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The Cosmic Dance of Venus and Mars

The heavenly dance of Venus and Mars mirrors the nature of personal relationships. Mars must venture out into the world on his hero’s quest alone, but Venus cannot go where Mars goes, she must stay within 48 degrees of the Sun.  Just as traditionally men went out hunting or to work and women stayed at home cooking, looking after the children, keeping the home fires burning.

But we all have a Venus and a Mars and we have evolved beyond these gender stereotypes. Women have been actively using their Mars energy for decades and men are more in touch with their Venus energy, some choosing to be stay-at-home dads and taking on more domestic duties such as cooking, cleaning and caring.

The desire for self expression, independence and autonomy (Mars) and the need for love and relationship (Venus) are not gender specific, but exist within every soul.

A closer examination of their celestial dance reveals more about the nature of relating. For example, when Venus and Mars are conjunct, Mars is always in direct motion.  Mars is animated by Venus, but he can also be confused by her different faces and phases, for when they are conjunct Venus can be direct, retrograde or stationary.

When Venus and Mars oppose one another, Mars is almost always retrograde; if not then he is virtually stationary.  The closer Venus is to the Sun, the more deeply retrograde is Mars.
When Mars opposes the Sun, he is full of light, but retrograde and closest to the Earth. This is Venus’ natural position, for she is the closest body to Earth.

At this point in his solar cycle Mars feels weakened from his journey and his separation from both the Sun (father) and Venus (lover). He is alone. At this point he undergoes the supreme ordeal in his hero’s quest.

Though Mars may feel tired and weak from his struggle, Venus sees his vulnerability and pain but also sees him as radiant, as her knight in shining armour.

At solar opposition, Mars begins his journey back to the Sun, like Jason who returned to claim his birthright as true King, and it is with the help of the love goddess that he will again claim his solar kingdom.

When they oppose one another and Venus is at her greatest elongation and the morning star, Mars is close to stationary direct. Her beauty, youth and freshness invigorate him and guide him on the return home. She acts as his guide, or lover, his muse, and/or healer.

When Venus is the evening star and they oppose at her greatest elongation, Mars stations retrograde. At this point Venus is older and wiser, she knows she must soon let him go to venture once more out into the world on a new quest.

Although technically Venus can be retrograde when she opposes Mars, Venus is almost always in direct motion at this point in their cycle. In this position they see each other clearly and fully, their love reflected in each other’s radiance which may be why this aspect in synastry is considered to be one of the most, if not the most passionate of combinations. Each can identify with the other as they face one another, fully conscious.

The mythic story of their illicit affair mirrors their dance in the heavens too. Sol was the first to see the secret lovers. Venus, though married to Vulcan, the clever, but lame god, who had been rejected by his mother, had numerous lovers, and with Mars Venus had five children.
Vulcan is akin to Mars when he is in opposition to the Sun and/or Venus. He is weak, wounded and lonely, yet has mastered many skills.

Mars, Venus’s lover is by comparison rather brutish, immature and primitive. He never marries and ends up being rejected by his parents too, while Vulcan is restored to their favour.
Conjunctions and oppositions of Venus and Mars show the way in which the lovers interact and which of their many male and female faces they show to one another. 

JUNE SOLSTICE 2009 – VENUS MARS CONJUNCTION

At the June solstice (21 June 2009 at 5:46 UT), Venus unites with Mars for the second time in as many months. At their last meeting they were located at 29 Pisces in April 2009, signalling the completion of one cycle and the commencement of another.  Their exact conjunction in June occurs at 13:09 UT on 21 June 2009. Their next coming together is in Libra during August 2010 during the Cardinal T-square alignment of Uranus, Saturn and Pluto .

At that meeting, Venus was moving very slowly, having just gone direct. Though awake to the potential for love, she had only just woken from her beauty sleep. Prince Charming awakened her to the promise of love.

Though open to establishing new ties, she proceeded slowly at first, making a tentative assessment of the potential of her many suitors. Who will she choose?

For the past two months Venus has been increasing in speed and is now fully empowered. All the while, Mars and Venus have been within close orb, spending time together and getting to know one another.   This illustrates how we can make the most of this cycle to help establish connections and new relationships.

As the morning star, Venus “Lucifer” is waxing in light. Lucifer simply means “full of light” and has nothing to do with the devil. That idea apparently came about because of a misinterpretation in the bible. In Isaiah 14:12 there is a reference to the morning star and a fall from heaven, which is how this mistake arose. Although Venus has a dark side, (as all archetypes do) Venus Lucifer simply refers to the morning star and nothing else.

As she couples with Mars for the second time in two months, she is in her element, and her own sign Taurus. She is passionate, beautiful, sensual and ready for love.

Regardless of our gender or sexual orientation, and perhaps even the natal position and condition of Venus in our birth charts, the ether is infused with Venusian energy at this conjunction of the love goddess and her hero-lover, Mars. By examining their motion in the sky we can learn how relationships work.

 Their cosmic union enhances our capacity to break through our isolation and establish heart-felt connections. With this conjunction in Taurus we are likely to make declarations of love, promises and commitments.

Ingress charts tell us something about the season ahead and this season the theme is clearly about personal connections.

VENUS RETROGRADE

Venus retrogrades once every 19 months. During her 584-day synodic cycle she spends about 40-42 days retrograde, the least of any planet. During this time she withdraws from others in order to assess and evaluate her experiences and reconnect with her intrinsic standards of beauty and love.
Venus stations retrograde when she is the evening star during the waning part of her cycle, which is known as Venus Vesper. She turns retrograde when about 30 degrees occidental to the Sun.

When Venus is retrograde, professional, family, group and personal connections often come under scrutiny. Once assessed and evaluated, some of these associations may end.

At inferior conjunction Venus sets down a new set of criteria, establishes new benchmarks and reunites with her essence; her innate sense of what is worthwhile and beautiful.

Usually Venus moves faster than the Sun, but after her retrograde period it takes a couple of months for her to get up to speed. After becoming the morning star she waxes in light and gradually becomes ready to establish new relationships.

While this has been happening Mars has been going about his independent business transiting Aries, but at this, his second meeting with Venus, he gets up close and personal and the love goddess is ready. She wants him and he wants her.

Since Mars is not comfortable in Taurus, acting independently is less desirable now. Celestial conditions are ripe for relationships to flourish.

At 15 Taurus, Venus and Mars are located at the midpoint of the last cardinal ingress at 0 Aries and this one at 0 Cancer, suggesting some continuity in the process of relating, that perhaps this union is part of a longer process, or cycle. The semi-square to the Sun brings with it a challenge or two, but the pair are also in trine with Saturn and Ceres in Virgo, bringing earthy stability to their connection, so relationships forged at this time are likely to endure.

It’s worth noting however, that Venus is situated 45 degrees oriental to the solstice Sun, and close to her greatest elongation, which means that at this conjunction Mars and Venus will begin to separate. Venus will stay within her solar orb, while Mars will venture out into the world, propelled and empowered by the love goddess, who will wait for him to return. They join, they separate, they reunite all in perfect harmony.    

SYNASTRY

Mars is considered to be the planet of desire and sexuality, but Venus is equally sexual, after all, she was born in the foaming sea from the castrated genitals of the creative sky-god Uranus. The word “aphrodisiac” is derived from Aphrodite.

In synastry, aspects between Venus and Mars describe the chemistry and sexual compatibility of partners.

All aspects; the conjunctions, sextiles, trines, squares and oppositions seem equally capable of fuelling sexual chemistry and stimulating the senses, even the minor aspects add spark and passion.

Venus-Mars oppositions are perhaps the most sexually dynamic and magnetic of all the aspects between the cosmic lovers.  In heterosexual unions, an opposition between a man’s Mars and a woman’s Venus is thought to be the most electric and passionate of all.

Opposites, they say, “attract”, but there also needs to be common ground for a relationship to be sustained. Equally, too many similarities and not enough differences can quickly lead to boredom and complacency.

Mars Venus oppositions seem to mirror to one another these intrinsic similarities and differences, which helps keep the balance right. Give and take, lead and follow, action and reaction seem to swing back and forth.

Sun and Moon links in synastry provide security, warmth, nurturing and familiarity, while Venus-Moon links heighten the romance, but it’s Venus and Mars who provide the passion.

Aspects from Venus to Venus and Mars to Mars also reveal the level of attraction and sexual chemistry between partners. Difficult aspects between them do not prevent a relationship from happening; indeed they create a dynamic tension which provides necessary stimulation and keeps things interesting. The lack of any aspect between Venus and Mars is perhaps more likely to result in a lack of desire or disinterest from one or both parties.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt for example, have Venus opposite Venus and Mars square Mars in their synastry.

Legendary lovers Lawrence Oliver and Vivien Leigh had Venus square Mars and Mars square Mars.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor had only a tight semi-sextile between their natal Venus positions and yet their love was such that he abdicated the throne in order to marry her.
Humphrey Bogart’s Venus was semi-sextile Lauren Bacall’s Mars, while her Venus quincunxed his Mars.

There was a tight semi-square between Prince Charles’ Venus and Princess Diana’s Mars, while Charles and Camilla have their Venus positions in square and her Mars trines his Venus.

Love can come suddenly. We may have known a person for years, or only moments when we are struck by Eros’ arrow and fall in love. In an instant our everyday lives are scintillatingly transformed.

Venus makes Mars’ quest worthwhile and valuable. Love infuses his deeds and actions with meaning. But she cannot go where Mars goes, he must act alone. Though parting is sweet sorrow, absence does make the heart grow fonder. This is the push-pull of their cosmic dance.

While men may generally identify more readily with Mars, and women with Venus, both sexes use and express their Mars and Venus. They join together, they separate and come back together, back and forth ebbing and flowing with the cosmic tide as when two souls find one another and connect and we see the beauty of our own soul reflected back to us in the face of our lover.