Happy Friday, Venus Day! Venus is transiting in conjunction with Pluto, Saturn, Jupiter, Sun and Mercury now, a big stellium/ conjunction . Venus also moved into Shravana (or Sravana) nakshatra last evening where it will transit until February 17.
In Vedic astrology, we are taught that Venus is inauspicious in this nakshatra. This idea is rooted in an allegorical Puranic myth about Lord Vishnu, the deity who rules Shravana nakshatra, and Shukracharya, who is the same as Venus according to Vedic astrology. Shukracharya (or Shukra) is a great sage and the guru of the asura clan of Daityas (asuras are the ones who oversee the affairs of the material realm).
In the legend, a very powerful demon king (an asura) named Bali had conquered the three lokas, and the devatas/gods of light were no match for him, so they asked for help from Lord Vishnu to ask him to overcome Bali so that they could regain their power and influence.
So Lord Vishnu agreed to help, and disguised himself as Vamana, a tiny Brahmin boy. Vamana approached King Bali while he was performing a yajna, and he asked King Bali for three steps of land. Bali was charmed by the tiny boy, and so he agreed to gift him the land.
Shukracharya (Venus), who was attending the yajna, immediately saw through Lord Vishnu's trick, and he tried to discourage King Bali, but the king would not listen. Therefore, Shukracharya (Venus), shrunk himself and jumped into the spout of the pitcher of water which was being used as a ritualized offering to confirm the agreement between King Bali and Vamana.
Lord Vishnu (Vamana) understood what was happening and attempted to intervene by pushing a blade of grass (durva) into the spout to clear out the blockage made by Shukracharya. In the process of clearing the spout, he accidentally poked out the left eye of Shukracharya. This is why Shukracharya (Venus) is usually shown to have only one eye.
After the water was poured and the deal was thus concluded, Lord Vishnu (Vamana) instantly grew in size and became so gigantic that his three footsteps filled the whole universe. He then claimed his three steps of land from Lord Bali, who was enraged but had no recourse against the clever Lord Vishnu who had tricked him and saved the world in the process.
The mythology here reflects various themes that we may see playing out in the lives of those whose horoscopes have Venus in Shravana. These themes can also be activated for anyone during the transit of Venus in Shravana, which happens for just about two weeks annually (as we are in now). Some of the themes and lessons I have noticed revolve around:
1. The eternal battle between the dark and light/asuras and devas. Often the asuras are winning, and then the deva comes to save the day, but they have to resort to lies and trickery to win back what was lost. This is analogous to the battles in life that we all have to wage in order to integrate our shadow and find inner harmony and self-love, including the sacrifices we have to make in the process, and the confusion we must go through. One of the lessons is that we sometimes must become small (humble our ego) in order to gain what we want.
2. The theme of being dual-minded or vacillating in love (or partners can be), as Venus represents love and relationship.
3. The theme of power struggles in love.
4. The theme of being blinded by love (or too impulsive in love matters, and not listening to advice from others in matters of the heart).
5. Themes of entrapment, betrayal, or disappointment in love relationships.
Shravana's shakti is related to the power of connection, hearing, and inner listening, so the remedy for Venus in this nakshatra is to go deeper within oneself, to truly listen to and connect with the highest wisdom, love, and truth of the Self, in order to create a state of inner peace, harmony, and unconditional self-love that will in turn reverberate these same qualities into the world and into one's own life.
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