Keeping an Eye on the Real Sky — Part 4

Peak points and retrogrades

As August begins and the Sun squares Uranus, Uranus begins to station and then turn retrograde by the 25th. With the Sun in Leo, Saturn is the highlight of midnight skies with the opposition on August 14th, see him rising after sunset in the east and then be up all night to catch him at his best. A visible planet is one to get out and talk to, to align ourselves with their beams and our conscious intentions. If you have not seen Saturn through a telescope yet, it's a great time to book a visit to an observatory or get your steady binoculars out. There is no planet so visually beautiful. It looks like a perfect, ultra-high definition computer graphic, and quite unreal, as its soooo perfect and beautiful. Saturn does command perfection and is exalted in Libra, so highly recommend, for anyone with heavy Saturn transit, you may see them in a new and more spiritual light.

The big part of Saturn’s visual delight is no doubt seeing his incredible rings, now tilted to less than their halfway point of visibility. The Saturn “ring plane crossing” happens every 15 years, known as Saturn’s Equinox, when Saturn’s rings appear head on to us and are hardly visible. The opposite occurs when they are fully open. The last time we saw them fully open was in 2017, and the last time they were head on was September 2009. Now they move toward this head on phase again by May 2025 and therefore slowly disappearing again. With Saturn and Neptune meeting at zero Aries in 2026, this head on pass seems like a precursor to this meet up with Saturn at 29° Pisces and Neptune already in Aries, a reset point of a different and visual kind at the end and the beginning for the zodiac.

Jupiter in Aries now also retrograde peaks in his retrograde opposition on September 27th, at 3° Aries, making it also the best time to view Jupiter and his famous great red spot and unmistakable atmospheric patterns. With Mars turning retrograde by the end of October, we also get to see the red planet at his best over coming months, with the peak on December 8th, 2022. Yet as Mars enters the shadow of his next retrograde the point he will retrograde back to in January 2023, Mars aligns with another red star, Aldebaran on September 15th, a good time to go out and spot the two together in the distinguished constellation of Taurus, a time to watch and listen closely to incoming signs and signals of what this next retrograde maybe about.

MARS AND VENUS 2022 Looking back to 1990/1991 when Mars last did his retrograde in this area of the zodiac, will bring in some important insights to help one navigate this time with more clarity. As part of the C*I*A Academy membership, we will be learning more about this significant Mars retrograde with great sky astrologer Andrea Michelle Kennedy.

I wrote on the significance of 2022 and the key points of Mars and Venus in this article last year and am quite astounded by the accuracy and themes returning from this 32-year cycle as there key points return to the same area of the zodiac. Therefore, a closer look at Venus and what she is up to over the coming months is also most significant, as Venus makes her next star point, this time in Libra, the first one for 140 years.

It's been a particularly potent year for Venus. Not only did 2022 start with a stationed Venus rx in Capricorn, conjunct Pluto, with the peak point, the Venus/Sun conjunction at 18° Capricorn, a star points notorious for global shake up, economic and political turmoil, the shifting of command and litigious actions, but she is now on her way to the first Star Point in Libra since the 1870's.

Between one star point and the next 9.5 months, we can see Venus playing her cosmic role in the shake up and profound shifts taking place around the planet, the re-alignments, the redistribution of power, alliances, and an unprecedented rebalancing of all kinds. With Venus also the ruler of the current North Node in Taurus her movements are most significant. Like the Moon, Venus also has phases, and to more closely follow her steps we can more clearly see Venus connecting the dots in the astrology going on, remember her metal is copper and copper is a great conductor of heat and electricity, therefore the cosmic energy and spirit.

A closer look at Venus's steps over the past 9 months moving toward the next Venus Star Point in Libra, exact on OCT 22/23rd, and particularly at the Venus Moon gates, tells us more about what she has been going through in 2022. The Moon gates which I've mentioned in previous SKY SPY columns and many articles over the years, are the conjunctions of a waning Moon and Venus, that begin after her maximum elongation as the morning star, which happened in March in 2022. From this point 7 meetings with the waning Moon, every month, connect with the Sumerian tale of "Inanna's descent into the underworld" the journey replicated by Venus's movements in the sky, as she gets lower and dimmer in the sky each month over 7 months to finally disappear behind the Sun.

The astrology and dates for this year’s Venus Moon Gates show the difficult journey we've had so far in 2022, when all the Venus Moon gates have had quite threatening aspect connections at these gates.

The moon gates symbolically depict a journey we are all on, that will culminate at the next Star Point in Libra come Oct 22nd. When Venus heads toward her superior conjunction or the "Underworld" she is missing from the sky view for up to 80 days and travels closely with the Sun for the longest time. She then finally overtakes the Sun to become an evening star gain. This is the symbolic journey of empowerment, of the Venus on a mission to transmute and transform, an acknowledgment of our authentic self, our needs and desires, our talents, of the life we want to live, of the powerful creatrix we all are, confronting our fears and insecurities, our relationships, our love for self and others, to rise up and transform where necessary in the powerful symbol of this elongated Venus Sun conjunction.

This process or the "Underworld" journey is often attributed to the 40 days and 40 nights of Venus retrograde, yet it seems highly relevant that visually during retrograde, the Sun passes Venus quite quickly and Venus only disappears for 8 days, as she transitions to the morning star. My take on the difference between these transitions, is to follow your story with these points, as they will show which transitions are the most challenging for each individual star point.

So, as we align with the Venus journey ahead, and prepare for the coming of the next star point we may want to recall this particular point which has been moving through Scorpio all our lives, since 1the 1920's. Now moving into 29° Libra, it will square Pluto in Capricorn, Mars stations at the same time, and a solar eclipse at 2° Scorpio soon follows. It's a major shift of priorities both personal and collective. It's as if wherever we have gone too far, or too deep, or taken on too much - Scorpio, now wants to be lightened up, rebalanced, equalized, harmonized, more fair - Libra. Wherever this Scorpio /Libra point falls in your chart is well worth a much closer look at as the focal point of this coming transition.

With Venus Star points we can look back at 4 year and 8-year cycles to give us more info. When we look at the coming Libra Star Point, we know the last point here was in Scorpio at 2°, when Venus was retrograde here 4 years ago. Yet 8 years ago Venus was doing her underworld journey here, as she will again now. They all connect and show a different perspective of the same point and pattern. Connect the dots and you will find profound connections, insights and aha moments, as you see the Venus Star operating in your life.

So, keep an eye out for the last visible Venus Moon gate, at 18° Leo on August 26th, it will square the nodal axis, and be very low in the sky just before sunrise, indicating the disappearance is imminent. After this the next Venus Moon conjunction happens in September in Virgo, Venus will have already disappeared and fully embracing her Venus Star mission. What's your mission for this round? What was the, 4 and 8 years ago?

If you would like to know about this exquisite Venus Cycle and adding it to your life and astrology, I will be teaching this for intermediate to advanced students at the coming Venus Retreat, timed with the next Libra Star Point. I can't believe It will be 4 years since our last retreat (amazing timing as 2 were cancelled in 2020 and 2021)

Full details here : Hope you can join us!

I will also be hosting an amazing Venus Star Libra Symposium (now our 7th Venus Masterclass) on OCT 2nd with fellow Venus Astrologers - Arielle Guttman, Adam Gainsburg, Kelley Hunter, Gemini Brett. Come and find out what we have been tracking!

FULL DETAILS HERE and early bird price to make the most of 20% off

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Graphics and photos by author
Image: Goddess Innana - Solvig Kaitrin