The Venus Transit of 2012: Going Forth by Day     In 2012, the planet Venus will  complete her double transit over the face of the Sun, one of only  52 such events since 2000 BCE. This event has been cited by NASA as “among the rarest of planetary alignments,” when the Sun, Earth, and Venus intersect in longitude and declination.    In a cycle of 105.5 years, the Earth’s sister planet Venus transits the face of the Sun, visible over only a select swath of the Earth. The transit takes place in two episodes, 8 years apart. In the first most recent episode, Venus was at inferior conjunction to the Sun on June 8th, 2004, between the Earth and Sun in a similar configuration to a Solar eclipse. For a little more than six hours, the planet was seen to cross the lower limb of the Sun from the Earth. Her first contact with the Sun took place at 5:19 Universal Time and concluded at 11:23 UT. And astrologically, Venus appeared retrograde from the Earth at 17º Gemini (Tropical) or 23º Taurus (Sidereal), while her Solar crossing took place against the backdrop of the constellation Orion, the warrior.

This year, the second episode takes place on June 5th at 22:09 UT and concludes on June 6th at 4:49 UT. Venus will appear retrograde at 15º 45’ Gemini (Tropical) or 20º 48’ Taurus (Sidereal) and will again be traversing the constellation Orion. This time, Venus will cross the upper limb of the Sun, and the crossing will be visible in northwestern America, Hawai’i and the western Pacific; northern Asia (Japan, Korea, north China, Philippines), eastern Australia and New Zealand.  Maps and data are available here.    This event will also provide the singular opportunity to view the atmospheric “ring” of Venus, where the light of the planet’s surface becomes visible. When, for example, Mercury transits the face of the Sun he appears as a black dot moving across the Solar orb, while Venus features a halo of light around her dark edge. This year presents an opportunity to experience a once-in-a-lifetime event.

The Lightbringer

   Since the invention of the telescope, only the following transits of Venus have been recorded:

          Dec. 1631    Dec. 1639
          June 1761    June 1769
          Dec. 1874    Dec. 1882
          June 2004    June 2012
          Dec. 2117    Dec. 2125

   Those with historical and metaphysical insights will note that intense periods of social and religious enlightenment took place at these times, which set into motion long-lived institutions for justice, social equality, and the eradication of disease. In the realm of spirit, these periods also set the stage for intercultural discourse on spirituality and the dissemination of ancient knowledge.

   The astrological Venus is, in her many roles, primarily the arbiter of the human endeavor we know as civilization. In the Greek pantheon, she dispenses justice as Pallas Athene and divine passion as Aphrodite the mother of Eros; she teaches dance to human beings to honor the gods as Hi’iaka in Hawai’i; she assumes hermaphroditic qualities as Ishtar-Attar in the Mesopotamian universe to govern war and peace. In Roman legend, Venus was the mother of Aeneas, founder of the Roman nation and a hero of the Trojan War. She embodied many images, as the universal mother (Genitrix), the changer of hearts (Verticordia), the goddess of favor (Felix), bestower of gratitude (Obsequens), among many others. In the sky, she was Hesperus (the morning star) and Phosphorus (the evening star), and ever the companion of Ares, god of battle.

   In the sacred astronomy of ancient Egypt, Venus as the morning star represents the ascent of Maat, goddess of truth, in the celestial barque of her father Ra. As the evening star, she signifies the descent of Hathor, one of the goddesses in the afterlife who enters the Duat or invisible region of the sky, where she welcomes departing souls.

   There is also contention and disharmony in the realm of Venus. Becoming the male god Shukra in the Vedas, he is spiritual teacher to the Rakshashas, the demonic  souls. In China, the planet is known as the Great White, who emanates a ghostly atmosphere that punishes the unfaithful. Associated with the fifth element of Metal, its color brought to mind the reflected light of weaponry. In the Mayan universe, Venus is associated with both the rain god Chac and the god of disaster, Tlaloc. When appearing as the morning star, he becomes Quetzacoatl, emanating rays of light that become spears aimed at his enemies. And in the Judeo-Christian creation, Venus is embodied in the subversion of the archangel Lucifer, who refused to serve man because his love for the creator was greater.

Synchronicity and Meaning

   From these mythic themes, Venus shows us that enlightenment does not arise from passive seasons of contentment. Rather, it is born in the landscape of struggle and discord, where outworn dogmas divide society and the individual from wholeness. Reaching for meaning and balance, human beings attain profound understandings when they recognize the absence of harmony, and take action to attain it, if only as an ideal and a vision for the future.

   This is what the transit has Venus offered us. On entering 2012, we have the opportunity to accept the mandate of the lightbringer and become her reflection. As much as we would wish it, celestial events such as these do not shower the unwitting masses with “higher consciousness” or a cosmic audience with advanced beings somewhere in the universe. They are more importantly reminders of the celestial harmony that continues to resonate despite our unwillingness to hear. In this instance, the lightbringer is fused with the Solar light, offering a rare moment of illumination and divine understanding.

---

Season of Aquarius:  January 20 – February 19, 2012

Abduction of Ganymede by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640)

Aquarian Acts of Service And godlike Ganymede, Most beautiful of men; The gods beheld and caught him up To heaven, so beautiful was he, to pour The wine to Jove, and ever dwell with them. – Homer     Ganymede, a Trojan prince,  was viewed by the Olympian gods as the most attractive among mortals. But with this admiration came notice from Zeus himself, who sought the young man to serve as cupbearer to the celestial powers. Taking the form of an eagle, Zeus swooped down from the heavens and abducted Ganymede, who became an immortal but also a servant to the gods. His image is embodied in the constellation Aquarius, and is accompanied by the eagle constellation Aquila. This ancient story tells of the obligation human beings have when they seek to become “godlike.” The individual ego is subsumed by divine will, and those powers hold greater sway over mortal destiny than the petty aspirations of the individual. A lesson to be well understood by those who strive for the ethereal heights!     But the Aquarian motif also alludes to a cosmic secret – the gods seek our service as much we we seek their counsel. The exchange of powers – human and divine – becomes possible when each recognizes the needs of the other. It is the ancient art of theurgia that uncovers this secret, a sacred tradition that is unlocked with the words and gestures of magic. In this way, the server is given a true place in the heavens and is served by the powers s/he has honored.

(*) U.S. Time Zones
Central Time        – 1 hour		Pacific Time         – 3 hours
Mountain Time    – 2 hours		Hawai’i-Alaska    – 5 hours