The Dance of Venus and Mars – Venus turning Direct

The six-week long Venus retrograde is about to end as Venus will turn direct on Friday, April 17 at 12:24pm PDST. It has already slowed to a crawl indicating that the issues we’ve been deeply looking into have, for the most part, been presented. Many of us are now working through what has been revealed and just beginning to either implement whatever changes we feel are needed or deal with the changes that have already been made.

The square to Pluto is still a very big part of what is still in play, though. In fact, Mars is about to join Venus and both will square Pluto from around April 19- May 4. This is a strange period. That’s exactly the words I am often hearing lately and will continue to be true for awhile longer. So, I ask people what do they mean by ‘strange.’ I hear different things of course, but the flavor of what is being said is consistent with the feeling that something important is changing within oneself about their self-image, how they relate to others including romantic encounters, and the strong emergence of the priority we must give to being authentic and real in all we do.

To me, Pluto presents and can destroy those aspects within us that block us from being able to simply present ourselves to others as we are. I have heard so many people express feelings of being vulnerable in the past few weeks. But this vulnerability is stripping away the need to be ‘invulnerable’, whatever that is. Of course, it is a façade, a societally-created pretense that sometimes we need to succeed in the world, but which also makes our lives feel awful. When we allow ourselves to live with and fully feel that state of vulnerability, something magical can happen. We can begin to feel good about ourselves as we truly are and by living with that vulnerability, fear gradually gives way to feeling stronger than ever and able to deal with whatever life presents to us.

This is often how Pluto works. By intensifying negative feelings and considerations, we find that we are able to directly examine them and resolve to let them go and move toward more healthy expressions of our fundamental needs. The present transits are giving us a unique opportunity to engage in this process. It isn’t over yet, but is finally moving us towards a greater clarity of the importance of engaging fully in this process.

The Unusually Long Dance Between Venus and Mars

Usually, Venus moves much faster than Mars, but right now Venus is moving very slowly while Mars is chugging along at its usual pace. This results in these two sexy planets moving together from now until the end of June. In other words, we will have these two lovers dancing together for 10 weeks instead of just a few days. Yes, this is a great time for all kinds of romantic relationships as well as other types as well. Specifically, Mars will exactly conjunct Venus on April 21st and it will then take until June 21st for Venus to catch up and align with Mars again.

I believe the timing of this couldn’t be better. Venus retrograde is helping us discover what we truly enjoy, even love. Now, with Mars, the archetypal force of going after what we want, joining Venus, we are able to realize those very things we are now seeing as real needs. And it’s giving us time to begin going after these deeply held motivations and needs over the next 10 weeks. It’s like getting to the nub of something, having clarity and certainty, and then immediately having a chance to DO something about those things we have discovered that we really want and need. We are even being given the time to do get them started.

This 10-week period is likely to be a special time. And during the midst of it, Saturn will also help us out as it will go direct on May 16. This can become a very powerful time for us and is one of those rare periods where we are being urged to go after what we want and are able to trust that we’re not being fooled by blind, ill-considered urges that are controlling us. Act with what you know in your heart is needed and take the risk to go for it. That’s my suggestion. And it becomes especially true after the next New Moon, which is in slow and methodical Taurus, beginning on April 24th.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The new Westside class is not quite ready to start. There remains one open slot for anyone interested in attending the new Beginning Astrology class that will be held on Thursday evenings on the Westside. The first class begins on a Sunday, April 26th and on Thursday’s after that. If you think you might want to attend, please contact me as soon as possible.

know the economy is difficult so I am continuing the reduced price of $110 for a 60- 80 minute consultation. I welcome people who have never had an astrological consultation to give it a try as well as those of you who have.

If you haven’t already, please check out the website for Sher School of Wisdom at www.sherschoolofwisdom.org.

All the best,
Jim Sher

The Square Between Venus & Pluto – The Intensity of Desire

Hi Everyone,

Ordinarily, Venus is a fast moving planet which results in its effects being short-lived. They may last for only a few days at most. But that’s not the case right now at all. Venus is slowing down in the latter part of its retrograde cycle and will only be moving two degrees over the next month. This means that the transit it is making with Pluto is not going to last just a few days, but until the first week of May. In my classes right now, the main topic is on this subject. Why? Because firstly, whenever a planet slows, its effects are amplified and intensified. When a planet is moving slowly or is stationary, its going to feel similar to shining a light on just one spot. That spot is getting all the heat, attention and focus.

But secondly, it will be squaring Pluto during this entire slowdown and reversal. In fact, Venus will be making a square to Pluto for a month as it doesn’t complete the square until May 3rd. Pluto intensifies whatever it touches, so the two together form a tense aspect that demands we look deeply at our feelings, what we want, and any relationships we are in or are considering. Pluto’s intensity is best understood as an ‘All-or-Nothing’ attitude or approach. The reason for this is that right now we want a real, authentic, deep form of relating or nothing at all. “Why bother?” could be our attitude.

Although there is great focus on relationships, it isn’t just that. It’s finding out what we want and like. We are asking what makes us truly happy. This is the paramount question and we can even be obsessed about this at this time. I have been honored to receive a great many emails in the past several weeks from readers who are going through their personal adventure. The deep probing is not mental by any means. People are going into their depths (and sometimes their dark bedrooms), needing to go internal in ways that can be shocking and for some, alarming as they are so focused on love and relationships that it’s scaring them. Fear itself is an important aspect of this transit and can be explored to great advantage. We can begin to examine the nature of fear itself, that it is closely connected to fear of the unknown, to the fear of admitting to oneself all the things we don’t know and cannot control. We can feel very vulnerable, which when accepted, can be a very helpful thing.

URGENCY – I want to talk about this one by itself. When Venus is in Aries, one wants to move quickly and being stationary and square to Pluto right now, this sense is intensely more prominent than ever. “I have to decide now”, “I have to get out of this painful feeling now”, “I must solve the problem immediately”, etc., are just some of the things people are saying to me. This urgency is best dealt with by simply acknowledging that we are feeling things so much more strongly than we are accustomed, that we are afraid, worried, or just want it to be over. We can even feel consumed by these feelings. Learning to sit in what we are feeling rather than try to change or do something (or anything) is the best way to deal with this transit. No, this does not mean that we should not act when we know what we must do. We should act once we are clear. But the urgency itself is a red-flag telling us that we may not have fully processed what we need to in order to make a decision we can feel good about later.

Pluto asks us to deeply process and this takes time. We are being pulled into our own unconscious right now and if we make decisions or act from this unconscious place, we may not like the results. Processing the new and emerging feelings, motivations, etc. are what we are being asked to do. And if relationships do end, the process that matters most to us is one of getting to the core of why that relationship didn’t work. What was missing? Were we able to be ourselves or were we faking it with that person and trying to fit into the image of what the other person wanted us to be?

Also, we are advised not to take the first person who shows up. The urgency I speak of can result in our wanting to find something, anything, just so the pain and/or uncertainty is reduced. Also, what we attract or are attracted to may be a reflection of our unconscious and hidden motives and desires, and not what we really want or need. When the contents of the unconscious emerge from our depths, it is a vital and important time for us where much growth can occur, but until we have integrated the material into our consciousness, any act can be premature.

FINANCIAL – Just a tidbit to those of you who are watching the market. The market went up when Venus went retrograde, though it has been slipping the last several days. The next reversal point is when Venus turns direct on April 17. That will be the time to watch and see if the stock market continues to grow or begins a reversal of fortune. My guess is that since Pluto rules debt, that not all of the banks have revealed how much bad debt they are still holding. As that comes out, it will constantly exert downward pressure on our confidence. We won’t think that the financial problems have hit bottom or that our leaders have a handle on what to do.

NEW WESTSIDE ASTROLOGY CLASS

There are only a few spots remaining for the new Thursday evening astrology class, so if you are interested in learning astrology in a supportive and fun environment, please email or call as soon as possible.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

I know the economy is difficult so I am continuing the reduced price of $110 for a 60- 80 minute consultation. I welcome people who have never had an astrological consultation to give it a try as well as those of you who have.

If you haven’t already, please check out the website for Sher School of Wisdom at www.sherschoolofwisdom.org.

All the best,
Jim Sher

New Beginning Astrology Class on the Westside – Announcing a NEW Astrology Class Forming on the Westside

I have located a space near West L.A. and am now able to offer a Beginning Astrology class for those wanting to take astrology on the Westside. The class will be on Thursday evenings although the first class is being scheduled for Sunday, April 26. This date is contingent on having enough students to begin the class. If you’re interested in taking the class or desire to learn more, please contact me at 818-501-7114.

The Subject of Reversals

One of the most interesting aspects of watching transits closely is to notice when there is a reversal in the energy or momentum of a situation or matter. Financial astrologers do this all the time in their attempt to predict where the stock and commodity prices will go. Something odd occurred when Venus went retrograde. Usually this transit marks a time when stocks go down, but not this time. Since Venus went retrograde the stock market has risen 21% in just 14 days. That sort of radical rise last occurred in 1938. This has been a truly historic rise. Then we had the Inferior conjunction of Venus to the Sun and we have had a reversal. This is not unusual. Stocks are declining and in fact, there is a possibility that the decline will accelerate between now and April 4 as Mars is moving into an opposition to Saturn. NOTE: I an not advising anything here. I am not a financial advisor at all. I am simply reporting the trends from an astrological perspective. We can watch this together and see what emerges.

The Mars opposition to Saturn is a time where we must face some hard realities. Some will do so and as always some will resist. The macro events of this cycle seems to be pertaining to the automobile industry as Obama has forced out the CEO of GM and is sending all kinds of signals of what he wants the auto companies to do. The Republicans and citizens of Michigan are renouncing this, which is to be expected. My guess is that the intensity of this matter will be growing over the next week reaching a peak on Friday. After this, Mars will move over the next two weeks into a conjunction with surprising and volatile Uranus. We will certainly feel that things are changing (perhaps radically) but that feeling will likely be accompanied by a real fear as uncertainty will also rise. It may be exciting but people generally love stability and predictability and the period between April 4 – 15 will be anything but that. For individuals though this will be a very good time to make those changes you have been pondering for a long time. The feel of this cycle will be one of ‘breaking free’ from constraints, rules, limitations, etc. Uranus rules innovation so there can be a greater openness to new ideas than usual.

More on Venus retrograde – Venus does not turn direct until Friday, April 17, so the evaluation process inherent in this cycle is continuing. However, much has already been learned so that the last part of this cycle is usually concerned with processing what one has learned and discovered over the last few weeks. For example, people may have come out of the woodwork to check in with us, seeking some kind of resolution in understanding. Now we must work with all that to see where we want to go from here. When Venus turns direct we are likely to feel refreshed and ready to move forward on any matters that pertain to love, beauty, romance, and of course, personal finance. It can be like cleaning house, especially with the Venus retrograde squaring Pluto.

This square to Pluto however can be difficult as Pluto rules the underworld. When we work with Plutonic energy we are thrust into issues from our own subconscious. This is the realm of those things we don’t want to look at, areas around which there are wounds and painful memories, but where something fundamental must be released in order for us to truly feel whole, clean, and able to move forward into a new way of Being-in-the -World.

As always, I love your emails reporting on how the transits are affecting you and am very grateful for them.

Announcements

I know the economy is difficult so I am continuing the reduced price of $110 for a 60- 80 minute consultation. I welcome people who have never had an astrological consultation to give it a try as well as those of you who have.

If you haven’t already, please check out the website for Sher School of Wisdom at www.sherschoolofwisdom.org.

All the best,
Jim Sher