Gathering up the pain of our wound
so that we may escape the pain of our wound gathering up the body's bitterness
so that we may escape the body's bitterness
so that roses may bloom in the blood of our wound.
George Seferis, Venus in Taurus
Venus Style
When Venus moved into Taurus yesterday, my body felt it before my mind did. I spent the afternoon visiting an exotic fruit store, taking a meandering walk in a forested trail, and then sat on a log by a creek to snack on longans and mangosteens. During the actual ingress, I returned from a leisurely shopping trip and dozed off into a nap, something my fiery self is rarely able to do.
It became clear to me how much effortlessness, natural pleasure, is unlocked by Venus moving into Taurus.
We track the movements of Venus to tell us about intimate pleasures; as a benefic, it brings subjectively pleasant and joyful things. Since it moves so quickly (it takes about a month in each sign), it can mark what makes us feel good and what we value for a limited period of time: more attuned to our mood or ever-shifting tastes. Venus rules the love between people, sensual pleasures, art-making, adornment and what we find beautiful.
In Taurus, Venus is at home: she has the tools she needs to most comfortably be herself, namely the blooming of flowers, steady embodiment, a focus on what is pleasurable and musicality. Valens tells us that Taurus is “noble, energetic, toilsome, good at keeping things, pleasure-loving, music-loving, generous”.1 Taurus to me, especially Venus in Taurus, evoke images of a wildflower garden, well-tended but allowed to run wild without much tinkering.2 Venus wants its pleasure to be effortless, its beauty comfortable.
I’ve been doing cursory research into famous figures with Venus in Taurus and I was surprised. Most of the smoldering bombshells known for their beauty often have debilitated Venuses. Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Rihanna, all known for their beauty, have Venus in Aries. Kim Kardashian, Julia Roberts and Sophia Loren have Venus in Virgo. Both of these placements are seen as difficult for the Lesser Benefic. Venus in Taurus figures seem to have a different relationship to beauty than their debilitated counterparts. While we certainly laud the above-mentioned women as sex symbols, there is also a sense that Venus is performed *for* other people or not solely for the benefit of the one being looked up. Movies like “Blonde” grossly highlight the subjugation women like Monroe underwent while in the public eye. In many ways, we live in a debilitated Venus culture: wanting beauty to be something to grab or only perceptible from the outside and worthy when others can recognize it. We want it to involve labor beyond our natural beauty but we want it to *appear* effortless so it is that much easier to consume. We want our icons to be beautiful in the midst of very harsh gazes, exacting standards and a rise and grind culture that asks that we replace rest and leisure time with serums, strenuous exercise and constant work.
What is so interesting to me about famous Venus in Tauruses is how they seem to want to subvert the notions we have around beauty and pleasure. One such example is feminist theorist Helene Cixious, whom I was first introduced to through her paper “The Laugh of the Medusa,” which is about the privileging of the chaotic, receptive language of the body over the the rational, “masculine” way of communicating we are taught to value. She wrote, “Censor the body and you censor breath and speech at the same time. Write yourself. Your body must be heard”.3 By turning the body, which, to the thinking mind and our predominent colonial western mindset, is an unknown country to be conquered and controlled, into a site of great discovery and rich wisdom, we are looking straight into the eyes of Medusa, reviving the marginalized, often feminine form of speaking and understanding.
When I first read this essay in college, and even now, I get a zip of excitement; joy at a serious thinker exalting the deep, emotional pit from which I harvest my thoughts. It is a testament to the power of finding beauty in your unadorned state.
The closest figure with Venus in Taurus that I would describe as approaching “bombshell” is Ariana Grande— but she is most known for her singing voice. Taurus rules the neck and lower jaw and is also associated with music and singing. Her conventional beauty is definitely part of her appeal but thinking of her trajectory as opposed to that of her peers, there is a measure of self-containment she’s been afforded that many of them haven't. She’s certainly been subject to her fair share of public tragedy; in 2017, one of her concerts in Manchester was bombed and multiple people died; in 2018, he recent ex Mac Miller died of an overdose and she received widespread vitriol while also mourning this loss.4 But while the events themselves were awful, one could still call what she turned them into beautiful. After the Manchester bombing, Grande held a benefit concert whose proceeds would go to the affected families. Much of her music honestly deals with the fallout and feelings that came with these earth-shaking events. Since then, Grande has receded, to some extent, from public life (and seemingly voluntarily and happily) and married someone largely uninvolved in the entertainment industry.
Famous people with debilitated Venuses seem to wield the lesser benefic like battle armor; it may make them victorious and their beauty bolder and easier to see, but it also turns your body into a battleground. It becomes a thing something wants from you or demands of you rather than stand as a self-evident truth. Lately I’ve been thinking more deeply about the adage “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”; our current society treats beauty like a scarce commodity that must be worked towards while also hiding that labor to make it seem natural, and thus more deserved. But singers like Grande, who’s most popular songs deal with rising after tragedy and being thankful for past relationships, show that beauty can be found everywhere; it is our job to see it.
I think about Lana Del Rey, born with Venus in Taurus conjoined the North Node on the descendant, who’s latest single is called “A&W,” evocative of the retro soda brand and diner chain, but, as you listen to the song, doubles as an acronym for “American Whore”. “Look at the length of my hair,” she implores, “and my face, the shape of my body/Do you really think I give a damn/What I do after years of just hearing them talking?” We have at once an appreciation of her body exactly as it is and a clear disinterest in the opinions of others on the matter. With “hot or not” and “who wore it best?” lists; beauty pageants; microtrends, trendy new skincare items and fast fashion, it can often feel like beauty is a game that most of us are losing. We are taught that some are worthy of the title of “beautiful” and you can be demoted at the slightest faltering. It has become radical for a public figure, particularly a woman, not participate in the labor and competition of beauty.5
Part of why del Rey has become renowned for her lyricism is that it seems to capture her true, lived experience, warts and all— where the juice is: “I'm a princess, I'm divisive/Ask me why, why, why I'm like this/Maybe I'm just kinda like this”. Perhaps I have found life particularly pleasant the last few days because the pleasure inherent to each moment was more easily accessible, not requiring effort or thought to float into.
I advise you to rest into beauty and see what wonders arise toward you like crocuses always arriving on the first day of spring. What feels good from the inside out rather then what you think others will find most pleasing. Do the work of deciphering the codes within your feelings; the caverns within you. Trust the process. Trust what feels good.
Fun is Enough
I’ve been thinking about something I said aloud to someone for the first time a few months ago. Though there as a myriad of reasons that I practice astrology, the main one that keeps me coming back is that it’s fun. It makes my life more enjoyable. For a while, I felt this reason to be frivolous. There are people dying, Chloe. And all of the tragedies and injustices go on regardless of my stargazing.
But what keeps us alive and engaged like pleasure? What leads to babies, art, love, community, healing, etc but enjoyment of ourselves and all else within this world?
Of course we can’t be happy or have fun all the time; but will our joy negate our pain?
I also think we lose a lot when we only deem activities important that are productive or provide linear benefits, whereas I get just as much benefit to my work, relationships, art, when I let myself play and do what feels good. We miss out on innovation and surprise when we don’t let fun seep into our work. Corita Kent, in her manual on creativity has this to say:
Go to a movie, take a walk, read a book for fun. Sometimes these experiences will spark an idea or memory or thought so that the fun times prove to be marvelous resources-research. Was that free time or was it simply the early part of some work?6
Perhaps you know that the moon will be void for the day and thus starting a new project could be difficult. You can then spend that day “wasting time” doing something fun and perhaps find a new thread or spark of inspiration you weren’t expecting. If you know that Venus is in Taurus, as it currently is, you can focus on your physical sensations and pleasures to anchor your work and art-making. It is these moments of kismet between the stars and I that make my life worth living; that I am not alone; that the universe is wise and mysterious and watching; that my will can join the divine and make my life and the world better.
Astrology allows us to see the warp and weft of this existence. What joy to join its flow.
If you want help figuring out your own rhythm, creative practice, relationship to the stars, or your current period of unfolding time, then my books for March are open 🌼
Recommendations:
satisfying as many as your senses as possible while working; currently snacking on grasshopper pie and coffee; sniffing my boysmells grace jones candle; and listening to The Cure— infinite acts of creativity!
going to a body of water with a piece of fruit
Eric Purdue’s translation of Agrippa’s “Three Books of Occult Philosophy”
saying hi to the moon before leisure time
Until next week,
Love,
Chloe
Vettius Valens, Anthologies, Book I, p. 3
I believe I first heard this comparison from Diana Rose Harper.
“The Laugh of the Medusa,” Hélène Cixous.
No wonder her Venus is also in the decan Taurus Austin Coppock calls “The Prayer Beads,” which is about how we adapt to inevitable hardship.
that is not to shame anyone who enjoys any of these things! i am just pointing out that they should be optional if they are not for us.
Corita Kent, “Learning by Heart: Teachings to Free the Creative Spirit,'“ p. 299
Nearly all my planets are in Venus-ruled Libra, yet my actual Venus in Virgo (and also in the 12th house!), so quite a bit of detriment there. Yet she's a lifelong teacher. I can see the times I've worn beauty as armor, as you say, and times when all I want to do is delight in the beauty around me. I appreciate the guidance on sinking into the unique lessons of this Venus-Taurus era 🌹♉️