Venus in Virgo

  The Kiss of Peace by Julia Margret Cameron

People tend to associate Libra with beauty. That works fine as a concept, but in understanding Venus…how it works and why its transit of one sign feels natural and another denotes a somewhat more challenging time is because Libra isn’t beauty as a quality.

Venus is the sense of satisfaction or happiness that anything you consider beautiful or delightful or sumptuous or wonderful evokes. If success makes you happy, to you, successful moments are Venusian. If seeing something beautiful – be it a piece of art, a ballet, a baby laughing or a stunning bit of natural scenery…if that evokes a sense of fulfillment and ‘ahhhhhh….’ feeling in your heart, soul and tummy…whatever it is about that moment, be it the feeling of hot sun on your skin while you’re lying on the beach, that thrill of delight when fireworks light up the sky, that first bite of something yummy which recalls your favorite moment from childhood…

That trigger, that feeling, the ability to conjure that feeling of happy satisfaction – even for just the moment – that’s your astrological Venus.

There are all sorts of places to go with this idea. But certainly if I tell you that much about Venus, then you’ll understand why the person who is unhappy on the inside is never ‘cured’ by the diet or the new love affair or the fancy home or any amount of money.

Venus abides deep in the inner sanctum of our soul. And when in reality you don’t know how to evoke that feeling of satisfaction, security, delight…when your don’t know what will give you a lasting sense of peace, that’s when we know you have an astrological Venus issue.

Getting in touch with our Venus is important. For most of us, our childhood greatly shapes our mortal Venus.

But not always. Sometimes for good, sometimes not so much so, people come and go in our lives and there are those who will teach us more about love and humanity than our parents have.

They evoke our Venus. The touch is theirs...but the Venus is ours.

 Painted by Luke Fildes in 1914, the painting is called 'Motherless' and it depicts a young child in loving arms. So often we think that love comes only from mothers or family...modern society has caused us to become suspicious of each other.It doesn't have to be that way...we each have the ability to reach out, to nurture and to care.

Understanding that as ruler of Libra and Taurus Venus is not about what happens or is given to you but developing a life which will cause those things to happen? That’s even better.

In the merry world of astrology (!!!) there are a couple of forms of planet-sign combination considered a big ‘plus.’ One is rulership. In its sign of rulership, a planet is said to manifest its qualities easily and fully. And as we said, with Venus, those signs are Libra – the sign of interaction and relating where we get to present that person we’ve ‘created of ourselves’ and (hopefully) get the right reaction from others and through that achieve a sense of satisfaction and inner peace…and the other is Taurus, a sign all about self-worth and the satisfaction which comes from having lived a life you can respect and which you find fits you body, soul, spirit, heart and morality.

But there’s another form of positive ‘dignity’ – that’s the astrological name for a planet/sign combination which is by and large a symbiotic plus. That second form of plus is called exaltation. When a planet is in the sign of exaltation that sign, by its nature exalts the qualities associated with the planet in question and its operational imperatives.

With Venus, we not only have to make something of ourselves and our abilities, we have to have the faith to go out there and be that person. Apart from that, everybody knows the quintessential qualities which describe the reactions which elicit that Venus ‘ahhhh…’: appreciation, applause, compliments, admiration and – yes – love.

And the sign which melds the idea of faith and love? That would be Pisces…and yes, Venus is exalted in Pisces. You may know a few Pisces people who seem to be in love with love, right? (We all know a few.)

Taking all that and thinking it through, if Venus is liberated to be faith-inspiring-ly, romantic, sensual and loving in Pisces (which it is), then there are some plus and minuses of Venus in Virgo – the passage just ahead.

Venus will enter the earthy, reality-oriented, deal-with-the-dirt (and dirty jobs) Virgo on Wednesday, October 3rd at 7 in the morning, UT/+0 time. For those who can see dealing with the corporeal and ‘imperfect’ challenges of life with an air of practicality and mindfulness of being of service or 'part of the process,' Venus in Virgo is fine. Anyone with a 9-to-5 job who understands it as a means to their end will be fine.

Venus in Virgo is associated with nurturance...the blessing of the patient parent is Venus in Virgo, the spiritual or medical caretaker is a Venus in Virgo person. Even the soldier who defends us, the person who comes to save us from the stuck sink pipe, the civil servant who does their best despite public hassling, the stock person who hunts down that pair of socks in blue for you...they're all Venus in Virgo figures.

Here, a waste collection truck goes about its business in Prague. From doing service with the knowledge that you're doing some good to service which is done for the good of others, Venus in Virgo honors many. To the extent that things seem difficult, annoying or frustrating in the next few weeks, to the extent that others don't seem to like, approve or support you in the ways that you need help or support...? That may well be the reflection of your own feelings about being of service in this world. Venus in Virgo often reveals the Scrooge so as to prove to others that such feelings exist...and so that the person 'being' Scrooge-ish can see that they need to take others more into account.  (August 2005, public domain)

(And yes, I do know this post is going up early. Take it as a sign that there’s a busy week ahead!)

There are however, a few exceptions and qualifications on those statements above. Remember Regulus? Yes, royal star Regulus is sitting right there smack dab on the Virgo doorstep – at 0 Virgo. Regulus promises success to those who deal with whatever without exacting retribution. Vengeance is a big no-no in the Regulus world.

There’s also the fact that Neptune is at this moment sitting exactly opposite (in zodiacal terms) at 0 Pisces. And Neptune is in retrograde, indicating that it’s ‘yes/no?’ qualities meant to cause us to have faith in truth (read: acceptance of reality) is…well…a mite challenging at this time.

And by implication, about to be challenging throughout the next few weeks while Venus transits Virgo, a passage which ends on October 28th.

There’s also the wee idea (read: fact) that Neptune is in conjunction with (meaning Venus’ conjunction with Regulus is in opposition with) Fomalhaut/Niobe at 4 Pisces and Bali/Chiron at 5 Pisces.

This is an interesting little subtext all its own. Fomalhaut being another of the sky’s four royal stars promises success only where dreams and means are not corrupt, corrupted or corruptive. Conjunct Niobe (a symbol of pride) this is bad news – now and in the weeks ahead - for anyone who has lived/exhibited the kind of boastful pride which got everything Niobe cared about shot down.

Not shockingly, Bali (paradise) with Chiron represents that happiness which we should guard, which we should have taken better care of, and which we need to fix but don’t quite know how to fix…(and which we will never know how to fix until we try!)

 Put all this together and you have a whole bubble, bubble, stewing and making trouble sort of recipe which is in us.

Yes, we may encounter things which prompt us to think about whatever the matter is. For those who are living pretty cleanly, there will be people and situations which no doubt will tempt you or poke you and see if you’re really devoted to steering clear of corruption and vengeance.

And for those who have acted in a manner which was corrupt for the moment or your position in some matter, those who have taken out their spite and ire on others when they shouldn’t have…this Venus passage has your name all over it!

Yes…for you this would be a good time to think through (with yourself) why you did what you did and where that urge came from. If you can be honest with yourself and honest with those who you have hurt, harmed or willfully attempted to dupe, marginalize, sideline or whatever else…then you may really experience some magic in your life.

Metaphysics is a funny thing…we talk about something like this and I refer to the ‘magic’ which may happen and we don’t seem to understand that the good we do in one place may well come back to us in another.

It’s sort of a universal cycle of earning. Considering that right after Venus gets through this relatively trying (not gloriously Venusian) period at hand then comes Venus in Libra (a totally pro-Venusian period) what we earn now may well come back to us then.

Since late April (2012) Venus has been transiting the first six signs of the zodiac. Those signs are all about internal and personal growth, learning, experiences and development. Once Venus enters Libra, it moves into its public, visible, worldly, interactive and contributing phase – a phase much more conducive to Venus effects we like, treasure and long for.

We’re just doing the earning now. Venus in Virgo is all about ‘cleaning up our act’ and fine tuning our abilities to interact with others in such a manner that they’ll like, appreciate and (yes) reward us.

The Regulus-Neptune-Fomalhaut-Chiron suggestions are clear enough. To do them, we have to live less in our heads and desires and more in the realities of whatever our track record really is.

Virgo asks that things be made better, more functional, cleaner and more effective. Venus in Virgo tells us our rewards come through sorting through that recipe and through working towards being someone we would not just like but respect if we met ourselves. There’s an earthiness to Venus in Virgo which can be liberating in its revelations. And so long as we can do that without compromising a prioritization of responsibilities and choices we know work not just for us but for everyone… (that’s the BIG everyone – not just your chosen few!)…then having flung your fling is just fine.

Just remember to rebuild whatever castles you’ve brought down in ruins first. You’ll thank yourself for it oh…in just shy of a month from now!
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