A Deeper Appreciation of Love

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When the planet Venus, our celestial goddess of love, entered Aries in the beginning of February we mere mortals suddenly acquired a robust appetite and zealot appreciation for the lustier pleasures of love which left many a heart swept away in passionate play. Today, Venus in Aries stations retrograde and the sensual pleasuring many of us have been experiencing out and about in the world  of form has shifted direction and we now find ourselves embarking upon an inner journey into the hidden depths of our unconscious where we can discover a deeper appreciation and meaning of love. Traditional astrology tells us that a retrograde Venus can capriciously conjure a romantic liaison from our past suddenly reappearing in our present, and while this may be true for some, the deeper implication of Venus Rx in Aries is that all of us on Earth have something new to learn about the ancient wisdom of love if we willingly return our gaze to the past.

The Moon embodies the substance of our past and it is worth noting that a few hours before Venus stationed retrograde the Moon in Cancer made a conflicting square to our goddess of love suggesting that if we want to experience a deeper appreciation of love we may need to change emotional patterns we inherited long ago. Aries, the first sign in the zodiac, shines the celestial spotlight on the “self ” highlighting our awareness that whenever we are under the influence of Aries an aspect of our “self ” is being born. Venus expresses love while Aries boldly declares “I am” and together they serenade us in the voice of self-love reminding us that we cannot give to others what we have not given to ourself.

When we are under the influence of Aries we are seeking courage and the next forty days offers us the opportunity to re-discover our courage to love both ourself and others. Aries can be that aspect of ourself  masterfully defended depending upon our early childhood experiencing of love and we may need to disarm our defenses using our Venusian charm and grace. I was recently reminded by a friend that to love requires surrendering ourself in the act of loving not through self- sacrifice but through a conscious relinquishing of the emotional conditioning that is creating our experience of love. Venus is that  aspect in each of us that loves because we are loved but when Venus retrograde in Aries stations direct in Pisces conditional love  surrenders to unconditional love. Venus is exalted in Pisces for the simple reason that the nature of love is to love. Venus stays just long enough in Pisces before re-entering Aries to conjoin with Mars to guarantee that our brittle self-defense and self-protection will be disarmed.