Category Archives: Moon

ARIES INGRESS OF THE SUN – 2023

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The horoscope for the Vernal Equinox is among the most important considerations in Mundane (world) Astrology, not least because it provides us with the Lord or Lady of the Year.The chart I will be reading is specifically for PDT, although some elements will apply to all. Because the chart LOY is cardinal and in a cadent houser, The influence will be felt most strongly for perhaps 6 months.

This year, it occurs immediately prior to on the New Moon in Aries, with MC, Jupiter, Sun and Moon in the 9th house on the.The Sun is in his joy,occupying the first Lunar Mansion with Mercury in a is diurnal  chart. The Day and Hour are of the Moon. The Moon resides in the 28th Luna mansion-  echoing an Alpha and Omega.theme of the luminaries..

Let’s consider the Ascendant which occurs at 0:°︎Leo, the same degree and minute as the Sun, whom he disposits. .Aries is the Exaltation of the Sun which in turn is the Almuten,Figuris The Sun occupies the first Lunar Mansion with Mercury. The Moon is in the 28th Lunar mansion – Alpha and Omega. Moreover, the Sun is in his Joy in the 9th house.

Vernal Equinox – 20 Mar 2023 AD GC. 2:45:00 PM. Victoria, British Columbia PDT

One means of calculating the Lord or Lady of the Geniture is by reference to Essential and Accidental Dignities.This is most commonly used in horary and natal astrology and yields accurate results.. If we used this method, the Venus in her vespertine waxing phase in her own domicile in Taurus, free of the beams, in sect and  conjunct the Node is an extraordinary placement. The all-important Lord or Lady of the year is calculated with reference to the total of is the clear winner. As such she is very much the emissary of the chart. This position should by no means be ignored in the larger picture. It is important to note that this status of Venus remains constant across all time zones.

The Sun from Persian Manuscript 373 Wellcome Library

More often, in Mundane the primary considerations is judgment of the Ascendant. In the words of Mā Shā’ Allāh ibn Athari (Arabic: : ما شاء الله إبن أثري) )

” Therefore, if you wish to know the Lord of the Year, look at the Ascendant and its Lord, and at the Lord of the exaltation of the Ascendant (if there were an exaltation of some planet in that sign), and the Lord of the bounds and the triplicity, and the place of the hour from the Ascendant, and see of what kind are their places relative to each other, and what kind they are in the place of the enmity of the Ascendant, and which in place of friendship.” See Works of Sahl & Māshāʾallāh. Trans B.N. Dykes 2008 p, 325.

In this case, we need go no further. The Lord of the Year (LOY) is the Sun in the 9th house.(WS). He is in the decan of Mars and the bound of Jupiter. The Ascendant is in the decan of Saturn and bounds of Venus. Māshāʾallāh tells us that ” Aries and it’s triplicity (Leo and Sagittarius) are signs of the east; which if the came together with the Ascendant , their signification will be stronger.” (327 There is no significant impediment to the Sun’s position as LOY.

The 9th house rules philosophical matters, higher mind, the judicial system, morality, religion, diplomacy, foreign missions and the house of the Sun God in the Hellenistic tradition.  As mentioned, the Sun is in his joy in this house. The association with Mars, however may not bring out the best in him. There is rashness afoot.

It is here that the powerful Venus placement ameliorates the situation. The 9th house informs the 10th. The midheaven is in Aries, but the angular 10th holds Venus and the Node. This is a place of considerable power. With an unafflicted,Venus we have pleasantries such as the arts, music , as well as diplomacy and decorum. There is an association with peace when Venus is in this phase. But this particular placement speaks more than anything elses of feminine power..

Graphic illustration of Collection of Light

Mars is Gemini in the 11th will serve.Venus. There is a fascinating and comparatively rare phenomena in traditional astrologer referred to as the collection light and the effect is for light to be collected and transferred – in this case from the Sun. Moon and Mercury to a mercurial Mars. The themes continues.

As if to mirror this, Venus is in opposition to the Arabic Parts of Reason and Rectitude This placement tends to excess, even obsession. This is where the 9th house influence will provide some admittedly heated impetus.

In mundane astrology the 8th house signifies among other things natural catastrophes, debt, death rate of a country, import/export, other people’s money, taxes, litigations,  scarcity, the occult or hidden things generally., archeology, epidemics and litigations.

The Moon and the 6th house are co-significators of the common people and in the 8th, squared to Mars, they suffer greatly. With Saturn also in the 8th house, this is not  made a bit more gloomy. If we also consider the fact that there is no effective financial significator in the chart, this theme is underscored. We would not expect significant improvements in the economic realm this year.in the areas this chart signifies.

To look more closely at the Moon, I would like to indicate what may be gleaned from reference to the Lunar Mansions according to Ibn Arabi. Note that I concur with Dykes that the sidereal mansions are the logical choice because the fixed stars are what defines them. See his comment in Astrology of the World I: The Ptolemaic Inheritance (2013) p. 16.

In this case, Luna is in Pisces in the final mansion. We might say, the end of the matter,.

The 28th Lunar Mansion starts from 17 PI 08′ 34″ and ends at 00 AR 00′ 00″. Considering this is immediately prior to the Sun’s position in the 1st mansion, this is immediately germane.The Arabic name is Al Batn al Hut, the belly of the fish.The constellation originally associated with this mansion is Andromeda.The principal star associated with this mansion is Mirach (beta Andromeda).The key theme here is one of endings. Dorotheus suggest that even a partnership beginning well, will end badly.

The Sun (LOY) is with Mercury in the 1st Lunar Mansion, Al-Sharatain, the horns of Aries The principal stars associated with this mansion are Sheratan (beta Aries) and Mesarthim (gamma Aries .According to Ptolemy, the nature of Sheratan is Mars and Saturn. Dorotheus suggests this mansion is Good for buying tame animals, for journeys, especially voyages, for making arms, planting trees, cutting hair or nails, putting on new clothes. importantly for the overall chart, this is not a place of compromise,.

This Spring will be noticeably drier and colder than average. May 16-24 are likely to be the rainy exception.Planting some crops may need to be delayed until this time.This will give way to much hotter than average weather as we approach the Summer Solstice.

Root vegetables such as carrots and parsnip do well in these conditions, as do most varieties of beans, melons and okra. Vegetables such as lentils, lettuces, peas and kale do not do well in hot dry conditions, so these should be planted as early as possible.

The cardinal equinoctial and solstice points are of the utmost importance in Mundane astrology. The ought to be recognized and celebrated as integral elements in a cosmic unfolding, a source of detailed information regarding events and conditions in our collective and personal lives. .

2020 Virgo Ingress of the Sun

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Musei Vaticani Caduceus

I rarely post on ingress charts other than the four cardinal Ingresses – the solstice and equinox events. Bot this is no ordinary year, by anyone’s standards and I’m there for watching the unfolding patterns that precede the Great Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in Aquarius, an event that will have repercussions not only until the next Great Conjunction but also for the next two hundred years. The shift is from the  Earth to the Air Triplicity. I have elaborated on this elsewhere.

The chart is drawn up for Greenwich BST + 1. I will not, therefore, be referring to the house placements, as these will change from zone to zone I would focus on the salient dynamic of the event as they will be most relevant to the larger view. Primarily, I’m looking at the relationships of the chart as a whole to the Saturn and Jupiter conjunction and the role of Mars.

Notably, the Sun enters Virgo in the Decan and the Bounds of Mars and with Regulus (00. Vir. 06′ 21″). Mercury is in the Decan of Mercury and within the Bounds of the Sun. Mercury id the Lord of the Geniture. Mercury in Virgo is Hermes in his sign of Exaltation and Domicile.

Mars is in the decan of and the Bounds of Saturn and Decan of Venus, separating from a square to Jupiter and applying to a square with Saturn, which in turn is in the Bounds of Mars and the Decan of the Sun.

The Moon is in the 16th Lunar Mansion at 18 LI 44′ 11″ in the Tropical zodiac. The Mansion begins at 12 LI 51′ 22″ and ends at 25 LI 42′ 51″ Th Arabic name is Al Jubana, the Scorpion’s Claw. Ibn ‘Arabi (1200 AD) attributes this Mansion to The Sixth Heaven, the Sphere of Mercury, the Abode of ‘Isa (Jesus).

The principal stars are Zuban Elgenubi, which Claudius Ptolemy tell sus is on the nature of Saturn and Mars – and Zuben Eschemali is Jupiter and Mercury. of the nature of Jupiter and Mercury.

Most crucially, in this particular configuration, the Moon on the MC is in the Exaltation and Decan of Saturn, It is at these levels that the chart discloses a more sombre, dare I say ‘heavier’ than what a cursory reading may easily miss.

She is in the second Pada of Nakshatra Swathi – the Lord of this Nakshatra is Rahu and the Pada is that of Saturn.

The most intriguing theme is the Mars and Saturn signatures repeated throughout the geniture. This illustrates the ongoing pattern of strife we have seen throughout 2020 as we look forward to the Winter Solstice and the Great Conjunction.

We should not miss the extraordinary power of the Virgin herself. Her meaning has been horribly diminished and misunderstood, this distortion began in earnest nearly two millennia ago in the Christian West. although has survived in Paganism. Hinduism and other religious and philosophical traditions. Monica Sjoo writes:

“Ancient moon priestesses were called virgins. ‘Virgin’ meant not married, not belong to a man – a woman who was ‘one-in-herself’. The very word derives from a Latin root meaning strength, force, skill; and was later applied to men: virile. Ishtar, Diana, Astarte, Isis were all called virgin, which did not refer to sexual chastity, but sexual independence. And all great culture heroes of the past…, mythic or historic, were said to be born of virgin mothers: Marduk, Gilgamesh, Buddha, Osiris, Dionysus, Genghis Khan, Jesus – they were all affirmed as sons of the Great Mother, of the Original One, their worldly power deriving from her. When the Hebrews used the word, and in the original Aramaic, it meant ‘maiden’ or ‘young woman’, with no connotations to sexual chastity. But later Christian translators could not conceive of the ‘Virgin Mary’ as a woman of independent sexuality, needless to say; they distorted the meaning into sexually pure, chaste, never touched. When Joan of Arc, with her witch coven associations, was called La Pucelle – ‘the Maiden,’ ‘the Virgin’ – the word retained some of its original pagan sense of a strong and independent woman. The Moon Goddess was worshipped in orgiastic rites, being the divinity of matriarchal women free to take as many lovers as they choose. Women could ‘surrender’ themselves to the Goddess by making love to a stranger in her temple.” (The Great Cosmic Mother: Rediscovering the Religion of the Earth by Monica Sjoo. Harper Books.)

Ancient Akkadian cylinder seal depicting the goddess Inanna resting her foot on the back of a lion while Ninshubur stands in . front of her paying obeisance, c. 2334-2154 BC (Wiki Commons.)

I believe that Sjoo has overstated the case, only insofar as she has implicitly downplayed the Mother’s necessary and obvious relationship with men in the act of procreation, but her book is decidedly within the tradition of feminist writers in the 1980s. We understand that this sensibility and means of presentation were necessary and that this by no means undermines her salient points. The power of the Virgin, as she recites, is indeed great and all to often ignored and devalued – one might even say taken for granted.

In this ingress, we see her with Regulus, of the nature of Mars and Jupiter and Guardian of the North. Due to precession, Regulus has entered Tropical Virgo.  Powerful Indian goddesses are often accompanied by Lions.

Regulus is highly auspicious. The star brings great success if revenge is avoided. This is, of course, a great challenge. Still, there is a gentleness in this powerful Heart of the Lion and it comes as no surprise that the healing Angel, Rahapel finds his place here in the North.  He is of the nature of Jupiter and Mars may, therefore, be read as Mercy and Severity, the essential symbols of the Pharaohs as rulers were the crook (heka) and the flail or flabellum (nekhakha). A good King needs to know when to use one or the other for the sake of the Kingdom. In this case, we have a wise Virgin empowered amongst many elements of discord. She meets them opposing energy that seeks healing, assisted by Venus in the Moon’s domicile of Cancer. The interplay of Masculine and feminine energies in this geniture is not to be missed.     

Recently, someone referred (not disparagingly) to my “dystopian views,” particularly in relation to The Novus Ordo Saeculorum, the New Order of the Ages – simply referred to as “New Age” by modern astrologers. For the record, my view is virtually identical to that of the late Robert Zoller, who wrote:

“The Novus Ordo Saeculorum, the New Order of the Ages, will rule through the power of life and death (Scorpio, which is on the 10th), through behaviour modification, cloning, genetic engineering, mind control and the occult. Might makes right in this New Age. If the preceding Age produced metaphysical materialists, who duped the people through the opiate of religion, the New Age will produce materialist metaphysicians who will make the preceding political power elites look like inept apprentices.

In the Age of Aquarius, religion will be humanistic love of fairness and justice. While feeding the people with Libran platitudes, the Scorpionic rulers will work tirelessly toward the realization of their goal – absolute power over others, as Leo is seen in position on the 7th house. The will of the people will be towards freedom of expression (Aquarius), and they will be encouraged to do their own thing so that they keep their minds off what their rulers do.”

Where I depart from Zoller is in my conclusions as to what the human spirit is capable of apropos of the dark prediction. My impetus in revealing the nature of the Age is not to instil a sense of despair, fear or apathy. I have refused to present a deceptively pollyanna picture of a seriously challenging time, one in which our very humanity is being undermined at every turn. The antidote to this is not blissful ignorance, but rather a fearless and realistic estimation of the forces at play. The solution is a focussed, grounded and informed consciousness.  If one has cancer, pretending it isn’t there is foolishness. Foreknowledge is power and empowers us further by affording us a chance to employ wise remedies to the ailments of the spiritual, mental and physical body and ultimately to the Earth and the web of life itself.

We live in a time of extraordinary consequence. The choices we make in the next few years may very well make the difference between thriving or perishing, not only for human beings but for all of the natural worlds in it’s myriad of dimensions.

Because this article is written as part of a series related to the march towards the Solstice, it is best read in concert with the previous entries in this series.,

Figure of the Virgin – 1440-1450 Book of Hours, the Fastolf Master, Bodleian Library, Oxford

Full Thunder Moon : Appulse Lunar Eclipse July 04/05 2020

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©Kym Mackinnon

This eclipse is not one to which I would normally pay a great deal of attention  It will be a faint Appulse Lunar Eclipse This particular Moon is dubbed the Thunder or Buck Moon. It will be (barely) visible throughout South America, North America and part of northwestern Africa.

This occurs two weeks after an annular solar eclipse. You may wish to refer to my article on that one as well.  Only 35% of the Moon will be covered by Earth’s penumbra. Below is the eclipse, with the focus on eastern North America and northern eastern South America.

I must emphasise at the outset, that the physical visibility of this eclipse is unusual and there is no known way to quantify exactly how this will affect the stamp of this event. My personal view is that the faintest is not the primary concern The facts of where the eclipse could be seen, even on a very cloudy night, is what matters most. Where the eclipse cannot be seen, its effects will be secondary or tertiary with respect to other regions of the world., 

The image below shows the areas of the eastern seaboard of the US in relation to visibility

The following image shows the place of the maximum eclipse:

This eclipse is most interesting in relation to the Cancer nation of the United Staes, not least because it unfolds on Independence Day 2020 at exactly the same degree of Cancer as is found in the chart of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The chart below shows the eclipse in relation to Washing DC at the time of the maximum eclipse.

The chart has Mars ascending in his diurnal domicile and in an applying square aspect to the luminaries  The saturnine theme we’ve seen so much of this year consists, first and foremost in this instance, with Jupiter, Saturn and Moon in the 10th house in Capricorn opposing the Cancerian Sun and Mercury. Ketu in the 9th house is sometimes  considered unfortunate and with Rahu the 3rd house indicating we have conflicts with ‘brothers.” Deriving from the concerns of the 9th house. In this case, Rahu is exalted in Gemini which accentuates the event that much more.

Mars is the Lord of the Eclipse and also the Almuten. He is in the bounds of Mars and the decanate of Jupiter.

[Lunar Eclipse 2020 Guide When, Where & How to See Them. Courtesy of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter & Space.com]

The Moon and Jupiter are in the 23rd Arabian Lunar Mansion, represented according to Ibn Arabi. The Moon’s position in the Tropical zodiac is 13 CP 29′ 37″ This Mansion starts from 12 CP 51′ 22″ and ends at 25 CP 42′ 51″

Ibn Arabi’s interpretation of the meaning of this mansion is the highly evocative nomenclature of  “The Fortune of the Swallower.” He assigns the  Divine Attribute as the Nourisher. According to H. C. Agrippa (1533 AD) it refers to (Latin) Swallowing and tell us that the significance is that it Causes divorce, freedom of captives, healing of sick. The talisman he suggests is for “destruction and wasting.” In the context of social unrest and the pandemic, financial ruin and other plagues, these attributions are remarkably apt.

Again, this article should be read as one in a series on the highly eloquent eclipses and planetary configuration of 2020

 

Inanna & the Eternal Feminine

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inanna (2)

The above artwork is from an unknown source. If anyone knows the identity of the artist, please drop me a line. It’s a great interpretation of a goddess who often looks more like a harpy in some of her traditional representations.

The attributes are all there, from the grain sheaves to the eight-pointed star, the horns of the Bull of Heaven, the lapis lazuli in her hair as well as the lunar symbols. Her gaze has something of hypnotic quality and there is something disquieting about the whole thing, with her dark, hollow eyes, she has a decidedly nocturnal countenance.  She is fierce as well as strangely beautiful. There is nothing ornamental about her in the Venusian sense. She is the primary Sumerian goddess and Queen of the Night and Queen of Heaven.

If you’ve followed this blog over the last two years or so, you have seen me return to the theme of the early Middle Eastern, Sumerian, Babylonian and Pre-Islamic Arabian archetypes of the powerful Feminine deities which are more fully developed origins of Aphrodite and Venus. The record is very clear that what we consider the Classical deities associated with the planets and luminaries are the result of the devolution of original archetypes and, to some extent, made far more superficial than most astrologers realize..

Table of Venus

Mayan Venus Table from the Dresden Codex

This kind of research is problematic. We find that what is Classically known as Aphrodite and the planet Venus is represented in Sumer by a goddess that might be associated as well with planets other than Venus, including Mars and the Moon. There is also Sin, a male Moon-god, so the matter may become complicated in short order. Nevertheless, the Sumerian model is worthy of serious consideration in the quest for the essence of Venus.

The Classical Venus is not without nuance of course, but when we compare the understanding to Inanna, I think it safe to safe the archetype has been drained of much of its potency and the raw power of the Primal Feminine. Inanna, also known by the later Babylonian and Mesopotamian names of Ishtar and Astarte,  is not primarily a goddess of love, but one who embodied war, wisdom, agriculture, sex, fertility, prostitution and lust, as well as a representative of the vegetative cycle itself and the traveller to the underworld. In Classical mythology, Mercury is the psychopomp, the guide to the Underworld.

Inanna is an active heroine. The recognition of the archetype immediately associated with Inanna goes as far back as far as 8,000 years.

Modern astrologers rarely, if ever, take into account whether Venus is the Morning or the Evening Star. We have a ‘one size fits all’ goddess who is prone to misunderstanding.

The Venus cycle is of crucial importance and to ignore that is to risk running amok in interpretations. The two primary phases of Evening and Morning star have very different qualities, but Inanna encompasses both in any case, making her a representative of the Feminine in all her guises.

Some Feminist astrologers have suggested that the goddess only took on the qualities of a warrior much later when the Middle East had become more violent. There are two problems with this.

There never was a time of anything much more than fleeting peace. The dream of an ancient society permanently at peace under a matriarchy is just that. In any case, in the earliest written work, Inanna is already a fully developed warrior of Heaven, the Earth and the Underworld.

Enkidu

Enkidu – Wild Man, Stronger Than Lions

She also demonstrates that there is no hell like a woman scorned, probably more than any woman before or since. In Tablet VI, Inanna desires King Gilgamesh, but Gilgamesh turns her down, citing the horrific fates of all her previous lovers. She goes into a blind rage and demands of her Father that she be allowed to release the Bull of Heaven t gore Gilgamesh to death. Her father refuses at first, pointing out that Gilgamesh might have a very good point. Her threats become ever more horrible and daddy eventually surrenders to her rage. In this, she can seem all too human, but she is in a trinity with the Sun and the Moon and she is of inestimable power.

It gets worse. The Bull is killed and Enkidu throws it back into the heavens to form a constellation, thus adding insult to injury.

It seems normal that her traits would display a degree of androgyny. She is courageous, quick-tempered, fertile and wrestles to create justice and balance in the most sublime, as well as the most savage.way. Her association with the scorpion and owls make her seem more like Lilith than Venus. In fact, Lilith is her adversary in the Sumerian creation myth. Lilith poisons the tree that Inanna had nurtured. More properly, we can say that Lilith is parasitic, as we shall see.

The poem begins: “when what was needful had first come forth,” when bread first started to be baked in ovens of shrines, and when the first separation occurred, that of sky and earth ” (Frayne 2001:130; Wolkstein & Kramer 1983: 4). A violent tempest uproots a huluppu tree, which  Inanna rescues and plants in her own “sacred grove” at Uruk (Frayne 2001: 131).

Unfortunately, three beings settled in the tree: in its roots “a snake which fears no spell”; in its trunk a lilitu, a female spirit; and in its branches the Anzu bird.

Unable to rid herself of these intruders and parasites, Inanna is reduced to tears and calls upon her brother Utu, the sun god for help, but he refused, The hero  Gilgamesh, Uruk’s warrior king, agreed to assist. Gilgamesh  “smote” the snake, the others fled.  Gilgamesh felled the tree, taking the branches for himself, The trunk was given to Inanna in a gesture that is difficult to fathom.

Presumably, it means that Inanna got the roots of the tree, In another version of the story, Gilgamesh uproots the tree, thus severing the connection of earth, heaven, and the underworld.

The Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi

The Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi

There are few passages in ancient literature that could out-do the erotic courtship of Dumuzi and Inanna and I’m certain there was never a better-crafted story of the descent to the Underworld on Tablet VI.. The imagery is stark., terse, vivid and terrifying. She is visiting her sister, Ereshkigal and makes elaborate preparation for the descent.

The following is from Table VI  Descent Of Inanna Wolkstein – Kramer edition.

“Naked and bowed low, Inanna entered the throne room.
Ereshkigal rose from her throne.
Inanna started toward the throne.
The Annuna, the judges of the underworld, surrounded her.
They passed judgment against her.
Then Ereshkigal fastened on Inanna the eye of death.
She spoke against her the word of wrath.
She uttered against her the cry of guilt.
She struck her.
Inanna was turned into a corpse,
A piece of rotting meat,
And was hung from a hook on the wall….

Then, after three days and three nights, Inanna had not returned,
Ninshubur set up a lament for her by the ruins.
She beat the drum for her in the assembly places.”

She has become dead meat hanging on a wall. Her return to life by way of the intervention of Dumuzi is if course nothing short of a resurrection. With Venus in mind, we may well consider this as a metaphor for her stages of apparent and concealed visibility as part of her cycle The problem is first and foremost the specificity of three days from a culture well aware of the Venus cycle. In any case, the subject matter is quite unlike what we usually refer to as Venusian.

Quite simply, Inanna, Ishtar and Isis don’t have all that much in common with Venus at first blush. The Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury and Saturn could all be described by her nature.  In fact, the only luminary/planet that doesn’t fit is the Sun. By comparison, the Greco-Roman Venus seems rather thin and limited.

In the ancient Near East, Ishtar was an important and widely worshipped mother goddess for many Semitic* peoples. The Sumerians* called her Inanna, and other groups of the Near East referred to her as Astarte.

Inanna is a highly complex deity, combining the characteristics, both good and evil, of many different gods and goddesses. As a benevolent mother figure, she was considered the mother of gods and humans, as well as the creator of all earthly blessings. In this role, she grieved over human sorrows and served as a protector of marriage and motherhood. People also worshipped Ishtar as the goddess of sexual love and fertility. The evil side of Ishtar’s nature emerged primarily in connection with war and storms, much of it born of jealousy and rage. As a warrior goddess, she could make even the gods tremble in fear. As a storm goddess, she could bring rain and thunder, these events are now connected primarily to the Moon and Jupiter.

The eight-pointed star of Ishtar appears at top left, the crescent moon of the Moon God Sin is at top center, and the symbol of the Sun God

The eight-pointed star of Ishtar appears at top left, the crescent moon of the Moon God Sin is at top center, and the symbol of the Sun God

In the story of Inanna, she is the daughter of the male Moon god Sin and sister of the sun-god Shamash. Others mention the sky god Anu, the Moon-god Nanna, the water god Ea, or the god Enlil, lord of the earth and the air, as her father. Most myths link her to the planet, Venus.

There are a few things one can do with this comparison. The simplest and probably least disruptive would be to take a closer look at what we mean by our mythical association of Venus with the planet that bears her name and also what we mean by the Feminine. Venus is a goddess with tremendous limitations. But perhaps the greatest of these is that is not a mother goddess. Whereas earlier depictions of the feminine, whether it be Ancient Near Eastern or Celtic represented her in three phases: the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone, Venus pretty much remains on the first stage, allowing the Moon to take the other attributes.

Of course, astrology uses the Greek and Roman Pantheon as metaphors for the planets. However. it’s all too easy to forget that and our understanding of the planet itself is likely to suffer. The price paid during the advancement of civilization can be significant and I think it’s quite fair to say that the Greek and Roman Pantheon has little of the depth and earthy honesty of earlier cultures.

I’m certainly not suggesting that we give up on Venus, but we do well to remember the vast heights and depths that are found in abundance in earlier sources when it comes to a more complete representation of the Feminine. This article does little more than introduce some issues regarding Astrology and the Feminine. I hope it sparks some interest.