(originally published Sept. 3rd, 2007)
Venus in Leo is bright, radiant, authoritative, wrathful, loving and sovereign. A brief backwards glance into the pantheons of the past reveals a pair of goddesses whose resonance rides easy on the currents of Venus in Leo- the Egyptian Goddesses Sekhmet and Bast.
Sekmet and Bast are both cat-headed goddesses of the Sun. Both were originally portrayed with lioness-heads, but eventually Bast’s image was softened and she came to be depicted as having the head of domestic cat. Each served a protective role for her respective kingdom, with Sekhmet protecting Upper Egypt, and Bast protecting lower Egypt. Both cleansed the land of evil in various forms, with Sekhmet protecting the pharaoh with arrows of flame while Bast removed harmful vermin from the human realm. Both were protective, potentially destructive solar goddesses.
Sekhmet was seen as having mastery over disease, both causing it and removing it. In fact, she was regarded as the patron of physicians during the Eqypt’s Middle Kingdom period. The destroying solar heat also had the power to burn away corruptions of the body. Bast had similar significations, for she preserved the kingdom from disease by destroying the vermin which caused it.
Bast was also considered the patroness of perfumes and ointments. This particular association echoes Sekhmet’s association with medicine, as much ancient (and modern) medicine depends on the application of an ointment or salve to the body. “Apply Directly To The Forehead.” Here the potentially healing aspect of the Sun is mixed with the indications of Venus- the mistress of surfaces. If we move beyond medicinal applications and onto perfume, we see one of the tools most sacred to Venus- the manipulation of the sense of smell to attract and repel. Insect repellent and perfume. Like the Sun, our message of attraction and repulsion is broadcast loud and clear into our area. One also imagines that Bast would not take affront to the various oils used to in massage, both therapeutic and sensual.
In both of these goddesses we can clearly see Venus’ essence manifesting through a Leonine, solar form. On a personal level, many women will feel the Sekhmet/Bast archetype awakening within them. Independence, ferocity, and powerful projections of love and hate come with this particular mode. As with the sun, when the heart flares with love or hate, these intentions mobilize energy in that direction. This awakens both the power to heal and to destroy, depending on whether the impulse is that of love or hate.
The power of these solar goddesses to heal and destroy suggests a particular human art- Reiki, the Japanese art of projecting healing energy into others. Reiki is actually two characters, “Rei” meaning an unseen spiritual force, and “Ki” (synonymous with the Chinese “Chi”) meaning energy or life-force. In Reiki, the practitioner, like mythical Sekhmet and Bast, projects energy into another person in order to cleanse them of disease and imbalance. If one is comfortable with Kabbalistic methods of word-association, it is interesting to note that the syllable “Rei” is the same one as the Spanish word “Rey” meaning King, and the English word “Ray,” designating a unidirectional shaft of light. If we add this to “Ki” meaning “energy”, we have Rei-Ki as the “king’s energy” (Rey Ki) or “light’s energy” (Ray Ki). These associations are intriguing, indeed, consider the solar associations with the pharaoh/king and Sekhmet/Bast. Although not commonly taught, a practitioner capable of mobilizing and projecting their energy via a healing intention can certainly harm in the same way. As the Sun flares, so does the heart.
Although Sekhmet/Bast is an excellent mythological model to understand Venus in Leo, we must stray from strict mythology in order to fully grasp Venus in Leo. If we move beyond what is stated, and on to what is implied, we find Venus’ favorite activity- sex. Here the mythology of Bast is suggestive, as she was concerned with perfume, and later came to be associated with fertility. Sekhmet’s myths are largely silent in regard to her sexual role, except for one, where she gets drunk and becomes the Eqyptian Venus herself- Hathor. With Venus in Leo, the emotional intention, be it love or anger, extends to fill the entire kingdom. Like a perfume wafting into every corner or flames consuming all they can, Venus in Leo makes a statement of herself that no one can mistake. When this is turned to the purpose of sexual interest, what results can only be described by the term “bombshell.” Combining attraction and destruction in the simple act of presence, this is the piece the Egyptians might have left out.
Sekhmet protected the pharaoh in war and his kingdom from disease while drowning his foes in firey doom. On the mortal level, Venus in Leo puts much greater power to heal or destroy their mates into women’s hands. Here Venus is teaching lessons on the importance and power of expressing both love and anger. A failure to express or an severely imbalanced expression of either will be a source of problems under Venus in Leo’s auspices. Relationships that depend on the women playing a submissive role will also fair poorly. Sekhmet/Bast is a feminine archetype to be honored, or else.
12 Comments
Amazing…this article perfectly describes the fire meditation/ritual a friend and I just had two nights ago. The power behind it all and it’s fuel…spot on. The mentioning of the Fire Arrows and connections with Reiki and shamanic/esoteric energy projection in general…I love how you manage to take every deep angle one can possibly make with the connections of energy behind and between the stars and planets and weave it into such comprehensible words!
Your articles describing the various placements of signs and planets are eloquent and informative…I’m going to start browsing in hopes of finding something for Venus in Scorpio now…
Re: Aeres
Excellent! Glad you like. I’ve been thinking about putting out a collection of these archetypal portraits in ebook format this Fall.
Cor Leonis ! Giggles … simply delicious or deadly. I liken it to Burger King in many ways ~ Have it your way. Comes with a side order of caution, beware what you wish for.
I really hope that you *WILL* put out such an e-book, BSVCPHD…I find them to be not only very helpful in understanding the archetypes as concerning the planertary alignments, but your writing is wonderfully clever (cleaver? hmmm) too! Thanks for sharing them as you do. It’s gonna be one helluva Flaming Ride over the next month I suspect.
are there any other good internet links about Reiki? i am really interested about it.`”‘
I can’t figure out how to subscribe to the comments via RSS . I want to keep abrest of this, how do I do that?
What an amazing article Really informative and purely detailed. I loved it how Venus and Leo combines.
You forgot to mention the love of games, antagonizing and friendly competition!!!!!
Not to be gloomy…but…I have known three Leo in Women in my personal life, and they definitely resorted to the ‘destructive’ side of their sign. Women are catty enough, but these three babes were beyond the pale. Jealousy seems rampant in them and after reading about their need to be adored and noticed, it is no wonder why. I actually disliked all three…one was an inlaw, another I grew up with, and the third a co-worker (one of the worst situations going), in fact I left my job because of her.
They eventually lose because their men get tired of paying such homage to their mate…even finding her vain and lacking true kindness.
I think Venus in Virgo is more likely to be the real sex bomb, and I have known lovely Venus in Cancer women.
NICOLE737 All true! i believe to tolerate the typical traits in the other whether leonine or virgoan or scorpionic or piscean, one has to have the certain traits in complement to theirs. e.g:- i attract librans and cancerians rather easily (i have 8th house libra and cancer is dominant) – i find them cute/beautiful too but also get easily irritated with their shallowness/unoriginality – so i prefer the virgo or the saggitarius (my 7th house and 10th) until you learn how deeply unsatisfied/ at odds a virgoan is with her body (this is when u miss the leo and scorpio/taurus woman – my Venus in taurus and pluto in the 8th house) or how unabashedly masculine (or unfeminine) is the sagittarian or the ariean (which is when you miss the cancerian/taurean/virgoan). however my moon in leo in the 5th house helps me tolerate leo women the most and leos in general – my gemini sun co-operates well with this – until too much vanity/ chronic attempts for attention and haughtiness (leo fieriness) can turn me off and make me run for the scorpio or pisces ( my asc in pisces trines mercury & mars in cancer). so with leos, virgos and even scorpios and pisceans its on and off for me – tend to keep libras and saggis at arm length though they can be fun-laden women of the zodiac fro me. and also the above article doesnt end on the right note at all – a leo woman has to be made to submit and for that you need a leo – like man who can hold his ground to the lioness – or yes she might eat you up. i personally don’t get ruffled by leo women even at their worst although men can be scarier (they’re generally stronger than me 🙂 ).