Male and female, hot and cold, war and love. Among the planets, no couple represents complementary forces better than Venus and Mars. Not only because together they describe the Archetype at the very foundation of will and desire. But especially because we all experience in life the struggle that inevitably derives from their union.
Frans Wouters (Rubens School) — venus and mars
I don’t usually talk about Venus and Mars, and for a very simple reason. Their aspects are usually very quick, and it doesn’t make much sense to talk about their influence. But this is not always the case.
Sometimes Venus, which is usually quicker than mars, slows down. To the point that Mars is capable of accompany her in the sky for an unusually long period of time. In this article we are going to talk about their long conjunction through Capricorn and Aquarius.
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
The Sun has set. The light at dusk turns red, as if it was filtered by the black earth. The twilight resonates with the deepest parts of our soul. “There is life beyond death”. This is what the Sun tells us, as it goes through the sign of Scorpio.
The golden leaves on the trees begin to fall and rot. Nature falls prey to a magical sleep, shrouded in a thick fog. Our animal part feels the call of lethargy, as our vital forces diminish. And in the mist we can feel the echo of an ancient time when the curtain of the senses had not blinded us yet.
Have we turned on an inner light? Does our lamp have enough oil to make it through the season? Did we rekindle the spiritual flame inside of us?
We all know the shadows are coming back. They are rising quickly from the memory of last spring. The specter of another lockdown hangs over us. And the fear of contagion has now returned. Thus, the questions above are anything but abstract or rhetorical.
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
Relationships are difficult, confusing and ambiguous. They force us to feel weak, needy and vulnerable—and who likes to feel that way? Love is a mystery, the other person a whole, new and frightening Universe to explore. Is it going to swallow us in a black hole? Or is it perhaps a shimmering galaxy full of wonders? Most of the times it can be both, because there is no black or white when it comes to romance.
Astrology is often consulted for love questions. Does he love me? Is he going to come back? Does she want to have kids? The uncertainty brought by this mysterious dimension makes us shiver like autumn leaves. And if it doesn’t, you might have built up very good defenses. But protecting yourself from love is like trying to live by fasting as long as you can. Is it worth it?
Venus. The ruler of the fifth house. The lord of the seventh house. His Moon. Her Sun. We can look at the charts and get a very neat analysis of the situation. And sometimes a synastry—that’s how we call it—definitely helps. We can better understand the situation, so we can at least figure out what to expect. But does it change the way we feel?
Love is Not Power
Love never hurts. Never. You might be rolling your eyes replying that not only love does hurt, but it hurts a lot. Unrequited love, a break up, cheating are just some of the countless examples of painful love. My take on this, is that it’s not love that hurts. It is something else, something that always comes with it. In a word, it’s about Power.
Love is not power. Even though I can’t deny that love always comes with power, they are not the same thing. In this article I am going through some astrological examples to show you how power is always getting in the way. There are in fact many forms of power, and we can analyze them according to the planets.
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
Reading Time : 3minutesVenus is going to be retrograde soon. From March 5 to April 16 we are going to see her moving backwards in the sky. In this article we will explain the general meaning of Venus Retrograde, as well as her entrance back into Pisces.
First off, Venus Retrograde. As every planet moving backwards, Venus Retrograde directs her energies inside instead of outside. This means she is mainly going to affect your inner life. This is a moment for second thoughts, because among other things Venus represents our judgment. And in Aries (where she is in detriment) she is not good. She is the cause of decisions made on a whim, rushed conclusions and self-overestimation issues. This because Aries simply can’t listen to reason and always wants to be right.
Hard Self-Criticism
As you can see having second thoughts comes naturally here. Venus stops (literally), turns and says: what am I doing? The first step of this process is ruled by a very strong Mars in Aries. This means we can expect us to be very hard on ourselves. That self-criticism will regard the particular House (area of life) affected by the transit—especially if we have messed it up. Just check 13° Aries on your Natal Chart.
My advice is to simply accept it. Everybody is hard on themselves sometimes. After all we need to be, in order to grow and learn. It’s all right. But if your Saturn (basically your super-ego, the voice of your conscience) is very strong, it may be distressing. So keep that in mind and don’t overdo it.
Overwhelming passion
Venus is of course the Goddess of Love. From this perspective, her transit in Aries (which also featured a conjunction with Mars) had a strong passionate symbolism in the last month. But was it maybe too much? When retrograde, Venus tends to second-guess her feelings: “Was it just sex? Am I really in love with him?”. To answer such questions is not going to be easy, since the passion of Aries clouds your judgement.
My advice is to just take your time. Let everything settle down a bit. Again, Venus stops because she needs a break. All this has been intense, maybe too much. Her personal boundaries are at risk, and she feels like she is too involved. Just slow down.
Venus Retrograde back in Pisces
On April 4 Venus will be back in Pisces. This is a happy ending scenario since she is going to be in the sign of her exaltation. We are talking about universal love and compassion, fueled by both romanticism and wisdom (Jupiter). This means that although in this process you will encounter many doubts and second thoughts, eventually you will be able to shed light on your feelings.
At best, it is true love. In the worst case it wasn’t, but you will be nevertheless able to clearly recognize your mistakes, to the point you won’t be angry with him (or her).
In conclusion, I’d like to point out that Jupiter is still retrograde (and it will be up to June 9). When both the benefics are retrograde, it can be a challenging moment, since we can’t count on them for protection. Still, we are definitely encouraged to transform both our belief system (aka Shadow Work) and the way we judge people.
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
Yesterday, Venus entered Aquarius. This transit is all about Love and Freedom: two topics that I hold dearly, especially when they go hand in hand. There are many ways you can combine these concepts. To name a few: freedom of love, loving someone unconditionally, being free by loving what you do, and so on.
As a gay man, the most important in my life has obviously been freedom of love. As you may know I’m Italian, and my country has approved a law for same-sex civil unions only this year. Alas, we are far behind many European countries when it comes to civil rights for the LGBTQ community. Just consider for example that Spain introduced same sex marriage ten years (!) ago.
We still have much to do to fight homophobia in this country. For most of the people freedom of love comes free—they take it for granted—but for us it still has a price.
For example, in Italy is quite rare to see same-sex couples walking hand in hand on the street—even in big cities. It may seem an insignificant detail, but freedom is also expressed through small, spontaneous gestures. Most of us still feel uncomfortable to do so.
That’s why this law has been a revolution for us, perfectly attuned with the energies of [ictt-tweet-inline]freedom and progress flowing from the Aquarius[/ictt-tweet-inline].
Free Love and Poliamory
Regarding love and progress, have you ever heard of Polyamory? It is the modern reinterpretation of the free love concept of the 60s-70s. According to wikipedia:
Polyamory(from Greek πολύpoly, “many, several”, and Latin amor, “love”) is the practice of, or desire for, intimate relationships where individuals may have more than one partner, with the knowledge and consent of all partners. It has been described as “consensual, ethical, and responsible non-monogamy”.
What do you think about it? Personally I think that the idea behind polyamory is perfectly understandable, so I don’t have any problem with that. Nevertheless, I have to say that in my opinion it requires a high level of personal development—on both sides—to be put it into practice in a honest way.
Let’s face it: [ictt-tweet-inline]people have the tendency to hide their weakness behind high ideals[/ictt-tweet-inline]. Poliamory could just be one of them. And I’m not saying that all people embracing this lifestyle are lying to themselves. I’m saying that sometimes people don’t want to face what’s wrong in their relationship, so they label it in a fancy way pretending that everything’s alright.
So, is monogamy over? I don’t think so. I think we are going towards a motley society made—as a mosaic—by pieces of many colors. But I think Monogamy is more likely going to remain the main one. This because monogamous relationships are already hard—imagine how complex they could be just introducing a third person! You definitely need more than a good reason to do so.
And please don’t think that if you have Venus in Aquarius in your Natal Chart you can’t be monogamous! It just means that you love progress and modernity, and your relationship is going to reflect that, somehow. On top of that, you also need to put in the equation at least your fifth, seventh and eighth house to get the whole picture.
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
Reading Time : 3minutesOur society is drenched in Materialism. If we were true to ourselves we would say that we are all materialists. And I’m not talking about that shallow accusation of “not being spiritual”. I am talking about the materialistic mindset we have all been raised with.
Please be aware that [ictt-tweet-inline]you can call yourself spiritual, being nevertheless a materialist to the core[/ictt-tweet-inline]. In fact if you approach to spirituality without changing the way you approach to things in general you are missing the whole point.
The point is that Materialism is an insidious, subtle way of thinking that makes you focus mainly on results and outcomes rather than on the process, whatever it is. So the real question here is not “are you a materialist?” but rather “are you focusing mainly on results?”.
Let’s say you are. So, what’s wrong with that? Please note that I am not trying to demonize Materialism: I believe everything comes with pros and cons. Actually, I think that if you want to achieve something concrete you should definitely embrace that perspective. Nevertheless, it comes with a price and I believe you should at least know if it’s worth it.
Let’s take an example. Let’s say that Jessica loves painting. She likes it so much she doesn’t actually care about the final outcome—in this case, paintings. Loving what she is doing is what really makes her spiritual here. And yes, [ictt-tweet-inline]you don’t need to talk about spirit to be spiritual[/ictt-tweet-inline]. She is free, because she is completely focusing on the process, she is enjoying it, and she has no other reason for doing that than painting itself.
One day, someone tells her she’s very good at it and she could definitely earn some money by selling her paintings. Let’s say she accepts the deal. Now, this is crucial: what once was an end in itself (painting) has now become the means to another end which—in this case—is making money. This is when Materialism kicks in, and no—money doesn’t have necessarily anything to do with it.
The point is her focus has changed. She is not focusing anymore on what she loves to do: she is now focusing on the result which comes from it. Do you realize how tricky is that? Apparently nothing has changed—she is still going to paint anyway—but the fire of the spirit is lost!
In order to be aware of the consequences, take this definition of Materialism I found online:
1. preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values.
…
and replace the word “spiritual” with “what you love to do”:
Materialism is preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of what you love to do.
This is the price: a materialistic mindset is always going to deceive you confusing the ends with the means. It is in its nature. You want to achieve A but you must get B and C first. This because you want to achieve something rather than focusing on what you love to do. And there is always a strategy, a procedure, a series of steps to be taken in order to get what you want. But eventually this can only take you away from what you really love. On the contrary, [ictt-tweet-inline]when you love what you do you the reward is in the action itself[/ictt-tweet-inline].
“The fundamental maxim of free men is to live in love towards our actions, and to let live in the understanding of the other person’s will” — Rudolf Steiner (Philosophy of Freedom, Chapter 9).
This may sound very odd for us, considering that we have been educated to always think we need to do something to get something else. But this is what being free—and spiritual—is all about.
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
Each new moon occurs in darkness—like a seed sprouting underground. The doors of the skies are opened and new astral forces can penetrate into the orbit of the earth. Every month this process happens under the auspices of a zodiac sign, which leaves its mark on these energies.
A Black Moon in the sign of Scorpio, taking place on the via combusta—the cursed road of the Zodiac. A powerful image which does not bode well. It reminds me that kind of fear you have by night on your way home crossing a dangerous place. Dangerous and unpredictable. The applying trine of the Moon with Neptune gives this feeling a touch of drama and chaos, while imagination fills the shadows creating monsters—lurking in the darkness.
Sometimes this monsters are real, sometimes it’s all in your head. But the sextile between this Moon and a strong Mars—in exaltation in Capricorn—suggests that this time monsters are real. They do take advantage of the situation and are able to strike mercilessly.
So, how do you feel right now? Are you ready to give the coup de grace? Or are you rather frightened on your way home, trying to cross the woods safely? To me this seems to be the perfect night to hunt, and honestly I wouldn’t be in the shoes of the prey.
This creepy scenario is toned down by the mutual reception of the benefics: Venus in Sagittarius—conjunct Saturn—sextile Jupiter in Libra. This image talks about justice and righteousness which are emphatically pursued with a sence of urgency (Venus and Saturn trine Uranus). It’s almost like they were saying: we must do something about this prey in danger—it’s not right!
The prey, the predator and the rescuer. [ictt-tweet-inline]The whole picture reminds me the perfect triangle of victimism[/ictt-tweet-inline]. What do you think about it? Is this somehow resonating with you? Sometimes we feel like we must do something—that we have to save them. Personally, I believe we can just offer—not impose—our help because in the end they can be saved only by themselves.
Facing Powerlessness
Powerlessness is something very difficult to accept. Whether you are putting yourself in the role of the victim or the rescuer, the truth is that sometimes you just can’t do anything about it. If you could have done something, you wouldn’t be a victim; if you really believe you can save someone, well… in my opinion you are going to face frustration. [ictt-tweet-inline]No one can save anyone[/ictt-tweet-inline].
Just take for example what happened to my partner two weeks ago. When things like that happen there’s nothing you can do about it. You just have to rely on doctors and wait. Obviously, I’m helping him in all possible ways—I’m there for him. But I know that I can’t send his pain away, and yes—this makes me feel powerless. And it’s ok.
The hardest part to accept comes from the awareness that [ictt-tweet-inline]everybody is alone in their pain[/ictt-tweet-inline]. We are all in our own way challenged by life so you just can’t expect to deny the experience of pain to anyone—not even your children. You can only be there for them whenever they need—reaching them out with both open hand and heart.
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
