Venus Shows Us How Far We've Come Since Last Spring

Venus conjuncts Uranus at 25 degrees Pisces tonight and it then traverses the last degrees of Pisces, which, of course, are the last degrees of the zodiac, in general.

The interesting thing about Venus' path right now (other than the sudden and shocking relationship shake-ups associated with the Uranus conjunction) is that it is heading into the degrees of last year's Venus Retrograde.

I wrote a lot of posts on that retrograde (click the "venus retrograde in aries" label to read them). It was a very feisty, often incendiary, time, especially regarding our relations with others, with three squares to stationing Pluto in Capricorn. (March 5 - April 16, 2009)

Some of the main themes then were: getting in touch with our anger as a guiding force and impetus to action, false karasses that force us to compromise ourselves, exerting our wills in relationship, the importance of individuality and being true to ourselves within the group, passive-aggressiveness and other underhanded ways of interacting, speaking up and standing up for ourselves in relation to others, creating a healthier balance of masculine and feminine, especially related to the feminine exerting itself.

From a previous post:

"We shone our identities into full-on radiance at that point and burned away what was false. The process wasn't always Venusian pretty, either.

The new ground we've entered into personally since then, initiated by those Aries-Capricorn squares, has set the stage for the upcoming longer-term transpersonal cardinal squares between Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn. Exertion of will, identity, and new leadership on a global scale as our power structures continue to morph and merge - with the possibility of both open aggression and hidden destructive force.

Getting on top of these energies and themes personally is necessary in light of these huge, transpersonal forces that will be squaring off over the next six years.

If this [Venus transit of Aries] finds us with more work to do to get over the hump related to being exactly who we are in relation to others and in relation to structural institutional set-ups, it could bring some fiery, emotional moments forcing us to stand up for ourselves once and for all.

We must be willing to fight for the survival of ourselves and our true identities when necessary, in the face of people, situations and forces that would threaten that."

A lot of relationships that could not handle who we really were came to an end last spring. We went down to the quick - the soul quick. We simply don't have the time or energy for friend-collecting or for relationships with a degree of falsity that don't truly meet our needs right down to the soul level. Social artifice was stripped down in a major way and relationship rules re-written.

The current Venus transit of Aries should bring new energy and movement in our relationships, along with new relationships altogether, more fitting to our real identities. No painful bending or compromising of ourselves. New partnerships formed now will have a strategic element related to achieving goals we could not achieve alone.

Any ways in which we have kept out true selves/identities and our true desires and motivations hidden or subjugated in relationship (personal or business) since the last Venus Retro will most certainly come out now with hard aspects to Saturn and Pluto. We simply cannot subjugate ourselves to another or to a group or business at this point because with Saturn and Pluto involved, doing so risks losing ourselves altogether in the massive structural shifts we're a part of at this time in human history.

Though this is not comfortable territory for the planet associated with love, beauty and relationship, Venus takes a deep breath at 29 Pisces and courageously leads the way into Aries March 7, immediately creating the cardinal T-square that will be much longer-term when Uranus (May 27) and Jupiter (June 6) ingress Aries.

Venus in Aries will immediately oppose Saturn in Libra (March 9) and square Pluto in Capricorn (March 11). There is a huge amount of tension here, a masterful balance required between ourselves and others. Power struggles, emotional meltdowns and a rebalancing of power within relationships (personal and business) are to be expected. With Venus in Aries, we need to put ourselves first while balancing the needs of others. Not an easy task with Saturn and Pluto involved, and strong self-preservation will be necessary.

Mars in Leo is currently stationing at 0 degrees of the sign and will go direct March 10. Venus will trine almost-standing-still Mars on the 7th as soon as it enters Aries, adding tension and irritability to the pressure-cooker cardinal t-square. (Because we didn't have enough already!) Tempers are smouldering. The Sabian Symbol for this degree of Leo is "A Man is Under Emotional Stress and Blood Rushes to His Head." Pretty much says it all.

Venus retrograded to and then stationed on the anaretic degree of Pisces (the final degree of the zodiac) in April of 2009, adding a cyclical/spiritual clearing house flavour to the proceedings. Clearing out ghosts of relationships past - many not even from our personal lifetimes. Energetic/archetypal stuff.

I'm sensing some similar relationship spring cleaning in the air right now (Venus conjunct Uranus in Pisces) - even before the Vernal Equinox! Clearing dynamics and relationships that are connected to older versions of ourselves - or to people who are interacting with versions of us that exist only in their minds. Oh, Pisces. Oh, Neptune.

In my case, it's a final realization that I have assigned the term friend to people who are actually just acquaintances out of old soul loneliness and isolation. I'm now facing the fact that it is better to rectify this, regardless of a lack of new connections, rather than set myself up for further alienation and feeling like the odd one out all the time. It's definite Piscean territory to accept scraps, and this is a habit I've been conditioned into since childhood through bullying and ostracism. I've been clearing this layer-by-layer for years, so I'm hoping this is the final purge.

Venus passes through the potent 29th degree of Pisces March 6/7, so note anything coming up on the days before Venus enters Aries. There could be clues related not only to personal relationships but to the relationship we have with spirit and how that develops from here.

This transit of Venus in Aries will allow us to see the results of the effort we put forth last year with the retrograde and re-orientation in our relationships. Anything swept under the rug then will be forced to the surface now. Pluto's involved here, remember. ;-)

If we worked on building our Venus in Aries muscles then, while facing what Pluto kicked up, things will be much smoother now. We'll know what actions to take, and we should be able to stay out of the detritus kicked up by those who shirked their Plutonic duties last time around. (Fingers crossed, anyway.)

Staying out of it as a matter of self-preservation. That will be a big theme of this month with Pluto trying to draw us into the fray and Saturn in Libra activating our sense of injustice.

It will probably be impossible not to be touched by some of the angst - even if only on an energetic level. We have a strong stake in how things go down, after all. But these energies should be less difficult to deal with now that we've already had a big old dose last year. Remembering the Venus in Aries retrograde themes and the lessons we learned then will come in handy now.