April 2, 2024 | by Silvianne K. Delmars |
On April 7 Venus meets with the Moon in the morning sky at 03 Aries 06, marking her arrival at the somewhat rare Death by Intent 8th gate in her Leo synodic overstory descent journey. Let’s take a look at the Sabian and Chandra symbols for this Aries 4 degree.
Venus
Sabian Symbol
“Two lovers strolling on a secluded walk.
Keynote: The progressive polarization of energies needed for fulfilling one’s life function.
Vincent van Gogh, A Pair of Lovers
In order to respond fully to the potentialities released by a sense of identification with a greater Whole, the human being should be himself whole. An interplay of bipolar energies is needed to provide a sustained and dynamic ‘resonance’ to any superior and encompassing form of life. This may imply a temporary withdrawal from routine activity, i.e. a ‘secluded’ process. It is not, however, a closed process. The positive and negative polarities do not meet in a closed circuit, reconstituting a neutral state of potentiality. They operate in dynamic, open, unresolved togetherness in contact with the surrounding energies of nature… the state of dynamic and unresolved POLARIZATION.” – from Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala
This Sabian Symbol speaks to the balance of feminine and masculine energies within us. And lets us know that seclusion is key in the search for who we truly are – the journey to inner wholeness requires contemplative solitude. Having arrived at this beyond-final 8th gate, stripped of past notions of self-identity and divested of old habits designed to keep us safe, we are confronted with the core conundrum of manifest existence.
All creation stories start with an emergence of something out of nothing; the creation of something real out of pure potentiality. Polarity is born. Duality is the necessary catalyst for growth and expansion.
When we reach this essential moment, we are compelled to ask ourselves, what is left of me? What is at the core of being, what is my true, holy desire? To uncover and act on this creative seed of our heart’s desire is no easy task. It requires great courage and most of all, great self-love.
In his commentary on this symbol, James Burgess reminds us that “impetuous pursuit of self-interested pleasure is an entirely valid path to joy.” We have been brainwashed into the belief that following where our joy beckons must somehow be selfish. But, what if the exact opposite is true – that the unfolding of our unique, defining desire, implanted in our soul at its inception, is exactly what is most needed in this crucial moment of cosmic change?
Chandra Symbol
The Chandra symbol for Aries 4 also invokes this expression of our pure, exuberant, essential self, “You can’t think about anything. Instead, what you must do is wing it. I mean go all the way with those instincts, raw and wild.”
“A cup overflowing with clear water.
I am propelled in here to turn my world into a free-expression arena. Yet I have secret recesses of tremendous blockage and constriction. I am delighted to outlast my own uptightness. I do so by taking myself lightly and taking the world around me even more lightly.
It is crucial that I be untouched, unscarred, uncomplicated. I must remain utterly myself to be anybody at all. It’s easy for me to sink into being nobody. The anonymous state is so familiar. But I am called. I am summoned. I am quickened to throw off the lethargy of centuries and become who I am once again.
My being is the ultimate in playful, interactive, boundless, free, exuberant, and celebrational expressions. When I find others to match frequencies with me, I soar. My impulse is so fiery and straight on. Because what I want and need is to feel my body and my soul as a vessel for life that can be tapped completely.
I am on this journey where I run into myself all the time, and I find I’m still in that outer mind somehow. Then I have to do it again because I can’t do this from the outside. I can’t be some kind of just-anybody-else clone.
I am inimitably unique. I can spark anybody to be this way. It’s so natural, but there’s one part you must get. You can’t think about yourself. You can’t think about the world. You can’t think about anything. Instead, what you must do is wing it. I mean go all the way with those instincts, raw and wild.” – from Ellias Lonsdale, Star Sparks
Death by Intent
Here at this potent gate of Death by Intent, the final step before Venus enters the Underworld near the end of the month, we are being asked to employ our spiritual will to consciously shed any old stories or patterns that stand in the way of this free expression of our essential being, no matter how beloved or how safe they make us feel. Embracing the disintegration of old forms is the prerequisite for the creation of new ones, the promise that beckons, however dimly, from the other side of the abyss we are about to enter.
The Solar Eclipse
Just one day after Venus enters this shamanic portal, we have the powerful New Moon total Solar Eclipse, exactly aligned with Chiron, at 19 Aries 24. The Sabian Symbol for Aries 20 is “a young girl feeding birds in winter.” Dane Rudhyar’s keynote is “overcoming crises through compassion”. James Burgess invokes the mystery of being innocent and fearless in love.
Collectively and individually, there is a tremendous confluence of energies pointing us towards the composting of the consequences resulting from thousands of years of distorted Aries, paving the way for charting a different course into the future. Rather than blindly following the dictates of a civilization gone mad with greed and power-over, it is time to remember our sacred mission as warriors of Love, acting from the purity and innocence of our heart’s intuitive knowing. So that we may bring compassion and comfort to bear in this unprecedented moment of inevitable, world-disintegrating chaos.
Mars
Meanwhile, Gemini synodic overstory Mars continues his climb in the morning sky, having met with the Moon on April 5 in Pisces, against the backdrop of the Water Bearer constellation, just before this 8th Venus Moon gate. He continues to grow brighter as he journeys through his Rebirth of Growth and Wisdom phase in the morning sky, expanding his awareness through the zodiacal and constellational initiations marked by his Moon encounters each month.
Mars will enter the sign of Aries at the end of April, conjuncting the Moon at 03 Aries 25 on May 4. This means the sacred masculine will be meeting with the Moon at the exact same degree as the Venus Moon conjunction that opened the current Venus gate. This beautiful synchronicity invites us to shatter any attachment to the old, dysfunctional story of two halves that come together to make a whole.
What does it means to envision, instead, two distinct archetypal energies within, one feminine and one masculine, each whole and complete unto itself, as they learn to dance together from that place of wholeness? What does the dance of sovereign creator Venus with free-spirited, trickster Gemini Mars lead to? And what difference might this freedom-loving, paradigm-busting archetypal sacred marriage make in our own lives, as we surrender to the journey of discovering and manifesting our true heart’s desire?
And Venus Continues Her Sojourn …
After the New Moon eclipse on April 8, Venus continues her sojourn through this last stage of her journey before entering the Underworld (approaching within 10 degrees of the Sun, and therefore becoming invisible to us on the other side of the Sun), on April 27. On the way she meets with the North Node on April 17 at 15 Aries 34. The Sabian degree for Aries 16 is “nature spirits are seen at work in the light of sunset.” This is a beautiful symbol of attunement to the spiritual forces in nature and being revitalized by the contact. It also invokes the innocence of the earlier “feeding bird in winter” Aries eclipse degree.
Just two days later, Venus has a rendezvous with retrograde Mercury at 17 Aries 32. The Sabian degree of “an empty hammock stretched between two trees” reminds us of the importance, once again, of attuning to natural rhythms. And the activation by retrograde Mercury highlights the healing potential of slowing down and contemplating where we have been, so we can move forward when the time is right, informed by a fuller embodiment of the deeper currents so present as this alchemical time.
Finally, Venus meets with Chiron on April 21 at 20 Aries 09, enhancing the eclipse energies set in motion on the 8th, as they continue to unfold for the foreseeable future. The Sabian symbol for Aries 21, “a pugilist enters the ring,” echoes the duality invoked by the “two lovers” symbol that opened this current Venus gate. James Burgess describes this degree as giving us the opportunity to examine our strengths and weaknesses by measuring up to challenges. Dane Rudhyar likens it to the dance of Yin and Yang, reminding us that victory is always temporary in a dualistic world.
In the end, it is not the contest, or the perceived conflict between opposing sides of a polarity that is important, but what we learn about ourselves as we enter fully, no holding back, into the game of life. While simultaneously holding a witness consciousness on a parallel plane. No easy task.
Accelerated Growth Potential
This month offers us an incredibly rich and challenging opportunity for accelerated growth, as Venus at the brink of her Underworld journey confronts the potentially wisdom-generating initiation of a future-oriented, North Node eclipse. May we all be upheld on the path by our intensely personal connection with the Sacred and remember that we are loved immensely by Great Mystery, as we continue to show up with open hearts at this time of intense upheaval, to help seed a New Creation.