In the Shadow of Venus Retrograde

“All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.”

That’s a line from Francis Thompson’s religious poem, “The Hound of Heaven.” It’s a powerful poem and this one line has been echoing in my head. I want to write about Vesta, I’ve been looking at Juno, but it is Venus cruising through Scorpio that’s got a hold me and won’t let go till I say what she wants me to.

"Betrayal" by Darwin Leon

Venus stationed to go retrograde at 13 Scorpio on 7 October, 2010. She moved into Libra on 8 November and stationed to go direct on 27 Libra on 18 November. Do you have any planets on degrees from 27 Libra to 13 Scorpio? If you do, then this would have probably been a memorable retrograde for you. More so if you have planets near 13 Scorpio or 27 Libra, the degrees of her stations.

She’s on 5 Scorpio as I write this, and there are still 10 more days to go before she crosses 13 Scorpio and comes out of the retrograde’s shadow. Since Venus rules both our values and our romances; and she’s intense, jealous and possessive in the sign of the Scorpion, you probably learnt a thing or two about where you stand vis-à-vis these subjects. Sure there are external events, but to get the most out of this intense retrograde, you’ll gain more if you look at the internal events that the world outside causes within you. How do you handle jealousy, possessiveness, betrayal? It isn’t about what someone did to you, it’s about finding out how you deal with what someone else chose to do. Can love thrive under intense possessiveness? Can it survive betrayal? I can hear the Bee Gees asking us all, “How deep is your love?” And if it’s infinitely deep and infinitely painful, is that working for you? Is that what you choose?

When the poet says, “All things betray thee, who betrayest Me,” you’re free to fling this quote at someone else and curse them and walk away forever. But we are only ever betrayed by our willingness to be betrayed. The Buddha said, “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” So as Venus traces the path of her recent retrograde, as she walks with downcast eyes in the retrograde’s shadow, perhaps we should do the same. The eyes are downcast because she has turned inwards; she’s looking into her own heart, finding her own truths. Just as we need to find ours. She’s in Scorpio till 6 January, 2011. An intense time, a time of smoldering passions. When you want more, deeper, harder, and starkly honest.

Talking about intense and passionate, I don’t know how it is, but some of the religious poets have written some the most powerful stuff. Here’s something John Donne wrote (addressing God), but it could very well be the tortured Venus in Scorpio talking to her lover:

Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God

Batter my heart, three-personed God; for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurped town, to another due,
Labor to admit you, but O, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
but is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betrothed unto your enemy.
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again;
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor even chaste, except you ravish me.

P.S. All dates in this post are for India. If you are in USA, you need to subtract a day from the dates mentioned here.

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