|
The planet. Venus, goes retrograde (apparent backward
motion) every
eighteen months and in the same sign every eight years. The
retrograde
period of Venus lasts forty days.
The Venus pattern of growth is cyclic.
Examine your life during prior Venus cycles
8
years ago,
July 30, 1999 at 5 degrees of Virgo
through September 11, 1999 at 18 degrees of Leo,
16 years ago,
August 2, 1991 at 7 degrees of Virgo
through September 13, 1991 at 21 degrees of Leo
24 years ago,
August 3, 1983 at 9 degrees of Virgo
through September 15, 1983 at 23 degrees of Leo
By closely reviewing these years of your life and the time
periods within these
years you will begin to find a pattern of your personal growth
and development
which will continue this year as a result of
Venus retrograde which will occur
between July 27, 2007 at 2 degrees Virgo
through September 8, 2007 at 16
degrees of Leo.
|
The changes which occur during Venus retrograde
are so deeply imbedded in
the subconscious that it usually requires
several months before the changes which occurred
in your subconscious become clearly evident in your
awareness
During the retrograde period you will be
working on a deep subconscious level
examining your relationships and your values. You
will be reviewing specifically
the part of your chart through which Venus is transiting
in retrograde motion.
At the beginning of the Venus retrograde phase you may
feel a greater need to
spend time alone, to spend time in quit contemplation,
to withdraw as much as
possible from the outside world.
It is wise during this time of Venus retrograde to
realize that all people will be
experiencing the retrograde phase at the same time.
this is a time when people
will be experiencing a greater sensitivity than
usual, just as we may feel more
sensitive ourselves. |
|
Kindness and sensitivity to both our own needs and the
needs of others is important.
|
You may find that during the Venus retrograde cycle
you will take a different
approach to assessing you
current situations. The work
done during the
retrograde cycle is deep inner work on the subconscious
level. The following
is a lesson in metaphor. Venus has been known by
many names including
Aphrodite, Isis, Ishtar and Inanna.
One of the stories of Inanna tells about Venus's journey
through the heavens.
Inanna, Queen of Heaven, Lady of the
Evening and Lady of the Morning
was great goddess. Inanna
heard her sister, Queen of
the Underworld moaning.
Thus, Inanna clothed herself with
crown, beads, precious stones, shield,
gold
ring and robes to enter the Underworld on her way to the
East. (The Underworld
is reference to the subconscious.
When we journey into the
Underworld, we
journey into the subconscious). Venus
retrograde takes us into our subconscious for
reevaluation and growth.
Before leaving for her journey into the
Underworld, Inanna cautioned her loyal
servant, Ninshubur, to protect
her from death while on her journey. She
told
Ninshubur to wait for three days. She told
Ninshubur to call upon the elder gods
for help if she had not returned within three days.
|
|
To truly know yourself, to understand yourself and
to have power over yourself and your life,
a descent into your personal underworld
is necessary. |
Before allowing Inanna to enter the
Underworld, the gatekeeper consulted Ereshkigal,
the Queen of the Underworld. The gatekeeper
explained that a powerful goddess arrayed in splendor
was waiting to enter the realm.
Outraged Ereshkigal became upset ordering the gatekeeper
to open each gate
of the Underworld a slight crack and to remove one of
Inanna's royal garments
as she passed through each of the gates.
As Inanna passed through the first gate he removed her
crown, at the second
gate he took her shinny beads, at the third gate
he took her precious stones,
at the fourth gate her shield was taken, at the fifth
gate he took her gold ring,
at the sixth her crystal wand was taken and at the
seventh and final he took
her velvet robes
|
Naked and
disarmed Inanna is surrounded by judges
of the Underworld who ruled against her. Inanna
was
turned into a corpse and hung from a hook on the wall |
After three days had passed Ninshubur petitioned the
god of air and the god of the moon.
Neither pf the gods could help. Finally, Ninshubur
went to Enki, God
of wisdom and water who provides
Ninshubur with a way to get the food
and water of life to Inanna. Ninshubur is able to
claim Inanna's body and revive her with the food
and water of life.
|
Inanna arises and
ascends
to the Upperworld. |
Inanna's journey is a metaphor which
can help us to understand the Venus cycle in the
heavens and our own descent into the
subconscious. Just as Inanna's descent
began after she heard her sister, Queen of the
Underworld, moan; our
conscious mind hears a whisper, something calling
from within to be heard. The
subconscious is our shadow where everything that our
egos has rejected dwells.
Integration occurs when the ego is
reunited with all that it has rejected.
Our psychic defenses and the walls we build to protect
ourselves from others are the
armor which needs to be released. Only when we are
vulnerable, helpless and
disempowered are we able to make the decent into our own
private Underworld.
This is a time when depression can occur as we are left
to face our shadow
without our defenses. Our saving grace is our
willingness to do something no matter how small to solve
our problems.
It is important for us to know and to remember
that no matter how frightening
or depressing the descent into the darkness of the
Underworld is, it is essential for our growth.
If we are to grow, we must face our shadow, we must take
the journey into the Underworld.
The metaphor describes Venus's cycle
through the heavens. Once every eighteen months
Venus descends into the Underworld
(turns retrograde)
to go from West to the East. She goes through
seven gates. Venus passes
through seven Moon signs during her
retrograde motion. She is slain and
lays dead for six days (her light is lost to the Sun).
She ascends to the world
of light ( rises above the Sun as the morning
star, brightens and then turns
direct in her forward movement.
A Venus retrograde may evoke a journey into the
Underworld, however it
doesn't necessarily cause us to go to our
depths. There are, also, other
transits, Pluto in particular, that can ignite a descent
into the Underworld.
|
Hopefully, having
this information will help you take the journey
when it presents itself to you |
The transit of Venus
retrograde presents the importance of getting in
touch
with parts of yourself which are
unknown to you You may discover aspects
of yourself during a Venus retrograde that are
profoundly different from what
you believed to be true about yourself.
This can evoke emotional distress.
The distress you feel is in direct proportion to the
distance between your true values and the
way in which you are living your life.
The retrograde phase
provides insight allowing you to see
yourself more clearly. This is
a time
in which you can make corrections in your lifestyle
and create balance between
your subconscious and conscious awareness. Now
is the time that you can
bring yourself into alignment with our Higherself.
|
It is
important to remember that when you do journey
into the Underworld you can discover hidden
strengths and abilities you didn't realize you
had in addition to facing the darkness and
the unknown. |
When Venus is retrograde you have
the opportunity to take a deep look at your
values, your relationships, money, your possessions,
your impulses, the things and people to whom you are
attracted. The conditions concerning these areas
of your life may change drastically.
This is a time in which you are called upon by
intuition to take care of unfinished business.
You may be forced to deal with deep feelings
that have their origins
in past events. They are stimulated
by an inner calling and often difficult to
acknowledge to yourself and even more difficult to
discuss with others.
During the backward motion of Venus we can assess what
in our lives makes
us happy, what brings us joy. This is a time to
reevaluate our existing close
relationships. If there seem to be problems, it
is wise to have deep heartfelt
communication regarding issues which need to be
clarified.
The real focus during Venus Retrograde is the
relationship with yourself.
It is possible that what appears to be anger or
frustration with others may
be an imbalance within yourselvef. During the
retrograde phase everyone
is being pulled inward and thus it is easy for people
to be distracted making
misunderstandings prevalent.
|
Since all people
are feeling more emotional and distracted it is
wise to take more quiet time to yourself to
listen to your own indwelling spirit. |
Venus the planet of love and
romance can bring an old love back into your life
or arouse your passions for a new relationship.
Evaluating the importance of your freedom is also of
value at this time. This is a time for becoming
more
aware of what it is that is really important to you.
This is a good time to explore new
relationships. This is NOT a good
time
to get married or enter into a committed
relationship. When Venus is in its
retrograde cycle it is possible to find you are
involved with a case of mistaken identity, the person
you think you've fallen for could be the polar
opposite of whom you think that they are.
|
It is essential
that you wait until after
October 11, 2007 before making any
kind of commitments. |
Venus rules objects of beauty,
art, interior decorating, jewelry, clothing, fine
things. It may be tempting to buy
such things at this time however
unwise.
During the retrograde phase your taste will probably
be very different than it was before it started
or after it ends. It is wise
to wait to purchase any big
ticket items as well. When the cycle finally
ends on October 11, 2007 you will
have a much better idea about what has true value for
you and what you really
wish to invest and to whom you really want to be
committed .
When Venus is retrograde it is an excellent time to
review and reevaluate
the ways in which you make and spend money. By
October 11, 2007 after
considerable contemplation and reevaluation you will
be better qualified
to create a good plan for your your financial
well-being.
This is NOT a good time to
make a major decision in any area of
your
life. Your tastes and preferences may be
much different during the Venus
Retrograde than they will be
after the planet goes Direct.
Again, it is
important to wait until after
October 11, 2007. It is
very important to
remember that what appeals to you, what
you value, what you want, what
feels good to you may all change
dramatically after Venus goes
Direct.
If you still want something after October 11 that you
felt you wanted during
the retrograde phase it will have stood
the test of time, it will then be safe
for you to move forward in
your desired direction.
However, it is quite
possible that much of what feels
appealing to you during the retrograde
period may have no interest to you after October 11,
2007
The Venus Retrograde period is an excellent time to
reevaluate the things
in your life which hold value to you,
things which have lasting value, things
of inner worth, things which touch your heart.
This is a time to sort through things which have
little or no value and dispose
of them. If there are things you have kept which
hold sad or hurtful memories, let them go.
It is time to let go of old energy, to get rid of
clutter, clean out storage rooms, attics and closets.
It is time to make room for new energy to enter your
life.
This can be a pivotal time when you can clear out all
the old energy in your life both on a subconscious
level, a conscious level and the physical level.
Your outside world reflects your inside world.
As you do the inner journey
work, you will feel inclined to clear out
old energy of warn and outdated
things in your life. It is
time to let go of things that bring
back hurtful
memories, unburden yourself of these objects, create
space for your new
life. If you choose to begin by cleaning house,
simplifying, organizing your
physical life you will find that the act
of organizing your outer world will
help you to feel less cluttered on the inside.
This can help you ultimately
to become more peaceful.
During the retrograde period seemingly inevitable or
fated events occur
both in our individual lives and globally. They
present us with a series of
events over which we seem to
have little or no control. Awareness
is
always key. The more time we spend in
contemplation, meditation and
prayer, the more aware we become. As we grow in
awareness our intuition
is more able to alert us to events which we may
be able to mitigate.
During the retrograde phase you may experience
difficulties with friends.
You may come to realize it is time
to let go of certain friendships or a
particular friendship. You may
reassess some friendships which you
decide you really want to keep. Venus retrograde
is a good time to work
on the healing process with friends you want to
maintain. You'll be able
to reap the rewards of work done during the retrograde
cycle when Venus
goes Direct on September 8, 2007.
|
Business
negotiations will be more difficult and it will
take longer for you to reach agreements during
Venus Retrograde. |
If you experience a loss during
Venus retrograde which sends you on a journey
into the Underworld, your unconscious,
remember to listen
carefully for the
wee small voice within
you which will whisper
words of solace and hope.
Continue to listen carefully. You
will hear your guidance pointing to the
path
which will lead you to the
Light which takes you to the place
which is better
for you. You will be grateful you took the
journey.
Spending time in contemplation, meditation and
relaxation are some of the
most fruitful activities one can experience during
Venus retrograde. This is
not a time to be out in the world. It is a time
to seek the beauty of the inner
world by opening up to spiritual harmony through the
use of spiritual practices.
|
Venus will alert
you to the things you need to change in your
life.
You need to listen to your Inner Guidance. |
© 2007 Nancy
Wiggen
|
|
e
mail Medicine Woman
Nancy Wiggen
Phone
808 985-9240
Cell 808 640-7134
The First Step
Site Map
|
