We're about to be swept into a deep, slow burn of alchemical magic.
Over the next six weeks, Venus' journey in the underworld mirrors our own shamanic process of death and rebirth. The Evening Star is transformed to Morning Star.First, a kiss. The Goddess embraces her beloved warrior, Mars, before her 41-day retreat. They meet this week for a tantric interlude in Scorpio, sign of transformation, lust and power.
Everything Venus is about - our values, relationships, beauty, money, love, creativity, self-worth - will be put to the test as we integrate the changes of the past 18 months.
This fall, Venus rules the heavens. We'll journey with her as she travels back through the early degrees of Scorpio into late Libra, preparing for the next evolution of sacred marriage. Her metamorphosis will be complete in late November.
Shakti fire illuminates the path as we walk the shaman's spiral of death and rebirth.
Metamorphosis
This Thursday, the Sun and Moon meet in Venus' home sign of Libra. The next day Venus stations retrograde and begins her 41-day journey. She'll drop lower and lower in the western sky after sunset, her light receding each evening until, between October 19 and 22, she slips into the underworld and disappears from our view.
Enveloped in a cocoon of darkness, she makes her transition. The bright and guiding star re-emerges in the east in the pre-dawn sky November 4 or 5. This heliacal rise marks the initiation of a new 584-day Venus cycle. We are reborn in the shamanic sign of Scorpio.This is also the solar gateway of Samhain, when the Sun crosses the middle degrees of Scorpio in late October through early November. During this phase, a conclave of planets will meet the Goddess in Scorpio to escort her to her throne. The Ancestors draw near to midwife the rebirthing.
Prepare to travel to new depths this Halloween season. Mid-October through early November is a period of high magic. In the watery realms of Scorpio, watch for power plays, manipulation and deception. Ghosts of your former self appear as you dive, like Venus, into the depths of the subconscious to face your deepest fears and desires.
Beyond the dissolution and reformulation of your life, you'll soar to new heights like the Phoenix who rises from the ashes of its former self. Absolute surrender is required to receive the full blessings of this divine empowerment.
Venus completes her retrograde phase November 18, just as Jupiter also stations direct. It's time for a party when these two great celestial forces return to forward motion.
The Venus Cycle
This sequence marks the completion of a cycle that began in late March/early April 2009 when the heliacal rise of our sister star occurred in Aries. This phase also brings to completion a longer, eight-year cycle that goes back to November 2002. We've been exploring masculine and feminine roles, individual identity and personal power since then. How have we evolved?
Venus is about love and abundance, attracting rather than pursuing. The archetype of the Goddess has many mythical names including Ishtar, Inanna, Isis, Athena, Aphrodite, Astarte, Spider Woman and Lakshmi. In all, she is Shakti, the divine feminine, creative force of the cosmos.Her essence inspires Shiva, the sacred masculine, to creative action. Through the portals of the Galactic Cross and Cancer/Capricorn eclipses, we've been accessing these energies all year. Now it's time to plumb the depths of the psyche to find out what parts of our selves must be purged in order to fully manifest our new roles as empowered co-creators on Earth.
In this case, in Pluto and at the completion of an eight-year cycle, the theme is transfiguration, an alchemical process of death, transmutation and rebirth. The Snake sheds its skin so we may evolve into a higher expression of consciousness.
The new Scorpio cycle culminates June 12, 2012, with a rare Transit of Venus. In this special conjunction, the planet will visibly cross the face of the Sun in the final year of the Mayan calendar. This is no coincidence. The ancient Maya were Venus watchers. Her complex cycles are encoded within their sacred calendar. Our sister planet is helping us connect with our galactic nature at the dawn of the next world age.
Rebirth
In this season of high magic, there will be tricks as well as treats. That's the nature of Scorpio, the sign most associated with power and sex, money, desire, motive, manipulation, fear, secrets, the subconscious, psychism and the unseen realms.
During Venus' retrograde transit, relationships are due for an overhaul. Don't be surprised if you hear from, dream about or initiate contact with former lovers. If you began a relationship 18 months ago, it's likely to be ending now. If you meet someone new, be cautious while Venus is retrograde. The connection may not be what it appears. Notice what happens with your finances. Are you recreating or releasing old patterns? How have you been fooling yourself?For the past 18 months, Venus' journey in Aries has been exciting, passionate and often challenging as we've tried on the role of Warrior Goddess. The courage of a great warrior is needed now to dive willfully into the unknown during this passage into the Scorpio cycle.
Stay alert and practice discernment. Notice messages in dreams and meditation. Allow time for deep inner healing. Processing on the subconscious levels can be emotionally, mentally and physically taxing. Practice nurturing self-care. Be patient if finances seem sluggish.
In a shamanic dance of death and rebirth, the natural world is our teacher and guide. Commune with the planets and stars, the deva spirits and elementals, the animal and plant kingdoms. Water and fire, earth and sky combine in a potent elixir of becoming. Call on the Ancestors as you walk the sacred spiral.
Spin your cocoon and prepare to be transformed within the darkness. As you emerge from the chrysalis a fortnight from now, spread your wings and glide gently on the currents of change.
