posted May 19, 2004 11:42 AM            

Proxieme.. you have lotsa' natal retrograde planets, don't you?

I offered to look into a chart of someone I know, and he was born in '82. All the outer planets from Mars outward, were retro.... (interesting year!)
so... I am curious, as it affects the average interpretive energies...... more of an inward manifestation of the planetary energies????
Insight would rock. Thank you!!!

*I posted in free for all... probably wrong forum, huh......

posted May 24, 2004 12:46 PM              

On May 17, Venus began one of its relatively rare retrogrades. It will remain in direct motion until the end of June. During that period, there will also be a very rare event, called an occultation (June 17, I think.). The next occultation will be in 2012, after that it does not happen for (I forget exactly) something like 135 years.

What happens, during an occultation is similar to a n eclipse. Venus will retrograde across the face of the sun....meaning between us and the Sun. Of course Venus is not large enough to eclipse much of the sun, so I doubt anyone will notice unless they are looking for it. Nobody knows exactly what this will mean, although it is said to be the end of the very complex time-keeping structure called the Mayan Calendar. I would hope that, with the Sun shining through Venus, some Venus issues will be clarified. And just maybe, that will lead to a general increase in self worth for inhabitants of Earth.

Thinking of Venus and its Retrograde, it seemed appropriate to share some thoughts on the subject. Most of the following comes from my book Retrogrades and Consciousness.

The Planet Venus
Natal Venus represents our definitions of love, value, and connection. The general consciousness usually categorizes people and things as contributing to, or detracting from, life. It often regards love in a commercial way as something to be traded. We offer our love to another and expect it to be returned in the same way that we spend our money, expecting to have value returned for value spent. The ancient knowledge that loving is inherent in our nature, and that the expression of it benefits our self first and others second, is largely lost.

We are taught to regard relationships as a matter of two opposites which together make a whole--like two sides of the same coin. But the simple truth is that life and consciousness do not work this way. The principle of love, as represented by Venus, is Like attracts like. A reality of Love is that when two like beings merge their love, power is generated. The power of such unions is the power to create life and all its appurtenances. A second reality is that two unlike beings can never be united by more than an idea, contract, or tradition.

Retrograde Venus gives love but does not know how to receive it. Direct Venus experiences the giving and receiving of love in a more balanced way. Although the Venus function will evolve through the signs, as other planets do, overtones of ego programming often remain for the full cycle with Venus direct. At every level, the traditions and dogmas of humanity have burdened Love with guilt-producing mandates of one type or another.

This is rooted in the process of using a logical function to expand awareness. When that function is permitted to name life good and evil instead of good for now and good for later the Venus function must travel in shackles. When Venus’ love is shackled for too long, while Mercury enlightenment moves too far ahead, knowledge becomes dangerous. Knowledge is power. Knowledge lacking in love can produce a subjective evil from objective good. The greatest crisis humanity will ever face is derived from the need to reunite and balance Love and Light. Let them be united and all the pure goodness of Life will be revealed in the light............It may be that the occultations will mark events designed to teach us just that.

Venus Direct
Direct Venus lives comfortably with the accepted definition of love. Their love function will be identified, formed, named, felt, expressed, and will function perfectly within the accepted parameters of modern humankind. There may be some feelings of guilt, but they can be resolved without major stress. It is possible for these natives to meet or ignore the mandates of authority about how the good/moral life is to be lived.

Included in this will be the ability to have relationships with parents, mates, and children that reflect an acceptable level of peace and satisfaction. There may be longing for more, but it will not lead to despair. More than that, they will be able to feel sufficient self-worth for rational function within society.

As direct Venus advances through the signs, it gradually achieves greater awareness of the essence of Love, without coming in conflict with moral authority. Religion has always told us what and who and how to love. Direct Venus may not agree entirely, but does not have serious conflict. It can live with the duties of love, as defined by these authorities. It may live in compliance or in detachment, but it can find acceptable levels of compromise or someone else to blame.

Venus Retrograde
Venus retrograde individuals will never be content with blaming or sacrifice. Instead they often perceive their inability to function within the limits of the modern definition of love to be a personal failure. Because they believe that they do not love correctly, by the principle of attraction, what they attract is not love. They may feel possessed, but not loved or valued.

Venus Retrograde inherently knows that love is the substance of life and that like/love attracts like/love. But, from birth, these little ones do not feel loved or valued. Because of it, they never learn what being loved feels like. This leaves a hole in the psyche; it leaves them hungry–and subject to weight-gain. Often the only love they received in infancy or childhood was food..

Because their love nature is uncontaminated by ego, their natural love is clear and tends toward the impersonal. It is like clear water which is trying mightily to be wine because others want wine and not water. From the beginning, those around them demand more love or better love from them. It often takes years for the retrograde Venus native to understand that what is being asked for is more or better control.

Most give their lives away until the day they instinctively realize that continuing in that particular situation will destroy them. Then they may walk away, subjecting themselves to more insults from those who have used them as servants or slaves. This can lead to an even greater sense of failure. They may then go out in society, once again searching for someone who will love them., Wide open with vulnerability to the first person who claims to need them, they may be caught up in yet another unequal, need-based relationship.

What lies behind these life patterns is altruism at its worst. This doctrine says that we must love others before ourselves, that we must first love before we can be loved. The result is that no one gets to do what s/he truly wants/loves to do. Each must try to satisfy what we think that the other needs or wants in the vain hope that they will then give us what we want and need. Each lives in fear of not getting our own wants or needs met--believing that we have no real right to experience personal wants and needs. We also live in fear of not finding the person who will take care of us. This produces a society of givers and takers.

Past Lives
It could be inferred that retrograde Venus suggests past lives in which a serious study of the nature and purpose of love was undertaken. It could also mean that natives are accustomed to living in a continuum where love is the natural state, similar to the state of innocence we see in small children. This often points to one who has not been on earth for centuries, especially since the development of modern society. Their love is in a more natural state, without the conditioning common to modern humanity.

There is an innocence about these individuals. It is hard for them to conceive of evil actions or intentions. In pure love there is no evil. The two are an antithesis. These love as small children love and do not understand the laws of love. In their memory banks there is only love, freely given, without need for limit or definition. When they feel unloved, they feel the truth. The adults in their childhood usually have no true understanding of the nature of love, so cannot express it. The missing piece is the perception of life, and specifically this new life, as valuable. Parents recognize this child as possession, not a person—as something to own, take pride in, shape to their design.

Using Retrograde Venus
When transiting Venus retrogrades, we are offered the opportunity to see through the social definitions of love to its reality. Often these periods are lonely or finances get shaky because the essential love essence in our body is tapping on our awareness, trying to break through our learned ideas of love. At this time we are offered the opportunity to seek more deeply within for a sense of worth and value. These are windows of opportunity in which we can recognize the truth of love, if we will. For those who question the nature of love, they can offer up insight, as the ego boundaries around the issues of love weaken.

A good affirmation for the next six weeks: I love and I am loved. I am valued because I am valuable.