STARFIRE

August 2007

August 2007 - Venus in Leo.
Click on the image for a larger view.
NOTE: Image will come up in a new browser window.

Venus in Leo: Creative Focus

Venus retrograde brings old flames and old creative projects back into our lives. If you’re thinking, as I was, about Venus being retrograde in Virgo, she may surprise you when she returns to Leo August 8th.

As Venus moves back into Leo, she also moves closer (and closer and then touches and then finally moves away) to Saturn. In the midst of a great romance, you can feel lonely and isolated when Venus touches Saturn. And loneliness, of course, sets the stage for welcoming back the old flame who turned out not to be such a bright light source after all. Sadly, the flame won’t burn brighter the second time around, but Saturn’s influence will pass by August 18th.

If, on the other hand, the old romance burns brightly and all you needed was a little personal growth (on one side or the other or both), Venus retrograde may work out the kinks for you. For one thing, the Sun is contraparallel Pluto in the Venus ingress chart. A contraparallel is like a weak opposition; in this case, there’s a bit of resistance but a definite interest in personal growth and transformation and even in leaving the past behind where it belongs.

If a reconciliation hinges on counseling or therapy, mid-August is a fine time to give it another chance. If you meet an old flame after a number of years, you may explore and find enough growth to make it worth rekindling. Venus retrograde could turn that flame into a solid burn before Venus goes direct in October.

Brief warning: August 8th to 18th does increase the risk for anyone who’s been stalked in the past. As homeland security would say if it acknowledged astrology, the threat level is increased by an anger-masking, ambivalent contraparallel between Mars (anger, violence) and Neptune (the mask, and also alcohol and hallucinogenic drugs). So enjoy the flames, but watch out for the people who enjoy isolating or controlling other people.

Crime writers will, of course, love their enhanced ability to mask the angry and dangerous villain (thank you, Mars and Neptune) and to help their characters grow and transform into the people who can solve the problems (thank you, Sun and Pluto). All writers should appreciate the Venus-Saturn focus on creative work–even the brief isolation from distracting social events.

Writers, and flirts, will also find themselves easily distracted by other projects, new flames as well as old flames, new writing projects and ones begging to be revised. (Venus retrograde is a fine time for revision, and Saturn’s an asset if you have words to cut.)

If you look at the chart (Printing it will give you a much more readable chart, either in black and white or in color.), you’ll see Jupiter and Pluto near the top (in the 10th house of vocation and calling). The part of fortune is between them, conjunct Pluto. With Jupiter as the most elevated, we can count on this Ingress to be good news in the long run, although that long run may include more learning than we bargained for. Pluto in the 10th promises we’ll grow and transform into the person who can meet the demands of the calling or that we’ll outgrow an old vocation and move firmly into a new one. In either event, Mars from the 4th house implies some anger associated with the changes–but its loose opposition to Jupiter and lack of aspect to Pluto suggests it will add some fuel to the motivation fire, but won’t stop our progress.

Neptune in the first suggests we may overestimate ourselves or have a false self-image (which could of course be sacrificially low rather than the usual Neptune inflation). False assessment of our own talents and abilities could interfere with both personal and professional relationships. Although the Sun and Mercury in the 7th house promise the ability to communicate with others effectively, Saturn conjunct Venus (and the whole Leo stellium opposing Neptune) suggests benefits from new contacts may be delayed. Returning to old networks may be more useful.

All the oppositions suggest it would be easy to procrastinate or hesitate or delay (whatever you like to call it when you’re putting off doing your creative work), but this truly is a prime time for creative production. And while I talk a lot about writing as creative work (because it’s what I do), this is a superb time for photographers and sculptors–but also a good time for those whose creativity is expressed through their businesses.

It is harvest time. It comes a little early this year because Venus is retrograde before the season for harvest moons and long before the fall equinox. So think of it as an early harvest, a reaping of your best creative ideas. Ceres, the reaper, is conjunct (touching, working with) Pallas Athene now and your best ideas are bound to bear fruit.

Mary O’Gara, Ph.D.