What Does This Rare Event Mean?

Venus makes its “Inferior Conjunction” with the Sun on January 8 at 19 Capricorn. This fusion of “likes” and Life will help us take on tasks or responsibilities which will accelerate our growth and stretch our ability to perform in the group work we’ve begun these past 2 years. This will give us a look back so we can find new value in re-imaging what we like and why we like it in a Capricorn-related area of life.

This will help us get a new perspective on how well we’ve managed our self-purifications since September 2018 when Pluto went stationary direct on this exact degree. When Pluto transited this degree in 2017-2018 our global quickening was set into motion, and this Venus Inferior Conjunction degree should give us a healthy perspective on how we’ve accelerated our growth since then.

Perhaps we will find a new value in whatever began then wherever we have 19 Capricorn in our chart, and see how the impersonal internal pressure to transform then will now take on a more human face in actual practice. This is about taking on a task or responsibility which might seem beyond our ability, and in doing so we find a technique of accepting power within a group context.

Be open to new ways of appreciating and/or valuing what you learned from previous relationships and close contacts. And of course, during any Venus retrograde there is the possibility of the return of old friends and associates as well, especially Venusian and Solar Beings.

While not as rare as the 2012 “Venus occultation event” which only happens twice every 110-120 years, this merging of Venus with the Sun symbolizes a point where the spiritual mind awakens and seeks to merge with the heart and find new ways to interact with others to share spiritual knowledge. In Esoteric Science Venus rules the Throat chakra, associated with Spiritual Knowledge of the Way, whereas the Sun rules the Heart chakra, associated with the Love of the Way. Both are constantly exercised as we move from ignorance to knowledge, and from conditional love to Unconditional Love.

How Is This Inferior Conjunction Similar and Different From Others?

In terms of the mechanics of the process, as I’ve explained before, when Venus retrograde conjuncts the Sun it’s similar to when Mercury retrograde conjuncts the Sun in what is called “an Inferior Conjunction.” However, rather than Mercury as coordinating principle in life being part of the fusion, here Venus is fusing. And because now the Sun is moving much faster than Venus, Life has been chasing Likes, and Light is illuminating Relatedness.

In the cases of both Mercury and Venus, an inner planet conjuncts the Sun while retrograde. In this case, if you’re wondering how it works, substitute Venus “slowing down and looking back” energy for Mercury energy. While Life (the Sun) moves steadily forward, these inner planet energies are moving at a different pace so that life can then move forward beyond the function of these inner planet energies.

Whereas when direct they raced forward ahead of the Sun (as our mind and vanities often do!), when retrograde they internalize, or become receptive to inner energies we may not have paid attention to before then. It may lead to a realization of how we are impacted by (in this case) Venus forces from “the outside” that influence what we like or don’t, why we like what we like, why we believe we’re getting what we want from others or not, and a host of other Venus retrograde possibilities.

As usual, a chart done for the exact Inferior Conjunction should show us elements of things related to this “Venus fused with the Sun” energy. This will impact the months to come between now and the next Venus Superior Conjunction with the Sun at 30 Libra on October 22/23, 2022. That will impact the following period until the next Venus Inferior Conjunction with the Sun at 21 Leo on August 13, 2023.

Aspects and Key Factors in Play at this Conjunction

The main inner planet aspects at play for this Venus retrograde conjunction with the Sun (forming aspects only) are Moon trine Mars, novile Jupiter, and sextile Saturn. Mercury is slowing to retrograde septile Mars, Venus is semisquare Jupiter and trine Uranus, the Sun is semisquare Jupiter, sextile Neptune and conjunct Pluto, and Mars is quintile Jupiter, septile Saturn, and square Neptune. The main outer planet aspects are covered in part 3 of each Full Moon, so you’ll get more about them soon.

The ruler of the conjunction, Saturn, is at 13 Aquarius, a degree of knowing current inner changes portend future external events. Saturn is very favorable aspected, so the coming period influenced by this conjunction should help us toward a bigger vision of the future, even if it means we may have to reorient down the road. Mars septile Saturn makes it clear that the productivity promised by Moon sextile Saturn will lead us to leave environments which have become “polluted,” whether physically, emotionally, or mentally.

The dispositorships are pretty much split between Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter rules Mars, so it rules the Moon. Mercury, Venus, Sun, Uranus and Pluto. Jupiter will continue to share power on the world stages through the Pisces transits, and when it enters Aries in May, it will be ruled by Mars, again changing the backdrop to a lot of what’s happening. As Mars is in Pisces through most of May, it means that Mars and Jupiter will be in a mutual reception for two weeks until Mars enters Aries and then rules Jupiter.

This inferior conjunction will be both highly organizational and motivational, helping us assume a part “ahead of normal growth,” and helping us look back at prior relationships which quickened our evolution. It will give us a new appreciation of or value for all things Capricorn in our lives, and especially the life areas where the conjunction falls in our charts. Go back to prepare to move forward once Venus goes direct in late January!

The Sabian Symbol for the Inferior Conjunction

The symbol for the 19th degree of Capricorn is “A child of about five with a huge shopping bag.” In the Astrology of Personality, where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, 19 Capricorn is said to be a symbol of “capacity to take place ahead of normal standards,” “increased self-confidence,” and “waiting for conditions to catch up with self.”

We are told inTthe Astrological Mandala that this symbolizes “rising to the occasion when asked to assume social responsibilities ahead of one’s normal development.” He offers that his is about “early conditioning in teaching one how to fulfill the responsibilities of everyday life,” assuming a role “which at times will strain (our) natural capacities.”

He continues that this symbol “evokes the possibility of meeting a certain type of social opportunity which normally may seem premature. A pattern of accelerated growth can thus be established, with both positive and negative aspects.” He says it falls in the Span of Dependence, and it’s the technical degree in the actional-physical level of the scene of Group Performance in the Act of Capitalization.

According to Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, this degree is one of “spiritual stewardship… as expressed in (our) inherent sense of responsibility for the welfare of others, and in (our) desire to serve (our) community” to the limits of our skills. He says “there is wonderful recompense for the individual willing to share the total of (their) potentialities, and to enjoy those of (others) to the limit of (our understanding.”

He continues that our “quickening to every opportunity of common function becomes a special self-fulfillment.” He offers us the keyword EXPECTATION, and states when operating in a positive manner, it is a degree of “an effective breadth of participation in everyday living.”

So the theme of this conjunction shows the Light of accelerated growth fusing with an inward-turned Venus energy illuminating a means or an enlightened value to serve our community. Listen for the signal, and verify if its true. You could find yourself knowing on subtle levels like never before!

So we'll be using our fusion of Life and Likes, Light and Appreciation functions to send and/or receive signals of past, present, or future accelerated growth which may strain our abilities, but also lead us to increasing self-confidence in taking on things which may seem to be beyond our reach. Our course there will be deep transformational energies also at work due to Sun conjunct Pluto on the degree of seekers on the mountaintop, so we could very well see past spiritual Brothers and Sisters in a new light, or get insights into how previous relationship purifications quickened our evolution.

That’s why paying attention to subtle interactive Soul impressions while we’re here will be efficacious for many months and years to come. During this Venus retrograde period, pay attention to the roundabout or indirect Venusian signs and signals opening you to noticing these subtle impressions. These lessons will be in play through the time it re-crosses this degree on February 18-19.

It should be a great time to value things we didn’t before, or perhaps remember someone we valued long ago. Here we take a look back and reconsider what we want in enlightened relationships, or find a new way to introduce enlightened relationships in the present, but in an indirect way.

We definitely will get a new look at some old values or possessions, or remember someone who helped us adopt certain values in the past. This time could bring up old issues for re-examination. Remember the Spiritual Brothers and Sisters you’ve known in this life, and honor the quickening they brought you. It’s already happened to me through remembering several in our community who checked out a while back.

In Conclusion

All retrogrades represent a time to revisit the past as a prelude to moving forward, in this case beginning February. This Inferior conjunction should bring the Light of a greater understanding about how various people and the flashes we had about them were showing us how we were developing the ability to accelerate our growth by stretching into newer functions which ordinarily might be more advanced than we can handle. Trust your inner signals, since they will lead to a new understanding,

This Venus retrograde conjunction with the Sun will help us process things from the past, understanding them in a different way. We can now safely look back at difficult people, situations, and memories of the past that we’ve now revisited and left behind. Sometimes we may be going inward and forward, though at times it may seem like we’re looking at who we were and who we might be rather than who we believe we are. Still, let go of inner and outer conflicts and get a broader view.

If you are called by memories or reminders to revisit the past, take a look at how those people and events led to you being greater than you used to be, and gave you a way to transcend your view that impacted who you are right here and now. Again, perhaps this can be a great time to reconnect to what you value about yourself as a result of people from the past. Look back at old relationships, or renew relationships with people from the past presenting themselves who will have significance in the future.

There will be a lot of fusion in the house where we have mid-Capricorn. This will put the focus on that house in our chart, and over time we should see how that area has opened for us over the past 5 years, and eliminate the last of any lurking emotional or interpersonal hurts or misunderstandings in our subconscious mind that is now being illuminated. Maybe we can see how old relationships which seemed to fail helped us let go of an old hurt, or helped us get clear about where we really didn’t need or want to go. This will lead to a new understanding of the value of what we attracted and let go of long ago.