Venus in Taurus will retrograde Spring and Summer 2020 here are the important dates:
Venus in Taurus – March 27
Venus enters Retrograde Shadow – April 9
Venus Stationary Retrograde – May 12
Venus Stationary Direct – June 25
Venus leaves Retrograde Shadow – July 28
Venus in Gemini – July 31
Taurus, Venus’ Earth sign home (Libra is its air sign home) is the sign of CONVENTIONAL CONDUCT—that is the aesthetic and behavioral expectations we encounter based on the social designations of race, class, gender, and sexuality. This applies to both secular cultural expectations as well as those of religious communities. Here is where we are focused during this year’s Venus retrograde.
Venus was last retrograde in Taurus in 2012. That is of significance because the eclipses were in Taurus and Scorpio, just like they are this year, during that Venus Rx.
Scorpio articulates the human AUTONOMOUS INSTINCT—that is the physiological and psychic mechanisms of survival. Together Taurus and Scorpio are survival strategies that teach us how to come into a right relationship with how much of the burden of survival is individual and how much is shared.
Taurus and Scorpio also offer us language to understand why some emotions are easier for us to access and express while others are suppressed or repressed. These two signs certainly have much to teach us about how we manage the emotional reactions of others through our own behavior. Safe versus dangerous are the only two ways of judging people, places, and things as far as Taurus and Scorpio are concerned.
Venus Retrograde Journal & Reflection Questions
Here are some journaling and reflection questions to ask and answer as you move through the 2020 Venus retrograde.
From which communities and people do you seek validation?
What does this validation look like?
How do you change your appearance and behavior in order to be validated and accepted?
How is your understanding of your race, gender identity, class designation, and sexual identity changing based on the current cultural climate?
What role does your race, gender identity, class designation, or sexual identity play in the kind of validation you seek?
What are the consequences of receiving the validation you seek?
What emotions do you find it easiest to express or perform?
What emotions do you struggle to feel, access, or express?
Where can you find roots of these struggles and proclivities in your past or upbringing?
How are you coming to terms with the reality of your emotional identity and its impact on your relationships?
What are, or have been in the past, the personal and relational consequences of emotional presence and authenticity (expressing or performing your emotional reactions as soon as they arise)?
What are, or have been in the past, the personal and relational consequences of performative emotional behaviors (expressing feelings that are meant to illicit a particular response or disarm others)?
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July is in many ways the follow-up to April. Sun square Jupiter, Venus opposed Saturn, and Mercury entering its retrograde shadow are all continuations of the stories and cycles we experienced then. I outlined the details of that month in two separate posts because it was so eventful (here and here). But this time, I’m gonna lay July out for you in one long read.
Planets move into Cancer starting with Mercury on July 2 and culminates with a Sun- Mars conjunction at 10 Cancer on July 27. Mercury enters its retrograde shadow near the New Moon in Cancer, officially opening the door to eclipse season. You’ll need your seat belt for this month.
So is much happening in Cancer this month. Women take center stage and make or break the progression of the narratives we live during this time.
Being under the governorship of the Moon makes these transits and configurations visceral. You feel them in your body, you want to act or react. My keyword for Cancer is responsive. That’s how Cancer moves when it’s present and aware.
Reaction is great when there is an imminent threat, or an opportunity that must be captured in the moment. Responsiveness is a muscle that must be worked and strengthened. It’s what we become when our reactionary minds pause, reflect, and decide on the best course of action. For champion boxers it happens on autopilot because it is approached as a discipline. It’s in their muscle’s memory.
Let this be your meditation for July.
Cancer rising, Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali vs Ernie Terrell
This blog post and its sections are truncated. The full text of this article, approximately 4,000 words, is available for purchase here.
Mercury answers to the Moon when it’s in Cancer. One’s use of language—when and how one communicates—is a tool of the emotions. Physiology and psychology teach us that every emotional state has a corresponding physiological state. Emotions are our intellectual concepts for the way we categorize those physiological responses to our experiences.
Fear forces the body to limit energy use to life sustaining processes only so that you can take off and run or fight back in the face of a threat. This is why prolonged fear induced worry and stress can have a detrimental effect on the body. I’m sure those with prominent Cancer in their chart know all about digestive issues and unwanted weight gain.
But, Cancer is hyper sensitive and responsive to these states; how the body responds to people, circumstances, and the environment, and the emotions associated with those sensations. Following the lead of the Moon’s every 2.5 day or so sign changes, Mercury’s face and motivation change, too.
Mercury’s job is to communicate the reality and perceptions of the Sun. In a Moon ruled sign, however, there may be a disruption in transmission. Even if the Mercury in Cancer can think lucidly, the urgency of their emotions and their physiological expression may override otherwise sound logic.
Emotional outbursts, saying things one doesn’t really mean can cause problems emotionally and professionally. But speaking the honesty of the moment can also be liberating. Can Mercury in Cancer discern between the two?
July 6 – Sun in Gemini square Jupiter in Virgo
The synodic cycle of the Sun and Jupiter represents the evolving relationship between our perception of reality and our beliefs about what is possible.
At the conjunction (in Virgo September 2016) our perceptions and our beliefs are unified. In Virgo, there is a calculative experience of reality, seeing the world as sets of data, rather than actual people, and equations to be solved rather than experiences to live, enjoy, and learn from.
The first square was at 90°. The Sun had moved on to Sagittarius while Jupiter remained in Virgo (January 2017). The dissonance between …
July 9 – Full Moon 23 Sagittarius
Moon in Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter in Virgo with Jupiter in a tight square, angular to the Sun and Moon. That’s astrology for Jupiter in Virgo being the boss of this Moon.
Jupiter in Virgo:
Jupiter in sidereal Virgo says:
The facts can be put together in any way the storyteller sees fit; they serve the agenda of his narrative.
— The People’s Oracle (@PeoplesOracle) June 5, 2017
Jupiter = synthesizes one’s personal experiences into a life philosophy. But in Virgo, it wants to make it add up like an equation.
Jupiter at this Full Moon represents a narrative that challenges our perception of reality (Sun) & our physical experience of it (Moon). Seeing is, in fact, NOT believing. Who and what do you trust?
Both the Sun and Mars are in Gemini. Gemini is a parrot of sorts. It’s job is to say what it sees and repeat what it hears. It isn’t the most conscious or thoughtful sign. But that’s not in its job description anyway. Mars in Gemini can be reckless and distracted, causing accidents. It can also be playful and not take things seriously.
Sagittarius, the sign of the Full Moon, finds its limitations in the fact that individual personal experience can’t speak for everyone. Sagittarius LOVES to be right. It wants to prove & persuade. And it has to know why.
So, we have a setup here of a search for answers, looking for ways to explain what is happening. There is much difficulty in discerning the truth. There is a lot of info to sift through (Gemini), some of it disruptive and upsetting (Mars). Jupiter wants to weave together the facts (Virgo). But, Sagittarius must know why. It’s not enough to have information. There has to be some measure for truth.
Look to the missing piece of this configuration. It’s Pisces. Sometimes you can know things and not know how you know. This is the lesson of Pisces, the only mutable sign not occupied by a planet. This Full Moon asks us to cultivate our intuition. Close your eyes. Transcend your body. Set aside your beliefs. Tap into that other way knowing.
July 11 – Mars in Cancer
Mars in Cancer is in fall. It’s ill-equipped for the task at hand, or at least forced to do it’s job in an unstable environment and less than ideal circumstances. Mars’ task is to …
July 16 – Sun in Cancer
Five days after Mars, the Sun enters Cancer, the sign where it will finally catch up to and overtake Mars for a bodily conjunction.
The Sun is our perception of reality. It’s the eyes we see through that determine what we see and how we see it. Sun in Cancer perceives reality through the lens of what is familiar. The past is a filter that shades its awareness.
Women take center stage as influential leaders and power figures during this time. Just like Mars being in Cancer, the Sun is subject to the changing face of the Moon …
July 18 – Venus in Taurus trine Jupiter in Virgo
A trine means support, but it says nothing about the benevolence or malevolence of what is being supported. As the narrative that defines what we believe is possible, Jupiter met by Venus in a trine aspect says that what we desire is supported by a belief that we can get it. This is the definition of optimism. Whether or not this optimism is warranted is another subject all together …
July 20 – Mercury in Leo
When Mercury enters Leo on July 20, it is entering the sign where it will have the most important retrograde of the year. It rivals the retrograde from April, but is much more significant …
July 23 – New Moon at 6 Cancer
This date and the days surrounding it are probably the most important days of the year. If you have read my Twitter thread interpreting and offering predictions using Donald Trump’s solar return you’ll know that these days are important to whether or not Trump remains president. In that thread I talk about the New Moon in Cancer triggering his chart in 4 different ways: by transit, time lord, progressed chart, and eclipse trigger. (link to a long thread of tweets analyzing Trump’s solar return)
This New Moon ushers in eclipse season. The August Full Moon at 17 Capricorn that follows is a Lunar Eclipse. While the August 21 Total Solar Eclipse has been the focus, don’t underestimate the punch of a Lunar Eclipse.
Now, about this New Moon in Cancer …
July 24 – Venus in Taurus opposed Saturn in Scorpio
In case you forgot, Venus and Saturn had a series of intense squares back in April. Venus was stationing direct and Saturn was stationing Rx. They sat within orb for at least 2 weeks.
When Venus in Pisces was in that extended square with Saturn, it brought important decisions regarding commitments and contracts., re-negotiations and changes in the terms of agreements. It brought an end to many relationships.
Venus in that extended square with Saturn required some to establish boundaries where there were none or where they were weak. Inconsistency and unsureness was magnified. Discrepancies between what you said you wanted and what you were willing or had the power to do where illuminated.
This time they are in opposition which is different from a square. Squares are …
July 24 – Mercury enters Retrograde shadow at 4 Leo
Four degrees of Leo is hot, hot, hot! And Mercury is the brave planet that will first trigger that sensitive eclipse point. That happens on July 24 …
July 26 – Venus in Gemini
Venus’ transit through each of the signs colors our interactions with others and the tone of our personal relationships. In general, its job is to illuminate the common ground that allows people to cooperate. In Gemini, that common ground can take on a variety of forms …
July 27 – Sun conjunct Mars, 10 Cancer
I’ve outlined above what the Sun and Mars mean when moving through Cancer. But, what does it mean for Mars to meet the heart of the Sun while it is in Cancer?
The month ends with Mars stepping up to once again disrupt and divide. All year long Mars has been the author of confusion, here to remind us that our sense of peace and normalcy is tentative at best. Change must eventually take root, and Mars is the one that sows the seeds
A planet is cazimi when …
This blog post and its sections are truncated. The full text of this article, approximately 4,000 words, is available for purchase here.
