Love is a battlefield.
While I regain some momentum and enthusiasm to write up this months horoscope for all signs and look at some big picture Pluto in Cap aspects, I’m going to re-print Lynda Hill’s newsletter on Venus going retrograde. Venus goes retrograde once every 18 months and it’s like a relational tune up. Venus starts dancing backwards on the 7th, this Saturday in Aries. Lynda will get into the Sabian Symbol side of things, but it’s quite clear that a retrograde Venus in Aries will highlight power struggles in relationships. One of the interesting dynamics of the current economic downturn is that by a fairly large margin it’s men that are losing their jobs more than women, which then makes women the bread winner of the family. This dynamic can be extremely volatile if both people are not willing to let go of ego, expectation and power and the absolute worst of role and gender clashes ensues, with no clear winner.
I have no doubt that the upcoming Venus/Aries retrograde in Aries will bring many of these issues to the surface for families that have not dealt with them before. Violence can also be an offshoot of this dynamic as well and with the compression of the credit crunch and the gaseous illusion of no money constricting the lives of families across the globe, tempers will flare as issues that have never become hot buttons before, will. So Let’s have a look at the sage musings of Lynda on this rather touchy subject.
Lynda Hills Sabian Symbol Download
Happening only every 18 months or so, Venus is going retrograde on March 6, 2009. Venus will station (seemingly stop) at 15 Aries 27 and retrograde (seeming to go backwards) until April 17 when she turns direct on the last degree of Pisces – Pisces 30. This backwards movement of 16 degrees feels extremely meaningful as the myth of Venus has her born out of the sea, which fits the cusp of Pisces and Aries, the place that Venus crosses over in her retrograde journey.
Venus is retrograde for 40 days. This reminds me of the “40 days and 40 nights” story from the Bible. Jesus wandered in the wilderness, fasting, after which he is said to have been tempted by Satan. It was the number of days in Noah’s flood. For more information click here for a Wikipedia page on the number 40.
Retrograde Venus can feel like a time in the wilderness. Whether it’s around the issue of money, spending, earnings, direction, possessions, integrity, beauty, attractiveness, love, romance, or all of those things put together, it’s a time for changes, reflection, going inward, revisions of attitude, revising the past and plotting the future, it’s a time when things come up for some kind of inspection and realization. It’s interesting to note that the glyph for retrograde, Rx, is also the glyph for prescriptions.
Venus goes retrograde on Aries 16: Brightly Clad Brownies Dancing in the Warm Dying Light. Brownies are nature spirits that come to help us with our work. The concept of “Brownies” has existed in many cultures for a long time. They lived with humans and sometimes they were said to live in the attic. They often helped the humans in the kitchen; they got the fire going by blowing on it, took care of the children and saw that the food was properly cooked. But nowadays, with the use of electric machines and lights, “Brownies” are disappearing more and more. However it is said some of them still try to stay around. Although mostly associated with housework, we can call on their help in many different ways. Nature spirits are often around us, particularly if we believe in them, welcome them and trust in their presence. They are “Dancing in the Warm Dying Light” inferring that while intuitive powers are at a real high, the available physical energy is not; it is sunset, and the close of the day.
This Symbol shows that we are guided and protected. Friends or people may arrive unexpectedly to help out at the ‘last moment’. Sometimes the people who turn up to help are ‘strangers’. Trust that things will be okay even if things feel ‘too late in the day’. Of course, you could be a “Brownie” for someone else, assisting others when they need it. How about “Dancing”? It can refresh and revitalize the spirit and invite love and light into your life.
Venus retrograding on this degree tells us that help is at hand, especially if we believe. Regardless of external problems or issues, if we are prepared to admit that we need help, it will often arrive, sometimes in surprising ways. It’s useful to remember that brownies come in all shapes and sizes. The Brownies degree is active from the 1st through to the 12th of March, but it really defines the entire retrograde period until Venus’ return to this degree on the 20th May.
From Nick Kollerstrom’s website, this pattern shows five of these synodic periods of Venus. They weave together the pattern of the rose. Earth is in the centre, and as it comes nearest to us it makes its loops in the sky and temporarily goes backwards. That is called its retrograde motion. It moves backwards against the zodiac for about forty days. It only goes retrograde for 7% of its time, which is less than that for any other planet. So, not many people are born with Venus retrograde. But, we don’t see it going retrograde in the sky. We can’t see it, because that is when it is close to the Sun. As the Evening Star is dying into the sunset, just before it fades from view, it starts to go retrograde.
Over the course of eight years, Venus traces this wonderful rose pattern. The last time Venus went retrograde in Aries was March 2001. What happened for you in 2001? Going back to this period may reveal some interesting insights into what this retrograde period is about. Also, what were you doing in July 2007? That was the last time Venus was retrograde.
One of the issues to be explored both in 2001 and now is Aries 17: Two Prim Spinsters Sitting Together in Silence. This degree speaks of the need for communication, sharing, loosening up emotional blockages, issues of compromises made for social expectations, exclusive relationships versus inviting others in, relationships that have a ‘quiet knowing’, inner withdrawals, emotional isolation, refusing relationships, disapproval of younger, more vital energies, being fussy and judgmental, sticking with the same people when moving on might be more rewarding OR moving on when working things through may lead to more personal growth. What’s happening with your physical and sexual needs?
The following degrees have already been highlighted in the lead up to the retrograde period. In the coming weeks we go over old ground. The following dates are approximate. 12 to 15th of March, the issues are around safety and security. The Sabian Symbol is Aries 15: An Indian Weaving a Blanket in the Light of the Setting Sun. Again, as in the Brownies degree of Aries 16, we have the setting sun. This can show tiredness – I’m hearing many people saying they are tired. Many are also concerned about their future and being able to make enough money – the “blanket” suggesting security, warmth and protection. How are you weaving your life? What is the story that you’re weaving?
16th to 18th March, the issues are around sexual energy, possession, jealousy, the revelation of knowledge, sexual instincts, Kundalini energy, having one’s eyes open, marking one’s territory, etc. This is a very strong Aries degree and one that speaks a lot about relationships. The Sabian Symbol is Aries 14: A Serpent Coiling Near a Man and a Woman. With this degree we often get to see ourselves and others ‘naked’ – at least the need is to tear away the traps that society can place on us through having to be ‘good’, respectable, lovable and in line with other’s and society’s expectations. Here can be the echoes of “being tempted by Satan”.
18th to 20th March, relationship issues may need defusing. The Sabian Symbol is Aries 13: A Bomb Which Failed to Explode is Now Safely Hidden From Discovery. There’s a need to release pressure, to let go of things rather than blowing them up or out of proportion, to release anger and frustration.
There’s more I could say here, but space doesn’t permit. The Symbols above hold very strong relationship stories and Venus is likely to be stirring things up, to say the least. These Symbols will be revisited in mid May, so we are likely to find ourselves going over old ground but most likely with new eyes and some new circumstances by then.
Venus is asking many things of us during this retrograde phase which lasts well into May when we clear the degrees Venus has retrograded over. One of the main questions is what are you doing with your life? How have you, and others, framed your life? What do you really want to be doing? How do you see your life unfolding? Venus goes direct on April 16 on Pisces 30: A Majestic Rock Formation Resembling a Face is Idealized By a Boy Who Takes It as His Ideal of Greatness; as He Grows Up, He Begins to Look Like It. This degree speaks of concrete manifestations of one’s ideals, enduring truths, the culminations of efforts, projections of ideal images, wanting (or needing) to be successful, defining one’s fate, and ambition.
It’s rather curious that as Venus slows down both before and after the stationary period in April, she sits on Aries 1 for many days. The Sabian Symbol is Aries 1: A Woman Has Risen Out of the Ocean, a Seal is Embracing Her. This speaks very much about the birth of Venus – she rises out of the oceanic memory of Pisces into Aries – onto the land and into conscious manifestation. Just like a mermaid, she is finding her voice and her feet. This, to me, seems to be one of the main objectives of this Venus retrograde period.
Mars has a lot to say about all this of course, and it’s conjunct Chiron, Neptune and Mercury. Trying to sort through emotions can be difficult at this time and it seems that Mars is asking that we turn our backs on something that’s probably been important to us. At the time of this retrograde, Mars is on Aquarius 24: A Man Turning His Back on His Passion. With Venus retrograde, we may have to turn our backs but then we may turn back again. It may be hard to know just which direction we’re headed. It will be an interesting journey, that’s for sure; it always is!
If you enjoyed this deeply comprehensive look at the upcoming Venus retrograde by Lynda and her interpretation of the symbols, you can go to her Sabian Symbols site where you can learn more about her and also get a one-of-a-kind reading from Lynda, based on the symbols.