical ability helps them to see the smallest
imperfections, faults, flaws. Being a perfectionist is a noble goal,
because we should all be striving for perfection. Our human selves
can never be perfect. Only our Higher, Divine
Selves are perfect, so in order to achieve perfection, we must ascend
to, and become our God Selves. While Virgos can be too critical,
picky, petty, at times, their critical acumen serves a very valuable function,
because it helps people to see what is wrong. There can't be change,
improvement, growth until we first are able to see what's wrong and what
we need to work on in order to bring about the necessary changes, improvements
in ourselves, our lives, our country, and world. Everyone has blind
spots, and we need help in seeing what we are not able to, especially in
ourselves. Other signs have a greater ability to see, especially
Scorpio, whose God-quality is God-Vision. One of the saddest things
is for individuals to not be able to see that they caused their problems,
because they cannot solve and end their problems until they see the causes
within themselves, and then do the work of making the necessary changes,
improvements in themselves.
Though Virgos can be too critical, at times, they can help us to see what is wrong (and right - they're perfectionists), and their criticism can be constructive, even vital. You don't have to be a Virgo to have the sign Virgo be important and strong in your chart. You may be another sign, but have Virgo as your rising sign, for example, or have the moon, Mercury, Venus, or Mars in Virgo, or have planets in your 6th house, which would give a Virgo influence because Virgo is the 6th sign, and there are similarities between the signs and houses. Virgo rising, planets in Virgo, or in the 6th house could mean that you also project, think, feel, love, or act like a Virgo, even though you are another sign..
Though people usually think of Virgo as the sign of those who are too critical, Capricorn is the most important sign when it comes to being too critical and judgmental. Just as part of Virgo's reason for being too critical is that they are perfectionists, part of a Capricorn's reason is that they have very high standards. The higher one's standards are, the more one can see what's wrong (and right). Capricorns have a strong sense of what is right and wrong. They can have very good critical ability and judgment.
When their (or anyone's) criticism and judgement is negative, it can be in one or more of three ways - being too critical and judgmental of others, of oneself, or being too sensitive and vulnerable to the criticism and judgment of others toward oneself. Knowing all of the harmful things that criticism and judgment can lead to, it is especially important for Capricorn to be acutely aware of when they are being too critical and judgmental of others, too hard on themselves, and when they are being negatively affected by other's criticism and judgment of themselves. This is not only important for Capricorns, but also for non-Capricorns who have the sign Capricorn strongly indicated in their charts in some way - ex., Capricorn rising, the moon, Mercury, Venus, or Mars in Capricorn, strong, negative Saturn aspects (Saturn is the planet that rules Capricorn), and 10th house planets (which give a Capricorn influence, because Capricorn is the 10th sign). Being a Capricorn, or not being one but having that sign important in one's chart, in some way, does not mean that one is too critical and judgmental. One of the most non-judgmental people I know is a double Capricorn (sun and moon in Capricorn), with Mercury (the mind) in Capricorn, and Venus (love) close to Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn. One can't have much more Capricorn than that. This individual is not judgmental, partly because she is very aware and wise. Capricorns have the potential for profound wisdom, and that sign rules the crown chakra, which can be a place of great enlightenment. Yet, when Capricorn is in a chart in some way, criticism and judgment is going to be an important issue in life. Though a Capricorn may be very aware, wise, and usually non-judgmental, he or she is still human, imperfect, and evolving, and their is likely to be an important lesson in life involving criticism and judgment.
In conclusion, it is human nature to be
too critical and judgmental, at times, but our real nature is divine, which
is never too critical and judgmental, and which always loves unconditionally
and perfectly. The more that we become our spiritual selves, the
more non-judgmental we will be, and the more unconditional our love will
be.