As many of you know, today Venus goes direct while Mercury stations retrograde. This is very much like the myth of Inanna where her lover Dumuzi takes her place in the Underworld upon her great Return. Mercury travels to the Underworld with the greatest frequency of all the planets in our solar system, symbolically offering us times of reflection, of renewal and of rebirth around our thoughts, our ideas, our ways of communication, teaching us how to navigate the realms of Spirit and matter.

For many of us, Venus retrograde has carved out a space in our lives for a great descent to review our self worth relationship. Wherever the late degrees of Libra and early degrees of Scorpio are in your chart is where you emerging from a major rebirth. Personally I have received renewal in my first house, signifying my relationship to self, my identity, and my I am presence. I spent half of the retrograde in Egypt, a land that has called my soul for many, many years, which set the stage for an impactful experience. I knew I would have a deep journey, however what shifted and awoke inside of me was far beyond that which I would have expected.

And that is how these immense periods of renaissance can be. A few weeks ago, I was at the French Broad River giving offerings with my mother and she asked, 'When will this intense astrology let up?'. This is a question I hear quite often from students, friends and neighbors. I replied that in reality this is the new normal.

Whether conscious of it or not, we are all going through such deep transition on the planet. We are witnessing the death of old paradigms that have burdened humanity and our Earth. And we are witnessing the rise of new consciousness woven with the ways of the Ancients that will activate and inspire a new wave of living in harmony. However to arrive at this place requires much dedication, determination, the ability to sit with all that is uncomfortable, to face the shadows within and integrate the hidden spaces that wish to come forward. This is major work! And we are together, in the cauldron of transformation. Community and communion is the way through.

As of yesterday, the Nodes of fate have just shifted their axis from the Leo/Aquarius axis to the Cancer/Capricorn axis. Collectively we are working towards opening up and experiencing deep feelings of nurturing, to face the sensitive issues, to go dive into the watery realms of the subconscious while honoring the hearth and the home.

When Jupiter leapt into Sagittarius last week, I offered you one of my favorite meditations, Gyan Chakra Kriya to help support these times. Many of you have begun the practice and are finding great strength in it.  Please share your success stories and feedback with me! And you are encouraged to join us if you feel the call.

In honor of Venus's rebirth, I leave you with a poem written to Hathor in the Temple of Dendera. Hathor is an Egyptian goddess who very much carries the Venusian threads of consciousness in her mythology.

In the beauty way,
Ra Ma

Hymn to Hathor in the Temple of Dendera
translated by Miriam Lichtheim

The King, Pharaoh, comes to dance,
He comes to sing;
Mistress, see the dancing,
Wife of Horus, see the skipping!

He offers it to you,
This jug;
Mistress, see the dancing,
Wife of Horus, see the skipping!

His heart is straight, his inmost open,
No darkness is in his breast;
Mistress, see the dancing,
Wife of Horus, see the skipping! . . .

O beauteous one, O cow, O great one,
O great magician, O splendid lady, O queen of gods!
The King reveres you, Pharaoh, give that he live!
O queen of gods, he reveres you, give that he live!

Behold him, Hathor, mistress, from heaven,
See him, Hathor, mistress from lightland,
Hear him, flaming one, from ocean!
Behold him, queen of gods, from sky, from earth,
From Nubia, from Libya, from Manu, from Bakhu,
From each land, from each place, where your majesty shines!

Behold what is in his inmost,
Though his mouth speaks not;
His heart is straight, his inmost open,
No darkness is in his breast!
He reveres you, O queen of gods,
Give that he live! . . .

He comes to dance,
He comes to sing!
His bag is of rushes,
His basket of reeds,
His sistrum of gold,
His necklace of malachite.

His feet hurry to the mistress of music,
He dances for her, she loves his doing!

a Rebirth and a Descent