Venus Unveiled as Isis

1: Venus as Hesperus

2: Solar Return to Blavatsky

3: The Backwards Glance

1: Venus as Hesperus

On August 13th Venus conjuncts the Sun marking the Venus star point at 20° of Leo the home of the Sun. It marks one of the most energised events of Venus in her dance with the Sun back and forth between the Earth and the Sun and heralds a new 8-year cycle for Venus.

I have been observing where Venus is and she has been resplendent in the evening sky easily outshining Mars and Mercury. When you point Venus out to people they can scarcely believe that it is really Venus that shines so vibrantly.

This is Venus as Hesperus, the evening star. There is a clear view near the equator in Bali where sunsets there are zero con-trails or people like Bill Gates attempting to block the sun. It is not wise to think yourself better than natural law, so at least for now the sun shines for everyone irrespective of who they are and it is no hotter than usual here; temperatures remain the same all year round with little variation.  Evening skies become awesome shows of nature and encourage people into a restful, serene and meditative state of mind. The sky shifts colour dramatically between 4.30pm to around 6.30pm when the sun sets.  Hundreds come out on the beach to honour the power of the Sun. These two hours are magical in feeling and become a daily ritual, almost a devotional act not to mention the health benefits.

But Venus disappeared around August 6^th popping just below the horizon, so she is now no longer visible in the evening sky- a phenomena noted by ancient astronomers. She will reappear as the Morning Star, Phosphorus, on August 21^st just before the Sun moves into Virgo. The conjunction this is known as an Inferior conjunction which happens while Venus is retrograde. The Superior conjunction is when she is in forward motion and conjunct the Sun. She still has to go back to 12° of Leo before moving forward again.

All the themes of this time during August are to do with love, things of the heart, money and friendships, passionate or otherwise.  We may go through a somewhat bumpy reevaluation that pulls back the layers towards a more authentic form of love within your immediate relationships. This includes self love, warts and all, so it can’t be faked at all in a fixed fire sign. But it can bring in more inspiration and confidence about who we really are, in spite of any doubts, and that means discerning what needs to be left behind. We have had some tense moments when Venus was square Uranus August 9th-10th where unexpected things happened- like phones being snatched on a busy street as happened to a friend- not always good. we needed to keep our wits about us for the curve balls life throws and develop hyper awareness not hyper vigilance.

But the Venus conjunction on the 13th will be a good time to remember your sovereignty, to stand your ground, or to host an event or party and concentrate on enjoying the good life, what we have left of it, to go somewhere special with friends. If you are able to do something celebratory, that’s fantastic, but even  resting your hand on your heart during the day will help to connect to that presence and authenticity that is Venus in Leo. It also points to re-establishing how important self love is as without that we flounder full of doubts. “Be who you are’ Oscar Wilde said “as everyone else is taken.”

Then there’s s also a New Moon in Leo on August 16th where the Sun and Moon are in Leo around the same degree as the Venus-Sun conjunction 20-22° so look to that point in your chart to know what is going on, especially which house as that’s where the events will show up in your life. New moons are like seed points, of planting for the next phase of new directions and the story unfolds from that day.

2: Solar Return to Blavatsky

I wanted to mention Helena Petrovna Blavatsky again as her Solar return is on August 12^th just one day before this  Venus-Sun conjunction. That is her birthday. While she died in 1891, interest in her has not faded, her influence grows, and new books about her have been published in recent years. Her Venus was well placed in Libra, ruled by Venus, and her Sun in the second house, ruled by the Sun, but in the house of Taurus ruled by Venus. Her Venus in Libra was also conjunct the Moon which rules the whole chart -yet Venus rules the Moon so we get the two main female archetypes in formation together. You could say she was quite a Venusian character who demonstrated an uncommon kind of leadership as a medium, writer and metaphysician. She was not without controversy however and opinions still differ on her contribution to the world.

But she was She was a true lioness, Leo and Venus is now Retrograde in Leo. So that makes me think of her. This Venus star point and conjunction happening on August 13^th 2023 is conjunct her Sun and North Node which adds to the looping back to her here- her chart is still resonating with what is happening in 2023. Asteroid Urania, muse of astrology, incidentally is also at 22°  conjunct the New Moon in Leo and that brings the astrological theme into the mix. She sits alongside Black Moon Lillith at 24° and nearby to the fixed star Regulus- the heart of the lion at 29°.

She is famous for her two volumes: The Secret Doctrine (1888) and Isis Unveiled (1877) widely considered to have brought esoteric knowledge to the forefront of consciousness in the late 19^th century. Aphrodite (or Venus) was the Hellenised form of the Egyptian goddess Isis, so we are talking about Isis too when Venus is mentioned.

But there is also an asteroid called ‘Isis’. I found that in Blavatsky’s chart, Isis is conjunct her Ascendant. This certainly makes it a highlight of her life- a presiding spirit sitting on the doorway of her chart. Isis was not just unveiled but prevailed in her life. Greater awareness of Isis came into prominence because of her.

Isis is also conjunct asteroid Juno and directly opposite Neptune at 22° of Capricorn on her Descendant. That adds huge spiritual depth, but also points to the confusion she created, the mystification that came with her work and strange perceptions of her as a possible fraud. Neptune is conjunct Pallas and Eros too, wisdom and sexual power. Asteroid Vishnu is on the Galactic Centre point at 24° of Sagittarius which I find interesting considering the focus on Indian traditions Blavatsky brought to the world. Isis is currently at 24° of Virgo for those interested in checking it in their own charts.

She helped establish openness to views on Buddhism in the west, but it was Annie Besant who took over after Blavatsky died that the emphasis shifted more towards Hindu gods. But to have an Isis on your Ascendant speaks of the volumes she wrote that sealed her reputation as a metaphysical thinker and influencer on so many ‘new age’ theories which you can take or leave as they have been overplayed I think.

I wrote this article about Blavatsky back in 2019 but have now updated it with these fresh details of her asteroid positions as well. I called her the Sphinx, a bit of riddle, but Urania too is worth mentioning as muse of Astrology as it is conjunct Kalliope, chief muse of creative inspiration, at 11° of Aquarius, close to her Ceres at 10° and her Jupiter at 17°. Asteroids operate like punctuation marks in a person’s life, defining particular behaviours not otherwise shown in the chart, and in this case, Blavatsky has a direct link to Isis, in her attempt to make a science of religion she unravelled all the secrets of natural law and nature’s hidden workings.

3: The Backwards Glance

So, we are still in the thick of the Venus Retrograde – reevaluating all we value – and that takes some time and some deeply personal reflection and even some healing with its trine to Chiron.  She starts going direct again on the 3^rd September. This whole phase which has dominated the last couple of months is not fully over until October 10^th when she goes into Virgo and becomes more tense and less expressive in that Mercury-ruled sign.

We have several planets in retrograde motion and it’s good to pay attention to that: Pluto is in Capricorn still, Neptune retro in Pisces, Saturn retro in Pisces, Venus retro in Leo, Chiron retro in Aries, and Uranus in Taurus joins them on August 30th. The Mercury retrograde starts on the 24th of August and Jupiter joins them all too on September  4th, so if things appear to have slowed down to a snail’s pace, except for shocking batshit bonkers news which never seems to end and is baffling our world view, then that’s for a whole other article, but when multiple planets are retrograde, the universe just rebooting, and charging up battery power in readiness for the next phase of forward motion.

I am having a tremendous Venus retrograde period on holiday, meeting old friends, with lots to celebrate and I have learned so much from these experiences, all the heart energy, and getting in touch with my inner Venus-  even Lakshmi – the Indian manifestation of the love vibe. I feel the fire of Leo so strongly, but also the Water as a form of Plasma intelligence with water purification ceremonies, waterfalls and the contemplation of water. I even made a video just about the power of Water here and there’s no escaping water as an element that informs what we do with the flow of intuition.

The astrology is bubbling with real life events that match what is happening in the sky – it parallels the above with the below in remarkable ways. I for one will be there to watch the rising of Venus as a Morning star as that will be something that causes wonder and amazement.