Venus retrograde is upon us and with Venus retrograding between the alpha sign of Aries and the Omega sign of pisces- we can find significant things in our lives coming full circle to points of completion, fruition, endings of the old with new beginnings on the horizon! Opportunities for dealing with/healing the past are present- but it requires that we face our past, take responsibility for our part in it and do something radically different in our lives to change trajectories we have been on (personally but also collectively). Read on for more info about the Underworld journey of the Goddess of Love, relationship, finances, values and self worth!
The most defining signature of this Venus Retrograde is her trigger of the Saturn/Chiron square. This very intense transit began in late December 2016 and will be with us all throughout 2017. Saturn and Chiron are the two heavy hitter planets- they both bring us face to face with deep core patterning and wounds. Saturn is the inner critical voice we have the we often heard first in childhood.
Saturn is the patriarch and can speak to father issues, but it can also highlight mother wounds too (particularly if our Mother was more Saturn-like than our father). Saturn is where we are hard on ourselves, don’t feel good enough and can be perfectionist, controlling and shut down emotionally. If we don’t express these energies ourselves then we can experience them coming at us in the form of cold, critical parents and partners. Ultimately Saturn in the chart and in the skies is asking us to step up in self mastery and maturity by facing karmic patterns (personal, ancestral, collective) and healing them/shifting them into strengths and gifts. Where our Saturn is in the natal chart is where we have big time lessons- but also big time opportunities to step into our personal authority in powerful ways.
Chiron is the Wounded Healer and he speaks to where our biggest wounds and pain are. They are not the wounds and pain that will go away when we find the magic wand to make the disappear. They are the wounds and pain that are deeply rooted and we need to develop more self-love, self-awareness and self-reflection in order to see them clearly- which then helps us shift our relationship with our wounds so they no longer run us Unconscious. Chiron governs enlightenment and healing but this process only comes by way of moving through the darkness/shadow and wounds/pain first.
So you put the two together- Saturn square Chiron- and you can see that some of our BIGGEST stuff can be up right now- personally and collectively. Where we hold ourselves back and are hard on ourselves OR where we check out, choose denial and escapism- both ends of the spectrum can be exacerbated right now.
Venus will trigger this configuration 3 times- she cojoined chiron exact once on January 24th just before she went into her front end shadow (more on that below)- but at the end of her retrograde journey she will come close to chiron again when she stations direct april 15th within 22 minutes of being exact. Venus/chiron highlights big time wounds and pain in relationship, with women, in our self worth and self Love and in our values. This aspect brings opportunities for profound healing but this comes by way of facing and going into the pain- as well as being willing to take the idealistic, spiritual by-passing glasses off so we can see and own our part and also discern what is is another’s part in the wounding dance.
Venus will square Saturn a total of 3 times! Her first square to the Lord of Karma was on January 27th just before she entered her front end shadow (exact January 30th– for more specific date info scroll down to the bottom of this blog). Interestingly this was right smack in the middle of Mercury’s trigger of pluto and Uranus- bringing some wake up/shake up energy into communications, thinking and information revealed (personally and publicly). Her 2nd and 3rd squares are right around Venus’ station direct on April 15th. We have a very potent portal of time from April 5th to April 21st where Saturn will station retrograde on the 5th with venus squaring stationary Saturn on the 8th. Then Venus stations direct on the 15th and just days later she squares Saturn again on the 21st. this is a very tight window with two Venus/Saturn squares while both planets are stationary.
Stationary planets are the most powerful as their energy is most powerfully felt when they are at a standstill. Michael Lutin says ‘the slowest planet wins’ and typically the slowest planets are the Outer planets Uranus, Neptune, Pluto- and also Saturn and Chiron- but when a planet is stationary it becomes the slowest so personal planets like Venus can become more powerful than the outer planets during stations retrograde or direct. During this period of time from April 5th through 21st we have both Venus and Saturn stationary and in square aspect to boot. This is very, very powerful! Venus is exalted in pisces- a sign she is well expressed in. I see the venus/Saturn square as reality checks around idealism, fantasy and blind compassion- but Saturn can also help to root and ground Venus’ unconditional Love and can help us to see what is worth our deep commitment.
This period of time is VERY IMPORTANT when it comes to relationships, business partnerships, finances and what we value most. Critical points of decision are present. With Venus within 22 minutes of Chiron and square Saturn- we need to take a good, hard look at where old wounds, pain, restriction, karma and/or ancestral patterns are running us. Interestingly right around the station Venus also sextiles Mars (exact April 16th)- so we have the Divine Lovers in a sweet aspect. Mars makes a harmonious aspect to Chiron, but a tense one to Saturn- whereas Venus makes tense aspects to both Saturn and Chiron. The Mars/Chiron sextile is a healing outlet here. Mars in Taurus is about taking tangible action to make life more safe, secure, peaceful and harmonious. Mars in Taurus thinks before he acts and looks before he leaps. Mars in Taurus is very attentive to what is, the material world and staying rooted and grounded in the embodied experience. Where Venus in Pisces wants to transcend and dream- Mars in Taurus is her anchoring rod. Bodywork and embodiment practices like yoga, tai chi and the link can be very helpful during Mars’ transit through this earthy sign.
Venus Retrograde is traditionally a time to reevaluate things- our relationships, our values, our self worth and self Love, our finances and more. It’s not a time to start new things- it’s a time to deal with the past. For example it’s not a time to start a new relationship and if you do it is likely to be very karmic. It’s not a time to get married or start a new business partnership either. When we start new things during Venus’ retrograde we are not seeing the whole picture- it’s like looking through a glass darkly. Yet interestingly if we are looking at existing relationships and/or things from the past we can actually see things more clearly- as Venus’ retrograde helps us to see the past more clearly (hence her backwards direct).
One last thing I would like to share is the Star Sparks meditations for 14 Aries (where venus stations retrograde) and 27 Pisces (where Venus stations direct) as channeled by Ellias Lonsdale. They are very insightful and for the entire text read below. The 14 Aries degree talks about us being distracted, following habits and doing whatever looks good. He says we have “A stubborn adherence to the code of doing what we please and taking the consequences. An almost belligerent stance of giving power to what is earthbound and limited and dense. The wide-eyed conviction that impulse and instant, desire and need constitute the basis for existence.” WOW- is that not an apt write up about western culture right now? We do things in the moment without thinking of the consequences in the future- personally, globally and more. Venus in Aries wants what she wants and wants is NOW- yet Venus retrograde in Aries is asking us to stop and reflect on our desires and really see if they are 1) healthy for us and 2) something we are thinking we need to find fulfillment within when ultimately this deep self-Love and wholeness cannot be Sourced from without.
Now look at the meditation for 27 Pisces! This degree is the opposite of 14 Aries. Where 14 Aries talks about what we chase externally- 27 Pisces is about the deep well spring within. Ellias says this is a degree of “staying present deep under and never needing to surface. It’s the underground world of the Knowers” and is deeply connected to the Unconscious. Again we have this image of Alpha (Aries) and Omega (Pisces): The surface and the depths, the conscious and the Unconscious, the ego self and the Soul. With Venus stationing retrograde on a degree that is asking us to go deeper than the surface and with her station direct on a degree that is about accessing the deepest levels of the Unconscious- I see this Venus retrograde as a huge opportunity to dive deep and go way beyond the surface of what we think we need, think we Love, think we desire- to get to the core underpinnings and patterns underneath. This is apt for Saturn square Chiron- as I said in previous blogs this is a year to do deep inner work to get to the root and core of patterns we have been playing out, perhaps for lifetimes. Until we are willing to face these patterns they run us Unconsciously and they become our Karma. When we choose to go deep, face the shadows, own our part in acting them out- then we are empowered to change. Then we move from karma to dharma- moving from the easy path we default to the harder path of growing past our edges and evolving past our limitations and handicaps. This is definitely a powerful Venus Retrograde- so use it wisely!
Blessings…
~Divine Harmony
VENUS RETROGRADE DATES:
Venus RETRO 2017
End of jan 2017 through may 2017
1/24- venus conjunct chiron 22’00 pisces
1/26- venus quincunx Jupiter 22’57
1/27- venus square Saturn 24’12 sadge
***triggers Saturn/Chiron square)
(mercury conjunct pluto- 1/29, square Uranus 1/31)
Venus front end shadow begins when she hits 26’54 pisces- 1/30 (right in middle of mercury/pluto square Uranus)
2/1- venus 28’39 pisces trine BML scorpio
2/3- venus into aries
2/8- venus in aries quincunx NN in virgo
2/10- mercury in aqua sextile evnus aries
3/4- venus stations RETROGRADE at 13’08 aries (1:09am PST)
3/18- mercury conjunct venus RX 9’05 aries
3/25- sun conjunct venus RX 4’57 aries
(midpoint of the Venus Retro cycle)
Venus trine BML in sagittarius
3/30- venus RX quincunx NN 1’30 virgo
4/2- venus back into pisces
4/5- Saturn stations RETRO 27’47 sadge
4/8- venus square stationary retro Saturn 27’47
(sun square pluto 19’21)
(4/9 mercury RETRO 4’50 taurus- ruled by venus)
4/15- venus stations DIRECT 26’54 pisces
4/16- venus sextiles mars in Taurus ALGOL
(mars sextile chiron same day- so venus conjunct chiron sextile mars***)
(4/17- sun in aries trine Saturn, mars in Taurus quincunx Saturn- both masculine planets aspecting Saturn)
(4/20- pluto RETROGRADE 19’23 capricorn)
(Also mercury into aries)
(4/21- mars into gemini)
4/21- venus square Saturn RX 27’36 pisces- 3rd and final venus/Saturn square
(mars square nodes 0’21 virgo)
4/28- venus back into aries
Venus quincunx NN 0’00 virgo*** (critical degree)
Nodes move into leo and aquarius (6:29am)
(mercury RX conjunct Uranus)
4/30- Saturn RX square chiron 27’18 (2nd of 3 squares)
(5/3- mercury direct 24’15 aries)
5/14- venus trine BML 10’03
Venus OUT OF SHADOW 5/18
5/19- venus opp Jupiter RX 13’52 libra
5/25- venus in aries square pluto RX
(first aspects venus makes after moving out of shadow- triggering Jupiter square Pluto)
STAR SPARKS MEDITATIONS (by Ellias Lonsdale)
VENUS RETROGRADE STATION:
14 ARIES
Aries 14 An apple tree-many rotten apples on the ground around it.
Structural deficiencies. Lack of discernment. Gaps in terms of staying present and on target. Wandering off into the bushes, into every conceivable distraction and diversion. Gifted with so much energy and awareness that it feels like we can afford to follow our desires and habits, to take on whatever looks good and play it out as far as possible.
Somewhere deep inside, learning that this is happening in this way, yet provoked by this consciousness and conscience to play it out even more extravagantly. Knowing better and being beyond the game, the syndrome, the trap, while simultaneously being superior to ourselves, getting away with perpetuating rebellions and reactivations, simply because we feel justified.
A stubborn adherence to the code of doing what we please and taking the consequences. An almost belligerent stance of giving power to what is earthbound and limited and dense. The wide-eyed conviction that impulse and instant, desire and need constitute the basis for existence.
A primal naïveté. An almost innocent advocacy of the free life. Yet shadowed all the while by a muffled central voice which never tires of what we are doing, where we are weak and susceptible, and how funny and sad and miserable and impossible it all is.
Ultimately, the perseverance to outlast binges and syndromes galore. The strength to bear up to this weakness. The courage to get through what fear and doubt generate. And the prodigal forces of will to see right through self-dreaming notions, whatever this takes.
A blunt direct presence of force and drive and narrow intent. Just caught up on the edges with everything-but. Down the middle, it comes to a battleground with self which can go either way. If there is mastery, lifetimes of stuff can be transmuted into freedom and joy. The stakes are high. That’s the way we like it.
VENUS DIRECT STATION
27 PISCES
Pisces 27 A ritual sand painting
There is an elegance, a refinement, an intricate design. It has been laid there by nature, by the forces of the Earth. When human souls take it up, they are led to stick very close to the Earth’s subtle winding patterns. There are infinite variations. But all of these come down to tracking between the Earth’s reverberating depths and the deep soundings of the soul.
This realm is vastly non-verbal. It is intrinsic, implicit, goes with the territory. You have to be in there to get it. Even when you’re in there each moment shifts, although nothing stays the same. The paradox of great flux and immutable constancy forms the vessel.
People would say that this frequency is unconscious. That would mean; no mind can explain it, no self can claim it, no past can tell you where to go. It is unconscious. But when you are naturally attuned at those depths, the last thing needed is intrusion of the outer mind to try to get on top of the situation. There is no top. There is no situation.
This is the native sensibility of those who can’t get away from the design, the living mandala, the wondrous perfection that is here. To be authentic to interior experience is everything. But it won’t fit in with any schemes. You can’t do anything with it, except trace those flows and become them.
On the inside, this is a magnificent facility at staying present deep under and never needing to surface. It’s the underground world of the Knowers. You can do a whole lot here if you can remain naïve to the process