by Erik Roth, Shamanic Astrologer

On Saturday, August 24, 2019, the closest neighbors to Earth will be meeting each other.  None will get to witness this with the naked eye as it takes place on the other side of the Sun and well within the Sun’s glare.  But that does not lessen the importance of the Mars-Venus conjunction, especially in astrology.  In Shamanic Astrology, there is a certain symbolic intent and a recognition of the mythic nature of the Mars-Venus meetings.  In this case, the intent is fostered in the underworld.

In Shamanic Astrology, Mars represents the masculine principle and Venus, the feminine principle.  This relates to the essence of the feminine and masculine and how they are expressed within each of us. 

The conjunction of Mars and Venus is part of a larger story that is framed as a “saga”.  And there are currently three distinct sagas that are about the relationship of Mars and Venus and the various ways they come together in the sky.   At this time in the saga of Mars and Venus, it is the middle of the underworld saga.

Coming up on the 24^th, the sign that Mars and Venus will be in when they have their one and only conjunction this year is Virgo.  This is not the same as the constellation that astronomers call Virgo, but the seasonal or temporal sign known as Virgo.  In fact, this conjunction will take place very near the heart of the Lion constellation, symbolized by the star, Regulus.

This conjunction will only be 4 degrees from Regulus and 3 degrees from the Sun.  A finger’s width extended to the sky is a little over a degree in the sky.  I’ve included a night sky graphic to show the closeness of this conjunction between Venus and Mars with Regulus and the Sun so we can understand what it would look like.

This conjunction is neither good nor bad in its nature.  But it is a step that has been building in the larger context of the relationship between the masculine and feminine in the world.  Both Mars and Venus entered the “underworld” in July, meaning they entered the glare of the Sun and in that space, we can see it as an underworld transit as the ancient peoples experienced it.  The Sun in this case would symbolize the Great Mystery in its relationship with the rest of the cosmos.  Mars and Venus would then be in the hidden realm with Great Mystery in this particular conjunction.

In the process of each individual cycle of Mars and Venus (masculine and feminine essences), they are both symbolically experiencing a surrender.  There is a shamanic death taking place, to prepare them for a re-birth in the coming months.  Neither Mars or Venus has a monopoly on the romantic passions or beauty of relationship nor is this meeting truly about that process.  It is more of a meeting of two potent souls at the realization of the need to transform.  It is about the desire to know their own souls and how they relate to the Other. 

In that space of the underworld or the hidden realm, we can surrender to the truth of who we are, facing ourselves in the mirror of the Other and ourselves.  It is a meeting of shadow and light and the need for healthy dialogue between them and not a dynamite-laden reactive blame of the Other.  In this surrender, there is much to grieve.  It is an integration of our fears to get to know who we really are.

With the star Regulus nearby, there is a fueling of courage and love to employ in the surrendering process and in the sign of Virgo, an intent to make this stage of the underworld phase a sacred rite of the masculine and feminine.  We can observe the patterns in our own lives and relationships and feel in our soul what it wants beyond the unhealthy patterns and/or a pattern we no longer need in our lives.  It may be that these patterns have served to educate us but we have completed that experience, desiring now one that can help us align in step with our soul’s intent.

Mars and Venus are certainly having an intimate affair, but it is a soulful, deeply profound and spiritual intimacy and one that serves a more evolved level or octave of ourselves, divine mother and Great Mystery.

August 24^th is a peak point in an otherwise longer phase of this underworld process that began in the 2^nd week of July and will begin to lift when Venus rises in the evening on September 19^th and Mars lifting itself into the early morning sky on October 16^th. 

The Larger Story – The Underworld Saga

As mentioned before, Venus and Mars have a larger story together called a “saga”.  This current saga began when Mars reached its most recent opposition with the Sun in the sign of Aquarius on July 26, 2018, with the other major component opening up the story when Venus last rose as a “morning star” on November 1, 2018 in the sign of Libra.

Mars in Aquarius and Venus in Libra setup what are called overtones or “meta-archetypes” for their individual cycles.  Each Mars-Sun opposition creates a new saga and meta-archetype.  Venus’ powerful contribution in its shorter cycles bring about a deep flavor of how these masculine and feminine archetypes interact with each other.  Currently, this saga is about the relationship between the “meta-archetypes” Libra and Aquarius.

At this stage of the underworld saga between Venus and Mars, Libra and Aquarius are coming to terms with their own shadows.  Every archetype/sign has a shadow side.  For Libra, it is unhealthy co-dependencies and knowing itself outside of a relationship and for Aquarius, the shadow is the denial of a shadow and perhaps the mind’s attachment to not really needing the body (or simply desiring to just escape the physical form). 

Aquarius is a sign that is one of the least involved in relationships and Libra the most involved in the question of relationships.  Having them at the forefront of this underworld saga is very rare, even though they are both air signs/archetypes.  A way for them to have relationship is for Libra to be of support to Aquarius where Aquarius has the freedom to simply “be” in its creative, mental and experimental space.  However, it would usually end up with Libra doing the vast majority of the relationship work. 

Perhaps the nature of this interaction and this current saga between Aquarius and Libra is for Aquarius to see a value in “relationship” as more than just a theory and for Libra to see the value in what freedom is in a person’s life?

In this underworld phase of the underworld saga, it is critical to find a way to love one’s self and have compassion for not only ourselves but for others as we all are in the cauldron together finding our way out this infancy in cosmic consciousness in humanity.  Aquarius’ connection to expand consciousness for its own sake can be applied to beyond only the theoretical and look to include the physical self in this evolution. 

For Libra, it is seeing the pearl inside, stripping away all of the trivialities and mundane to reach inside and find the individual outside the partnership.  Perhaps in that process, Libra can catch a glimpse of Aquarius. 

Across the globe, we are also dealing with the fallout of limited roles and expressions of the masculine and feminine that have been inherited over dozens of generations over the centuries.  In this way, Libra and Aquarius can show up are experience breakthroughs for new vibrations of masculine, feminine and the multitude of relationships that form as a result of this breakthrough. 

The saga of Mars and Venus continues in this incarnation until Mars and the Sun experience their next opposition (as seen from Earth, a geocentric perspective) on October 13, 2020 (that opposition will have Mars in the sign of Aries, for the first time in 32 years).  The current Venus cycle will continue until June 10, 2020 when Venus rises as a “morning star” in the sign of Gemini.

Conjunction, Cycles and the Pattern

A beneficial way to engage with the planets is to connect with them experientially.  Mars and Venus are currently unseen and this conjunction is not visible without special optical equipment or space probes.  Some of the folks reading this article are in the midst of Mars and / or Venus Returns or perhaps this conjunction takes place on or near your personal planets, points Sun or Moon on your chart in those early degrees of Virgo.  Others will be experiencing this in the collective in the relationship between the masculine and feminine I’ve described above.

The important point here is to develop a relationship with the sky and the planets.  It’s engaging with Mars, Venus, Sun and Regulus in a similar way one would do with spirit guides and there is wisdom and knowledge one can tune into by forming a connection with them.  The masculine and feminine within can be guides to help tune into Mars and Venus in this upcoming meeting and beyond. 

It’s worth noting that the last two conjunctions between Mars and Venus took place in the sign of Virgo (in 2017 and 2015), but they were farther away from the star Regulus and were visible in the early morning sky.  The last time Mars and Venus were conjunct in the glare of the Sun was April 6, 2013 in the sign of Aries only two degrees from the Sun.

However, the more direct connection to the last time an alignment like the one coming on August 24, 2019 is back in 1987.  In that year on the very same day, August 24^th, the Venus-Mars conjunction took place at one degree in the sign of Virgo and nearly exactly conjunct the Sun and the star Regulus.  This is part of the much larger pattern of Mars and Venus that can repeat over 32 years.  This was also an unseen meeting in the deep sacred woods of Virgo, the potent heartbeat and rhythm of the Lion’s heart in Regulus and the Sun.  At that time, it was a nearly exact New Moon as well.  The star Regulus was still in the sign of Leo at the time and didn’t ingress into the sign of Virgo until 2011.

We can see in time the greater pattern of Mars and Venus repeat and look back to gain clues for ourselves and humanity about approaching these next steps.