Venus in Pisces, Vesta in Aquarius

(background) Polyphony

by Paul Klee (1932, tempera on linen)

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Our world will heave a collective and universal sigh once Venus moves into Pisces - an event which will happen on January 27th at 15:01 ... or 3:01 p.m. for those not into global timekeeping.

Mind you, some will be sighing with relief and some with regret as Venus enters Pisces - there are those who truly enjoy the multi-faceted (if sometimes fractious) pace of information and opportunities which tend to create consequences (serious and sincerely, even riotously otherwise) under Venus in Aquarius.

All that now fades away as Venus enters a sign of astrological exaltation, bringing out the ‘softer’ side in many a conversation, relationship and thought.

 Venus in Pisces (text chart)

January 27, 2015 - 15:01 (3:01 p.m.) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Venus in Pisces (glyph chart)

January 27, 2015 - 15:01 (3:01 p.m.) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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But at the moment, though we want (and need) to continue dealing with whatever is on the table, in progress or our responsibility, one of the meanings of the t-square Venus fills in/creates by arriving in Aquarius, most of us could do without anything new being tossed into life’s ring when mentally, physically, financially or otherwise its already a bit of a 3-D circus.

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Make that t-squares with Saturn at the apex of the ‘t’ in both cases.

Saturn at the apex of the t-square represents all which is on one side a governor on something ... and which on the other speaks to a need and/or ability to persevere, learning as you go. The Saturn-Black Moon Lilith part of this formula having timed a slow but sure increasing need to ‘physician, heal thyself’ (as is uttered in the world of old sayings) since the latter part of last June  - a need which is (and/or has been) diligently responded to with denial as we determined a course of action which by now has proven very successful in some of its ‘doing’ phases and somewhat more questionably in its results.

For most of us, the issue is simply what we didn’t do (or what didn’t get done) because of that highly focused focus ... though there are those who simply refused to work on anything. Either way, this isn’t just Saturn-at-the-‘t’-of-the-t-square ...

(As if that would amount to being ‘just’ anything with Saturn, emblem of our need to try growth or be-and-become summarily ever-more-limited involved?)

... no, this is Saturn-Charybdis, which is all the Saturn with a definite ‘getting swallowed, then spit out whole’ sucked into the mix. Whatever Charybdis is, it isn’t a menial influence. Referred to as a ‘monster’ (which metaphysically translates either to an ogre or some force or influence which is ‘monstrously large’) Charybdis is the daughter of Poseidon (read: the feeling world) and Gaia, our tangible reality and all that we rely on to initially survive ... and to ultimately thrive.

The term ‘daughter’ here isn’t sexual - it’s more akin to the term ‘yin’ meaning responsive, recipient, container or respondent - which when combined with Saturn strongly suggests an attempt to limit something, whether that something is coming from without or something we’ve been doing up until now which (as we now recognize) we need to stop doing.

And because Saturn is now in Sagittarius, chances are we’re aware that we’re learning something from a substantially new perspective. (That would be the Sagittarian way.) And given that, we are also likely to want to tell others - or convince them of our having learned something new.

But back to that Poseidon thing for a moment ... the other name for Poseidon being Neptune, it’s interesting and (one would expect) informative that as Venus enters Pisces, Neptune is just out of reach - meaning, given the standard 5-degree orb of conjunction, though Venus (at 0 Pisces) is conjunct fixed and royal star Fomalhaut at 4 Pisces, and though Fomalhaut itself is conjunct Neptune, Venus isn’t.

So we really have two conjunctions (in the Pisces quadrant - Pisces being the “goal” or “answer” to this particular t-square. The Neptune conjunct Fomalhaut combines the need for purity (Fomalhaut) with that of (Neptune) inspiration-versus-illusion/self-delusion while Venus-Fomalhaut stands on a question mark between the result of something done for the right reason (or in the correct way) and that done for the wrong reason (or the wrong way) ... in spite of whether good or bad (Venus) comes from each or any of it.

Plus there are also a couple of interesting notices posted by Lilith being conjunct Orcus (equaling a denial of consequences) and Venus, in being at 0 Pisces at the ingress, setting off a ripple of conscience-meets-consequence arising from Venus at 0 Pisces being in opposition to Regulus at 0 Virgo, the net of which would seem to be signaling that some things (or at least the emotions and feelings we have vested in them) will end or be let go of so as we confront what (Regulus) course of action is based in fact, on pragmatic functionality and supported by well-rounded planning ... not on emotionalism.

Apart from this, there’s also a kite in the ingress chart...

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... and though Venus isn’t involved in this configuration, because the top of the kite is something in Libra tells us that whatever this kite represents in your world and life, the shift of Venusian influence or emphasis is going to be reflected - and reflected (interestingly enough) in how some current goal manifests (or could manifest), what we would have to do (or be) to achieve our aims ... or what we really want - at this particular Venus-in-Pisces point in time - out of what we’re doing.

We’re leaving a (January 3rd through 27th) Venus in Aquarius period behind. When we do that, the idea stops being enough. Aquarius is an air sign - the concept, the notion, the idea of alliance and ‘special-ness’ sounds and seems very appealing, so much so that under Venus in Aquarius we tend to think of the ‘idea of the thing’ in its entirety.

But then comes Pisces - the sign which shows us that beyond the idea is the instinctual understanding that everyone is special, and that in the end no alliance is any better than the heart and soul and spirit of those involved.

Pisces, like Aquarius, is a universal and universalist’s sign which manifests either as emotions we hold very much in common with every existent thing ... and as anything which will push us to stop thinking only in terms of Self not so we can be ‘drowned’ by being one among an uncountable many, but so we can feel connected - first and last with what we are ... the reality of who we are and how we feel about what we believe and don’t believe in.

Through that we arrive at what we can best offer and who we have the capacity to be in the world, and to others.

There’s just one catch. Pisces is a sign someone once described to me as ‘the distance by which we fail our own expectations.’ We all dream big - and big dreams are wonderful venues for possibilities. They’re the stuff of conviction and faith and trust which gets us past the hard parts and dark days and all that would have us give up on our Self. But when that dream becomes a substitute for reality, no matter how wonderful the intent or instinct, we’re bound to be or become disappointed.

And it wasn’t life which did it - it was our willingness to delude our Self by turning that which was supposed to be inspiration into expectation.

Hope is okay under Pisces. Expectation gets us into trouble - an aspect of which may be found on the subtle shift of perception with which we view our goals ... and our relationship to those goals as Venus exits Aquarius and enters Pisces.   

As to that kite I mentioned, like all kites it’s about a focused interest, intent or effort which in (grand trine) part rests on something which can be relied upon to be what it is (at least for the moment) and which makes a concerted effort (represented by the two sextiles at the top of the figure) to achieve our given aim.

The ‘focus’ is the opposition - in this case North Node (plus) Medusa at 12 Libra in opposition to the South Node at 12 Aries conjunct Uranus at 13 Aries. This is a bit of a quirk (which isn’t surprising, what with Uranus in the mix) as usually it’s the North Node which is the “should do this” point and the South Node (the easy or at least easier way to do things) which we’re not supposed to rely upon. But with a kite, it’s the bottom point (the kite’s “tail”) which is the point to operate from ... or which people are going to be operating from.

The ‘support’ points here come from Pallas (the coolly dispassionate, logical and well-informed perspective) and Juno - the ability to manage our (Leo) abilities and/or self-concern (read: ego) in order to support our interactive aim(s).

And when you combine that with Venus ... well, apparently it’s easy to think, discuss or debate about things and its going to take a lot to get us to the real goal of the moment - the feeling part (or the part which pertains to our real feelings or the reality of our feelings).

Can we be human - or is that too much of a human thing to do at the moment?

Fortunately, Venus in Pisces is a passage which can allow us to let go of certain fears. And because of that, we often make connections (to others, to ideas, to opportunities, etc.) under Venus in Pisces which we wouldn’t quite get to during Venus’ more analytical passages.

Whatever happens now, because this Venus-Pisces ingress comes with a side order of Typhon going retrograde at 22 Libra, things around us (that coming from the degree, which is social and not personal) seem pointed at the basic, the primal, the necessary-to-maintain, lest all else fall in a heap. In Libra, there are two sides to the question - both of which (despite the sign’s reference to others) are about who we are in relationship to others ... which 22 Libra adds to by adding a necessity to define and/or be definite.

In other words, no tap dancing, no wiffle-waffling, no joining the Gilbert & Sullivan chorus (where you take the side of whoever last spoke) ... and because 22 Libra seems to turn dalliances and indulgences of the ego into invitations to passing karmic sharks, especially considering how this is the second thing of the moment which oozes a ‘no-no on the e-go’ aura, it might be best to turn the wattage of our personal Klieg lights down.

For how long?

No one knows that for sure. But we do have a hint - that coming from the (Lachesis) duration of what would seem to be the (Vesta) cost we pay to uphold that we hold as our (Aquarius) system of thinking or that which supports our life and lifestyle - all of which begins as Vesta moves into Aquarius at 19:41 (7:41 p.m.) on the 28th - the day after Venus enters Pisces).

'Les Parques' (the Greek Fates)

by Alfred Agache (c.1885)

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As one of the Greek Fates (of which there are three), Lachesis refers to how things simply are. It’s ‘fate’ ... this is the way it is. If this was Klotho (beginnings), we would know something was going to start. If this was Atropos (the cut-off) we would know something was about to end or come to its conclusion.

But no... this is Lachesis - a reference to how long something lasts: Its duration.

In going retrograde at 3 Libra, Lachesis not only adds another vote for the ‘how I relate to others or things’ department work we’re about to undertake over the next couple of months as we experience whatever it is we need to feel to get us ‘down to basics’ (Typhon) ... for however (Lachesis) long a time - and that would be ‘down to basics’ with our Self.

According to writings on this degree, 3 Libra is degree which underscores (and perhaps promotes) difficult insights in spiritual people ... and a treacherous tendency to refuse to see in those who are of a more earthy and/or ‘prove it to me’ nature.

Lachesis direct is going through a process or working towards some aim. Give or take how Lachesis is placed in your natal chart (which can always change things towards a plus or minus), transiting Lachesis in retrograde is akin to how long it takes to... (finish sentence with your desire-de-jour) ... and what it takes to get me through that period, or what happens along the way.

As such, obviously not all such desires are going to get taken care of during Lachesis’ several months of retrograde. But during that time we are surely going to deal with what it means to have something for a certain amount of time, whether that’s a positive or negative.

In other words, in terms of the Vesta cost (to retrograde us) of doing what we need to do - a notion which is somewhat different than lasting through the cost - which is also valid here.

The last note to add to this muddle of mid-week motion is asteroid Terpsichore - the ‘dancer’ of all types - going direct at 21 Gemini, a position which is exactly conjunct fixed star Bellatrix (the thing difficult to put across - or - the difficulty/effort it takes to put the idea across) ... and one degree off fixed star Capella (‘singing the song’) - both of which are often associated with communication, oratory, writing (any form), even plain old everyday texting, conversing, philosophizing, daydreaming or even out-and-out arguing - or a lack of same.

Terpsichore is an asteroid which in referencing ‘dance’ speaks either to a deft and gifted (often well-practiced) ability which may be genius or something which just be a flash in the pan - or even a fabulous farce which we now get to display ... as opposed to embodying it, as we would have over the past couple of months of Terpsichore retrograde. With all that’s going on - and let’s not forget that eclipse effects began just last week ... is it small wonder that we’re under Mercury retrograde, asking us to think/check/ask twice (or even thirty-three times) before doing?

What could this possibly be about?

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Every situation and life is individual, of course. But the degree 21 Gemini being considered as 'being about' a 'coming back into balance' goes with Bellatrix rather seamlessly seeing as Bellatrix has an assertive (Mars-like) reputation which tends to come out in or through  Gemini or Mercury modalities - through how we think or what we want to think about ... and though such expressions may be well formed or formulated, they aren’t necessarily known for grace.

Emotional grace, that is. Bellatrix-Capella is Gemini at its airy and driest mode. Wit, you get. Deftness goes well. But caring about the Other - or even beyond the thought? Not always.

This doesn’t mean that wonderful things can’t come out of what we do in this moment. But with Mercury in retrograde and Venus entering a sign of exaltation, reconsidering who we are to be doing anything ... and why it matters (beyond the need of the moment, that is) ...that would all seem to be up for thinking about this week.

Which only leaves one question: are we willing to do the thinking?
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