Venus in Leo

'Summer' by Alfons Mucha

(1896, oil on panel)

When I think of Venus in Leo, my mind goes to moments of warmth and caring…days filled with laughter’s carefree sparkle…that singular satisfaction which comes of making something fun or great out of nothing special.

Then I think of that other side…those strains of Venus in Leo which manifest as arrogance, selfishness, lack of accountability and an inability to tolerate any opinions apart from your own.

Then I think about why this would be, and I realize it’s because Venus functions like a hinge.

A hinge

(photo credit: Sindala, October 2007)

What we bring to the situation, the level of quality we put into what we make of our abilities, these are where those Venus potentials born of its rulership in Taurus and Libra find their way into manifestation.

And depending on what we put out there…that pretty much dictates what we’ll get back. Venus is the hinge where cause becomes the reward we call effect.

I guess that means that if Venus Aphrodite sat down at a table with Newton, they’d have a lot in common. When Newton wrote his third law of motion – that idea which comes down to us as ‘for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction’ he was giving a scientific explanation to the Venusian process we understand through our ability to create and maintain relationships – or not. We recognize our own quality (or lack thereof) through our ability to be respected for who we are.

Or not.

The Taurus Venus craves satisfaction. And like its native 2nd house it describes how we seek that through some form of validation. That we have to take our resources, whatever they may be, and put them to work and develop them into what they can be, that is the foundational work we do on our way to presenting ourselves and being received and valued and applauded by friends and strangers alike.

Or not.

And it’s that process of development which is so Leo. Leo envisions what can be made of things. Leo sees the possibilities. Leo drives to see how things work, and to come up with ways to express our inner desires, beliefs, discoveries, ideas which display our courage and willingness to be unique and individual.

Or...not!

Considering that this particular Venus / Leo ingress occurs with Venus conjunct asteroid Charybdis, there’s a ‘continuing’ factor in play.  This could pertain to something already in progress. Then again, it could point to some status quo or ‘repetition’ of response - you know, that same old issue bopping us in the nose yet again?

But there are two other items adding to the intrigue of the moment. The first is the idea that as Venus reaches 0 Leo, a degree which asks for clear thinking but which tends to incite some tendency to posture or bluster even if that seldom works, Ceres is right there at 2 Leo.

Ceres, as you probably know, is a harvest goddess. But Ceres isn’t just about ‘reaping the wealth.’ Far from it! Ceres is all about the process which leads to being able to reap of fruit of one’s labors. Or (since this is Leo) the fruit of one’s creative efforts and willingness to step outside of your own mental comfort zone.

All signs have their weaknesses. And with Leo, there seems to be a bit of a tendency to forget that if you’re going to be grand and glorious, YOU don’t define that!

Huh, you say? What the fern do I mean?

Let’s think of Leo as a creative energetic.  The polarity is Leo-Aquarius, which brings up that Leo love of being in the spotlight for what they do so well and the fact that Leo seldom shies away from competition. Being the sign of the creative urge (whether that means creating a relationship, a family, a product, social stir or plain old ruckus!) Leo is still a 2nd quadrant, natively below-the-prime-horizontal zodiac sign.

That means the crux of Leo competition is about whether you are doing all you can do. Or whether you are doing something as well as you can. This is Leo’s principle competitive quality; as the second of the zodiac’s fixed signs Leo ‘fixes’ to develop our native Taurean attributes, talents and resources so that they are ready to be put out into the world.

Wherever you see Leo in the chart, that’s where you will meet up with your finest – and darkest – Leo hours. That is where you will be tested – and test yourself on the subject of whether you are ready for your public debut.

The most common problem Leo has is remembering that we do not ‘define’ the interest or approval of others. This gets back to the idea that whatever you’re into investing in, it’s always good to know your audience. You can’t force people to love what you’re doing…but you can – by taking careful stock of who others are and what they’re interested in – learn how to appeal to them. Or what factors in what you’re doing are likely to appeal to them. Or work for them. Or even shock them.

So Ceres at 2 Leo is a sign that this is a moment to reconnoiter and think things through. Two Leo is a degree which asks that we do the right and righteously developed thing in the right setting. Sometimes the outlandish will work, but sometimes it doesn’t. So while you may get attention by belting out some giant aria in the center of a busy intersection, that also might just get you arrested.

Like they say – it’s all timing and location, location, location, right? (And ‘who you know,’ yes…which suggests alienating people is not the way to build your brand!)

After entering Leo on June 27th at 5:04 in the afternoon UT/+0 time, Venus will go on to conjunct Ceres late on June 30th (which will already be July 1st for those in Middle East longitudes or points east of there). And since 3 Leo is a degree which endows the ability to see life without preconceived notions, those who come into this time set in concrete may, within a few days, have an epiphany of some sort.

Which sounds sort of nice, don’t you think? That it happens as Venus conjuncts Ceres suggests that just as June turns into July there’s an opportunity to have an ‘aha!’ moment and see a way to do things which is going to get us more of what we want is decidedly nice.

Of course Mercury is still in retrograde. So this may not be the moment to act. Investigate? Yes. Ask questions? Sure! Think things through from a new perspective? Absolutely!

The other thing going on during this period is Saturn loitering around at 4 Scorpio in anticipation of a station-direct moment soon to come. That suggests that at some level or in some way the ‘stakes’ for us are up there. There is, in fact, a major planet (Saturn-Jupiter-Neptune) grand trine in water which becomes a grand trine in water on the date that this post goes up by virtue of June 26th being the (UT/+0 time zone) date that Jupiter enters Cancer, thus ‘filling in’ the grand trine by coming within standard (5 degree) orb of Neptune at 5 Pisces.

I’m sure we’ve all felt it ‘coming on’…which for some has been a subtle feeling of impatience, for others a sense that something isn’t quite right, or that important factors aren’t being paid attention to.

That grand trine being a subject I’d want to think through in its own right (read: you’ll see that blog post in a couple of days), since from our Earthly position Saturn appears to be ‘sitting there’ immobile and unmoving, from the astrological (geocentric) perspective this moment…these next few days or the next week or so is a time to take stock. Venus with Ceres says we should think through our plans and our positions and our (Mercury retrograde in Cancer) priorities so we have in mind what we’re aiming at – and why.

Saturn goes direct on July 8th and Venus is in Leo until July 22nd. The grand trine will be in force for the whole of the time Venus is passing through Leo. Some of us will experience this as an interrupting of what we want to do in favor of what we need to do, and that will like as not be signaled by events between June 26 (the date of Jupiter entering Cancer and Venus entering Leo) and Saturn’s station.

Some of us are going to recognize that there’s a greater pattern at work – a shift from what we thought life was going to be in the late 1990s and early 2000s. All that began to change between 2008 (the shattering of economic stability and all those rosy expectations) and 2011 when Uranus hit Aries, Neptune entered Pisces and a tsunami hit Japan and – beyond that – the consciousness and conscience of our world.

People are still saying ‘why can’t things be the way they were?’ to which the answer is ‘they simply aren’t.’ Humans are funny that way…we yell and scream that we want change but then change comes along and our first instinct is to cling to the old and known, tatty and unworkable though it may be.

Come July 6th, there’s another process which looks like it’s worth a thought or two…Venus will be reaching 10 Leo and thus coming into orb of square aspect to the Lunar Nodes, which are still sitting at 15 degrees of Scorpio (North Node) and Taurus (South Node) representing the cross-quarter thing.

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The Lunar Nodes at Cross Quarters

 
Considering that as Venus reaches 10 Leo (a degree known for relationship tests and karma-laden dynamics) on July 6th Venus will also be in a passionate if uncomfortable inconjunct-of-the-6th-harmonic-kind with Pluto, this seems like a moment when more than a few of us are going to feel that not-so-fickle finger of fate pointing in our direction. And with Pluto conjunct Industria (industriousness) at the moment, the question would seem to be whether we have been working at something, whether we have been working against our better interests, whether our efforts are (Pluto) destroying our Capricorn structures (purposefully or otherwise), or whether we are about to pay the price for having ignored life's Capricornian 'rules of the road.'

You know, standards and such.

A few of us will now leap into action, trying to avoid that fate which fickleness has set them up to experience.

Will they succeed? Oh well...y'know, this is one of those questions which no astrologer likes to answer. It’s not just that you’re going to throw tomatoes at me (I guess those would be digital tomatoes, if still rotten)…but nobody likes saying ‘probably not’ when the answer equals pain or loss or humiliation, defeat or shame-inducing rejection.

I used to be a lot more glib about such pronouncements. But whether it's age or experiencing a few really hard falls myself (there's nothing like going through a few major health crises when it comes to learning about humility!)...as have gone along I've become less and less gleeful, smug or satisfied when seeing anyone fall.

Even those who ripely, even richly deserve it.

So here’s the deal…IF you have been working towards getting past those knee-jerk, pacification positions which are easy to take because they feather your bed and otherwise take less than buckets and barrels of nose-to-grindstone effort, those efforts which are continuing to evolve (grand trine = ongoing energy systems) will probably work okay. Even fine.

But those efforts (or positions, or alliances, or habits or whatever else) which you have been resisting changing, even if you know they’re not productive in the ultimate and worldly sense? Those are likely to now become a headache or burden.

And no, you won’t be able to fix things instantaneously. That’s the other side of grand trines. They preserve the ‘thing in progress’ like some oil tanker you’re trying to get stopped. Yelling ‘whoa, Nellie!’ doesn’t help – it’s a long slow process.

Which (interestingly enough! brings us back to Sir Issac Newton.

Mister 'Laws of Motion' himself, Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) is here pictured

in a portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller (1689, oil on canvas)

Sir Issac’s first law of motion is the one we know as ‘an object in motion tends to stay in motion’…and between that and his third law (the one about actions begetting opposite and equal reactions) sort of encompasses the whole of this Leo Venus period of transit.

I’m thinking that if Venus Aphrodite and Newton sat down at a table (to enjoy some figs nicely poised on fig leaves, no doubt) they would have reached an agreement on the Venusian form of astro-attraction.

Basically, in the end what we put out there attracts a response based not just on what we intend others to see, but the qualities we bring to the table in putting it out there.

What you see yourself as giving is not always what you get back in other words, if only because we tend to see only what we want to see – and that may not be what others see at all.
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By the Light of a Ceres Full Moon

The Full Moon as photographed by Augusto De Luca in 1980

Maybe you remember the old song ‘…by the light of the silvery moon…’ and suspect that I was humming that as I came to write this blog?

If so, you would be right!

And though I’m not positively certain why such things pop into our minds at any given time, given that this month’s Full Moon (which will occur on June 23rd at a cheery 11:33 a.m. UT/+0 time) is in Capricorn, having something I heard as a child turn up for humming use seems rather apt.

After all, Capricorn always has a sense of the classic, the historical and all which has lasted through the triumphs and trials of time – which goes with its association with Saturn, the astrological time-and-taskmaster which leads to achievement. In this case, the ‘achievement’ has in part been the installing of a song in my head which evidently has lasted plural decades. But probably more to the point, the fact that the song (and the Doris Day movie which honored same) have proved memorable denote a form of ‘quality’ which is endemically Capricorn-Saturn, and thus entirely in keeping with this June Full Moon at 2 Capricorn.

During my 'growing up years' I was very involved with music, where one of the things I liked most was old-fashioned sheet music with all the wonderful illustrations. So since it came up today, I went hunting for 'By the Light of the Silvery Moon' and came up with this - which I thought you'd enjoy seeing.

(original publication date, 1909)

And yet…there is something of an odd juxtaposition here. While Capricorn itself is known as structural sign which encourages (even requires) that we build and engineer an external life which will support and protect our internal life (the image of the polarity sign, Cancer), 2 Capricorn is pretty early in the sign. That points us towards the idea that early degrees in any sign (those in the 0-9 first decanate region) are known for being where the sign manifests through actions and physicality. So considering this is Capricorn we’re talking about, this may be a time when all things Capricorn are in progress in that singularly cardinal manner Nike has forever embraced with the corporate slogan: ‘just do it.’

The head and torso of a statue of the Goddess Nike, she who stands for victory
of human spirit, which is part of the RMS Titanic Engineers' Memorial
in Southampton (photo credit: Marekes, May 2011)

Or maybe you’re gearing up to go out there and ‘just do it.’ Or you’re listening to others who are out there just wailing on whatever they’re involved in as they try to make things happen.

Whether you’re cake baking or sports attending or governmenting or building for your future, you’re doing what you’re doing and then we arrive at this interesting juncture otherwise known as the Full Moon at 2 Capricorn.

The image is this: the Moon – our emblem of feelings and intuition and money and habits and cultural inculcations (and thus the ‘directives’ by which we tend to live) is at 2 Capricorn, a degree known as being a bit tentative. The question is ‘what will work?’ or ‘will this work?’ or ‘am I on the right track?’ or ‘is this going to get me where I want to go?’ or any such reflection. Implied also is how our life is OUR life and how that may mimic or ‘fit’ with society or, then again, it may not.

And if or where it doesn’t, is that bad? Certainly there are some areas of life (regulations, laws, etc.) where we really do need to adhere to the ‘rules.’ And there are abilities which are basic tools in life – learning to read, write, do money-math, cook well enough to feed yourself, all that stuff. But beyond that is the where is fitting in good, and where is being your own person the way to create that ‘special’ niche which is true to you and which is the sign of human leadership?

Another side of 2 Capricorn is a sort of ‘timeliness,’ especially that which asks that we keep up with the times which may now reverberate as having to ‘update’ in some way, shape or form.

Because we don’t see a bouquet of modifiers associated with the Sun or Moon in this moment, we might think this Full Moon is straight-forward or ‘simplistic.’

But is life ever simple? How would it be so interesting if all was simplistic!

So be assured, there are at least a couple of astro-aspect notes worth taking into account!

And thus we get at it, starting with one of my handy-dandy diagrams...

Oh wait...! Before we get to that, we should note that the date of this Full Moon (the 23rd of June) is also the date that the Nodes move onto the cross-quarter degrees in Scorpio and Taurus.

Didn't catch that post? No problem - here's the link:

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The Lunar Nodes at Cross Quarters

Bearing that in mind, the Moon (our feelings of the moment) is in a sign which (as mentioned), is ruled by Saturn. And Saturn is at 4 Scorpio and still retrograde, though 4 Scorpio IS the degree Saturn is going to go direct at come but a couple of weeks from now. So that adds something of an undercurrent. Even a double undercurrent, considering the Nodal signal that our relationship with others and the world is in the mix.

Some of us will now experience moments of self-doubt. And it's probably a good time to check those p’s and q’s to see that all is in line...or when you may find out you forgot to dot some ‘i’ or cross some ‘t’.

(How alphabetical of me, right?)

Since this is a Full Moon we’re talking about here, if the Moon is at 2 Capricorn, that means the Sun is at 2 Cancer. So LIFE (the Sun) is in a place where we know we need to build for the future, but we also have sincere feelings of wanting to cover our vulnerabilities (and any body part you associate with that!).

2 Cancer is a bit of an odd duck degree in that it represents that quality of recognizing everyone’s needs while still wanting to vote only for your own preferences. There’s something of an emotional ‘false front’ which tends to be presented here, suggesting that justifications are easier to be put out there than actual reasons, rationales or personal motivations. And maybe that’s good and proper, maybe that’s selfish or manipulative…it just depends on who is doing what - and why.

So in this natural opposition between the Sun and Moon, it would be natural to question: why are we doing what we’re doing? Why are others saying what they’re saying about what we’re doing? Are they speaking fact and truth – or are they just trying to ‘sell’ some sort of agenda?

To make this all a bit more exotic, we add in four more factors, the first of which is that the Black Moon (societal form of) Lilith is sitting right beside the Sun at 1 Cancer, registering a bit of a ‘threat’ that what you’re doing (or what you want or need to do) may cause some social or relationship waves. And that may be the real crux of what this Full Moon is – life asking you whether you’re willing to do what you need to do to move ahead in your own life or as a person even though that might rock some sort of status quo. For all we know, that might be the ‘status quo’ of what you had thought coming into this time which now simply changes. But yes, it could mean you’re rocking some boat at home or at your office or in your ‘group.’

So why are you doing what you’re doing? Is it willful or is it necessary? Is it leadership or selfishness? Are you willing to move ahead (“modernize”) where someone else isn’t, or are you in some mode where you’re rejecting some evidence of how the world works simply because it doesn’t fit your mold or suit your fancy?
The next thing to think about is the fact that with this Full Moon we get a healthy heaping helping of Jupiter at 29 (critical) degrees of Gemini.

Every time I type ‘critical’ degrees, a little voice in my head says ‘someone is going to go overboard with that word “critical”’ So lest that be the case, let’s remember that critical in the astrological sense only means ‘to the max’ in terms of that sign. If you think of the degrees of any sign as being from 0 to 29, then zero is where the sign begins its ‘work’ (or process) and 29 is where its process culminates or where life pushes really hard to get us to dealing with the matter(s) connected to that sign.

In this case, the sign is Gemini: thought, mentality, communication, mental health, priorities and all those life details and operations which keep the ‘whole’ of life on track and functioning on a day-to-day basis. Gemini is known as the sign of ‘choice’ because we make a choice to deal with things…or to not deal with things. (And for those who think they don’t have to make choices, think again: making no choice IS making a choice – it’s a choice to exert no influence into the process, which is sort of a ‘choice to be helpless’ and let others run your life.)

Jupiter at 29 Gemini is a time of making choices and when choices (or non-choices) become very important for whatever reason. So, in combination with the Full Moon, we may now have plenty of good reasons to pause as something we have ignored may turn up to haunt us. Or maybe something we’ve done thinking we could get away with it…or maybe that ‘this was the way’ to handle something turns out wrong.

Then again, this may be where everything begins paying off. This may be a ‘critical juncture’ where Jupiter as the emblem of ‘expansion’ and learning brings you to where you ‘see the light’ whether at the end of the tunnel or otherwise. It may be where some long period of (Saturn) effort begins paying off.

It all depends on what you’ve been doing with your life of late. And even for the past year or so (which I say because it takes Jupiter just about a year to pass through any given sign).

Factor Three: Mercury is about to go retrograde. And since it’s SOP (standard operating procedure) for life to feel all pressured and flurry-ful just as we close in on Mercury’s station/retrograde point, that heaped atop Jupiter being at 29 ‘critical’ degrees of Gemini (a sign that Mercury rules) says decisions and conversations and having thought through situations and choices is probably of mucho importance just now.

As always, that we refuse to deal with in life gets thrust upon us. If we need to learn something and we don’t want to go there, life will ‘send’ someone to provoke and evoke that dynamic in us – or in our lives. And let’s remember…

…since Gemini is the sign which leads us to the foundational (Nadir or IC) point in the horoscope and the zodiac, that which we are (Aries), that which we seek in order to feel good about ourselves and our lives (Taurus) and that which we do or don’t do, learn or don’t learn (Gemini) is now coming to…well, not a heady turn – that sounds more like the top of the horoscope wheel.

But maybe you’d go for it’s a ‘nitty gritty’ time?

Jupiter tends to overblow and overdo and underestimate the repercussions of things while in Gemini. That goes to the good and goes to the not-so-good.

But once Jupiter crosses over into Cancer, then we have Jupiter in a sign of grace. Or at least grace for many. Those who aren’t moving ahead and aren’t planning and building for the future often experience Cancer as being ‘overwhelmed’ by Cancerian issues. I know one person with Cancer – which is normally the sign of home and family – on their 12th house, a house which asks that we face our fears in this realm. This person is totally overwhelmed by family demands and swamped by the ‘expectations’ that have been heaped upon them about the lifestyle they ‘should’ live and the kind of house they ‘should’ own and all that.

If you’re in position to finish something up and move ahead into a newer more “authentically you” stage of life, this Jupiter at 29 Gemini Full Moon with Mercury about go to into retrograde will like as not be an exciting time of seeing yourself moving towards wonderful new opportunities and a broadening of your vistas. Against that, if or where you’re just knee-jerking yourself along through life (did I put that politely enough?) this will be a nerve-wracking time of personal challenges.

And let’s not forget: it could be both. In one area of life all could be just spiffy and splendiferous while in another everything could be sinking into the floor.

The last and final note here (and here we thought this was just a simple Full Moon, right?) is that Ceres – the symbol of planning how to get from seed to the riches of harvest – is about to enter Leo.

Leo is a sign of visions, of creativity, of taking risks – not all of which always pay off. The Leo Principle includes the idea of competition, and let’s face it – we don’t always win. But that which we love with a Leo fervor, we love with all our heart. It’s what we do or what we’ve created, and whether others love it or not, that which is Leo to us is something we love.

Of course, sometimes we love something just too much. (I know…shocking, isn’t it?) Or sometimes we just get a vision of how things should be or could be and life just doesn’t measure up. This is the big Leo challenge: to understand motivation as motivation and ‘what could be’ as that we’re shooting for, not what reality necessarily is.

So as Ceres enters Leo on June 23rd (as this Full Moon lights our skies) we do need to see what can be, and motivation which leads to planning is decidedly a good thing.

Just let’s not think the road is always smooth. That it isn’t, that sometimes ‘stuff’ happens (as they say…ahem!) and we have to think on the fly or bite our tongue and go with the ‘oops – I didn’t think about that!) also comes with this mix.

If this is a moment when your dreams come true, God bless you! And if this is a moment when you see your way through some sticky life thicket to solutions which may yet be and become, good luck!

 The Moon

(photo credit: Simon Wedege Petersen, April 2009 - color altered for post use)

Like any Full Moon, this one is something of a check point and very much a step in the process. As the Moon reflects the light of the Sun, so we look skyward and reflect on this moment…this life…our hopes for tomorrow...

...and then we move on into a new phase, just as the Moon does.
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