Venus Enters Virgo & Leaves Shadow Phase || Mercury Stationary Direct

Venus Enters Virgo & Leaves Shadow Phase || Mercury Stationary Direct

My son is currently on Fall Break, and the weather is just incredible here in Memphis. Unreal, honestly. It seems like a crime to stay on my computer or at my desk working today, so I decided to move my workspace outside then take the afternoon off to explore with my son. As I type this post, I'm sitting on my back patio with a little butterfly dancing around my space. Life can certainly be sweet!

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Venus enters Virgo

October 8, 2015

1:29pm EST

As I literally feel called to work out in nature, in my backyard today, I can't help but laugh! That is such an activity that can be described by Venus in Virgo. Venus is in her Fall in the sign of Virgo, which means this placement presents a bit of difficulty for the Goddess of harmony, balance, love, and relationships. Venus does not naturally express herself here, as Virgo's influence can cause her to be a bit more choosy, with high expectations and a critical nature. In the Tarot, The Hermit card in the Major Arcana is ruled by Virgo. In the Thoth deck, Venus in Virgo is associated with the 9 of Disks, Gain. This shows the positive aspect to this placement. We can see financial gain in our work, as Venus rules our personal finances and our relationship with money. Perhaps we set the wheels of something into motion moons ago, and now we begin to see the benefit of our hard work. We are able to apply ourselves to our work more comfortably, naturally, and efficiently.

Biddy Tarot

Where Venus wants to indulge, Virgo says, "Whoah! Let's practice a bit of healthy restraint, is this practical and realistic?" We all need this from time to time, so don't let this effect deflate your ambitions. This can also be represented in the 9 of Disks or Pentacles. Biddy Tarot describes this card well in the Rider Waite deck,  which applies to the quality of Venus as a lesser benefic: 

The Nine of Pentacles shows a mature woman walking in the midst of a vineyard. The vines are heavy with grapes and golden coins representing the fruitful accomplishment of all her desires. A falcon sits calmly on her left hand, symbolizing her own intellectual and spiritual self-control. Far in the background is a large house, presumably belonging to the woman herself. There is a general sense of peace, satisfaction, and the fulfillment of a creative venture or personal investment in the image of the Nine of Pentacles that offers a more permanent, lasting achievement as the result of one’s own efforts. - Biddy Tarot

Venus may struggle to relax & see the beauty in situations during this transit,, when the tendency is to nit-pick. This is only because Virgo likes to fix things. Virgo sees improvement in everything, and has the drive to make these improvements a reality. Unfortunately, this may cause us to tend to want to be alone or become frustrated with people around us. However Venus finds a sense of purpose in Virgo, and can show love and cooperation by being of service to those around us. Venus rules Libra, where the Sun currently resides, therefore we will most likely lean on the side of cooperation & connection, as opposed to solitude.

We may find ourselves flowing easily at work, finding comfort there in some way with the routine we can depend on. Being of service will most likely feel good to us during this transit. Virgo is one of the most dependable signs in the Zodiac, who loves the details of a task & being of service. Virgo, the virgin, is connected to the Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome & Babylonia:

The Veiled Vestal Virgin by Raffaelle Monti

In Rome, cultivation of the heavenly powers was the province of women. There were two kinds of religion, native religions that supported the goals of the state and were supported by the state, and the Oriental religions, which included the Mystery religions of the great mother goddesses. The most important state religion was that associated with Vesta, goddess of the hearth. The hearth symbolized the continuity of family and community, and it was a serious affair to let the hearth fire go out. Virgin priestesses tended the fire in the Temple of Vesta, and any Vestal who allowed the fire to die was scourged. The Vestals were active in other aspects of Roman religion, especially in agricultural and fertility rites. Sacred to the unmarried goddess, they worked their sacred magic as virgin priestesses had from time immemorial. In the historical period, Vestals were chosen between the ages of 6 and 10 and served as priestesses for 30 years. Afterward, they were given dowries and were free to marry, although most did not. Those Vestals who did not retain their virginity were buried alive. When calamities happened to the Roman state, the Vestals were suspected and often persecuted. The Vestals were probably the most emancipated women in Rome, for they were under the guardianship of no man and had certain legal privileges other women did not. The religion of the Vestal virgins was disbanded in 394 c.e. - Greenwood Press

Virgo is about harvest and reaping what we have sewn, connecting to the Earth & truly understanding the cycles of our lives. Virgo rules horticulture, something Venus will appreciate as this Goddess rules gardens. Getting out into nature, tending to your personal garden, asking a friend or neighbor if they need help with a project, these are all things that will help make Venus feel productive & cooperative while in Virgo. Watch the tendency to be critical of friends, family and partners. 

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 > D

Mercury Stationary Direct

October 9, 2015

10:57am EST

00°54 Libra

Original Sabian: A butterfly made perfect by a dart through it

Libra 1: In a collection of perfect specimens of many biological forms, a butterfly displays the beauty of it's wings, it's body impaled by a fine dart.

1stdibs

Dane Rudhyar Sabian Degree Interpretation 

KEYNOTE: The immortal archetypal reality that a perfect and dedicated life reveals. 

Just as the symbol for Aries 1° evoked the keynote of the entire first half of the cycle, i.e. differentiation out of the undifferentiated "Ocean of potentiality," this symbol for Libra 1° reveals to the intuitive consciousness the essential character of the second hemicycle. In the yearly cycle we have reached the fall equinox, the symbolic time -of bringing in the harvest in preparation for winter. It is the time consecrated to the seed, just as the spring equinox is consecrated to the germ, the new rise of life which in-forms the growth of individual organisms. 

At this autumnal point, the drive toward individualization and self-assertion has lost much of its momentum, while a new trend is successfully and dynamically challenging its hegemony — the trend toward the formation of collectivities of individuals. But this new trend can be misunderstood if seen only superficially as the mere gathering together of individual persons. The process has a much deeper meaning, and indeed an inner source of power, for what is at stake is not merely an aggregation of separate units (simple or already complex, as in the case of "families"). At the core of this "coming together," the "descent" or externalization of archetypal realities is gradually occurring. At the Libra stage, these archetypal realities are "Forms"; at the Scorpio stage they will be "Powers." The symbol for this degree of the fall equinox thus describes a "perfect form" — the result of the metamorphosis of "worm" into butterfly, a process the symbolism of which has so often been used to indicate to man the possibility of his being transformed into "more-than-man," the transhuman being, the true Initiate, the Adept, the Perfect. The perfect butterfly is impaled by a fine dart; the symbol of "dart of wisdom" was used in Marc Jones's mimeographed course, while the original notation of what the clairvoyant had seen indicated "a butterfly made perfect by a dart through it," suggesting a process of perfection through sacrifice. 

As I see it, the dart can hardly be said to have made the butterfly perfect, but it keepsit perfect by killing the living organism. The impaled butterfly is preserved by the dart which "fixes" it in perfection for a whole cycle, i.e. it makes an archetype of it. By thus escaping the normal process of dying and decay, the butterfly form (the "perfection") is kept. It is kept in the mystical Shamballah, where it is said that the Pattern of Man is kept, just as the perfect bar measuring exactly one meter is (or was) kept in a crypt in Paris, where the metric system was originally devised. 

The perfect butterfly thus represents the outcome of the process of occult discipleship symbolized by the sign Virgo. From then on, a new process begins, that of collectivization; at the very core of that new process the perfect Form of Man must remain as a standard of value if this process is to be valid and meaningful. 

This is the first statement in the thirteenth scene of the great ritual drama. It is an actional phase because in it the perfection of individual activity is revealed and immortalized. This is the symbolical Transfiguration; at the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus, the Son of Man, was "impaled" by the ray of Divine Light, making of him a Son of God. It was at this very moment that he learned of the Crucifixion awaiting him. Thus the merely human individual is MADE SACRED, becoming the pure embodiment of an archetype. 

About This Occurrence...

Mercury is finally moving direct on October 9th, after being retrograde since September 17th. I wrote in length about this Retrograde period here, which also included the Sabian Symbol and degree for the moment when Mercury stationed Retrograde. This is simply a recap of how this experience was for us. 

I invite you to simply look back to September 17th, and remember where you were mentally. What kinds of things were you focused on, what what occupying your thoughts? How has this shifted for you? What did you confront during this period and how will you move forward with this new insight?Jot this down, doodle it out, make art honoring this. 

Every retrograde period for Mercury is different, and no retrograde period will effect anyone the same way! Mercury is a highly personal fast moving planet, and the Mercury dynamic in our own charts will speak to how this will effect us individually. By Mercury dynamic I simply mean, the houses that Mercury rules in your chart (houses ruled by Virgo & Gemini), position of Mercury in your own chart, and aspects your Mercury makes to other planets in your chart. Also, the aspects that transiting Mercury makes to your personal chart is also notable. 

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 > Shadow

Virgo Leaves Shadow Phase

October 9, 2015

11:58am EST

00°46 Virgo

Original Sabian: A man's head

Virgo 1: In a portrait, the significant features of a man's head are artistically emphasized.

Portrait of an Old Man - Van Gogh

Dane Rudhyar Sabian Degree Interpretation

KEYNOTE: The capacity to picture to oneself clearly the salient features and the overall meaning of any life situation. 

During the two preceding Scenes the "feel" of energy at work has been the dominant feature of a consciousness still strongly ego-centered yet at times eagerly and devotionally reaching up to a realization of divine or cosmic order. Now we have come in the seasonal cycle of the year to the sign Virgo. It is in a sense the symbol of harvesting, but it is also that of the Path of discipleship, and of all strongly determined processes of training, or retraining. Flooded with and having enjoyed and released energy, the personalized consciousness now has to learn the lesson of significant form. It must be able to see life situations as wholes of experience, and to discover their meaning by distinguishing their most characteristic features. 

This is the first stage of the thirty-first five-fold sequence of symbols and its Keyword is DISCRIMINATION. Implied in discrimination is both analysis and intuition. The mind separates and identifies — and unfortunately often exaggerates — what makes a person or a situation different from another; but the intuitive responses of the whole person to what confronts him or her is also essential, for what matters is not only my or your "difference," but the place and function this difference occupies in the organic pattern of the evolution of "humanity as a whole," i.e. of Man.

Biddy Tarot

About This Occurrence...

Venus is now leaving her Shadow Phase, the span of degrees that she passed during the entire

Retrograde cycle which began in June. When Venus originally stationed Retrograde, she did so at 00°46 Virgo. I find it interesting that Mercury is stationing direct at Libra 1, and Venus is leaving her shadow phase from her Retrograde cycle at Virgo 1. This truly speaks to the beginning of a new cycle. Venus did conjoin the Sun this year, being reborn again as a Morning Star. We are to spring forth with these lessons as Venus truly enters a new phase in the sign of Virgo. The next time she moves retrograde it will be 2017 and she will occupy the sign of Aries, this happens approximately every 18 months.

Venus's snodic cycle is quite fascinating, forming an actual pentagram or 5 pointed star. I plan to do a detailed post on this cycle with easy to read tables, explaining why these retrograde cycles and rebirths are important to note in our own charts! 

Additionally, the Fixed Star Regulus recently moved to 0° Virgo, having been located at 29° Leo for a very long time. Therefore, Venus breaks forth from this retrograde cycle of darkness and rebirth, on a star that is well known for it's royal and successful qualities. I visualize the Tarot Card Strength, a female harnessing the great power of the lion for her own creative abilities and potential, proud and fearless!

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My son has been patiently awaiting a trip to the park! So I am going to wrap up this blog post. I did not go as in depth as I usually would, but the weather is so lovely today I have to spend time in nature. If you have any questions about something you've read here, don't hesitate to email: twelfthhousestudio@hotmail.com