This Venus R, which began on the 6th March 09 in the 16th deg. of Aries is, as you are probably aware, a sign in which Venus is not particularly 'comfortable'. Her need for harmony meets the Mars drive of Aries to just 'get ahead'/go - at any cost. Not at face value: a 'happy marrriage'.
The significance of Venus' connection with relationships (Libra), and with finances (Taurus) (and that's only the nutshell of course) is certainly clearly relevant to the current world socio-economic situation. So much activity and parlaying. 'Material possessions' (Venus) are being challenged on every front, as new ways and directions (Aries)are demanded and being forged ahead with. So far, stating the obvious.
Dane Rudhyar's description of the 16th Aries suggests that this is a time for 'repotentialisation' - or 'becoming again like a little child'. And of course, this particular retrograde follows through and coincides with many significant 'outer' planetary configurations, such as for eg. the long and ongoing Saturn opp. Uranus - and more to go on that one. And also the Pluto ingress into Capricorn. (Too much to go into here).
So...onto another way of looking at it: Erin Sullivan (in her book "Retrograde Planets - Traversing the Inner Landscape" - Arkana), equates Venus with the 5th Harmonic...the Quintile. That aspect that has to do with
, which I have to agree with, tho' hadn't thought of it being relevant to Venus. And further she says:'creative inspiration put to skilled use'
"...It may be why...love, values, creative issues and diplomacy occurs both globally and individually when Venus stations, turns retrograde and remains so for forty days, communing with the immutable forces which guard the mysterious knowledge. The knowledge that Venus imparts upon its return to the upper world is not the information that Mercury brings to the surface...It is an aesthetic, visceral knowing, which can only be enacted or portrayed through the subtlety of relationships with others or in abstract imagery."
Ahh...'40' days. A powerful number in history. She says further:
and,"...The lessons learned in the course of the forty-day retrograde period are relative only to the individual experiencing them...",
(? You work that one out!)."Of all the retrograde cycles, Venus' appears to be the most unconscious in its immediate effects, but in the long view the most rational."
Well, I'm still working on that one."Therefore it would serve to look back eight years ... for there will be echoes of the past in the present situation."
Venus turns direct on the 17th April in the 30th Deg. of Pisces. The Sabian deg. symbol is: "A seer's dream now lives: a face carved into huge rocks". Part of the interpretation of this by Helene & Willem Koppejan in their "The Zodiac Image Handbook - The Mutable Signs", is:
and:"...a microcosmos...of the macrocosmos... ... ... we are constructed to meet the contingencies of our situation..."
(Obviously, we're not 'there' yet, but bear in mind that this is the last degree of the Zodiac, so at least it holds the promise of perhaps a 'new' way?)"(this symbol/image) tells the tale of humanity's long climb...to perfected consciousness".
I have been receiving endless 'New Age' and 'New World' e-mails about all of this. And to be honest, am just a tad tired of hearing this (and for the last 20 years): "The World Consciousness is Changing!". Well, yes, it seems obvious that it is. And clearly we have no option but to ...recognise the worst of homo sapien's 'use and abuse' of our little world, especially as it affects each of us personally more and more.
So, this particular Venus Retrograde does bring each and every one of us in a very personal way, into this world view. Basically, and stating the obvious again, it is hitting us hard in the proverbial where it hurts most: our values, both materially/financially, and the way in which we 'relate' to the rest of the world.
Once again I recommend Philip Sedgwick's 'Galactic News'. He talks about and describes the essence and meaning of so many of the way-outer 'bodies' recently discovered and belonging to our Solar System, and about how their emergence mirrors the changing 'consciousness' of we homo sapiens. ( http://www.philipsedgwick.com and go to "The Galactic Times). Tis a tad hard to digest, (at least, I found it so..for while...), but...stick with it. It starts to unfold so beautifully.
Hope someone will comment on this and give some personal experiences and/or views. Thanks.