The Moon is in Taurus for the weekend where she loves to be. In this Earth sign, the Moon helps us filter our experience through the five senses. Am I comfortable? What do I need to feel relaxed and at peace? This is an opportunity to find ease and a deep satisfaction in the simple pleasures of life. Take advantage of this beautiful weekend to nurture yourself.
Venus in Capricorn-January 23 to February 16, 2016
The ingress of Venus in the sign of Capricorn augurs a period of contraction. When the bud of a flower is preparing for spring, she keeps all her life juices within her to sustain and nourish future blooming. The process might seem grim or daunting but it remains an essential step towards the respite and the ease that will come from this type of inward focus.
Venus is concerned with things of beauty. She stares at her own reflection through art, music, love and attraction. She is happy in the signs of Taurus and Libra.
Venus in Capricorn is ruled by Saturn who is in Sagittarius at the moment. Our values will naturally orient themselves towards what can be gain in the long-term and the beauty of gazing at the land from great heights. For a few weeks, we might find ourself attracted to the wisdom of well established authority figures and what they have to teach us in regards to tradition. Watch for themes around aging gracefully, a renewed appreciation for classic movies or classic figures in the art, age difference in relationships, the deep and enduring love that only comes from lifelong commitments, the place and value of the elder in our society.
Venus in Capricorn is an ambitious climber and she loves time-tested systems. While Venus is in Capricorn, we might notice a shift in what brings us pleasure, perhaps even postponing pleasure to gain something more rewarding in the future. The process of letting something age reveals the most delectable flavours when it comes to wine, cheese or bread making. The same idea can be applied to our own internal process. Refinement happens with time and reveals complexities that are not possible if we rush the process. Real authority, beauty and ease takes time. Wisdom has a price and one of them is aging.
Some good questions to ask yourself:
How am I structuring my time at the moment between work and pleasure?
Who are my teachers and what attracts me to their teachings?
What does aging gracefully means to me?
Venus/Pluto on February 6, 2016: Beauty standards and the patriarchy
Venus conjunct Pluto in Capricorn for a few days in the first week of February. This is a zone of the zodiac that has been under deep excavation. Whatever was unearthed in the last few years collectively will continue to permeate our awareness. To a large extent, this has to do with the crumbling of the current patriarchal structures that are not sustainable for the earth, a need to create space and honour the feminine and the marginalised and to find other ways of managing our resources. The corruption and the rot from the old systems are slowly surfacing on a collective level but also from the dark corners of our individual self.
A question for the upcoming Venus/Pluto conjunction: What stale values about your body or unrealistic beauty standards are you ready to let go?
Keep in mind that this period requires a lot of foresight and a lot of work and that it is a necessary process. I am hoping to write more on this particular aspect in the days to come but regardless, you have all the answers that you need within you.
*For an in-depth look at Venus in Capricorn and how her conjunction to Pluto might affect you, a closer look at your natal chart and to the house she is transiting in is required.
Because of the more Cardinal and Mutable elements at work in the astrology of the moment, I haven’t spent much time talking about Venus in Scorpio. Faithful to herself, she has remained present and powerful but only to those who want to access her.
Friday is the day of the Goddess Venus so let’s spend a few minutes looking at Venus in Scorpio.
VENUS ♀
In astrology, Venus symbolizes pleasure, beauty and what we value. What brings us pleasure can vary greatly depending on the person. For some its money or a beautiful home while others will find joy in a table full of food and good company. She rules over relationships and desires, commitments and marriage.
Venus’s domain is usually a comfortable and harmonious one. The contours are soft and pleasing to the eyes. The air feels good on the skin and there is a faint aroma of flowers in bloom like the breeze on a warm summer night. Venus is irresistibly attractive and confident.
On our quest for pleasure, we must not overlook the fierceness of Venus. The cautionary tale of Paris and the Golden Apple is perhaps a great example of her treacherous qualities. The strategic use of beauty and intelligent charm can be a great assets in social gatherings and even politics but the choices we make under her spell can also be disastrous.
VENUS IN SCORPIO ♏︎-December 4th to December 30th
If you want to know passion, you have to be willing to pass through the fires of hell
Venus in Scorpio craves intimacy. She is not looking for a superficial encounter. She wants to merge and devour. There is a fatality here that we do not find in the rest of the zodiac. Venus in Scorpio will not be content with a walk in the garden. She needs to own and transform herself through her encounters. Even though Venus in Scorpio might be extremely secretive her power to seduce runs deep.
Questionable means might be employed to get the object of desire as Venus in Scorpio leave her good manners at the door. This can be an extremely charismatic placement that endows the native with the power to draw to themselves what they want.
December 18 and onward…
Tomorrow on December 19, Venus in Scorpio trine Chiron in Pisces while Pluto the modern ruler of Scorpio conjunct Mercury. This can be an opportunity to bring healing to our more personal relationships and a desire to connect and relate deeply and truthfully to another . We could feel vulnerable so making sure that conversations happens in a safe space is extremely important.
Venus in Scorpio and Pluto’s territory have to be approach with as much awareness as possible. This is the instinctual realm. There could be an urge to dominate a situation, a conversation or at its worst a person. Paying attention to power struggles, manipulation and jealousy might prevent the more unpleasant symptoms of these powerful aspects.
With Venus in Scorpio for the rest of the month we are invited to step into the transformational waters of intimacy. In our quest for love, let’s embrace the deep and complex mysteries of others.
Safe journey
Venus just moved into the sign of Libra where she will stay until December 5. Venus adores being here in the sign of her rulership. Clean the mirrors around your house to welcome and worship her. Since Libra is linked to partnership, we should expect a bit more ease in the relating department.
Venus is officially disappearing from the sunset glare and has begun her underworld journey to be reborn in the morning sky on the 20th/21st. Venus is the brightest planet and third-brightest sky object overall, after the Sun and Moon. When it’s visible, it’s very prominent in our sky. Venus will pass nearly 8 degrees south of the sun as seen from our earthly perspective on August the 15th (astronomically speaking) at the heart of her retrograde cycle. ”Mythically speaking this is when Venus enters the heart of the sun, the inner chambers of the golden, royal light.” [1]
If you are blessed with an unobstructed horizon in the direction of sunrise, you will probably see Venus low in the east, about an hour before sunrise, sometime during the last week of August, 2015 where she will regain her place in the morning sky. [2]
Back in the days, the Greeks would call Venus Phospheros (= Bringer of Light) when she appeared just before dawn and Hesperos (= the western one) when she appeared in the evening. The Roman equivalents were Lucifer (= the light bringer) and Vesper (= evening), respectively. [3]
The period when Venus disappears from the evening sky is best used for inner reflection, release and renewal. Her mythic journey into the underworld is a metaphor to help us go within and recover our lost treasures. An opportunity to retrieve our innermost felt values and qualities and bring them back out into the light so that we can relate better to others and to ourselves. Continuing with the Venus retrograde themes that we have worked on for the last couple of weeks: Our relationship to relationships. Our relationship to ourselves. Our relationship to beauty, love and desires. Reflecting on the many reflections. What we see in the mirror. What we see in each other’s eyes. What we want to see in others versus who they really are.
Have fun with it. It’s been a rough journey and Saturn hasn’t been making it easy for all things Venusian.
After all, Venus is our connection to pleasure.
★
Beauty and Grace
Love and desire
Cultivating the flame
The eternal fire
Drinking at the source
found in the darkest cave
So that we can recognise
thirst from satiety.
★
[1] http://chaninicholas.com/new-moon-in-leo-horoscopes-for-the-week-of-august-10th-2/
[2] http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/visible-planets-tonight-mars-jupiter-venus-saturn-mercury
9th House 