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Welcome to the Erotic Devotion Podcast.
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I'm your host, Grace Allardyce.
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Hey everyone, and welcome to this episode of the Erotic Devotion podcast.
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I thought since we're coming up into a season of Venus Retrograde, to do an episode just talking about this particular retrograde, but also about Venus's retrograde cycle in general and some of the themes, the opportunities that can arise during those seasons, as well as some of what's coming up around this particular ecosystem of my world during this time.
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I'm not going to cover every single aspect Venus is going to make during the retrograde cycle.
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There will be the whole internet, every official astrologer making, you know, play-by-plays on that.
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That's not what this episode is going to be.
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This is going to be more of an overview, looking at common themes and topics and ways to orient yourself to it that I think can be helpful.
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Most ancient stargazers and star studiers, astrologers who were also astronomers, that didn't used to be separate things, were very fascinated by how Venus dances around the sky.
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There's it makes a particular shape throughout her collision course and relationship with the sun, some seasons appearing in the morning, some in the evening, at times appearing very, very bright, at other times becoming invisible.
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And the more I've built a relationship with Venus's cycles over the years and enjoyed getting to know that in my own life, the more appreciation I have for the variation in the different seasons that illuminates.
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In the shorthand, for astrological speak, traditionally Venus represents topics like relationships, love and connection, attraction, the arts, beauty, diplomacy, themes about how we're relating together, uh, women.
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And we could think of it as simple as the questions of like, how well are we getting along?
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How are we getting together?
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Um, how are our desires, how are we engaging with our desires and our attractions, and how much fun is it?
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And in addition to those themes in general, Venus also represents topics of specific areas of your life and your chart.
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And so if you're looking at your natal chart, the houses of Taurus and Libra are ruled by Venus.
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Um, and so those topics are always going to be with her wherever she is in the sky or in the zodiac at that moment.
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So, for example, if Taurus in your chart is your fifth house, then Venus is also specifically in charge of topics around creativity and children, um, dating, leisure, play, sex.
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If Libra is your tenth house, then Venus is also, you know, having a lot of influence and responsibility for things around your inspiration, your visible and public self, potentially even your ambitions in charge of your most kind of public-facing career, the shape of your flowering.
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And so those are examples.
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Venus can rule literally anything in your chart, uh, depending on how your chart is arranged.
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And so we have these general themes that we could associate with Venus in general, but then for each life, for each chart, Venus is also associated with some more specific areas.
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And when Venus goes retrograde approximately every year and a half-ish, um, it not only affects the place where Venus is actually traversing in the zodiac, uh, it's also going to affect those houses that she rules in your chart, those topics, those domains, because they're always in her backpack.
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Wherever Venus is like hitchhiking or sauntering through the zodiac in her purse, in her backpack, and whatever it is that she's got, those topics in your chart of Taurus and Libra are always with her.
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They go where she goes.
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And retrogrades, at the very least, show us in the cosmic schedule, the cosmic calendar, usually a time of slowing down, of reviewing the chance to go back over things, understand them more in depth, kind of get a little more into it than we would if we were just going to one and done and move on.
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And so getting to know that particular landscape on a deeper level, getting to know what's in the bag better.
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What is all of this stuff that I'm carrying around on this journey?
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Uh, what is this terrain that I'm on?
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How am I interacting with that?
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How well is it going?
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And again, with Venus, like how well are we getting along?
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How much fun are we having?
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And is all this stuff in my bag, is it necessary, or is it just weighing me down?
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Um, is it some am I just carrying it around because I've always had it, because someone gave it to me, or am I carrying around some of this life baggage, some of these rules, et cetera, just because I don't like giving things away or taking things away.
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And none of those things are bad or wrong, but they tend to be questions that come up during retrograde cycles where we're we're not taking things for granted.
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We're getting really curious about like what all is in our suitcase that we're lugging around, what is still current, what's still necessary, and what's time for kind of leaving be and letting lie.
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Venus retrograde specifically tends to correspond cleanly to the journey of Inana going down into the underworld, these kind of 40 days as she proceeds down through the gates, going into the underworld to meet her shadow sister Uresh Kigal.
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And at each gate as she's descending, she must remove something, something valuable, something a part of her persona as queen or as goddess, so that by the time she gets down to the bottom, she's completely naked and unadorned and unidentified, and then of course famously hung from a meat hook.
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And the Venus retrograde cycle lasts for 40 days.
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And regardless of whether you're into Inana or not, obviously I am, and if you're you're in this world in any level podcast or even deeper, um, you'll know that.
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Um, but in many lineages, we have storied into the story rituals and practices of 40 days, 40 being 40 days, 40 nights being sort of this magical time, 40 days of fasting, 40 days of going without, 40 days in the desert, 40 days in the wilderness.
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There's a sense of this special timing, a sense of this sort of, this is how long this kind of journey is gonna take, a sense of the sacred and her return.
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And during this phase, like having to review, having to go inward, having to go without, having to go down under, and potentially having to redo, to go over it again, to renegotiate it, rethink it, all of your re-words are great for retrogrades.
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And during this phase, seeing it from the underside, seeing it from below, without all of the baggage and the complexity of the everyday.
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And while, of course, admittedly, it can be painful or even scary to have to go down below, to have to go without or to take off roles, expectations, rules, adornments that you feel like are a part of your identity.
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Like, who am I going to be if this is no longer in my backpack coming with me through life or coming with me through this chapter?
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Um, it can also be very freeing.
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It can free up space, it can free up strength, it can free up stamina to engage whatever's happening and wherever you're going in a different way.
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And often when we talk about these journeys to the underworld or the wilderness or the desert, etc., we're removing ourselves from the fullness of the mundane.
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We're removing ourselves from the fullness of the everyday.
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And that's necessary at times in order for us to see something differently and to let that simplicity change us.
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We can't really receive the fullness of a new sense of who we are, of what's next, of where we're going.
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We can't see things with new eyes if we never stop, if we're afraid of the simplicity of taking things out of our bag, if we're always needing everything to be full and busy and looking ahead and linear, then it's not going to work.
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And these underworld journeys, these underworld seasons or the simplicity of retrograde periods kind of force us out of that linearity.
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And they ask us to relate to the world differently, how we see ourselves differently.
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And of course, when we're changed by that revelation, others see us differently as well.
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And while the story of Inana is frequently told as a victim story, I refuse to do so because I just don't see it that way.
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And you can see the previous episode for more on that perspective.
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Inana is a goddess, Inana is a queen.
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No one is making her do anything.
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No one beat her into the underworld, no one pushed her in.
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She just went because it's underworld o'clock.
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An underworld o'clock comes for all of us, and it comes for us collectively, comes for us individually.
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Sometimes it's cleanly 40 days, sometimes it corresponds really well to a retrograde cycle in the planets, and sometimes it doesn't.
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But there are tones and topics and seasons and correspondences with what that season looks like either way that we can learn from, and so that we understand when it comes knocking or when we go knocking, what it looks like and sounds like and what kind of hospitality we can expect.
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As I said earlier, I think that the story of Inana is really more closely a story about intimacy and transformation and relationship.
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And so we could also zoom out and say that perhaps a Venus retrograde is just another tone or another season that's looking at us relating differently to intimacy and relationship.
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When we go back over something, when we go down under something, we know it in a different way and we experience ourselves in a different way.
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And then often, if we go through it with openness, if we cooperate by the rules of the process, then we usually receive a gift.
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We receive the gift of getting to know something from the bowels, from the depths.
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We really know it when we know it that low.
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We know ourselves on this level now.
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We know one another, we know where we are differently, we know what's going on differently, and it's a real, it's a gift ultimately to know something on that level, even if every part of the process isn't the most fun.
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And so if we spend the whole time that it's under world o'clock resisting, doggy paddling, trying to get out, trying to stay above ground, or feeling victimized by what is a natural process of carving you out into a whole and intimate and interesting human, then if we spend the whole time doing that, then you miss out on discovering this version of yourself that can only emerge through that process.
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There is an essence of you, there is a strength of you, there is a power of you that can only emerge through underworld experiences.
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And though while sometimes they can be difficult, they can be painful, it is not in and of itself punishment, it's intimacy.
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It's getting to know something deeper.
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It's revealing a deeper part of yourself, something more true than as something as obvious as what's in your bag.
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Who are you without that in your bag?
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Who are you when this part of the story changes?
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What does it reveal about you?
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We may not get to know until you take everything else off.
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It's intimacy, it's change, it's getting down to the heart of the matter.
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And so earlier I said retrogrades kind of mess with that lie that everything is linear, the way that our mainstream culture, at least in the Western world, at least where I live, everything is really pushed to always be visible, to always be in a straight line, to always be culminating again, to always be progressing and accumulating and growing.
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Underworlds go against that.
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And so when we look closer at the natural world and, you know, any true mythology, nothing works that way.
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Underworld o'clock always comes, winter always comes, time to go underground always comes, and that's just part of a cycle of things.
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And the better we get at cooperating with that cycle, um, then the more we get to know ourselves and the world on a deeper level, which is going to create more belonging ultimately, more power, more intimacy.
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So underworld, retrograde, going dark, going invisible, disappearing underground, shedding.
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You know, none of these things are things that like the world is celebrating on a grand scale, right?
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But they are incredibly valuable.
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And it's generally, at the very least, a great time to slow down, at least on the inside.
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It's not always possible to slow down on the outside, and sometimes we're forced to slow down on the outside.
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But at least on the inside, we're slowing down and we're opening ourselves to what's what's wanting to simplify?
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What part of me needs to go underground?
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How do I get to know something on this deeper level?
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And so for this particular retrograde period, Venus is sort of traversing, she's this terrain between Libra and Scorpio.
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It's sort of the last eight degrees of Libra and the first eight degrees of Scorpio.
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And she's going to be traversing that landscape in the sky and in our particular charts a total of three times.
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So the first pass that she makes starts during her initial shadow period, and that began on August 31st.
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So maybe if you're interested in that, you can start paying attention to areas of your life that Venus rules, which will be the houses of Taurus and Libra.
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Or you might just start noticing what are some general themes around desire, relationships, beauty, art, pleasure, um, that are starting to come up, have already begun coming up.
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Something that is not feeling super complete once it moves.
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It's actually starting to just bring some things to the surface.
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And it will also be some topics of your Scorpio house as well, because Venus will be moving into Scorpio.
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And those are things that are likely going to come up again during the course of the retrograde period.
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Like I said, Venus is passing through for the first time now.
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And then when Venus stations retrograde, she'll go back through again.
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And then when she goes direct, she'll go back for a third and final pass at this season.
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And it's going to come up again to ask going to ask you to go deeper, to renegotiate, to relate and transform and attend to what becomes in the unfinished business.
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So in Libra, the first part of this initial pass, Venus is in domicile, meaning that Venus is in her own home in the sign of Libra.
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In your own home, Venus has access to all of the things that she needs to make things the way that she likes.
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It's lovely, it's comfortable, it's peaceful.
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We're having a cocktail party, everyone is wearing the appropriate attire.
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And in general, she's capable and able to make things the way that Venus prefers: beautiful, harmonious, balanced, just, profitable.
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And on the contrary, when Venus shifts into the sign of Scorpio, Venus is in the opposite of her home.
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She's in territory that we could describe as antagonistic to her desires and goals.
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Naturally, we could say Venus wants like perfume and welcome gifts and like uh a giant, you know, festive fairy forest dinner outside that's like sexy and party and music and sparkle fireflies.
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But in Scorpio, she's in more of an environment where, you know, it makes me think of that show Silo.
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So then it's like, you need like gear to go outside.
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So she's in an environment with like martial arts equipment and sharp objects and like the kind of food that would like survive an earthquake in an underground bunker.
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And rather than dressing up and making friends at the market, she's like, Where is the hot shower?
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Hello.
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She's really forced in Scorpio to find commonality and you know, find ways of relating amidst discomfort and intensity.
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So here, Venus might have to learn to use a punching bag or learn how to swim with sharks through deep water, which is um something that I tend to think about with Venus and Scorpio.
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So I made a post in my mom membership uh with all the dates and things about this Venus retrograde a few weeks ago.
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And I was using the example of Beyoncé.
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Beyoncé has a Libra stellium, including Venus and Libra.
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Um, and just think about all of these like very Libra and very Venusian qualities that Beyoncé has, including being incredibly beautiful, incredibly attractive, magnetic, artistic, highly creative, very sparkly and powerful in this kind of unique, um, very like art forward and beauty forward way.
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It on a grand scale.
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She has Jupiter in Libra, too, I believe.
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But then you contrast that.
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I contrasted it with this tree diver who swims with sharks.
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There's a documentary about her, her name's Ocean Ramsey.
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And I have no idea what her natal chart is, but there are very amazing photos and footage of her swimming with sharks.
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And um that kind of tracks for me for Venus and Scorpio.
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And the both of them are doing beautiful things.
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They're creating relationships, they're doing creative things.
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But we can clearly see that swimming with sharks and what Beyoncé is doing are clearly very different, right?
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The quality, the intensity of them, the gear that's needed, the environment in which they're doing it is completely different.
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Venus can still be Venus, doing Venus things, but it's going to feel and look different.
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And what's required to get into relationship is going to be different as well.
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So if you have personal planets or angles between 22 degrees of Libra and eight degrees of Scorpio, then it's possible that this retrograde can bring up more personal themes or more personal topics in your life.
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Or if you're in a Venus perfection year timing-wise, it's likely that this retrograde cycle will bring up things that are more personal to you, things that feel closer to home, rather than just feeling like something's happening out there in the wider cultural sphere.
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The orbit of Venus in the sky is really cool.
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So, in real in relationship to Earth, of course, because we're always looking at astrology from where we are, from the planet Earth.
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So it's just how it looks to us.
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And it makes the orbit makes a pentagram shape in the sky, the sort of five-pointed star or five-pointed flower over time.
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And of course, the symbol of the pentagram uh later became, quote, demonized and aside to like evil and black magic and terrible witches.
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But I find it really beautiful and really interesting that the pentagram is the shape that Venus makes in the sky over time.
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And also the five-pointed star is a form that can be endlessly replicated into a pattern.
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And so we could say that it's a fertile shape.
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And it's a shape that's also embedded within us and embedded within so much of nature.
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Even if you just simply, you know, stand with your feet wide and your arms out to the side, you are making a pentagram shape.
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If you cut open an apple, uh, you will see a pentagram in there.
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If you look at a starfish, find a sand dollar, look at the center of a lot of flowers, you'll find that shape.
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And I find that a really beautiful and interesting correspondence.
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So another thing to know about retrogrades or a part of Venus's cycle is that when she's retrograde, she's going to conjoin the sun.
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And that's called a casimi, or when a planet occupies the same degree of the zodiac as the sun.
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And it's a very powerful moment, it's a very powerful position in any planet's cycle.
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But all around that moment, including the moment when the conjunction happens, Venus will be invisible.
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And when these planets are, it's called when you're under the beams of the sun, when the planet itself becomes not visible because it's hidden behind the brightness and the luminosity of the sun, we could think of that corresponding to that planet losing some of their individual and separate power, some of their what we would call their individual.
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Independent, you know, personality traits or correspondences get sort of absorbed into the sun's brightness or dominated by the sun's brightness.
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They're kind of invisible, they're underground.
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And at the Kazimi time, the moment when the conjunction happens, the planet is still not visible in the sky, but it's a moment of power.
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We could, you know, story it as this way that the planet is fully received into the heart of the sun, received into the heart of the king, merged with the king.
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And it's a position of exaltation, um, purification, rebirth.
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We could think of it also as a moment of revelation and insight and ecstasy and transformation.
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So it's this really magical place.
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It's this maximum illumination and dissolution at the same time.
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And it can correspond to this change in the identity, the person, a change in the self-container that's required.
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Again, just like the underworld asks of us, that in order to see and really hold the transformation, the revelation that we can only get when we are we we found that illumination dissolution dial that's happening simultaneously, then there must be quite a change in us.
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It will change us, it has to change us.
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And that's sort of what's happening with the planet at that moment of conjunction with the sun.
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So this will be an inferior conjunction with Venus, meaning that Venus will pass directly between the Earth and the Sun.
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And once she becomes visible again, which will be on October 29th, I believe, then Venus will be arising again in this morning star position, becoming visible in the early dawn sky rather than in the western evening sky.
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And this moment when the planet becomes visible again after having been invisible for such a long time because it was so close to the sun, then it's considered an event of great power and great influence for that planet.
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It's like I've really gone through something.
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I've seen the thing, I've changed, I've drunk the power of the sun, I've dissolved and been illuminated at the same time.
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And that kind of re-emergence is like a moment of great power called phosus.
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And so since Venus will have um that phossus moment, that reappearance, that re-emergence in her own sign of Libra once again, I imagine it'll be um a notable moment or something in the cycle, where kind of something being brought to light, or a moment, um, yeah, a notable time, to say the least.
00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:39.519
So it could be an interesting date to or moment to pay attention to.
00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:48.240
And I think another potential important presence in this retrograde story is the fixed star Spika.
00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:54.799
And Spika is a fixed star that's located at 24 degrees of Libra in the tropical zodiac.
00:24:54.960 --> 00:25:00.559
Again, I'm not doing a full play-by-play of every single aspect Venus is making during this retrograde period.
00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:06.319
The whole internet will be doing that probably over the course of October, so no need for that here.
00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:10.079
Um, but the fixed star, Spika, well, quote, fixed.
00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:14.559
Spika is the brightest star in the actual constellation of Virgo.
00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:18.880
And it's located in the sheaf of wheat held by the Virgin.
00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:28.880
And Bernadette Brady describes Spika as, you know, considered a symbol of the gifts of the harvest, of bounty, uh, gifts to mankind.
00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:35.359
We can think of gifts of knowledge and bringing this level of like brilliance to whatever it is.
00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:48.960
And I like to describe Spika as like this generosity of the gods towards humanity, really giving us these gifts of invention and brilliance and really true interstellar creativity.
00:25:49.279 --> 00:25:56.799
And humanity experiences those gifts as nourishment and provision and ways that kind of tangibly improve our lives.
00:25:57.039 --> 00:26:11.839
Um, just think about how, if you were using this symbol or this uh representation of wheat, even just that, just think about how much human history, how much human survival, flourishing, fertility, et cetera, has been shaped by the gift.
00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:16.319
I mean, I think it's a gift, the invention of bread quite a bit.
00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:23.200
So most of the fixed stars we could think of as being indifferent to humanity at the very least.
00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:28.720
Like if an ant is dying outside your house right now, like you don't care, you're not paying attention to that.
00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:33.599
Well, from a magical perspective, we could sort of think of the fixed stars kind of that way.
00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:37.359
They're they're not generally like that interested or invested in us.
00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:40.720
And, you know, on our human, squishy end, we can experience that.
00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:43.839
Like we feel that as like a harshness or like a cold indifference.
00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:47.119
Um, but really, I think it's mostly just a distance.
00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:49.599
But Spika is kind of an exception to that.
00:26:49.680 --> 00:26:58.559
It's one of the few truly benefic stars that we can work with with no potentially like high caution tape or karmic side effects.
00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:07.200
But again, because Spika is in this path of Venus's retrograde, Venus is going to conjoin this fixed star a total of three times.
00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:11.440
It's already happened once by the time this podcast comes out on September 3rd.
00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:15.039
And then it will happen again on November 4th and November 22nd.
00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:32.799
And so it might also be another and interesting dynamic to pay attention to to see like what ideas, inventions, creative impulses emerge from this opportunity to kind of go deeper, to re-relate the so close together over this shorter period of time.
00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:40.880
So again, I'm not going to do a play-by-play here on this particular podcast, but just some overall dates if you like having those.
00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:53.680
Um, Venus has already entered the shadow period, meaning everything Venus is up to right now is going to be re-gotten up to and entered the retrograde shadow period on August 31st.
00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:56.240
And these are all based on the times of where I live.
00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:59.599
And then on September 10th, Venus enters Scorpio.
00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:02.079
Already happened by the time this podcast drops.
00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:09.680
So again, we're still in this retrograde territory, but maybe now we're getting a sense of like the tonal shift, the flavor shift.
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:15.200
October 3rd, Venus is going to station retrograde at eight degrees of Scorpio.
00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:23.519
On October 24th, that's when the Sun-Venus conjunction is going to happen, sort of kissing right at zero degrees of Scorpio.
00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:30.000
October 25th, Venus will re-retrograde back into the sign of Libra, her home sign.
00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:39.759
Again, we might feel that environmental shift, that tone shift in what Venus is capable of, what she has available to make what she wants happen.
00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:48.079
October 29th, Venus will emerge from the sun's rays and become visible in the sky again, but this time in the morning.
00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:53.599
And on November 13th, Venus will station direct at 22 degrees of Libra.
00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:57.279
And that's going to kick off that third pass through all of this territory.
00:28:57.519 --> 00:29:01.279
On December 4th, Venus will re-enter Scorpio.
00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:06.240
And then on December 15th, Venus will officially leave the retrograde shadow.
00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:17.759
So a lot of this, you know, end of Q3 into Q4 time of the year is this Venus retrograde is going to be walking with us through a lot of that.
00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:28.000
So I know the retrograde period itself is 40 days, but if we encompass the whole shadow period and the going direct and leaving the shadow period, you'll see that it's longer than that.
00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:36.880
So some questions that might be floating or that might be supportive or interesting to be with for the next few weeks, the things that could be interesting to notice.
00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:39.279
Where can we surrender?
00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:51.759
Where can we potentially invest in the inward journey, in the under journey, in the invisible journey during this cycle?
00:29:52.000 --> 00:30:09.039
And when we're doing things on the inside, when we're excavating, when we're going underground and we have to say goodbye to the upper world for a little bit so that we can really go all the way down, um, sometimes it looks like there isn't as much happening on the outside, but there's a lot changing on the inside.
00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:20.160
And then when we re-emerge from that process, it's interesting how much the external world can shift because of what we've done on the inside.
00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:27.200
We can often emerge with a new relationship to ourselves, which of course changes our relationship to others.
00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:44.319
Potentially, we find that we come up with a new nugget of power, a new reservoir of strength or courage or energy, even to be in the world, to live our lives in a way that feels more in alignment with ourselves or with less baggage in our backpack.
00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:47.839
What's the unnecessary baggage?
00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:50.400
What are the unnecessary rules or structures?
00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:54.960
What are the things that maybe you used to need, but now they just feel heavy?
00:30:55.279 --> 00:30:59.759
And they're not adding a whole lot to the garden of your life.
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.799
How do we act differently in comfortable versus uncomfortable terrain?
00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:07.200
Things that feel intense versus not intense?
00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:10.079
What gifts do each of those provide for us?
00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:16.400
What different sides of ourselves do we get to know when something's like really intense and uncomfortable versus where it's comfortable?
00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:20.400
Where you feel in control versus where you have to sort of rise up?
00:31:20.640 --> 00:31:25.440
What what parts of yourself or what parts of others are you uncomfortable with?
00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:33.759
And what's gonna what could get excavated so that you can make more room for those parts of yourself, more room for those parts and other people?
00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:38.799
And then you might find that there's a thought, who am I if I don't do X?
00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:40.559
Who am I if I let this go?
00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:47.440
Who am I if this rule or this structure or this responsibility isn't a part of my life or who I am anymore?
00:31:47.599 --> 00:31:48.880
Who am I if I don't do that?
00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:56.720
That might be a question that comes up during um any sort of disassembly moment, any sort of underworld moment.
00:31:57.119 --> 00:32:04.480
And we don't have to know is something that I like to remind people going through a season of this in their life.
00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:15.599
You don't have to know who you are on the other side, but it's going to ask you to trust in life and trust in yourself on a deeper level to where you can let it go without knowing what's next.
00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:25.279
Another theme that might be coming up will be this sacrificing external appearances, external presentation.
00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:29.279
But never sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice.
00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:32.160
Sacrifice is just how energy changes form.
00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:43.200
So we're sacrificing perhaps external presentation or external performance for the sake of cultivating more authentic presence, more authentic transformation.
00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:53.680
And I always think about this book by Rob McFarlane called Underland, I read a few years ago.
00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:59.119
And there's a quote, I think he's quoting Walter Benjamin when he's talking about this.
00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:05.279
Um, but he says he wrote of the need to make some sign to the world that one is leaving.
00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:09.680
When a threshold to the underworld is traversed, we have to kind of let the world know.
00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:18.960
And one of the hatchways leading from the surface to the depths, and the pinates or the domestic deities that guard the threshold who protect and mark the transitions.
00:33:19.119 --> 00:33:20.400
How do we let them know?
00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:21.519
What's the sign?
00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:25.759
Is it, you know, it could be as simple as a vacation setting on your inboxing.
00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:27.839
I might be a little slower to get back to you.
00:33:28.079 --> 00:33:41.519
Or maybe you have the resources and the ability to um, you know, create some space for yourself where you can just not have a lot of external obligations for a day or two.
00:33:41.680 --> 00:33:43.599
Like really make some spacious time.
00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:46.720
And some people are more uncomfortable with that than others.
00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:51.279
Some people have a really hard time with stillness and with silence and with not doing.
00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:57.279
Um, but it can be very rewarding when we make space to encounter that part of ourselves.
00:33:57.599 --> 00:34:01.920
So I think that's always lovely advice and very pertinent to the moment.
00:34:02.079 --> 00:34:05.279
How do I make a sign to the world that I'm going down for a bit?
00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:12.400
Like while we're like kind of pre-retrograde right now, how do we, what are some ways that we can create some buffer zones?
00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:21.199
Knowing that some of these questions might be coming up, some of these processes might be coming up, uh, that we might be uh nonlinear for a while.
00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:28.000
What are some signs we can make to the world, to our world, and to ourselves to remind us that this is what's happening?
00:34:28.079 --> 00:34:31.119
Um, this is the process, this is the season right now.
00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:38.960
How can we let the domestic deities know that tend to be a little bit busier, uh, a little bit more into the humdrum of the hearth?
00:34:39.039 --> 00:34:43.199
Um, let them know that you're coming, that you might be transitioning or leaving for a minute.
00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:45.599
What's a way that you could disappear for a moment?
00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:47.199
What's a way you could do away with?
00:34:47.360 --> 00:35:02.960
What's something you could take off of your plate or off of your schedule for a moment to make space potentially for a deeper level of intimacy with yourself and with reality, to make space for something that maybe feels more true once you get to the other end of it.
00:35:03.440 --> 00:35:13.920
Even though in the moment, sometimes it just feels like making space or stripping off or shedding off, even though we don't know what's next or who is next.
00:35:14.880 --> 00:35:45.599
So our uh in my Ma membership, which I run our Q4 content for October through December, is very much going to be coordinated into diving into this full spectrum of this underworld journey, the depths of healing and power and pleasure that we can get from these archetypes and from these journeys and the mythology and the um even the somatic clues um that we can use to navigate moving both above and below ground.
00:35:46.159 --> 00:35:50.800
So, how do we relate from, you know, power and sovereignty?
00:35:51.039 --> 00:35:52.320
What do we need to do?
00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:53.599
Who do we need to become?
00:35:53.760 --> 00:35:58.400
What do we need access to in order to feel power and sovereignty in that process?
00:35:58.639 --> 00:36:05.039
What does our body need, like our physical body need, so that we have enough gas in the tank to get through the whole journey?
00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:08.079
And then what treasures might we find down there?
00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:12.559
That will be some of the overarching, the big picture themes that we'll be writing.
00:36:12.880 --> 00:36:26.320
And we're doing this in Ma all the time, but especially in this upcoming quarter, tracking with the Venus retrograde in many ways, as well as tracking with the overall darkening that's happening right now in the northern hemisphere.
00:36:26.559 --> 00:36:31.840
Um, this October month, uh, I've put together a little taster.
00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:46.239
So if you hear me talk about Ma a lot or you're interested in it, um, there's a way that you can join our October workshop and our October ceremony call and I think a couple um other little bonus calls as its own separate thing as a little taster.
00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:53.440
So if you would like to uh have access to that taster or the invite for it, we're calling it Underworld Maven.
00:36:53.679 --> 00:37:02.079
Uh, you can join the wait list at the link below, and that is where you will receive the invite when it's open if you'd like to join us for those October calls.
00:37:02.719 --> 00:37:11.119
And for those of you who already know that you're really interested in Ma and you already know you want to join, um, you can softly do that now.
00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:14.320
I'm not pushing it publicly in any sort of big way at the moment.
00:37:14.559 --> 00:37:28.880
If you already know you're in and you want to know where to sign, you've been lurking Ma for a while and waiting for September, waiting to get through your summer, um, you can just go to the page and join now before the end of the month because the pricing is going up in October.
00:37:29.039 --> 00:37:34.079
So if you want to lock in the pricing that exists now for now in the future, you should do that now.
00:37:34.239 --> 00:37:41.519
And if that's not important to you, uh go ahead and join the wait list and you can get the invite to join us for Underworld Maven in October.
00:37:42.079 --> 00:37:42.639
All right.
00:37:42.880 --> 00:37:48.719
In general, I recommend that you join the wait list because there will be some other fun things going on this season.
00:37:48.880 --> 00:37:59.360
I just kind of foresee some more like unhinged short notes coming your way, not typical um emails and other fun gifts that we have in the works for you.
00:37:59.679 --> 00:38:05.760
So whether or not that's something that you'll be doing, joining the Ma wait list, joining Ma or otherwise.
00:38:05.920 --> 00:38:34.880
I hope that these questions and this orientation to the one of the dimensions of the planetary season can be really helpful for you to make more space for who you are, what kind of sovereignty and power you can recover from underground, parts of you that might be taboo, parts of you that might be shadow and light, parts of you that might have gotten cast aside or rejected or abandoned or betrayed.
00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:39.119
And how can you bring them back, creating more of that trust and that wholeness?
00:38:41.039 --> 00:38:46.719
This is the magical place of illumination and dissolution at the same time.
00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:58.719
And it is also that fine point, that precise point where we can encounter and get to know that engine of rebirth and rebirth and rebirth and rebirth.
00:38:58.880 --> 00:39:03.519
Another one of those great re-words that I find can go well with retrograde.
00:39:03.679 --> 00:39:11.119
So expect to explore the unexpected, the unexpected place where often much of your power is waiting for you.
00:39:11.280 --> 00:39:13.679
And I will see you soon in the next episode.
00:39:13.840 --> 00:39:18.159
Join the wait list if you're interested in more things that we got going on this fall.
00:39:18.239 --> 00:39:19.519
And I will see you next time.
00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:20.880
Bye, everyone.
00:39:30.960 --> 00:39:33.199
Thank you so much for listening.
00:39:33.599 --> 00:39:42.079
If you enjoyed the episode, please take a moment to subscribe to the show, leave us a review, or share the episode with someone who would enjoy it.
00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:49.679
Check out the show notes below for more about our guests, plus links to gifts and other resources to take you deeper.
00:39:50.159 --> 00:39:59.679
Our podcast music was produced by Santiago Paramo, our podcast art graphically designed by Sarah Mendoza, and photography by Charlie Watts.
00:40:00.079 --> 00:40:03.039
Thank you for being here, and we'll see you next time.
00:40:03.360 --> 00:40:04.000
Be well.
00:40:04.880 --> 00:40:05.360
Peace.
00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:12.720
Welcome to the Erotic Devotion Podcast.
00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:15.519
I'm your host, Grace Allardyce.
00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:39.600
Hey everyone, and welcome to this episode of the Erotic Devotion podcast.
00:00:39.759 --> 00:01:08.400
I thought since we're coming up into a season of Venus Retrograde, to do an episode just talking about this particular retrograde, but also about Venus's retrograde cycle in general and some of the themes, the opportunities that can arise during those seasons, as well as some of what's coming up around this particular ecosystem of my world during this time.
00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:13.920
I'm not going to cover every single aspect Venus is going to make during the retrograde cycle.
00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:19.920
There will be the whole internet, every official astrologer making, you know, play-by-plays on that.
00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:21.760
That's not what this episode is going to be.
00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:30.159
This is going to be more of an overview, looking at common themes and topics and ways to orient yourself to it that I think can be helpful.
00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:43.840
Most ancient stargazers and star studiers, astrologers who were also astronomers, that didn't used to be separate things, were very fascinated by how Venus dances around the sky.
00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:58.799
There's it makes a particular shape throughout her collision course and relationship with the sun, some seasons appearing in the morning, some in the evening, at times appearing very, very bright, at other times becoming invisible.
00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:16.479
And the more I've built a relationship with Venus's cycles over the years and enjoyed getting to know that in my own life, the more appreciation I have for the variation in the different seasons that illuminates.
00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:35.840
In the shorthand, for astrological speak, traditionally Venus represents topics like relationships, love and connection, attraction, the arts, beauty, diplomacy, themes about how we're relating together, uh, women.
00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:41.840
And we could think of it as simple as the questions of like, how well are we getting along?
00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:44.560
How are we getting together?
00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:51.199
Um, how are our desires, how are we engaging with our desires and our attractions, and how much fun is it?
00:02:52.000 --> 00:03:01.759
And in addition to those themes in general, Venus also represents topics of specific areas of your life and your chart.
00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:07.599
And so if you're looking at your natal chart, the houses of Taurus and Libra are ruled by Venus.
00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:14.800
Um, and so those topics are always going to be with her wherever she is in the sky or in the zodiac at that moment.
00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:29.360
So, for example, if Taurus in your chart is your fifth house, then Venus is also specifically in charge of topics around creativity and children, um, dating, leisure, play, sex.
00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:49.680
If Libra is your tenth house, then Venus is also, you know, having a lot of influence and responsibility for things around your inspiration, your visible and public self, potentially even your ambitions in charge of your most kind of public-facing career, the shape of your flowering.
00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:52.560
And so those are examples.
00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:57.599
Venus can rule literally anything in your chart, uh, depending on how your chart is arranged.
00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:07.039
And so we have these general themes that we could associate with Venus in general, but then for each life, for each chart, Venus is also associated with some more specific areas.
00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:25.920
And when Venus goes retrograde approximately every year and a half-ish, um, it not only affects the place where Venus is actually traversing in the zodiac, uh, it's also going to affect those houses that she rules in your chart, those topics, those domains, because they're always in her backpack.
00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:38.639
Wherever Venus is like hitchhiking or sauntering through the zodiac in her purse, in her backpack, and whatever it is that she's got, those topics in your chart of Taurus and Libra are always with her.
00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:40.560
They go where she goes.
00:04:40.800 --> 00:05:00.800
And retrogrades, at the very least, show us in the cosmic schedule, the cosmic calendar, usually a time of slowing down, of reviewing the chance to go back over things, understand them more in depth, kind of get a little more into it than we would if we were just going to one and done and move on.
00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:08.000
And so getting to know that particular landscape on a deeper level, getting to know what's in the bag better.
00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:11.759
What is all of this stuff that I'm carrying around on this journey?
00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:13.839
Uh, what is this terrain that I'm on?
00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:15.360
How am I interacting with that?
00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:16.480
How well is it going?
00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:19.839
And again, with Venus, like how well are we getting along?
00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:21.680
How much fun are we having?
00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:27.600
And is all this stuff in my bag, is it necessary, or is it just weighing me down?
00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:42.639
Um, is it some am I just carrying it around because I've always had it, because someone gave it to me, or am I carrying around some of this life baggage, some of these rules, et cetera, just because I don't like giving things away or taking things away.
00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:50.639
And none of those things are bad or wrong, but they tend to be questions that come up during retrograde cycles where we're we're not taking things for granted.
00:05:50.800 --> 00:06:02.319
We're getting really curious about like what all is in our suitcase that we're lugging around, what is still current, what's still necessary, and what's time for kind of leaving be and letting lie.
00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:19.680
Venus retrograde specifically tends to correspond cleanly to the journey of Inana going down into the underworld, these kind of 40 days as she proceeds down through the gates, going into the underworld to meet her shadow sister Uresh Kigal.
00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:39.439
And at each gate as she's descending, she must remove something, something valuable, something a part of her persona as queen or as goddess, so that by the time she gets down to the bottom, she's completely naked and unadorned and unidentified, and then of course famously hung from a meat hook.
00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:44.639
And the Venus retrograde cycle lasts for 40 days.
00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:55.519
And regardless of whether you're into Inana or not, obviously I am, and if you're you're in this world in any level podcast or even deeper, um, you'll know that.
00:06:55.680 --> 00:07:12.800
Um, but in many lineages, we have storied into the story rituals and practices of 40 days, 40 being 40 days, 40 nights being sort of this magical time, 40 days of fasting, 40 days of going without, 40 days in the desert, 40 days in the wilderness.
00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:23.519
There's a sense of this special timing, a sense of this sort of, this is how long this kind of journey is gonna take, a sense of the sacred and her return.
00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:40.639
And during this phase, like having to review, having to go inward, having to go without, having to go down under, and potentially having to redo, to go over it again, to renegotiate it, rethink it, all of your re-words are great for retrogrades.
00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:49.680
And during this phase, seeing it from the underside, seeing it from below, without all of the baggage and the complexity of the everyday.
00:07:49.839 --> 00:08:04.560
And while, of course, admittedly, it can be painful or even scary to have to go down below, to have to go without or to take off roles, expectations, rules, adornments that you feel like are a part of your identity.
00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:11.839
Like, who am I going to be if this is no longer in my backpack coming with me through life or coming with me through this chapter?
00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:14.560
Um, it can also be very freeing.
00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:24.800
It can free up space, it can free up strength, it can free up stamina to engage whatever's happening and wherever you're going in a different way.
00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:35.440
And often when we talk about these journeys to the underworld or the wilderness or the desert, etc., we're removing ourselves from the fullness of the mundane.
00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:39.200
We're removing ourselves from the fullness of the everyday.
00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:47.519
And that's necessary at times in order for us to see something differently and to let that simplicity change us.
00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:56.320
We can't really receive the fullness of a new sense of who we are, of what's next, of where we're going.
00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:11.120
We can't see things with new eyes if we never stop, if we're afraid of the simplicity of taking things out of our bag, if we're always needing everything to be full and busy and looking ahead and linear, then it's not going to work.
00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:20.000
And these underworld journeys, these underworld seasons or the simplicity of retrograde periods kind of force us out of that linearity.
00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:25.679
And they ask us to relate to the world differently, how we see ourselves differently.
00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:31.759
And of course, when we're changed by that revelation, others see us differently as well.
00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:39.279
And while the story of Inana is frequently told as a victim story, I refuse to do so because I just don't see it that way.
00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:43.600
And you can see the previous episode for more on that perspective.
00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:46.399
Inana is a goddess, Inana is a queen.
00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:48.480
No one is making her do anything.
00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:51.919
No one beat her into the underworld, no one pushed her in.
00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:55.840
She just went because it's underworld o'clock.
00:09:56.240 --> 00:10:02.159
An underworld o'clock comes for all of us, and it comes for us collectively, comes for us individually.
00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:10.000
Sometimes it's cleanly 40 days, sometimes it corresponds really well to a retrograde cycle in the planets, and sometimes it doesn't.
00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:27.120
But there are tones and topics and seasons and correspondences with what that season looks like either way that we can learn from, and so that we understand when it comes knocking or when we go knocking, what it looks like and sounds like and what kind of hospitality we can expect.
00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:41.279
As I said earlier, I think that the story of Inana is really more closely a story about intimacy and transformation and relationship.
00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:52.799
And so we could also zoom out and say that perhaps a Venus retrograde is just another tone or another season that's looking at us relating differently to intimacy and relationship.
00:10:52.960 --> 00:11:01.600
When we go back over something, when we go down under something, we know it in a different way and we experience ourselves in a different way.
00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:12.320
And then often, if we go through it with openness, if we cooperate by the rules of the process, then we usually receive a gift.
00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:17.440
We receive the gift of getting to know something from the bowels, from the depths.
00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:20.159
We really know it when we know it that low.
00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:22.799
We know ourselves on this level now.
00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:36.879
We know one another, we know where we are differently, we know what's going on differently, and it's a real, it's a gift ultimately to know something on that level, even if every part of the process isn't the most fun.
00:11:37.200 --> 00:12:06.080
And so if we spend the whole time that it's under world o'clock resisting, doggy paddling, trying to get out, trying to stay above ground, or feeling victimized by what is a natural process of carving you out into a whole and intimate and interesting human, then if we spend the whole time doing that, then you miss out on discovering this version of yourself that can only emerge through that process.
00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:15.360
There is an essence of you, there is a strength of you, there is a power of you that can only emerge through underworld experiences.
00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:24.480
And though while sometimes they can be difficult, they can be painful, it is not in and of itself punishment, it's intimacy.
00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:27.679
It's getting to know something deeper.
00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:34.240
It's revealing a deeper part of yourself, something more true than as something as obvious as what's in your bag.
00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:36.399
Who are you without that in your bag?
00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:40.080
Who are you when this part of the story changes?
00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:41.759
What does it reveal about you?
00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:45.279
We may not get to know until you take everything else off.
00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:50.639
It's intimacy, it's change, it's getting down to the heart of the matter.
00:12:51.360 --> 00:13:12.720
And so earlier I said retrogrades kind of mess with that lie that everything is linear, the way that our mainstream culture, at least in the Western world, at least where I live, everything is really pushed to always be visible, to always be in a straight line, to always be culminating again, to always be progressing and accumulating and growing.
00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:15.519
Underworlds go against that.
00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:25.919
And so when we look closer at the natural world and, you know, any true mythology, nothing works that way.
00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:33.679
Underworld o'clock always comes, winter always comes, time to go underground always comes, and that's just part of a cycle of things.
00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:46.000
And the better we get at cooperating with that cycle, um, then the more we get to know ourselves and the world on a deeper level, which is going to create more belonging ultimately, more power, more intimacy.
00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:55.279
So underworld, retrograde, going dark, going invisible, disappearing underground, shedding.
00:13:55.440 --> 00:14:00.399
You know, none of these things are things that like the world is celebrating on a grand scale, right?
00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:02.799
But they are incredibly valuable.
00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:09.840
And it's generally, at the very least, a great time to slow down, at least on the inside.
00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:16.080
It's not always possible to slow down on the outside, and sometimes we're forced to slow down on the outside.
00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:23.679
But at least on the inside, we're slowing down and we're opening ourselves to what's what's wanting to simplify?
00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:26.159
What part of me needs to go underground?
00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:29.440
How do I get to know something on this deeper level?
00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:40.399
And so for this particular retrograde period, Venus is sort of traversing, she's this terrain between Libra and Scorpio.
00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:45.440
It's sort of the last eight degrees of Libra and the first eight degrees of Scorpio.
00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:52.159
And she's going to be traversing that landscape in the sky and in our particular charts a total of three times.
00:14:53.039 --> 00:15:00.480
So the first pass that she makes starts during her initial shadow period, and that began on August 31st.
00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:09.840
So maybe if you're interested in that, you can start paying attention to areas of your life that Venus rules, which will be the houses of Taurus and Libra.
00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:22.639
Or you might just start noticing what are some general themes around desire, relationships, beauty, art, pleasure, um, that are starting to come up, have already begun coming up.
00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:26.000
Something that is not feeling super complete once it moves.
00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:29.679
It's actually starting to just bring some things to the surface.
00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:36.320
And it will also be some topics of your Scorpio house as well, because Venus will be moving into Scorpio.
00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:42.000
And those are things that are likely going to come up again during the course of the retrograde period.
00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:45.279
Like I said, Venus is passing through for the first time now.
00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:48.879
And then when Venus stations retrograde, she'll go back through again.
00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:53.360
And then when she goes direct, she'll go back for a third and final pass at this season.
00:15:53.600 --> 00:16:05.200
And it's going to come up again to ask going to ask you to go deeper, to renegotiate, to relate and transform and attend to what becomes in the unfinished business.
00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:16.639
So in Libra, the first part of this initial pass, Venus is in domicile, meaning that Venus is in her own home in the sign of Libra.
00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:22.720
In your own home, Venus has access to all of the things that she needs to make things the way that she likes.
00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:25.600
It's lovely, it's comfortable, it's peaceful.
00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:29.759
We're having a cocktail party, everyone is wearing the appropriate attire.
00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:39.360
And in general, she's capable and able to make things the way that Venus prefers: beautiful, harmonious, balanced, just, profitable.
00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:47.120
And on the contrary, when Venus shifts into the sign of Scorpio, Venus is in the opposite of her home.
00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:53.200
She's in territory that we could describe as antagonistic to her desires and goals.
00:16:53.440 --> 00:17:08.880
Naturally, we could say Venus wants like perfume and welcome gifts and like uh a giant, you know, festive fairy forest dinner outside that's like sexy and party and music and sparkle fireflies.
00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:13.920
But in Scorpio, she's in more of an environment where, you know, it makes me think of that show Silo.
00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:17.279
So then it's like, you need like gear to go outside.
00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:26.319
So she's in an environment with like martial arts equipment and sharp objects and like the kind of food that would like survive an earthquake in an underground bunker.
00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:31.839
And rather than dressing up and making friends at the market, she's like, Where is the hot shower?
00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:32.480
Hello.
00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:41.440
She's really forced in Scorpio to find commonality and you know, find ways of relating amidst discomfort and intensity.
00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:52.160
So here, Venus might have to learn to use a punching bag or learn how to swim with sharks through deep water, which is um something that I tend to think about with Venus and Scorpio.
00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:59.279
So I made a post in my mom membership uh with all the dates and things about this Venus retrograde a few weeks ago.
00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:02.480
And I was using the example of Beyoncé.
00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:06.559
Beyoncé has a Libra stellium, including Venus and Libra.
00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:29.839
Um, and just think about all of these like very Libra and very Venusian qualities that Beyoncé has, including being incredibly beautiful, incredibly attractive, magnetic, artistic, highly creative, very sparkly and powerful in this kind of unique, um, very like art forward and beauty forward way.
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:31.119
It on a grand scale.
00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:33.440
She has Jupiter in Libra, too, I believe.
00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:35.200
But then you contrast that.
00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:38.799
I contrasted it with this tree diver who swims with sharks.
00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:41.759
There's a documentary about her, her name's Ocean Ramsey.
00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:49.759
And I have no idea what her natal chart is, but there are very amazing photos and footage of her swimming with sharks.
00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:55.440
And um that kind of tracks for me for Venus and Scorpio.
00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:59.680
And the both of them are doing beautiful things.
00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:04.559
They're creating relationships, they're doing creative things.
00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:12.160
But we can clearly see that swimming with sharks and what Beyoncé is doing are clearly very different, right?
00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:19.519
The quality, the intensity of them, the gear that's needed, the environment in which they're doing it is completely different.
00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:25.359
Venus can still be Venus, doing Venus things, but it's going to feel and look different.
00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:30.079
And what's required to get into relationship is going to be different as well.
00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:44.400
So if you have personal planets or angles between 22 degrees of Libra and eight degrees of Scorpio, then it's possible that this retrograde can bring up more personal themes or more personal topics in your life.
00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:58.400
Or if you're in a Venus perfection year timing-wise, it's likely that this retrograde cycle will bring up things that are more personal to you, things that feel closer to home, rather than just feeling like something's happening out there in the wider cultural sphere.
00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:01.440
The orbit of Venus in the sky is really cool.
00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:07.359
So, in real in relationship to Earth, of course, because we're always looking at astrology from where we are, from the planet Earth.
00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:09.279
So it's just how it looks to us.
00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:18.000
And it makes the orbit makes a pentagram shape in the sky, the sort of five-pointed star or five-pointed flower over time.
00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:27.519
And of course, the symbol of the pentagram uh later became, quote, demonized and aside to like evil and black magic and terrible witches.
00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:34.480
But I find it really beautiful and really interesting that the pentagram is the shape that Venus makes in the sky over time.
00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:41.279
And also the five-pointed star is a form that can be endlessly replicated into a pattern.
00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:43.920
And so we could say that it's a fertile shape.
00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:49.359
And it's a shape that's also embedded within us and embedded within so much of nature.
00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:56.240
Even if you just simply, you know, stand with your feet wide and your arms out to the side, you are making a pentagram shape.
00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:59.920
If you cut open an apple, uh, you will see a pentagram in there.
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:05.920
If you look at a starfish, find a sand dollar, look at the center of a lot of flowers, you'll find that shape.
00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:09.599
And I find that a really beautiful and interesting correspondence.
00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:19.200
So another thing to know about retrogrades or a part of Venus's cycle is that when she's retrograde, she's going to conjoin the sun.
00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:25.440
And that's called a casimi, or when a planet occupies the same degree of the zodiac as the sun.
00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:31.440
And it's a very powerful moment, it's a very powerful position in any planet's cycle.
00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:39.519
But all around that moment, including the moment when the conjunction happens, Venus will be invisible.
00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:59.759
And when these planets are, it's called when you're under the beams of the sun, when the planet itself becomes not visible because it's hidden behind the brightness and the luminosity of the sun, we could think of that corresponding to that planet losing some of their individual and separate power, some of their what we would call their individual.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:08.880
Independent, you know, personality traits or correspondences get sort of absorbed into the sun's brightness or dominated by the sun's brightness.
00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:11.279
They're kind of invisible, they're underground.
00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:20.480
And at the Kazimi time, the moment when the conjunction happens, the planet is still not visible in the sky, but it's a moment of power.
00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:31.200
We could, you know, story it as this way that the planet is fully received into the heart of the sun, received into the heart of the king, merged with the king.
00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:36.720
And it's a position of exaltation, um, purification, rebirth.
00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:42.400
We could think of it also as a moment of revelation and insight and ecstasy and transformation.
00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:45.119
So it's this really magical place.
00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:49.599
It's this maximum illumination and dissolution at the same time.
00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:57.440
And it can correspond to this change in the identity, the person, a change in the self-container that's required.
00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:14.799
Again, just like the underworld asks of us, that in order to see and really hold the transformation, the revelation that we can only get when we are we we found that illumination dissolution dial that's happening simultaneously, then there must be quite a change in us.
00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:17.119
It will change us, it has to change us.
00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:23.680
And that's sort of what's happening with the planet at that moment of conjunction with the sun.
00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:31.680
So this will be an inferior conjunction with Venus, meaning that Venus will pass directly between the Earth and the Sun.
00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:46.880
And once she becomes visible again, which will be on October 29th, I believe, then Venus will be arising again in this morning star position, becoming visible in the early dawn sky rather than in the western evening sky.
00:23:47.200 --> 00:24:00.000
And this moment when the planet becomes visible again after having been invisible for such a long time because it was so close to the sun, then it's considered an event of great power and great influence for that planet.
00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:02.400
It's like I've really gone through something.
00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:09.920
I've seen the thing, I've changed, I've drunk the power of the sun, I've dissolved and been illuminated at the same time.
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:15.440
And that kind of re-emergence is like a moment of great power called phosus.
00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:35.279
And so since Venus will have um that phossus moment, that reappearance, that re-emergence in her own sign of Libra once again, I imagine it'll be um a notable moment or something in the cycle, where kind of something being brought to light, or a moment, um, yeah, a notable time, to say the least.
00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:39.519
So it could be an interesting date to or moment to pay attention to.
00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:48.240
And I think another potential important presence in this retrograde story is the fixed star Spika.
00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:54.799
And Spika is a fixed star that's located at 24 degrees of Libra in the tropical zodiac.
00:24:54.960 --> 00:25:00.559
Again, I'm not doing a full play-by-play of every single aspect Venus is making during this retrograde period.
00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:06.319
The whole internet will be doing that probably over the course of October, so no need for that here.
00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:10.079
Um, but the fixed star, Spika, well, quote, fixed.
00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:14.559
Spika is the brightest star in the actual constellation of Virgo.
00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:18.880
And it's located in the sheaf of wheat held by the Virgin.
00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:28.880
And Bernadette Brady describes Spika as, you know, considered a symbol of the gifts of the harvest, of bounty, uh, gifts to mankind.
00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:35.359
We can think of gifts of knowledge and bringing this level of like brilliance to whatever it is.
00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:48.960
And I like to describe Spika as like this generosity of the gods towards humanity, really giving us these gifts of invention and brilliance and really true interstellar creativity.
00:25:49.279 --> 00:25:56.799
And humanity experiences those gifts as nourishment and provision and ways that kind of tangibly improve our lives.
00:25:57.039 --> 00:26:11.839
Um, just think about how, if you were using this symbol or this uh representation of wheat, even just that, just think about how much human history, how much human survival, flourishing, fertility, et cetera, has been shaped by the gift.
00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:16.319
I mean, I think it's a gift, the invention of bread quite a bit.
00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:23.200
So most of the fixed stars we could think of as being indifferent to humanity at the very least.
00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:28.720
Like if an ant is dying outside your house right now, like you don't care, you're not paying attention to that.
00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:33.599
Well, from a magical perspective, we could sort of think of the fixed stars kind of that way.
00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:37.359
They're they're not generally like that interested or invested in us.
00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:40.720
And, you know, on our human, squishy end, we can experience that.
00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:43.839
Like we feel that as like a harshness or like a cold indifference.
00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:47.119
Um, but really, I think it's mostly just a distance.
00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:49.599
But Spika is kind of an exception to that.
00:26:49.680 --> 00:26:58.559
It's one of the few truly benefic stars that we can work with with no potentially like high caution tape or karmic side effects.
00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:07.200
But again, because Spika is in this path of Venus's retrograde, Venus is going to conjoin this fixed star a total of three times.
00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:11.440
It's already happened once by the time this podcast comes out on September 3rd.
00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:15.039
And then it will happen again on November 4th and November 22nd.
00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:32.799
And so it might also be another and interesting dynamic to pay attention to to see like what ideas, inventions, creative impulses emerge from this opportunity to kind of go deeper, to re-relate the so close together over this shorter period of time.
00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:40.880
So again, I'm not going to do a play-by-play here on this particular podcast, but just some overall dates if you like having those.
00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:53.680
Um, Venus has already entered the shadow period, meaning everything Venus is up to right now is going to be re-gotten up to and entered the retrograde shadow period on August 31st.
00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:56.240
And these are all based on the times of where I live.
00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:59.599
And then on September 10th, Venus enters Scorpio.
00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:02.079
Already happened by the time this podcast drops.
00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:09.680
So again, we're still in this retrograde territory, but maybe now we're getting a sense of like the tonal shift, the flavor shift.
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:15.200
October 3rd, Venus is going to station retrograde at eight degrees of Scorpio.
00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:23.519
On October 24th, that's when the Sun-Venus conjunction is going to happen, sort of kissing right at zero degrees of Scorpio.
00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:30.000
October 25th, Venus will re-retrograde back into the sign of Libra, her home sign.
00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:39.759
Again, we might feel that environmental shift, that tone shift in what Venus is capable of, what she has available to make what she wants happen.
00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:48.079
October 29th, Venus will emerge from the sun's rays and become visible in the sky again, but this time in the morning.
00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:53.599
And on November 13th, Venus will station direct at 22 degrees of Libra.
00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:57.279
And that's going to kick off that third pass through all of this territory.
00:28:57.519 --> 00:29:01.279
On December 4th, Venus will re-enter Scorpio.
00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:06.240
And then on December 15th, Venus will officially leave the retrograde shadow.
00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:17.759
So a lot of this, you know, end of Q3 into Q4 time of the year is this Venus retrograde is going to be walking with us through a lot of that.
00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:28.000
So I know the retrograde period itself is 40 days, but if we encompass the whole shadow period and the going direct and leaving the shadow period, you'll see that it's longer than that.
00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:36.880
So some questions that might be floating or that might be supportive or interesting to be with for the next few weeks, the things that could be interesting to notice.
00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:39.279
Where can we surrender?
00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:51.759
Where can we potentially invest in the inward journey, in the under journey, in the invisible journey during this cycle?
00:29:52.000 --> 00:30:09.039
And when we're doing things on the inside, when we're excavating, when we're going underground and we have to say goodbye to the upper world for a little bit so that we can really go all the way down, um, sometimes it looks like there isn't as much happening on the outside, but there's a lot changing on the inside.
00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:20.160
And then when we re-emerge from that process, it's interesting how much the external world can shift because of what we've done on the inside.
00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:27.200
We can often emerge with a new relationship to ourselves, which of course changes our relationship to others.
00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:44.319
Potentially, we find that we come up with a new nugget of power, a new reservoir of strength or courage or energy, even to be in the world, to live our lives in a way that feels more in alignment with ourselves or with less baggage in our backpack.
00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:47.839
What's the unnecessary baggage?
00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:50.400
What are the unnecessary rules or structures?
00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:54.960
What are the things that maybe you used to need, but now they just feel heavy?
00:30:55.279 --> 00:30:59.759
And they're not adding a whole lot to the garden of your life.
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.799
How do we act differently in comfortable versus uncomfortable terrain?
00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:07.200
Things that feel intense versus not intense?
00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:10.079
What gifts do each of those provide for us?
00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:16.400
What different sides of ourselves do we get to know when something's like really intense and uncomfortable versus where it's comfortable?
00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:20.400
Where you feel in control versus where you have to sort of rise up?
00:31:20.640 --> 00:31:25.440
What what parts of yourself or what parts of others are you uncomfortable with?
00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:33.759
And what's gonna what could get excavated so that you can make more room for those parts of yourself, more room for those parts and other people?
00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:38.799
And then you might find that there's a thought, who am I if I don't do X?
00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:40.559
Who am I if I let this go?
00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:47.440
Who am I if this rule or this structure or this responsibility isn't a part of my life or who I am anymore?
00:31:47.599 --> 00:31:48.880
Who am I if I don't do that?
00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:56.720
That might be a question that comes up during um any sort of disassembly moment, any sort of underworld moment.
00:31:57.119 --> 00:32:04.480
And we don't have to know is something that I like to remind people going through a season of this in their life.
00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:15.599
You don't have to know who you are on the other side, but it's going to ask you to trust in life and trust in yourself on a deeper level to where you can let it go without knowing what's next.
00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:25.279
Another theme that might be coming up will be this sacrificing external appearances, external presentation.
00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:29.279
But never sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice.
00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:32.160
Sacrifice is just how energy changes form.
00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:43.200
So we're sacrificing perhaps external presentation or external performance for the sake of cultivating more authentic presence, more authentic transformation.
00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:53.680
And I always think about this book by Rob McFarlane called Underland, I read a few years ago.
00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:59.119
And there's a quote, I think he's quoting Walter Benjamin when he's talking about this.
00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:05.279
Um, but he says he wrote of the need to make some sign to the world that one is leaving.
00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:09.680
When a threshold to the underworld is traversed, we have to kind of let the world know.
00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:18.960
And one of the hatchways leading from the surface to the depths, and the pinates or the domestic deities that guard the threshold who protect and mark the transitions.
00:33:19.119 --> 00:33:20.400
How do we let them know?
00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:21.519
What's the sign?
00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:25.759
Is it, you know, it could be as simple as a vacation setting on your inboxing.
00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:27.839
I might be a little slower to get back to you.
00:33:28.079 --> 00:33:41.519
Or maybe you have the resources and the ability to um, you know, create some space for yourself where you can just not have a lot of external obligations for a day or two.
00:33:41.680 --> 00:33:43.599
Like really make some spacious time.
00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:46.720
And some people are more uncomfortable with that than others.
00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:51.279
Some people have a really hard time with stillness and with silence and with not doing.
00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:57.279
Um, but it can be very rewarding when we make space to encounter that part of ourselves.
00:33:57.599 --> 00:34:01.920
So I think that's always lovely advice and very pertinent to the moment.
00:34:02.079 --> 00:34:05.279
How do I make a sign to the world that I'm going down for a bit?
00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:12.400
Like while we're like kind of pre-retrograde right now, how do we, what are some ways that we can create some buffer zones?
00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:21.199
Knowing that some of these questions might be coming up, some of these processes might be coming up, uh, that we might be uh nonlinear for a while.
00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:28.000
What are some signs we can make to the world, to our world, and to ourselves to remind us that this is what's happening?
00:34:28.079 --> 00:34:31.119
Um, this is the process, this is the season right now.
00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:38.960
How can we let the domestic deities know that tend to be a little bit busier, uh, a little bit more into the humdrum of the hearth?
00:34:39.039 --> 00:34:43.199
Um, let them know that you're coming, that you might be transitioning or leaving for a minute.
00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:45.599
What's a way that you could disappear for a moment?
00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:47.199
What's a way you could do away with?
00:34:47.360 --> 00:35:02.960
What's something you could take off of your plate or off of your schedule for a moment to make space potentially for a deeper level of intimacy with yourself and with reality, to make space for something that maybe feels more true once you get to the other end of it.
00:35:03.440 --> 00:35:13.920
Even though in the moment, sometimes it just feels like making space or stripping off or shedding off, even though we don't know what's next or who is next.
00:35:14.880 --> 00:35:45.599
So our uh in my Ma membership, which I run our Q4 content for October through December, is very much going to be coordinated into diving into this full spectrum of this underworld journey, the depths of healing and power and pleasure that we can get from these archetypes and from these journeys and the mythology and the um even the somatic clues um that we can use to navigate moving both above and below ground.
00:35:46.159 --> 00:35:50.800
So, how do we relate from, you know, power and sovereignty?
00:35:51.039 --> 00:35:52.320
What do we need to do?
00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:53.599
Who do we need to become?
00:35:53.760 --> 00:35:58.400
What do we need access to in order to feel power and sovereignty in that process?
00:35:58.639 --> 00:36:05.039
What does our body need, like our physical body need, so that we have enough gas in the tank to get through the whole journey?
00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:08.079
And then what treasures might we find down there?
00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:12.559
That will be some of the overarching, the big picture themes that we'll be writing.
00:36:12.880 --> 00:36:26.320
And we're doing this in Ma all the time, but especially in this upcoming quarter, tracking with the Venus retrograde in many ways, as well as tracking with the overall darkening that's happening right now in the northern hemisphere.
00:36:26.559 --> 00:36:31.840
Um, this October month, uh, I've put together a little taster.
00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:46.239
So if you hear me talk about Ma a lot or you're interested in it, um, there's a way that you can join our October workshop and our October ceremony call and I think a couple um other little bonus calls as its own separate thing as a little taster.
00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:53.440
So if you would like to uh have access to that taster or the invite for it, we're calling it Underworld Maven.
00:36:53.679 --> 00:37:02.079
Uh, you can join the wait list at the link below, and that is where you will receive the invite when it's open if you'd like to join us for those October calls.
00:37:02.719 --> 00:37:11.119
And for those of you who already know that you're really interested in Ma and you already know you want to join, um, you can softly do that now.
00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:14.320
I'm not pushing it publicly in any sort of big way at the moment.
00:37:14.559 --> 00:37:28.880
If you already know you're in and you want to know where to sign, you've been lurking Ma for a while and waiting for September, waiting to get through your summer, um, you can just go to the page and join now before the end of the month because the pricing is going up in October.
00:37:29.039 --> 00:37:34.079
So if you want to lock in the pricing that exists now for now in the future, you should do that now.
00:37:34.239 --> 00:37:41.519
And if that's not important to you, uh go ahead and join the wait list and you can get the invite to join us for Underworld Maven in October.
00:37:42.079 --> 00:37:42.639
All right.
00:37:42.880 --> 00:37:48.719
In general, I recommend that you join the wait list because there will be some other fun things going on this season.
00:37:48.880 --> 00:37:59.360
I just kind of foresee some more like unhinged short notes coming your way, not typical um emails and other fun gifts that we have in the works for you.
00:37:59.679 --> 00:38:05.760
So whether or not that's something that you'll be doing, joining the Ma wait list, joining Ma or otherwise.
00:38:05.920 --> 00:38:34.880
I hope that these questions and this orientation to the one of the dimensions of the planetary season can be really helpful for you to make more space for who you are, what kind of sovereignty and power you can recover from underground, parts of you that might be taboo, parts of you that might be shadow and light, parts of you that might have gotten cast aside or rejected or abandoned or betrayed.
00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:39.119
And how can you bring them back, creating more of that trust and that wholeness?
00:38:41.039 --> 00:38:46.719
This is the magical place of illumination and dissolution at the same time.
00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:58.719
And it is also that fine point, that precise point where we can encounter and get to know that engine of rebirth and rebirth and rebirth and rebirth.
00:38:58.880 --> 00:39:03.519
Another one of those great re-words that I find can go well with retrograde.
00:39:03.679 --> 00:39:11.119
So expect to explore the unexpected, the unexpected place where often much of your power is waiting for you.
00:39:11.280 --> 00:39:13.679
And I will see you soon in the next episode.
00:39:13.840 --> 00:39:18.159
Join the wait list if you're interested in more things that we got going on this fall.
00:39:18.239 --> 00:39:19.519
And I will see you next time.
00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:20.880
Bye, everyone.
00:39:30.960 --> 00:39:33.199
Thank you so much for listening.
00:39:33.599 --> 00:39:42.079
If you enjoyed the episode, please take a moment to subscribe to the show, leave us a review, or share the episode with someone who would enjoy it.
00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:49.679
Check out the show notes below for more about our guests, plus links to gifts and other resources to take you deeper.
00:39:50.159 --> 00:39:59.679
Our podcast music was produced by Santiago Paramo, our podcast art graphically designed by Sarah Mendoza, and photography by Charlie Watts.
00:40:00.079 --> 00:40:03.039
Thank you for being here, and we'll see you next time.
00:40:03.360 --> 00:40:04.000
Be well.
00:40:04.880 --> 00:40:05.360
Peace.
