“We have to be visible before we can be seen. We have to be available before our hearts can be affected. And we have to be present before we can be intimate.” – Jett Psaris & Marlena S. Lyons, Undefended Love
Venus is moving into a square with Mars, a significant phase in the dynamic dance between the feminine and masculine — and a potentially feisty, erotic combination. Venus is in Scorpio, the sign of sexual and emotional intimacy, and Mars is in Leo, which rules romantic love, and sex as “performance.”
As the tension of the Venus-Mars square builds — culminating at the Scorpio New Moon next Wednesday — Mars acts as a catalyst for the themes animated by Venus in Scorpio, October 6 to November 2.
Venus in Scorpio wants to dig into the less tidy or comfortable aspects of relating, the emotional crap that’s been festering beneath the surface. She brings us into the deepest layers of feeling, and has a special affinity with the dark side of love — jealousy, envy, control, suspicion, betrayal and abandonment. Venus in Scorpio takes us on this Underworld tour with the purpose of transmuting those aspects of self that are holding us back from the love, intimacy and pleasure we desire.
When confronted with these unpleasant parts of ourselves — the ones we store in the basement of the subconscious and hope no one will ever see — fear and defensiveness are not uncommon reactions. Then we act out the less evolved version of Scorpio, the Scorpion, stinging whoever dared get too close to our pain.
Working with Scorpio power and taking it to a higher level requires vulnerability and the willingness to surrender control — control over our own feelings, and the attempt to control other people. Since most of us in this culture learned from the get-go that vulnerability means weakness and surrendering control leads to certain death, this is no easy task. (The above-referenced Undefended Love has been a helpful ally for me.)
Ideally, the Venus-Mars square helps bring out the potential gifts of Venus in Scorpio — deepened authenticity and intimacy, renewed passion and vitality, and an increased capacity to experience pleasure and ecstasy.
Mars in Leo — whose ruling planet is the Sun — wants to shine some light into Scorpio’s shadowy, mysterious, hidden realms. Mars in Leo can inspire the confidence, courage and open-heartedness that we need to navigate the depths.
There are, of course, some less productive possibilities… Pushing too far too fast to compensate for hidden fears and insecurities — Leo can be willful, while Scorpio can “skip steps” and dive head-first into intensity. Leo loves drama, and Scorpio has a fondness for crisis. You get the picture.
At the other extreme, the Fixed quality of both Leo and Scorpio can resist change and get attached to the same-old, same-old, even when they know it’s not working for them. Venus in Scorpio gets more deeply entrenched in destructive emotional patterns, while Mars in Leo defends them out of pride and willfulness.
The current cycle between Venus and Mars started on May 23, 2011, when the two planets united in Taurus (9 degrees). The conjunction signified new beginnings in relationship, creativity and the feminine-masculine dynamic within ourselves. If you have a copy of your birth chart and want to get astro-technical, you could find the house that was activated by the conjunction and get further insight into its meaning for you personally.
Now, the Venus-Mars square challenges us to take the next big step forward. This is the opening square of the cycle, which typically has a “leaving home” quality — having to step outside of our comfort zone and into unfamiliar territory.
What did you set into motion last May that now wants to be taken to the next level? What is the old, underlying conditioning that might be holding you back? How can you readjust your inner Venus/feminine and Mars/masculine in order to move forward more effectively?
- Emily Trinkaus
