Have you been feeling a need for an aphrodisiac to arouse your love of life again?  Has life become more drudgery than joy, more conflict than peace, more pain than pleasure and/or more extremes than balance? Is your each and every day blessed with the presence of people, work, and things that you value and which give you pleasure? These are important questions for us to ask ourselves now as Venus, the Goddess of Love, is  retrograde and will be until June 29. Furthermore, a rare celestial event occurs during this Venus retrograde cycle—Venus will move across the face of the Sun on June 8, 2004. This astronomical phenomenon is something that no person alive on this planet has ever had the opportunity to witness. The last time Venus moved across the disk of the Sun was on December 6, 1882—nearly 122 years ago. But many of us will be able to view this awesome event. It will be completely visible in Europe and partially visible in Africa, Asia and the Eastern United States. 

So what do these Venus events have to do with you? Astrologers know that astronomical events provide us with a means for understanding human phenomena for we study and observe the relationship between the grand universe outside and the inner universe within.  The planets in our solar system symbolize facets of our human psyche. Most of us have heard reference to Venus as the Goddess of Love or heard her referred to as an archetype associated with the Greek goddess, Aphrodite. However, Venus’ symbolism runs deeper and her influence more important than many of us realize.

One facet of Venus’ archetype manifests as grounded, earthy and sensual. The Venus facet of your psyche relishes natural and sensory pleasures: good food, beautiful vocals, glorious scents, and the touch of a loved one, to name but a few of the possibilities. Fundamentally, Venus energy resonates with your inherent desire to attract into your life those things of greatest value and which bring you comfort and joy. It is the planet Venus which symbolizes your capacity to form and identify what you personally value.  At the top of that list is the value you give to yourself. YOU are your most important commodity!  Therefore, while Venus is retrograde, and especially as she moves across the face of the Sun, there is no better time for asking ourselves, “What do I value most? What resources do I wish to bring in? What do I treasure? What gives me pleasure? Do my life circumstances reflect my values?” And there’s no better time than the next two months to make whatever changes you need to make to ensure your day to days are filled with beauty, peace, comfort and joy  because  inspiration and creative energy is flowing in the Universe.

When we are not in touch with the Venus facet of our psyche, our self-esteem may be low, we may not know what is personally valuable to us, and we may not even be conscious of desiring or needing anything at all!  We might go through our day to days feeling empty and deriving very little real pleasure from life. Yet, joy is our birthright! All that is required of us is that we be aware of what we value and keep our sights on that. Venus’ energy will attract into our lives what we focus our attention on.

This Venus retrograde is our grand opportunity to examine our values and ensure that they are not conditioned copies of what our family or social circle have determined 'should' be of value to us. Further, we need to examine whether we feel worthwhile enough to give ourselves pleasure. Do we judge ourselves harshly? Do we feel unlovable and undeserving of happiness? Are we comfortable with our body and the enjoyment of sensual pleasures? Do we feel worthless unless someone else loves us?

Now, how does all that I've written above fit in with our understanding of Venus as the Goddess of Love? Is it not true that our choices in love are a statement about what we value most? Do we not love what we find most beautiful, most pleasureful, and most treasured?  For Venus, relationships provide the means for the formation of a personal value system. We all have preferences and we don't value everything. We find more pleasure spending time with people who enjoy the same things we do. We seek relationships with folks with whom we share similar values.  Our values determine our choices. During the course of our lives we are presented with the dilemma of having to choose one thing or person over another. The Venus archetype is also associated with the process of choosing.  If we are to choose wisely for ourselves, we must know what it is we value.

Additionally, Venus also seeks to maintain inner and outer balance, harmonizing the conflicting factors that exist within our psyches, which tend to manifest in outer circumstances as a sort of mirror reflection. During Venus' retrograde cycle, be mindful of the possibility that you may be seeing your shadow reflected in your dealings with the people around you. It is important to understand that with Venus energy, others provide a mirror for us to look into and see ourselves.  If we experience direct upheaval or disturbances in our relationships or our personal lives, this may be the time for us to really evaluate how we define love and how we express it. If we become discontent and nothing appears to bring us happiness, we may need to get back in touch with our sensual, creative, beautiful, self-loving nature and begin to express it in more conscious ways. While Venus is retrograde we need to take time to re-identify what it is we truly value in life and how we manifest those values in the world.

The Venus retrograde cycle presents us with the wonderful opportunity to examine how in touch we are with the Venus archetype in our nature. We will want to examine what is out of balance in our lives and take the steps to restore our equilibrium. We will want to ensure that we do things for ourselves each day that gift us with pleasure. We will want to become aware of any behavior that denies our receiving what we need to have peace, balance, joy and pleasure in our lives. We will want to become aware of what is determining our choices. We will want to be conscious of what we want to do with our wealth, our talents, and our assets. Each day between now and June 29, ask yourself, “How do I share my genuine self with the world around me? Who and what do I want in my life and what would I derive the most joy from experiencing? “ 

Keep your focus on what you value and once Venus is direct again in July,  her energy will magnetically draw  what you  value into your life. Venus' energy is meant to attract all that brings you joy, pleasure, peace, and comfort. Her primary principles are value, balance and reciprocity. These are her natural aphrodisiacs! All you need do is keep your sight on what brings you joy and know your own worthiness to receive. Venus will do the rest.

Embrace grace and be blessed in all things,