Newsletter from September 4th, 2023
Venus with Taurus and Libra, from the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, 1945
Dear Reader,
Alas! As of today, Venus has emerged from her 40 day retrograde visit to the underworld, and is preparing to be re-birthed anew. Now visible in the early morning skies, Venus’ re-emergence symbolizes an opportunity to reflect on what’s transpired over the past month and a half. For a review of your Venus retrograde horoscopes by rising sign, click here. A common theme of Venus retrogrades is breaking or renewing attachments to precious people, projects, desires and ideals. What (if anything) have you uncovered, been surprised by, reclaimed, re-subscribed to, un-subscribed to, or reconnected with in the past month and a half? Did it in any way link to or rhyme with what was happening in August-September of 2015* (the last time Venus went retrograde in Leo)?
La Volupte (Sensual Pleasure), vintage French playing card
And although Mercury is still retrograde (thus hijinx), this week promises a moment of clarity and insight via the Sun-Mercury cazimi which happens on Wednesday, September 6th. A cazimi is a short window of time when Mercury (the planet of communication and messages) enters “the heart of the Sun” — astronomically speaking, when they are at the exact same degree of the zodiac. This phenomenon is associated with revelations, insights, breakthroughs, and receiving messages or news of importance, as the communicative power of Mercury is amplified and illuminated during these few hours.
Robert Fludd, from Utriusque Cosmi, 1621
If you’re so inclined, you may take this moment on this day to pull a tarot card. Or you may prefer to let life reveal what it will, through conversations, communications, encounters, or dreams. It’s a good day for staying a little extra alert to what you hear, see, read, and think. Sometimes these cazimi insights are as soft as a whisper, and sometimes they are as loud as the angel’s trumpet on the Judgement card.
Judgement, from the Tarot Minchiate Florentinas
I will offer a recent example from my own life:
Earlier this year on May 1st, the Sun and Mercury formed a cazimi in the sign of Taurus. It was during this cazimi that I discovered I was pregnant.
I took an at home pregnancy test because I was a couple days late, though I figured it was due to an irregularity in my cycle rather than a pregnancy. I thought this was the case because my husband and I were under the impression that it would be exceedingly difficult to become pregnant naturally. It had only been a couple of weeks since a fertility doctor told us (after reviewing some tests) that we had a less than 3% chance of getting pregnant without medical interventions.
I read the positive result of my at home pregnancy test with disbelief, and immediately looked to the chart of the sky at that moment — there was Mercury and Sun, both at 11 degrees of Taurus, meeting in my 7th house of one-on-one partnerships. While the 7th house isn’t typically associated with children or pregnancy, I can’t imagine a more intimate partnership than having another living being growing inside of you, absorbing everything that travels through you, physically and psychically. A revelation about a partnership, indeed, and easily the most profound and life changing *message* I’ve ever received.
Robert Fludd, from Utriusque Cosmi, 1621
I share this to illustrate the ways in which observing the astrological currents can infuse your own life with a kind of heightened awareness to the symbolic dimension of reality — which in turn, can promote a deepened appreciation (or at least a greater acceptance) for whatever life brings. If you’d like a thorough understanding of how this Venus retrograde, the Mercury cazimi, or the upcoming Fall astro-weather may impact your own life, I would be happy to assist with a one-on-one consultation, which you can book here.