Now that we have the Sun joining retrograde Mercury in Scorpio, you may be starting to notice a sense of astrological undertow — a kind of visceral pull toward the feelings, experiences and ideas Scorpio is known for. It’s a pull that can lead you to transformation whether you want it or not. Saying ‘yes’ to the journey can take on many shapes and flavors; right now, one version relates to the way infatuation can function like a drug.
The configuration shaping up involves Pholus and Ixion in Sagittarius. We encountered them earlier in the week, in an aspect related to co-dependency and our culture’s alcohol abuse. On Friday, Venus joins the conversation by conjoining those two minor planets in Sagittarius.
Since Venus is the planet of love and Pholus can take a small cause and spin it into something bigger, Venus-Pholus in Sagittarius has the potential to help any groovy love-and-sex adventures to really take off. They might even feel (or be) a bit ‘cosmic’.
Ixion, however, puts an edge on things. Signifying ‘anyone is capable of anything’, Ixion could heighten the more cavalier ‘gotta be me/gotta be free’ element of Venus in Sagg. While not a bad thing in itself, it could be challenging for many people — whether experiencing it in a partner (fear of losing them) or within oneself (guilt for needing/desiring independence).
What happens, though, when we look at Venus-Pholus-Ixion in a broader cultural sense? Through that lens, it can begin taking a shape that’s closer to the addictive behavior patterns (co-dependency and alcoholism) that came up in Tuesday’s Daily Astrology column. In this incarnation, we get ‘infatuation as a drug’.
How often have you noticed yourself or a friend getting obsessed with the chemical-emotional high that comes with new relationships, until it starts to look like drug-seeking behavior? How many people do you know for whom a relationship just doesn’t seem ‘right’ or satisfying or ‘fun’ once the bloom is off the proverbial rose — and then it’s back on the hunt again?
There’s little or no chance in that game for genuine intimacy — being honest; vulnerable; communicative; receptive; generous; open about fears and shortcomings, as well as desires and joy. Chemistry only gets us so far, which can be scary. That fear coupled with the sugar-high of infatuation can keep people trapped in behaviors and patterns of relating that block them from true connection (both with others and within themselves).