Right now: Moon at 26°24' Gemini, Sun at 24°04' Sagittarius
Venus and Her Father's Penis
Chapter 6 from "Astrological Repair Manual" by Alexander M Zoltai
Approaching Uranus now-about as large as Neptune but more toward the turquoise and still mostly gas. But wait! It's not spinning the right way... Looks like its lying on its belly. And, so it is. Uranus' pole is tipped almost 90 degrees and it does roll on its "belly". But in 1781, when it was discovered, nobody knew this. They didn't know about it when they knew its full cycle was 84 years and gave it meanings that include: Innovation, Transformation, Radical Change, and Utter Truth. The eccentric planet's appearance was helping us realize the symbolic power of these forces long before someone discovered it had eccentric habits as an actual physical body.
It should be mentioned that both Neptune and Uranus had been "seen" before they were "discovered". Thing is that, because they move so slowly, the astronomers thought they were just other stars.
The co-incident events surrounding Uranus' discovery were the French and American Revolutions...
O.K., this is a chapter about Uranus and the title has Venus in it. Yup. When she was still called Aphrodite, she sprang into being from the foam of the sea. The foam had been caused by Uranus' penis having been severed by his son Cronus (Saturn, who we'll meet in the next chapter) and thrown in the water. Why didn't I wait till the chapter about Venus to bring this up? Well, Venus just sprang up, all well and happy. Poor ol' Uranus had his penis whacked off! Naturally, being a god, he weathered it pretty well, although Cronus did depose him.
Something about radical change going on there...
Following along with an idea from the last chapter, it's important to see how transformation and facing the utter truth can prepare us to utilize the ideals and dreams of Neptune properly. Also, we can profit from looking at it the other way around-loosening up and dissolving old ways and dreams so we can embrace the innovations and transformations of Uranus' cyclic power.
When we look at the half and quarter cycles of this function, some very interesting meanings emerge. The half-cycle is 42 years-smack in the middle of middle age. The quarter-cycle first occurs at 21-an age at which many of us have an insatiable urge to irrevocably separate from parental dictates, even if we've already made a physical separation. But separation isn't an absolutely necessary part of Uranus' function. It does accompany many folks' experience of this unconscious power but, if we're prepared for the action of transformation and are fully ready to face the truth of a situation, we can navigate the changes and keep treasured possessions-mental, emotional or physical.
If we contemplate one twelfth of a Uranus cycle, we see some of the reason for what people have called the "7-year-itch". Since one of the purposes of Uranus' cycle is facing and incorporating the rock-bottom, radical truth, I want to say a few words about "Good & Bad", "Positive & Negative", and "Abstract & Concrete".
We've been dealing with some big abstract concepts so far: Regeneration, Idealism, Transformation; and, as we travel in closer to the Sun, we'll be dealing with concepts that will feel a lot more concrete. Truth is, there's an abstract and concrete side to most everything. The events we live through as we regenerate, idealize and transform are quite concrete. Similarly, when we get to the functions that appear mostly concrete, we'll still have the abstract psychological powers lurking behind them.
As far as the polarities of "Good/Bad" and "Positive/Negative" are concerned, the truth of the matter is that the old maxims about focusing on the positive bringing good and focusing on the negative bringing bad are fascinatingly true. The catch is that you have to absolutely focus on the positive and, before you can do that, you have to absolutely know what the most positive view is. And, when it come to astrology in general, it's very important to remain rigorously positive. Even if some of the books on astrology detail various negative qualities and, even if you find your expression of those factors as negative, you still need to focus on the positive. How else can you change negative to positive? Plus, there's a harmful practice that's too prevalent where people use the negative interpretations of astrological factors to excuse their negative behavior-"Sure I do that. It's because I'm a (fill in the blank)."...
One of Uranus' functions is to bring us the shattering truth when we've been either purposefully or unknowingly clinging to half- or partial-truths. This can be painful or shocking but, when we get to the other side of any crisis, we can usually see the wisdom of the "unnecessary" strife. And, even if we still can't make sense of what's happened, there are the functions of Neptune and Pluto out there (in here) to help us dissolve the clinging falsehoods and bring them to a state of regenerative wholeness.
Yes, I'm a hopeless optimist! But my experience of life has included a great quantity of shock and pain and dissolution and, thank God, necessary regeneration. What I'm left with after all this inner work is the ineradicable conviction that life has many tests and trials, we all must face some of them, and we all have the sacred duty to maintain our faith and hopefulness that we will see the truth, we will find the dream, and we will experience rebirth into ever-higher understanding and meaningfulness. If not... there's hell to pay!
Read more chapters from this book:
The Voyage
Chapter 1:
Xena and the Hordes
Chapter 2:
The River of Death
Chapter 3:
Idealism Abounds
Chapter 4:
Venus and Her Father's Penis
Chapter 5:
Transpersonal Awareness
Chapter 6:
Father-Time Is All Spaced-Out
Chapter 7:
Promiscuous Gods
Chapter 8:
Chaos
Chapter 9:
The Ancient Warrior
Chapter 10:
Home Sweet Home and Lunacy
Chapter 11:
Acid Love
Chapter 12:
Messenger of the Gods
Chapter 13:
Plasma Love
Chapter 14:
Galactic Visitors