The Goddess and the Eyes of Death-Venus Report

☾∇ΣΠUS ℝ∃ℙᎧℝ𝗧 ☾

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Venus at 27 degrees of Aquarius is just 8 degrees away from the Sun. When Venus gets within 10 degrees she is said to be combust. Her power now compromised. She has disappeared from her station as “Morning Star” and is visiting her sister Erishkagal, Queen of Death, in the “Underworld”. When next we meet her she will be reborn as the “Evening Star”. In the “Hymn of Inanna’s Descent” when first the sister’s meet each other at the final gate, it says this:

“The Holy Erishkegal seated herself upon her throne…

She fastened her eyes upon her (Inanna), the eyes of death

Spoke the word against her, the word of wrath,

Uttered the cry against her, the cry of guilt, Struck her, turned her into a corpse.

The corpse was hung from a nail”

In her book, “Descent to the Goddess”, Sylvia Brinton Perera, writes, “In Sumerian poetry, the eyes of life are used to suggest seeing that is full of love and gives vitality, the eyes of the mother nursing her infant, whereas the eyes of death are, pitiless, not personally caring, and full of primal rage. To humans who are paralyzed with fear and lose sense of process and paradox, they can be the hateful glare that freezes life.

Venus (in her alchemical form, as Inanna) governs our relationship to self, others, and to our environment. In her healthy form, she beautifies, nourishes, and the power of her sensory adeptness can lift herself and others into a state of ecstatic wholeness. But, when she has stripped naked, and enters the chamber of the Queen of Death, she is asked to face the rawness of life, the “eyes of death”, alone, with only her sensory navigation, to aid her transformation. She has no worldly comfort to cushion the heartbreaking sacrifice that is being demanded of her; Attachment to all matter and thoughtforms.

At 27 degrees Aquarius, Venus makes a Square to Mars at 25 degrees Taurus. Both are fixed signs so the energy has the potential to be static, to stagnate, in a cycle of toxicity. If you become anesthetized with your phone, or by binge watching Netflix in an effort to avoid pain, there is potential we become the churn. We must engage. Mars is in the Temple of Venus. As lovers with a complex history, this can either be an epic standoff, or a beneficial connection. In her already raw, vulnerable state this suggests that she could lash out with a vengeance. Connecting with Mars’ animus can either give her the power that she needs to make her transformation, or the war-like energy of Mars can manifest in primal, toxic rage. Through presence, you have the power to use the energy supplied by Mars as the catalyst to free yourself from the hypnotic stare of death, as a jolt to awaken you from despair. Transmutation happens in the land of Cosmos and Psyche. The seat of the soul lives here. Where the inner and outer worlds meet. Allow them to touch by staying open and vulnerable to it all.

By the time of the Full Moon on February 27th, Venus will have moved into Pisces, the place of her exaltation, where she will receive some protection from the intense rays of the sun. Taurus, Libra, and Pisces, in Hellenistic Astrology, are thought to be Chariots of Venus. This could help soften some of the sharp grief and rage. While the circumstances remain, we can begin to apply ointment to the burn.

The Full Moon this Month sees the Sun at 8 degrees Pisces conjunct Venus at 2 degrees Pisces, which is opposite the Moon at 8 degrees Virgo conjunct Vesta at 15 degrees Virgo. This is actually a beautiful signature for alchemizing all we just talked about. Pisces is like the wide, diffuse light of a flashlight, while Virgo is the cohesive light of a laser beam. The Sun is going to gather and collect all of these Underworld experiences and filter them through the Moon who will help create a focused, devotional practice, to aid with integration. Uranus, trining the Full Moon at 7 Degrees Taurus reminds us to take some time to allow our nervous system to recalibrate. Remember, as Pam Gregory said, Uranus’ mantra is “Matter Coalesces around Frequency”, or rather, energy body health and hygiene is really important for where we are going.

On Friday, February 12th, Venus’ day, our family had an Underworld initiation when our son walked to a corner store, and was robbed and shot. At the moment the hospital called I walked through the threshold of Erishakagal’s throne room, her eyes of death fixed upon me, transformed on a cellular level. I knew I wouldn’t leave that room the same person who entered. That first night I came home from the hospital and had a dream that I was stuck in a bathroom that had no plumbing. I was freaking out because I was afraid I’d be stuck with the shit, I also didn’t want to be seen by someone else in the bathroom with the unflushed toilet. I awoke in the morning needing no translation. I couldn’t escape. There was nowhere for the shit to go, I’d have to be ok with the fact there was unflushable waste in my life. I also knew that the dream represented my attachments to the future and identity I had projected onto my son. Someone, something had come and mucked that up, and I couldn’t change it.

From the 13 Moon Oracle (𝗕𝘆 𝗔𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗹 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗹𝘀𝗯𝘂𝗿𝘆) I know that the Queen of Death is asking me to affirm “I release, I trust” and that “In my ending is my beginning”. Knowing I was held by this temple I was able to let go. I kept hearing Ariel’s voice saying “Set Sail, Set Sail, One thing becomes another, In the Mother, In the Mother.” (she credits Starhawk with those words) In other words, Erishkegal's throne room is the womb of the mother. Everything happens here without effort, without linear thought. It’s pure alchemy. I was powerless and my only option was to keep surrendering. I said the serenity prayer over and over again in order to keep releasing. I kept feeling this pressure on my chest and I knew I was trying to reclaim control.

Thankfully our son is going to be ok. There should be no lasting physical health problems. Now we are just working on the process of healthFULL integration. I want to thank each and every sister who witnessed me, who said a prayer, or lit a candle. Thank you, thank you. I felt each sister’s hand on my back and it gave me strength.

Love to each and every one of you.

-Damascena