The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

Sure most people think the Winter Holidays are the “most wonderful time of the year”. But, around here, it’s when Venus makes her yearly sojourn through Pisces — the sign of her exaltation.

Usually after a couple of months of hanging out in Capricorn and Aquarius, where she’s doing her best to support Saturn, her ultimate bestie, Venus is ready for some “me” time: Cut the laces off her corset! Let it all hang out during a luxurious month of pampering — preferable by the ocean — where the only rules are to lose yourself to find yourself…but circumstances have been as such that she’s been compelled, as Saturn’s bestie, to GRIND for 5 LONG MONTHS…don’t get me wrong — Saturn NEEDED Venus…but all work and no pleasure and yeah…Venus is like “I wasn’t built for this”.

Before completely shedding our dreadful office casual uniform, let’s do a full on Marie Kondo unpack. (If you need a refresh of Venus’ mission in Capricorn, here’s one — I didn’t write one for her time in Aquarius because Saturn and Mars ate my attention.) Really hold every thing that comes out of the suitcase and connect to the sensation and feelings that arise…because, after what Venus (and you) have been through, it wouldn’t do to have lingering worries about what has been done “imperfectly” or left undone (it’s a vacation — turn your damn OOF/OOWFH automatic message on and your phone and laptop off) to ruin your complete and total immersion in the restorative waters of Jupiter…because Venus needs and deserves to rest before heading off into Aries on May 3rd.

The Facts

Venus entered the sign of Capricorn on November 6, 2021 stayed there (with Mars and Pluto) until March 5, 2022. After which she entered Aquarius to meet up with Saturn — with Mars doggedly following her like she was some 18 year old, American girl living in Paris alone for the summer to fulfill the requirements of a research grant and harassing her for a date even after saying “no” repeatedly in very good French (okay — fine a personal memory was triggered)— until sweet sweet liberation on April 5th that goes on to May 2nd.

The Debrief

Often we can get caught up in how cool and often creepily astrology predicts events, because —duh — that is one of it’s primary functions. However, there’s a lot to be said about using astrology as a processing tool for the past to enable us to fully embody and accept ourselves in the present. Outside of the context of a natal analysis (which often gets relegated to a one-and-done session when it really warrants a revisit at least once a year during your solar return or as a standalone session), there doesn’t seem to be a lot of readily available prompting to contextualize — just the endless predictive doom scrolling forward.

So, anyhow, let’s go down relatively recent memory lane.

Agendas

For the last five months, the parts of your life that belong to Venus’ agenda — aka the houses occupied by Taurus and Libra — have been conscripted to serve the areas in life that fall under Saturn’s agenda — aka the houses occupied by Capricorn and then Aquarius.

In plain English: Where, in life, you usually attract the resources and relationships needed to establish material stability (Taurus) and transactional fairness in energetic exchange (Libra) were the means through which you: Firstly, sought greater understanding of the value you offer the social contract in exchange for personal meaning (while Venus was in Capricorn); and then were challenged to harmonize your “genius” with the community and ideologies in which you participate (while Venus was in Aquarius)…Oof that was some word salad.

For instance, if you are a Capricorn rising, your creativity, experience of pleasure, and/or dealing with children as well as how you show up in your social and public persona to provide service in exchange for societal participation, and/or wield your authority were the areas in life that provided the resources for you first to enact a sea change in your agenda to self realize and invest in you — whether that meant leveraging these Venus ruled areas of your life to begin new projects that you actually enjoy (and aren’t just doing out of duty) and provide a framework for you to both adult and nurture your inner child, or initiate changes in your health regimen and/or physical appearance that enable you to be more embodied and enjoy being in the instrument of your body. Then, with that sorted, you had to utilize the aforementioned areas of your life to reinvigorate your resource bank — whether that was literally stimulating cash flow or doing some serious financial planning.

Anyhow, you see how you can use this template to extrapolate from your own charts.

Planetary War

BUT, yeah…fine, those were the tasks at hand, but there was this (not so) little matter of what jyotish calls “planetary war” between Venus and Mars. Planetary war is basically when either Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and/or Saturn want to take up the same part of the sky.

Yes, a lot of Western astrologers were singing the praises of Mars and Venus embracing each other in the sky and then chasing each other through Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces — but let’s get real here. Which of us felt like we were swept up in some romantic embrace with these areas of our lives suddenly coming together in harmony to make our lives miraculously burst out into the chorus of The hills are alive with the sound of music? What I was hearing more of in session was Pat Benatar screaming against the night Love is a battlefield! And she wasn’t just talking about romance!

Whilst in Capricorn, the Venusian parts of our lives not only had to fit themselves into the air sucking corset of Saturn’s strictures, they had to bend over backwards (whilst wearing that corset) and accommodate Mars’ every whim. It was like flashbacks to watching Maggie Gyllenhaal assume the position in Secretary every time those Mars ruled parts of our lives said “Me first”.

(What are those? The ones covered by Aries (literally “me first”, where you are called to initiate action, take risks and be damned the consequences, and sometimes, yes, fight for your life) and Scorpio (where you engage in establishing intimacy and trust, cope with sudden transformation, are called to have the discernment of whether or not to use deadly force).)

In the simplest sense, it often felt like a battle between two competing ways of fulfilling your duties — and there you were caught in the middle of two screaming toddlers pulling you in opposite directions, trying to make you choose which one you love most…and there you’re sat with very little sleep reminding yourself “I chose this. This is the circus I joined.” And Venus, ultimately, having to let Mars get its way — despite all the work she’d done before he even got to Capricorn.

And it GOT WORSE once both planets moved into Aquarius at the beginning of March — because then there was Saturn — the boss — and Uranus in Taurus hurling lightning bolts.

It’s like Venus couldn’t get a foothold with Mars nipping at her heels…and, if you have ever had to run in high heels away from something while still trying to maintain some sense of composure, you know how difficult and terrifying that is. There you’re sat trying to make nice, trying to figure out how to be a team player, trying to be humble and supportive and bring value, and there’s Mars — FORCING THINGS, creating crises, trying to speed up timelines — generally doing what Mars likes to do in Aquarius test how unified a group or integrated a mission is by sowing descent.

And you know what? It didn’t help that both planets had to run the gauntlet against Uranus and the Nodal Bend during the third week of March. The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft a-gley! Indeed! Sudden upsets — existentially challenging expenses out of the blue, negotiations or deals you thought would get you back on track and were done and dusted after grueling negotiation falling apart suddenly (and it wasn’t even Mercury retrograde), accidents and injuries preventing you from realizing plans that took forever to make…and THEN the existential crises precipitated by seemingly fateful events — Is this the right track? Have I valued/invested/accumulated what I really need? Was that the correct action plan to execute or have I fucked everything up?

THEN, the reckoning with Saturn.

Besties

Why do I keep calling Saturn Venus’ bestie? Because Venus is Saturn’s “exaltation lord”. So, when Saturn is in Libra, which Venus rules, it’s exalted (which I’ll get into below about what it means for the next month for Venus being exalted by Jupiter) — it’s a rock star on a throne in front of an adoring public and gets to wave a diva card around right left front and center. It means Venus does everything in her power to make sure Saturn gets what it wants when it’s in Libra — and that usually translates as equitable, well defined and negotiated boundaries and everyone fulfilling their contractual obligations without question or fuss.

There are some schools of thought that extrapolate this to the idea that whenever Venus is in aspect to Saturn or in Saturn’s domains, it goes the extra mile for Saturn.

But, even with that dynamic between two planets in place, being beholden to that obligation for five months…Think of it this way: Being the house guest at your best friend’s home(s) for five months and doing your utmost to be the model guest — unimposing with your needs, always available for a tête-à-tête at your host’s demand, always charming and well accoutered, going along with plans without making too much fuss and living by their schedule. It’s fun maybe for a couple of months but almost half a year?

So what was the point?

I’m not a mundane astrologer (aka an astrologer who applies astrology to world events) — my futurism work uses other tools (more on that in later newsletters) for trend prognostication; but this is one of those times when personal astrology and mundane seem to be walking hand in hand.

We’ve spent two years experiencing the world through screens. A virtual reality that has forced us inwards to assess whether or not the “normal” we were participating in was a functional relationship (in which our personal participation was fairly valued by social and economic metrics); whether or not our relationships were based on clout and social posturing and climbing or a voyage in co-creation of intimacy, trust, and support; whether or not we were inhabiting the instrument and vehicle of embodied existence with respect, acceptance, and care it deserves or if we were living lives so in our heads and so focused on either the present or the future that we were made aware of our dis-ease in it?

Venus in Saturn ruled signs has been about truly being materialistic. What we think of as materialism is CONSUMERISM. They’re two entirely different animals. Consumerism is about the high of acquisition and moving on to the next dopamine hit before the high wears off. You don’t care of the thing — just the social standing the possession of it garners you.

Materialism is about taking the time (Saturn) to appreciate what is acquired and/or possessed. To really understand where a thing comes from (hello supply chain issues giving us a masterclass in this), the craft, skill, and care it took to make something (hello workers strikes affecting inventory), the impact that the thing will have on the environment, the energy you’re willing to exchange for the thing (hello Great Resignation and reassessing what you’ll actually exchange your time and attention for), and how much joy it brings you in the possession and use of it. This applies to every material object from food to your toothbrush to your car or bed or whatever.

Venus’ time extended time here has hopefully been grounding in the value of real materialism — and how it is the manifestation of intent in form…and how your values and self value and your discernment of what is of value become REALITY with CONSEQUENCES — and how important it is to cultivate an awareness of this process.

The Diva Card…

And, now, Venus is done with all of that for now and in her place of exaltation. Her time to be a rock star. As I said to a beloved colleague and friend the other day, “It’s about time for Venus gets to lie back, get lavishly eaten out, whilst drinking Cristal from a Lalique champagne flute, and then get wrapped in silk while someone gives her a pedicure as a soft ocean breeze washes over her and she gets to feast like a champ on whatever the fuck she wants to eat — and all she really needs to do is show up.”

It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Or whatever your version of this would be…Especially this year with Jupiter co-present in Pisces with Venus. Unlike the last two years when Jupiter was in Saturn’s thrall, this year Jup Jup can really afford to shell out to take care of Venus — bring to her all manner of ways to lose her cares in the joyous river of forgetfulness and anonymous pleasure — floating on her back looking up at a sky full of stars and feel herself meld with them — feel her inheritance as something made of starseed.

However, Jupiter is also still hosting Neptune who is gleefully smoking both of them up…and the trick of this time is to surrender to the process of having our eyes opened to the truth via the route of dreaming and waking up…don’t mistake the dream for a reality that has to be. This isn’t Saturn’s material realm. Dreams often show us what we’re ready to consciously accept — what we’re ready to allow to be born into our conscious mind…and so this is the best use of this play time.

Also, the biggest caveat about exaltation. Sure you know you’re on this throne. You’re waving your diva card around like an Amex Black Card with a billionaire uncle who doesn’t itemize footing the bill…but watch out for the anxiety that comes with being in an exalted position — the fear that you’ll lose it, that the person or people who elevate you can take it all away, the fear that you aren’t who they think you are…and turning up the diva volume louder to distract them…also, we’ve all been there — on that vacation THAT has to be perfect! And so we overdo and take all the fun out of it.

Finally, this isn’t all roses and caviar poolside overlooking the Med. If Venus rules malefic houses in your birth chart (the 2nd, 6th, 7th, 8th, or 12th) or Pisces covers one of these houses, then her exaltation could lead to an over exaggeration of the problems you perceive arising from those areas in life or or delude you with the efficacy of potential solutions that suddenly seem available. So, please, make sure to lean on the grounding that Venus’ time in Saturn imparted and look deep into that swarm of locusts headed towards your crop or that rain report that prophecies a flood — yes, prepare, but it could wind up being a dust cloud or a shower instead.

Anyhow…

Regardless, take the time to enjoy yourself and allow the Universe to manifest for you (often in ways even more wondrous than you could envision) the Venusian energy invested during the last five months. The fructification of planetary energy usually comes when the planet moves into the next sign over.

Find time to go swimming or even just enjoy soaking your feet in some salt water.

For now, that’s all I’ve got in me to propitiate Venus on this first Venus’ Day of her stay in Pisces! Lol. More on the shift coming up when Jupiter takes a dip in Aries. Hee hee.

Until next time!