Mars, the God of War, and Venus, the Goddess of Love are together in the sky right now, and I hope they are making whoopee! They have been in the same zodiac sign of Libra the Balancer, since August 8th, getting closer and closer together. Today they are at the exact same point in the sky, they are now One. Hence my choice of imagery, a wonderful illustration of the God and Goddess completely joined in union. This drawing by Robert Place is part of his lovely Buddha Tarot deck, which I will say more about in the upcoming Moon Letter. This image is sexual in nature. Mars is the yang energy of external power and force; Venus is the yin energy of internal heat and passion. The physical expression of Mars is up and out; Venus is down and in. Venus is found either as the morning star, or as in her current cycle, the evening star, two of the most frequent times to be making love. So, obviously with Mars and Venus conjunct (conjoined), these are wonderful nights to be with your lover. The two planets will be closely united until September 9th, so that should be plenty of time to enjoy the connections with the one you love.
But Mars and Venus represent more than sexual connection. They are also representing the masculine and feminine ways of being in the world. The masculine ways of being are described in terms of external, logical, intellectual, rational, and action that is often power-over. The feminine ways of being are described in terms of internal, intuitive, emotional, related, and empowered means of action. We need both of these forms of action and both of these associated values. We need both yang and yin. Right now it seems as if the masculine is too strong as seen by the greed, competition, and fighting that is going on. We need the balance of the feminine energy of relatedness and compassion so that we can work to heal the wounds so evident in our own lives, our community, and the world.
Watch Mars and Venus set in the western sky about an hour and half after sunset over the next week. Venus will be the bright sparkling diamond who is setting first, and Mars will be a ruddy red following close behind. Saturn will set soon before them, so you might see him as well. A great program that will help you find the stars and planets and constellations is www.stellarium.org. You can program it to your city’s latitude and longitude and find the constellations and planets. And you can move the clock forward to find out when the planets will rise and set on any particular day in your area. Or, you can check out the on-line Farmer’s Almanac, from which the rising and setting times for Chattanooga are listed below. I just purchased the hard copy of 2011 Farmer’s Almanac and am really enjoying the star lore and zodiac information.
Sun | 7:05 A.M. | 8:24 P.M. | |
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Moon | 6:01 P.M. | 3:14 A.M. | |
Mercury | 8:55 A.M. | 9:02 P.M. | |
Venus | 10:49 A.M. | 10:15 P.M. | |
Mars | 10:47 A.M. | 10:23 P.M. | |
Jupiter | 9:53 P.M. | 9:58 A.M. | |
Saturn | 9:55 A.M. | 10:03 P.M. | |
Uranus | 9:44 P.M. | 9:47 A.M. | |
Neptune | 8:17 P.M. | 7:11 A.M. | |
Pluto | 4:48 P.M. | 3:08 A.M. |