Venus, Neptune, and Romance Redux

1.17.07


When Venus and Neptune come together, as they do on Thursday (Jan 18), our romantic sensibilities kick into overdrive. Beautiful, blissful possibilities abound at every turn. The only problem is, Maybe they're really what they seem, or maybe not.

Neptune is the great inspirer, in the way he casts whatever's under his sway in the most flattering light possible… enough to show us all its most perfect facets, and make us forget those parts that stunt our hoping, dreaming and believing.

But Neptune is also the great confuser, as he appears via an amorphous cloud of fog that blankets all details of reality… obscuring things we probably should worry about if we want to be wholly responsible, though it feels much better not to worry.

A conjunction of Venus to Neptune is one of the most creatively stirring transits, as it brings out our ability to see exquisiteness, grace and form wherever we direct our gaze. Even the tragic, melancholy and seemingly irredeemable become symbols of divine compassion under such an influence. Artists and creators of all sorts, take note! Your vision is being gifted with an extra something this week, so don't waste it on automaton-like chore completion.

In the realm of love, Venus-Neptune spins a seductive web in which the object of our affection appears at his utmost best—flawlessly fine, and forever our savior, or us his. We may see no reason to hold back from complete merging, allowing our most tender bits to flow boundlessly into his, his into ours, and back again. There's an undeniable magic to connections made or transformed under a Venus-Neptune conjunction… but everything doesn't always end up as it first appears.

Beware, of course, of any love—a person, an idea, a substance—that promises to save you or anyone else from anything. That's Neptune at his most idealistic… a position from which martyrdom or self-sabotage is merely a couple steps away. By all means, relish in the weightless ecstasy that permeates the scene when Venus and Neptune unite as one. Just don't bank your future on it. If you need a guarantee of 'forever' in order to appreciate 'right now', you've already lost the moment in yearning for more. Let go of that need, and backtrack into the present-time's pleasure.

As this conjunction falls in the sign of Aquarius, the zodiac's rabble-rousing rebel and emotionally cool intellectual, the best of Venus-Neptune can be found in odd, off-the-beaten-track locations, with strange bedfellows, in sexually ambiguous situations, midway between visionary theories, hanging off the side of a super-tall communications tower. (Suddenly, 'dinner and a movie' sounds like a big-time snooze.) When in doubt, go for the weirder of your options. Venus will reward you for it.

If something feels 'not quite right' about everything I've just described, then chalk it up to Neptune's year-long opposition to Saturn in Leo… which necessarily also creates a Venus-Saturn opposition as well. With this added astro-feature, we may face a certain hesitancy toward the total merge a Venus-Neptune conjunction might otherwise seduce us into. That's because we may feel blocked from it by another person, or our fears about what we might have to give up.

There's something quite practical—and potentially healthfully protective—about Saturn's involvement here, making sure we don't escape into any truly self-destructive fantasies. The best way to handle an opposition such as this, after all, is by carefully balancing both sides of the coin. Merge a little, back off a bit; continue the discussion.

Yet, Saturn's also ready to zap those of us who go beyond the logical limits of who we authentically are, just to enjoy a few hours of transcendent blah-de-blah. Tempting as it is, we cannot ditch our true selves for any reason. Sure, we're all One and all that sincere spiritual truth. But at the same time, you're on Earth as You for very particular reasons. Try to dodge that while enjoying the Venus-Neptune experience, and you'll be yanked right back with a sting or a swat.