by Robert Wilkinson
Venus goes direct at 12:46 am PST, 8:46 am GMT on January 29. This is a threshold from which we move forward in many Venus-ruled areas of our lives. Much that we’ve been reviewing between mid-December and now has confirmed what was set into motion in 2020, or eliminated because it has no value.
This indicates we’ve begun a period where Venus will move through its shadow zone in Capricorn for the third time, giving us a chance to apply what we have learned during its retrograde period. This offers us the ability to cultivate skill in using our Venusian planetary functions within the lessons indicated by the degree spans it’s transited.
As I've pointed out in previous articles outlining how the retrograde influence works, we first experience the sign lessons when planets cross those spans. Then we get a new look or new experience of those sign lessons when planets retrograde across those spans. Then we get to weave these two approaches or understandings together and apply them when the planets again go direct and cross the span a third time.
What Has Venus Retrograde Brought Us, and Where Is It Going?
In this case, Venus, the planet of love, relationships, values and resources, having begun its retrograde at 27 Capricorn, has now moved back to 12 Capricorn, where it is going direct. Its time in Capricorn has given us insights into old relationships, old values, old desires, and old losses, or helped us reflect on past Capricorn interpersonal issues so we could remember why we had to leave some behind by taking a look at what we wanted and why we wanted it. This could also apply to any Venus-ruled area, such as values and/or resources.
As I mention in my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend, Venus’ planetary duality is Wisdom/Folly. We are told this part of us is how our subconscious mind responds to our self-conscious perceptions. Venus retrograde has allowed us to review some Capricorn elements of this mental relationship to see how past likes and dislikes affect our current subconscious reactions.
If there were reconnections with people and values from the past, we can now move forward in more thoughtful and natural ways. The reviews, rewinds, and remembrances we’ve experienced the past month and a half have shown us how relationships in the past helped us get a new perspective on others, especially “the law of unintended consequences,” or old conflicts resulting from misunderstandings or perceptions which should have been taken a different way by us or our peers way back when. We now can move forward in the life areas indicated by the houses where we have 12 through 27 Capricorn. Obviously it also impacts the houses where we have Taurus and Libra in our chart.
How To Apply This Knowledge In Your Chart
By way of illustration, in my chart the Venus retrograde fell in my 6th house. Among other things, I got a Venusian "review" of several health issues which were a problem in 2020, and had to take a new look at how I work. I’ve been reviewing how to adjust to new health and work conditions to prepare for a different way to do what I do. As our only resources are time, energy, and money, I’ve been reflecting on how I’ve reached a certain degree of “transcendent security,” and now can understand natural processes as part of developing individual spirituality in a context of group work.
As Venus rules my 3rd and 4th houses, I’ve had delays and postponements in factors involving those houses. I’ve been frustrated in trying to maintain my old health regimens, seen neighbors come and go, and found things about my house which required re-doing which were done, but are still not finished. Still, I’ve gotten started doing something which could constitute a “Venusian task” around the home, but will have to pick it up in the near future.
As usual with Venus retrograde, I’ve been thinking back on prior homes and moves, and have been reviewing how I came to see things in my early life. It has also led me to an understanding of my need to learn some things as foundation for the goals and ambitions I want to accomplish in the future.
The Sabian Symbol for Venus Stationary Direct
Venus goes direct at 12 Capricorn. We are told the symbol for the 12th degree of Capricorn is “A student of Nature lecturing.” In the original notes from the Marc Jones class on the symbols published in The Astrology of Personality,, Rudhyar says this degree is one of "”Piercing through appearances; disclosing the magic splendor of the core of things,” “a universal living touch,” and “keen vision.”
In the Astrological Mandala he states this degree is one of "the ability to explore unfamiliar realms and discover the laws underlying the complex processes of nature.” He offers that this symbol emphasizes “the acquisition of extensive knowledge” and “the satisfaction of intellectual curiosity,” presumably in terms of natural processes.
He states here “the intellectual search for empirical knowledge” is the counterpoint to the previous symbol’s emphasis on wealth and culture, and says “civilization is founded on an ever-extended capitalization on knowledge and the use of technology.” He offers us the keyword “exploration,” and says this degree falls in the Span of Illusiveness, Act of Capitalization, and Scene of Crystallization on the Individual-Mental level.
Dr. Marc Edmund Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of “the wide ramification in experience by which (we achieve our) greater opportunities,” especially when we use our intellect “as (we) participate in events and share meanings.” He says “Here is direct fulfillment in consciousness.”
Continuing, he offers that “life gains its illimitability as (we) discover that (we) can master its endless facets through ever-expanding facilities of the reason.” He says the keyword is EXPLANATION, and when positive, this degree is "self-confidence through the acquisition of knowledge and effective self-direction through the practical application of all values.”
So this is a degree of exploring nature and natural processes, where we can see the Light through mastering facts that help us expand the scope of our understanding. This Light will help us “pierce through appearances” to find “the magic splendor of the core of things.”
From Here Our Venus Areas Move Forward
This sets a platform for Venusian realizations along these lines and the ability to move forward with a sense of opening to new knowledge and perspectives on how to discover what will make us more effective in the future when evaluating the worth of past, present, and future relationships through 2022. Obviously, if Venus makes aspects to your natal planets from 12 Capricorn, then by those aspects your planetary functions will be challenged or understood, used productively or become specialized according to the specific aspect Venus makes to your planets. This will impact both the life areas of the houses these occupy, as well as the houses they rule.
So now that Venus is direct in motion, it means the life areas ruled by Taurus and Libra (the houses with those signs on the cusp, or edge of the house) should now show some movement forward after many weeks of being slowed, stopped, or even seeming to go backwards. Venus retrograde has given us all a chance to slow down in our interactions, take a new look at old relations to see what was of value, what was blocked, and if they created insecurity or suspicion in our relationships since then. We’re now done with a period when some Venusian things were on hold and can proceed from here, since we know what to expect now that Venus moves forward in Capricorn.
Elaborating on the concept that Venus a background effect for those areas ruled by planets we have in Taurus and Libra, I have Neptune in Libra in the 3rd, spiritual ruler of my 5th and 8th. Venus going direct will affect my Neptune function, and so indirectly my 3rd, 5th, and 8th house. That's definitely looming large in my life!
So from here we move forward in the Taurus and Libra sectors. The interesting thing is that Venus now begins a two month conjunction with Mars, and as it septiles Jupiter the last few days of the month with Mars while sextile Neptune, we can expect a lot coming together in the late Capricorn part of our chart which affects not just Taurus and Libra planets and houses, but also Aries and Scorpio planets and houses. The sextiles from Capricorn to Pisces make for excellent “practical intuition,” as well as organized feeling-awareness as we prepare to bring some things to an end in the coming weeks.
Venus has had Saturn the entire time it’s been in Capricorn. That brought an Aquarian backdrop to its Capricorn lessons, and with Saturn in the second decan of Aquarius, it involved Gemini energies with an added dose of Mercury. As Venus will continue in Capricorn until early March, and transit Aquarius until early April, it’s clear Saturn will continue to be a major influence in all Venusian experiences.
Planets going from retrograde to direct challenge us to move forward with a view to what we’ve just been through. At least Venus has shown us what is true, good, and valuable in the changes we are considering. Much of what we’ve just been through will be much clearer when Venus conjuncts Mars at 1 Aquarius, bringing four sign energy rulers together at the same degree as the Grand Mutation of December 2020. This will attract a LOT of Aquarius “substance” over the next two years that cycle is in play. To note, the next Venus conjunction with Mars is in February 2024 at 7 Aquarius, the same degree Saturn went SD in October 2021.
So as you move forward, open to learning what you need to for greater effectiveness, and follow your sense of value to find new understanding of natural laws and conditions affecting outer circumstances. Be alert to new expressions of the disciplines already In place in your life, and see how you are more mature and capable than you were even a year ago. Be organized, responsible, understand the relative value of people, things, and experience, and open to relationships with less ambiguity.
And of course, Mercury is about to go stationary direct, helping us all feel like things are finally moving forward after a time of delay. Enjoy the look back you’ve just had with an eye to using those insights in the near future. And the beat goes on and on and on...
© Copyright 2022 Robert Wilkinson
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