Wednesday, 30 May 2012   

The Venus Transit across the Sun

June 5^th – 6^th 2012

What is the Venus Transit?

Venus orbits the Sun every 225 Earth days. It gradually shifts its orbit from north to south of the Ecliptic plane, (where the planets orbit around the Sun). Normally, when Venus is conjunct the Sun, it is either above or below the Sun, as viewed from the Earth. 

Venus only crosses in front of the face of the Sun every 100 -120 years, then two transits occur together, 8 years apart. The most recent transit in June 2004 and this one in June 2012 cross the northern hemisphere of the Sun. The next pair of transits in 2117 and 2125 will cross the southern hemisphere of the Sun. Then the next pair of transits in 2247 and 2255 will cross the northern hemisphere again, and so on, alternating from north to south and back again.

Chart from - http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/transit/venus/Sun2004+2012-2.GIF

 When such a transit occurs, it means that the Earth, Venus and the Sun are aligned on the same plane. This is similar to what happens at a Solar Eclipse, when Sun, Moon and Earth are in exact alignment. Venus, however is a planet roughly the size of Earth, and is millions of miles more distant than the Moon, so its transit appears as just a small shadow passing across the face of the Sun.

What is the significance of the Venus Transit?

These rare Venus transits are always highly significant. This one, coming so soon after the Solar Eclipse on May 20^th, has added significance during the final stages of the approach to the December Solstice 2012.

The May 20^th Eclipse was about releasing and healing old, unbalanced, power-based, abusive or destructive expressions of the masculine energy, and planting the seeds for a new positive, creative, heart-centred expression of the male spiritual warrior. Inevitably, this will bring about the release of old patterns of relationship with the feminine. Both men and women will need to adjust current relationships within the self and with each other, to move into alignment with the new, emerging expression of the positive masculine energies. The Venus transit is ‘eclipsing’ old patterns of relationship and co-dependency that no longer work, now that the new, pure masculine energy has begun to take root.

The Venus transit is the next stage in the process of healing both the masculine and the feminine. Then, on November 13^th 2012, the Total Solar Eclipse over the south Pacific will enable the feminine, both within and out in the world, to find her rightful, whole and healthy relationship to the pure masculine. So we can move forward with the seeds of balance planted in Mother Earth and her energy grids, in all our relationships, and then in our local and global structures and institutions.

The Astrology Chart of the Venus Transit

 click chart to enlarge

The chart shows a small ‘learning triangle’ pattern between Mars, the Sun conjunct Venus, and asteroid Vesta. The new masculine energy is being required to release the past and absorb the new. Mars is in Virgo, which is concerned with the process of digestion, letting go of what is not needed and assimilating what is good and healthy for us. Mars makes a square (90°) aspect to retrograde Venus, which is conjunct the Sun in Gemini. The new male frequencies (Mars) are challenging any established patterns of relationship (Venus) that are based on old male patterns of domination or control. 

Venus, being retrograde during the transit, allows for release and healing of these patterns. Venus in Gemini needs to use spiritual discernment to determine what is healthy and wholesome and worth taking forward into the new future. Anything that is no longer an expression of right relationship cn be released, enabling new models and patterns of relationship to emerge. Venus will be advised how to do this by the semi-sextile (30°) aspect to asteroid Vesta. Vesta represents the volcanic fires of transformation within the Earth, and how this manifests through the kundalini energy in the body to create the transformative fire of love within the human heart.

So, the key to us knowing how to balance the masculine and feminine within us is to learn how to go within and listen to the inner knowing at the deepest level of our hearts. Vesta in Taurus can take us into stillness and bring the patience to wait until we know clearly how to move forward and give expression to right relationship in all aspects of our lives, our relationships and how we act in the world. Then this inner knowing can flow back along the trine (120°) aspect to Mars, to heal the unresolved aspects of the old masculine energies.

Just by ‘coincidence’ (ie: everything coinciding at exactly the right moment), NASA’s ‘Dawn’ spacecraft is approaching orbit around Vesta, and is revealing new insights into this fascinating body and the history of the formation of our solar system (see www.nasa.gov/dawn).

Another ‘learning triangle’ on the opposite side of the chart, exactly mirrors the Mars, Venus-Sun, Vesta pattern, so that these two patterns appear like angel’s wings on either side of the chart. This pattern has the Moon’s North Node square (90°) to Neptune conjunct Chiron, which are semi-sextile (30°) to Pallas Athene conjunct Uranus, then making a trine (120°) aspect back to the North Node.

The Moon’s North Node in Sagittarius shows the spiritual purpose for the Venus transit. It challenges us to manifest the healing qualities of unconditional love (Neptune conjunct Chiron in Pisces), by following our intuitive knowing and wisdom of what is right for us (Pallas and Uranus in Aries), and carrying that forward in our lives through Right Action.

These two learning patterns show us that Right Relationship and Right Action are mutually inter-dependent, and that you cannot have one without the other. When you bring them both to their full expression, you can soar on angel’s wings to create a new vision in your life and a new world around you.

How to work safely and energetically with the Venus Transit?

As with all eclipse-type events, the key is to work within with the energies, and not to become completely distracted by the spectacle of the outward event. By all means find a way to view the transit safely. This will entail using special eclipse glasses, or a welder’s glass, which are the only truly safe ways to look directly at the Sun. If you have a camera with a digital viewing screen, then you can photograph it that way. Do not on any account look through a camera’s viewing lens. If you have a telescope, you can train it towards the Sun, with a sheet of white paper on the ground below the lens so that you can see the projected image of the Sun and Venus’ shadow on the paper. Do not look directly through the telescope at the Sun.

Before you get to the point of observing the transit, it would be good to spend some time in meditation or quiet reflection, to attune to the energies of the Venus transit.

Suggested Meditation

An easy and simple method is to sit quietly and breathe into your heart and imagine a golden ball of light (the Sun) at your heart chakra, in the centre of your chest. Then breathe the light out and down to connect with the solar plexus chakra, below the ribs and diaphragm – this is the Venus centre in the body. Then breathe up again into the heart chakra, and continue this pattern of breathing in at the heart and out at the solar plexus. As you breathe out, become aware of anything that you wish to let go of, particularly patterns of behaviour in relationships that are no longer serving you, feeding you, or enabling you to give and receive love. As you breathe in, ask what you need in order to change those patterns, and live from a truly heart-centred and loving attitude.

As you follow this process, you may also become aware of another, smaller chakra or energy centre, which is located immediately below the heart centre. This is the ‘Ānanda-kanda’ chakra, which is the means whereby we connect inwardly with our personal connection with the Divine, in order to dissolve our attachments to the emotions, and enable us to express our sense of Oneness in the world and in our relationships with others. When we awaken this centre, then the Venus transit will ‘eclipse’ and release us from the hold of our personal desires and wants, and enable us to move into open and unconditional Right Relationship with self, others and the world.

Where and when will the Transit be visible?

The Venus Transit will be visible around sunset in Canada and North and Central America on 5th June. It will be visible at sunrise on 6^th June in most of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and western Russia, all the countries around the Back Sea and Caspian Sea, also India, Indonesia, western China and Western Australia. The entire transit will be visible in eastern Russia, eastern China, New Guinea, Central and Eastern Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Ocean.

The best possible place on Earth to be, where Venus and the Sun are directly overhead at maximum transit, is at the western end of New Caledonia in the Melanesian archipelago, south-west Pacific.

For more details of visibility and timing, visit: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/transit12.html