Venus in Pisces
Thoughts on an Exalted Venus.
Venus has entered the sign of her exaltation!
As if that isn’t enough reason to celebrate, she has finally escaped Mars and Saturn.
A planet is going to beam out its energy no matter what, and the sign it’s in describes the quality of that planetary force, the style of it. Each planet is the gatekeeper of its own archetypal influence, and I often imagine them as celestial puppet masters manipulating the strings of their own sphere — strings attached to every last one of us.
Venus is much happier right now, as she is free to preside over earthly Venusian matters without the interference of the malefics.
The Venus Grotto
Linderhof Palace, Bavaria
When Venus enters Pisces, the sign of her exaltation, the essential Venusian functions of unity, balance, beauty, harmony, and love take on Pisces characteristics.
A note on exalted planets: each planet has positive or challenging relationships with certain zodiac signs. Planets are deeply comfortable (and thus strong) in the signs they rule (for Venus, that would be Taurus or Libra), but can often be TOO comfortable, resulting in what can only be described as excessiveness. Venus in Taurus & Libra can be quite…extra. It’s turbo Venus. However, when in the sign they are exalted in, their characteristics are elevated. It’s a less “pure” expression of that planet’s energy — and inherently more balanced because of it.
And that’s where we’re at with this Pisces Venus.
In this sign, Venus is still pleasure-loving, decadent, and unifying, but the watery Piscean qualities of intuition, empathy, creativity, and the deep capacity and desire to merge — much like how a billion droplets of sea spray are driven to bind in order to create the Fathomless Depths of the Ocean — are imported into our earthly Venusian sphere.
Venus, by Domenichino (1581–1641)
This face of Venus is sensitive and romantic, dreaming up gorgeous fantasies in which to live in.
Reality isn’t that interesting, am I right? This is a transit during which we’ll be lured into getting carried away by these dreams, and I have 2 things to say about that:
It’s incredibly important to allow ourselves to imagine exactly how beautiful romantic union can be. It’s the only way to achieve that level of Venusian happiness in real life.
Just don’t stay there. Come back down to Earth. The refusal to engage with reality means that the fantasy will never become reality.
What’s more, this is an accepting, soft-hearted Venus.
In Pisces, she’s attracted to those that need her special help. She knows her greatest asset is a deep well of unconditional love that will never run dry, and she wants to give it to those who need it most.
…you know where I’m going with this, right? During this transit, you may feel compelled to heal others with your love — which is a beautiful thing when done right. When not done right, it’s merely spiritual martyrdom disguised as love.
Boundaries will blur, and there will be an evasive, hard to pin down quality to these few weeks.
The Mirror of Venus, Walter Crane, 1890
The intense urge to feel is also a hallmark of this transit.
If you understand the tendencies of Pisces Venus, then you will be more able to accurately separate her influence from that of your own damn self.
This awareness of Venus’ influence allows you to use this transit for all the beauty it provides in a healthy, sustainable way.
I’m not saying every one of you will experience these weeks in the same way — all I’m saying is that this specific energy is out there.
So at least try to diligently anchor yourself to the truth.
Transits
For the first week of her time in Pisces, Venus is happily chilling with Jupiter & Neptune, far away from the drama she just escaped. She’s relaxing, catching herself up on all the good things that have happened on this side of town while venting to Jupiter in particular, as he’s her current ruler, about all the shit she just had to deal with. In turn, Jupiter gently guides her to see the positive aspects of these events, and how they have expanded her understanding of her own virtues.
Then, on April 14th, close to midnight (all times will be EST), Mars moves into Pisces. Mars & Venus have been traveling closely entwined for months. Now Mr. Malefic is coming back in to ruin the vibe? Yeah, well, maybe just a little bit. The addition of Mars definitely adds a little agitation, but Venus & Jupiter are so strong that it might not even matter. He might just have some heat & energy to offer to the admittedly languorous situation in Pisces right now. And, importantly, Mars & Venus don’t make a degree-based conjunction during this time. They’re in the same house, but in different suites.
On the 18th, Venus forms a sextile to Uranus in Taurus, planet of surprise, change, and upheaval. Well, guess who rules the sign of Taurus and thus Uranus, yeah that’s right, VENUS. So that’s cool. Whatever Uranus stirs up will be ultimately controlled by Venus.
Additionally, a sextile is a supportive and subtle, so you might not even notice anything!
Jumping forward a in time a bit brings us to a series of days containing the main activity of this transit. The Moon conjoins Venus in the wee hours of April 27th, and only a couple of hours later Venus herself conjoins Neptune.
The combination of these three planets is extremely dreamy, emotional, and sensitive. This is a day to guide your feelings to flow towards art and things that make you happy and not whatever fantasy you’re involved in at the moment.
On the evening of the 29th, Venus finally catches up to Jupiter. This has the potential to be an extremely lucky day.
It’s also Friday — the day of Venus! Try to honor Venus in whichever way you choose at this moment. Write down a list of the qualities of your perfect partner, sketch out the skeleton of your next creative project, buy a money tree, pick up a tarot deck — Venus & Jupiter will leave their particularly strong, benefic stamp on whatever activity you choose to engage in on this day. Have fun with it! Venus LOVES FUN.
On May 1st, Venus forms a sextile to Pluto in Capricorn, Captain Transformer, Lord of the Underworld. Again, this is a supportive & subtle configuration, so if it hits your natal chart in a prominent way you’ll likely feel its influence, but it’s tough to tell.
On April 30th, the children of Venus will participate in an eclipse occurring in the sign of Taurus. I will have a whole post about that as the date nears.