A Venus-Pluto Kind Of Love

A Venus-Pluto pairing holds within it great depth and complexity. With Pluto's presence, this love goddess is riddled with themes of unrequited love, rejection and abandonment, potential violence, power struggles and control, resentment and revenge, jealousy and possessiveness, emotional intensity, deep bonding (or bondage), obsessions and complusions, and some serious sexual sizzle.

It's obvious Pluto is no lightweight, and if you have venus in aspect with him, expect any of the above themes to characterize your relationships at some point in time. These themes occur in order to transform the "love consciousness". Eventually, the recipient of this aspect must go through some heavy and intense issues related to the love life with that single purpose in mind (transformation). Venus-pluto people must learn lessons of self-love, self-worth, and self-sufficiency within the context of partnerships. The partner and the relationship itself becomes the catalyst for the healing of toxic patterns related to the way in which the venus/pluto individual loves and relates to others.

Control, manipulation and submissiveness
Venus-pluto people must become aware, at some point, thru an enforced relationship crises, of their tendency to either control or be controlled by another. This control behavior has the same root cause in either case...insecurity. Because of past early childhood abandonment issues or strict parental control and manipulation, this person has developed defense mechanisms of either control/manipulation or submisiveness (door-mat syndrome). Some people stay in abusive or difficult relationships because bad love is better than no love.

Sexual Prowess
Many people with pluto emphasized in their charts are notorious for being superior lovers, "the best you've ever had". This is a form of control and manipulation, where sexual seduction keeps the other coming back for more. Either the venus-pluto native will possess this skill or the partner will. Some of them may purposely use their magnetism and smoldering sexuality (so characteristic of Scorpio) to lure potential love interests.

Unrequited Love, Rejection, and Abandonment
Love that is un-reciprocated or of a less intense nature than the venus-pluto person is giving is another typical scenario. This situation is very common within the human condition, but occurs at a much higher rate with venus-pluto person. It is not totally uncommon for people to die, or just disappear from their lives. This is very harsh, but it is to enforce the lesson of self-sufficiency. Some may even do the abandoning and rejecting first, before the other has a chance to leave them.

Jealously and Possessiveness
Many venus-pluto people are known to carry a jealous streak within them, therefore they can become very possessive of their mate. Underlying this is the fear of abandonment and rejection, and this behavior works to protect them from that occuring, or so they think.

Obsession and Compulsion
Making the love object the focus of their lives is a common theme with this aspect. They can easily become obsessed with the person or the relationship, with extreme cases resulting in "stalker behavior".

Resentment and Revenge
Scorpios are notorious for holding onto old resentments, sometimes for a whole lifetime. Its also not uncommon to hear them talking about plotting revenge against those who have wronged them in love, and if their not talking about it...their certainly thinking about it.

Deep Bonding and Emotional Intensity
There is no love quite like a scorpio's love. They have an intensity about them that makes the object of their affection know, on no uncertain terms, their not fooling around. They take their relationships very seriously, once the right partner is found. There is a certain depth and intensity to their show of affection, that can either make the other person weak in the kness, or run the other way.

All of the above themes can be acted out by either the native with this aspect or by the people he/she becomes involved with.

Core Issue
The issue underlying each and everyone of these behaviors is fear and insecurity. All of these behaviors are mostly unconscious to the venus/pluto person, or at least their purpose and intentions are. They operate from their past woundings of abandonment, loss, rejection, and loss of control. Thus, they keep getting pulled into dramatic and painful relationship scenarios, until they recognize the dysfunction and work to consciously heal it.

This soul must realize that the problem is never with the partner. The issue lies within the venus-pluto individual him/herself. There is a deep sense of wounding, a feeling of being unloveable and unworthy, that never quite goes away...always bubbling just under the surface of awareness. The partner just brings out the issue into the light of day, so that the venus-pluto person can finally heal the pain and transform it into a strength. There is much power and strength to be gained by developing a sense of self love and self worth, and forgiving the people who wounded us the most, which is the venus/scorpio path. Forgiveness frees both yourself and others from heavy emotional baggage which sours life.

The evolutionary intent for pluto with venus is to heal these issues within the psyche. Like I mentioned in previous posts (Need Some Zen: Find Your Inner Bull and Scorpio Musings), the opposite of Scorpio is Taurus. The Taurus side of the polarity can assist us in re-building and re-establishing our sense of self and worth. By possessing ourselves, rather than others (out of fear of loss), we can regain control of our lives and stop controlling others. This is the type of behavior that drives others away from us, which is exactly what venus-pluto people fear the most, abandonment. Embracing the Taurean polarity brings a sense of empowerment back to the self and allows these souls to rise like the phoenix from the ashes of the past.

Taurus asks Scorpio to stop perpetuating the inner drama, and instead work to cultivate peace and calm, appreciating all of the simple abundance life has to offer. Not to stew in the pain from the past, but to see that life is a gift in the here and now, and to embrace it while we have the chance... in this moment! Taurus teaches how to hold the pain in loving awareness, not reacting, just observing with compassion and understanding, an act that has the power to dissolve the hurt, and allows us to move on with life.

The venus-pluto individual must consciously choose this path of healing and transformation, or he will be faced with a life filled with pain, loss and drama, and that is usually the path of the venus-pluto person, at least for a certain portion of the life.

If and when he/she undertakes this healing path, the opportunity arises to become a healer of other's pain. Scorpios are known to be the best healers of the zodiac, because of their deep understanding of the human condition. You cannot heal what you cannot feel, and Scorpio has been endowed with the gift of intense feeling. For this reason, these people have the greatest chance to heal and rise above their pain, and guide other's on the same path.
This can be the greatest redemption of the Venus-pluto individual.

With Venus-Pluto...love hurts....and heals....

Attention Scorpios: Need Some Zen...Find Your Inner Bull

**This is an old post from my Astro-Talk blog, but thought I'd post it here, as it discusses the 8th house polarity, and can help to better understand how to handle Scorpionic issues by embracing the 2nd house or Taurus polarity.

What can Taurus teach us about being in the present, resting in the peace and contentment of our inner core? Plenty!! Siddhartha (Lord Buddha) was born under the full moon in Taurus, the sign of the Bull. Buddha, like Jesus, taught us how to "be in the world and not of it", with all of its drama, attachments, cravings, sufferings, etc. Zen is the feeling we catch every now and again within this human condition. Its being in the zone, completely connected to the present moment and immersed in the contentment and joy it brings, alongside all the insanity.

In astrology, the 2nd/8th house polarity partly relates to the transmutation of human drama and the shadow self (8) through establishing a meditative grounded presence within the body, and engaging fully with life (2). The sign of Taurus can teach us how to find contentment and peace of mind by practicing awareness and forgiveness of the egoic self and all of its toxic baggage, which takes us away from our true self, everlasting Spirit. Taurus shows us how to relax in the abundance of the earth, and life itself, which is a true miracle. In fact, just being alive is a miracle. This sign is all about sensation and coming alive through awareness and contact with all of our senses; touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight. The taste of a juicy peach, the feel of silk on your skin, the smell of cookies baking, gazing at a beautiful sunset....these are the gifts of Taurean energy. The Bull's motto is; Living simply and Simply Living.

We must learn how to carry our wounded and dramatic ego in our awareness, yet detach from it, and calmly bring our focus to our bodily sensations and our engagement with life in the present moment. This promotes peace of mind and healing, because you are engaging with your core self, beyond the wounds, drama and endless mental chatter. You know the Scorpio polarity has become activated when you attach to drama, turmoil, pain and suffering, and continue to magnify it. Scorpions can and sometimes do end up stinging themselves in the end, due to their unwillingness to let go and forgive. Yes, this happens to all of us here on Earth, there is no escaping it. Luckily we have the opposite sign of Taurus to teach us how to gently move from Earth drama to peace and calm...to catch a little ZEN...

Good reads on the subject: Books by Thich Nhat Hanh and Jon Kabat-Zinn

Scorpios and Sexual Healing

Ok, so Scorpios are not known to be shy in the bedroom. I think this has 2 purposes. First, Scorpios have issues with feelings of abandonment and rejection that stem from experiences in their childhood, and many times are carried with them into adulthood. Thus, they have learned to perfect their sexual skills as a way to keep lovers around, to lessen the chances of abandonment. Whether this is conscious or not is arguable. Secondly, and more importantly Scorpios can become healed (even if its just temporary) and renewed through sexual intimacy. Think about it, they get to merge (Scorpio) with another, which is their deepest desire. Scorpios really want to be deeply bonded to and intensely loved by another, and sex can act as a doorway into that experience. During sex, Scorpios have the opportunity to momentarily forget about their painful experiences and get lost in the present moment. The body becomes the focal point and all of the sensory experiences that accompany sexual intimacy. They jump out of the past pain and into the present pleasure. Here the Taurus polarity comes in to play and dances with the Scorpio polarity to create a healing. Taurus is all about grounding into the Earth plane through present moment awareness and all of the sensory experiences that accompany Earthly life. Feeling all of the rich sensory experiences life has to offer is what helps us humans ground into the body. Sex is rich sensory experience that can help pull Scorpios out of their pain (created by their past memories and emotions) and into their bodies and into the present, where the past disappears. Sex with someone they trust and are deeply bonded to(very important for Scorpios) can be a very healing and cathartic experience for these people.

We humans are more than our pain, we are Spirit. We can only touch the realm of Spirit through being present here and now....detached from our thoughts and emotions, which are transient and fleeting. It's not avoiding pain, its about seeing beyond it...that we are not our pain at the core. We are Spiritual beings residing in the body. All of our painful experiences are not the essence of who we really are. Many times Scorpios are emersed in their pain, or its seething just below the surface of their awareness, ready to explode. Sex with a loving, bonded, committed partner can start a Scorpio on a conscious path to healing, taking one from the past pain into the present joy of loving and merging with another soul.

Alchemy and the Cardinal T-Square

I was recently thinking about the quote I put on my Scorpio Musings blog; "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly" and it got me thinking about alchemy. When the caterpillar is transformed into the butterfly within the chrysalis, it goes thru a sort of alchemy. In short, alchemy is the process of turning base metal into gold. The caterpillar is a worm-like creature that crawls on the ground, which could represent the lower or more base aspects of things. The butterfly on the other hand, rises above ground soaring freely in the air, which could represent the higher more exalted nature of things. To get from the base aspects to the higher form of the butterfly, the caterpillar is essentially transfigured. Its body and immune system breaks down into mush. It is wiped out, becomes no-thing...basically unidentifiable, only to emerge into the beauty of the butterfly. This can be likened to the Blackening phase in alchemy, which is like a death or a "dying-off" of the old (habits, behaviors, structures, thoughts, ego). The emergence of the butterfly can be compared to the White phase in alchemy, like an upliftment of the soul. This all sounds very Plutonian, wouldn't you say.

Isn't this what we are all going thru right now with the Pluto/Saturn Square...and Uranus to join soon? Are we not all being transfigured or "alchemized" in one way or another? Whether we are conscious of this or not, the fact is IT'S HAPPENING, slowly but surely. Pluto is the catalyst of transformation, the deepest and most soulful kind. With Saturn and Uranus coloring this process, we are all being turned inside out in some way, some much more than others (folks with planets in early cardinal degrees). Cardinal energy is all about new beginnings and initiating new things. However, in order to proceed with new beginnings, we have to clean house first and get rid of the old garbage (Pluto), one step in the alchemical process.

I have planets in early degrees of the Cardinal signs, so I am definitely feeling much personal pressure and tension in certain areas of my life. However, I am also feeling a more universal or collective stress as well, like a massive collective existential crises. I think that is undeniable at this time in our history. We are a "soul-sick nation", as astrologer Jessica Murray puts it, in need of much soul searching in order to heal our collective madness. If you object to this, you are in denial. To heal, we have to purge the old, become transfigured like the caterpillar, and emerge in our newness, rising above the lower aspects of ourselves, personally and collectively. This is alchemy, and our time of transformation is at hand, via Pluto, Saturn, and Uranus.

Remember: "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly".