Venus retro in Capricorn | december 19, 2021 - January 29, 2022 - part 1 - 40 days and 40 nights to re-assess what we love and value

 

I am posting this on December 10th - Venus is in Cappy, moving forward. The Moon is waxing (growing). The personal planets are all moving forward. Only Uranus, Ceres and Chiron are retrograde. Venus is starting to slow as she approaches her upcoming retrograde, but this is still a time when we want to be TAKING ACTION. This week, we have some advisements against going-too-big, BUT it's not a time to be sitting still. 

 

So, for now forward action, but in nine days Venus will station retrograde and that will be a whole other story. What story? Well, let's unpack it.

 

With Venus in Cappy we are attracting what we want/need through Cappy behaviors - being sober, competent, realistic, goal-oriented, smart/funny, patient, structured/stable, being a boss. People born with Venus in Cappy probably like to be seen this way and are attracted to partners who are like this (of course, there are other chart factors that will influence this). 

 

For our lovely, benevolent Venus this is something like being a young adult woman living in her father's house. There are rules.

 

Venus goes retrograde every eighteen months and every eight years Venus will retrograde through the same sign. This pulls us back to late 2013/early 2014. You might find similar situations/themes at play in your life this time through. You can also go back sixteen years, twenty four years, etc.

 

If we were to draw a map of these retrograde points in her eight year cycles we would draw a five pointed star. And if we drew a map of these Venus retrograde points (named Venus Star Points) over long periods of time we would draw a perfect and graceful five petal flower/a delicate piece of sacred geometry showing us something of our own Venusian nature's kinship with beauty, balance, love and connection.

Since the 1980's (when Aquarius and Virgo cycled out) Venus has cycled through retrogrades in Aries, Capricorn, Gemini, Leo and Scorpio. Over the next ten years Aries and Scorpio will cycle out and Libra and Pisces will cycle in (more signifiers of the gentler and more cooperative years ahead, I think). 

 

So, different generations of people are born into, and live through, different Venus Star Points. 

 

Venus retrograde - all 40 days and 40 nights - will have us re-assessing BIG themes in our lives.

 

On December 19th, Venus will station retrograde (a few hours before Chiron stations direct) at 26 degrees Capricorn with an EXACT conjunction to Pluto. She will get all the way back to 11 degrees Capricorn on January 29th (hours before our annual New Moon in Aquarius). 

November 5, 2021 - Venus enters Capricorn - sobers up/starts answering to Saturn
November 17, 2021  - Venus reaches 11 degrees (starting her retrograde shadow)
December 19, 2021 - Venus stations retrograde - 26 degrees

January 8, 2022 - Venus meets the Sun - midpoint of Venus retrograde cycle - new beginning for Sun/Venus, CLARITY about our Venus retro story-line

January 29, 2022 - Venus stations direct - 11 degrees
March 1, 2022 - Venus reaches 26 degrees (ending her retrograde shadow/cycle) and then starts covering new ground

 

People with planets/points between 11-26 degrees Capricorn (and the other cardinal signs through squares and oppositions - Aries, Libra and Cancer) will probably be most strongly impacted, but Venus is a personal sign ruling our relationships/money/self-esteem, EVERYONE will feel this one. 

 

So, when Venus goes INTO Capricorn - and this is in play as I post this - tradition/nostalgia will become a focus - maybe the way something has always been done. This doesn't mean we have to continue doing things the way we've always done them, but these things will come to our attention now. We get more serious about money. Our careers/the way we show up in the world. Our reputation, Our authority. We get more serious about love, too. If something isn't going anywhere, this can be the transit we cut it loose. Our focus returns to what is real. We attract stability and longer lasting success/love/money by finishing what we start and honoring our commitments.

 

While Venus stations retrograde, we will be re-thinking this whole boss-girl thing. Maybe the way we value ourselves, and other people, only when we/they are being productive/working. The whole 'feeling we have to earn love' is very Venus in Capricorn, so maybe now we are rethinking this. Old situations where we worked too hard/not hard enough or where we didn't quite measure up will be re-hashed in our heads. Again think - young woman in her father's house.

 

During Venus retrograde we will be doing the "re's" (re-do, re-assess, re-value, re-connect, etc) with Venusian themes - women, beauty, art, love, money, our resources, our values and self-esteem. Someone from our past could re-appear. An old way of making art or love or money could re-appear. A situation we have been through before with Cappy themes could reappear. We will be "reviewing" what we value. In Cappy, this will also play out through your natal Capricorn house theme and the collective themes of - our career, the way we show up in the world, the way we deal with authority/step into our own, our commitments, our fathers, our paternal heritage, our karma, our goals, our reputation.

 

This time period will be asking us, through the situations that transpire/the people who show up - to re-look at how we are investing our time, energy, and resources.

 

With Venus meeting Pluto multiple times, some things will not be coming with us ...

 

 During this cycle Venus is going to meet Pluto three times. So, although a Venus retrograde in Cappy has a Venus/Saturn (ruler of Capricorn) flavor - this one will also have a strongly Venus/Pluto vibe.

 

Venus stations retrograde attached at the hip to powerful Pluto. Merge/purge. Scorpian themes are pulled into the Venus/Cappy mix. So, this is almost like two transits - the Venus/Saturn (Venus in Cappy retrograde answering to Saturn) and the Venus/Pluto. 

 

With Venus/Pluto, things can feel very life and death - whether or not they actually are, this is all designed to show us clearly WHAT WE REALLY VALUE. There could be a death - figurative or literal. An ending. An inheritance situation. A tax situation. A loan situation. Intimacy issues. Reproduction issues. Obsession, compulsion, manipulation, power plays.

Venus/Pluto always makes me think of the way a caterpillar turns into a butterfly - it's fun and educational for kids to watch the chrysalis inside one of those net/cage thinga-ma-jigs, but wouldn't be so much fun for them if they could see what was actually happening INSIDE that chrysalis.

 

This part gets gross, so skip this paragraph if you've just stuffed yourself with all those holiday cookies that didn't look good enough to gift .. with Venus/Pluto we are the caterpillar who is digesting herself into the butterfly. 

 

I wrote about my own Venus/Pluto transit a few years ago (back when Pluto was in Sagittarius and met three times over two years with my natal Venus which is on the Galactic Center). The next couple months is kind of a mini-collective version of that. We have transiting Venus back and forth over Pluto. I had transiting Pluto back and forth over Venus - a much longer/intense/dark night of the soul transit. 

 

It's not the same, but there are similarities, so I'll unpack it a little at the bottom of this post.

 

You probably won't be dealing with things exactly like these, but this might give you a feeling for the kind of 'flavor' Venus/Pluto can bring. Secrets, buried truths. Intimacy issues. Merged money issues. Life/death. There is an intensity.

 

Once Venus stations retrograde on December 19th, the energetic flow is more about the re's. Re-turning to something (sometimes someone) we once loved (this might not be a lasting thing), re-assessing our work in the world/our career, etc. Starting something brand new isn't favored until Venus stations direct on January 29th. We would be swimming against the tides here. Sometimes this can't be helped and we just have to go into the "new" knowing there will be re-visions, etc, later. Venus rules beauty, and in Cappy, we might be feeling tired/older - it still could be best to save any major makeovers until she stations direct, especially if it's a radical change not easily "tweaked" later, if what we want changes.

 

That 26 degree Cappy will be strongly hit by the Venus/Pluto and the 11 degree Cappy ultra potent for CHANGE. Venus will trine Uranus from 11 degrees AND the final Saturn/Uranus square on Christmas Eve is 11 degrees Aquarius/Taurus. So, the number 11 is hot, hot, hot.

 

Also when Venus stations retrograde, Juno is going to be at the "about to get hot" 11 degrees Cappy. This is about marriage/serious commitments and contracts and she will have multiple meetings with Venus as this stuff gets re-looked at in BIG ways. Another indication this Venus retrograde needs to be taken seriously.

Some good news for Venus in Cappy is she (as we) is going to sextile (opportunity) Neptune in Pisces. First on January 5th while retrograde and then again toward the end of February after she meets with Mars and he meets with Neptune. Cappy/Pisces is 'making the dream real' energy and activated during this transit. This, plus upcoming aspects with Jupiter let us know once we get PAST THE DEATH (Pluto), there is ALOT to look forward to!!

 

We'll talk more about all this as we get closer, and we'll also look at the ways Venus is interacting with the "time runs out" degree of 2020 in part II - there are REAL reasons to believe the virus's latest variant is a good thing (no matter what the fear-mongering media is saying). 

 

We'll have a Full Moon in Gemini the day before Venus stations with the Sun on the Galactic Center and Chiron changing direction, so we've got some shifting ground to cover before the Venus retro. 

 

Also during the Venus retro, the nodes will move into Taurus/Scorpio appointing Venus our North Star - think GPS destination point here. I am going to write about the Taurus/Scorpio next because that's a collective BIGGIE and, although it doesn't start until January, happening in our money houses - and involving Venus and Pluto, too - it is reinforcing the retro energies AND it can pay off (ka-ching) to start thinking about this sooner instead of later. 

 

Hope something here is helpful. We'll talk about it as we get closer, too. 

 

Here's a little rundown of themes by house. This area of life will be familiar to you because it was uber activated for a couple years when it was all Cappy all the time. This is approx 11-26 degrees Cappy, so could be more than one house in your chart. You can also check this chart for your Sun sign house to factor that in.

CAPRICORN RISING - 1st house Capricorn - our identity, actually our heroic quest for identity
SAGITTARIUS RISING - 2nd house Capricorn - (one of Venus's natural houses) our values, our resources, our money, our self-esteem
SCORPIO RISING - 3rd house Capricorn - communication, information, writing, doing multiple things at once, siblings, community, transportation, tech, commerce
LIBRA RISING - 4th house Capricorn - our roots, home, family, security, home-business, family-business
VIRGO RISING - 5th house Capricorn - self-expression, creativity, romance, children
LEO RISING - 6h house Capricorn - work, health, service, pets, daily obligations
CANCER RISING - 7th house Capricorn - (one of Venus's natural houses) partnerships
GEMINI RISING - 8th house Capricorn - merging/purging, other people's resources, taxes, inheritance, secrets, life/death, sex, spouse's income
TAURUS RISING - 9th house Capricorn - travel, higher education, publishing, religion, beliefs, wedding, legal issues, politics
ARIES RISING - 10th house Capricorn - profession, vocation, goals, public life
PISCES RISING - 11th house Capricorn - the goals that bring us into connection with others, friendships, causes, networks, the internet
AQUARIUS - 12th house Capricorn - things done last, things forgotten and put away, imagination, healing, spirit, addictions

xo all

(copied and pasted from an old post about my Venus/Pluto cray-cray)

For me this transit turned on like someone had flipped a switch in me as Pluto moved within orb and turned off just as quickly when he moved out. This process took a couple years. You can only have one Pluto transit like this in your lifetime and many people never have one (Pluto moves very slowly and may not contact your natal Venus degree during your lifetime). My Venus being in a fire sign in my 2nd house certainly exacerbated the whole thing.

During that transit - some minor Pluto passions stirred - I started reading true crime books, sorting out the family finances, got into Bitcoin (this was early in and I could have made a mint if I stuck around, I did make some bucks) and renovating my bathrooms. I fell more deeply in love with astrology which I consider Uranian, but is Plutonian, too. Textbook Pluto stuff.

 

The big thing that happened though - I became obsessed with my husband. Strangely obsessed. Venus rules my 7th (partners) and 12th houses (past life/ancestral story-lines, etc). I felt jealous/consumed. I never felt like this before/don't think I'd want to feel like this again. Our physical relationship got crazy intense. This made him very happy ... until it didn't. Being an Aquarian Sun with an Aries Moon he needs his space and I was, quite unconsciously, always there.
  

Afterwards, I had hard-earned a very real understanding of the kind of intensity/passion that I (also being a detached/in my head Aquarius) had never experienced - the kind that drives people nuts. I understand totally why my soul chose this experience and am grateful, although at the time it was a kind of agony of vulnerability. I understand people's obsessions in a deeper, more personal way now. 

 
In more recent years, hubs had a Pluto transit/conjunction to his natal Venus. His is in Capricorn. Venus rules his natal 2nd house (money, resources, possessions) and 9th house (expansion/freedom/over-doing, etc). He did not get obsessed with me - no lessons left for either of us there I guess - DAMMIT. But he did get obsessed with the idea of purchasing quite an expensive object. Two of them actually. First a boat purchased at auction after Hurricane Sandy, (surreptitiously with joint finances, all very Plutonian) that he proceeded to secretly rehab for a year. We had it in the water for one amazing summer, but only sporadically after that. He has a million excuses about why this is, but the truth is his longings and affections had by then moved on to object number two. Which he proceeded to purchase, again secretly with joint finances, after spending hundreds of hours researching (I am probably not exaggerating/might be a bit) on the internet. This time his "longing/compulsion with having" ended almost instantly upon purchase because the transit ended that very week. Luckily we sold it and didn't lose much money, but the second purchase created big-time trust issues between us. It's kind of amazing neither of our Pluto transits split us up. Pluto rules third party situations and this stuff gets trickier when other people are pulled into the mix - that didn't happen with us. I'll give astrology, and my transit coming first, some of the credit for us outlasting the intensity, but when I tell you things had to come back from the dead, I am not kidding.

Asking yourself during this transit - why do I want this? why I am obsessing over this? why am I jealous? am I trying to manipulate/control something/someone? is someone controlling me?

With Pluto we have to accept the death/what we have lost/the ending and claim the real power we gain through the loss - which, yes, might look like ownership of some pretty barren landscape for a while ... but, this is Capricorn - GIVE IT TIME.

artwork by the talented SillyJellie

the astrology of venus cazimi | August 13th, 2023 - laying it all on the line

the astrology of 2023 | Part III - venus retro in leo this summer - rethinking what our heart wants, how we show-up and shine, the things we do for love, old loves and passions can be revived, breakups and breakthroughs, the summer of love

Venus Stations Retrograde | relationships and money and women and what we value and how we value ourselves gets re-assessed, maybe life feels like a high stakes poker game, what are we willing to bet? what do we love NOW? and are we too focused on what isn't ours?

Drive. Through the Shadow. by A. Finch

Venus stations retrograde today at 10 degrees Scorpio. I wrote about it HERE

This retrograde is reminiscent of one 8 years ago when she stationed at 13 degrees Scorpio on October 7, 2010. We might find similar themes playing out in our life over the next few weeks.

On Halloween she will get back into the sign of Libra and continue moving backward until she gets all the way back to 25 degrees Libra (November 16th) and then she will station direct and start moving forward - walking again, this time direct, all the degrees she has walked before.

So the degrees from 25 Libra (which Venus first walked back on September 3rd when she kicked this whole season off) through 10 degrees Scorpio are the "hot" spots for this retrograde. She won't be covering entirely new ground until the middle of December when she sextiles Saturn and moves past 10 degrees Scorpio.

Venus is considered in her detriment in Scorpio AND during her retrograde she will be traveling through the "Via Combusta". Via Combusta are the degrees between 15 Libra and 15 Scorpio - that ancient astrologers labelled some of the most challenging degrees of the zodiac because both the Moon and the Sun (the lights of the zodiac) are in their "fall" and the so-called "malefic" planets - Saturn (exalted in Libra) and Mars (co-ruler of Scorpio) are strong.

So, Venus (as us) has her work cut out for her over the next few weeks.

NOTE - the New Moon on Monday is on 15 degrees Libra!

I don't want to rehash what I wrote in THIS post, except to say while Venus is retrograde we will be doing the "re's" with Venusian themes - women, beauty, art, love, money, our resources, our values and self-esteem. Someone from our past could re-appear. An old way of making art or love or money could re-appear. A situation we have been through before with Scorpian themes could reappear. We will be "reviewing" the things we value. In Scorpio this will play out through Scorpian themes - other people's money, big money, loans, inheritances, debts, sex, life/death issues, reproduction, shared scenarios, power struggles, jealousy, third party situations including triangles. Venus retrograde can also play out through the themes of our natal ruled Libra and Taurus houses.

We will get to some kind of cross-roads with whatever it is we are going through by around October 26th-31st when Venus will oppose Uranus bringing sudden changes and unexpected situations. Both planets will be in a Grand Cross with both the North Node (in Leo) and the South Node (in Aquarius) so whatever is going on will have the stamp of FATE marked clearly upon it.

And remember although Venus will be opposing Uranus, Uranus is in Taurus answering to Venus! Also keep in mind that Mercury is in Libra (answering to Venus), Uranus is in Taurus (answering to Venus), the Sun is in Libra (answering to Venus), Ceres is in Libra (answering to Venus) and the Moon will be in Libra (answering to Venus) for the New Moon on Monday - that's alot of our energy in the hands of Venus as she dives through the muck of mid-Scorpio!

October will dig up some relationship and financial challenges, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a train - it's the Venusian Goddess herself in November as she backs into her home sign of Libra. She will still be retrograde, but we should be able to regain some balance. She will also have a stabilizing sextile to Saturn beginning the third week of October that should help.

We have been through some rocky waters since May, that have probably never really smoothed out. Note - the goal here isn't really about them smoothing out! If we make our goal for things to "smooth out" we won't be reaching that goal anytime soon. We are in the Age of Aquarius - things aren't smoothing out.

We need to find a way to live and love through rapidly changing times.

Now with Mars finally starting to cover new degrees next week we have the masculine energy literally revving up at the same time the feminine energy is struggling for air!

And Venus is squaring Mars as she stations! And Jupiter - moving through his long journey in Scorpio and preparing to move home to Sagittarius next month (!) - is finally leaving his retrograde shadow, too.

Plus this week we have had Mercury squaring Pluto. This is our mind being detonated with one of those Wiley Coyote stacks of dynamite. The Moon has been in sensitive Cancer so we are feeling our way through whatever is going on.

This stuff ain't for sissies.

Venus retrograde - all 40 days and 40 night of it - will have us re-assessing BIG themes in our lives.

The world is going to look so different by next spring. Let's not put any more pressure on ourselves right now than we have to - there is enough outside pressure already!

Let's take care of what is front in front of us. Let's do what is sensible. Let's give ourselves some air and some room to breath. Decisions are challenging during Libra season anyway and we will spend time agonizing over things that in reality are out of our hands anyway ...

Venus in Scorpio is going to make everything feel like life and death, and although some situations might be, many more situations will be playing out very differently than we expect them to over the next few months.

2018 is a bridge year (and yes, for many people it feels like one of those rope bridges swaying high over a bed of jagged rocks) carrying us into the changes of 2019/2020.

We don't usually have Mars and Venus retrograde in the same year - and we are all walking spaces we have never walked before AND in the middle of all this the nodes are going to switch from Leo/Aquarius to Cancer/Capricorn. This is all quite unprecedented.

The first aspect Venus retrograde will make is that square to Mars (in Aquarius) early next week, so we don't want to be overthinking everything right now. Keep that in mind. Or out of mind maybe.

xo all

Venus Retrograde in Gemini | May 13th - June 25th, 2020 - re-evaluating what and who we love, changing values, a need for variety, reconnecting to the spring 2012 Venus Star Point

This is posting on May 1st, so a bit about today and then we'll get right into Venus.

The Moon continues her journey through fiery, fun-loving and dramatic Leo. She has a lovely sextile (good for errands, writing, communicating, socializing) with Venus this morning (7:15AM EDT) and then goes void off an opposition to Mars - so get things you need cooperation with done early! - at 12:04PM EDT and will be void for the rest of the day, moving into practical Virgo tomorrow.

Saturday's lunar aspects are REALLY good. On Sunday - the day looks a little overly idealistic (we start that Venus/Neptune square that will be in play all month and we will talk about in this post), but we need that sometimes, right? And the evening looks quite positive and powerful.

OK - on to our lovely Venus!

Venus goes retrograde every couple years and every eight years Venus will retrograde through the same sign.

If we were to draw a map of these retrograde points in her eight year cycles we would draw a five pointed star. And if we drew a map of these Venus retrograde points (named Venus Star Points) over long periods of time we would draw a perfect and graceful five petal flower/a delicate piece of sacred geometry showing us something of our own Venusian nature's kinship with beauty, balance, love and connection.

Since the 1980's (when Aquarius and Virgo cycled out) Venus has cycled through retrogrades in Aries, Capricorn, Gemini, Leo and Scorpio. Over the next ten years Aries and Scorpio will cycle out and Libra and Pisces will cycle in (more signifiers of the gentler and more cooperative years ahead). So, different generations of people are born into, and live through, different Venus Star Points.

On May 13th , Venus will station retrograde (when viewed from our position on Earth) at 21 degrees Gemini.

Venus retrograde - all 40 days and 40 night of it - will have us re-assessing BIG themes in our lives.

The theme of our natal Gemini house, the themes of the houses Venus rules in your natal chart (our Taurus and Libra houses) and the collective Venusian themes of love, money, our values, our resources, beauty and our self-esteem are all up for a re-evaluation. We do the "re's" - re-do, re-think, re-evaluate, re-novate, re-union, within these themes. You know the drill.

Having Venus in Gemini, and answering to Mercury, for such a long period time is also going to impact Uranus, who is in Taurus answering to Venus. And the North Node, our collective way forward, will be in Gemini during the retrograde.

We will get a lot of mileage out of this.

The last time Venus retrograded in Gemini was May 15th - June 28th, 2012.

Do you remember what was going on in your life back then? I'll write my story from that time after the closing and I am definitely seeing some interesting connections to some themes in my life now.

APRIL 3RD - Venus into Gemini
APRIL 9TH - Venus reaches 5 degrees (starting her retrograde shadow)
MAY 13TH - Venus stations retrograde - 21 degrees
JUNE 25TH - Venus stations direct - 5 degrees
JULY 29TH - Venus reaches 21 degrees (ending her retrograde shadow)

During this period Venus will meet up with Mercury, square Mars - probably a bunch of other stuff I am missing just glancing through, but her most impactful aspects,

because they will be repeated three times, will be her squares to Neptune in Pisces and her sextiles to Chiron in Aries.

Let's unpack this!

First, let's think about Venus herself. Unlike Mars who goes out in the world and takes action to get what he wants, Venus attracts what she wants. She coaxes a response. This doesn't mean she isn't dynamic - she is, she brings things into relationship/into balance. She makes things beautiful. She is the energy of attraction, love - what we love and how we love, art, beauty, relationship, our resources, our money.

I work with metals with my jewelry making and have heard that Venus rules copper. If you have ever worked with it, it is a soft metal and can bend more easily than others, but then it can also just suddenly break. It is malleable until it isn't. Kind of the way Venus-ruled Libra can cooperate and accommodate and then just suddenly snap!

So, now she is in Gemini, after eight years, for 40 days and 40 nights from 21 - 5 degrees. If we have planets in this hot zone Venus will meet them/merge with them. If we have planets and points in the other mutable signs, in these degrees, she will challenge them or be challenged by them - this would be Virgo and Sagittarius through squares (tense situations that force change/pivots/action) and Pisces (through opposition - this is where Neptune comes in because he is in this 'hot zone' in Pisces). She will sextile (create opportunities that will require action) Aries and Leo (again, our 5-21 degree planets/points) and trine (things fall into place or fall away more effortlessly) the other air signs - Libra and Aquarius.

Now, Venus is in Gemini, so we are most attractive (use our Venus) through Gemini (our mind). It's a good time (through July 31st) to be talking and communicating with lots of different people about lots of different things. Venus in Gemini LOVES variety. There are more options available. There is also more duality - this is the space where our heart is saying one thing and our brain is saying something else. Communications are more casual, more lively and humorous. It's a good time to set aside any existing constructs about what we like and what we don't like and stay open to new experiences, new people and new situations. Say YES to the things that sound like FUN now.

During this retrograde we could recognize a mismatch between what we have and what we want. Or maybe what we thought we had could be up for grabs a bit. The things Venus rules will be more 'in-flux',

This isn't the best energy to make an important decision (regarding our Gemini natal house theme or Venus ruled love, money, self-esteem, values, women or beauty) or commit to something permanently, but we can get a lot of mileage from Venus in Gemini if we can allow ourselves to kind of go with the flow here.

Our natal Gemini house is a space that just naturally requires us to be more changeable/more dualistic and now here comes the lovely Venus to offer us her beneficial presence here!

What house in your natal chart is ruled by Gemini? Venus will be back and forth through this area of your life for several weeks. The house answers the questions - where will the action of Venus take place?

Here is a brief list and by no means complete and may not be totally accurate for you since I can't see the houses in your natal chart, but you can get the general idea. Venus, retrograde in Gemini, also colors your natal Venus - so what houses does she rule? That would be your natal Taurus and Libra houses. Those themes will factor in here, too. Life is never just one thing. 

GEMINI RISING - 1st house Gemini - our identity, actually our heroic quest for identity
TAURUS RISING - 2nd house Gemini - (one of Venus's natural houses) our values, our resources, our money, our self-esteem
ARIES RISING - 3rd house Gemini - communication, information, writing, doing multiple things at once, siblings, community
PISCES RISING - 4th house Gemini - our roots, home, family, our security
AQUARIUS RISING - 5th house Gemini - self-expression, creativity, romance, children
CAPRICORN RISING 6h house Gemini - our daily work, our health, our service, our pets
SAGITTARIUS RISING - 7th house Gemini - (one of Venus's natural houses) partnerships
SCORPIO RISING - 8th house Gemini - merging/purging, other people's resources, taxes, inheritance, secrets, life/death, sex
LIBRA RISING - 9th house Gemini - travel, higher education, publishing, religion, our beliefs
VIRGO RISING - 10th house Gemini - profession, vocation, goals
LEO RISING - 11th house Gemini - the goals that bring us into connection with others, friendships, causes, networks
CANCER RISING - 12th house Gemini - things done last, things forgotten and put away, imagination, healing, spirit

Now, during this particular Venus retrograde she will square Neptune (strong in his home sign of Pisces) three times - May 3rd - both planets direct, May 20th (Venus retrograde) and July 27th (Neptune retrograde).
Repeating aspects are always important, so let's look at this one. It is hard, and probably pointless, to look at anything during a pandemic/worldwide emergency without factoring that in.

This could play out a couple different ways.

Venus is going to station retrograde along with Saturn and Jupiter - all within a few days of each other. So we are going back over alot of things. As Saturn stations retrograde (daddy takes a vaca), mid-May, it is likely some of the restrictions we have been living with will start to come off.

Venus in Gemini is going to want to go out and try different things. She will make us curious and somewhat restless - and this is perfectly normal. She will also attract us to facts/information and yes, this is going to be in-flux.

Now, this square to Neptune in Pisces (the planet of our imagination and illusions and delusions and no boundaries) can play out in different ways. Since Pisces certainly represents viruses, we can easily see the virus itself squaring Venus in Gemini  -our need for more variety, to flirt, to communicate, to be out and about in our local community. It is also possible because Neptune in Pisces is very 'rose-colored-glassy' we could be more idealistic about how something here is going to turn out than it actually turns out. These are mutable energies, we need to stay flexible. It can be the virus (Neptune) interfering in what Venus wants to do, and also the virus dissolving Venus (relationships/money/resources/our values). Neptune is surrender/letting go and letting God.

Some Venus/Neptune square word salads could be - dissolving resources, attraction to drugs/alcohol/escape, delusional attractions, confusing social interactions (here is where things like masks will probably factor in), unrealistic expectations with love or money, a fool for love, the things we want eluding us, sadness with the choices we are left with.

On the other hand, and this is why we usually have at least two, sometimes we need illusion to keep us going! Just don't bet the farm, run off to Vegas and get married, yada yada or you will wake up with one hell of a hangover when this is all over.

Now, on another level there is a whole other/deeper thing happening here because we are living the crack between the chapters.

Our values are changing. Our relationships are changing. The ways we make money and spend money is changing. Our resources are changing. 

Neptune makes it possible for these things to dissolve in a less painful way - it provides some anesthesia! 

Even without us making foolish (due to Neptunian delusion) choices some of this is not possible to avoid. 

We have been through a Saturn/Pluto square (time runs out) - many of our soul contracts have ended.

With Venus retrograde old relationships can come back around - the square to Neptune can activate VERY old relationships - past lives, ancestral karma - new relationships/resources (which may or may not prove lasting) can come in. Our tribal/familial energy - his-story and her-story - visits us through those Neptune/Chiron aspects and we are pulled into circumstances similar to those of our ancestors (and our own past lives), so maybe we can choose differently this time, finish what they started, make the amends they needed to make, even earn the rewards they (or we in a past life) were denied.

Venus also has a repeating aspect with healer Chiron (in Aries).

This one is a sextile, so more opportunistic if we take some kind of action with it - fire/air - so maybe through brave words or new ideas, speaking up for ourselves, being more independent minded - this kind of thing. This could also be about healing with our masculine energy/with men.

So, at the same time we have these challenges with Neptune - our boundaries/what is real - we are having these opportunities to heal our oldest/deepest woundings around our very identity with Chiron.

It's a brave new/brand new world. 

*****

My story with this Venus Star Point - eight years ago as Venus went into Gemini (my 8th house) hubs and I were coming off a long few months with his brother - who suffers with schizophrenia and alcoholism - living with us.

It's a long story, and I talked about some of it here many years ago, but in more practical terms I think, since I was more of a business blogger (if you squinted from 20 paces back) in those days.

He was a part of the 2012 mystical awakening we experienced that left us disillusioned, depressed and isolated from each other and everyone/everything else.

This "wake" stuff ain't a basket of roses folks.

Hub's brother had been homeless and separated from family for decades when he suddenly appeared on CNN (?) after being beaten up in the woods by a couple teenagers (one of whom we later found out had a childhood story uncannily similar to hub's brother's story). This was in the early days of Facebook and the kids filmed this and the video was posted online - 'beating up bums' was a kind of spectator sport. Anyway, long story short, we reconnected with him and made plans for him to live with us after completing the free 30 day drug rehab he had been given.

We naively painted the spare room, got him a little TV and mini-fridge, clothes, you get the idea. We were wanting to help him. We were just kind of running on instinct.

When the day came we drove out to Pennsylvania to pick him up and he was very happy to see us and also sad to leave the treatment center. We had plans to stop at a diner for lunch, but when we pulled into the car lot, he jumped out of the car and screamed that he wasn't going in there. They didn't like him in there. He knew they were talking about him. Hubs and I were looking at each other over the top of the car thinking "what the hell have we gotten ourselves into". The counselors we had been speaking with were always talking to us about his addictions and getting him into AA when we got him home, but his mental issues, which we were totally unequipped to deal with and unprepared for were never mentioned. We hadn't seen him in almost 20 years. He had spent most of that time in jail for various disorderly persons offenses and some time, after winning the lottery (!) living it up with pseudo friends in a beach house.

Anyway, he was mostly sweet, but always disagreeable and sometimes explosive and I worked at home, so hubs started taking him to work with him. He had a truck repair shop and his brother would help him clean up a bit, but mostly fall asleep in one of the trucks. At night we would all have dinner and hubs or I would drive him to an AA meeting. We were given a case manager who was kind, but very inexperienced and sort of enamored with his local 'celebrity' status/10 minutes of fame.

This was when Neptune moved permanently into Pisces after his retrograde at the end of 2011 and literally Neptune (via my brother-in-law) moved into my home (4th house) ruling 5th house (children).

We were waking up. We were falling apart. We were drowning.

Back and forth between moments of pure love with him/for him (he is quite a lovable character in his own way and looks very much like a hobbit) and moments of pure despair. At some point I started feeling like his mother and having dreams of being his mother and dreams of reluctantly kicking him out of our house, circa 1800's, due to his addictions/mental illness. Hubs began dreaming of being his commander in a war, circa 1800's, and sending him into a battle he knew he would probably not survive due to his addictions/mental illness. We started feeling we were living out some kind of past life dejavu with him.

At the same we were in this 'beyond our control' situation with my brother-in-law (we were never able to get him on any kind of medication for his illness, although we did keep him sober for many months), we also had a 'beyond our control' situation happening for my daughter. I have a policy of not talking about her on here out of respect for her privacy - she was going through something very sad and hard and it was something we had no control over and couldn't fix. And at the same time my two jewelry lines were being copied, one by a guy who was getting into the handmade tradeshow sections that I had not been able to get into - more 'out of control' stuff and also situations where I needed to 'stand up for my children/creations' or this was kind of how I was seeing things at the time.

I got back into the astrology and spirituality I had back-burnered for years trying to not only explore the deeper meaning of what was going on, but also  to figure out 'what was going to happen' - which, of course, doesn't actually work.

Whew. I hope you have coffee!

So, right around the time Venus was stationing retrograde in Gemini, and maybe at exactly that time, my brother-in-law, was starting to go awol/off the wagon. We got him a home. He got thrown out. We were kind of chasing after him, sick to our stomachs like worried parents when he would disappear. We were coming out of this winter/spring hibernation period because we couldn't really leave him home alone, so we were mostly always home.

This kind of feels like now. The hibernation through a Neptunian energy. The Ceres aspects of not being able to control/protect what we have mothered/birthed. Great grief.

At the end of that time period my brother-in-law was back in jail. My feelings for him dissolved. Hub's feelings began to morph back into the brotherly energies he started out with. We still help him as we can from time to time, but decided he can't live with us anymore.

By the end of 2012, I had become immersed in conversations around "ascension", and hubs in conspiracies, and what might happen on the Winter Solstice that year, and was thrown into darker waters during the Newtown, CT shooting of all those little children. I knew then I wasn't on any quick "ascension" timeline. Lots of things were going on in my chart, but in this 3D world, as is prone to happening with spiritual awakenings - my connections to other people and everything that once mattered to me was unraveling. 

My daughter's situation, which lasted throughout 2012, resolved in September 2013 with a miracle and her miracle and my focus over there, easily ended the work focus that had consumed a great part of my life (Cappy South Node here plus Mercury in Capricorn and Sun in 3rd house - Mercury's house).

What we didn't know eight years ago as this story with hub's brother was dissolving - because it was a slow anesthetic fade-to-black - when we thought we could go back to our old life and old ways of connecting with each other and with our lives, was that we were different people and there was no going back.

We were 'awake" but at a great cost ..

Anyway, maybe think back to 2012 and see what was going on in your life. I better wrap this part up for now, this is way too long for our covid-frazzled brains to read and please excuse any of my too frequent typos because I won't be rereading it either. :)

xo all

photo by the amazing thefirebomb

weekly astrology forecast | September 19th to 26th, 2022 - all things Venus

 

A BIG week ahead.

 

On Sunday night we had Mercury retrograde opposing Jupiter retrograde and the Sun trining Pluto retrograde. BIG energy. Overwhelming. AND empowering. What came to light? What were WE feeling?  If we have taken on too much we will be feeling that now. BIG ideas are possible. Empowering situations. Old gold is being mined. It will be challenging to organize it with all the retrograde energy, but we could see it as being GATHERED.

 

This week is all about lovely VENUS (we can see her in Virgo with her hair tied back, diving into the nitty gritty) - our focus will be on our relationships, our money, our values, our self-esteem. The world comes into balance at the Equinox and in our own life we can see what is balanced and what is OUT OF BALANCE. 

 

We start the week with Venus in harmony with Black Moon Lilith and wind things up with Luna's big New Moon in Libra answering to her. We will talk more about the week as we move through it. Keep in mind, Mercury, along with alot of other energy, is STILL retrograde (and Mars is answering to Mercury), so expect to do things twice, do two things at once, for people and situations from the past to be repeating themselves AND for things to take longer than you thought they would. 

 

The delays are helping us. 

The Nodes of Fate are at 15 degrees Scorpio/Taurus - a world point (and my ascendant/descendant) initiating changes that will last for 19 years. The Old World is dissolving and the New World is pulling us forward folks.

MONDAY - Venus sextiles Black Moon Lilith

TUESDAY - Venus trines Uranus, Venus inconjunct Saturn

THURSDAY - Sun enters Libra

FRIDAY - Mercury retrograde conjuncts the Sun and then backs into Virgo

SATURDAY - Venus opposes Neptune

SUNDAY - New Moon in Libra (2 degrees)

 

On MONDAY, Venus at 17 degrees Virgo sextiles Black Moon Lilith in Cancer

 

Here is a creative opportunity - sextiles require some kind of action - between the practical fixes/healing we are attracting and the womb wound/woman who chooses herself.  Maybe this comes through changes to our daily routine/work that value our need for freedom or that break old family patterns. This is two very different types of female energy in harmony.

On TUESDAY, Venus, at 18 degrees Virgo trines Uranus, retrograde in Taurus, and then inconjuncts Saturn, retrograde at 19 degrees Aquarius

 

Now Venus is in a smooth trine to Uranus. Surprises with love/money are possible. Venus is in "one thing at a time/one foot in front of the other", healing/fixing Virgo, so small changes are moving us forward. Small changes allow things to fall into place. This might also speak of liberating ourselves from Virgo perfectionism/judgement. Uranus is answering to Venus making the trine more powerful. Lean into something new. Something more liberating. More future-focused.

 

Immediately, Venus makes an awkward connection with sober Saturn, so we are reminded of our responsibilities, limits, sometimes our age. That's OK, the smooth trine with Uranus doesn't just disappear - and we are leaning into that.

 

This is also the day the Cancer Moon makes a sextile to the Virgo Sun - this month's Waning Sextile. Family care-taking, responsibilities, home business, family business, real estate, mothering issues all are in a creative opportunity with our daily life, work, health. Again this comes through Virgo's keen eye for detail, practical action, small fixes.

On THURSDAY/FRIDAY - after his empowering trine to Pluto on Sunday, the Sun crosses into Libra, an Aries point, ushering in a new season and quickly meets up with a retrograde Mercury. Alot of the Sun's Libra ingress/autumn equinox will be covered in the New Moon post later in the week, but the Sun's meeting with a retrograde Mercury is the halfway point of the Mercury retrograde cycle - yes, we are halfway there folks! 

 

HERE/now is clarity about what this Mercury retrograde has been about. 

 

After meeting the Sun - gathering whatever has 'come to light' - Mercury backs into Virgo, where we are going to figure out what to do with this information/how to make things better. How to fix things in practical ways, especially regarding our relationships and balance issues. We are re-working our habits.  We bring Mercury in Libra's ideas down to Earth.

 

We will talk more about this in the New Moon post before Thursday.

On SATURDAY - Venus, at 23 degrees Virgo opposes Neptune retrograde

 

Now, Venus, busy bee that she is, opposes Neptune, retrograde in Pisces. What we want can become less defined. Our boundaries more porous. We are communing with ghosts/with everything that has come before us. 

 

We might find ourselves DROWNING in sacrifices - haven taken on too much with the repeating Mercury/Jupiters - or maybe excessive worrying. Neptunian challenges can speak of exhaustion, so maybe our girl needs a NAP. 

 

Pencil that in, wait, not pencil, it's Saturday, use permanent ink. 

 

Oppositions can bring endings/culminations. With Neptune situations can fade away/drift away. On the other hand, Neptune brings imagination/magic to Venus in Virgo's practical routine, opens the door for muses, intuition and inspiration. Just keep in mind with Neptune, everything we are seeing isn't real. Things can look better or worse than they actually are. Venus in Virgo is grounded energy, but if she is TIRED, an escape route will present itself now, maybe in the form of a Piscean/Neptunian person who wants to play/a water or art activity, or we get waylaid by a cold/virus, etc.  

 

Also keep in mind the effects of drugs/alcohol, medication, any escape tendencies we have is compounded now.

On SUNDAY - the Libra Moon meets the Libra Sun at 2 degrees giving us an early New Moon in Libra. I love an early degree New Moon, where we get to start at the actual beginning - this one our annual Libra New Moon collectively focused on our relationships, need for balance, fairness, peace. The New Moon in Libra is answering to ... you guessed it ... Venus. 

 

We will talk about this in its own post.

xo all

Weekly Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of June 21st - June 28th, 2021 - blessings and tenderness, some jealousy/power plays mid-week, clarity and forward movement, the fog/lethargy begins to lift, BIG goal-oriented Full Moon

 

 

I'm late to the charts with this one and what a week! 

 

Two planets change signs, three change direction including inner planet Mercury who stations direct and we have a BIG Full Moon in Capricorn, plus our favorite repeating aspect of the year - the Saturn/Chiron sextile. We also have the amazing Sun/Jupiter trine the same week as the amazing Venus/Neptune trine - what magic is this?!

 

Whatever we have been waiting for - well, this week we have it.  Movement. Clarity (total? no, but enough, there will be ENOUGH). The paperwork. The facts. A decision. With Mercury direct and Neptune retrograde the fog will start to lift. Venus (our relationships, money, resources, self-esteem) is a major player, so her themes, as well as home/family and career/public life, will dominate. 

SUNDAY - Sun into Cancer, Jupiter stations retrograde

MONDAY - Venus trines Neptune - GRAND WATER TRINE

TUESDAY - Mercury stations direct

WEDNESDAY - Sun trines Jupiter, Venus opposes Pluto

THURSDAY - Full Moon in Capricorn, Saturn sextiles Chiron

FRIDAY - Neptune stations retrograde

SUNDAY - Venus into Leo

 

SUNDAY - Sun into Cancer, Jupiter stations retrograde

 

The Sun crosses the Aries point of 0 degrees Cancer, ushering in a new season focused on home, family, what we need to feel safe/secure, mothering, our past/childhood, patriotism. Happening as Jupiter stations retrograde in fellow water sign Pisces (the Sun and Jupiter will form an opportunistic trine on Wednesday that is in play all week) makes Jupiter's backward journey a big part of our Summer Solstice season (winter down-under).

 

Jupiter stations retrograde at 3 degrees Pisces. An area of expansion/growth might temporarily stall. Our faith might be tested. Maybe we have missed an opportunity and need to move backward, or even sideways, to line up with it properly later. An especially good time (through September 14th) for Sagittarius rising folks to re-invent themselves. For all of us to re-imagine/re-work the house ruled by Jupiter in our natal chart.

 

Keep in mind, Jupiterian delays are always blessings in disguise. 

MONDAY - Venus, at 23 degrees Cancer, trines Neptune

 

This is a very beautiful/tender/mystical energy. Good for art/music. Excellent for family healing/forgiveness/unity. Unconditional love. An added bonus - the Moon will be in Scorpio (evening EDT) making the Cancer/Pisces trine a Cancer/Pisces/Scorpio Grand Water Trine. Scorpio adds in intimacy/depth, pulls in power dynamics/secrets. Can help sooth the building intensity of the Venus/Pluto. On the other hand we might fall hard and fast for something!

 

TUESDAY - Mercury stations direct at 16 degrees Gemini

 

Whatever has been held up/delayed since May 29th will now start moving forward. We have been back and forth over the information/details, talking this OVER for long enough. HERE are the answers. HERE are the facts. We know enough to choose. We know enough to plan. The personal planets are all moving forward for the next couple months - something in our life will start moving forward now, too. This knowing/certainty thing will really grow legs once Neptune stations retrograde at the end of the week and even more fully once Mercury gets past his square to Neptune on July 7th!

WEDNESDAY - Sun, at 3 degrees Cancer, trines Jupiter retrograde in Pisces - Venus, at 26 degrees Cancer opposes Pluto in Capricorn

 

Now, the Sun trines our newly retrograde Jupiter. Here is optimism. Faith. GOOD LUCK. Collectively this will be about home/family, but personally will apply to your natal Cancer house theme - the future looks better/bigger/brighter.

 

At the same time, the fly in the ointment here - Venus is opposing powerful Pluto.

 

This can bring intense emotions/manipulations/power plays within relationships/families/real estate or family/home business situations/with mom. We might feel jealous/possessive. Stuff we have pushed down/wanted to forget, can rise up. Fear. Resentments. Blocks around our self-worth, relationship imbalances. For some, this will be part of the Full Moon's story about home/inner life vs career/work in the world. Plutonian oppositions can mean something gets removed.

 

We might discover what we really want because we won't want to lose it! So, we have Jupiter giving us a great big YES and Venus/Pluto giving us something to push against/make it real if we are willing to go deep/get real with whatever comes up.

 

THURSDAY - Full Moon at 3 degrees Capricorn with a retrograde Saturn, at 12 degrees Aquarius sextiles Chiron in Aries

 

This is a stabilizing/chickens home to roost/BENEFICIAL Full Moon coupled with our best repeating aspect of the year, the healing/mastering Saturn sextile Chiron - expect a BIG POST.  With Saturn retrograde and ruling this lunation - this one will have its roots in the past AND require some adjustments as we move along over the next couple weeks.

FRIDAY - Neptune stations retrograde at 23 degrees Pisces

 

Maybe think of Neptune retrograde like this - we spend about half the year standing knee-deep in the ocean, mesmerized by the large and colorful rocks at our feet. But, most of the time when we pick up a rock for a closer look, its beauty/magic fades somewhat. The huge/fanciful rock looks rather ordinary outside the watery shimmer. We spend the other half of the year with the tide gone out. The glitter fades, but we can see clearly what we have. Most of the rocks are just normal rocks of normal coloring AND there are maybe a few beauties we have previously overlooked. This 'tide goes out' is like Neptune retrograde. Not because the colorful rocks disappear, but because we can truly see what we actually have.

 

The illusion/uncertainty fades. 

 

HERE is what we have. HERE is where we are. This is only a bad thing if we have counting on something being more fantastical than it actually is.

 

We put our rose-colored glasses in the drawer. Some kind of reality check is possible/likely. Dreams we have outgrown/don't line up with anymore will begin to dissolve. The grip of addictions/escape tendencies can lessen (or increase for a bit depending on our natal chart, but this is always a good time to deal with them in a different way). This is a particularly good time for Pisces rising people to reinvent themselves (gain stability/reality check), Pisces Suns to be more practical/taken seriously and for all of us to see, without the rose-colored glasses, what is actually happening in the house Neptune rules in our natal chart. Neptune will be retrograde until December 2nd.

SUNDAY - Venus enters Leo

Venus (love, money, values) had been somewhat comfy, although quite restrained, in Cancer for the last few weeks. She prioritized security over all else and this kept her safe, but also a wee bit bored. Cancer rules the Moon and a Venus/Moon natal opposition is considered the Madonna/Whore complex in a man's chart - so Venus has probably felt like she was living with her mother-in-law!
 

With her move into Leo she gets to spread her wings a little (maybe a lot, maybe a whole lot and we do, too!). She leaves her mother-in-law's safe little house with the shuttered windows, central air conditioning, and alarm system where her mother-in-law was paying the rent. What more could Venus want, Cancer asks as Venus heads for the door?
 

"Quite a bit MORE", Venus answers.

She moves into a noisy apartment on the other side of town with curtain-less windows, a fan that wakes the neighbors when their fan isn't waking her, a deadbolt that doesn't quite latch properly and the rent only gets paid if she pays it. Standing on her own two feet (and what lovely feet they are - this is Venus we are talking about!), Venus is more confident. She is also more competitive. She has to be to make it on her own (cue Mary Tyler Moore tossing that damn hat).
 

We will be, too.
 

So, what does this mean to us? First, our Leo house, hosting the lovely Venus, becomes more attractive. Leo Suns and rising signs are more naturally attractive (ie easy on the eye and able to attract). We attract what we want and need (Venus) through Leo - so by standing out, standing up, being passionate, taking the world by storm - you get the idea.

We could, of course, go overboard with all of this. Leo (ruled by the Sun) doesn't really like others blocking their light. Competition can get ugly. We could become downright diva-like. Being in love with being in love fits here, too. Wanting to be adored will make being ignored harder to handle.

Venus in Leo is not so into compromise. She is into fun (she meets all her new neighbors and is invited to all the best parties) and romance (there is surely some renewed passion without her mother-in-law in the next room) and creativity (she has a new apartment to decorate!) and passion. 

Our passion/confidence will be what attracts others to us and what we are attracted to in others now.

 

Venus will be in Leo until July 21st.

 

Back with some dailies and the BIG Full Moon post!

xo all

artwork by anoratheirin

weekly astrology forecast | August 22 - 28, 2022 - Venus, Venus, Venus, a change of direction, doing everything twice, big New Moon fresh start in Virgo plus conclusions, results

 

 

Expect CHANGE this week as two personal planets change signs, Uranus stations retrograde ('change' backs up) and we have a New Moon in Virgo offering/urging (maybe with our back against the wall) new and more options and actions.

 

We have a couple days with the Sun in 'organizing/fixing' Virgo with Virgo's ruler Mercury in Virgo, too, then Mercury moves on to Libra, in a way, merging Virgo/Libra season pulling the personal planets and our personal lives forward. At the same time, know, this 'forward thing' won't be anything even slightly resembling a straight line. Mercury is already walking degrees he/she will walk two more times (back and forth) during his retrograde that begins in a couple weeks. Pretty much everything is subject to REVISION. With Mars in Gemini now, until March 2023, it will be normal to do things twice and two things at once - knowing this going in should help us avoid frustration. 

In the middle of the week Uranus will station retrograde, so now all the outer planets are moving backward. Uranus will take us back to May 7th, so changes that have happened since then - and there have been alot - will be subject to the "re's". Changes could ease up or intensify depending on our natal and progressed chart's interaction with the retrograde. Uranus will be retrograde for the rest of the year.

The New Moon in Virgo, late Saturday night EDT, will square Mars (our action, initiative, passion, anger), who lays low most of the week, and kick off Mars in Gemini - which we talked about HERE - in a BIG way. With Venus in the powerful middle of Leo conjunct Ceres and squaring that stationing and uber powerful Uranus at the same time, expect our preconceived notions of love, money, creativity, our values and self esteem to be challenged. A sudden attraction can be lit, a new source of income can show up, etc.

 

Venus is very active in Leo this week, so lots of changes/choices with a focus on love, money, our relationships, children and creative projects. She will face off with sober Saturn (a reality check/ending) at the end of the week, so keep that in mind.

Let's unpack the week!

 

MONDAY - Mercury trines Pluto, Sun enters Virgo, Venus conjuncts Ceres

WEDNESDAY - Venus trines Chiron, Uranus stations retrograde

THURSDAY - Venus squares the Nodes of Fate, Mercury enters Libra

SATURDAY - Venus squares Uranus retrograde, Sun squares Mars, NEW MOON IN VIRGO

SUNDAY - Venus opposes Saturn retrograde

 

On MONDAY, Mercury, at 26 degrees Virgo trines Pluto, retrograde in Capricorn while Venus, at 13 degrees Leo meets Ceres, Sun enters Virgo

 

With Venus conjunct Ceres in Leo - love and nurturing are joined. Venus and Ceres start a new cycle  in the sign of romance, love, our creative projects, children, fun, recreation. Happening with Venus and Ceres applying to squares to Uranus and the Nodes of Fate and a trine to Chiron gives this one added firepower. Encourages change and fresh starts.

The trine from Mercury to Pluto speaks of a smooth and powerful flow between our Virgo and Capricorn houses. Earth trines are practical. Changes will be about real-world things we can touch and see. Situations started now/agreements made will require a total commitment. INFORMATION CAN BE INTENSE. Intimate. Words will be powerful/cut to the core of the issue in a way that is absorbed - we can say just the right thing. There could be an uncomplicated (that trine) uncovering of something hidden/Scorpian (financial, sexual, etc, and this was happening last week, too as this aspect applied) or a smooth fix to an old problem. Our thinking could get fixated - so, it's good energy for work requiring deep focus, speaking our truth, dealing verbally with complicated situations.

 

This is also the day the Sun leaves his home sign of Leo and moves into "let's get to work" Virgo. 

 

The astrology wheel is the hero's journey of self discovery. When the Sun moves into Virgo, it is our hero's first encounter with service. In Virgo we are learning when to help and when helping isn't really helping. Virgo is the modest healer with the critical eye that takes care of the details.

Meaningful work and competence are key now.

Virgo says maybe we are not here to do the work we love - maybe we are here to love the work we do. There is a difference. This is the difference that changes the world. This is the difference that changes us.

Every sign has something to learn from the sign that follows it. Leo learns from Virgo (and we all have Leo and Virgo in our charts somewhere - their placements will affect how this activates in your own journey) - to do the work. Virgo teaches Leo to let go of the need for the spotlight and recognition and to just focus on the work.  The king gets humbled (and we might, too, during Virgo season). Virgo is the first sign that takes OTHER PEOPLE into consideration.

The Sun in Virgo needs to do good work. In order to do this, we need to figure out what isn't working. We need to be able to see the flaws and problems. It isn't a coincidence Virgo season is the time of the harvest - the time the farmer/gardener separates the wheat from the chaff/the good tomatoes from the yucky ones the squirrels have gotten into (aarrgh!). This is where Virgo's well-known tendency toward critical nitpicking and fault finding comes in. What Virgo is really about though is - making life BETTER.

 

Having the ruler of Virgo, Mercury, in his/her home signs and in a smooth trine to powerful Pluto at kick-off is a VERY GOOD SIGN for an empowering Virgo season which lasts until the Sun moves into Libra on September 22nd. We are all burning Virgo fuel now - we will feel this even more strongly after the Virgo New Moon at the end of the week.
 

On WEDNESDAY, Venus, at 15 degrees Leo, trines Chiron in Aries and Uranus stations retrograde at 18 degrees Taurus

 

Venus/Chiron is a nice healing energy where by shining/standing out/loving/being generous we find confidence in our ability to take care of ourselves and be ourselves. Things fall into place and happen smoothly with this. Leo and Aries are both brave fire signs, so confidence/courage will pay off here/be healing very old wounds.

This is also the day Uranus stations retrograde in Taurus. Collectively, Taurus rules our money, our resources, what we have earned, our values, our self-esteem, the planet Earth. There is a change of direction now. Maybe a pause on radical change/liberation or maybe an intensification. Uranus is unpredictable - any unexpected lightning strike could take us in a bold new direction or remove all the excitement/energy from a forward-leaning project/situation.

For some people changes that hit unexpectedly over the last few months will slow down or be put on hold. If we are directly impacted by Uranus's back and forth over a sensitive planet or point in our natal chart - changes could intensify. Outer changes can be pulled into the inner realms to re-align, re-consider, re-work things. Remember, Uranus (ruler of Aquarius) is all about detaching us from what we no longer need/what is no longer working by the fastest means possible. If we can't get there from here, Uranus will get us to where we need to be so we can. Uranus will be retrograde for the rest of the year. His station takes us back to May 7th, so anything started/changed since that time is subject to revision.

On THURSDAY, Venus, at 16 degrees Leo, squares the Nodes of Fate, Mercury enters Libra

Mercury leaves his home sign of logical Virgo for diplomatic, but indecisive (the problem with being able to see both sides of the story!) Libra.
 

So, to be successful, our words are going to need to be more polite now. We need to listen. If we want our communications to hit their target we need to make the other person feel heard/understood/loved. 

Conversations become kind of a dance here. We smile. We talk about the things everyone can agree on. With the floor spinning beneath our feet we still manage to find common ground. That is the energy that moves communications, ideas and conversations forward now. 

 

Mercury is going to station retrograde in Libra in a couple weeks, and we are already walking degrees he will walk two more times. People/relationships from the past can come back around. This is unlikely to be a permanent re-connection, but there will be something to be learned from the encounters. Due to his upcoming retrograde, Mercury won't be out of Libra and into Scorpio until October 29th, which is a very pivotal time frame between Eclipses and with Mars stationing retrograde (answering to Mercury). That will be a kind of ending of the first part of the three-part journey of Mars in Gemini, which takes us through next March and Mercury as the ruler of Gemini is playing a critical role, so 'part 1', through the end of October, happens with Mercury in Libra - so, will involve a strong focus on our relationships, partners, BALANCE and fairness.

Now, Venus, following in the footsteps of Mercury and the Sun with this, squares the Nodes of Fate. These are choices to be made. Crossroads. Are we moving toward the NEW GROWTH or holding tight to the complicated/comfortable (because it is familiar) drama? Our money, our relationships, our values, self-esteem - how can we move in a new/creative direction? Venus in Leo likes things attention-getting, shiny, bright, dramatic and here's where we need to know WHAT WE REALLY VALUE because Taurus only wants shiny if it's diamonds. Keep in mind Venus rules that North Node in Taurus  - our best direction forward - and Mercury is answering to her starting today, this square probably doesn't have to be a hard right turn. Lean toward your Taurus house. Something there is GROWING. We will talk more about this in the New Moon post. 

On SATURDAY, Venus, at 18 degrees Leo squares Uranus retrograde in Taurus while the Sun, at 3 degrees Virgo squares Mars in Gemini, NEW MOON IN VIRGO

This will have its own post. This New Moon will bring all of us 'back to work' in a powerful way. I will be starting two new lines over this New Moon cycle (two weeks following Moon) to see what sticks. Note - this 'seeing what sticks' thing may take awhile.

On SUNDAY, Venus at 20 degrees Leo, opposes Saturn in Aquarius

 

Venus has been through the wringer this week and now she must face-off with Saturn retrograde in his ancient sign of Aquarius. Oppositions bring peak energy, culminations, conclusions. With Saturn in Aquarius old limits, rules, maybe especially involving group situations, can pull us up short. With Venus/Saturn we might hear a "no", be forced to deal with a time/financial constraint, feel rejected/not loved/not enough. The bottom line with Saturnian challenges is - they are alot harder when we are projecting our authority onto someone else. So, we need to be stepping into our responsibilities, taking care of ourselves. Venus in Leo wants to play, but we've known this 'pay the piper' thing was coming. Saturn is retrograde, this isn't something we couldn't see coming. 

 

Saturn brings karmic results, so what we get now is the maturing of a situation (through Venus, so likely connected to relationships, money, our values, self-esteem, beauty) to the point where it is time for things to be brought into balance. It can feel heavy if things are too out of whack, but with Saturn it takes what it takes.

As for Luna, we start the week with the Moon in Cancer, this will bring our focus to home, family, mother situations. That Moon has a nice closing aspect, so all's well that ends well there and then the Moon will move into Leo on Wednesday, hits some hiccups on Thursday and Friday, go void off a challenging opposition to Saturn, so the Moon is mirroring Venus from Wednesday to Friday, pulling our emotions and emotional history into the mix. Long all-day void Moon on Friday, so not a good day to start something we want something to 'come of'. Then the Moon moves into Virgo and we start our build-up to the New Moon on Saturday night.  

xo all

I hope something here is helpful. Back with that New Moon post. 

 

Photography by the talented raetselleben

the astrology of 2024 - part II - the inner planets, Mercury and Venus

A look at the astrology of September, 2021 | be ready to move forward with projects in the beginning of the month, surprises with love and money, more going backward to go forward and who's up for a mercury retrograde through our relationships?!

 

 

I think a quick-ish look at the upcoming month might be a good idea.

 

The New Moon at the beginning of the month looks good - BIG "go time" and the Full Moon later on looks promising, too. Lots of trines to help things fall into place/move us forward, but not many sextiles (opportunities), actually I'm not sure I see any sextiles that don't involve the Moon until October (!), so we know the "opportunities" - which are always there somewhere, don't worry - will come through the more challenging squares. So, yes, they will be disguised as dragons and stop signs, but might morph into unicorns and Barbie dream houses if we play our hands right. Black Moon Lilith is going to move over the North Node and trine the Libra planets and a retrograde Saturn/Pluto - pulling some uncomfortable fated relationship dynamics, old contracts/old commitments/rules even more firmly into the mix. Mercury will get all the way to 25 degrees Libra and decide he needs another stab at this 'relationship' stuff (not sure why I am including stab and relationship in the same sentence, maybe hubs better not read this) giving us a do-over that lasts until October 18th!

 

Let's unpack the month. 

 

We kick off September fairly quickly with Mars (in Virgo) opposing Neptune (retrograde) on September 2nd. Mercury made this opposition back on August 24th, so this could connect back to information/news/conversations from that time. Oppositions bring culminations/results/endings. Mars in Virgo is precise/focused action. Neptune here kind of fogs things up. This can be a good thing if Neptune loosens our grip, that 'dog with a  bone' thing or if Neptune expands/un-limits (think of not only boundary-removal, but also of something along the lines of a higher calling here) whatever Mars (as us) is doing. Often though, Neptune kind of dilutes Mars actions/passions. Things can move in unintended directions/get bigger than we intended. Or maybe we get tired. Maybe we procrastinate (a common problem for perfectionistic Mars in Virgo). Maybe we self-sabotage. Maybe our plans get rained out. Neptune's rose-colored glasses and tendency to hide things behind closed door/behind our backs can make it easy to gloss over important details/daily obligations, so this is something to think about. On the other hand, any contact with Neptune opens a portal to a higher realm, our ancestral story-line, past-lives, our dreams - keep this in mind, too.

On September 3rd and 4th, Mercury is going to trine first the North Node (our collective best way forward) and then a sober, retrograde Saturn. Mercury is in Libra here, so this is good news for our relationships/partnerships/contracts/agreements. Heads up for fresh information to come in. Conversations that direct our wagon 'that-a-way'. Then he trines serious Saturn to 'seal the deal'. Keep in mind Saturn is retrograde, so this won't be a totally new deal. 

On September 5th, Venus (in Libra) is going to square Pluto (retrograde) while trining Jupiter (retrograde). Venus is strong in her home sign, but no match for Pluto. The good news - the trine to Jupiter is really going to help lighten this square up! 

 

The Venus/Pluto is tricky/obsessive, speaks of manipulation/power struggles/control/relationship TRIANGLES. Maybe something happens and the beloved/relationship/contract feels essential for our very survival. 

If you were born with a Venus/Pluto aspect there is an intense passion to your basic nature. This can eventually become a space of real power, but often starts out something like a kind of bottomless pit. Sometimes a Venus/Pluto person (in childhood) attaches very strongly to a specific family member. Sometimes there is a rejection that follows (maybe another sibling is born and mom/dad's attention turn elsewhere or maybe the attachment is with a sibling who grows away or a grandparent who dies). The rejection - and this doesn't have to be an actual rejection, but this is how it will be felt if we have this aspect within our basic nature -  triggers a kind of power struggle within relationships. This isn't because childhood experiences 'cause' the trigger. We are born with our triggers. Our childhood experiences are what activate them. Anyway, if you have a natal Venus/Pluto aspect or planets near 24 degrees in the cardinal signs, this transit now could trigger intense desires and a tendency to identify love with SURVIVAL. 

Keep in mind that trine to Jupiter (retrograde in intellectual/detached Aquarius) is going to lighten this up and Mars will be trining Pluto at the same time taking some of the heat off Pluto if we are taking some kind of practical action.

**** September 6th, we get our annual New Moon in Virgo (the harvest Moon) at 14 degrees and EXACTLY trine (arguably the best aspect in astrology) a retrograde Uranus, with all kinds of other trines, too!

Moon/Uranus - let's think about this. Uranus has been in Taurus full time since March 2019 and will be here until 2026 - more about this HERE. Uranus isn't a personal planet (like the Moon), but as the modern ruler of the sign of Aquarius reflects a collective urge toward an ideal. In Taurus, Uranus is about new definitions of security and new values which are less bound to the material world. 

 

People born with Uranus in Taurus (and all of us to some degree since we are living through this transit) will likely feel 'forced' to relinquish their material stability. Uranus is the natural enemy of the Moon because in order for the uncomfortable (change) to become the comfortable we have to distance ourselves from our emotions/instincts which is the Moon's bread and butter. 

With the trine - an aspect of EASE - we have the Moon, and this is a very persnickety kind of New Moon, but also a very practical New Moon - willingly lining up with CHANGE (Uranus and again Uranus is retrograde, so something here isn't totally new either). Mercury rules the New Moon and is making those supportive trines to the North Node and Saturn, and Mars will be trining Pluto, so we've got stability and clarity and new roads all coming together! Earth trines make things real/solid. Things that last. They work over time. And the air trines bring in the ideas/communication. We've also got Venus trine Jupiter - is this the best aspect in astrology? It just might be!

 

WE REALLY WANT TO BE TAKING ACTION and moving toward what we want now. Expect a  BIG post.

September 10th - Venus enters Scorpio. Scorpio Suns and Ascendants get more attractive (more beautiful and more able to attract what they want). Your Scorpio house (where is Scorpio hanging out in your natal chart?) gets more attractive, too.

 

Venus dives from Libra, the home-girl sign she rules, into the deep, murky waters of Scorpio.Venus is considered in her 'detriment' in Scorpio. It's dark. It's ruled by Pluto. It's not her favorite place to hang out. We will notice how we use other people's energy and how they use ours. Vampires do not really only come out in the night.Venus in Scorpio doesn't look like the more traditional beauty of Venus in Libra. Her beauty is dark and forbidding now. She doesn't flirt. She seduces. She doesn't want peace at any cost so much as she wants to feel what's really underneath all the phony smiles and superficial niceties. Scorpio rules death and destruction and now this comes through our relationships. Here Venus pushes herself to the edge of life with compulsions, intimacy, jealousy, obsession and a struggle for real power. She goes into the dark corners that hold all our secrets and she coaxes them out into the open. There can be brutal and deep honesty here.  Relationships get intense. More intense.

Venus rules love, money and women. Getting what we want with any of them becomes an act of seduction. We need to entice. We need to risk our flaws and shadows being visible. Venus in Scorpio knows our need for acceptance will make us invisible, so she risks rejection to be seen.

She doesn't want to be friends - she wants to be soul-mates. We will feel more "all or nothing" with our passions now. Things can crash and burn here. And for better or worse she isn't afraid to manipulate things to get what she wants (and yes, this, and her obsession with secrets and power will be her downfall). People will be drawn to what is hidden; to what we don't show them. Keep this in mind if you sell things for a living. Buyers will want to discover things for themselves.

 

Keep in mind since Scorpio is a fixed sign we know, looking ahead, Venus in Scorpio is going to square the Taurus (Uranus) and Aquarius (Saturn, Jupiter) planets as we move through the next few weeks.

 

On September 14th, the Sun, in Virgo, is going to oppose Neptune (retrograde).  Remember we closed out August with Mercury opposing Neptune and began September with Mars opposing Neptune, so this might be connecting up with those transits. Oppositions bring results, culminations, endings. Chapters close out. This might bring a disappointment. A Virgoan answer/fix might be dissolving/falling apart. Neptunian answers are ALWAYS 'let go and let God' - easy to say, not always so easy to do. This isn't about sacrifice though and in fact a sacrifice made now will be more about self-sabotage than anything we are doing for anyone else. Keep in mind, the whole 'no boundaries' thing. This transit is the real vs the ideal. The reality vs the dream. So, Neptune could be dissolving our focus/life force energy/ego or elevating our Virgo work/service/health to a whole new level. Again Neptunian contacts opens a portal to a higher realm, our ancestral story-line, past-lives, our dreams.

 

Mars exits Virgo - having done all the fixing, clean up and detailed work he could possibly do and enters sociable and diplomatic Libra, the sign of the other person, for the first time in two years.

Mars rules Aries, the sign of "me" and is uber uncomfortable and in his fall in the sign of Libra, the sign of "we". Our actions/passions can get mired in indecision. Mars wants to just go, go, go and in Libra is required to 'see/interact with' the other side of things. There is more flirting than commitment (job hunters prepare for a possible extended interview or 'getting to know you' process). More passive-aggressiveness.

Fiery Mars in our collective 7th house of other people means our actions trigger fast reactions. That whole "I'm rubber. You're glue" thing isn't working. Or maybe it's working backward. We need to be honest about our anger, passions, actions without crapping all over other people or being a phoney Mr. Nice Guy. It is a balancing act and Mars' combat boots are not made for tight ropes.
 

The good news for the next few weeks and there is plenty - situations will arise that create opportunities for more fairness. More balanced actions. More social activities. More compromise. More win-wins. More allies - please Lord, yes. Doing it together. Plus our Libra house theme gets a needed kick-in-the-ass.

Two days later on September 16th, the Sun is going to trine (brakes off) a retrograde Pluto - just what Mars did back at the New Moon in the beginning of the month. So we get the Neptunian dissolve/result followed by a smooth/easy flow with our goals/power/our career/authority. Again, the outer planet is retrograde, so this won't be a brand new thing. And it most likely won't be overly dramatic - these are Earth signs, solid stuff built over time. Focused efforts that get results/rewards. Virgo is the sign of the harvest and Pluto is the planet of death - are we carrying around a bag of rotten tomatoes and calling it a pepperoni pizza? What needs to go?

 

On September 17th, Venus squares a retrograde Saturn. Saturn squares bring road blocks, stop signs, reality checks, the pressure of responsibilities/commitments, "no's". Toss Venus into the mix and this might involve our money, relationships, third party situations, our self esteem. Feelings of being inadequate/unloved/just plain old can surface. 

 

People born with Venus/Saturn aspects have some kind of experience of 'love is limited' in early life. Sometimes love is dependent on being right/doing the right thing. Maybe love feels earned. Or we feel what we don't have. Again, this aspect isn't created in childhood - we came in with it in our blueprint, the way an acorn already has everything it needs to become a tree - but it is triggered. This is why siblings with different blueprints can experience totally different things from the same parents/family. Sometimes Venus/Saturn people find their way to unavailable partners to avoid real commitment. Eventually this natal aspect grows into a tenderness for human frailties, a fondness for aging, a deep sense of responsibility within relationships. Big growth potential with this one.

**** September 20th - Mercury trines a retrograde Jupiter (in Aquarius) while Mars trines the North Node (in Gemini), Ceres sextiles Chiron, Vesta enters Scorpio and we have a Full Moon in Pisces (28 degrees). 

 

Conjunct ruler Neptune this Full Moon has an end of the line/sink or swim feel to it. Pisces either elevates or drags us down. We'll be feeling all the feels with this one. I haven't unpacked the chart, but here is ANOTHER Moon with multiple smooth trines which might play out something like old opportunities coming back around. Good news. Taking action and those actions moving us forward easily. Nothing here needs to be forced. Things can just fall right into place. Both Mercury and Mars are in Libra, so the focus here will be on our relationships/contracts/partners.

September 22nd - Mercury in Libra squares a retrograde Pluto. This one is testy/frustrating. Power struggles. Arguments. Manipulations. Obsessive thinking/digging. Third party situations. This can be tension between our relationships and our career. Are we sure we really want to go there? This is the same day the Sun enters Libra, so that will bring more balance and desire to shine through/with other people.

 

September 23rd - Venus opposes Uranus. Surprise! Here is the unexpected with love/money. Keep in mind oppositions bring results, culminations, endings. This could be a sudden attraction/expense/merging/purging. A sudden shift in our values/income/spouse's income. Uranus is retrograde so the surprise won't be a total surprise, we could have seen this one coming, but we probably won't. Sometimes Venus/Uranus aspects are acted out through another person/a partner. 

September 25th - Mars trines Saturn. Here is our actions/passions working well with our responsibilities, authority, groups, partners. Partners/goals are on the same page. Things slide into place.

September 26th - Sun (in Libra) trines the North Node. Our relationships/contracts are moving forward. A relationships aligns us with our future. Our connections expand. Be out and about. Talk to people. Ask questions. Stay open. The right idea can pop right into our head. The right person wind up right in front of us. 

 

September 27th - Mercury stations retrograde at 27 degrees Libra - you didn't think we were going to get out of Libra/relationship season without a Mercury retrograde dragging the whole thing out did you? And this retrograde is just kind of priming the pump for the BIG Venus retrograde at the end of the year when Venus travels THREE times over those 'time runs out' degrees from 2020. Are our relationships up to that?! I guess we are going to find out!

September 29th - Venus trines Neptune and Sun trines Saturn - more trines - which, keep in mind, remove brakes, which can mean obstacles - a good thing, but can also be that slippery slope your mama warned you about. Venus/Neptune can get in over her head pretty quickly. Watch your wallet. Watch your projections - is this really as good as it looks? The Sun/Saturn brings stability/maturity - well maybe it is! These trines plus the Mars/Saturn, Libra/North Node look like we probably want to be moving toward whatever is falling into place now. Keep in mind both Neptune and Saturn are retrograde, so again these are not totally new situations/opportunities that allow us to line up with the future. 

We close out September with Venus (at 22 degrees Scorpio) squaring a retrograde Jupiter (at 22 degrees Aquarius) on September 30th. Note the 22 degrees because we are going to be talking about the number 22 quite a bit in upcoming posts! Something here about 'too much'/exaggerated expectations - probably where all these slippery trines have been leading us! BUT these are still our most benevolent planets so how bad can it be. Just watch for too much of a good thing, too much intimacy, too much power/control. Too much debt. Something might have to be tapped down a bit. In a couple days Venus in Scorpio is going to sextile Pluto (Scorpio's ruler and finally a sextile), so the opportunity approaches, maybe the square here at the end of the month is an alert to not overdo just yet.

xo all

artwork by the talented Gaudi Buendia