Before explaining why I have diverged from Shamanic Astrology and the Turning of the Ages Mystery School in how I mark the start of the Venus cycle, I want to acknowledge my teachers, Daniel Giamario and Cayelin Castell. The reintroduction of the synodic cycles into modern astrology must be attributed to them. It was during the early to mid-1990’s that they began to link the entire approximately 584 day Venus cycle to a mythic framework outlined in the Descent of Inanna, and to identify the structure you’ll find on this website and in the Venus Cycle Dates.
But what good student doesn’t eventually diverge in some way from their teachers?
Venus’ Heliacal Rise
Both TOTAMS (Giamario) and Venus Alchemy (Castell) anchor the Venus cycle around Venus’ heliacal rise when Venus suddenly becomes visible in the eastern sky before dawn, launching its eight-month period as the Morning Star. Many ancient cultures held rituals and celebrations or even went to war upon Venus’ heliacal rise, and relied upon this observation to rectify their calendars. Using Venus’ heliacal rise aligns with an Earth-based observer type of astrology, upholding the power and the virtue of a direct and ceremonial relationship with the sky, which both Daniel and Cayelin have championed for decades. I have found this orientation and the education I received from them to be a transformation and a revelation, for which I am grateful.
However, even TOTAMS doesn’t use the real life moment when Venus is first sighted in the pre-dawn sky, because direct observation would be highly impractical for a worldwide audience. The exact day and time varies based on the observer’s latitude and other local viewing conditions such as horizon lines and weather. Instead, they calculate the moment when Venus reaches ten degrees separation from the Sun using astrological software. The charts we cast for this alignment often come up with times of day when Venus cannot be seen at all–midnight or afternoon or whatever time Venus happens to make its exact ten degree separation from the Sun, somewhat undermining the direct participatory argument.
Venus’ Conjunction with the Sun
The arbitrary nature of an astrological chart cast for Venus’ ten-degree separation from the Sun is only one reason I have chosen to instead use Venus’ exact inferior conjunction with the Sun to mark the beginning of the cycle.
First and foremost, the parallel between the Sun-Venus conjunction and the New Moon appeals to my logical sense of order. We use the Sun-Moon conjunction to mark the beginning of the moon cycle, describing it as a time to plant seeds. Why not treat the Venus cycle in the same way?
Beyond that, the Sun-Venus conjunction packs an energetic punch that is hard to ignore. The inferior conjunction, when Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun, is typically accompanied to the day by a sudden shifting of gears, or the beginning of a new major project or area of focus, particularly for those who will experience a Venus Return during that cycle.
While we cannot witness the Sun-Venus conjunction from Earth because the Sun’s brilliance interferes, neither is it in any way arbitrary. Thanks to modern astronomy, we can know the exact moment of the conjunction alignment. This alignment does not vary based on latitude or local conditions. In short, the alignment is perfect.
Synchronicity: As Above, So Below
I find it interesting that the popular availability of astrological software which allows us to easily calculate the conjunction without needing to observe it coincides with the popularization of Jung’s concept of synchronicity, and with physics’ very public struggles with quantum entanglement and other notions of simultaneity. Daniel Giamario has always maintained that astrology doesn’t work through cause and effect. The planets don’t cause change, their motions coincide with it through the Hermetic principles of “As above, so below.” Likewise, we don’t need to see Venus rise as the Morning Star to begin a new Venus cycle. Instead, a new Venus cycle begins at the same time that the Sun and Venus align, though that alignment is hidden within the fierce glare of the Sun’s brilliance.
In the end, I believe that both methods are valid, the heliacal rise particularly valuable for ceremonial purposes. But my planners uses the inferior conjunction of Venus and the Sun to mark the beginning of the cycle and to define its overtone.
Anyone tracking the Venus Cycle today would benefit from watching for the rise of the Morning Star and casting the chart for the first moment they see it in the east. An advanced project might precisely track the heliacal rise of Venus in your location across multiple cycles, working with the charts for those moments, trusting that your observation will be perfect for you through the power of synchronicity.
