Venus in Aries

An image of simple singularity: one tree standing against the sky as reflected in water...or is that in our mind?

(photo credit: Pen Waggener, December 2008)

It would be totally understandable if here in the week after the 8 Taurus solar eclipse you were thinking things were on their way to settling down, ironing out and behaving in some reliably credible and sensibly civil manner.

That would be entirely understandable, yes.

It’s just that it wouldn’t be particularly true, especially once 1:22 in the morning (UT/+0 time) of May 3rd arrives, as that ushers in some three-and-a-half weeks of Venus in Aries and various forms of wanting things to be as we want them to be when life’s underlying message - however it manifests in your life - is far more likely to be about who we need to be and what we need to be prepared to deal with - not that anything dire is meant here.

It’s just that Venus in Aries periods generally manifest as a time when two very different and seemingly oppositional operations affect us. Not only that, but how we handle things seems...inordinately important to us, and we often aren’t tolerant of others whose priorities differ from ours.

No, Venus in Aries is not known as astrology’s most brilliantly cooperative descriptor - though why that is isn’t all that hard to understand. The astrological Venus principle being about where cause becomes effect defines connection and connectivity: an “I” and “thou” duality of some sort. But since Aries represents all things first-person-singular, everything we want from others somehow leads back to us...which is likely to manifest as the sort of ‘don’t look at me!’ vibe which works when there’s someone else to point your finger at, but that’s not what everyone will do. Willfulness, frustration - they’re common under Venus in Aries...though again, there are those who will simply blow off steam (or ‘vent’) now...and there are those who will simply take things into their own hand simply because under Venus in Aries the need to feel valid (or validated) can get so strong that people get into the ‘if no one else is going to do this, I will because I NEED to know this has gotten done’ sort of mode.

Not that such moves go well under Venus in Aries unless we’re truly working by ourselves. To work on our craft, our abilities, our projects or our image is classically Venus in Aries though there are astrologers who cringe at the idea of this as the influence under which we decide what our image should be while thinking through changing who we are seen as, what we’re doing that others know us by - all such things.

On the other hand...for those who have decided prior to Venus entering Aries (say, in connection with the Taurus eclipse) that XYZ needs changing, so long as we stick to our part in a process or pursue some change which has solely to do with us - that may go well.

However...there is a warning here which though seldom dire, eternally remains: the power of ego under Venus in Aries is powerful. In other words, a little bit of asserting or ‘stepping out and being noticed’ goes a long, long way.

Why this is goes back to the idea of Aries as the sign of the warrior - the chief ‘weapon’ of which is the determination to fight. That ‘presentation’ - that quality which says ‘I’m willing to do what it takes’ is endemic to Aries and antithetical to Venus....not to mention that pesky Mars in Libra retrograde thing again.

Mars rules Aries. Venus rules Libra - and Taurus, which we have to care about because anywhere Venus is will engage matters/qualities having to do with whatever has so recently been ‘eclipsed,’ liberating qualities we need to reconcile in our soul. But going back to the Venus-Mars thing, wherever we see planets ‘cross-collateralized’ by rulership we are told there’s a solid connection, which in the case of Venus and Mars links our passions (or whatever we’re passionate about) to some drive for (Venus) reward or satisfaction.

And that reward thing or satisfaction quota? That’s generally not what we want it to be under Venus in Aries.

In fact, we could start out saying we want “Thing A” under Venus in Aries and get Thing A and still not be satisfied.

And why not?

That why not is the bottom line with Venus in Aries: there’s a ‘closed loop’ quality to this passage which makes the ‘thing’ not our issue (no matter how much we think or want to insist it is).

The real issue is why we (Venus/eclipse) value the thing...and that may (for reasons too astrologically complicated to recite at the moment) involve some emotional experience you had back when you were between the ages of 2.5 and 5 years old.

And when we think of things from that perspective, maybe...just maybe having this March 1st through May 20th Mars-in-Libra retrograde enfolding the whole of the primary Taurus eclipse period (the two months preceding plus the greatest part of the month after) is something of a gift.

Yes, I said a gift.

What this time has done is back us away from each other, and in that process we have encountered some (Aries) personal and basic (Taurus) qualities about ourselves or our life or “our world” or our way of life (etcetera) which either are wrong or which we are discovering are wrong. Whatever is going is as likely to be hidden inside (under the belief that we need to “keep up appearances”) as it is to manifest in daily life.

Venus in Aries works well enough for those who are self-motivated but where we focus solely on self-interest (or where we see others as a means to our end without egalitarian regard for their aims) our efforts will go wrong - or be seen as arrogant, uncalled for...or even unseemly.

All this because taking others into account isn’t generally considered an Venus in Aries expertise.

Under Venus in Aries, we will want to shine - and to some strange extent, it doesn’t matter whether the reaction is an applause or complaint...it’s a response, and that’s what we want - to feel engaged. And engaging.

Venus in Aries likes to sparkle. Well, mostly. Those whose ego structures are naturally demonstrative will push the “more” button, where those who are for whatever reason shy will often opt for the door marked “hide here.”

Even more ironic...those who might do better to take a step back will be those stepping out while those who are naturally reticent are probably dealing with...not fear, exactly - but a definite sense of discomfort or perhaps simply lack of experience.

As Venus moves into and through Aries, discussions will shift, people will reformulate their methodologies and go about doing that entirely Aries thing of exploring and understanding who we are relative to things as they are in this time...at the moment...and who we find ourselves to be in our own mind...?

Whether motivation, explanation or justification, we will start there and see where it leads.

Even if it gets us nowhere.

Even if half way through our journey we decide to do something entirely different.

Even if we realize we haven’t yet done what we need to do to be the person (having the life) which suits not who we were yesterday, but who we are now.

Or who we want to become even if that means we have to risk experiencing things which are uncomfortable, unrewarding (at least in the short run) or frustrating.

We often get a lot done under Venus in Aries, but this isn't a combination which suggests lighthearted fun. The desire for fun? Yes - there is much to be said for Venus in Aries as a driver of personal desire.

It's just what we have to do to get there may not suit our fancy. (Or our ego, be it monumental or barely existent.) Owning our opinions is needed now, but so is tolerance. Haste generates waste under Venus in Aries and though being headstrong, insistent or reactive in the moment may feel (or sound) good, whether the issue is a relationship, project or negotiation it's easy to press to hard and create alienation. 

Fatigue or "inflammations"of body and/or mind are also said to be common under this sign. Though not necessarily at all serious, such things merit being taken to heart if only because under Venus in Aries we often need to be our own support team. 

Whatever happens, though Venus transits are seldom the make-or-break of life, they do tend to be dappled with dissatisfaction whether or not that dissatisfaction is merited. Combined with Mars retrograde in Libra, we are likely to spend the next several weeks moving towards and away from others (even if that’s just in our mind) or closer or farther from our aims, affecting not only our ‘vision,’ but how others see us - their ‘vision’ of us - all of which will feed into what we’re feeling about our Self, a process which will pose a lingering Venus in Aries question: If who we are and what we do in life comes back to us, are we being who we want to be?
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