A true and honest plan
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Freedom from desire
I have this theory that everything and everyone has someone who is designed to love them. Just look at the things that people collect: thimbles, matchbooks, refrigerator magnets. There are folks who love cars, quilts, cats, guitars, Fiesta ware, old vinyl albums, flamingos, mushrooms, and circus posters. I watched a great documentary about a typewriter shop in Berkeley, and marveled at the loving artisans who so love typewriters that when a parts manufacturer went out of business, they began fashioning replacements by hand.
Venus is the planetary ruler of two signs, Taurus and Libra, so it has dominion over money and relationships. But they’re united by a single principle: pleasure. Venus describes those things that give us pleasure, the things we are designed to love.
As it transits, Venus might lead you to fairly transient whims of desire. For instance, it enters Sagittarius this week (Jan. 7, 3:19 am), and for the next month or so Sagittarius things will probably look pretty good to us. We’ll want to look at books or hang out in World Market or haunt discount travel websites. Anything that’s novel, foreign, different, or that opens up a different world of ideas is ruled by Sagittarius.
But transiting Venus’ sign can also describe our attitude toward money, relationships, or physical possessions. Above all, Sagittarius values freedom. Venus in this sign is interested in money mostly as a way of securing more freedom, and it’s generally not much interested in possessions. So if part of your plan for the new year involves cleaning out your closets and streamlining your financial obligations, you are absolutely on the right track.
“Even the most beautiful scenery is no longer assured of our love after we have lived in it for three months, and some distant coast attracts our avarice: possessions are generally diminished by possession.” ―
Performance evaluation
The Sun, like Venus, takes about a year to make its planetary rounds. Once each year it meets up with each planet by conjunction, rather like a boss giving managers their performance evaluations. Like most of us, I imagine the Sun kind of dreads sitting down with Pluto (Jan. 11, 3:36 am). The problem is that Pluto wants to turn the tables and start evaluating the Sun, and the boss didn’t get to be the boss by sitting around taking lip from his outer planets. So it’s a tense couple of days when the two sit down together. What it means for us, their earthly representatives, is a couple of days (let’s say the 10th and 11th) when we’re apt to be pretty merciless in our self-assessments. I mean, that’s fine as far as it goes; it’s important to set high standards for oneself, to delve deep and rip out habits, tendencies, and attitudes that are unworthy of us. But don’t get carried away with the self-flagellation. Take a good look at yourself, then stow it away in your mental archives.
Then, as Mercury makes a conjunction with Saturn (Jan. 13, 5:31 am), you’ll be set to draft a fresh plan for the year ahead. Mercury and Saturn in Capricorn enjoy making lists, plans, and strategies, and they’re good at it. So pull out your calendars and planners and all those delicious little colored markers, and outline your plan for the coming year. Now that you know what’s working and what isn’t, what’s essential to you and what can be done without, your plan will be based on what’s true and honest about you, and on your real passions.
“Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. ”
―
What it means
Also on the 13th (at 12:58 pm), Jupiter and Neptune form the first of three exact squares they’ll make throughout this year. Jupiter represents what we believe, what we feel that we know; but Neptune symbolizes our faith in those things we can’t be certain of. What they have in common, at least, is the idea that there does exist, somewhere, an answer to the question, “What does it all mean?” But while Jupiter believes it knows the answer, Neptune knows it never will.
Likewise, those of us with Jupiter strong in our charts by sign, close to an angle, or connected to the Sun or Moon are usually pretty sure about the world, ourselves, and what’s right and wrong. But the Neptunians among us are not so sure. Jupiterians tend to be pretty happy, but they run the risk of becoming complacent and intellectually arrogant. Neptune’s children are fluid, empathetic, but uncertain. If Neptune is involved in a lot of difficult aspects in the birth chart, we often find lots of self-doubt and nameless fears.
This series of three conjunctions (the other two are June 16 and September 21) pits the two gods against each other. Ideally, the result of their conflict will be more open-mindedness for Jupiter, and more confidence and certainty for Neptune. Jupiter must learn from Neptune’s example of humility, and Neptune will look to Jupiter for help in facing our fears – so we can eventually free ourselves of them.
© 2019 April Elliott Kent
