Venus Transit: New Millenium BeingBy Gururattan Kaur Khalsa, Ph.D.
Venus will appear as a small object slowly crossing the face of the Sun for nearly seven hours June 8th. This “Venus transit” is the astrological event of the year. Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun every 584 days or so. But because the orbit of Venus is on a slight angle, we rarely see the planet cross the face of the Sun. This rare passage happens approximately every 120 years, in pairs eight years apart.
Passing during the daylight hours, through Western Europe to the Middle East, the transit will be visible in its entirety. The beginning but not the end will be visible in Australia and parts of Asia. As the Sun rises, certain locations in Western Africa and North and Central America will see part of the transit. *(1) On the West Coast in the USA, we will have to tune in with meditation during the early hours before sunrise.
During previous Venus transits, breakthroughs in human consciousness were initiated and significant developments in human communication came to pass. We have only observed these transits since the invention of the telescope. The past known Venus transits and events during those times are summarized in the footnote below. *(2)
The question people are asking now is -- What breakthrough will the 2004 and 2012 events unleash? Some prophesize a consciousness shift into a more heart-centered world. With the opening of intuitive awareness and mass meditation, this transit “could trigger a major breakthrough in the development of a new telepathic field on planet Earth.” *(3)
HEAVENLY HAPPENINGS
I have listed the major current astrological events in the footnote below. *(4) In this NMB I discuss the Venus Transit (June 8th), the Oneness Celebration (June 6-8th) and the Full Moon June 2nd. I will discuss Gemini in depth and the New Moon June 17th in NMB issue #89.
ONENESS CELEBRATION AND ENLIGHTENMENT
Around the globe, celebrations and meditations are scheduled between June 6th and 8th. Through the Internet, millions of people will find out and be brought together to participate in events to connect with Venus energy. In meditation and prayer we will transcend the mental constructs, physical distances and economic conditions that create illusions of separation and differences between us.
The Oneness Celebration June 6-8th launches a global call to humanity to collaborate to achieve enlightenment by the year 2012. Lest this goal seem like an outrageous fantasy, we can observe that the Venus Transit plays a very significant role in the Mayan Calendar. It is also a turning point in the Vedic tradition. The latter speaks of the Venus Transit of 2004 as the starting point of the Golden Age, a process that will be completed at the next Venus Transit in 2012.
The Venus transits in 2004 and 2012 are supporting humanity by offering us an intense dose of love energy to shift our consciousness. As Venus intensifies her beam of universal love to the planet, everyone will receive it, whether we notice it or not. Those who are receptive and take the time to feel the impact may have heart opening and oneness experiences.
ENLIGHTENMENT BY 2012?
But how is humanity going to achieve enlightenment by the year 2012? That is the question I want to examine. There are no hints of this shift in consciousness in the newspapers. Although there is plenty of violence and craziness to warrant the urgent need for any shift in consciousness that we can muster.
Humanity is in an intense phase of planetary evolution. The speed-up of time and the increased energy frequency on the planet are creating volatile change and rapid transformation. Pressurized change in a short period of time is usually confusing and chaotic. When energy shifts, our perception of reality shifts. When our reality shifts, our relationships are tested and our circumstances can be shaken to the core.
June 6 is a pivotal date in the Mayan calendar, when universal energies are optimal for integrating the right and left hemispheres of the brain and male/female energies. The fundamental reality shift is happening because male and female energies are coming into balance. For millennia humanity has been left-brain, male-dominated. Now our right -intuitive brain is being awakened. (Uranus in Pisces is also contributing to our expanded intuitive awareness. See NMB #62) Initially, expanded consciousness can create feelings of uncertainty, anxiety and fear. But as we learn to listen to our intuition and follow our hearts, we will stabilize into a new rhythm. Our expanded awareness will then enable us to function more effectively.
WE HAVE TO GET REAL
I have been reflecting on the heavenly activity in the next month and how it highlights themes that have been facing humanity for a while and intensifies issues that we will continue to confront. I think it all comes down to “Let’s get REAL.” I mean REALLY REAL. Not just superficially repeating we all want peace and love. Heh, everyone ever born has wanted peace and love. Humans incarnate to experience peace and love in physical reality. The intensity of the times suggests that we urgently need to get beyond the verbiage. We need to ask ourselves, What is really real? And how do we get really real? How can we experience the dimension of peace and joy that we know exists but haven’t yet been able to access?
A PLUTO GET REAL STORY
I am going to interject a story of one of my students who is in the process of getting really real with himself. Jay has retrograde Pluto conjunct his Virgo Sun in his second house. Now that is just perfect for picking on himself and tormenting himself. Fortunately he has a Leo moon which reminds him to listen to his heart. Interesting that Jay is the most delightful person. The room lights us when he comes to Kundalini yoga class. One would never imagine that he would indulge in self-torment. (Many humans unfortunately have adopted this self-destructive habit.)
Recently Jay has been emotionally distraught over the ending of a relationship. Fortunately, he has seized this opportunity to stabilize and increase his Kundalini yoga and meditation practice, which has helped him process his emotional trauma quickly and profoundly. Last week he shared that he came home from work extremely upset. Following the advice of a book about healing from terminated relationships, he put on a sad song CD and let himself cry. Then he did 31 minutes chanting ONG NA MO, GURU DEV NA MO. He asked all the teachers to help him pull the parts of himself that he had given away back to himself.
An hour later, Jay bounced into class early, feeling great and exuding a radiant light. He shared that after the meditation he experienced the most awesome sense of his own inner beauty. And it was REAL, REALLY THE LIGHT OF HIS SOUL. The inner love and joy that he felt was so overwhelming that for first time his pain disappeared.
Jay had asked me, what having Pluto retrograde on his Sun meant. I told him that he could either torment himself (He confirmed that this is what he had done his whole life.) or he could find the true depth of his soul (a more enticing option.) With this configuration, he has direct access to his deepest emotions and thus to his soul. And sure enough, that Virgo push toward perfection drove him all the way through the tunnel to the light at the end.
OPENINGS AND POSSIBILITIES IN A BROADER CONTEXT
In order to understand the meaning of astrological “events” and how planetary movements impact us, there are two things we must keep in mind. (1) First, shifts in energy create openings and expand possibilities. But they do not make things happen. Our attention should not be on observation, but on our participation. The Oneness Celebration is about our participation, which is the contribution we are choosing to make to achieve world peace.
It is delightful to anticipate Venus visibly crossing the face of the Sun and feel good about Venus themes – universal love, peace and harmony and the compassion of the Divine Feminine. It is tempting to extrapolate that the empowerment of the feminine is close at hand and that major breakthroughs in communication and even international cooperation are about to occur. Actually I too believe, and even experience, that the planet is already being infused with a higher vibration of love. Many people are receptive to this higher frequency of energy and are responding with shifts in consciousness as well as with actions to create more peace and harmony in the world.
(2) Second, we have to look at all the planetary interactions. No event happens in isolation. It is the whole context that determines the impact and creates the energy. I think the key to understanding the nature of the energies and the opportunities being offered at this time lies in the fact that Pluto figures very prominently in the current astrological activities.
THE PLUTO FACTOR AND THE FULL MOON JUNE 2-3.
Venus in Gemini is in opposition to Pluto in Sagittarius three times in four months – May 1, June 2, and July 25. That means that for four months the energies of Pluto and Venus interact in one of the most confrontive configurations – the opposition. Dishonesty, incongruities and lack of integrity are exposed. What we have denied, disclaimed and keep secret must be revealed and dealt with before we can move forward. The only route out is on the bandwidth of honesty, candor and complete integrity.
The Sagittarius Full Moon, June 2, intensifies this opposition. Both the Moon and Pluto in Sagittarius will confront the Sun and Venus in Gemini. The penetrating presence of Pluto and the emotionally volatile Moon do not make for a superficial joy ride.
The Sun/Venus conjunction illuminates our desire for peace and harmony. However, Pluto’s active involvement dramatically shifts the dynamic interplay. In lower, asleep consciousness, Gemini withholds and manipulates information. Pluto engages in power struggles and control trips. A fruitful balance of power can be achieved only through the deep probing and exposure of the truth that Pluto demands with the goal of achieving the peace and harmony that Venus desires.
If we side with either Venus or Pluto, we won’t get the results we want (and are available.) The nature of oppositions makes it imperative that both parties must be listened to. Both hold a piece of the truth. At higher consciousness, in the heart, we can know the truth that synergizes polar energies into solutions not available at the level where the problems were created.
THE FULL MOON -- THE DYNAMICS OF CHANGE
Gemini seeks information and communication. Sagittarius seeks meaning and truth. Both are mutable signs which means that they invite us to consider what works and what doesn’t. Integrate what does, leave the rest behind and move on. Flexibility and openness to change are touchstones for the mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.) They all play a role in this Full Moon.
At this Full Moon, Jupiter in Virgo and Uranus in Pisces form a mutable Grand Cross with the Sun and the Moon. The message is intense and to the point is clear – CHANGE! Transformation is happening, whether we like it or not. We have two choices -- be a victim or an active participant. A Grand Cross is formed by four planets intersecting at 90 degree (square) and 180 degree (opposition) angles. Squares create change through impact and collisions. Action happens. We either initiate it or it happens to us. Oppositions create transformation through direct confrontation, which must eventually (the sooner the better) lead to cooperation and synthesis.
Each planet adds a special dynamic to the change process. Jupiter in Virgo reminds us to be very attentive to details and not to overlook any pieces of the puzzle. Uranus in Pisces tells us that we can and must use our intuition to find out what is happening and to be aware of the whole story. Jupiter in Virgo tells us that the answer must include service and Uranus invites us to take a global perspective. Pluto informs us that there is much more to the story than is superficially obvious.
Uranus will go retrograde June 10. When a planet approaches retrograde, its influence is amplified. Uranus retrograde for 5 months gives us ample time to tune into radical changes and get ourselves prepared to deal with our evolving reality. We are going to be examining many Venus themes including our relationships, our values and how we use our resources. We are being obliged to rebalance and even re-invent our lives in these areas.
PLUTO – LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
In mythology, Pluto is considered the God of the Underworld. Pluto requires that we venture deep into our psyche, uncover our darkness, expose our fears and examine what controls our thoughts and actions. The purpose of this deep probing is not to bring us pain, although that is often part of the cleansing process. The purpose of this penetrating investigation is to get honest with ourselves and to expose the truth about the subconscious programming that controls our lives.
Pluto makes is very clear that there is no way we are going to set ourselves free without examining how we are imprisoned. There is no way we can vibrate love, if we are controlled by unidentified fear. There is no way we can be happy, if there are parts of ourselves that we judge as bad, evil or undesirable. The process doesn’t have to take years and create more torment than was there in the first place. But it has to be sincere and thorough enough to deal with our major neuroses. If we don’t go through this tunnel, we are going to play out our unexamined fear and anger individually in dysfunctional relationships and traumatic life experiences. Collectively we will continue to express our unconsciousness darkness in social conflict, wars, abuse and exploitation.
Pluto’s end goal is to clear the path in our psyche so that our power (Kundalini) can be unleashed. So that we can experience our inner beauty like Jay did. So that we can live our lives from the perspective of the light of our soul. Pluto is trying to help us get to the end of the tunnel. At the end of the tunnel is Light. At the end of the tunnel is Venus. At the end of the tunnel is Love.
So how do we get there? Do we beat ourselves up and judge ourselves for being bad? Has the shame, blame strategy ever worked? Venus is always present to remind us that there is another strategy that produces the results we want. Venus teaches us to love our fears, to nurture our insecurities with support, and to bring Light into the darkness so that we can achieve clarity and understanding. This is certainly not a new message. Jesus and other spiritual masters taught it. The problem is that humanity as a whole has not yet internalized the message. We are still just talking about it. We are still hoping that it will happen without doing our personal work. We are still under the illusion that someone or something will do it for us.
WE DENY THE BASIC NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE
As I said, we have to look at the whole sky and see the whole dynamically alive picture to get an integrated message. Why are our Venus moments so short and so mental? Because we haven’t integrated Pluto into our psyche. We have separated the Goddess of Love and the God of the Underworld into two separate incompatible camps. We have kept them in two boxes with no channels of communication between them. And as a result, we live in conflict. We want love but it is unattainable. We want peace, but we keep on fighting. This time we better find out why.
Why? Because we don’t accept duality. We deny the basic nature of the universe. We don’t allow the feminine. We don’t experience that the nature of reality is dual – feminine and masculine, physical and non-physical. As a result we categorize everything into right and wrong, good and evil, light and dark. The cosmos is created through the dance of polarities. If half is considered bad and judged evil, we will never experience the love that comes through oneness with all that is.
The Venus transit is being billed as the integration of the feminine and the masculine. If we really want to experience this reality, we can’t just re-embrace the feminine. We have to change the way we perceive and deal with reality. We have to expand our definition of both the feminine and the masculine. And we have to cultivate non-verbal personal experiences of true feminine and masculine energies and power.
THE DARK MOTHER KEEPS US REAL
The feminine is not just the higher love of Venus. The feminine is the darkness, our emotions, our unconscious, and the underworld of Pluto. Pluto not only makes sure the old dies, Pluto gives birth to the new. We miss this part. We miss it because we haven’t gone deep enough. We haven’t persevered to the end of the tunnel. We are stuck in the darkness that we are afraid to face head on. This is where we have to get real, so we can move forward toward the light.
Pluto is the Dark Earth Mother. She makes sure that we move to deeper and more complete levels of integrity within ourselves and with each other. Pluto keeps us honest, authentic and forever searching for more profound meaning and experiences.
Pluto opposing Venus makes us get REAL. Pluto is teaching us that in order for planetary enlightenment to be possible, a very profound shift in our psyche must take place. This is the core theme that serves as a context for all our high aspirations at this time.
How do we get to the next level of consciousness? A QUANTUM SHIFT IN AWARENESS, EXPERIENCE, EXPRESSION AND INTEGRATION OF BOTH MALE AND FEMALE POLARITIES IS REQUIRED. This is what is needed and this is what is available. We can and we have to expand our limited reality. We have to make ourselves available to move beyond our limited perceptions and narrow paths. We have to want more than to just get through the day. Focus is good. But narrow-mindedness and restriction does not serve us or deliver us to our goal.
DUALITY IS NOT THE PROBLEM
For eons, spiritual paths have taught us that duality is the problem and that non-duality is the solution. I think we have misunderstood or inappropriately defined some very basic concepts. When humans first incarnated, our experience of the Divine was totally available and constant. As our reality got denser and our connection with the Divine got harder to sustain, we began to blame the feminine, woman and Maya for the distractions.
Over time the male polarity was elevated to the status of “God” and the female polarity was denigrated to the status of “evil.” Thus to achieve oneness, we have been taught to try to transcend the feminine – our bodies, our emotions, women, sexuality and all the worldly “temptations.” Yes, oneness and harmony are our goals. But this state of consciousness is not achieved by excluding one of the two basic universal energies. There has never been any proof that this formula works. Because it never has. It has just created frustration, stress, conflict and wars. History documents more than ample proof.
Our basic problem is that we don’t accept and honor life, the earth, our bodies and creation itself. Spiritual paths have negatively labeled all earthly activities and things Maya. Many religions and spiritual paths have professed that the highest spiritual goal is to escape physical reality – to go home to God. True most of what we do and think does distract us from experiencing the Divine. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead we could view all forms of creation as reminders of infinite creativity and the miracles of life. To do so we have enter the dimension of realty where we experience everything as a miracle in progress.
DUALITY IS THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE
Venus crossing the face of the Sun can serve as a symbol of the cosmic dance between the feminine and the masculine polarities. We can visibly witness that duality is the nature of the universe. It is impressive and inspiring how stable and patiently the Sun sits in the sky while Venus lovingly and elegantly passes through the Sun’s rays.
The intercourse between the masculine and the feminine makes creation possible. Male energy creates stability and an expansive imperturbable context for the cosmic dance. Feminine energy offers us the possibility of choice and variations on a theme. The feminine gives us our feelings and their ability to change. | 
