Venus entered Capricorn earlier today, gaining ground for a four-month stay that will include the rarest of retrogrades. Consider participating. Consider it to be a long dance you can sustain. Keep it simple and easy. Every day when you awaken for the next four months, put your feet on the solid surface beneath you and pause before standing. Wait until your feet feel as solid as the surface. Wait a bit longer, then start your day.
It will be easier and more simple than the long dance ceremony as practiced by some of the American First Nations, but it will add up to serve some of the same purpose.
That dance ceremony is difficult to sustain. It is a marathon, a dance that lasts all night. It pushes physical life to its limits for the purpose of renewing commitment to participation in physical life.
From today until it finally departs Capricorn for Aquarius next year on March 5, Venus is offering you a viable alternative to the long dance practiced by the First Citizens of the Americas. It will not require you to push your life to its limits. It will only require you to devote a few minutes to begin every day as a renewed commitment to your own physical life.
Some roll out of bed. Some leap out of bed. Unless you clearly remember your first moments of feet on solid surface, however, you were not really there. Such a beginning does not bode well for the rest of your day.
Being here is what Venus, initiating one-third of a year of dancing back and forth on cardinal earth, is symbolically inviting you to do. Venus is asking you to be here, in the body, feet first and feeling it, tangibly grounding every day as you initiate it. There is good reason you should accept that invitation now.
Whether you saw it or not, the Scorpio solar eclipse last Sunday was something you should not disregard or underestimate in correspondence to your life. There is a distinct possibility that your existence felt less physical after the Moon put a spot of darkness into the Sun’s day. Now it’s a new day, and a chance to get your feet back on the ground.
Once you are more grounded, more will be possible. Eventually, perhaps you will be able to proceed from the ground into more than you ever dreamed to be possible, but leave that for another time. For now, make it enough to start your long dance.
One day at a time, one step at a time, it’s a long night’s dance drawn out over months. It’s something you can do so long as you have feet, and can put them on the ground. Just do that every morning, taking long enough to feel it take hold, long enough for you to really be there. Then let one step follow another. It will add up to strengthen your connection with the Earth, the sky and your life. Simply do it. It’s easy. Do it, and see where it takes you.
Offered In Service
Len is available for astrology readings. You can contact him at lenwallick [at] gmail [dot] com.
Shades ranged with Venus in the House of travel with sextile March and started its retro phase on my MC… I am preparing to spend Christmas alone, it’s better than poorly accompanied
Venus will be in conjunction Saturn, Mars opposite Uranus, semi-sextile Neptune, semi-sextile mercury, it should not be sad
Retro Venus in Capricorn Len, go back over these steps all the 8 years. The latest was from November 2005 to the first week of March 2006 and March came out of a retro phase in Bull. The atmosphere changes and our relationships with the relationship also
good Sunday 🙂
@Salamander, thank you for your well wishes. Mythologically and astronomically, I believe Ceres has the chutzpah to balance Pluto’s pull into the depths, especially considering the added lift Venus is bringing in. I have no doubts that if topside is where I should be, topside is where I will end up. My best to you.
@Carla, what can I say? I obviously hope that a dream resonating this broadly within my own experience might illuminate someone else’s path as well — I knew as I was piecing it together that it had depths I couldn’t begin to sound at the time. I’m still so emotionally attached to the moments within it that I can’t even see outside of my self in it. This one will stay with me for some time.
I just googled Dr. Kaplan’s book — it sounds like something I may need to investigate, especially as my eclipse dreams seem to be increasing in their intensity 😉
And as for witnessing, I couldn’t agree with you more. Witness is so incredibly powerful. It’s hard to allow someone else to see you. To trust that they will allow what they see. And, for me at least, to trust that I can recognize my own Truth somewhere in the mix between what they see and what I do. It is indeed healing to open ourselves to other. It’s proof that we’re not alone. And in your work, it must prove infinitely more profound, and healing. THANK YOU for the gift of your Witness. 🙂
Strawberry, thank you for sharing your dream. My jaw dropped. Gives me insight into what’s being asked of me. It is wonderful to offer yourself to be witnessed, to ask for other to gift you with witness. Witnessing is a powerful gift. Healing for both giver and receiver.
Do you find as well that sometimes we are given dreams or visions and they are for us as individuals and through us for the collective? I have a book on my shelf, Woman’s Book of Dreams that talks about that. I am not remembering my dreams much these days. I need someone to dream on my behalf ;o)
@strawberrylaughter and Len Wallick
Thank you for the good luck wishes. I have been waiting and preparing myself for this moment, and it will pay off! Mercury will turn direct, and I’ll be able to start. 🙂
I am using these transits as constructively as possible. I was amazed to see how deeply I dug into my basic personality traits and life patterns. I feel so much better now.
@strawberrylaughter
It sounds like you’ve had a pretty intense experience. I hope Ceres will help you emerge from the depths.
Chief Niwots Son, I thank you. I don’t know why it’s been part of my journey to share all of this; I don’t actually like being seen (12th house Sun, after all), and most of my comments have left me with sweaty palms for an hour or so. But when I really look at all that has transpired in the past year, it seems like an out-of-body experience. Like that cannot possibly have been me. (And now with Neptune basically standing still within 2 arc minutes of perfectly square my own, the out-of-body feeling is even more pervasive! Good thing I know how to ground each day.)
One thing I do appreciate, though, is that I wouldn’t be doing this without you. Without this community. Every time I confront my fear of being seen, and speak up, I receive something from someone in this community that makes my journey a little brighter. I know that, in some way, I planned this. This journey is what I signed up to do this time around. But Holy Shit! I had a lot more belief in myself then than I do now. This has been one scary fucking ride. And it’s nowhere near done. I’m beyond grateful to you, and this community, for creating such a supportive place to come to.
Strawberrylaughter: The depth of your transformation is profound, and your willingness to share your journey is awe inspiring. I am glad you are choosing the life force.
Salamander, hooray! Congratulations on the interview, now go knock ’em dead! 🙂
DivaCarla: Thank you for sharing the synchronicity of your experience with the astrology. May your guidance to your group be as well received as you are welcome here.
be: Thank you for eruditely picking up on as sharing so eloquently the more subtle, deeper, and longer implications of Venus in Capricorn for four months. My prayers go out to your friend who had to be re-admitted to the hospital.
Lizzy: Thank you, i believe you have encapsulated the situation very well.
aword: Thank you. It is gratifying to know my small offering had such good results for you.
wandering_yeti: Once again, the depth of your wisdom, and your acute perception provide us with a valuable teaching. Thank you for sharing it here.
Strawberry: Thank you for sharing the cardinal point transit of Venus to your natal Jupiter, that is just as profound in its implications as the dreams you so generously shared as well As a matter of fact, there may well be a connection, and it may have to do with wellness.
aprillus: Thank you for sharing a very timely and pertinent lyric.
marymack: Thank you for your observation. May the long Venus transit serve you well.
Chief Niwots Son: Thank you once again for including the grace of your poetic insight.
Bette Loreen: Thank you for sharing how Venus will transit for you, and your anticipation of its implications – looks to be adventure itself as a container.
Kelly: You are very welcome.
Anna Surface: My heart (and i’m sure the hearts of others) goes out to at this time of loss. To know that my poor service has helped you in some small way is to receive a great gift. May you receive many gifts in kind to support you.
Salamander: Thank you. It is good to know you are on track, energized and in further action following the eclipses. May your scheduled meeting and plans proceed well.
Thank you for this interpretation of Venus in Capricorn. I’ll make sure to ground myself when waking up in order to start my day on the right foot!
With Neptune in Pisces, dancing is really in the spotlight too. ^^
In fact, I feel more grounded since yesterday. I’ve used the energy of the eclipse to come to terms with some core truths about myself and my purpose in life. It was pretty intense, but now I feel stronger.
I also have a day for my interview for part 2 of my internship, which will be next Thursday. I’m excited!
Eclipses bring on powerful dreams for me, & I want to share some of what I’ve got out of the one I woke up from this morning.
Early on in the dream, a group of us were standing in a circle, honoring the girl who chose to die. No blame or grief, just a ceremonial honoring of her choice. Next, I was given the choice on “this Ceres thing,” whether I would live or die. I, too, chose to die. So they did — whatever — to me, and I began to lose my life force. When I could tell my time was near, I called out to my mother, and we talked about how hard it is to follow your course when others don’t understand it. I clearly remember saying to her “Well, I know that ultimately, I will always do what’s right for me,” and she was surprised, asking “really?” And I repeated: “Yes, even when it’s awful, and hard to do, I will always do what’s right for me.” And then I died. (I’ve never died in a dream before.) The world went dark and I could take in no more air. (I think I actually stopped breathing, too, because I recall a sensation of gasping for air while my dream body was still dead.)
Then, in the way of dreams, I was alive again & being told that with “this Ceres thing,” if I want to do this, I have to choose life — as if my default setting is now death, & I have the responsibility to reverse that.
Through the rest of the night, through other dreams, this choice kept returning to me, and I kept putting it off. And then I woke up, never having made my choice.
The weight of the responsibility to reverse that earlier decision — which resonates through my journals going back for decades — fill me this morning. I have often chosen to die rather than fight; to abdicate my life force because others don’t understand what the fight is even about.
Lying in bed, piecing this all together, I could see how it resonated with your Long Dance, Len, and with Amanda’s Ceres-Venus(-Jupiter) ideas. But it’s also speaking to my longstanding Ceres-transiting Pluto-MH Grand earth trine. As if, for the first part of this Grand Trine, I’ve worked the Pluto end — death, isolation, transformation,… — and now, in order to truly live, I need to come up from the netherworld and switch to working the Ceres leg — the mortar keeping things together through nourishment, motherhood, fighting for what the world can’t afford to lose, feminine resilience & unbreakability,…. Ceres took on an interesting significance in both eclipses this cycle, including an odd “conjoining” of my Mars & Pluto as transiting Mars/Pluto were square.
Part of what I’m taking away from this right now is that I need to balance the two legs of this Trine to keep my Midheaven pointed in the right direction. The bow of the ship shows us where we’re going, but the rudder is in the stern.
You can bet I spent some solid time with bare feet on the floorboards before starting this day, Len. In fact, every footfall resonates with the responsibility to reverse that decision. Doing so completely may take a longtime daily practice. In a stroke of sheer coincidence 😉 the Universe handed me one yesterday. My gratitude for all you offer is bottomless.
P.S. Carla, thank you so very much!
My beloved stepfather passed away suddenly early Monday morning, and I lost my grounding. This morning, Wednesday, I came into Planet Waves to catch up on my reading; and alas, read this poignant, beautiful, and grounding expression by Len. Much needed and helped me catch my breath and put my feet on the ground.
Thank you, Len, and Blessings.
Strawberry Laughter– expansive gifts, you, yes!
Bette–feet planted and felt on the floor and up my body is necessary for moving on. First gratitude of the day with being upright, healthy, able. I didn’t realize it had become a habit, till now.
Thanks for the heads up Len!
Len, I feel you’ve illuminated something very important but often overlooked: how we come into awakening after sleep & begin our day. I have long found that what I consider “rude awakwenings” (alarm, phone, doorbell) can leave me feeling a bit off-kilter, & yes, ungrounded. It can take great effort to compensate for that & get oriented in my waking world.
Best of all are times when I waken naturally, because I am rested, & when I remember to stretch a bit in bed before sitting up & as you say, & getting “feet first & feeling it.”
Venus entering Capricorn is crossing my North node, which emphasizes the only Earth placement I have. The energy probably feels familiar both because of that & because I grew up surrounded by Earth sign people who, while they couldn’t understand me, probably provided a grounded “container” for all my fire & water energy.
When Venus turns retrograde, auspiciously on Winter Solstice, it will be on my 8th house cusp. That could be interesting, as she backtracks to again oppose my rising Saturn. This is the season of introspection anyway, & my winter work lies before me – art, more work on my dear old house & how I inhabit it – & some work on getting my often neglected body back into shape so that it better fits the rest of me. Any placement in Capricorn seems to work hard; Venus there would take beauty & the creation of beauty quite seriously, I would think.
Len- Thank you for presenting us with a pragmatic practice to embody the astrological energies we are now experiencing. This will become the long dance of Winter for those of us north of the equator, and the inward nature of the season adds spice to this goat stew.
aprilius- “Sure don’t know what I’m going for, but I’m gonna go for it for sure…”
Strawberrylaughter: Thank you for the wake up call, my Jupiter is 1+ of Cap, I’d best pay attention!
I’m very interested in hearing the comments on Venus’s transit in Capricorn. Id been sensing that Pluto’s transit has left a ravaged, scorched earth and now Venus comes along to bring life back into our physical structures, to foster growth after such a long dismal spell. With my natal Venus in Capricorn (and NN), she could not have come soon enough.
mmary
“I’m still walking, so I think that I can dance,
like a tiger in a trance”….Saint of Circumstance, The Grateful Dead
With Amanda’s post this morning, I was thinking that Venus meeting my 0Cap Jupiter brings an expansive note to this Venus-Ceres interaction, in terms of nurturing everything and realizing that the resources I have to offer are more expansive than I might be inclined to imagine. Your addition, Len, of the idea that this is a setup for Venus’ next 4 months brings, as always, a perspective both more broad and more intimate. This year has been about Ceres for me in so many ways. I look forward to gaining a better understanding of how these themes work in my life. And with Jupiter in the picture, I can already feel how grounding is going to be crucial. Thank you.
Her retro in Capricorn on the level of my secondary progressions that is. 1999-December 2012.
Everything you’ve said about Venus in Capricorn rings true to my ears, Len. With my natal Venus in Aquarius it took me the whole span of her retro in Capricorn to begin to grok the medicine of Venus acting like a goat. I guess that too is just part of the Capricorn spell: you can’t grok it in five minutes.
Len, once again you grounded me such that what I’m experiencing takes on a new dimension and makes some new sort of “sense”. Thank you.
Be, thank you as always for your “extras” and especially for mentioning Jupiter-Saturn at 0AQ in 2020. Natal Venus is placed at 0AQ so this gives me something to anticipate as I work toward my 2nd Saturn return.
Yes, thank you so much Len, for this wonderful piece, your precious advice. Venus in Capricorn seems to be there to make sure we’re assimilating and learning from the many challenges we have been are/are facing.
I wonder why that is Len, why Venus is intent on grounding us so thoroughly. Is it to balance out all the water we have dealt with and will continue to deal with throughout the winter? I only ask because my Venus is in air (!), but the “being there”, the intent of her long transit of Capricorn, seems to me to be a counter-balance; either to “right” us after being out of balance, or prepare us for a great “tipping” in the future.
I see that the north node will leave Scorpio about the same time Venus will leave Capricorn, and at that time in early March, the north node at 29 Libra (almost exactly conjunct Mars stationing retrograde) and the south node at 29 Aries, Venus will be at 29 Capricorn square them both at the north bending.
I’m also thinking that 29 Capricorn is only one degree from where the next Jupiter-Saturn conjunction will take place, 0 Aquarius, in 2020. It will be a very important time, especially from a societal perspective. Saturn and Jupiter will trine each other (from water signs) in December while Venus is direct in Capricorn. And later, after she retrogrades and then leaves Capricorn, Jupiter and Saturn will trine each other again in May – from the same degrees as December’s trine. It seems certain now that Venus’ emphasis on Capricorn-the-sign and earth-the-element is a kind of preparation – a balancing/grounding process for us on Earth to prepare us for the Scorpio-Cancer deluge. Pisces too! By that time (May 2014) Chiron will make it a grand trine in water!
Sunday’s eclipse manifested for us in that the friend who had the cancer surgery (3rd one) out of state was being brought home when he got very ill and had to go back to the hospital and be re-admitted. The doctors found he had developed pneumonia and also they found an obstruction in his bowel. Now we are wondering if the cancer surgery was even necessary since the symptoms that sent him there are the same he presented at re-admission. I know that’s more information than you want or need but when you wrote “there is a distinct possibility that your existence felt less physical” after the eclipse, it encapsulated how we all felt, especially for my seriously ill friend.
I can’t thank you enough for your uncanny ability to decipher the stars, and for the wisdom to clarify and share Venus’ purpose for the next 4 months. I will remember your words every time I hit the deck (mornings and after every nap!!!) Bless you Len.
be
You gave me a start with Long Dance in your title, Len. We have a Long Dance here some years, and this is when we do it, after the nights get long, and before the snow gets deep. Thank you. I am commencing a time of grounding in my body next week, and I am guiding a group of women in a process of grounding in the body. Who knew till today that Venus is grounding in Capricorn for 4 months. As per Amanda’s earlier post, wonder how she’ll take to so much earth.
I see how I shall spend my winter. In the body.