Venus in the Gate of Grace

10th April 2011

I love the way they dance! As the Moon directly opposes Pluto, Venus slips gracefully into the Gate of Grace and Beauty.  I suspect this placement is going to save our bacon over the next potentially explosive few days, as Mars squares Pluto and our white knuckle grip on our established reality is shaken loose.

Venus has been doing a  bit of a mopping up job, following along after all those planets that have already rushed ahead into Aries.  She’s still in Pisces, on something of a karmic completion run, and now she’s creating a channel with the South Node.  Definitely karmic country!  She’s part of the reason for the gentleness we’ve been experiencing alongside the tumultuous change.  She also adds the potential for virulent outbursts expressing ancient emotional wounding from some.  While I was writing this post a relative of my neighbour came in to her house and starting screaming and smashing things, so it’s not calm sailing for everyone!

Mars Square Pluto

The Mars (17.4) square Pluto (58.4) is exact at 20:40pm on 11th April (UT).  It is happening in exactly the same position as the Uranus square Pluto in September 2012.

A square is something that creates a challenge.  The challenge is to harmoniously combine two apparently diametrically opposed parts of our being or experience.  The challenge in the Gate 17/58 square is to relax your attachment to mentally based goals, to allow an effortless flow of supportive synchronicities to unfold.  Can you let go of your idea that you should be ‘doing something’.  And of what you were hoping to achieve?

If you feel powerless, recover by using the slow burn rather than the fast and furious break for freedom. You’ll find it helps get you clear on where you really want to be, and helps you ground yourself in the present moment.

Venus in the Gate of Grace

Back to Venus, in the Gate of Grace and Beauty (22).  She meets the South Node at the Throat Centre in the Gate of Standstill (12).

I’ve always thought that this was quite a difficult channel, running along two separate tracks, two different levels. The first is sociable and pleasant.  The second is deeper and more emotional.

Used well – which means not going off at the first emotional trigger but waiting patiently for a better understanding of things – both levels can be graceful, beautiful, flowing.  When we allow ourselves to get trapped in the first level, we can lose out on our experience of the second level and this can hold a very painful sense of loss of self.  Expect to be very deeply challenged in a tug of war between your authentic self expression and your family and cultural traditions of good behaviour.

Venus and the South Node here speak to me of the unravelling of the social matrix.  Using good manners, acceptable behaviour and etiquette are cultural rules that have served their purpose well.  But their time is over.

I’ve been watching the series Mad Men, set in the 1960’s it shows how acceptable social behaviour cut deeply into the authenticity of people’s lives.   Since the 60’s we’ve been developing our own inner behavioural compass so that we’ve outgrown those old rules.

The North Node is conjunct the Galactic Centre, replacing old worn out ideas with vibrant new ones.

While this emotional channel is activated – from 10th to 15th April – use No as your default position for all social engagements.  Then if you truly want to do something, the Yes will come through clearly to you.  This is not a sacral response, but an emotional one.  Everyone on the planet will be an emotional manifestor for this time.  The Solar Plexus Centre is crucial in our evolution, revealing our own unique and personal truth to us through our emotional responses.   This channel loves music, can be romantic and loves to dance.  Don’t be surprised if you have unexpectedly significant interactions with people you don’t really know.

Another important part of the Gate of Grace and Beauty is the need to slow down, smell the roses, connect with our essence, and relate to others from that place.  This is a gate about finding our substance and then not wasting it on empty shows of gilt and glamour.  We are magnetically and effortlessly attractive when we live in and through our essential substance.  This is a time to experiment with how that might be.

Fred and Ginger

When I was writing this post I was thinking of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.  They stuck with the rules but added enough magic to the mix to shake things up a bit.

 

Not surprisingly, since they epitomise this channel, Ginger Rogers has her Moon in the Gate of Grace and Beauty (22) and her Pluto in the Gate of Standstill (12).

Fred Astaire had his Neptune in Gate 12. Meeting Ginger’s Pluto, this would create unseen forces of transformation that may have been confusing to the two people involved.  They would have thought they were simply dancing, not realising the profound impact they were having on shifting the cultural understanding of what was acceptable conduct.

So this week, think about Fred and Ginger, doing all the steps but in their own unique way.  Beauty, grace and glamour without losing the magic of authentic connection.

And, just for fun: