Well, maybe it is just the time of year, or maybe it’s the time of man.
— Joni Mitchell
On July 31, Venus in direct motion passed the degree of Gemini where it stationed retrograde on May 15, entering new territory for the first time since April 11. Just after midnight EDT Saturday morning, Venus will follow the conclusion of its retrograde cycle with an opposition to the center of our galaxy. It may feel familiar.
Every eight years since 1972, in the first days of the eighth month, Venus has opposed the core of our galaxy immediately following a retrograde cycle. The pattern will continue until 2188, a cycle renewing at nearly the same same place on the calendar, from nearly the same places on the zodiac. Symbolically implied are a series of octaves ascending from our ancient understanding of Venus to our more recent awareness of the Galactic Core.
Venus has been part of human consciousness for as long as we have walked the Earth. Only the luminaries, Sun and Moon, are brighter. The mythologies surrounding Venus reflect the human affinity for light. Although the details may vary from one culture to another, Venus consistently corresponds to the strong feelings and prominent values of attraction. Unlike the luminaries, the cycles of Venus are rather long and complex.
Venus orbits between Earth and the Sun. Because of that, Earth is never between Venus and the Sun. That means we never see Venus opposed to the Sun. What we do see is Venus rising only so far, about halfway towards the zenith, before it descends to approach and conjoin with the Sun before re-appearing on the opposite horizon. Venus is now rising in the East in the hours before dawn. By this time next year it will be visible in the West after Sunset. That pattern gives Venus a series of concentric cycles within cycles that return it to nearly the same spot in the sky on nearly the same calendar day every eight years. The Galactic Core, by comparison, is all but fixed.
Only in the 20th century were we able to distinguish our galaxy from the rest of the Universe. It has been less than a hundred years since we located the Galactic Center. That’s not enough time to develop a mythology, but there is one thing we do know. Of all the axes about which things rotate, the center of a galaxy is the end of the line. Out past the galactic level, discernible axes of rotation cease to exist, with the only constant being expansion, separating all things from all things. Hence the core of our galaxy represents the superlative of center, the crux of connection.
From our point of view that center barely moves, which means it has been a fixture of Sagittarius for centuries upon centuries. Its position and nearly indiscernible movement gives the center of our galaxy something in common with Venus. In order to understand how the Galactic Center synchronizes with Venus, we must first connect with something planets have in common with the Moon.
Where the plane of the Moon’s orbit around the Earth intersects the plane of Earth’s orbit around the Sun are the lunar nodes. When the Moon is New (conjunct with the Sun) or Full (opposed to the Sun) while near one of the lunar nodes we get eclipses. The location of the lunar nodes completes a 360 degree cycle through the zodiac every 19 years or so. Planets have nodes too.
Where the orbital plane of Venus intersects the orbital plane of Earth are the nodes of Venus. Unlike the lunar nodes, the nodes of Venus move very slowly, about a degree and a half over the course of a century. It is therefore extraordinary to note that the ascending node of Venus is currently located in Sagittarius, just as is the center of our galaxy. That location assures that the same ongoing eight-year cycle that places Venus at the end of Gemini during the first days of August, right after a retrograde, also places it in opposition to the Galactic Core at the same time. That unlikely and timely synchronicity has an inescapable symbolism.
To have Venus return to oppose the Galactic Core at the same time of year, every eight years, immediately following a retrograde cycle, and to have that pattern repeat precisely and continuously for over two centuries indicates that our familiarity with Venus is serving to make us more familiar with the center of our galaxy and what it means to us.
The implication is that the superlative of center is somehow equivalent to our affinity for light, and that awareness of that equivalence is an essential component of our evolution. To have that awareness reinforced on a regular and periodic basis speaks to something essential in our very nature, and how it connects this time of year to this time of our kind. To have that connection made is not only to validate our strongest feelings and most prominent values, but also to take them to a higher octave and give our lives the purpose of learning to be something more.
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Len is available for astrology readings. You can contact him at lenwallick [at] gmail [dot] com.
Amazing. Len! What a discovery you have made. How challenging, meaningul and significant of …so much to consider ….WOW WOW WOW! Thank you. And be, love your Vesta connections and other observations!
Hug to all.
be: Thank you so very much for the supplemental information regarding Vesta’s position in the chart for the United States. Nobody does Sibley like you do.
P. Sophia: Thank you for your question. The “procession of the equinoxes” associated with the slow “wobble” of Earth’s axis (a cycle that takes over 25 thousand years to complete) is the principal factor behind what appears to be the slow movement of “fixed stars” (such as Regulus, which, just this year, transited from Leo to Virgo) and the Galactic Core (which “moved” from the 27th to the 28th degree of Sagittarius in 2010). So, yes there is a “processional” factor in any cycle involving the center of our galaxy. The difficult thing to evaluate in any long cycle is where the crucial points are. The recent Venus transit of the Sun is certainly very special, which distinguishes the recently concluded Venus retrograde cycle as well. To have Venus oppose the Galactic Core, in the first days of August immediately after the conclusion of that retrograde cycle and less than two weeks before Venus’ greatest western elongation, brings a lot of cycles of widely varying length together in a short period of time. Therefore, even if the Age of Aquarius is not at hand, this is indicated to be a special time and we should all do what we can to make every day special for ourselves and each other. Every action counts. This is a time to live carefully and mindfully. You may be the person who makes a difference that decides the future. Any one of us could be the crucial factor that turns the key or turns the corner. All of us are being asked to live as if our lives are creating the world.
Does this timing and alignment have to do with the precession of the equinoxes and the cycle of the necessary balancing in approaching our tranistioning to the Aquarian Constellation / Age Eric, others have spoken about? A reevaluating, as you point out, is the acceptance of change in personal and humanity’s value system and sign of our heading there.
Thank you for this interesting article, all the information, and everyones comments…I have much to learn.
Well, I will carry on then, for just a minute. Mythic Astrology by A. Guttman and K. Johnson say this about Vesta, “Examine the chart of any individual – or for that matter, any nation – and the position of Vesta will most likely reveal the object of most singular focus.” Okay, so the U.S. has natal Vesta at 19 Taurus in its Sibly chart so, it being the President’s birthday tomorrow, I decided to see what the U.S. Vesta’s aspects were on the day he was elected, November 4, 2008. Would you believe the “societal” planets Jupiter and Saturn were in a Grand Trine with U.S. natal Vesta? Yes, Jupiter was at 17 Capricorn and Saturn was at 18 Virgo. Of course Mars was opposite her in Scorpio, along with Toro, Isis, House (of Representatives), Arachne and Requiem, but it was the grand trine in Earth that prevailed. Oh, and Neptune in Aquarius was square her. Still, Sedna was conjunct her and Varuna in Cancer was sextile her (helps to have the law on your side), as was Uranus retrograde in Pisces. Surprise!
be
be: Thank you so very much. i believe you make some very good points. Beginning with your valid observation that Venus and Vesta are the brightest objects in their respective astronomical categories, and correlating them on that basis. From there, your connection of Vesta and the Galactic Core based on their mutual symbolism of being in resonance with a hearth, hence central, that correlation is very well taken. It is you who should be thanked, and if that is what you call “going on and on”, please carry on.
I’ve been very taken with this symbolism Len, and it occurred to me that the center of our galaxy, the Galactic Core, could be something like what Vesta represents; a center for community or the center of our home. Might there be a connection we could make here that could become a new mythology for humanity equally as comforting as Vesta’s fire? We know Venus is the brightest planet and we know that Vesta is the brightest asteroid and that she can be seen (I hear) with the naked eye. If Vesta was represented by the hearth and she was the symbolic center of the Roman Empire, could we not be moving through Venus’ octaves which one day will reveal the GC as the hearth we come to focus on for inspiration and peace?
Vesta, like other ancient goddess symbols, changed from what she represented at her beginnings in a matriarchial society, to something more acceptable to the incoming patriarchal society of the Romans. As human consciousness evolves it is destined to find balance between the masculine and the feminine in all polarities, requiring a reassimilation of feminine principles discarded or redefined long ago. Ceres and Vesta, two surviving representations of the feminine are following Venus in Gemini, who, along with the Moon, has indured in astrology’s symbolism on pretty equal terms with the masculine symbols of Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn and more recently, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. As she completes her journey and arrives at this higher octave, and as she faces the center of our galaxy and her ascending node, her sister goddess symbols prepare to do the same.
Both Ceres and Vesta are feminine symbols of domestic life so it could be that the elements of human togetherness they represent are ready for assimilation by humanity. Vesta will conjunct Jupiter next Saturday as Ceres did in July. Jupiter, even in Gemini, represents understanding and he also rules Sagittarius where the GC and Venus’ ascending node are located. It is fitting that they transit through Gemini, a sign of duality, ruled by Mercury who represents neutrality in gender.
So again, thanks for exposing us to the intricate designs of the transiting planets which allow our creative thoughts to explore the universe Len. And then thanks for listening to us go on and on . . . .
be
Thank you Len 🙂 for these astronomical details of Venus, its proximity to Jupiter in Gemini has been I think a considerable psychological assistance under the guidance of the transit of Venus
Good weekend to you and to all 🙂 🙂
Chief Niwots Son: You are most welcome. Hopefully you and others can pick up the ball and run with it to develop the evolutionary meaning i was only able to hint at, maybe bring it to manifestation. Must admit, when i saw the pattern, i got excited like a little kid and spent the next 10 or so hours pouring over tables of various kinds just to make sure. Many thanks as well to Eric and Amanda for their empathy with my excitement, for their support and encouragement.
Len- that is a huge piece of information, a huge perspective of human evolution. Utterly vast in scope and depth, thank you for giving it words and bringing it to our awareness.
Peace
be: Thank you for you generous and supporting words. The return of Venus to late Gemini in early August after a retrograde cycle can be seen if you look at ephemerides from 1972, 1980, 1988, 1996, and so on, up to the current date (and beyond to nearly the end of the 22nd century). You can also also cross reference astronomical tables for the aspects of Venus and note that Venus returns to the same part of the sky (about two weeks before “greatest western elongation”) in August in cycles of eight years.
mysti: Thank you for your question. According to tables available from NASA online, the nodes of Venus move only about three degrees in two centuries. Like the lunar nodes, the net motion is retrograde, but exponentially slower. The transit appears to have begun about the time of Quintius Smynaeus. Hopefully this is a satisfactory answer for you. If not, please let me know.
Do the nodes of Venus shift every 200 years or so? I wonder where they were during the Renaissance, when She was being noted as a cardinal Mystery. Libra, maybe?
What she (Be) said.
No kidding!! I didn’t realize all this. . . the every 8 years since 1972. . always in early August. . and repeating until 2188. . . .that is incredible. Really, Len, I never even think about Venus’ nodes, but I’m so glad you do! It seems therefore that Venus is predictable and dependable as well as all those other great things we always talk about.
From what you are saying, it would seem she has something in common with the centaurs too. These repeated octaves of Venus remind me of Chiron’s repeated attention-getting manifestations designed to make us more conscious. Hers though makes me think of a Spanish bolero – very exciting as well as attention getting. However, Venus’ repeated messages are more about generations I guess; the ones living between 1972 and 2188 anyway, with this one having the rare event of her occultation of the Sun during her retrograde.
I suppose too that Venus being all about love is teaching us how to move higher in our understanding and expression of it. At the same time she moves higher in octave she points us to the center ~ the mother of all centers ~ and if “as above, so below” has any meaning then we must find our own center to really understand love. Yes, no doubt about it, Venus’ cycle is much more complex than the Moon’s but you have made it more understandable for me today. Many thanks!
be