The Venus Factor
The big day cometh. I've had more than a century to write this article and I'm working on it the night before. More data keeps coming in; my head is starting to spin, and yet it's starting to make sense; there is a pattern forming. But I've given up on any hope of writing anything comprehensive for the moment. I will settle for a little comprehension.
As you may have read, here or elsewhere, early on June 8, for about six hours, Venus crosses the disk of the Sun. This is another way of saying that there is an exact alignment on all three planes of space between the Earth, the Sun and Venus. If you like taking things to multidimensional levels, consider that they align in the 4th dimension as well -- in time. And if we have four dimensions in alignment, we might just have a whole lot more, particularly as we tune into the planetary and human constellations with our hearts and minds, which some traditions say link us in to the 5th and 6th dimensions respectively.
With Venus so prominently placed in such a rare chart, it would be reasonable to say this signifies a global reawakening of the feminine aspect of God. But as the old bumper sticker says, boy is she pissed.
Venus is retrograde six weeks of every 18 months (the least of all the planets), which means it passes between the Earth and the Sun at that interval. That is the case now; Venus is retrograde in Gemini and making its closest approach to the Earth of its orbit. But on most of those go-betweens, Venus passes a little under or a little over the disk of the Sun. This time, after scores of close calls, actual contact is made. This is a lot like an eclipse. It's technically called a 'transit' (this word having two meanings in astrology, the other being any aspect by a moving planet to a natal planet). Some people are calling it an occultation. It most resembles an eclipse, but Venus is not big enough to block the Sun.
Last summer, we had a rather unique Mars retrograde, with that planet making its closest approach in the history of civilisation. Now we have a rather unusual Venus event less than a year later. Is the cosmos telling us something?
Usually it is the Moon that eclipses the Sun, and despite being routine, it's always fairly monumental. That happens twice a year, or in rare years four times -- pretty often and still it gets can move mountains (in astrology, generally, rarity is power). The last time Venus transited the Sun was in 1882, and before that in 1874. There is a cycle involved: for our purposes, two events at an interval of eight years, then a pause for about 121.5 years, then another in eight years. This is the first of a pair of events that mark the approach to a time known as 2012. These Venus transit events stand as bookends between now and the many, many changes that are on the way.
Twenty-twelve is almost always of spoken in ominous tones. Some see it as a kind of focal point of the spiral in time; others as a threshold; others as a culmination of "Earth changes," which are now no longer New Age mythology but rather front-page news in The New York Times. Generally the reference to 2012's significance is made to the Mayan calendar. I have for a long time been attempting to get a clear picture of the connection, based on the Mayan daycount (see Planet Waves essay called "An Island in Time" for more on the Mayan daycount*). I've had no success; I see nothing in the daycount that tells me the calendar does anything special in 2012 (but I am not a Mayan astrologer and my investigation is ongoing). But I know that the Mayan calendar is based on the cycles of Venus, and that the ancient Mayans tracked Venus with devotion to the point of what one scholar recently called obsession.
Gemini is involved in the current pair of transits; they occur within about one degree, as it happens, opposite an inter-galactic point called the Great Attractor. Of all the signs that connote dualism, Gemini, sign of the Twins, and in Tarot the Lovers or the Brothers, is regent. We live in a time of history when polarisation is, basically, killing us. The us/them mentality is currently being used by an us and a them, both of whom believe it is their divine right to annihilate the other (Christians and Muslims, all of whom claim to accept the teachings of a prophet who preached love). The haves are doing a pretty good job of getting a few extra pounds of flesh from the have-nots as the gulf between wealth and poverty magnifies to canyonesque proportions. Then there is the war of the sexes.
Because the 1874/1882 pair of transits brought in a wave of progress for the rights of personhood for women, I have mainly focused my exploration of this event on that theme. The progress that began in the late 19th century and the results that followed were rather stunning. In England, to give one particularly synchronous example, the Married Women's Property Act was adopted by Parliament in 1882, giving women the right to own property after marriage for the first time in the history of our particular civilisation. True, in times when property-holding was a function of the clan, women have typically been its keepers, but that is very different than the right of private holding of wealth. This is largely because when women are the keepers of clan property, they are part of that property; part of the Earth and land.
Reading the history of women since the hunter-gatherer days, as told by Simone de Beauvoire in The Second Sex (1951), has been somewhat harrowing, but far less so than living it out, as women continue to do even today. Stating the situation in kind terms, this history is a multi-millennia conspiracy to deprive women of their rights, privileges and freedoms and confine them to the house, with the rights of minors or infants. For most of history, married women have been legal corpses; the proper legal term being "civil death," stripped of names and any say in their destiny. Unmarried women have typically been kept in custody of their fathers. The big fuss has been to protect the inheritance rights of men.
In the process, many men have enslaved themselves, but even so, men have always had prerogatives and privileges that women have lacked. These are often curtailed by economic conditions, but even in points of history when men are slaves, their wives and daughters are shackled all the more sternly, and often treated like chattel: that is, like cattle. Cared for, more or less, but as property.
In less than 50 years from the last transit of Venus, women in Western civilisation gained the right to vote, to own property, to make out a will, to testify, to have custody of children (including male children), to sue for divorce, to sue in general, to have a job, to read, to obtain a university education, to practice law and medicine, and to have nearly unfettered access to abortion and birth control. In Western civilisation (with the exception of subcultures that exist outside the law) there are no mandatory arranged marriages and no death penalty for female adultery or prostitution, as has commonly been the case in times past. Still, these things exist in many, many other cultures.
In the context of the history that precedes these developments they are all the more mind-bending. In the legal sense, women and men are actually equal, as the conditions I have listed above are the conditions of that equality. Many inconveniences and prejudices get in the way of the exercise of that equality, but it is there; even men must demand their rights, or lose them. Yet why women in our society continue to struggle so desperately is a question to which I will return, and about which the Venus transit chart offers some possibilities for the future.
View Charts
2,924 Days
Whatever the future holds, it's a future that's arriving with considerable speed. Though more than 121 years separate the last Venus transit and Tuesday's, a mere 2,924 days lead to the next one. In that time, all the transpersonal and outer planets will change signs, particularly between 2008 and 2012. That is, within a concentrated span of seasons, Jupiter, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto begin new cycles. Besides sign changes, there are many prodigious alignments of the spheres. Once again we come to the end of the world as we know it.
Looking at Western astrology, it is probable that as much or more will change between 2004 and 2012 as has changed in the past eight years. Events seemed to build in acceleration starting around 1998, when President Clinton was fraudulently impeached. That concentration of events included the Uranus-Neptune conjunctions of 1992 and 1993; numerous outer planets changing signs in the mid-1990s; and major comets in 1996 and 1997 -- which Chinese prophesy says signals a change in emperor, sure enough. Then there was the grand cross and total solar eclipse of 1999; the Taurus alignment of 2000, including a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction; the summer solstice total solar eclipse of June 2001; and the Saturn-Pluto opposition of August 2001 through May 2002 (associated with Sept. 11). That was followed by the closest approach of Mars to the Earth in 60,000 or more years last summer and the escalation of the Iraq war beyond anyone's expectations.
Essentially, between 2008 and 2012, we will go through something very similar, only the Earth and the global economic and political systems will be all the more stressed as a result of our refusal to act when we had the chance. We will find out what oil is, and what water is.
When we add the Venus Factor -- the acceleration factor associated with eclipses that works on both collective and individual levels -- the probable result is hypertime. Much like an eclipse of the Moon concentrates a full lunar cycle into two hours, this double Venus eclipse of the Sun could easily feel like the spiral of time is growing into a more tightly wound cyclone as 2012 approaches.
The sense that we are approaching a singularity point or vortex is associated with the leap forward of the second Venus transit of the pair -- perhaps what Jose Arguelles (author of The Mayan Factor and creator of the Harmonic Convergence celebrations of 1987) described as a kind of leap beyond technology. Yet this does not occur as one apocalyptic punch, but rather as a sequence of events that take us through layers of consciousness, numerous experiences of resolve-and-commence cycles, and the first of many endgames on the somewhat pressing issue of Earth ecology: oil and water.
As I write, the price of gasoline has hit a pound per litre in the UK; that's close to $8 per gallon. Everything is dependent on the price of oil. Clean water is disappearing and we mix most of the precious little we have with piss and shit, and pour that back into the environment (this is unnecessary; we are long past the time of needing composting toilets). We are taking all the resources we should be putting into protecting our environment and investing them in making war, pretending there are no problems. Stories like climate change due to the gulf stream disappearing because the salinity of the oceans is decreasing because the atmosphere is heating up and melting the solar caps (as a result of all these fossil fuels we burn) get about sixty seconds of our attention at a time, if that long.
In case (during one or another of your lifetimes) you were wondering what it was like to be in the moment of decline of a great civilisation, you have won the booby prize. In case you were wondering what happened on Mars...
Pay Attention
Earth, Sun and Venus aligning like a pin is impressive. At the same time they align with an inter-galactic point called the Great Attractor, as well as a key minor planet -- Quaoar -- in mid-Sagittarius, this being a symbol of the human family and its current conditions. Nothing in conventional astrology speaks with depth or insight into such an event. To my knowledge, the Venus transit itself is way too esoteric to have ever received mention in an astrological text, and the Great Attractor (though much more newly discovered) is in about the same category.
World news is doing a pretty good job of demonstrating the potency of this aspect. On the approach to the exact Venus transit (as of today, the Friday before a Tuesday event) -- and remembering that eclipses have a wide orb of influence, in time, and we are essentially standing right in the vortex now -- within about 36 hours we have seen (in American news) the following: the resignation of the director of Central Intelligence, George Tenent; we learn that Dubya has gone to see a lawyer about the Valarie Plame incident, involving exposing the identity of a deep-cover antiterrorism CIA agent in political reprisal for her husband's warning that Iraq posed no real danger (thus blowing the identity of the whole network); we learn that the FBI let a guy named Niaz Kahn go free even after he said he was an al Quaeda defector from what would become the Sept. 11 plot; and finally that the FBI recently released someone who was once the No. 27 terror suspect, Nabil al-Marabh, who planned to crash a gasoline truck in a New York City tunnel.
All this in less than two days (surrounding, by the way, the Sagittarius Full Moon)!
This is all in the context of the criminally fictitious rationale for war coming unravelled, and the war being at a point of total anarchy. And much else. It would appear that something very interesting is going to happen with the elections in the UK on Tuesday and there are plans for a transit strike that day, timed with the election. Plus a bunch of fuel tax protests happening that promise to jam the highways.
Now, you may be thinking, "What has this got to do with me?"
Nothing ... if you don't live on the planet. Which is true for a lot of people here, who live out on the astral plane. What I am saying is that whatever else the transit of Venus represents, it is a turning point in world history. There is such a thing, even if you live in a time when there are so many turning points, it gets to be boring. Especially to those people who do not notice.
Looking at major events (such as this) from the personal angle of astrology is almost always valid, except that there are times when the astrology is so much bigger than any one of us. Now is very much one of those times. To the extent that the transit of Venus touches your life, much (not necessarily most, but possibly) of that influence is coming from what seems like outside you, that is, from the world. Much about how you respond will depend on how you define yourself, and, astrologically, on the angle from which the aspect approaches your chart, which is a personal fact for you alone. Yet you are part of the wider world and its very intense story, and this is particularly true if you have taken up any kind of spiritual vows or commitment to a process of healing.
Healing is something that never happens alone; it is not an individual process; we are responsible for one another's healing no matter what codependency counsellors may say.
For those who play the game of Western Civ, we are part of a collective evolutionary process of some kind, which I would sum up presently as a game called Pay Attention. We are part of history. I know, that's difficult to believe if you're watching the Cartoon Network eating a bowl of artificial popcorn and drinking Diet Mountain Dew -- but you're not; you're reading this article right now. I can tell -- I'm psychic.
Pay attention to what? To everything. Within you and without you. I would imagine that if you are sensitive to the Venus transit, you are already feeling its motion and seeing its effects, and have been for some time. It may be possible without knowing your chart in this discussion to identify some of those specific areas that are affected, and the way the whole story of your life is turning a corner right now and heading in a new direction.
So let's pay attention; that is always the game with astrology, on any level.
Astrotica Esoterica
Lately I have been paying attention to a work called Esoteric Astrology, channelled by Alice A. Bailey and published in 1951 (see recent article in Planet Waves), which I tend to do when the astrology seems like it's going over the top. One such time was in preparation for the grand cross/total solar eclipse of 1999. It's a matter of perspective; this book has a big perspective and it is good at giving insights into the deeper meaning of the astrology behind events. It is far more concerned with world horoscopes than with individual ones. Here is some of that perspective.
It's mentioned repeatedly throughout EA that Venus is the twin planet of the Earth. Venus, mind you, but not Mars. Mars is different. We are a Mars obsessed culture, and that expresses itself in many unholy ways as male dominance, a state of perpetual war, oppression of women, obsession with sex as commerce, obsession with acquisition and a general condition of having to manipulate everything all the time. This is not the real Mars but rather a perversion of its power and gifts. It is also the product of a values system on a planet (ours) where violence is the most convenient way to survive. But Mars needs to be balanced with the power of consciousness and deliberation that are given by the Libra aspect of Venus. And that is what is happening.
Venus is described in EA as the Earth's soul. "A clue tending toward the correct understanding lies hid in the words: 'Venus is the Earth's primary'," she states in EA, quoting from an earlier work.
"It is not permissible to say much about this mystery, that 'Venus is the Earth's alter ego', nor is it advisable, but certain ideas may be suggested which -- if brooded on -- may result in a wider grasp of the beauty of nature's synthesis, and of the wonderful correlation that is in the process of evolution."
"Perhaps," she adds, "some idea may be gained if we remember that, in an occult sense, Venus is to the Earth what the higher Self is to man."
Okay that is a clue. Not only is it a clue, but we get to live through an event that will test or maybe demonstrate the theory; she does not ask anyone to accept what she says in Esoteric Astrology on faith, but rather through experience.
And Venus, this higher Self or planetary soul, is going to fuse with the Sun and align directly with the Earth, and we are living through its effects on whatever level you take the word "living" to represent -- big picture, small picture, whatever. But she is talking about what occurs mostly on the planetary level of evolution, a process toward which our seemingly individual paths, missions, journeys with our charts, all take place. We are the rivers that flow to that sea.
I recognise that this is not necessarily an easy fact to awaken to; the world is in rough shape. That we are on some level responsible for the world, and responsible entirely for our perception of the world, is a lot of pressure. It ain't popcorn. Fortunately, help is on the way, and help is all around. It also makes some sense to mention that what mystics call soul or higher Self is different specifically because it has a different purpose than whatever else may be running consciousness at the moment. When soul is contacted, purpose changes, or rather, deeper purpose emerges. And that can disrupt the previous purpose, be it relationships or other patterns of existence. And it would seem that we have a rare meeting with the soul of the world in progress.
Astroticus Eroticus
Interesting, I think, that Venus has so many erotic and sexual overtones in Western astrology. This is not an error. This is an esoteric truth finding exoteric expression in the world of form and activity. Reproduction is also the human exercise of the power of God, and that requires considerable feminine involvement. Venus is a little like Lord Krishna: the mind of the senses, the consciousness of creatures. I have long felt that sexuality was the most important expression of the soul that exists in our worldly experience: not just heart, but soul as well. In other words, not only individual feeling, as offered by heart, but also participation in the greater life we all share -- soul.
It's tragic that this aspect of life has been so carefully suppressed and exploited by Mean Mars (not real Mars but by perverted, violent and greedy Mars), to whom enough is never enough (Halliburton). Thus it should not shock us to see a sexual abuse scandal in the midst of a scandalous and immoral war for profit. It is all part of the same disease process, but that disease process begins and ends with the oppression of women. Because women are traditionally held as part of the Earth, destruction of the Earth is the same thing as the oppression of women.
And that oppression is sexual. It is sexual because it is about women and women are a sex (a gender) being oppressed by another sex (usually men), and because there are, today, only two ways to keep women in Western Civ in chains. One is to make them hate themselves (accomplished effectively by Judeo-Christianity and advertising) and the other way is to deny them information about sex (which is being accomplished handily by the Abstinence Only "sex education" program taught in 49 states of the same country that happens to be responsible for more wars than anyone, ever). The purveyors of war know that war is sexual energy out of balance. And they know the easiest way to make people ready to kill is to shut them down sexually.
Am I saying that if Americans could relax and fuck, the world would be a more peaceful place? I am saying, think about it. There are many more good things that come with Venus than sensuality and fucking, but respect for women and respect for sex is the first of them. Respect as in honouring the reproductive process. Respect as in a loving approach, an aware approach, and clear intentions stated in honest words and expressed in honest feelings. (This is different than romance, and more daring than dating.)
We do not see how hung up we are and how hung up our culture is (I include England in this comment, as I've been studying the place). It may feel "safe" and "secure" and "good" to be so wound tight, but it is none of the three. That it feels normal I do not doubt; we have no other alternatives commonly available. Our healing process is not merely a matter of sex, but of all the values under which sex is stressing, straining and groaning in something other than pleasure: the economics of it all; the use of sex as a tool to manipulate people into buying everything; sex trumped up as a moral issue, with its promises of damnation; sex as a bargaining chip in many, most or all of the relations between men and women; female sexuality as something traded on the marketplace, and all the rest.
And most important, sex as a taboo area of consciousness, a subject about which we are not allowed (by cultural rules) to openly speak. Trouble, trouble, trouble right here in River City. My simplest interpretation of this rather magnificent event occurring in Gemini, and involving both Venus and Mercury, is that we really do need to learn how to talk about sex. It sounds simple, right? Well then, let's talk. Let's have a good laugh.
It would be great if we could answer one another's deep soul erotic yearnings and not create a whole lot of messy karma, but that is largely a matter of awareness.
Is there an awakening coming? I really hope so. All this war all the time, all this hatred -- mother, I just can't relate. ++
To be continued Monday. Additional research by Chelsea Bottinelli, Carol Burkhart and Tracy Delaney.
*We are looking for the article An Island in Time, but cannot seem to find it.
Mid-Gemini Birthdays But Really, All Gemini Birthdays
This is one of those "What can I say?" birthday reports. In fact, it is the first of its kind. I was not writing these little missives at the time of the 1999 total solar eclipse or the Taurus alignment of May 2000. Now, faced with a chart of similar magnitude, I really need to pause and size things up again.
Suffice it to say: this is a big time in your life; a real moment of growth and awakening. The chart for your birthday, particularly June 8, is one of the great world horoscopes of our lifetimes.
I cast the June 8 chart months ago -- probably in November some time, and have literally carried it around everywhere I've been since then. I've written numerous monthly and weekly horoscopes about it; and many articles. I would say that all these materials count, if you want to explore astrology for clues, messages and ideas -- all horoscopes, all signs; feel for what feels right. This is your time, your moment, your opportunity and your gift to give.
We stand at a turning point in collective history, one that will play out for the next eight years, a length of time that, were I you, I would be taking a good look at. That is the next time there is an occurrence of a transit of Venus to the Sun and once again it happens on or near your birthday -- June 6, 2012.
As I write, I am also aware that many Geminis have been through utter hell at some point since 1995, when Pluto entered your opposite sign. As Pluto has crept forward in Sagittarius, moving two or three degrees each year, it has opposed the Sun of all Geminis born up through about June and is now working on the June 10-15 class. As well, between 1999 and 2001, Chiron swept through Sagittarius, an event which you no doubt experienced rather personally. (These events have, by the way, also affected Sagittarians profoundly and to a smaller but quite meaningful extent Virgos and Pisces. These four signs make up the mutable cross and what happens to one arm of the cross happens to all of them, though the dynamics are a little different.)
The Gemini dynamics? How about trial by fire?
True, for most of you things have settled. But there is so much happening in Sagittarius, which is the house where you meet the world, meet people, have relationships, experience all forms of partnerships and -- perhaps most imporant -- seek justice, that I doubt there's ever a dull moment. I will not mention the fact that your planet is obsessed with being retrograde.
And look, there is nothing wrong with Mercury, if you don't mind your hard drive erased every now and then. Did I say that? I can't believe it. I mean, Mercury, think of it: think of our world of communications miracles that work pretty good most of the time. All of that involves Mercury, and Gemini. And, let me be the first to tell you that you've got a new ruling planet, and that would be Venus. The emphasis is not on mind but on the emotions, not on expression but receiving, and not so much on the unusual androgynous principle represented by your usual ruling planet but rather on the feminine aspect of God.
Have you read The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown? That's a good introduction to the notion of God's feminine aspect, which has been covered up, hidden away and made to disappear for aeons.
There is in your birthday chart the resolution of duality -- the twofold quality of being -- as well as ambivalence and the sense of struggle choosing. In this, you will, I think, be quite grateful for everything you have learned from all the intense activity in Sagittarius the past decade because it has, in truth, given you the basis for choice. These experiences have in many ways led you to regard yourself as your true essence and not as the window dressing that so many others around you identify with. And now what has been removed is ready to open the way for what was made to shine through.
To that foundation, you may add the factor of self-consciousness that hesitates much less and celebrates the fact of existence much more. Though reality has thrown you some rather stunning curves these recent years, I would imagine that you are pretty sure you can stand up to anything, anyone or any uncertainty. The challenge now is creating meetings where there is mutual awareness of an exchange and a mutual sense of service, but always to something greater than yourselves, if also to one another.
As you know, your life extends far beyond the personal. You are really in a relationship to all of existence; to the world, and to ideas -- as well as to individuals. And while it makes sense to choose individuals who embody existence, the world and ideas, this does not happen as often as you would like. But as you continue to change, and as the events of the coming seasons work their wonders, I am confident that you will embody the power and sense of integrity that will orient you on who and what you need.
As ever, words play an important role in your life. I have a feeling that your relationship to words is going to deepen; to be more oriented on the senses; and that it will give you many new maps to who you are. What you say to people will hold sway, mostly because you are accessing deeper wisdom than ever, and mostly because your orientation is, as I have suggested, shifting from the realm of ideas to that of beauty.
No matter in what aspect of your life you are seeking growth and development, you are being handed a trump card. You are being given an opportunity to exchange what you do not want for what you do want. And you are being given licence to aspire to the great things you hold secretly in your heart. This is not a promise but really an opportunity, many opportunities, to turn your belief in yourself into action.
And remember: eight years. It may seem like a long time from now today, but these days, less than three thousand in number, will move faster with each successive birthday and in just a moment you will think back on these words and remember them like no time had passed at all.
Planet Waves Friday Horoscope
by Eric Francis
Friday June 4, 2004
Aries (March 20-April 19)
Because the rather spectacular astrology of the coming days involves the ruler of your opposite sign -- Venus, whose domain includes Libra -- you are being called upon to rise to the occasion of something truly unusual in your relationships. Events of these days and this season beckon you to a new era of love, in which you see people as being entirely inclusive of you, and you of them. It's only our ideas about the world, and about people, that keep us separated from them. But your ideas are changing, and you will, I trust, soon see how deeply your experience of life and love changes as well.
Taurus (April 19-May 20)
Tuesday's Venus transit happens in one of the more private angles of your chart, it marks your emergence in a new form as a new being, but having very little to do with your 'personality'. Something from deep inside you is merging with who you think of yourself as being; it is a Self that is both unfamiliar and yet strangely familiar at once. At the same time, I imagine this is arriving with your sense that you have many responsibilities in this lifetime beyond those to which you have already dedicated yourself. And you have every drop of wisdom and strength to fulfil them.
Gemini (May 20-June 21)
Next week's exact meeting of the Sun and Venus occurs Tuesday in your birth sign. The future is now. The next time a similar event occurs, again in your sign, is in 2012, a date that used to seem like it was aeons away; now it is a matter of days: between this coming Tuesday and June 6, 2012, to be exact, there are 2,924 days. I suggest you think of them as a time frame within which you will accomplish many of the most important goals of this lifetime. You are, in any event, being handed a personal invitation from the cosmos to thank -- I meant think -- of yourself and your life's work in very different terms than ever before.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
It will take some time to see the full effects of what exactly is changing in your most private relationships, yet certain factors do seem to be out on the table. One is that your definition of an ideal partner is being rewritten a little more each day. Probably the best way to think of this is in terms proposed by Caroline Myss. Your relationships are going from what may have been a study in woundology to experiences of actual sharing. I wish this kind of progress for everyone; in your case, maturity is compelling you to wake up and take notice -- and love others with true integrity.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)
If astrology is any harbinger of the future, you will be known for the rest of your days as the person amongst your friends who was the hub holding the great wheel together. There is so much unnecessary sorrow and suffering in this world created by both movement of people, and by the many stresses put on friendships. You have a special calling in this regard: the gift of maintaining contact and awareness of a great diversity of people, and providing a space where they can open up and be natural. This skill is a gift to everyone in your life, and a truly beautiful resource for you.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
Jupiter in Virgo is offering you the opportunity to see, feel and experience life from the opposite viewpoint and, in a sense, to get into the body and soul of the people closest to you. As you aspire to greater things than you ever expected, you must take with you this sense of empathy that you're learning. Though it is a tall order, never again are you to fail to respond to the pain of another person. Your fortunes depend on this, but more to the point, fulfilment of your role in this lifetime does as well. You are being granted enormous power now, and that calls for compassion.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
Play back the major scenes of your life in reverse. Go year by year; season by season, if necessary. You will find certain places where you would have done things differently if you could, opportunities where you could have made another choice. The unfolding exact transit of Venus to the Sun suggests a time of redemption. If you can accept the wisdom of time and experience, my sense is that this astrology will allow you to correct errors of the past, even those that seem so far beyond reach or hope you would never ordinarily bother. Take the chance. You have nothing to lose.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
Deep within the sex drive is the impulse to immortality. In actual fact, as part of the evolutionary process, humans have exchanged physical immortality for sexual reproduction. We do not seek this in symbol alone, or through our children; there is something about sex that is regenerative and through which we commune with the spirit of immortal bliss. As a Scorpio you may already know this. Your first mission is to raise sex above the level of power struggle in every aspect of your life. Your second is to become the clearest, most honest and most direct sexual communicator you know.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)
We live with many categories of people in our lives: friends; acquaintances; the public; lovers; former lovers; family. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the way that Tuesday's transit of Venus to the Sun lights up your chart, is the message that these divisions of humanity have outdone their use. While certain specific activities are obviously appropriate only under certain conditions, your are being brought closer to all people. Your life and your work are having an impact on people you do not know as vividly as if you were standing right there. You are married to the world. Congratulations!
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
The tests and lessons life has presented you over the past year may seem unfair, but think of all that you've gotten out of the way of your long-term happiness. In truth it is removing those blocks that is far more important than importing or seeking out supposed sources of joy. And you have certainly been clearing the decks, cleaning the closets and taking inventory. It would help you enormously if you could do two things. One is really notice how people feel about you. The other is if you would actually do what you want to do every day, instead of what you think is expected of you.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
Healing always involves acknowledging pain or sickness on some level. As far as I can tell, affirming problems in clear terms is the best thing we can do in preparation for resolving them. In much the same way, we do tend to set up our lives such that pain is the most credible teacher. Are you ready for a new method of learning? I really hope so, because you are now being given one. But note this: to learn from creativity involves trading in the lessons of pain for another way of life. To learn from love involves gambling away the loneliness that has become so familiar. Is this really a risk?
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
The rather stunning pace with which all people and things Pisces are progressing in the world is something to behold. There is, though, no clinging to the riverbank with this onrush of progress. Yet while wave after wave of change and revelation crest over your life with the familiar roar of the ocean of Spirit, you are, somehow, in a true moment of stability. You are at a kind of centrepoint in your life, from which you will always be able to navigate. The progress you have made so far may not be entirely obvious today, but as the next changes come, you will get a very clear picture.
