Is this love, baby, or is it just confusion?
— Jimi Hendrix
Venus enters Pisces at 4:31 pm EDT Saturday to powerfully evoke where love meets confusion. Powerful because Venus is exalted in Pisces — another way of saying empowered to express itself freely. Love because, among other things, Venus correlates with emotional attractions. Then, there’s confusion.
The likely correspondence to confusion has to do with the first aspect Venus will make upon entrance to Pisces — a conjunction with the centaur object 7066 Nessus.
Nessus entered Pisces only two days ago, its first foray outside of Aquarius in over eight years, and will remain in the first degree of Pisces for days on end because it moves slowly. Venus, on the other hand moves much faster.
When fast and slow objects function to enter a new sign at essentially the same time and come together in the first degree, it’s astonishing timing.
Astonishing timing indicates meaning, and gets the attention of astrologers. Centaur objects have meaning as well, the type that gets your attention, albeit in disquieting way.
Nessus is among the centaur objects. Centaurs are defined by their unstable, elongated and steeply inclined orbits that typically cross paths with the the behemoths (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and/or Neptune) of the outer solar system.
Because of their orbital characteristics, and probable origins at the shadowy edges of the solar system, astrologers frequently connect centaurs with the psychological concept of shadow material.
Shadow material is complex and nuanced, just like the orbits of centaurs. Nevertheless, it is possible to say the concept is usually about traumatic or otherwise uncomfortable past experience that has not yet been resolved or integrated — persistently following you like a shadow. Eric, among astrology’s pioneers interpreting centaur objects, has demonstrated a strong connection between Nessus and the shadow of abuse.
To our confusion, love and abuse often come together in reality. That’s how Venus and Nessus coming together in the first degree of Pisces Saturday might well get your attention. It’s also how you might make some inroads this weekend towards integrating some persistent shadows of your own.
The common combination of love and abuse is confusing because love is so often idealized and abuse is so often disguised. It’s nothing new. Think about the legend of Abraham and his son Issac, a complex and nuanced story that has been misused to twist the concept of love and justify abuse for centuries.
Then, in recent years, advertising took the twisting even further. By exploiting your need for love in an effort to sell stuff, advertising media became a form of abuse in itself, burdening nearly everybody now living with the same shadow material.
Yet, somewhere inside, you know the difference between love and that with which love has long been confused. Perhaps it is because Venus is somewhere inside you.
It’s a safe bet to say people have been looking up at Venus, the brightest planet, for as long as there have been people. Long before advertising. Long before Abraham and Issac. Perhaps long enough for Venus to have become integrated into the being of humans, providing you with a steady beacon of truth. Maybe some of the truth has to do with love.
Maybe astrologer Robert Hand expressed the truth best when he wrote “In its highest manifestation Venus is love, the emotion that brings people together without force or compulsion.” Perhaps, upon entry to its Pisces exaltation, Venus will be free to express the truth powerfully. Perhaps it is a truth that will set you free of shadow material when Venus and Nessus come together against all odds and without any force or compulsion except synchronicity in the first degree of Pisces come Saturday.
In their coming together, Venus and Nessus will demonstrate something. They will demonstrate how it is that, even though love and abuse often occur together, it is not necessarily so.
It is not necessarily so because Venus, according to Robert Hand, correlates to that which brings people together effortlessly. Whereas, abuse can only happen after people come together, after love has done its work. In other words, abuse is not a part of Love’s work, but something that may follow; something people choose to pass on.
In other words, love is a truth, and abuse is a choice. Only centuries of conditioning has confused the two. This weekend, as implied by the skies, you will have a truly historical choice to divest love of its confusion with abuse — or not. Just think about it.
Just think about how, when a planet enters a new sign, it is a significant event — one of the foundations upon which astrology is made. Then, consider how a planet entering a sign of its exaltation, such as Venus in Pisces, adds power to the event, and the planet in question. Finally, contemplate how two objects with a vast differential of apparent speed conjoining in concurrent ingress constitute a truly exceptional event that may never be repeated again, with truly exceptional implications for you.
You are the crucial factor. Astrology does not happen, it is made. The planets are not the agents of cause and effect, you are. The actual events that will take place when Venus conjoins Nessus in the first degree of Pisces will be determined by you.
Melanie Reinhart has famously averred that Nessus represents an opportunity for you to say “the buck stops here.” If Eric has truly nailed Nessus’ connection to abuse, if Ms. Reinhart is right as well, and Mr. Hand is correct in his assessment of the highest manifestation of Venus, you are in a position to do your part to change the course of history.
Should you find yourself effortlessly drawn together with others this weekend, look at your hands. Look at your hands and imagine a time-worn and unwanted shadow of a dollar bill (or ‘buck’) in your palm. Think of all the confusion which has combined with love all through your life, put it in that imagined bill from the past, and refuse to pass it on.
Instead of passing the ancient bill on, pay it. Close the account, and make the closure your own. Then, return your attention to those with whom you have gathered and show them only the love which brought you together. You can do it. You can change history, and if you do, you will have become one with the skies. Wow, imagine that.
Offered In Service
Len is available for astrology readings. You can contact him at lenwallick [at] gmail [dot] com.
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Too strong Len Nessus with Venus
Here I found the vengeful Centaur Nessus, it fell this morning as a cudgel, and yet last night everything was fine
Good night and good week to all 😀
P.Sophia, thank you. That piece about leadership makes me a little queasy, which may indicate it’s something to explore. I’ll look into Lynn’s writings!
And I am grateful for you, too, Len, and everything you do.
I thought that since my Venus return was in the middle of these amazing aspects there must be something meaningful happening. Perhaps there is!
Mia
Strawberry I am thankful for your question regarding Vertex and Len for the information in reply. As I just discovered Uranus’ transit is currently exact conjunct my Natal Vertex at 12+ Aries 13.
Strawberry after much research into Vertex last year, in looking back over my notes just now one valuable source I’d like to share is Lynn Koiner, WS link is here below.
In addition to her applicable interpretations of Vertex / Anti Vertex Axis, are her many acclaimed contributions among her of life work in Medical Astrology and the Psychological Patterns of Disease. And I also found her discussions in Esoteric Astrology using the AABailey Soul’s Purpose Triangle, of particular interest to me. Have a look, I hope you find her work of interest and enlightening.
http://www.lynnkoiner.com/astrology-articles/the-vertex-in-the-natal-chart
“The Vertex is almost always found on the right or occidental side of the horoscope. The exception occurs in extreme northern latitudes. The occidental side of the horoscope is co-dependent and other-directed so that the Vertex represents characteristics, attributes, qualities and skills to be cultivated in this lifetime through the demand and urging of other people. For those interested in esoteric astrology, my theory is that the Vertex indicates the Ray energy to be cultivated in this lifetime – a shift in the personality, astral or mental body.”
Capricorn:
“The individual will be called to develop skills in responsible leadership. It is essential that you learn to accept duties and obligations for a future control. Leadership and organizational ability go hand-in-hand and you must learn patience to cultivate these skills. Do not allow your emotions and fears to interfere with a realistic attitude in administration. It is essential that the individual not allow the needs of home, family or feelings of insecurity to impede in fulfilling your destiny and thereby rise to a position of respect.”
Oh Len, it’s official: I love you. I’d begun to feel silly asking the question, because I hadn’t found any useful info on the Vertex in my investigations. Yes indeed, your explanation works for me. And it’s exactly how things have been feeling as of late.
That’s quite a lot of empowerment to take into the next few weeks. Thank you, ever so much, Len. You always manage to open the aperture.
Strawberry: Thank you for your question. Without getting all technical on you, the Vertex is a theoretical point on a hoary chart (like a birth chart). It is a place of intersection, like the lunar nodes are, but a different sort of intersection than the lunar nodes are. Because the vertex changes rapidly (like the ascendant on a hoary chart), you need an accurate time to calculate an accurate Vertex.
If you remember high school math, you may remember calculating for the vertex of a parabola – the point (at the bottom, of top, depending on how you look at it) where the direction of the curve changed. If you can envision a cable tv dish antenna, the deepest part on the inside is the vertex. All that taken together provides some clues for your interpretation:
(1) Because the Vertex changes rapidly with time (like the ascendant), it is one of the things (like the ascendant) which combines to individuate your natal chart as unique from all others.
(2) Because it is hypothetical like the lunar nodes, it is “activated” by aspect to objects (Much as the Sun and Moon either conjoin or oppose near lunar nodes to precipitate an eclipse).
(3) Putting the parabolic vertex to use, you can think of the Vertex as a place where trends (such as the direction of a curved surface) change. You may also think of the Vertex as a threshold for the same reason.
(4) Having Pluto station (for days on end) conjoined your Vertex indicates a long slow change in the direction of your personal evolutionary curve perhaps? Also, because Pluto takes nearly 250 years to go around the whole zodiac, having Pluto conjoin your natal Vertex is something that never happens in a single lifetime for many people – possibly indicating a moment of change in the evolution of your soul over the course of lifetimes, a turning point in a very long karmic trajectory. Please, what do you think? Does that work for you?
Ummm, so I have a question. Can somebody talk to me about the point Vertex? I just noticed that Pluto stations Rx on the 15th — the day of the lunar eclipse — at 13’35” Cap. My Vertex is 13’36” Cap. I recall that Pluto’s stations last year were pretty profound for me, & so I’m wondering if there’s an awareness I can take into this coming station/eclipse/grand cross in regards to my Vertex placement that might be more empowering. What I’ve read of the point Vertex is that it carries a sense of fatedness. That both is and is not helpful.
Anyone?
aword: One might fairly say that you are the brilliant one for noting how the astrology represents a moment in common, as well as for your perceptive insight into how abusers often attempt to isolate us. For those observations, and your king words, please accept my sincere thanks in return.
susy: Thank you for a poem that takes us deeper into our hearts with every reading. Thank you for sharing your gift of fine perception combined with sublime expression.
wandering_yeti: Thank you for sharing your own, well honed, perception of the subject matter. Special thanks for pointing out how alcohol so frequently contributes to the the perpetuation of abuse – something we need to be especially conscious of with Neptune also in Pisces. May your heart receive the healing you have so generously afforded us.
Lea: Rarely are we graced with more than one great piece of poetry. And great your offering is, and as gratefully received as Venus herself. Thank you so very much for bringing us present to what is.
Patty: Thank you for your perspective on another of antiquity’s shadow’s. i know you mean it as a compliment, but there is no way i’m suited to the pulpit. The back pew (closest to the door) personifies me better. As John Lennon pointed out, preaching love just ends up getting a guy nailed.
be: Speaking of which, nobody consistently nails the astrology better than you, be. Thank you for once again bringing your proficiency with Sibly to the fore, as well as for your exchange with Paul. Our appreciation for you goes beyond the bounds of words.
Paul: Thank you for bringing your own message of love to our gathering with an artful and spontaneous improvisation on a recent reveal from the sky. You are deeply appreciated as well.
DivaCarla: Thank you for the Rumi illumination, and for acknowledging Paul’s tribute with your own gentle light.
Bette Loreen: Thank you for your own acknowledgement of wandering_yeti’s wisdom with a cogent bit of your own hard-earned insight. Out hearts go out to you as well.
Mia: Thank you for your question. Although not rare, a Venus return is always a new beginning best applied to relationship and appreciation of same. In honor of the impending occasion, please allow me to express my continued gratitude for you, your support, and for the light of love that persists within you no matter what.
Great article, Len!
My Venus is 20 degrees in Pisces. I looked up when it will be exact and saw that it is close to all the activity beginning mid-month but certainly in effect earlier than that. Any thoughts on the implications in my chart?
Mia
paul,
As a student of astrology I want to thank you for broadening our views regarding the happenings of the planet and the solar system tonight. Benny Goodman is beating out Sing, Sing, Sing (recorded in the late 30’s) and it has moved me to respond to your story of the tragic loss of life on April 15, 1989, by sharing that day’s ephemeris facts.
Topping the list of findings has to be the conjunction of Saturn and stationing retro Neptune at 13 and 12 Capricorn, where today’s Pluto sits as a resurrection of the past. On April 15, 1989, Mars at 21+ Gemini is being trined by today’s Mars at 21+ Libra, while that infamous day’s Sun at 25+ Aries is where the transiting Sun will be at the time of the lunar eclipse on April 15, 2014. How fitting that the “proper inquest” would begin under a lunar (emotional) eclipse. As if in honor of the Nessus-Venus conjunction, the north node in April 1989 was between 2 and 1 degrees of Pisces. What goes round comes round.
A chart for the announcement of water on Enceladus would have to include the Sun conjunct Uranus in Aries and square Pluto in Cap and Jupiter in Cancer first of all and secondly, a trine between Venus at 27 Aquarius 44 and Ceres at 27 Libra 44. Most important of all though would be the trine between Mercury in Pisces and Saturn in Scorpio with Sedna sextile Mercury and opposite Saturn. Once again, it is Mercury acting as arbiter, this time between a protector of deep water and the patient timekeeper. Seeing as both Venus and Ceres sextile the Galactic Center, perhaps the inevitable human invasion of the little Moon will be done with utmost care.
be
wandering_yeti, I’ve witnessed (& been victimized by) the sort of devolution in behaviour from effusively friendly to outright abusive when alcohol is added. I’ll deal with an angry dog rather than an abusive drunk any day. There’s a good chance I can calm the angry dog (who, after all, probably has fear or frustration issues that are genuine), whereas the ranting drunk cannot be reasoned with. I learned to simply not be there – or if I’m unavoidably there, to walk away.
I haven’t looked for where Nessus is in my natal chart. It’s probably time I did that.
..but you’ll be forgiven for forgetting that what you really want is love’s confusing joy… ~Rumi
Nessus doesn’t stand a chance before Venus. For a moment at least, he can only surrender, on his knees, helpless in love and adoration….
Blessings on the people of Liverpool and the families of the 96.
As students of the stars, it is fitting that we look at world events on the occasion of such a spectacular and auspicious event as Venus embrace of Nessus.
Today, two events stand out as being completely synchronous.
It was announced that Saturn’s Moon Enceladus has burst open, weeping tears of joy at such an amorous and passionate encounter! The clearest sign yet of life, and micro-organisms, existing beyond the Mars frontline! Coincidentally scientists have shifted their search for the right life-producing environment to the region inhabited by the Centaurs; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
The second event is probably unknown to most of you. 25 years ago on April 15th, 1989, 96 lives were lost at a football match in Hillsborough, Sheffield. UK. Today after overcoming Thatchers legacy of deceit, lies, blatant fraud, and the worst police corruption of the 20th century, ( to my mind-mass murder would be closer to the truth ) the proper inquest into what happened has begun. The first of those 96 families began to share the biography of their loved one with the world. This will go on for one month as every victim is healed as a decent human being who went to a football match, and just never came home. The official line , printed in national papers was that the fans were drunk, picked the pockets of the dead, urinated on them, and were uncontrollable.
The people of Liverpool have refused to allow this to stain the bereaved, their loved ones, the City and the Football Club. It has been a journey that you endure; from the moment it happened, there was no turning back. The political was real personal! Only John Lennon’s death in 1980 has flattened the city so badly. The bombings of the 1940s never even got a look in! The sheer force of the will of the people has once again shown that it is the Agencies of Government, and Governments themselves who need to be held to account.
The boundaries have shifted. Liverpool Football Club, with remarkable synchronicity, has finally retaken its proper place in football. The Malian desert winds cast a smokey haze over the city today as the power of the pent-up emotion, the courage, the dignity and the community spirit was unleashed on the national news media. The city cried, burst open with broken hearts and will never again walk alone!
It is in no small way a tribute to the gentle institutional parenting skills of John Henry at Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox who bought Liverpool Football Club 5 years ago. With great sensitivity, he has held open a space for all of the families to honour their loved ones and let the bigger picture emerge.
I wonder where Enceladus will lead us?
What I am certain of is that even if on this occasion, the abuse actually preceded the uncontrollable outbreak of love that has followed the event, and sustained and nourished the people for 25 years, the MUCK definitely stops here!
Thanks Len.
And you have nailed the gist of this aspect Mr. Wallick. After all, Pisces does symbolize release and dissolution of a cycle. Melanie Reinhart also says “Nessus processes really do seem to bring to an end the unfathomable ties that bind us to people, places and situations.” She tells us that the centaurs “appear to preside over rites of passage and processes of purification” that are part of the spiritual path. This looks to signify, as Venus conjuncts Pholus in Pisces, a period of cleansing or release of whatever it is that prevents our move forward in evolution. You have sussed out yet another step in the universe’s master plan Len; many thanks!
Since Nessus means “the buck stops here” and Venus also represents money, their conjunction for larger entities such as the U.S. government and its laws might symbolize the start of the public’s meaningful growth in consciousness of just how abusive the role of money is in politics. By the time we in the USA vote for our next president, transiting Nessus will have made its first trine to the U.S. Sibly Venus at 3+ Cancer. I like to think that we as a country will be moving along on that spiritual path by then.
be
We didn’t become meat-eaters until after the great flood. Wonder why? Genesis begins with the people and animals both eating from the fruits and vines of the garden, and then after the flood, man is given the animals to eat. Is that like the biggest lie in history, or what? I never realized it until this week when someone pointed it out. You sure you don’t want to be a preacher man?
Nessus,
The Abused and the Abuser,
Shrinks into the shadow of himself
And his reality,
He awaits The Arrival;
Shrinks back back back
Into his shadow, fearing
The Arrival of…
Her.
What will She do?
What will become of him?
Her not being what he knows
There is suspense and then surprise: for he will find
She Just Is.
And she will arrive
Just to share:
Share space with him,
and just Be.
Shining,
Embracing (unconditionally!)
From and With That Which Is Beyond 3-Dimensions.
She will share space with him!
The First Space with him!
In the first degree
Of the place of vast oceanic depths
Of the place of the Receiver
Of All The Rivers
Pisces: all-knowing, all-embracing receiver of
All worlds, all deeds, all thoughts.
And She will come
To share with him first,
Bestow on him first,
Her Presence
Her Essence
Everything She Is and Has
With him first
Of
What LOVE
Can do.
she does not shirk, with draw, pull away. Instead, she beams, radiates, sjhines. Heals.What a wondrous pictureof the fullness of times for some of us to experience and become.
Nessus in Pisces you say? Ouch. That puts things into perspective. My natal Nessus is in Gemini and I’ve come to know it as verbal abuse. I’ve been doing my best to stop verbal abuse from coming from me, but it’s still common, like a native language in many social circles. My Moon is also in Gemini at the first degree so the last time I was re-traumatized by verbal abuse was the night Nessus entered Pisces. What you said about love and abuse was right there: when my friend came home she said she loved us all, gushing. Then the wine began to flow and a couple of hours later I had a human being acting like an angry dog yelling at full volume an inch from my nose…cause I asked “please don’t yell at me”. I’ve seen this pattern before: the abuser gushes with love when they’re sober and then when they’re drunk they hate you for being so bold as to try to speak after a 5 minute drunken monologue. I’m beginning to think that alcohol makes humans as intelligent as an angry dog.
To put a childlike spin on love and abuse:
Firsties
I adore my firsties so much sometimes
little marques, in love
with miss zenaida
as are all the boys
jose, angelo, raphael,
all the boys
named for saints and angels
except little marques, named
for the god of war,
who may have met his match
in miss zenaida
whose name means
daughter of zeus
little marques
wants to be
the one to put his hand
on her 6 year old waist
if she stumbles, cutting out
the other boys with
stern looks from under strong eyebrows,
those other boys
who return those looks
especially angelo who can’t
keep from walking on his
tiptoes, who is afraid to try
his english, angelo glares
I knew her first!
all the boys love her
despite her unintended cruelties
her upsets and kicks in
the shins when she doesn’t
get her way, she has made
them all cry but still they love
her for her passionate joy
the way she catapults herself
into play, her laughter
the way her long dark hair
flies when she spins
on the swings with
her face thrown up to the sun
they love her for her drama
for the drama that is always
and only around her concern for
everyone, for them, her sweet boys
when they are hurt,
her drama about their safety,
for her teachers when they are
confused or mistaken,
the unshakeable conviction
of her own necessity.
(children’s names changed for privacy)
susycrandall
Len, I think the most important message you have revealed here is that while the buck stops here (indeed it does) in stopping the buck and taking that moment to shine light on the shadow — I am not alone. If I were alone in this, you would not have written this article; this article is indicative of the fact that this moment is upon us all.
The light that Venus shines as she moves from AQ to PI is a light that shines on all of us, just as Nessus is in the heavens as an object for all of us to contemplate. That Love is here for all of us is the most poignant message that those of us involved in abuse (all of us) need to know. Abusers like to make us think that we are alone. You show here that we are not.
When I make my choice/s to light the shadow, I do so as one. And I do so knowing that no matter if I am one or one of many, the light of Love still shines on us all.
Thank you, for your “brilliance”.