Here we are, friends. Another significant retrograde -- this time with our friend Venus.
Venus retrograde periods tend to be quite personal in their effects.
This article, however, is intended to help us understand what this retrograde period has to say at the collective level, because it is incredibly poignant and powerful.
From an evolutionary perspective, this Venus Retrograde ushers us through another gateway. It gives us an opportunity to work through patterns of surrender and sacrifice -- particularly those that stem from violence and repression of all things feminine -- female bodies, the body of the earth, feminine essence and feminine expression. Within it, we can learn something about the antidote to self sacrifice: groundedness in personal power and awareness of our worth, needs and desires.
This Venus Retrograde is also very much about the deep, churning powers of soul-level transformation. Chaotic and turbulent, yes. But also necessary and ultimately purifying. Nothing remains the same forever.
At the collective level -- and I’m focusing here on recent events in America in particular -- we’re seeing emotional responses and reactions that ripple back through collective events. Memories of witch hunts, trials and burnings all being stirred awake at a cellular level.
Thousands of years of sexual violence and rape and the ways they’ve been used to perpetuate dominance and control, systematically breaking down the human spirit and our inherent ability to maintain personal autonomy -- not just in genocides and holocausts, but in doctors offices, walking down the streets, in the family home, in classrooms.
Thousands of years.
Thousands of years of rage. All compressed and therefore compounded through mechanisms of polite society, civilized behavior and conditioning.
We are shakin’ up the big stuff these days, and the emphasis represented by the Taurus-Scorpio polarity for this upcoming cycle underscores a tendency towards extremes. Finding balance in the storminess of extremity is part of ensuring we have the stamina to make it through to the other side.
The difficulty is that oftentimes that shift towards regaining balance provokes that same conditioning. We fall into the old notions that balance means placation or requires surrendering our feelings and needs for the sake of decency or the harmony of the group. We fear hurting other people’s feelings, prioritizing their health while suppressing how much pain we ourselves are in.
Femme folk in particular have been conditioned to think we are too much...or not enough...and so base our worth on whether or not someone loves us.
In a year I’ve dubbed the year of “getting shit done,” we’ve reached a 40 day gateway for making tangible strides in healing the shadows of thousands of years of atrocity, especially those perpetrated on bodies that have been seen as different.
This cannot happen without the conscious claiming of our rage and grief, or without processing, learning and refusing to become perpetrators of violence ourselves be it physical, emotional or political.
It cannot happen without addressing some of the most crucial skills we have: relationship skills. Particularly relationships that involve deep intimacy, bonding and sex. Scorpio energy demands that we face death and sex -- with maturity, responsibility and honesty.
Furthermore, it demands that we reclaim the power that rests within our bodies. We have to become the eye of the storm. For many, reclaiming this power will involve learning about the ways our emotions affect our physical selves, and adjusting accordingly. It might involve plunges into emotions that are uncomfortable or scary.
Now, I’m speaking of incredibly nuanced topics as if they were straightforward truths -- a fantastic device for writing, but one that always makes me cringe. So I trust that you, the reader, are tuned into your own intuition and logic in recognition of the limitations of 1000 or so words.
Part of the beauty and the difficulty of the energy we’re in right now is that sense of right and wrong, straightforward truths and established beliefs. The fixed cross (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) is all about demonstrating and holding tight to material-world displays of value, creative self-expression, power and community. The fixed cross is where stubbornness and black and white thinking appear. Sometimes that is necessary: It is not OK to rape. It is not OK to murder.
Sometimes black and white thinking becomes harmful, problematic and destructive: All rapists deserve to die. Once a thief always a thief. An eye for an eye. I have more money and am therefore more worthy of...everything.
With Venus in Retrograde (squaring the nodes, opposing Uranus) we have the opportunity for liberation into power. The power of our souls harassed through and into the power of our bodies. This requires examinations into what true power is, however. Oh, what a process that can be.
The key? Feeling, blessing and connecting back into the power of the heart.
While making a deep dive into our own shadow material, that is.
With this Venus Retrograde, we have an opportunity to delve into and face at least a few of our fears -- especially around survival, death, sex and chaos . We have an opportunity to practice loving ourselves right through whatever arises from within. The child-like parts of us that just want to feel safe. The isolated parts of us that are afraid that if we are left alone we’ll be overwhelmed. The parts of us that have perpetrated hate and violence, even just in thought. Maybe in reality.
The parts of us that have disowned the power of our true nature out of a desire to belong or a need to keep the peace -- or to go into hiding in order to live.
Through going into our own fears and our own suffering, and holding compassion for ourselves, we’re more able to truly have compassion for other beings.
There’s a lot of traditions and practices out there that essentially encourage bypassing the dark. Avoiding. Detaching. Part of me wants to say: to each their own. But...
Ascending in bubbles of light without getting our hands dirty in the human experience sounds pretty convenient to me. Detachment has its place, as it can be a great facilitator of boundaries and discernment.
When it becomes conflated with avoidance, however,we sometimes see markers of privilege.
It isn’t necessarily helpful to encouraging someone to just look for the positive when they are struggling to pay for medicines that ensure their ability to stay alive. Recommending yoga and meditation to someone whose anxiety stems from their difficulty figuring out how to pay for food can be insensitive, and yes, also harmful.
Detachment from the realities of demographic and social groups that are not like our own lessens our ability to see the bigger picture.
Similarly speaking, not everyone is equipped to “go into the dark,”
especially when it’s by choice. Folks who are managing mental illness and mood disorders don’t necessarily need to do shadow integration work. In fact, sometimes that’s just a full on bad idea.
So there we are. Right back at nuance again.
The cosmic weather is supporting those who endeavor to transform their relationship with the power of death, sex and intimacy. The more conscious awareness we bring to our situation, the better.
The wisdom of Scorpio lies in its understanding that radical transformation is vital, and within it is the fortitude to push through limitation and face the unknown. It’s the part of us that understands that change will happen, no matter what, and no matter how tightly our egos hold on to their notions of who they are, because the desires of the ego must eventually come into coherence with the desires of our Souls.
So in the next six weeks, take some time to review your values, needs, passions, desires and the ways you communicate them along with the ways you listen, empathize and respond. Pay attention to what has heart and meaning. Pay attention to sparks of insight, sparks of joy, sparks of inspiration. Be curious about what you uncover, and try to let the ripples flow.
Venus is retrograde from October 5 - November 16 and will travel from 10 degrees Scorpio to 25 degrees Libra. Folks with personal planets or angles in their charts near these degrees might feel the affects more.
For a personalized tour through Venus Retrograde, complete with ritual guidance, writing prompts and more, please consider signing up for my 7-week online course: Deconstructing the Myth of Soulmate. [1]
Bio: Amanda Moreno is a therapeutic astrologer, soul worker and certified Deep Memory Process® practitioner. Her adventures in these forms of “practical woo” are geared towards helping people to hear the call of their genius and bring it out into the world. Amanda’s hope is that as more people are empowered to transform their consciousness, move through deep grief, and integrate their shadows we’ll be able to create a society that is sustainable and supportive of all life. You can find her online at www.aquarianspirals.com or doing readings at East West on Thursdays.
Amanda
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