Correlating the celestial with the terrestrial helps us understand the meaning of our lives. This is what we do when we study astrology, or notice where the planets orbiting around the Sun are, in relation to us, planet Earth. Saturday morning marked the mid way point of the Venus retrograde cycle. Venus conjoins the Sun. She has left the evening sky, setting after the Sun, where she was so beautifully bright (being close to the Sun). Venus moved closer to the Sun until the morning of the 11th, when they conjoined. Being too close to the Sun that we do not see her and will not again until Venus rises ahead of the Sun in the morning sky next month. Venus has gone retrograde or "underground".
What does a retrograde cycle or "going underground"mean? For a period of time a planet is turning away from its apparent regular path around the Sun (Sun and Moon never retrograde) and into a more deviant mode of operation. This apparent celestial occurrence coincides with a time frame when a reflective person has an opportunity to become more objective about assumed situations and orient himself/herself away from the past or what is expected, towards a more personal and unique approach to whatever that planet signifies. (For further enlightenment see Alexander Ruperti and Cycles of Becoming). You can be born with a planet like Venus retrograde, in which case the "going against the grain" issues will be life long; or as we are experiencing it now, in a few months time, we all get the shorter opportunity to reset our inner compass.
In this case we are talking about Venus, so we are reformulating our values, our desires, our feelings, what we are attracting to ourselves, what satisfies us, our relationship to money, our relationship to others, our motives, what we want from love, the price we pay, our relationship to our women friends, our ability to weigh, compare and balance, how we look, how we get the "sweetness" of life, how loving we are, the value we place on love.
Since Venus's retrograding began on the 21st of December all or some of the above mentioned areas might not have been as effective or personally satisfying as they have in the past. A new relationship, a new hairstyle or something we recently bought might not feel satisfying. We might have been undermining ourselves or another, or under or overvaluing ourselves or another or some material item. The retrograde cycle demands we turn inward, reflect, and ask "Why did I do that?" or "How did I get myself into this situation?" "Is this what I want?"
The conjunction of Venus and the Sun marks the moment that we become aware that something has been unsatisfying in our emotional life. The reevaluation process could have been occurring in our unconscious, without our being aware of it. The Sun represents our "self", our life purpose, our intention, the direction of our life. When Venus meets the Sun, our purpose (Sun) shines through Venus (love, money, values) and through that connection only what is truly authentic to ourselves can survive. If what we have been feeling/loving/valuing is not truly an expression of our innermost selves, it will be noticed by the Sun; we are given an opportunity to reevaluate. (If we are a conscious and reflective person that is-otherwise events will tell us whether we are getting our values correctly imbedded in our life or not).
This conjunction occurs for everyone in the department of life, or house where Capricorn is on the cusp. Some will be affected more than others based on whether they have planets/angles at 21 degrees of Capricorn or other planets/angles at 21 degrees of one of the other cardinal signs, Cancer, Libra and Aries). This time period will also be important to also those whose ruler is Venus, those who have Libra or Taurus rising.
We have from now until the 31st of January to integrate this new understanding at which time Venus will proceed again "apparently" forward in direction, staying in Capricorn all through February, until the 6th of March when she will enter Aquarius and move into new territory. From now until then is a time to deepen our commitment to whatever it is we hold dear and precious. This Venus/Sun cycle time period begins a new round of experience in our love life and the values we live by. August 15th 2015 is the next opportunity we will have to reorient ourselves in our feeling life away from the usual towards what is more unique to us. Venus and Sun will again have their retrograde conjunction, this time in Leo.
To illustrate three examples, one historical, one from current affairs and one personal.
Happy Birthday Alexander Hamilton, who was born Jan 11 1755 (see Ron Chernow's biography), with Venus retrograde conjunct the Sun. Venus being the ruler of his chart (according to the Regulus Astrology rectification), Hamilton's life had every conceivable aberration of love and money scenarios one can possibly imagine. From his obscure and impoverished childhood, born out of wedlock and orphaned, through the rest of the many facets of his life, from clerk at age 11 for the outpost of a New York trading company in St.Croix, where he reconciled currencies from all over the world, to the pinnacle of his career with the ratification of the US Constitution and becoming Washington's Secretary of the Treasury, he encapsulated a Venus retrograde phenomena.
Hamilton envisioned and through shear persuasion founded the modern nation state with its emphasis on a strong financial footing, a budget, a funded debt, a tax system, a central bank, a customs service, the beginnings of a stock market and speculation. He understood the value of funded debt; that in order for this country to be deemed viable in the World's eyes the US had to borrow and pay back money with interest. He went against the norms of the time, when before his efforts, the Continental Army (which he was a part of) had been severely under supplied with food, clothes, shoes and ammunition because Congress had no authority to collect taxes to pay for supplies.
Yet how could a man who was responsible for the founding of a modern functioning nation leave his widow impoverished at his death? It took Gouverneor Morris, the USA 's first millionaire, to organize a secret subscription service among Hamilton's friends to provide for the widow and children. The account kept in The Bank of New York (founded by Hamilton), was kept secret until 1937.
The same inconsistencies can be seen in his love life. What member of the Cabinet married to a wealthy wife from a prominent New York family, having had an affair and instead of keeping quiet about it, would publish a 90 page pamphlet explaining and defending himself? Such are the aberrations and unusual circumstances encountered by a Venus retrograde person.
The second example, from current affairs is the case of the Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, on the front page of the New York Times January 11th. Arrested December 12th, for visa fraud and for making false statements about her treatment of her domestic worker, she was also apparently strip searched. The diplomatic crisis between the world's two major democracies highlighted the cultural discrepancies between the two countries. As the Times said "While Americans reflexively came to the
defense of a maid who the authorities said was subjected to abuse,
Indians reflexively sympathized with the diplomat". A cultural abyss opened up between the US and India-a clash of values (Venus). The diplomat was expelled from this country as her husband and two young daughters, all US citizens, remained in New York. Khobragade, like Venus, is alone on an inward journey, in retreat, on account of cultural differences in value systems.
The third example is from my personal story. Having just had my birthday on the 23rd, I have Venus retrograde in my Solar Return chart for the year, in fact it is on the Ascendant. I expect to have experiences this year that will help me clarify what is important to me. Working on a friendship with my ex, whom I had not communicated with, except through lawyers for 8 years, I feel there is still some chemistry between us. But instead of being the aggressor and going after what I want (which is how the relationship began 40 years ago) I am taking a different tack. I am exploring my more feminine side (Venus) more the seductress, than the seducer (Mars). We will see how it turns out. I feel the change inside me-valuing my self more and not being so needy for an external fulfillment.
The Venus retrograde cycle gives us a span of time where some fundamental change in our feelings and values can occur. Whether conscious or unconscious, Venus's retrograde cycle, being closest to the earth and brightest in the sky, takes us on an inward journey where what we like and dislike what we attract or push away can be more clearly defined. Retrograde cycles are very special but the outcomes might not be evident right away. Wait until March 6th, when Venus leaves Capricorn, before making any definitive pronouncements on the matters..
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