The Axis of Lost/Found
In a few days, on August 16 at 7:44a EST, Venus will form the other axis with Gaia and our Sun in the middle. From our home planet, astrology demands we call this a conjunction: Venus conjoining the Sun. Yet if we take a spatial look, we see instead an Earth/Venus opposition or, as I just mentioned, an Earth-Venus-Sun axis.
Any astrological opposition can be read, not surprisingly, in at least two opposing ways. One being the two bodies have different intentions and polarized strategies. They argue for opposite choices from one another. And the second way of delineating an opposition is as “an opposite-facing conjunction.” That is, a planetary opposition viewed from Earth always has Earth in the center of its energetics. “Opposite-facing conjunctions” aka oppositions thus are setups or strategies for us Earthlings to wake up/accept/embrace/celebrate the specific gift formed by the opposing tension of the planets involved. I’ve always taught my students to see it as a rare diamond hidden in a mass of silly puddy which only becomes known when it’s stretched from both sides. Let one or the other go and the gem disappears into potential-only.
Whenever this alignment forms between the three bodies, Venus is at the midway point of her 19-month Journey (here’s a link explaining the basics of the Journey). At this level, she signifies all the parts of us whose days are numbered.
She’s furthest from Earth (apogee), completely invisible (cazimi) in the Sun’s light, and moving at her fastest velocity. One can easily understand why I’ve termed this phase, Transmutation (“TMU). Without the symbol for our feminine in our skies during this extreme moment relative to Earth, our inner feminine feels Her longing the deepest and surrenders herself to the very process of evolution. Transmutation, Venus’ superior conjunction, is her 2nd conception at the esoteric level. The first began the Journey at her inferior conjunction, which I call Self-Conception. But now, halfway through, she must consciously let go so that the new instructional codes from our own deepest knowing can be successfully seeded in our heartbodymind.
Don’t put too much effort into understanding what’s happening, if you find yourself living out Venus’ saga. Rather, attend to the process itself. Don’t distract yourself. Stay focused on your feelings whatever and whenever and whyever they are. Retrograding Mercury will make sure you don’t lock into any beliefs or over-rely on familiar cognitive patterns.
At 23 Leo, I am interpreting this conjunction (including Mercury) as a “Forthcoming Etheric New Heart Template.” Huh? Let me explain:
Forthcoming - The conjunction occurs in front of the Lion’s heart, not in his/her body, suggesting a result to come later.
Etheric - All things we say, do and think have their origins within our energy bodies as potentialities. As this Journey’s TMU celestial event, the choice to act from true courage, blind faith or fear is entirely our choice but the fact remains that the two inner planets with the Sun bespeak very internalized, hidden parts of ourselves. The potential to use this timing for growth or let it pass by resides waiting in our ethers.
New Heart Template - Your heart is the center of your life because it is the holographic part of you which links your physical, emotional and higher intuitive and spiritual capacities. See HeartMath’s web site or refer to my book on Chiron.
This is an invaluable opportunity to recommit ourselves to live from our heart, display a deeper, perhaps newly found courage, and to embrace our lives as a blessing meant not only for us.
Artfully Synchronous
Synchronicities are no longer counted by their single occurrences, but by the size of the wave they form when they happen. Another idea: we no longer need to limit ourselves into an exclusive association of a synchronicity with a positive experience or result. Many times – I’d guess far more than we’ve realized or can recall – a synchronous event washes onto our shores bearing reflections of imbalances or fear. In this light, the synchronistic moment may be one of the most under-utilized gifts to our development and healing.
By “synchronicity” I mean a non-linear link of events or inner experiences for which there isn’t any rational understanding. Synchronicities are wonderfully irrational.
A wonderful example of this crossed my desk this week. A young woman had attended a lecture I’d given on Chiron last year at an astrology conference. The lecture was scheduled late, 8:45p start time. I had decided early on that I’d utilize the lateness of the hour to offer attendees a version of a meditation I facilitate, called the Deep Heart Meditation. It goes wonderfully well with the Chiron work – more specifically, with the neurological and emotional effects of opening to one’s own natal Chiron. Fourteen months later, this week I receive this mixed media piece from her which she had been working on for a full month before attending the lecture and meditation: 
If you haven’t experienced the Deep Heart Meditation, I think it’s fair to say it brings us deeper into ourselves more quickly and with greater ease than we might imagine is possible. How? By first becoming somatically intimate with the spaces around us. For more on the DHM, read here. In Jen’s piece, we see lots of the outer enviornment our left brains can recognize: trees, birds, etc. Centered in the figure’s chest is a heart, and a glowing or radiating heart at that. It is a strikingly accurate depiction of what we feel inside when engaged in this practice. Since that first lecture/meditation, Jen has become a dear friend and student of Soulsign Astrology. She’s using our unique approach to evolutionary consciousness in astrology to assist her main practice which is based on flower essence therapy. Find Jen here: EngagedHeart.com