Venus Retrograde: May 13-14 to
June 24-25, 2020
Listening with the Heart
Aphrodite's Bath
All archetypal images transform
over time, although the basic archetype stays the same. When it is
no longer relevant, the archetypal image becomes a stereotype, which
in turn needs to die so the archetype can be reborn in a new image.
This is true of all archetypal energies – they want to be
continually moving and transforming.
When planets retrograde, it
indicates a time to stop and take a breath and reconsider what we're
doing. Retrograde planets give us the opportunity to re-think,
re-do, re-novate, re-consider, re-structure and re-view what's been
happening. With all the retrogrades this week, we are heading into
the real season of transformation. Our isolation was just the setup.
While Saturn and Jupiter speak
more to our collective life, Venus is subjective and personal,
especially for women. So while we'll talk about the collective
energies of Pluto, Jupiter and Saturn challenging Venus retrograde,
let's concentrate on Venus first.
Venus goes retrograde when her
orbit brings her between the Earth and the Sun. She is closest to us
as well as being an Evening Star. Once she disappears into the glare
of the Sun, she will emerge about 5 days later as a Morning Star. 9
months later, Venus will slip behind the Sun (furthest away from
Earth) and become an Evening Star.
Evening Star Venus
The Morning Star energizes a new
feminine experience while the Evening Star gathers the wisdom she has
gleaned from the Morning Star and dispenses it to us. Other
astrologers say that her Morning Star phase is the Warrior while her
Evening Star phase is the Lover. The alternating rhythm is one of
extroversion/out-breath and introversion/in-breath.
As you can see, the heavens are
always declaring the need for transformation, and this month we'll be
experiencing it both personally through Venus and collectively
through the Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter retrogrades. The Saturn, Pluto
and Jupiter retrogrades will be a time to re-focus on societal issues
like power dynamics, social structures, work and opportunity.
Through our Venus retrograde, we can work to decide what social
structures are valuable to us and which are not.
Aphrodite & the 9 Muses
Venus rules the arts and those
are suffering under this global shut-down, just when we need them
more than ever. Artists everywhere are shut off from the places
where they can share their work. This is another issue that Venus in
Gemini wants to re-consider.
The planet Venus was always
important to the ancient astronomers because of it's consistent orbit
around the Sun but especially because it makes a perfect 5-pointed
star (a pentagram) every 8 years. This pentagram geometric pattern
Venus makes in the heavens evokes feelings of harmony, beauty, love
and peace. It is also associated with the 'golden mean' of the
Fibonacci Series as Venus moves from a Morning Star to an Evening
Star then back to a Morning Star.
Arielle Guttman has written a book on this cycle called Venus Star Rising where she describes the Venus cycle. In our present
cycle, Venus changes from Morning to Evening to Morning Star in these
5 signs beginning with this Gemini (MS), Capricorn (ES), Leo (MS),
Aries (ES), Scorpio (MS) then back to Gemini as an Evening Star in
2024.
Venus crossing the face of the Sun
Every 130 years or so, Venus
aligns twice in 8 years on the same plane as the Earth and Sun and we
see her passing over the face of the Sun, This happened in 2004 and
2012, both in the sign of Gemini, and to me it indicates that we are
heading into a new connection with the Divine Feminine, one that
wants us to be knowledgeable and wise, socially responsible,
confident in our self-expression and creativity, courageous with
pioneering new visions and possibilities, and capable of
transformation and deep change.
The New Feminine for our
times. Open to deep listening and learning, open to
courteous conversations using both the left and right brains, open to
all possibilities until the one which is our truth comes to live in
us.
Mercury will be in Gemini for
part of this Venus retrograde cycle, from May 11th to May
28th, when Venus disappears into the rays of the Sun
before emerging in the morning sky on June 11th. This
can help us communicate the values that Venus is re-considering. Is
going back to 'normal' the best thing for Mother Earth and for our
health? Is money more important than Love? Do we want partnership
relationships rather than hierarchical ones? Can we create a world
that embraces the feminine values of love, harmony, equality, peace
and community rather than our present society based on war, greed,
rampant consumerism, environmental destruction and inequality?
Venus has been traveling through
Gemini since April 3, 2020 and will finally go into Cancer on August
7, 2020 – a 4 month stay rather than her usual 4 weeks visit. So
what can we learn about the value of love, beauty, wisdom, sexuality
and the arts during her stay in Gemini?
Gemini is the sign of the Twins.
In Greek mythology, it's about Castor and Pollux. One twin was
mortal while the other was immortal. To me this symbolizes the need
to balance our intuitive immortal brain with our rational mortal
brain, since our right brain picks up our relationship with Mother
Earth and life, while our left brain develops separately in each of
us.
Mercury is the ruler of Gemini
and is considered the Messenger God. So we can say that Gemini is
about communicating and delivering messages. With Venus in Gemini,
the hope is that we can do it kindly with wit and style, when people
are so radically separated by their beliefs, and learn to have
conversations with an open mind.
This is the energy of the lunar
nodes now being in Gemini-Sagittarius: we need to step away from our
limiting beliefs (Sagittarius) and be open-minded about information
(Gemini) so we can embrace new beliefs (Sagittarius) that will bring harmony and
peace to a fearful society.
This is also a time to look at
our relationships. The old patriarchal form of relationship was a
patriarchal dominator model – meaning that men had some right of
ownership over his wife and children. We say not anymore, but
that's not true for so many women around the world.
Gemini is so androgynous that it
can help us imagine all sorts of relationships that are partnership
based. This is a great time to examine our unconscious behavior
regarding our partnerships and our 'obligations' to them.
Dana Gerhardt, a great astrologer, has a 40 day meditation to do during this retrograde. You can check it out here.
Dana Gerhardt, a great astrologer, has a 40 day meditation to do during this retrograde. You can check it out here.
I've decided that during this
Venus retrograde cycle, I want to look at the ancient stories of
Venus/Aphrodite/Astarte/Isis/Inanna. The Stories of the Archetypal
pattern of the divine feminine. The 40 day journey of Venus in the
underworld is a quest to reclaim all those parts of the feminine that
have been repressed, disregarded and controlled.
Botticelli's Venus
I'll be telling stories about Venus/Aphrodite online every Friday, Venus' own day, through July, which I hope you'll tune into. I'll be posting them on FaceBook and on this Wisdom blog:
Venus symbolizes the power of
connection. With all the social distancing, we still need to stay
connected, otherwise we lose the most important part of our humanity.
So find new ways to express your love, your hopes and your ideals.
Blessings on us all!
Cathy
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