Venus of the Heavens
A Planetary Remediation Journey: Part 2
Venus has inspired humanity for eons.
The goddess and her symbolism takes many names and forms.
Venus in Virgo: Maiden at Arms
I have a very important, angular Venus. (Angular planets fall in one the four most prominent houses and thus have disproportionately active, important roles.)
It’s in the 10th house of career and legacy, and also rules three of my most important planets, all in Libra in the 11th house of community: Jupiter (which as a Sagittarius rising is my chart), Saturn, and Pluto. All of those planets are conjunct the actual Midheaven, which often falls outside of the 10th house, making Venus its ruler too. It’s also the ruler of my Taurus 6th house of work and health.
This strong signature means that not only does Venus have to uphold all purely Venusian functions like love, relationships, beauty, art, creativity, pleasure, and the enjoyment of life, it’s also the head of a chain of planets responsible for my highest achievements and purpose in life, as well as the work routines and physical stamina it takes to make all of that happen.
You can psychoanalyze to your heart’s desire, but the truth is that a natal chart is representative of a life being lived.
Planets have functions, they have jobs!
The elevated status of Venus in my chart obviously makes me an incredibly Venusian person. Not only that, but that cluster of Libra planets is almost exactly on the Midheaven — only 1-2 degrees away in the case of Jupiter and Saturn. This makes everything related to the themes of the Midheaven and the 10th house seem almost fated, as if I have many things to accomplish in this life, creating an overwhelming urgency and importance with anything and everything traced back to Venus and the Midheaven. Creative pursuits, romantic relationships, physical appearance issues, value issues, career, self-realization, you name it.
Beautiful Venus
Our morning star, and our evening star.
Like I said above, I’m a Venusian person and the topics of this planet have been major themes throughout my life. Yet they haven’t played out in, let’s just say, the way I would have preferred. In fact, it’s been QUITE THE OPPOSITE.
Here’s the rub: even though Venus occupies this honored role in my chart and life, she’s in Virgo, the sign of her fall.
I always sensed this great untapped resource within me, a power frustratingly just out of reach, and being unable to fully access it has informed much of my life choices.
I will say that the initiatory step into realizing how personally important this planet is was learning about chart rulers. Discovering that mine was Jupiter — in Libra — was majorly eye-opening: I’m artistic, relationship-oriented, social. (Let’s not forget Jupiter also makes things BIG.) So yeah, I’m into beauty and glamour and fashion, albeit in a pure way that generally limits true vanity…because of the proximity of Saturn to my chart ruler.
Saturn hovering right on top of my chart ruler — it’s only a degree away — has manifested in such a textbook fashion that it’s almost impressive. Saturn represents the passage of time, and mine is in excellent condition: exalted in a day chart and applying to a powerful benefic, also the chart ruler. It therefore has many gifts to give — in time. After you’ve learned your lessons.
And that’s how it has actually played out. I found my purpose, community, and most powerful friendships (including career connections), later in life. I’m even late in life hot! Late bloomer status for real.
But throughout my 20s and 30s, I felt lost, aimless, and mired in relationship issues. I didn’t value myself; I didn’t think I was beautiful.
Looking back, I clearly see the influence a Virgo Venus had on me and the patterns it perpetuated.
Aphrodite dealing with Pan, circa 100 BCE.
When I began the process of remediating my chart, I did so with the intent of focusing on Mars, which is also in the sign of its fall. And it was successful.
It’s definitely a lifelong process, but I felt positive effects almost immediately.
However, it wasn’t until learning that planets in fall need clarification due to the nature of that particular planet/sign relationship, and angular planets need help to manage a disproportionate work load, did it dawn on me that I need to work on Venus. Maybe even more than I need to work on Mars.
What has been my experienced with natal Venus in Virgo?
For one, I’m really good at relationships of all kinds, yet what I truly want has eluded me. I want to create, to revel, to take pleasure in life, and I’m my own worst enemy when it comes to those things.
Unlike planets in detriment, which experience discomfort due to a disconnect between the style of the sign and the topics of that planet, planets in fall are not weak or disconnected. They feel a strong pull towards self-expression, but the qualities of that sign tend to subvert or otherwise hinder them.
In Virgo, Venus’s desire to simply enjoy is subject to the exacting, overly mental, often self-critical lens of that sign.
Venus is saying, here, I will bestow upon you beauty you can’t see, talent you don’t believe in, and fervent desire that pours out as devotion, making a person so in tune to what their partner needs that they lose themselves in the process.
With Virgo Venus, there is no room to simply relax, enjoy, and appreciate. With Virgo Venus, especially one so angular and prominent, you have everything you need to build a life supported by beauty, art, and love — you’re just so caught up in the details that getting past drafting the plans is like, a Herculean task.
Of course, this is a generalization and the precise way this shows up in someone’s actual life depends on the rest of the chart, but that’s the gist of it. Planets in fall have a fatal flaw.
But they can be worked on.
What’s more, they’re kind of a hidden superpower.
Now that I’ve officially revealed my late bloomer status, all the rest of you late bloomers know exactly what I mean when I say it makes you a better, cooler person.
This is not to say all intrinsically hot people are dumb and boring — it’s called overcompensation, ya weirdos. If you’re an insecure kid just looking for your place in the social pecking order, seemingly forsaken by the goddess of love and beauty, you learn develop other attractive qualities. You’re not comfortable relying on your beauty, social grace, or charm, so you rely on your personality. You become funnier, wittier, brainier, and cooler than you probably would’ve been otherwise.
That’s kind of how I feel about planets in fall. Even if you’re not into, or even aware of, astrology, a lifetime of managing the very specific frustration fallen natal planets create has probably forced you to really think about this energy, to stew in your own complicated emotions toward everything that planet represents.
If you have a natal planet in fall, you’ve been through it re: that planet’s themes.
Again, the goal is balance.
It’s no coincidence the Venus-ruled sign of Libra is represented by the scales.
You feel as if there’s something essential missing from your character, and maybe even desire to rebel against that planet’s basic principles because they sure don’t seem to be working out for you.
And you’re probably always going to be going through it, to be honest.
But you’ve developed workarounds, defense mechanisms, ways of approaching these topics that may (or may not) have served you well.
Perhaps more importantly, you’ve developed strength. And determination. And, simply from feeling so thwarted, a much deeper understanding of that planet’s value than someone with a stronger placement.
As you can see, approaching the remediation of a natal planet in fall means coming at it with a lot of fucking baggage. That’s why, before you get all gung ho on strengthening them, they need to be clarified. It’s important to be careful and respectful while untangling the threads of a person’s life experience with fallen planets, as they’re often tied into a lot of deeply entrenched pain.
But that’s what makes them so transformative.
Continued: Part 3