Venus gets Comfortable

For the first time in a while, Venus gets to be Venus

After MANY months of Venus turbulence, this planet finally gets some relief at the end of November, when she enters her own sign Libra. But not before she experiences a little bit more duress in debilitation in Virgo with lunar node Ketu.

Venus has been debilitated since 11/2, when she joined Ketu in Virgo. This is a little bit of a double-whammy for Venus, since a planet’s debilitation already strains the natural significations of a planet and Ketu compounds this by being almost antithetical in nature to Venus.

Once again, this means that all things Venus-enjoyment, love, beauty, sensuality, art, creativity-have been challenged for quite some time: really since early July when Venus entered gandanta. When Venus is strained persistently it can show up as a lack of lust for life, or less enjoyment of the things that usually bring you alive, or a general sense of disconnection from the flavors of life. Venus is the planet ruling taste and the tongue, so an afflicted Venus will separate us from the sense of juiciness and flavor that makes life worth living.

Like Jupiter, Venus can begin to recover once in her own sign (with the beneficial aspect of Jupiter!), but before she arrives there she still has to contend with Ketu, who will bring an extra sense of detachment to the qualities of Venus.

Ketu is the planet who is trying to get out of life, Venus is the one who brings us into it. Ketu is interested in renunciation, Venus in indulgence. When they get together there can be a lot of tension and confusion regarding sensuality, desires and attachment to these things. Because Venus is also debilitated here, this makes it more likely that the planet gets a little contorted and may renounce desires or handle them in strange ways (maybe through hyper-organization or compartmentalization, as is the tendency with Virgo).

On 11/30 Venus enters Libra, where she’ll be for a little under one month. This is a positive transit for romance and business and general desire-chasing. Libra is the extroverted aspect of Venus, where the desire is to enjoy through engagement and contact and being in the world. There will be some papa kartari/malefic influence because of Venus being flanked by Mars and Ketu, which is again that combination for sudden events, but Jupiter’s aspect should have a protective influence.

Take advantage of this 1+ month transit to rehydrate your life: do the things you love, dance, make and appreciate art, write poetry, make delicious food, be social and generally make a point to start walking back out through the doorway that takes you into life, particularly if you’ve been in retreat. With Venus in Libra there is a party happening, and you want to make sure you show up!

This transit is very supportive of the revivification of Jupiter, who may be questioning the meaning of life and being in it. The positive Venus transit reminds Jupiter that life is delicious and full of potential.