“She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes…”-Lord Byron
From March 31st-April 24th, 2018 Venus will transit through the fixed earth sign of Taurus, one of her places of rulership.
Like the life cycle of fruit and flowers, in astrology, each planet has certain seasons when its powers come into full blossom or ripeness. When a planet arrives in its sign of rulership, you can imagine that it has entered into a period of full ripeness!
When Venus is in Taurus, she is at her most juicy, fragrant and sunkissed. Here, Venus indulges the senses and luxuriates in love. In these environs, Venus can be envisioned as the Empress, the body of mother nature, reclined in the fullness of fertility, prosperity, and beauty. In her arms, she holds the flowers of love, beauty, art, imagination, sensuality, and desire.
Reclined in her earthy temple, she teaches the primordial wisdom of creation: that love is the sacred arcanum of magic.
“…while Spring is in the world
my blood approves
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers…”E.E. Cummings
AN ENTIRE SKY WITHIN
Before we delve further into the beauty and mystery of Venus in Taurus, it is fruitful to examine how astrology can serve as a healing art for the soul, attuning you to a divine order within.
The seven classical planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, & Saturn) are like a spectrum of light, a band of colors shining through everything in the universe.
Astrology is the art and science of observing how the motions of these planets seem to shift the light and mood of your inner sky. Thus, to immerse yourself in each one of the planets is a profound way to get to know every dimension of yourself more deeply.
Observing the effect of planetary transits upon your life can be an amazing journey of self-discovery. But when you add the creative act of magic to this study, you embrace a powerful method of internal alchemy.
If you’d like to learn more about the magic of Venus, registration is open for my new class BEAUTY: The Soulful Love of Venus in Taurus!
Like the spokes upon a wheel, each planet has an essential and supportive role in the development of a balanced psyche. The preeminent astrologer and magician of the Renaissance, Marsilio Ficino once said:
“We have an entire sky within us, our fiery strength and heavenly origin: Luna which symbolizes the continuous motion of soul and body, Mars speed and Saturn slowness, the Sun God, Jupiter law, Mercury reason, and Venus humanity.”
Once alerted to the ecological relationship that the seven planets have within your psyche, it is important to honor and acknowledge each one. The seven planets function together as an holistic system.
Students of astrology, alchemy and magic must learn to work with all seven spheres, not identifying with any single planet without consideration to the necessity of all the others.
When Venus returns to her place of rulership in Taurus, she bestows her most regal blessings of beauty and love.
Venus is the light in your heart, that meets in your aspect and your eyes. Beauty is a revelation of the goddess and the reason for Love itself. Consider how the beauty of flowers attracts honeybees and arouses their devotion.
In the temple of Venus, you will learn that all beauty is a vision of divinity and love is the natural response to that divinity.
PARADISE FOUND
With Venus in Taurus, there is such pleasure to be found in sensuality and luxury. Keenly aware of time’s devouring nature, the temporality of fruit and flowers, Venus in Taurus will prompt you to waste no time wallowing in misery when you could be tasting ripe fruit and worshipping the beauty that’s in bloom.
Let love grow inside you by drinking in the fragrance of flowers and stretching your limbs in the warmth of the sun.
The secrets of building good character, fine taste, and solid wealth are all taught in the temple of Venus. The realization of these secrets relies upon cultivating one virtue above all others: patience.
Patience is one of the “fruits of the spirit” because without this quality, nothing can be truly tasted, truly felt, truly healed, or truly learned. Allow patience to become your new way of being and your life will take on a much brighter hue.
With Venus in Taurus, you will be gently nudged to love your body and feed your soul with beauty. You will feel the need to become more closely connected to the things in this world that inspire your love and devotion.
What melts your heart and moves your soul?
Whatever the answers to this question may be, these are the things you must devote yourself to.
Rapt in Venus’ soulful love, any romance in your life can bloom with new patience and kindness. In voluptuous moments of repose, there is more time for tender kisses and declarations of love.
And kisses are a better fate than wisdom.
But lovers are not the only beneficiaries of Venus’ good graces when she is enthroned in Taurus. The blessings of sensual pleasure, luxury, and prosperous finances will be widely distributed to all like handfuls of fluttering flower petals.
And anyone who cultivates beauty in the world and devotes themselves in love will be twice blessed.
Ruled by Venus, the sign of Taurus is devoted to the creation of a pleasure garden of delights. The fixed earth sign of Taurus corresponds to the middle of spring, when the fertile action initiated by Aries has taken root and found stable ground. The consciousness ignited by Aries gives rise to the senses.
Taurus is the most sensuous of the signs–seeking peace and tranquility so that its sumptuous need for pleasure can be fulfilled. Taurus expresses itself through earthly delights, finding refuge from the world in a botanical reverie of delectable fruits and fragrant flowers.
The Soul of Taurus is expressed when beauty is worshipped in a long lingering refrain. This soul can be felt in moments where rose petals are inhaled, warm kisses are lovingly tasted and everything feels easy like Sunday.
It is Venus who fills you with the longing to transcend the struggle of survival. Her realm is one of fertility and abundance. Her world overflows with warmth and color and juice.
With so many gifts and blessings to offer, Venus only demands one thing of her devotees. You must learn to become completely embodied, totally attuned to the wisdom of your senses so that your love of beauty can shine.
WHAT IS BEAUTY?
If you Google this question, here is the definition that pops up.
Beauty (noun)
1. a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight.
2. a beautiful woman.
As usual, this definition leaves much to be desired. It is without meaning, without myth, and is devoid of any spirit or soul!
For anyone with living senses, BEAUTY is more than just a theory of aesthetics. BEAUTY is one of the great philosophical questions, an eternal inspiration to dialogue with the universe.
BEAUTY does not need any academic justification. But BEAUTY has shaped the history of philosophy in some profound ways, always leading seekers back to the knowledge of their soul.
As many of you know by now, studying astrology in any depth requires a pretty good background in Neoplatonic philosophy. This school of thought was largely founded by the 3rd Century Roman philosopher, Plotinus, who reorganized Plato’s philosophies.
In the Phaedrus, Plato defines BEAUTY as the soul’s recollection of its true being in the realm of divine perfection. This is a lovely and inspiring idea, but it associates beauty almost exclusively with perfect symmetry and form.
Plotinus chose to lead the theory of beauty away from mere symmetry. For him, theories of aesthetics failed to explain the exquisite beauty of a sunrise, the ineffable light in a lover’s eyes, or a sudden symphony of birdsong. None of this BEAUTY has form…or symmetry…but its effect is undeniably soulful and intoxicating.
But Plotinus did agree with Plato’s thoughts from the Symposium, in which beauty is defined as that which inspires love, and love is defined as a desire for beauty. Beauty and love feed one another in an undulating wave of creation. At the most primal level, lust attracts procreation.
And at the highest level, love becomes a path of spiritual transcendence.
It is BEAUTY that invites lovers to find the universe in each other’s eyes. And it is BEAUTY that makes your soul rise up in song. BEAUTY inspires all of creation to keep creating!
Plotinus described these ecstatic communions with beauty as the realization of the “World-Soul”.
As an astrologer, I would describe these as being Venusian revelations. Immersed in the wisdom of Venus, BEAUTY is revealed to be much more than aesthetics. (shape, color, form)
BEAUTY is a path of mystical communion with all the soulful love in the universe.
For all lovers of beauty, a great season is upon us now!
Want to know more about the magic of Venus? Sign up for my new class, BEAUTY: The Soulful Love of Venus in Taurus!
Much Love,
Aeolian Heart <3