Venus enters Leo: Pretty as a Picture

Today seems just exactly right for a blog on Venus entering Leo. Why is that? That would be because Venus in Leo typifies that ‘perfect image’ we get in our mind – whether that’s of someone we love, someone we’d like to love, some far off beach where nobody could bother us while we lie there basking, reading a book…

In the broadest of broad strokes, the almost-four weeks ahead of Venus in Leo (Thursday, September 6th into Wednesday, October 3rd) are the stuff of vacations. A time to have fun with the kids. A period when that paint you pick out for your back room will actually turn out to be the color you envisioned it would be.

But lets remember: all astrological doors swing both ways. So Venus in Leo can also be a time when that pretty vision in our head turns out to be about as wrong, wrong, wrong as humanly possible. When with the very best of intentions (and deepest convictions) we try to get everybody organized to do what we know needs doing and they tell us to get a life and get off that personal soap box.

What divides success from those rudest of unpleasant rejections? The Other. You know…those other people on the planet? There are two ways to win here: either your vision for Venus in Leo requires no help from anybody (see: book reading on deserted island beach) or you take into account not just what moving bodies are available but what they are up to in the moment.

That would mean this moment – this Venus in Leo moment when you’re trying to get your (Leo) vision to (Venus) come into reality and move towards fruition.

That said, why is THIS the ripest of moments to have this little Venus/Leo chat? That would be because Monday, September 3rd is the day when asteroid  Photographica (the “image”) goes station/direct at 20 Capricorn. Photographica – a main belt asteroid – is all about the image we see or the image we want to make for ourselves or some product…the how we want (it) to be seen quality.

Then we look at the astronomical perspective. Photographica’s outermost orbital point (its aphelion) is at 2.30552 AU (astronomical units) and its innermost orbital point (its perihelion) is at 2.1256246 AU. That’s not much of a difference. Moreover, considering that asteroid belt (defined as that space between Mars and Jupiter) runs from about 1.6 AU (Mars’ aphelion) to 4.95 AU (Jupiter’s perihelion)…Photographica seems to be pretty much part of what we might call the asteroid mainstream.

 Mars in crescent phase as photographed by Viking 2 

in 1976 (photo credit: NASA-JPL)

 

 

Very much so, in fact. So just in that we can draw some level of metaphysical inference that Photographica is about a ‘mainstream’ appearance or ‘looking like you’re part of the mainstream’…otherwise known as that mysterious quality known as ‘feeling we belong’ which closely related to ‘giving the right appearance’ and thus quasi-kind-of about being comfortable in our skin.

You know, that skin we make our appearance in?

Yes – that image!

So Photographica going direct can refer to anything from making a good impression to situations which disfigure us. Or repair disfigurements. Or our obsession with…or rejection of…standards of beauty.

There’s part of this which is reality based: the appealing product stands a far better chance in the marketplace against the unappealing product. But when we move to the esoteric considerations – namely, that need to look good applies to me too – then we get into a gray area which is about ‘objectification’ and whether that’s good for us. Any of us.

Then there’s that other part of ‘the image’ – that we call reputation. Reputation differs from image in that it’s not distinctly physical, it’s more….well, let’s call it transactional. Reputations are built and dinged (or exploded) based on the evidence of who we are we put out there principally through what we do.

In other words, reputation is where PR rubber hits the track record road. And since Photographica is going direct at 20 Capricorn…and since Capricorn is itself a sign about commerce and very much about our documented track record, Photographica’s turning points and direct-versus-retrograde passages have much to do with how we deal with what we do either remembering or forgetting that those actions live on. 

(And on.)(And on.)(And on.)

The particular degree Photographica is going direct at (20 Capricorn) is by 3rd decanate definition a ‘visible’ degree. So reputation – and the ability of others to see what we do and ‘call’ us on our actions or inconsistencies or qualities (or lack thereof) are in the mix now. But there’s more to 20 Capricorn than just that: this is an interesting degree which has a reputation for bringing out/exposing inconsistencies in character. For some this will be the willingness to take on a responsibility they have neither ability nor intent to carry through on (for whatever reason). For others, this may be the difference between the strong and forward personality you expect and the truth that the person you thought so strong and indomitable is actually pretty shy.

There isn’t necessarily any good or bad here – just a difference. And in this moment, as Photographica goes direct, that difference shows up. Typically, direct motion means there is input coming from without which evokes or provokes the ‘display’ of the asteroid (or planetary) attribute. In this case however, given which points we’re talking about (Photographica) and where it is positioned (20 Capricorn) we shouldn’t be surprised if situations now reveal things, assumptions, encounters, choices…whatevers from days gone by.

With Photographica currently at 2.288 AU from the Sun and headed away from Earth and towards Jupiter, we would guess that we are still trying to grow our images or master our issues with regards to image, whatever that may entail.

 Orbital diagram of asteroid Photographica at 

September 3, 2012 (JPL Small Body Database)

And then we get to Venus in Leo.

As Venus enters Leo, the aspects most applicable are Neptune 1 Pisces and Artemis at 1 Leo – together the concept of the inconjunct done to perfection.

Under any circumstances, Neptune inconjunct Venus will conjure some sort of inconsistency or feeling of inadequacy. Considering the signs each planet is in, it will be a lot easier (and therefore a whole lot more likely) that we’ll try to compensate in some way rather than deal with the ‘why we feel that’ stuff. Is that the most productive thing to do? Probably not – but since Venus in Leo is more inclined to pleasure than productivity, unless the need to invest effort in something is going to benefit us, it’s not likely we’re going to leap in and get to work at the moment!

Mind you…there are a couple of days between Photographica’s (Monday) turn to direct and Venus’ (Thursday) Leo ingress. And since prior to being in Leo Venus will be in Cancer, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to think that we would work to better our future from Monday through Wednesday then decide we deserve a bit of fun or relaxation as Thursday arrives.

As for Artemis, many of us know her as the twin sister of Apollo (God of the Sun) and Goddess of the Moon, the hunt, virginity and the health (or lack of health) of women, particularly as that concerns one’s womanly physicality. Yet like Apollo – who is probably better thought of as the god of enlightenment with Helios being the Greek god of that ‘thing’ we call the Sun (the disc in the sky), Artemis (or Diana, as she was known in Rome) is more akin to reflection or effect…as distinct from Luna, the actual image of the Moon as that object in the sky.

And that does seem to hold in mythology. Stories which have Artemis as a character are about the effect things we do have on our life. You know, in reflection. One such story is that of Niobe, the mother so proud of her children that she bragged they were better than the children of the gods. That being a pretty good version of Greek blaspheming, the gods took umbrage to this boast and it was Apollo and Artemis who were sent to hunt down Niobe’s kids and kill them – one by one – in front of their mother.

No, Greek myth is not a pretty thing. Then again, it’s greatly about our mentality, not about events taking place in real time or physical space.

The other story which occurs to me in regards to Artemis concerns Kallisto. Sworn to the (chaste) service of Artemis, Kallisto is overwhelmed by a super-lustful Zeus (Jupiter) and becomes impregnated. Considering the vow of chastity, it’s not surprising that a very displeased Artemis turned Kallisto into a bear as punishment.

 The 'Diana of Versailles,' a Roman Imperial Era marble

(1st or 2nd century CE) which having been a gift from Pope Paul IV

to Henry II of France, is now housed at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

 (photo credit: Marie-Lan Nguyen, Jan 2005)

 

Artemis does things which force us to reflect.

So as Venus enters Leo, some of us will reflect on things we’ve done which haven’t played out the way we wanted to. Or which haven’t sat well with our conscience. There is, many think, a quality of bravado which occurs as planets (or other objects) cross from Cancer into Leo, and that tendency to bluff is really our reacting to the internal sense of what we could profit by exploring throughout the Leo period. That being the case, whatever ‘jarring’ which causes us to react by deflecting, bluffing, maybe making some excuse or laughing something off… If we combine that with the known Venusian quotient for ‘concreting’ things, this Venus ingress may become a moment of realization, pointing the way to what which we will have an opportunity to do, enjoy and be empowered by (in whatever manner) over the weeks ahead.

Will we have second thoughts? Artemis’ presence at 1 Leo suggests yes. So expect some ‘what if’s and expect some ‘yeah, but’s and think it all through. Considering how Pluto will go direct in a couple of weeks (on September 18th) and how, as Venus eventually moves on into Virgo (on October 3rd) we will be at the Jupiter station (October 4th)… this is a natural time to be making headway, making plans, recognizing opportunities which need a little ‘reflecting’ on and thinking through, but which may well point to solutions or ways to better your life.

That said, it’s also worth being realistic. There are several sides to Neptune. One inspires, one fools. One inclines us to thinking overly well about ourselves and the other causes us to think less of ourselves.

Which is right? None of them!

In the end, Neptune says find out what the truth is. Or can be. The inconjunct to Venus says there’s something which we aren’t seeing quite clearly at the moment, but that doesn’t have to be any disaster. Far from it – we may be on the verge of finding a far, far better way to operate.

Good luck! Have fun! Do great deeds!