MAY,
2004
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Mythic
Prelude:
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The
Mirror of Venus
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The main themes
this month are not astrological -- though
the Full Moon of May 4 is auspicious
and complex -- but come from the realm
of primary myth as we focus this time
on Venus and the Spring of 2004, and
two ceremonial events, exactly a month
apart, that define a moment when humanity
is awakening, and assisting the healing
of the earth.
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As all mythmakers and hearers know, mid-spring Taurus month (April 21 - May 20) belongs to Venus the Lover, and manifests her generosity in profusions of flowers and fresh green leaves, lovers who are outdoors again, and all the rest of the Taurean energy that carries in joyous stamina all the green and pulsing vitality of the Earth. While endorphins are not specifically a Taurean phenomenon, they may as well be, as they kick in for those who commit breath and heart to the surge of the body toward love in action.
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This year, Venus can
be said to rule the whole spring, as
planet energies continue to build
and converge, know it or
not, to the Grand Venus Event of the
year, one of two that will mark like
bookends the time of transition from
2004 to 2012.
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The
Venus Passages of June 8, 2004 and June
6, 2012 are equal in importance
to recent events such as the
Harmonic Convergence of August 1987,
the Grand Cross alignments of August
1999, the Grand Stellium of May 2000
and Harmonic Concordance of November
2003, and represent one of our best opportunities
to clear, lighten and arrange ourselves and
our waiting
planet
for the coming time of transformation. The two Venus Passages
this Spring and in 2012 are in fact much rarer and more auspicious
than some of the other astral events
cited here.
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Grand crosses occur all the time, and really require only two pairs of planets in opposition to each other, at an angle of 90°. Star of David alignments like last November's come a couple of times in a decade, a dozen times or more in a person's life. But sets of Venus Passages, which always come in pairs about eight years apart, can take two lifetimes to recur. Since the first Venus Passage was observed in 1639, they have come at intervals of 130 years (1631/39 to 1761/69), 113 years (1761/69 -- 1874/82) and now 130 years again (1874/82 -- 2004/12). That's as much as we know by direct observation in the modern scientific era, though it is, as usual, fascinating to speculate on the periods when earlier Venus Passages might and should have come -- for example, the momentous years of exploration and reformation from 1518 to 1526.
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We have neither the
space nor the urge to look at earlier
Venus Passages here. Those who have
interest in these things can explore
this month's Prelude
Supplement, which has brief summaries
of the periods listed above. You can
also find links and leads to useful
writing about the Venus Passage of June
8.
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A Venus Passage, also called
a Venus Occultation, simply means that
on one of those rare occasions when
the orbital plane of Venus intersects
the ecliptic, the apparent orbit of
the Sun through the zodiac, Venus crosses
the face of the Sun as seen from Earth's
point of view, and for a Passage of
some seven hours is said to "occultate"
the Sun. Venus doesn't actually hide
the Sun, of course, as the Moon does
during a total solar eclipse, but totality
is not the point.
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One of the two main ideas
is that for scientists everywhere, a
Venus Passage is a priceless opportunity
to learn more about both the Sun and
Venus; Calleman notes that the Venus
Passage of 1761 was observed by 151
astronomers in 77 different locations,
all focused on gaining, among other
things, a more accurate estimate of
the distance between the Earth and the
Sun. For Edmund Halley, the famous Astronomer
Royal for whom the most celebrated of
all comets is named, "The sight of Venus on the Sun is by far the noblest that
astronomy can afford" -- even though Halley (1656 - 1742) never got to
see it himself.
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The other idea, that considers Venus mythically and spiritually, is that during a Venus Passage the Goddess is so gloriously in the ascendant that her beauty, her loving nature and her power of attraction outshine, symbolically at least, the blinding male force of the Sun himself. One way to picture this is to see Venus at front center stage, with the Sun at upstage center, and the other planets arranged like a chorus line on the flanks. In a Venus Passage heart and desire outweigh intellect, structure and organization, and the emphasis is on the sharing of love and the creation of beauty in ways that are radiant and brilliant. A Venus Passage is a time when we are not blinded by the light, but caressed and awakened by it.
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Each pair of
Venus Passages is an eight-year span
of new technological breakthroughs,
mathematical models and scientific discoveries,
new philosophical clarity and emphasis
on the values of reason, and new popular
movements aimed at taking power away
from hierarchies and spreading it over
wider constituencies and communities.
In the arts, as one expects from years
ruled by the most luminous and beautiful
of all planets, painter and composers find new ways
of rendering light, whether in the paintings
of Rembrandt and Hals, the musical textures
of Rameau, Haydn and Mozart, or the
creative explosion of photography, magic
lanterns and early prototypes of motion
pictures. This time around, new
discoveries in the science and art of
light are likely to be more dazzling
than they have ever been. The Harmonic
Concordance of November 2003 was a field
of sound. The Venus Passages of 2004
and 2012 will be fields of light.
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Here are the major
ceremonial moments of the Spring:
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May
1 - 3: The annual Mid-Spring Festival, celebrating the annual renewal of the Earth.
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May
4 - 5: Full Moon in Taurus month,
and the Buddhist Wesak Festival. This
Full Moon is intense and widely felt,
as the Moon's North Node (Dragon's Head)
and South Node (Dragon's Tail) conjoin
Sun in Taurus and Moon in Scorpio, while
Neptune in Aquarius is the middle leg
of a T-cross that strongly, even relentlessly,
poses questions of how dynamics between
Sun and Moon, male and female, intellect
and intuition, will be harmonized in
ways that are spiritually enriching
and unifying.
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May 8
(Sat): The Medicine
Wheel Ceremony at Turquoise
Mountain: Mount Taylor near Grants, NM will be the site of an extraordinary spiritual
gathering on May 8, guided by the traditional Native American keepers of
Turquoise Mountain. The gathering will welcome people of all colors and
spiritual traditions, and be part of a massive Medicine Wheel Ceremony that will
span the Western U.S. to place respectful attention on the well-being of the
Earth we all share. Contact: Friends of Indigenous Elders, 14 Davis Loop, Placitas, NM,
87403. Phone: 505-867-8087, E-mail: Polaris@lobo.net
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June
8: The Venus Passage of 2004. Whether we view this moment of opportunity through Mayan myth, in which Venus is associated with the plumed serpent Quetzalcoatl, Lord of Light; or in relation to Western astrology and symbolism, the play of light is the common element. When she first lived in the Mediterranean, Aphrodite, later Venus, never had a modern mirror of silvered glass like the one shown here. All she had was polished metal.
But the idea
of the mirror was far more
important than the thing
itself, for a mirror brings
awareness of oneself from
another's point of view;
new challenges in deciding
what is truth, fantasy,
desire, denial and deceit;
and above all the premise
that relationships work
by all kinds of attraction.
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At a time when
the people of our planet seem to have
grown increasingly addicted to hatred,
aversion and attack, so the stick of
belief and passion seems stuck in repulsion,
and in the pain and dread of those who
see themselves endlessly aligned against
others, this year's Venus passage can
clear both the eye and the heart, and
remind us that relationships with
others are far happier and more healing.
June 8 is the time to see, and help
others see, that for those who live
in fear, everyone is a threat, but to
those who live in love, everyone is
a blessing.
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Bless us all.
Keep holding that frequency.
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Copyright 2004 Dan Furst
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