The study of the cycles of Venus is at the root of the evolution of current math and science. Cultures all over the world have focused a great deal of attention on Venus. In The Mayan calendar, Venus is the rhythm keeper of the calendar. The orbit of Venus is the most perfectly round orbit in our solar system making her cycle extremely reliable for keeping track of time.
Numbers of Venus
243 Earth Days = 1 Venus day
She does a slow spin going west to east to mirror the Earth's spin of east to west.
224 Earth days = Venus Year
From Earth point of view, Venus takes 584 to complete the synodic cycle of her orbit. Each 19-month cycle Venus spends 260 days as a morning star and 260 days as an evening star.
Venus spends 40 days in Retrograde. (You might recognize that number from the Bible as the time Jesus spent in the desert testing his faith).
It takes 8 earth years for Venus to complete 5 Synodic Cycles creating a 5 pointed pentacle in the sky around us by marking the rise of Venus as a morning star. This process takes 13 Venus years.
Reflecting the sacred number sequence of nature also known as the Fibonacci sequence: 1 2 3 5 8 13 Shown in the growth pattern of most life on earth. Also known as the golden mean it is one of the defining principles of what we find beautiful in art, architecture, and the natural world.
By correspondence, we can now explore the astrological keywords of Venus- love, beauty, nature, resources as a reflection of this sacred number.
Astrologically
Venus rules our connections. The sign and house of your Venus will indicate the specifics of your personal way of connecting. What you Love, what you find beautiful, how you are with resources.
Your sign and house placement can give you a map to self-mastery of understanding your way of connecting and a clue of how to combine with others.
Venus is one of the planets studied in doing a relationship reading. How Venus collides with another paints a picture of the relationship.
In people identifying as feminine Venus is usually expressed on a more conscious level and is easy to self-identify with. With people who Identify as masculine, their Venus is expressed on a subconscious level. Often projected as what they find attractive in the other.
Mythically
Venus has a myth in every culture. For this moment we will look at the ancient Sumerian story of Inanna Queen of heaven. http://www.goddess-studio.com/Inanna_Article_compiled_by_Amalya_10-25-10.pdf
Built into this story are initiation and resurrection. It is the heroine's journey.
The 7 gates Inanna descends to reach the underworld reflected in the conjunction of Venus and the moon.
Each gate representing a chakra and in myth a piece of vestment symbolizing that part of the ego self. This is a story of ego death and initiation.
As a morning star, Venus is conjunct the waning crescent moon once a month for 7 months.
Each gate representing a possibility of releasing and clearing of karma and limiting beliefs.
Gate 1 - Crown Chakra - Authority and Connection to the Divine
Gate 2- Brow Chakra - Perception
Gate 3 - Throat Chakra - Voice Communication
Gate 4 - Heart Chakra - Compassion
Gate 5 - Solar Plexus Chakra - Personal Power
Gate 6 - Sacral Chakra - Creativity and Sexuality
Gate 7 - Root Chakra - Lifeforce
Gate 8 - Death by intent
Underworld conjunct the sun
As an evening star, Venus is conjunct the waxing crescent moon once a month for 7 months.
Each gate representing the possibility of reclaiming sovereignty of self as a fully initiated spiritual adult.
Gate 1 - Root Chakra - Lifeforce
Gate 2- Sacral Chakra - Creativity and Sexuality
Gate 3 - Solar Plexus Chakra - Personal Power
Gate 4 - Heart Chakra - Compassion
Gate 5 - Throat Chakra - Voice Communication
Gate 6 - Brow Chakra - Perception
Gate 7 - Crown Chakra - Authority and Connection to the Divine
Gate 8 - Life By Intent
Then Venus turns retrograde and returns as a morning star beginning the cycle again.
Figuring out which gate you are born under gives a lot of information about the story of your path to mastery. If you would like to know your gate feel free to book a reading with me. https://www.josephinethomason.com/
At the time of this writing Venus is just beginning to rise from the Underworld as an evening star. The dates of the gates in 2018 are
March 18- 1st Gate
April 17 - 2nd Gate
May 17- 3rd Gate
June 16 - 4th Gate
July 15 - 5th Gate
Aug 14 - 6th Gate
Sept 12 - 7th Gate
Stations Retrograde Oct 5
Suggestions for honoring:
On the date of the gate, go outside and observe the conjunction of the Moon and Venus. Create a sacred container for yourself. Calling in your guidance especially calling to Venus. Sit in meditation focusing on the chakra activated by this gate. Journey Into that space asking what you need to clear to fully activate this part of yourself.
Symbolically reclaim yourself. Be creative and allow for guidance on how to do this.
Create a altar to the divine feminine as represented in the cycle of Venus. -Altar work creates a space for regular honoring of your processes. It is a space that is created specifically to connect with spirit. Creating an altar is done through intention and connection. Choosing a space and calling in sacred space setting intent to create an altar. Using objects to represent what you are honoring.
Engaging with the altar regularly sitting with it and honoring through elemental honoring: fire - candles, air- smoke of incense, water -beverages, earth - food, flowers, and stones.
Resources and links:
Gary Caton http://dreamastrologer.com/
Geminii Brett https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gemini+brett+13th+flower
Cayelin K Castell http://venusalchemy.com/
Daniel Giamario http://shamanicastrology.com/