Dear Friend and Reader:
This week, Venus stations direct in Libra, ending a six week retrograde that has carried Venus back from mid-Scorpio, past conjunctions with many planets (including Mars and Vesta) and into late Libra. The station-direct happens Thursday, but a few days’ advanced notice is a good amount of time to consider the shift in energy and prepare to get your Venus momentum moving forward.
 |
Retrogrades of Venus and Mars are distinctly personal, but they also have an influence on the news. I’m not sure I can see direct correlations, except possibly for events that bring people together. Let’s see — there were the Chilean miners being rescued; that was just over a month ago, though it seems like years. Here in the States we went through the peak of a frantic election cycle, in which the Republicans and the Tea Party swiped back the majority of the House of Representatives and a bunch of Senate seats. Candidates seemed to be taking advice from The Onion’s analysis of “no values voters” who elect candidates based on how mean they are.
Stephen Colbert and/or Jon Stewart had their Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, elevating comedians from the stature of newscasters to that of civil rights leaders. There was that wacky situation where packages around the world were intercepted in the Fed Ex and UPS parcel streams, which were allegedly directed at addresses of synagogues in Chicago. There were some incredible labor demonstrations and riots in France, protesting the proposed raising of the retirement age in a country where many people live for retirement — if you can imagine such a thing. Consider: you’re sitting there working in La Poste, thinking: just 27 more years to go!
Then along the way, we had an election wherein the Republican Party and a newly repackaged form thereof took over the House of Representatives. Their goal was to shrink the debt and the deficit; they will vote to raise the debt ceiling in January, because they have to if they want to keep drawing paychecks.
I’m curious how this transit has manifested in your personal life. Have old friends or lovers turned up in your Facebook or voicemail? That is fairly typical of a Venus retrograde cycle. What have you re-evaluated? What decisions are you close to making, with this week as the focal point for actually firming up your resolve and putting the decision into action (same thing)?
While the external world has raged with values crisis disguised as politics, I’ve been proposing that the inner plane expression of this Venus retrograde consists of erotic reality and our relationship experiences morphing into one another. Vesta’s presence in Scorpio during much of Venus retrograde has helped me focus the theme, into an inwardly directed version of sexuality (the kind you rarely hear about, but the one most of us live, most of the time). In the Friday subscriber series, I presented this in an article called The Sacred Space of Self.
Here is a bit from that article:
In Scorpio, Venus represents the powerful female desire nature, which some astrologers have associated with manipulation (associated with the power aspect of Scorpio). In a sense, Venus is out of place expressing desire directly; that is more the realm of Mars. Of course, this is in the opinion of the Holy See. If we want to know what sex was like before the Christians got hold of it and took over the topic completely, we need to study the bonobos. So far, no missionary has converted a single one. They are natural people. (You can read more about them, and what their lives say about humans, in an excellent new book called Sex At Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality.)
So, that’s a peek backwards. This week concurrently with Venus stationing direct Mars comes under focus in Sagittarius. That’s because planets are aligning with and around Mars in that sign, close to an intergalactic point called the Great Attractor. The alignment includes Mercury, Mars, Pallas, Pholus, Hylonome and Ixion: a couple of planets, an asteroid, two centaurs and a trans-Neptunian point; a motley crew, gathering around a huge amplification device.
Alignment at Venus stationing direct on Thursday
I am not quite sure what to make of this alignment; it could mean something significant happens in the ‘news world’ around us — as if something significant isn’t happening every day in terms of all that is not quite getting done that needs attention. Since we have the great benefit of not being a sold-out senator or congressman (it’s stressful), this energy is available for creative purposes.
Sagittarius offers determination and the ability to focus on a single goal. There is a warrior quality that offers a feeling distinct from any other sign, blending the passionate quality of fire with the intuitive and mystical quality of water. Sagittarius points toward home; the whole sign functions as a spiritual homing signal and, since that is geographically true (Sagittarius is the home of the center of our galaxy) we can consider the practical side.
Now that we’re getting near done internalizing all of this Venus energy, what do we want to accomplish, achieve or create in the world around us?
Here is how I put it in Friday’s Sagittarius horoscope:
Planets are gathering in your sign, in a configuration that releases its power as Venus stations direct next week. The alignment is so potent I suggest you touch everything and everyone in your life as though your fingers have lasers on the tips. That includes the words you use, and it includes the feelings you feel and the thoughts that you think. Consider yourself a transmitting station that broadcasts on every frequency. Therefore, the most helpful way to proceed is to hold everyone in a space of love and appreciation. Find what to appreciate even about the people you don’t like so much. Practice guiding your mind in a wholly positive direction. You have so much influence that you are highly likely to manifest what you think and feel in tangible form; what witches call the threefold law is in full operation: it all comes back to you with three times the intensity you put out.
Note that we have a week with both Venus and Mars in focus. That amps up our male-female kind of mojo. This is an excellent week to set aside some of that Nancy Reagan and Tipper Gore stuff about “just saying no” to anything vaguely fun, and do what your soul is calling you do.
It is indeed calling — if you’re listening.
Don’t miss Wednesday’s podcast on our main blog, and see you Friday with a regular edition.
also genevieve:
your mention of the sedna delineation in this context reminds me of the song “snowman” by the Nields. alas, i cannot find a decent clip of it on youtube, but it’s a song worth hearing. lyrics are available online as well as a couple young girls doing an admirable cover.
anyway: i have distinct memories of being with the ex previously mentioned in this thread (C.) when we were together at a nields show. as i listened to this song with him, i found myself in tears from that sense of being “frozen” and closed to vulnerability — though in this case it was sexual more than emotional. (the two intimately tied at the root of things, which i hadn’t fully figured out then).
now, i had run into C. briefly, shortly before venus stationed Rx, but thought little of it despite a comment from another that it was some early venus rx action. it was great to see him & then he disappeared into his own world and i into mine.
so here i am wandering through this venus rx thinking it’s not so bad — just some low libido at times, not many opportunities for contact sex but having stretches of great orgasms on my own. and after a casual phrase reminding me of a different nields song, i listen to their albums (it had literally been a couple/few years). and there is that song and its memories. i think nothing of it at the time.
flash forward a week or so after that: i find myself confronted quite painfully in current relationship with the past issues that sank C. and me (at least as i see it):
expectation and disappointment. being critical & defensive. tossing off thoughtless “jokes” in passing. lacking gratitude and generosity. getting so caught up in “wanting” and “needing” sex and a certain type of sexual attention that the wanting and expectation become totally divorced from the rest of the picture with my lover (that is, the other factors in whatever our reality of the moment is, that might not be conducive to connecting sexually). jealousy of projects/people that seem to get higher priority/better quality of attention/something i want & am not getting.
and the one i’ve been aware of for weeks but feel like i have not been able to make progress on: being so focused on his trip and my questions about “the relationship” that i haven’t found an inward focus of my own. struggling with the awareness that letting go to allow new things in is thwarted by the fear of letting go, even just with regard to aspects of a relationship model that may not really be mine. do i need the things i seem to want?
two nights ago another astrologer friend of mine brought up venus & jupiter stationing. he asked: what dream do you need to let go of because it can never happen?
and a whole batch of sadness flooded in.
sometimes i hate feeling like i know the answer.
funny, the last venus rx in aries didn’t seem that bad at all; kind of fun, if i recall. but maybe that’s because my venus is in aries. or maybe it means i need to go back and read my journal from then for a reality check.
so… we shall see what the station direct brings.
genevieve – in a word, YES, to answer your closing question.
i’ve been trying to find the time and mental space to chip in here. the Rx in scorpio has passed opposite my sun & mercury. the short version: more than old lovers, it’s been the hardest ISSUES with old relationships (one in particular) that have come back to haunt me, in painful technicolor.
This Venus retrograde for me happened in my 8th house and conjuncted both my Saturn and Pluto which were both retrograde the time I was born. Talk about a lot of Scorpionic energy! On an interesting note, when Vesta conjuncted Venus it was exactly opposite my Sedna in Taurus. In the delineation Eric which you listed in the Sedna section of Next World Stories it said “the encounter with what has been lost, drowned out, or frozen long ago…..The violence of hardship where we cut off from what is desperate and vulnerable in ourselves or others in order to survive…How the harshness is internalized….Allowing love and harmony into our lives may mean opening to the frozen places inside….” Had my “wow’ moment there.
Oppositions usually are to sided, two opposing forces, but these two seemed to be two sides to the same coin. About going in deep and discovering what needed to be re-lit, unfrozen and then warming that back up, lighting that fire. But with Sedna there and in my 3rd house and in Taurus (side note my dad’s a Taurus) there definitely seems to be some father stuff that needs healing there or even paternal generation stuff and maybe that’s what’s the opposing force for Venus rx Vesta, which has a very much a my core self/my inner goddess feel to it. Anyway, that got a little long, thought it was interesting.
Ok, on to my rx experience. Sadly, I too have not had the old lovers show up. That would have been almost welcomed compared to all the odd and not fun things that have happened. Though things have gone pretty wonky with my ex who was my last serious relationship. He and I were good friends up until the retrograde and it’s like that friendship isn’t really functioning well, there seems to be distance between us. Or like that got turned off or needs retrieving.
What has happened relates to money and health. Here ya go – My menstrual cycle has stopped, which seems oddly fitting with with Venus retrograde. Almost like that intimate aspect of womanhood has been temporarily turned off. I’m not pregnant and my pap was normal. Really hoping it returns when Venus goes direct, otherwise I’ll have to have a battery of tests done, all of which I can’t afford. Then there’s my hair falling out big time. I’ve had all sorts of weird financial problems and set backs that were completely out of my control and have hit me hard. The timing has been quite bad since I quit my job recently and launched a company. Also, my friendships have been a bit odd and plagued with all sorts of disfunction and distance.
And then there’s the feeling passionless about the things I normally love and intense questioning and feeling dissatisfied with my whole life. This happened the last time Venus was rx too. (Hasn’t helped that Neptune has been just sitting on my moon, like it has for a long time and will continue to do for a while. It really needs to move on and go pick on my sun.)
So glad when Venus will stations. Just trying to be a buoy on the wild waves through this rx and hoping everything works itself out once Venus goes direct. I personally find Venus rx the hardest to get through. Then Mars retrograde and last Mercury rx. The last few Venus rx have just really sucked, especially on an emotional and energetic level.
Going to throw this out to the other women here – do you find Venus rx harder than other retrogrades?
Hey Aword, fellow “Plant”Waver! Hehheh.
Hearing of your own personal slowing down and nurturing process is good for me to hear as well. Thanks for the affirmation.
hypnotic and shebear – here here! as well – yet more than this Venus Retro, I have spent the past 8 years slowing down and listening (and being “out of the loop”, “unavailable”) so this retro has felt like gentle hands tuning the fine-tuner on my violin as much of the clarity I have gained is taken one small notch of enlightenment further. And while it still appears difficult to hear Self clearly, I think that is more of a shadow or ghost that will be revealed as such soon enough.
Thanks for sharing shebear and adding to all the good plant nurturing going on here!
xo
Amanda……solid? melted? stick? tub?
lol!
Hey Hypno, you’re sweet!
A high five back at you, and with a warm hug for all that cosmic, love energy to encapsulate you and propel you forward with vim and vigor into those new and exciting relationships.
and trust yourself that have what it takes.
That darn Pluto challenges us to explore unforetold possibilities!
high 5 shebear and thank you for this with which I resonate:
“it must have looked to family and outsiders that I was actively avoiding living my life but, in all honesty, I was doggedly consumed, 24/7, with the arduous task of extricating myself from prior support systems that failed to understand or support me. I had to sort it out and clear house completely before anything new could take hold.”
as to venus retrograde’s effect on me personally, my experience was not the textbook old lovers resurfacing. that said, 3 new relationships seeded and they could very well be opportunities to work out unsresolved issues that tore old relationships apart. its complicated for me because I am, simultaneously, having a pluto transit to my natal venus on the ic/mc so a lot of major overhaul of values for me — deeply rooted values that are negative and unsupportive of my growth.
as to any decisions, realizations, etc. its too soon to tell. it will be interesting to see what happens when venus re-crosses her path again in forward motion transiting very hot points in my chart. all i have to say is that i was completely unprepared for the effect of venus retro in scorpio’s tremendous impact on me ..
— i love that the plants are supporting my transformation with their cosmic love energy
I had actually hoped to respond to your Friday article much earlier than this Eric and thought the opportunity had passed me by. To see you writing about it again this morning, I see I have a second chance (ha); I just want to say quite simply that it rocks! It’s really great to have your expert guidance as always, but all the more so for this upcoming week.
Like Shanna, Mars is close to my Ascendant with Mercury hovering on the other side. The Chiron/Neptune conjunction is currently transiting my natal Chiron. Saturn’s transit is conjuncting my north node and this particular one seems to be providing the impetus to give over 100% to trust relying on myself, and to really have it resonate on a more consistent level; to come home to myself through healing a wound that virtually consumed me for most of my early life. I’m allowing myself to be more comfortable owning talents and abilities that I had repressed for way too long. It feels great to be vibrating with that potential, even down to my finger tips.
Recently I started searching a new career path a few weeks ago, and since then I’ve connected with a very supportive crowd; some are old faces that popped up out of the blue after a long absence, and some are new ones. Sometimes, to be frank, I’m overwhelmed with it all and I can scarce take it in that things in my life seem to be falling into place. I know that while learning to trust it all, I also have to get down to serious brass tacks, and hard work to strategizing and building the supportive structures into my life that I will rely on to guide and support me. Up until this turn around, that I thought might never actually happen, it must have looked to family and outsiders that I was actively avoiding living my life but, in all honesty, I was doggedly consumed, 24/7, with the arduous task of extricating myself from prior support systems that failed to understand or support me. I had to sort it out and clear house completely before anything new could take hold.
I know I mentioned some weeks back that I set my intention to become a music therapist, and while I have been pursuing that occupation, I have ended up tweaking it some, and am now concentrating on a new type of therapy called Nidotherapy (Nido comes from nidus meaning nest). It’s about honouring and respecting patients input into building for themselves a nurturing environment around them, that facilitates a more authentic healing. Now, it’s not like this a new therapy per se, that it’s not already being praciticed out there in the world, but what has this new avenue capture my attention, is that the guy behind it all, is a psychiatrist who is world renowned. What that say to me is that there is real awakening happening within that system, a system which he admits has overreached itself. BTW if anyone should be interested in hearing what piqued my interest in this type of therapy, have a listen to this podcast. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2010/3042589.htm
OK enough indulgent ramblings for this evening and apologies for my grammatical errors as always! Let me end here by wishing you Shanna, all the very, very best at your first conference and great success on the launch of your book. (btw, I’d love to know what it’s called as I would like to check it out sometime please.) I’m with you on letting the astrology of this week carry us forward. I like where we’re heading, as I sense many are hearing the call to live a more authentic life, borne of courage and trust.
Oh and before I forget, did anyone pay attention to the news from the Hadron Collider and the fact that this day a week ago, November 8th, scientists replicated the first big bang. That we had our first mini big bang and they have been happening over and over ever since then…………Hmmm, I wonder what the implications of that discovery means for us all.
Blessings y’all.
I am so glad I am not alone in my fluency in typo. ::::laughing::::
aword — i saw the same typo & my first thought was of a certain special butter! i could fix the typo, but i’m getting a kick out of it.
I found myself sadly without the predicted “old lovers et al” showing back up – not that I wanted them to. New would be better. However, I have found considerable new perspective as well as new strength where new perspective had existed. And then today turned up old enemies who wish they were lovers – so much for my idea of life becoming a skip through the daisies.
I DO love your latest typo, e, ” the new plants do not lend themselves well to cookbook interpretation”…..I skimmmed and eye caught this and I had to back-scroll to see what you had in mind. Considering I have volunteered to cook indefinitely for the friend of the friend having db masectomy friday, that must be where my mind is. I think a little planet or plant cooking is surely up for order – although I think my personal planets are well-cooked enough at this point already.
lol and lots of love,
xoxoxoxo
Pam, the new plants do not lend themselves well to cookbook “through the houses” interpretation; better to start with a solid idea of the house, apply your concept of the planet.
Here is a basic key to the houses.
http://www.planetwaves.net/charts/parallel_worlds_charts/astrological_houses_summary.html
Once you have the house, consider how the planet might feel, or does feel, in aspect to other points…
susyC – thanks for the laugh!
From a Facebook string from last week. Initials have been used to protect the innocent:
Susy C is opening a new business to help in these terrible economic times. Please visit Susy’s Sex Toys and Pet Emporium. Good news: She already has her 1st order: 1 Big Black Schlong (huge); a flashlight; 16-48 oz bottles lube; 2 gerbils; and a funnel. Bad news: Customer is a relative….
JF sicko! LMAO
TP Humm…. First: I Googled you but couldn’t find the site.
Second: Where do the gerbils fit in???? (Yes, I phrased it that way to incite all sorts of dialog…)
SKG have you never heard of tupperware if your going to start a new business???? or amway????? avon????
TP BTW: I assume the size of the funnel will dictate how much lube you must apply to your gerbils?
SPM you are so hilarious – scary to know people’s personal habits. so are you a sexual Life Coach???
LB, my nephew Don’t you have a client privacy policy? I don’t need to know what Uncle P ordered.
KH, my daughter That must be your son M’s order.
SPM @KH – that’s what I thought!!!
Susy C I confess. It was M. He is my son. What a perv dog. I don’t know where he gets it. And no TP, I don’t know what the gerbils are for. I was guessing pets for his 3 boys, but he only ordered two, so I am suspicious there is some …’dark’ purpose involved…But yes, I should be a sexual life coach. I would make a fortune advising baby boomers with decreased ROM; women who have difficulties activating the C and G spots simultaneously during masturbation (special equipment required with safety precautions for accidental falls off beds during overwhelming ecstacy), and helping disabled people achieve lift off regardless of the diability!!!! Wow SPM! I think you’ve found me a whole new niche!!!! Now if only Randy could find mine…
Susy C A little more often, I mean…But I do have plenty of equipment for when he is unavailable..
Susy C @SKG I guess I could keep your advice in mind if Tupperware makes sex toys; if Amway makes herbal aphrodisiac supplements, and if Avon makes arousal gels…hmmm….maybe they’re my future business partners!!!
SKG tupperware does make spatulas, ask HS about amway, and avon does make perfumes!!! LOL…………..
PR I was gonna ask if your first customer was a blood relative (i.e. your husband)!
PR Good luck. I’ve been in biz for myself for a year now and wouldn’t change it for the world.
SM LOL sex and pets we love them both, you cant go wrong.
GS-M Susy, you’re a caution!!
JNC my youngest son *shutter*
Susy C J, you’re so funny. I know it’s not the first time I’ve made you ‘shutter,’ and since I do it so often I feel obligated to tell you that it’s ‘shudder,’ not ‘shutter.’ I remember when you walked in on me and Elvis that time when your Dad wasn’t home. Have you recovered from that trauma yet?
Susy C Apparently this one was too hot to handle. Just so everyone knows, my poor unfortunate boy J walked in on me wrestling naked in my bedroom, not with Elvis the King of Rock and Roll, but with my dog Elvis (who is the King of Bark and Roll)…I believe J was in his teens…He is probably still shuddering…It was a perfectly innocent and exuberant wrestling match with my sweet doggie who loves a nice wrestle now and then and doesn’t care if I’m wearing clothes or not. J sweetie, just let me know when you need to hit me up for therapy money.
Thank you.
The other week Eric you mentioned ‘amoral’ Ixion, and to anyone and everyone – what awareness bring to Ixion to not mess up second chances, what note does Ixion have in what houses. Any thoughts welcome…
And. Thank you…
Mars will be sitting on top of my ascendant when Venus turns direct. Much to consider this week, thanks. Aim high. Yes.
It’s already a big week for me: this Friday/Sat I’ll be speaking at my first Autism conference, promoting a book I’ve written for teachers and therapists. It’s a good feeling to trust the astrology so well by now that I know if I do my part, the rest is sure to follow.
Eric,
You have again nailed it with this article. Thanks for always being the beacon to light the way. Please see my comment on Friday’s edition about you visiting Israel/Palestine. It fits the part where you wrote, “The alignment is so potent I suggest you touch everything and everyone in your life as though your fingers have lasers on the tips. That includes the words you use, and it includes the feelings you feel and the thoughts that you think.” Spot on that is. But then, you are always spot on here at PW.