LUNAR MAGICK ASTROLOGY

Mercury Astrology Clothing

The Astrology of 2023 Mugs

For all of the major planetary energies of 2023

The Venus Mug

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This was the last time Venus was retrograde in Leo.

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She dipped into the first decan of Virgo.

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Where were you summer of 2015, the last time Venus was retrograding through the same sign she is going to retrograde summer of 2023?

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In our lifetime, Venus retrogrades in Leo / Virgo, Scorpio / Libra, Gemini, Aries, Capricorn / Aquarius. If you have placements in these signs, this is where your transformation lies. Also in this lifetime, during Venus retrogrades, the houses where you have Taurus and Libra will be highlighted. This is a cycle of becoming. A journey that takes you into the more tender parts of your underworlds.

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Venus is the guide.

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Venus retrogrades are so powerful. They are not always easy. But love never is. The underworld is a journey into the darkness.

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Valuing yourself can be a struggle, but desires lead the way. Desire to know yourself. Desire to be love. Desire to have something you value. Desires lead the way to a more aligned life. Desires are the Gods' way of pushing you towards who you are meant to be. The journey into the underworld is one of becoming.

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As Venus transforms from Evening Star in the Western night Sky, to starting her decent down and going retrograde, to losing visibility; she is getting closer and closer to the Sun in zodiacal order. Then She joins the Sun and is reborn, about 20 days have passed. Then she eventually goes direct again and becomes visible in the Eastern morning sky before the rising Sun. Her retrograde takes about 40 days. A number often used in cycles of trials and tribulations.

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Transformations, coming into deeper understanding of our desires and where to go next, always bring us to a deeper connection with ourselves.

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Sometimes Venus retrogrades can turn our lives upside down. Sometimes they can bring us blessing and abundance. An addiction. A house purchase. A lover. A break up. Artistic talents. Opportunities. Greater self-worth. Knowing where to go next. Understanding our traumas with greater clarity.

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Venus shows us the struggles of our hearts can drop us to our knees. Praying for protection and guidance. Venus can protect us during hard times. Guide us through violence. Guide us through darkness, as many myths describe. This has definitely been my experience as someone with a fallen Venus in my first house (Venus in Virgo).

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When Venus crossed my rising degree in 2015, I had come face to face with my demons. Addiction and power struggles. Now, 8 years later, I am so grateful for what Venus has brought me.

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This last time Venus was retrograde in Leo was 2015. My life took a very dark turn. I was putting myself in dangers way, losing my mind. I didn't know I was going through a Venus retrograde at this time. I was studying astrology. Writing down all my natal aspects and trying to learn who I was. Feeling dissociated from myself is what first got me into Astrology.

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Even though I didn't understand Venus retrogrades at this point in life, I did feel deeply guided and protected during this time. Guided through difficult karma. I knew with all my heart, there was a magnifying glass being placed on my insides - a very specific struggle. Forcing me to heal through darkness. Forcing me to look at myself. I knew there was a purpose to this darkness, even though I lost everything, hurt people that deeply cared about me, and was changing the trajectory of my life from there on out. I knew I was being Divinely Guided - towards healing, towards greater self- understanding, towards the hardships that were meant for me, the hardships I needed go through to learn how to trust myself.

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Before this experience, I was so disconnected from myself, just going through the motions of what I felt I had to do. This dark time in my life woke me up to who I was. Killed the dissociation from self. I realized if I didn't care for myself, if I didn't learn to speak honestly (Gemini South node issues), if I didn't learn to respect myself, if I didn't get myself out of harms way, no one else could. Things would only get darker and darker if I didn't learn how to love myself. During this point in my life, I could feel my psyche falling apart, unraveling to a dangerous degree. I had to learn to honor myself - in full and total honesty. So I learned what my therapist at the time called individuation. I learned how to take responsibility for who I was being. For all my behaviors. November 2016, with the help of my parents, I checked into rehab.

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Little did I know at this time my Progressed Saturn was also in the process of going direct. Saturn helps you with psychological development, individuation, and discernment. Saturn represents sobriety.

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2017-2018 was all about learning healthy relationship patterns and learning that boundaries are the greatest acts of love. Saturn and Venus. I was learning who I was outside of others. My progressed Saturn going direct allowed me to finally create authority within, instead of giving it away.

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Venus retrogrades, when they hit your angles or personal planets, can take you into your Underworld, your darkness. This is a transformative process. They can connect you with great love, peace and opportunities.

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Venus protects and guides you through this journey.. She always rises again as a Morning Star.

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This Venus retrograde in Leo 2023 will come very close to the final degree of Leo and the Fixed star Regulus. This is creativity and self-expression. Individuation.

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Through Venus I learned to speak my desires. I learned that boundaries are an act of love and respect in relationships. I learned that you are responsible to uphold your boundaries - that is not a job you can inappropriately place on others. I learned that boundaries are containers you set for yourself, not others.

This Venus retrograde I am enjoying the fruits of my labor.

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Venus retrograde of 2018 was in Scorpio and I learned all about my own toxicity and was able to look at it head on.

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This was written on 6/30, Friday Venus's Day and Venus hour. I woke up with the Sun with the motivation to write about Venus.

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Venus activates my 9th house. This Venus retrograde I have decided to go to School for astrology certification since I do desire to be a Teacher of Astrology in my elder years.

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I used to fear schooling for Astrology because I didn't want my knowledge to be clouded by someone else perspective. I didn't trust myself. I didn't have discernment or a connection to my own wisdom. Now I do. Now that my Saturn Return is over I have inner authority like never before. I can now learn from others without losing my unique perspective.

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Thank you Venus,

Love a Fallen Sun (aka Sun in Libra) and a Fallen Venus (aka Venus in Virgo)

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Darkness is the void. It is the Soil that nurtures the fruit. It is where we grow. It is where we need to go when we need to integrate the traumas we go through. The darkness is where we go to become reborn. It is where we take what we have learned in the light of day, and turn it into usable wisdom.

The light is consciousness. It is vitality and it is Divinity. The darkness is where the Moon lives most of the time. Although she goes through her own cycles of life and death, the darkness is the earthly realms. It is manifestation of things. It is the tangible and material realms, which aren’t as divine as the realms above. But - as above, so below.

The night sky is full of stary omens. Wisdom and epiphanies. What is learned in the darkness must be integrated in the light. And what is gained from the light must be integrated in the dark. To me, discussions of Good and Evil always bore me. To me it is about what we have not yet integrated that is coming out in twisty ways. It is not the darkness that breeds evilness - it is when we forget about our divinity or fail to integrate our traumas.

Right now, Venus, like she always does, is going through her cycles of light and darkness. Venus will be stationing retrograde in Leo on July 23, 2023 and will have her last day of visibility as an evening star on 8/8/2023, which I got from Astro-seek’s handy Venus Cycle Calculator. She will be conjunct the Sun on August 13th. She will eventually station direct again at 12°12’ on September 3rd and emerge as a Morning star again.

This cycle is about our cycles of emerging once again. Never forget we go through cycles and you are exactly where you are meant to be, even in times of struggle. This is my belief, but it does not have to be your belief. We all find our own ways of understanding life, this belief resonates with me and the struggles I have been through. Because every difficult situation I have been through, has held a purpose in my life.

Venus as a morning star is known as Lucifier, because eventually, again, she will make her decent into the underworld, and fall from grace. But this is not to be feared. This is where we integrate the wisdom, the light, the inspiration - and we are given the opportunity to bring that light down to earth - after all, the earthly realm is where we exist in this physical form.

There are 7 Hermetic lots. And many of the lots can be seen as spirits or das on that were specifically chosen for you by the Gods that exist in lower spheres to carry out divinity on earth. I really love the way this Astrologer, Jake Green, teaches about the lots. There are multiple ways to find your personal daemon in Astrology - Demetra George and Eric Purdue are good resources.

As Venus, evening star, is in the process making her decent towards the Sun - from a beautiful evening star, to the sun, I can’t stop thinking about the phases of light and darkness and divinity and daimons. Eventually she will remerge as a morning star , Lucifer, in Full glory. Taking what she gained from the underworld and shining brightly with newfound wisdom and beauty.

The cycles of light and dark are never ending, beautifully sacred cycles.

Lucifer (morning star Venus) falling from grace is about (in my opinion) taking the inspiration, the light, the beauty, the divinity and bringing it down to earth so it can be manifested into the material. The physical. The earth. As we gain consciousness, it needs to be integrated in the darkness. Moved into the body. Her never ending cyclical nature creates the Pentagram, which is a symbol that connects elements, divinity, and spirit with the physical forms on earth. Co creation and manifestation.

The darkness is usually when we sleep. That is when our bodies are resting and integrating. So much richness happens in the dark.

So as Lucifer, the bright and beautiful Morning Star eventually falls from this beautiful bright star in the sky and descends downward, we too go down into our darkness, our physical, earthy and decaying bodies, and we find something that was missing. This cycle is never ending. We are empowered. The cycles of light and dark. Heaven and earth. Day and night. Sun and Moon. A never ending, necessary and sacred part of our being. We must go inward, downward and to the earth, to figure out what our soul wants to manifest. This gives us a chance to make real changes in our life. We shift and grow. Our perspective of ourselves change, we learn new things about ourselves and we are given a chance to act out these desires. The inspiration comes from above, but we must have the chance to come downward and manifest these desires on the physical plane. Oh what a joy it is to be a human.

What are you wanting to integrate in the darkness this Venus retrograde cycle ? So that when she emerges once again as a big and bright Morning Star, you too will see all the fruits of your labor.

The labor of love.

So much gets lost in translation when we are afraid of our darkness.

It is in the dark that we get to see the stars,

which has guided humanities greatest discoveries throughout time.

This poem was written during the opposite phase we are currently in, where Venus goes from morning star to evening star. From the eastern sky to the western sky. Right now Venus is in the western sky at night, bright and breath taking. This is not always any easy times, transformations in love and value can be difficult. Heart breaking. Life altering. Especially if it is hitting your chart and the karma is right. However for some it can be an super beautiful and peaceful transformation. Some Venus retrogrades can be great and some more difficult. Make sure to never make assumptions when reading astrology posts online that make you feel fearful and dive into what your experience of the moment is.

If you are Leo rising, early Virgo rising, this retrograde could be felt strongly. The current star points have been in Leo, Virgo / Scorpio, Libra / Capricorn/Aquarius, Gemini, Aries - look back on the dates of these previous retrogrades and you will be amazed at the transformations you went through during these times.

- Jakki of Lunar Magick Astrology

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The Astrology for June 2023

Your creative self is going through a transformation this summer as Venus will be retrograde in the creative, bold and self expressive fire sign of Leo. Leo’s are daring, beautiful and need room to be themselves. The sense of Self is important to Leo - get ready to learn more about who you want to be this summer.

Soon Venus will station retrograde in Leo, and then she will conjoin the Sun and something will be reborn within us. It might require an inner death as we look within and remember something important. Something we want to express. To create. To love. To value.

Dates for Venus’s movements this summer:

June 4, 2023 Venus in Cancer at greatest elongation

July 10th 2023 Maximum brightness

June 6th Venus enters Leo

June 19th Venus enters shadow at 12° Leo

July 22nd Venus stations RX at 28° Leo

August 8th becoming invisible

August 13th Venus cazimi aka conjunct Sun

August 17th Venus visible as a morning star

Sept 3rd Venus stations Direct at 12° Leo

Sept. 17th Maximum brightness as Morning star

Oct 7th Venus leaves shadow at 28° Leo

Oct 9th Venus enters Virgo

Oct 23rd greatest elongation as a Morning Star

(Days could change depending on your location)

These dates represent Venus going from evening star, to slowing down, going retrograde and becoming invisible, to a conjunction with the Sun, to going direct and re-emerging visible in the morning sky. This speaks to the dance we will be moving through this Summer.

This cycle speaks to our phases of changing what it is we value in ourselves and others. What we desire out of life and relationship. To what we want to express and what we want to keep to ourselves. To how we learn to love ourselves and allow ourselves to change and express new ideas, new styles, new creations, after diving within and learning to value our new found self. To want new things out of life and learn how to express that.

It speaks to how we learn about ourselves. That by slowing down, looking within and going dark, we can actually be reborn with a new sense of self.

A fresh perspective changes everything.

As Venus in Leo will be opposing Aquarius energies, if you just went through your Saturn return this will be a very impactful transit for you.

Any fixed signs will be impacted by this energy as well, as Leo is the fixed fire sign that opposes Aquarius and squares both Scorpio and Taurus.

Venus is ruling the North Node in Taurus currently, and in July 17th the lunar nodes will shift into Aries and Libra. Venus will then be ruling the South Node in Libra. This is really a time to get rid of stale relationship habits, co dependency that does you no good, or any people pleasing tendencies that do not hold a purpose. You may see that you are no longer wanting to over compensate, over compromise, or lose yourself in others. These types of behaviors will be come very loud and destructive when the south node is in Libra. The North node will also be in Aries at this time, which will heat up fights, arguments, and headstrong tendencies - for better or for worse. There is a lot to learn from relationships and self expression this year.