 | Venus Transit: Global Oneness - A Celebration of Spiritual Unity June 6 – 8, 2004By Maya White
People around the world will be sharing in a celebration of Global Oneness this June
6 – 8, 2004 as Venus makes this rare visit across the face of the Sun. The Global Oneness Foundation based in Stockholm, Sweden, and in association with the Times Foundation based in Delhi, India is a source of knowledge, support, and experience for learning as we embrace the new age. Join us at through www.globaloneness.com.
What an exciting time to be alive! Every day we gain in awareness of ways to live a more expressive and fulfilling life. Synchronicity, the magic of ‘being in the right place at the right time’, increases our sense of wonder. And, always, we are called to open our hearts to both personal and impersonal love. Astrological events this year add to the excitement. One of the major transits of this year is on June 8th, when the planet Venus crosses directly between the Sun and Earth. Not quite as rare as the recent nearness of Mars to Earth, this is a transit that happens in 130 year cycles.
Venus Aphrodite- the Light and Dark Sides of Love
During the year, we see Venus shining brightly in the night or morning sky. Devoted sky gazers have been watching her increase in brightness in the evening western sky for several months. Meeting with the Sun reveals her most sparkling gown. One night I saw her dressed so finely that her halo matched that of the Moon! Venus will be visible in the evening sky until June 2nd, when she does an about face and enters into the underworld. She will be gone a total of 13 days, until she reappears on June 15th. She reemerges as the Morning Star, purified by her symbolic union with our creative source of cosmic fire, the Sun. Not only is Venus retrograde during this rare transit, she also opposes Lord Pluto during this visit to his underworld. The astrological details are listed below, at the end of this story. The mythology of this Venus transit completes a rich and lovely tale of our time.
Venus is the astrological Goddess of Eros and personal love as well as beauty. Her symbol is the rose. Because of her celestial prominence, Venus has long been incorporated into myths linking the sky and earth in our cosmic tale of evolution. She is much more important than a mere frolic or art show however. This Goddess is of course as old as humans, and one of the earlier archetypes for Venus is that of Inanna, Queen of the Heavens. Lovely Inanna meets Sol on June 8th for empowerment and expression of her brightness and beauty; but to do so she must enter the dark domain of her sister, Ereshkigal, dominatrix of the Underworld.
The Descent of Inanna
From Babylon comes the myth of Inanna, the Queen of Heaven and Earth who is lured into the underworld by moaning and cries of her sister, Ereshkigal. (This is the same Queen of the Underworld later named as Persephone.) Armed with her gifts of power as well as finery, Inanna prepares to descend into the darkness. Upon her head is a glorious crown; blue beads of lapus lazuli embrace her neck as well as the cane that she carries, and brightly sparkling stones protect her breast. Wearing her finest jewels and a royal robe, she sets out for the underworld with her faithful servant. Upon her arrival she is required to pass through seven narrow gates; at each gate one her adornments or item of clothing is removed. On the eighth day, vulnerable in her nakedness, she finally enters the underworld, only to be rejected and betrayed by her jealous sister. Disarmed and naked, Inanna is finally stripped of even her skin as she is hung on a meathook and left to die.
Thankfully, Inanna’s faithful servant seeks help from Enki, the God of Wisdom and Waters. Enki knows just what to do, for it is he who has arranged for this situation to begin with. (Venus trines coyote Neptune on April 21st and June 12th) Being a God of action, Enki creates two beings that enter the underworld to aid lost Inanna. After listening to the moans of Ereshkigal, and acknowledging her pain and discontent, the beings coax a gift of her- they ask for and retrieve Inanna’s now seemingly dead corpse. Freed of the spell and horror of the Underworld, Inanna returns to reign as the rightful Queen of the Heavens as she again becomes visible in the morning sky. She is now both empowered and wise from her journey. This year we rejoice in her return when she is again visible after June 15th, only now in the morning sky.
The actual transit lasts for eight hours on June 8th. Eight years later, on June 6th of 2012, this 130 year cycle completes itself with a repeat of this Venus/Sun transit. The year 2012 is also widely known as the final year of the Mayan calendar and completion of a major cycle for all of humanity. Honored as the ‘carrier of the Sun’ by the Mayan culture, Venus played a critical role in all aspects of life. Many Classic Mayan temple-pyramids were aligned to the rising of celestial bodies, and interlocking cycles of the Moon and Venus were used in calculating the ancient sacred and secular Mayan calendars.
Alchemy
Venus makes her frightful but empowering journey this time while in the astrological sign of Gemini. Mercury, ruling planet of Gemini is also the god of Alchemy. The lessons are clear. Putrefaction is a part of alchemy when the dross is burned off, and transmutation takes place after Inanna is left to rot. Lead is turned to gold. Alchemy day is June 8th, when Venus conjuncts Sol. Venus is a personal planet and many of us have been called to face our darkest fears, as she must do when she opposes Pluto. Also, the opposition is an aspect of relationships; Venus in Gemini looks to sociality. Let’s visualize the world we want and then create it through courage, compassion, and wisdom. We must love both ourselves and others, and as wise gods, give aid to those in need.
As a symbol of Venus, the rose reflects both her archetypal qualities as well as her visual orbit around the Sun. Let’s make it three days of roses; fragrant roses that we share with friends, a multitude of colored roses that we give to anyone in need of a kind word or loving touch. Remember, Venus enters her sojourn to aid her sister who is crying out in pain. Join with others in celebration around the world by sharing roses on June 8th, the perfect way to honor Venus and practice the alchemy of love.
The Line – Up
This is the technical part. Because of the way planets move in apparent motion from the earth, usually during a retrograde period, a transit will happen three times. The first Venus Pluto opposition is May 2nd, at 21° Gemini/Sagittarius with Venus in direct motion. May 17th, Venus stations retrograde at 26° Gemini. On June 2nd, Venus opposes Pluto again at 21 Gemini, this time she is retrograde. June 8th, Venus transits Sun at 17° Gemini. June 29th Venus stations direct at 9° Gemini. July 25th, Venus now in direct motion opposes Pluto again. Pluto is retrograde this entire time, having been so since late March.
©Maya White www.WhiteStarAstrology.com 2004
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