I reviewed Arielle Guttman’s book Venus Star Rising in TMA Oct/Nov 2011. She began her intensive research on the subject right before the transit of Venus over the Sun in June 2004. The next in this pair of rare transits, which was known to the Maya, is on June 5, 2012. Arielle calls the prenatal conjunction of Venus and the Sun the “Venus Star,” and her book intricately describes how the Venus Star impacts partnership dynamics.
Although we have spoken over the years, Arielle and I met face to face for the first time in May at the time of the Venus-Mars conjunction at 9º Taurus. As we realized at the time, my natal Venus is 4º Aquarius and hers is 5º Leo, both connected to the previous inferior conjunction of Venus with the Sun, which was at 5º30’ Scorpio on October 28, 2010, and to her first appearance in the morning sky, which was a few days later at about 3º Scorpio. (1)
Arielle kindly gave me an idea for this blog, i.e., watch transits to the Sun-Venus conjunction degree for the manifestation of events. So here I’m going to consider the inferior conjunction of Venus with the Sun at 5º30’ Scorpio. (As mentioned above, her heliacal rise was a few days later at about 3º Scorpio.)
The Sun- Venus conjunction is considered the start of her 584-day cycle. The heliacal rise can be considered as the start of the cycle as well. It was recognized by the Mesopotamians and later “termed Phasis by the Greeks — which means “an appearance that speaks.” (2)
But, the heliacal rise is harder to calculate due to variables in latitude, weather, and atmospheric conditions. As I wrote in May, Arielle explained that “because of that slightly irregular timing and her connection to the notion of ‘cazimi,’ that is, a planet at ‘the heart of the Sun,’ the idea that she develops in the book is based on the inferior or superior conjunction of Venus before birth (the inferior is always the retrograde conjunction). In other words, the cycle does not begin with Venus’s observable appearance in the sky (i.e., the heliacal rise), but it begins with the cazimi, with Venus exactly in the heart of the Sun.” (3)
Now, on to the transits, as there has been a lot of planetary activity at 5º Scorpio since the conjunction in October 2010. Venus and Mars both came to 5º Taurus in May 2011, opposite 5º Scorpio. This was when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and their respective sex scandals, were in the headlines.
Next, transiting Jupiter came to 5º Taurus in the first few days of July. Jupiter is BIG, of course, and as Arielle commented, “It was a biggie – Andrew Weiner’s wiener got flashed all over the internet.”
N.Y. Congressman Anthony Weiner resigned on June 21, hurried along by the solar eclipse on June 1 at 11º Gemini, square to his natal Sun at 11º Virgo. (4)
This sexting incident also had big political repercussions: Republican Bob Turner won the special election held in September to replace the eclipsed Democrat Weiner. (5) He “is the first Republican Congressman to represent this district in 88 years.” (6)
In late October (exact on the 27th), Jupiter made his retrograde pass over 5º30’ Taurus. Arielle had foreseen another “Weiner incident.” Alas, we had two big stories emerging then: Jerry Sandusky from Penn State and Herman Cain. (7)
After a three-year investigation, Jerry Sandusky was indicted on November 4, 2011 and charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse of young boys over a 15-year period.
He was born on January 26, 1944, the day after a total solar eclipse at 4º33’ Aquarius. (8) In the solar chart for his birthday, the Sun is 5º Aquarius (conjunct the South Node at 6º46’), opposite Pluto at 7º39’ Leo (conjunct the North Node at 6º46 Leo). Transiting Jupiter at 5º Taurus was squaring his natal Sun-Pluto opposition; with the cazimi Venus point at 5º Scorpio, there is a fixed square. Like everyone else, I have a sense of the horror of the alleged abuse, but it took sports-minded friends to clue me in to the importance of Penn State in the sports world — it has a very, very successful, very, very wealthy football program. (As Arielle had said, with Jupiter, it is big.) “The scandal badly damaged the image of the powerhouse college football program and forced out its legendary head coach Joe Paterno.” (9)
Joe Paterno, the other big name mentioned right away in the scandal, also has a natal planet sensitized by the transits to the cazimi point. Looking again at a solar chart, he has natal Mars at 5º Taurus. (10) (I heard him described by one sports commentator as possibly “the most important person in Pennsylvania.”) “The board of trustees fired Paterno and Penn State’s president for failing to tell police about an allegation of abuse once they learned of it. Apart from the criminal case, the university faces a string of external and internal investigations.” (11)
Recent eclipses have lit up both men’s charts. The total lunar eclipse on December 21, 2010 was at 29º Gemini. The Sun was then conjunct Sandusky’s Venus and Paterno’s Sun, both at 28º Sagittarius.
The total lunar eclipse on June 15, 2011 (24º23’ Sagittarius) was square Paterno’s natal Uranus at 25º Pisces. He was fired after a 46-year career in mid-November 2011. The solar eclipse on November 25 was at 2º37’ Sagittarius, the degree of his natal Saturn is (2º08’ in the solar chart). Sports and higher education fall under the dominion of Sagittarius.
Jupiter will make a final transit to 5º Taurus in February 2012. We’ll see what happens then.
But for now, I want to conclude with some other thoughts about the Sun-Venus synodic cycle. The late Robert Blaschke also studied the prenatal Sun-Venus conjunctions. He felt that if the conjunction was retrograde, i.e., inferior, that that person was completing karma in relationships in the current life. The retrograde prenatal Sun-Venus cazimi showed that we move toward significant relationships with those with whom we have deep and incomplete soul connections. He felt that those with the superior cazimi, i.e., Venus was direct when conjunct the Sun before birth, were meeting new people and starting new relationships in this life. I think it’s a very interesting observation, and I invite you to explore that idea in your close relationships.
Robert also noticed that the transiting cazimi degree (whether inferior or superior) is highly sensitive. If you have 5º Scorpio (or 23º Leo, the superior cazimi in August 2011) on an angle or with the Sun, Moon, or other important placement in the birth horoscope, Robert would have said that this would bring an important relationship into your life. This also shows the alluring strength of 15º44’ Gemini, the degree of the June 2012 Venus transit of the Sun.
Both Arielle and Robert have made fine observations about the quality of relationships between those with the prenatal Sun-Venus conjunction at the same degree. (In her book, Arielle calls them “Twin Stars.”)
Here’s to embodying all of Venus’s fruitful gifts as we all learn to love each other in all kinds of ways.
References:
(1) There was a superior conjunction, when Venus was direct, and on the other side of the Sun, on August 16, 2011 at 23º Leo.
(2) See Gary Caton’s blog Astrology as if the Sky Mattered
(3) Unruly Mars has a far more erratic orbit, but with Venus, symmetry prevails.
“Deborah Houlding’s article, The Beauty of the Venus Cycle in TMA Feb/Mar 2010, considers the start of the Venus cycle to be the superior conjunction. What seems important to understand, is that Venus has an “enduring symmetry.” No matter where one considers the start of the Venus cycle (i.e, at heliacal rise, at the inferior conjunction, or the superior conjunction), Venus will always make the five-pointed star in her eight-year journey with the Sun and the earth.”
See Mary Plumb’s blog Venus – Enduring Symmetry
(4) Anthony Weiner; September 4, 1964; Brooklyn, N.Y. Sunrise chart.
Wikipedia
(5) Sexting
(6)
Wikipedia
(7) Using a solar chart, Herman Cain does not appear to have as obviously dramatic a connection to 5º Scorpio as the others. Although we can never know what goes on in the emotional lives of those involved, perhaps this is suggested by the apparently consensual nature of Mr. Cain’s various sexual relationships. Herman Cain; December 13, 1945; Memphis, Tennessee. Sunrise chart.
Wikipedia
(8) Jerry Sandusky; January 26, 1944; Washington, Pennsylvania. Sunrise chart.
Wikipedia
(9)
News Page 1
(10) Joe Paterno; December 21, 1926; Brooklyn, New York. Sunrise chart.
Wikipedia
(11) News Page 1