VENUS ENTERS SAGITTARIUS
The planet Venus is soon leaving the sign of Scorpio, and will be journeying through Sagittarius from October 17th to November 11th 2024. This is a time to take creative risks, reconsider our routines, and spice up our relationships!
Before it crosses the threshold into Sagittarius, Venus will sextile Pluto in the anaretic degree of Capricorn. This is coming off the heels of a Venus trine to Neptune in Pisces (October 15th) and an opposition to Uranus in Taurus (October 14th). After these contacts with the outer planets, Venus is charged with the energies of radical authenticity, spiritual compassion, and deep transformation - harmonized with the honest introspection of its time in Scorpio. Now Venus is diving off that foundation into the wild, exciting field of experience represented by Sagittarius.
Venus is most famously the planet of love and relationships. But it’s also associated with beauty, art and creativity, as well as money and material resources. Perhaps less well-known, this is also the planet of serenity, emotional regulation, equilibrium and balance (remember that Venus rules Libra, the sign of the scales, as well as calm and steady Taurus). Ultimately, all these topics are relational. Money is about the exchange of value between people; art is about the relationship of sounds or words or colors to each other (as Steven Forrest teaches); and of course, harmony is an inherently relational concept.
Meanwhile, the mutable fire sign Sagittarius is all about broadening horizons and stretching perspectives - the archer’s arrow flying above the landscape, seeing it all from a bird’s-eye view. Sagittarius wants to explore, experiment and take risks. It seeks to loosen up the stagnant, deadening routines of daily life. After the deep soul-searching of Scorpio, Sagittarius is acutely aware that the world is a vast place; there’s always more to experience and learn. Therefore, it’s the sign associated with long-distance travel, as well as higher education, philosophy, religion and beliefs.
With Venus in Sagittarius, it’s time to boldly try new things in our relationships. This is an opportunity to better understand people who are very different from ourselves - and that’s crucial these days, when the powers that be are trying their hardest to keep us fractured and disempowered. In this chaotic world where the stakes are ever higher, we need to get over our inhibitions in connecting with other people, organizing and building community. We can now harness the willingness to loosen and reform our daily routines, shaking things up and making room for new and better things. Perhaps your personal finances could use an overhaul; maybe you’ll take a trip, or more internally ponder your values and beliefs. As the winter draws nearer, this is an enlivening time to dive back into artistic projects, creatively communicating your truths to others. Creating things and connecting with others are two of the best ways to find the inner peace that Venus is constantly seeking. Take this chance to refresh your list of regulation tools and healthy coping mechanisms.
Venus is a particularly important planet right now, since the south lunar node has been in Venus-ruled Libra since last summer. This indicates that it’s time for us to collectively release Libran baggage of indecision, people-pleasing, and “going along to get along.” As Venus travels around the zodiac, it gathers energy to balance out these shadows, inspired by the diversity of the signs and its contacts with other planets. To help in this process, Venus will sextile the south node and trine the north node not long after entering Sagittarius - right around the start of Scorpio season, which is perfect for the healing introspection of that sign.
To understand how the passage of Venus through Sagittarius will affect you specifically, consider the house(s) of your birth chart that it will be occupying over the next few weeks (listed in this previous post). If you can, take a look at how Venus will aspect or relate to your natal planets. For example, it’ll be in my 7th house of relationships, opposite my Gemini placements, trine to my Leo planets, square to my Virgo stellium, and eventually conjunct my north node in late Sagittarius. I hope that I can learn a lot from this transit, and I send the same wishes to you!
