The Red Queen Effect
Venus in Aries
Aries is considered to be one of the more difficult Signs for Venus. Astrological tradition states that Venus is in her “detriment” in Aries, meaning that it is difficult for the planet’s essential energy to manifest through the matrix of the Sign. Each sign represents an energy distribution pattern, and in Aries, the pattern concentrates energy on the self in order manifest the self’s potential. It is not a cooperation-based stage of development. Aries is individualistic, brash and more interested in actions than feelings. It emphasizes the exploration of self-reliance at the cost of interdependence.
In Aries, Venus is in Mars’ territory. Although force, conviction and energy abound, there is little harmony to appreciate and mediate in the home of the war god. It is a difficult territory for the lady to govern. Venus is the goddess of heartfelt and often sensual connection. It is interesting that in world myth, Mars is often a solo character, denied lasting conjugal union. Ares, the Greek god of war, had no consort, only a series of affairs. Kartikeya, the deity given to Mars in Vedic astrology, was also denied marriage. Instead he brooded and meditated in the mountains. Venus in Aries does not make relationships impossible, but it makes it a lot easier to be single.
Calliope and The Fire Flower
“Literature has up to now magnified pensive immobility, ecstasy and slumber. We want to exalt movements of aggression, feverish sleeplessness, the double march, the perilous leap, the slap and the blow with the fist.” -The Futurist Manifesto
Venus is the planetary patroness of the arts, and Aries, although often cast in a more warlike light, is an extremely creative sign. In many senses, Aries is saddled with the key task of creating the self. Here, the bloom of Venus is engulfed in the dragon’s breath of Aries’ flame, becoming the power-up immortalized in Super Mario Brothers; the Fire Flower.
Mathe-magic!
A parallel can be drawn between Calliope, the classical muse of epic poetry and song to Venus in Aries. Epic poetry is not a form practiced much today, but the spirit of Jason and the Argonauts, Odysseus and the whole crew lives on in the thousands of adventure stories the culture tells itself every year. It is the story of bigger than life characters involved in bigger than life action. The Lord of the Rings, and every DND style derivative owes a great debt to this tradition. In the epic, the internal world is projected onto the screen or page in its full glory. Each story is mythology and mythology the map of the psyche writ bold. Venus’ retrograde through Aries will, for many, rekindle a sense of themselves as important characters in a story yet to be told. In the crackling radiance of Aries’ fire, a vision of gods, humans and magic is seen. Life’s myth.
Venus in Aries especially highlights the spectacle of the complete individual, the self perfected within its own confines, but without context in the world. One of the ways people work with this vision is through the world of comic books. The majority of super heroes, heroines and villains have their individuality heightened and defined by their powers. A “power” is in most cases that of the self-in-action, the spirit manifest.
Heart of the Glamazon
The central conflict for Venus in Aries stems from the identification with the aggressive, martial drives. A natural tom boy, she is at home with the boys. Venus indicates the aesthetics one enjoys. In Aries, Venus enjoys the aesthetic of badassness. She likes watching the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and playing Mortal Combat. The spectacle of raw energy, creativity and power makes her chain mail panties rust.
However, when she approaches sexuality, she tends to do so from a masculine point of view. Venus in Aries understands what men want, because, in many ways, it’s what she wants. Venus in Aries waffles between being “just one of the guys” and largely asexual, to powerful and direct sexuality.
Simultaneously embracing and yet excluded from male dominated arenas, Venus in Aries is in a difficult position. To play with the boys, she must prove herself and either down play or put to strategic use her sexuality. Her fellow women will often be jealous of close relationships with men, and may also reject her for not being feminine enough or for acting like a “slut.” Her identification with the masculine perspective makes it difficult for her to create a vision of herself as a woman outside the eyes of men, and problematizes her relationship to women. Because it is so permeable, the barrier between the sexes is often exaggerated in order to reinforce it.
In an era between traditional gender roles and total freedom, Venus’ retrograde through Aries crosses and blurs these lines, incorporating much of what is traditionally masculine into the culturally accepted sphere of the feminine. It’s difficult being a tom-boy, porn star and feminist simultaneously, but someone has to do it.
COPYRIGHT DARK SUN ASTROLOGY 2009
