Venus dances through Leo
“ Venus knows that in order to flourish, you need to surround yourself with the right people, because nobody makes it on their own“ – Christopher Renstrom
Today we will be discussing Venus. This is an opportunity to delve into the feminine side of the astrological energies. In recent decades, modern astrologers started adding asteroids and dwarf planets to astrologic interpretations. Previously, in traditional astrology, the only feminine planets were the Moon and Venus. A well-known astrologer, Rick Levine, states that astrology was written “by and for guys”. Therefore, there was a tendency to dismiss Venus as a sort of “energetic lightweight”. But whether you’re male or female, the energy of Venus is essential to being a whole complete human. I like to think of the divine feminine as the energy of receiving. In our patriarchal culture, we tend to value “doing and action“ over “receiving and being”. Our society places a premium on qualities considered masculine: independence, strength, courage, and assertiveness. So-called “feminine” traits are not as highly rewarded: collaboration, nurturing, and intuition. Feminine reception is a spiral, with each turn of the cycle bringing creativity, community, wisdom, and resilience.
In your astrological chart, the job of the Sun is you. It insists that you be true to yourself, realize your potential, and grow into the person that you were always meant to be. Venus’s focus is on everyone else. Her job is to find those people, places, events and energies that will support you in your job of carrying out your soul’s mission. She represents what you attract into your life: love, friendship, money, beauty, harmony, artistic ability. She governs relationships, objects of your desire, beauty, sociability, pleasure, sensation, and willingness to compromise.
“Venus is the feminine energy of receiving, and also of how worthy you feel of receiving from others. Like the ancient goddess whose name she shares, Venus is associated with love, value, and self-worth. By extension, Venus is connected to finances, relationships, and friendships with women. Venus also dictates the tone and quality of your connections to others, and essentially how you relate to all energies around you. What do you need to feel loved and seen? What feeds your self-consciousness and expands your ability to experience pleasure? How do you relate in friendships, partnerships, and relationships of all kinds?” -Molly McCord
The planet herself gives us many clues to her significations.Venus takes about 224 days to revolve around the sun. She typically spends approximately 25 days in each sign. She goes retrograde every 548 days (18 months) for approximately 40 days. Every eight years she returns to the place in the sky, where she was was at the time of your birth. Her rotation around the sun from earth’s perspective will look like a five petal star every eight years. These five petals in eight years give us the ratio of 1.62 which is the golden mean, the ratio of beauty. This ratio is recapitulated over and over throughout nature. In nature, the golden mean can be observed in numerous biological and physical phenomena. For example, the arrangement of leaves around a stem on many plants often follows a spiral pattern which frequently approximates the golden ratio. Similarly, the spiraling growth patterns found in seashells, such as the nautilus, or ammonites often adhere to this ratio. The proportions of various body parts in living organisms can also exhibit the golden ratio. Additionally, the golden ratio has found its way into art, architecture, and design, as it is believed to evoke a sense of harmony and aesthetic pleasure. Many famous works of art, such as Leonardo da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man” and numerous classical architectural structures, incorporate the golden mean in their compositions and dimensions.
Although the presence of the golden mean in nature is often approximate rather than precise, it highlights a fascinating connection between mathematics and the natural world, hinting at an underlying order and beauty that permeates our surroundings.
Leo
Leo is about self expression. This sign is ruled by the Sun. It is about having the courage to shine your light and be who you truly are, to revel in your own quirkiness and authenticity. The lion roars! In medical astrology, Leo governs the heart. It is the sign that puts you in in touch with your inner heart space. It is associated with courage, generosity, and a willingness to love and be loved. It is a fixed sign, so once Leo gives its heart, it is loyal and tenacious. Lions are the only large cats who maintain the family unit once they achieve adulthood. All other large cats go off on solitary missions or in pairs. The male lion may roar, but the female lion takes care of the whole pride. She hunts and feeds them. She protects the pride and she loves them unconditionally. Venus in Leo puts you in touch with your magnetism, what you desire at a primal level and what you attract. Venus in Leo also puts you in touch with your soul gifts, your creativity and your imagination.
Venus in Leo
Venus entered Leo on June 5, 2023. She slows down before she goes retrograde and then turns around and goes over the same territory again. When she gets to the same degree she was on June 5. She will once again turn around, and cover the same territory for a third time before she finally moves on. As I mentioned before this trip usually takes about 25 days, but because of the retrograde, she will spend four months in the sign of Leo, and will finally leave Leo in early October. Retrogrades occur when the planet is closest to the Earth. It is a time for the Venusian energies to turn inward. When you think of the energies of retrograde, consider all the words that start with RE: reflection, remembering, reconfiguring, reprogramming, resourcing.
What does this mean for you? When Venus is retrograde, she asks you to check in with what you really want and what you really desire. When she first entered, Leo in early June, she made successive aspects with Pluto, the nodes of fate, Jupiter, Chiron, and Neptune. When planets make aspects, it is like initiating a conversation. These conversations were intended to make you aware that a phase of your life is coming to a conclusion in order to make room for growth and your evolving hearts desires. This is her way of making you aware of the things that no longer serve you, the wounds that have been healed, what hopes and dreams call to you, and what brings you joy, creativity and satisfaction. When the retrograde starts on July 22, Venus will cover a lot of the same territory in order for you to reflect on what you wish to let go, what you wish to grow, and what you want to attract into your life. This is the time of to re-prioritize. It is a time to be brutally honest about what your authentic self wants and needs. When she gets back to point where she turns direct, as she goes forward, she will serve as a magnet. Energetically she will attract those circumstances and things that bring you love, pleasure, joy and growth. As she goes forward, she will talk to many of the same planets, helping you to create a blueprint for your soul’s growth. Just as she is leaving Leo, she will again aspect the nodes of fate, and pointing you toward your future, with a new awareness of how you’ve grown, and how you would like the next phase to unfold.