Venus left Libra on Wednesday, the 8^th of September, removing herself from the gilded halls of the white palace and beginning her descent into the twisting tunnels below.   Venus will be in and out of those tunnels for quite some time, as her upcoming retrograde (Oct. 7th-Nov. 18th)  will see her back and forth between Libra and Scorpio throughout the Fall.  Venus’ entrance into Scorpio over the last week puts her well into the shadow of events to come, and we’ll benefit from attuning ourselves to the characteristics of the cycle earlier rather than later.  For more on the characteristics of Venus retrogrades, check out Venus Retrograde Basics.

Beneath The Skin

Venus’ time in Libra makes relationships easier,  with both parties tending to adjust for pleasing presentation and mutual harmony.  When Venus moves to Scorpio, as she just has, people are prompted to stop compromising and starting getting “real.”

There are parts of everyone’s emotional make-up that they cannot and/or will not compromise.  These parts are brought to the surface by the presence of Venus in Scorpio, and represent necessary stumbling blocks in human relationships.

Venusian energy is led into a downwards, drilling spiral by Scorpio.  The mind digs to the heart of one’s motivations, tearing through old interpretations and seeking an authentic, if not pretty, emotional core.  As the mind digs, the heart’s hidden contents well up.  As in the literal search for black gold, drilling down is met with dark, sticky explosions that may well wreck your equipment for a bit.

What arises will inevitably be fear, which protects and confines us at the most fundamental level.  Venus will seek intimacy while testing trust this Fall, challenging us to new levels of open-ness while activating our terror of betrayal.  As this black gold surfaces in gooey geysers, remember to budget down-time for processing and refining what arises.

Oh My Goth

Aesthetically, Venus in Scorpio stimulates the dark side.  If you have any goth proclivities, this may be the time to take out the Cure album and burn those candles to the ground.

Look for more of the dark and the grotesque than usual in media, like the horror genre, as well as war and disaster footage.   If you’re down with the darkness, things should be fine, but if you love to live in the light, Venus in Scorpio may provide an ongoing aesthetic clash.

Delusion+ Debauch

During Venus in Scorpio people tend to seek pleasure more relentlessly than usual, and cling to it with greater tenacity.  The Tarot card which is said to best represent the effects of Venus in Scorpio is the 7 of Cups, called ”Delusion” or “Debauchery.”

Venus’ journey to our emotional core is marked by the rediscover of our personal demons- some of which like their pleasures, and some of which send us running for the pleasant compensations of debauchery  So watch yer drinkin’, smokin’, tokin’, internet consumption, and all that addictive whatnot this Fall.

The other side of the 7 of Cups is delusion.  Here we are looking specifically at delusions that we maintain in order to avoid letting go of something.  The excuses people make for bad partners and for their bad habits both fall into this category.  Let your excuses go, and don’t linger on the disillusionment that follows.

A Crisis of Faith

Venus is not just the planet of socio-sexual exchanges, she is also the goddess of stock exchanges.  Venus’ periods highlight different economic issues for both persons and collectives.  Venus’ last retrograde cycle in Aries (March-April 2009) was characterized by the fire sign’s optimism and tendency to declare victory prematurely.  Within months of the economic downturn, some economists were already declaring the crisis past, and assured investors and consumers that things would be back to normal any minute now.  Now, as Venus approaches her next retrograde cycle, we have proof piled on top of proof that such is simply not the case.

The coming period is characterized by  Venus in Scorpio.  This describes investors and consumers attitudes as pessimistic, and the system’s status as deteriorating.  A slow, systemic rot is what we are in for.  And as people begin setting their expectations to “suck,” they poise themselves to make a foolish mistake.  While in the Venus in Aries period, people were prone to celebrating premature victory, during the period that Venus in Scorpio presides over, the error will be to always assume the worst.  Low expectations are different than pessimism.  Pessimism is an attitude which pisses upon whatever the mind entertains.  It is not “smart”- it is simply a fear based reaction.  The prizes will go to those who can still recognize the positive in a system that is suffering from an overall deterioration.

Horoscopes

Horoscopes represent a fraction of the insight a chart reading by an experienced astrologer has to offer.  However, horoscopes are fun and can be useful.  Reading your Sun, Moon and Ascendant is suggested.  Take a special look at the Moon if you were born at night.

Aries:  The Ram

Venus’ entrance into Scorpio begins a season that sees you casting a critical eye at the exchange of resources between yourself and others. Your passions feel out the flow.  Utilize this intuitive sonar, but make sure you don’t over-react to the info you pick up.  The data’s not all in, yet.

Taurus: The Bull

Venus’ entrance into Scorpio opens a season which spotlights your relationships.  You’ll find yourself acutely aware of the patterns of passion which bind and separate you from others this Fall.  Spend the time reflecting on the exchanges that emerge, digging beneath surface explanations until you strike black gold.

Gemini: The Twins

Venus’ entrance into Scorpio opens a season which spotlights your habits.  Specifically, pleasure seeking habits you maintain to safeguard your emotional state.   See if you can engineer a way to fortify yourself in a more efficient, less wasteful, way.

Cancer: The Crab

Venus’ entrance into Scorpio takes you on a canoe trip down the good river styx.  As you shoot down the underworld river, you’ll find its banks stocked with lessons on intimacy, the bodies of past loves bobbing in the water. When you finally reach your upstream destination, you’ll rediscover the source of your creativity.

Leo: The Lion

Venus’ entrance into Scorpio begins a season of dealing with intense, sticky and often negative emotions- your favorite thing!  Most of this will center around family issues, but you may need to extend that definition to those as close to you as family.

Virgo: The Virgin

Venus’ entrance into Scorpio opens a long season of dealing with emotions shunted into intense communications.   You’ll be dealing with the way the passions slip into words, honeying and poisoning them.

Libra: The Scales

Venus’ entrance into Scorpio begins a season of changes in the way that you see yourself relating to others.   The scales will shift and tilt in your relationships, trying to find a new and truer fulcrum, a deeper point of balance.  On the way down the passions may well lack stability, but as you get further in this journey, you’ll find value within yourself beyond your ability to compromise.

Scorpio: The Scorpion

Venus’ entrance into your Sign this week kicks off what is sure to be an emotionally intense season for you.  You’ll be re-evaluating the way that you connect with people on a rather fundamental level.  Emotional toilets that have been clogged for years will suddenly back up, upchucking gallons of sewage onto your bathroom floor.   And after the sewage…love.  Yes, gallons of joy will pour from your backed up heart in the months to come, and you’ll be stuck mopping up the whole mess.

Sagittarius:  The Archer

Venus’ entrance into Scorpio this week kicks off a long season of emotional revelations.  The tide of your unconscious will begin to run high soon enough, with the banks overflowing with the passions you once tossed into the rushing waters.  Make note of what washes up.

Capricorn:  The Goat

Venus’ entrance into Scorpio this week kicks off a long season which will dig into the dirty underbelly of your friendships, as well as see you explore the tunnels within social networks.  You’ll seek and find the core of what friendship means, and learn a thing or two about how to slide through social networks to get where you need to go.

Aquarius: The Water Bearer

Venus’ entrance into Scorpio this week kicks off a period where the relationships in your professional sphere will be key.  You’ll be privy to lessons on the importance of trust in relationships professional and otherwise, and come to appreciate the stresses that professional partnerships put on people.

Pisces: The Fish

Venus’ entrance into Scorpio this week kicks off a period highlighting the relationship of your passions to your worldview.  You’ll edit out errors based on wishful thinking alone, and rework your model of self-and-world to include your most fundamental passions.

COPYRIGHT DARK SUN ASTROLOGY 2010

Sol in Virgo, Luna in Libra