VENUSIAN VENTURES
Venus in Cancer
Venus moved into Cancer on May 7th—over a week ago—and will laterally move through the tides of emotionality, irrationality, and co-dependencies until June 5th.
Sure, many of the textbook cookbook astrological entries regarding Venus in Cancer would tout much about motherhood, and from here allow the tide to take one into notions of the womb, the embryo, the umbilical cord, and forever-after mother-child connections… and then there’s also the associations to water, to the oceans, and crustaceans—which inherently associate themselves to life itself, the undulations of emotions and (the struggle of ) control thereof, as well as cautious, protective lateral movements…
Much of this becomes somewhat inundated with references and associations to the moon, and it’s important not to collude Cancerian energies, of themselves, with lunar limericks… especially when it’s Venus moving through Cancer—not the moon.
The sign of Cancer is a feminine force of energy—a life-giving, life-altering, and life-opening force, whether it’s through motherhood or not.
The Breakdown—
Cancerian energies are cardinal by nature, which is to say that Venusian pursuits, now, will tend to be initiating, changing dramatically, beginning (again), or otherwise negating responsibilities altogether.
Venusian pursuits are those we tend to idealize—these define what we desire, what we simply want because we want it for no reason at all, what we find irresistible, and what we seek to enjoy as frequently as possible, whether it makes sense or not…
This is Venus, among other things…
Venusian ventures are valuable to us—often without an ability to define by actual price point… although, it is absolutely possible, as Venus represents money and investments, as well, and Cancerian energies are much more comfortable with an actual number, so as to better appropriate everything else before and beyond.
Above all, in a motherly way or not, Cancerian energies are nurturing.
(Sidenote: the moon, may I remind you, is not nurturing. The moon, if anything, seeks to connect with that which is nurturing—but inherently, as itself, is not, unless it is in Cancer.)
Cancerian energies are those that seem to instinctually understand the human condition, and recognize awkward or uncomfortable silences for what they really are when one is being completely honest with oneself, and understand precisely what the cause of such suffering could be—and intuitively knows what to do about it…
Much like the ideal Mother archetype… which, obviously, is how this is sourced.
Cancerian energies are easily overwhelmed with just how many emotional responses are possible, palpable, and plausible for any given circumstance. Because these energies tend to absorb, like a sponge (which are not crustaceans, but members of the phylum Porifera, meaning ‘pore bearer’), soaking up every single nuance, inflection, and/or tone… taking it all in, almost upon themselves, sometimes personally, to process, ponder over, preserve—as in a jar of memories, and then proceed in tune with the tide.
Perhaps the squish within the exoskeleton of a crustacean is made up of the phylum Porifera?
Cancerian Motivations—
As many of us can very recently attest—as Mars was moving through Cancer, we were quite aggressively processing much in terms of that which is no longer nurturing, as well as that which, of ourselves, we need to work on in regard to personal sensitivities and comprehensions of tenderness toward others…
With Mars, this aggressive processing resembled more of a cutting away, separating or severely severing, and/or otherwise stripping away the squish from the shell.
And it was rough for some!
It is a blessing that Venus is currently following Mars through some of this heavier stuff, to offer something of a balm to all that has been wildly irritated and/or burned in the process, reconciling—potentially—some of what was severed or separated.
Because all Cancerian energies really want—is to feel safe within a reliably comfortable and secure environment of endless nurturing and safety blankets, and freshly baked cookies, and raspberry preserves, near an ocean or larger body of water with a sandy beach to wander when in deep contemplation over all the endless moods to be taken within and processed, and preserved for all time…
Separations and severity of anything is the stuff of horror for Cancerian energies, as connectedness to something is much of what is essential… there is not much physical connectedness within the ocean as there is fluidity, which is a different concept.
Venus Through Cancerian Motivations—
Now, as Venus moves through Cancer, we are being slowly softened to some of those abilities in tenderness—and potentially—reconnected and reconciled to the inner squish we are protecting, always, sometimes even from ourselves.
Or, reconnected and reconciled to a sense of yourself (or other) that has felt separate to you… as there are many changes occurring this year.
It’s an opportunity to slow down and tune in to the ways you take care of yourself—or to acknowledge that you fail to care for yourself altogether as needed, either through avoiding, denying, or simply not noticing the need.
Especially these days, in this decade’s energetic climate… we all need a little bit more.
Still, many of us fail to understand just what, how much, and then there’s the how?—many of us weren’t raised or conditioned to take care of ourselves the way that’s essentially necessary through these times, or arguably—in general, simply being alive in a body…
We’re all learning, together—and to resist would be to all our chagrin.
Venus, through Cancer, really wants to enjoy this process of self-care, of self-indulgent self-nurturing, of unapologetic nourishing though all things comforting.
The Real Squish of It All—
Self-protection is a major theme for Cancerian energies, as these energies are all too attuned to just how easily absolutely everything can change entirely within mere minutes, if not instantaneously…
Governed by the moon, these watery lunar moods are never stagnant the way a puddle of water can be, never so reliable as to be predictable—it’s never the same ocean twice, or ever again. Just about anything one can encapsulate within water—rivers, oceans, aquariums—these vases of reality will never be the same from one moment to the next.
It’s exhausting.
It’s a natural need for stillness, and resiliency.
Cancerian energies, wherever these are to be found within your nativity, took something of a cosmic oath upon your first breath to experience everything emotionally, to never routinely experience anything in a way so as to fully understand, rely upon, or even schedule for any sense of security or guarantee… this is where, within your personal sector of reality, you may find that you need to nurture much more than others might, in ways that may always vary and change…
How does one go about trying to nurture—much less protect—that which is constantly changing?
As Mother Nature assures the ocean with the tide… to simply allow.
What else can you do?
Though, it must be said, most Cancerian energies do like to fight it…
To truly allow life is to allow it to be felt so intensely, so deeply, to the core, deeply within the squish—and to continue, seemingly as endlessly as the tide itself—and to continue allowing, again and again and again.
This, I realize, is much easier said than done.
Though last week’s Venus/Saturn trine likely tuned you in to ways in which you might be able to try, to safely risk it…
And next week’s Venus/Chiron square, exact on May 23rd/24th, will likely reconnect you to the nurturing of your own personal commitments, loyalties, and integrity—either re-centering you, or reconnecting you to these personal responsibilities, should you have recently fallen short or become wholly taken in by your own tides.
And before Venus leaves Cancer, exact on June 2nd, a lovely Venus/Neptune trine will likely reconcile you with an inner knowing, deeply embedded within the squish, much like a memory being reconnected to its actuality from a wildly distorted version of preferred imagery and emotionally manipulated illusion, to remind you that the changes you might still need to make might be much more enjoyable than they appear.
As the ocean knows—the only way to move forward is to allow it.
Lateral, measured, cautious moves be damned… because on June 5th Venus will move into Leo—where wearing the heart in one’s breast pocket is only the beginning.
Changes—they’re a’coming.
Suggested Ways to Utilize Venus in Cancer—
As Venus moves through this sector of your personal reality, it is a time to tune in.
It is a time to more emotionally tune in to yourself—in a most naturally self-centered type of way—and to the specific sector of your reality—in a most naturally nurturing way, a way that allows you to feel that much more safe, secure, and protected, whatever that might mean for you, or be natally assigned to you…
It is a time to take care of yourself the way the ideal Mother might—the way you secretly and privately imagine that the ideal Mother would, or if your own mother actually manifested the impossible ideal, to take this on yourself from her example and apply it to yourself… and to others.
It is a time to emotionally tune in to others, and their emotional needs—however irrational they may seem to you, or may actually be, as this is beyond beside the point.
This is a time to sleep in a little longer if you need it… without apology.
This is a time to bake your cake, and to eat it too… without regret.
This is a time to hug, to embrace, to squeeze, and to cry tears of both joy and sadness.
This is a time to stay home. To clean the house and burn palo Santo, to prepare lobster tails and Peruvian ceviche, and to smell, and savor, and celebrate being alive.
This is a time to treat yourself—whether it’s the all-day day spa with a mani/pedi, the expensive pule cheese milked from Balkan donkeys, the priciest wine, the unreasonably valued reupholstered turquoise jewel-toned velvet tufted antique victorian Chesterfield, or the first class tickets to the Mediterranean in the thick of the season for a four-day stay in a five-star… Cancer inherently knows class.
This is a time to submerge your body in water as frequently as you are able, and as often as you can, and in as many types of water as is available to you… and soak.
This is a time to fertilize your houseplants, to make sure they’re happy and in the appropriate windows, and pester all their leaves as you sing to them aloud along with your personal playlist on a volume that produces reverberations throughout the room… all things plants love and need, and it likely isn’t done enough.
This is a time to take care of something/someone that needs nourishment, even if—and perhaps, more so probably because—it’s not your problem or responsibility… but because it needs taken care of, or because someone needs your help and/or support.
This is a time to call your mom… for all of the reasons.
This is a time to tell those you love how you feel—about anything.
This is a time to acknowledge your feelings, particularly if you typically deny them.
This is a time to sit as still as possible directly within the metaphorical tide (of your own emotions) as it pushes you and pummels you, overthrows you—as it threatens your balance in every motion—so that you may try to understand what it might be like to have the sun or moon or rising in Cancer—so that you might try your might in feeling what it is like to try to maintain a centeredness while the entirety of an ocean of egoic emotionality has other things in mind… and try to come out centered, and still.
This is a time to open to the squish… to all that might potentially hurt you, which is literally anything.
This is a time to nurture… without any expectation to be nurtured in return.
This is a time to feel… everything.
This is a time to allow… that which causes your centeredness to sway.
This is a time to love—just because you can.
This is a time to share your truest feelings, no matter what… and to resolve to the very true likelihood that sometimes we succumb to our most irrational moods—but that sometimes these moods tell us more about ourselves, within the moment, than we ever care to understand, acknowledge, or have any ability to process or absorb.
But we could always try.
“Be the one who nurtures and builds. Be the one who has an understanding and a forgiving heart, one who looks for the best in people. Leave people better than you found them.”
—Marvin J Ashton
image credit—@les.creatonautes on instagram