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Chapter 6
Chapter 6 Exploring polarity with venus and mars
Illustration: Tahnee Kelland
— Lorin Roche, The Radiance Sutras.
On one side, there will always be the curious longing for the other. We can tend to think of masculine and feminine as polar opposites within our culture, where they are inherently two essential parts of the same whole. We have our own balance and spectrum of these energies inside of us, whether we are male or female. However, females tend to naturally hold more feminine energy, and males more masculine energy, due to the nature of our hormonal make-up. We can see the masculine as the Sun, constantly shining in the sky no matter what — its presence always unwavering whether or not we see it shining. The female hormones are symbolic of the purely refl ective and constantly cycling nature of the Moon. Nature also has it that the average female menstrual cycle is a similar length to the complete monthly dance between the Moon and Sun.
Venus, the feminine, rules the emotional aspects of relationships and indicates how we relate to and draw value from our connection with others and the world. This unfolds naturally within our evolution through two very distinct doorways — mind (Libra) and matter (Taurus). When we can learn to listen to and be in constant communion with our own unique Venus energy, we are empowered to truly live with our mind and heart open, and physical boundaries clear.
Photography: Getty Images Mars, the masculine, represents action, desire and willpower (Aries), and indicates the level of passion, grit and energy we draw upon to move forward into our goals. It also represents consciousness and the presence of all existence through the stage of the cycle that is Aries — incarnation, the initiation spark, the beginning of our existence in this form. When we can learn to harness our own unique Mars energy, we can access the kind of constant sustenance and authentic support systems needed in order to fulfi l what we desire within this lifetime.
The two together create a synergistic union, a meeting of two opposite parts. It is that very felt sense of attraction towards another. It is the deep longing for our lover and the very distinct feeling we have when we are met with the opposite energy that creates a charge and polarity. This charge and polarity creates the need to understand what we do not yet know, the longing to merge with something outside of ourselves and to fulfi l the mystery of our own creativity. We can really feel through these examples how Mars and Venus work throughout our everyday relational lives.
In energetic terms, the feminine encompasses surrender, release and the ever-changing dance of creative fl ow and of life within our human incarnation. She is the “Shakti”, meaning “power” and “divine feminine”, and when working in harmony with the universe, we feel a sense of her luminosity, radiance, creativity and deep surrender to the fl ow of the universe. She listens and is open to receiving guidance from the unchanging, the masculine. He is referred to in Sanskrit as “Shiva”, representing the absolute reality or consciousness. He is also known as the Lord of Yoga. The divine feminine’s nature is one of constant curiosity and relativity (Venus), and so, as the ancient yogic text the Bhairava Tantra conveys, she goes to the divine masculine for direction, support and guidance. The healthy masculine (Mars) guides her unconditionally without the need for praise, and with peaceful decisiveness. He helps her feel safe and supported, on all levels of human consciousness. He simply takes appropriate action. In order for her to be willing to ask in the fi rst place, the divine feminine must feel emotionally secure and balanced physically enough to ask. When she is in her centre, she knows whether the feedback is accurate as she has already felt it within herself, which is how she knows she can trust it.
“The Goddess and the One who holds Her, Are one and the same. We are inseparable. The way to me is through Her.”
— Lorin Roche, The Radiance Sutras (Bhairava Tantra translation).
What Evolutionary Astrology can do is point us towards our own unique blend of these energies, beyond our physical form alone, further towards the Soul essence. Therefore, it doesn’t go beyond nature but it can transcend gender itself and contain something purely energetic. We can feel this unique blend within our Mars and Venus placements.
Venus energy and mythology
It is through form and our relating to beauty and structures that we draw value and meaning to our experiences here on the Earth plane. We are beings that thrive through heart-to-heart reciprocity and connection, however within our cultural climate, we are also prone to tapping out of the heart, out of a need to protect ourselves from danger, through the illusion of separation.
Venus rules all forms of blending, harmony and attraction. Through the mind, Venus is connected to the balancing and equilibrium through relationships and aesthetics. This can be felt through the archetype of Libra, and anywhere we have Libra within our natal chart. We develop our worth and harmony through the mind to form a connection of any sort. Venus also develops a sense of security and safety through physical resources, both internally and externally, as in self worth and tangible worth. This can be felt through the archetype of Taurus and anywhere we have Taurus in our natal chart.
Inherently, Venus is a powerful part of our natal chart, which can unlock our deepest Self-acceptance and acknowledgement of our true worth. Through her, we fi nd cosmic magnetism. This sense of worth and how we draw value offers us a sense of unshakeable value regardless of circumstances. Venus is a harmoniser working as the middle place between two opposite opinions or ways of being. In myth, she is the Goddess of Love, not so much in the spiritual sense, but in a very personalised way. She is the doorway into the gradual formation of our individual values, which feeds into the continuous evolution of our personality. Venus is a wonderful tool for any subconscious reprogramming in order to transform our deepest core values and sense of Self-worth. Through Venus, we discover ourselves through projection, which refl ects back to us through our experience of the external world. Venus is the mirror, the doorway back to ourselves. It is synonymous with the love we seek and fi nd in a partner — their eyes and how they see, feel and hear ourselves being the portal for this love.
The highest manifestation of this energy is one of continuously strengthening and deepening one’s own felt sense of Self-security and worth in a sustainable and continuous way. When we lose our connection to Venus, our experiences lead to a state of low Self-worth. In this space, we can tend to fi nd ourselves staying on the fence and undercutting our truth. Our capacity to love is limited to how we truly value and love ourselves. Our culture can get this very backwards and this lack of base valuing of ourselves — or being told what to value — can lead to the need for physical things, or the need for particular outward circumstances to fi ll the void.
Your Venus sign is a doorway into your core feminine energy. It’s an indication of the kinds of qualities that you love and value, keep you secure, fi nd attractive, or that truly matter to you on the deepest level. Developing the qualities of your Venus sign leads to a deep sense of inner security and wholeness that cannot be found anywhere outside of yourself, but which is refl ected back through your relational life at large. It is also the lens through which you see harmony and beauty, and the way you experience the vibration of love.
Getty Images Photography & Illustration:
Mars energy and mythology
Mars gives birth to our desire to get what we truly long for and to be clear about it. It does this through direct willpower when faced with any challenge. In mythology, Mars is the God of War. This is a war that requires true courage and bravery to run into the fi re of your truth. In manifested reality, it is speaking your truth wholeheartedly and not doubting your own experience, despite intense circumstances or challenges. The Mars energy is masculine in quality — active, initiating, independent, autonomous, courageous and fi ery. It is the ignition spark of consciousness, the will to survive and do what it takes.
Mars by sign says a lot about how we assert (or avoid asserting) ourselves and the ways in which we go about attaining what we truly desire on the deepest of levels. Mars honours that as long as we are human, we will be faced with desires and wants. This is also manifested into sexuality and intimacy and how we express and assert our sexual energy. Your Mars sign unlocks the way you approach life’s inevitable pains and challenges. When we get hurt, it is the process we undertake in order to heal and the stories we tell ourselves in the process. Mars also fl avours our relationships with fear and competition. It is a very primal, driven and fi re-starting energy. The uninhibited expression of this is simply wanting what you want, and not questioning it or apologising for it. I am speaking of wanting something in the most genuine sense, from a truthful place.
Unlocking Mars is an essential part of learning to assert and choose ourselves, as well as express our individuality, potency and true power. It can also show us our blocks in honouring and attaining what we desire, through the shadow manifestation of the sign our Mars falls within. Mars is also a powerful placement to unlock our sexuality through primal nature. This is also an energy that is misplaced and misunderstood within society and culture through so many confl icting ideologies. For the sake of this work and the exploration of Mars, I would like to open Mars up as a sexual energy as I believe that unlocking this uninhibitedly is a fundamental part of no longer allowing the world to fearmonger us. It is through the synchronisation of our sexuality and creativity that we can unlock our true cosmic Soul and the drive to be in life.
Integration
Before you move on in the course, I would like to invite you to fi nd your unique Venus and Mars energy within your natal chart. You can simply look for the glyphs above. You can also fi nd the list of your placements below, however I would like to really encourage you to fi nd the actual placements within your chart. Knowing where they are will point you towards where they sit within the bigger picture of your chart as a whole.
In chapters to come, we will give more life to these placements through the exploration of the houses, which I call energetic terrain. This is where the planet energy manifests into the material. So starting to look at your chart is a great fi rst step. You do not have to understand anything else right now. Remember to take deep breaths and come back to your own felt experience of the information.
Once you have found your placements, I invite you to move back to chapter one to refamiliarise yourself with this archetypal energy. You will fi nd the rulerships to the energies (the planets) listed, too. When I take you through the remaining planets that we work with in Evolutionary Astrology to come, you can start to feel and understand more context to these energies through the planets.
