Welcome to the fabulous December Solstice, turbocharged by the potent magic of Venus Retrograde in Capricorn (exact times below).
Venus – a powerful ally in figuring out what we TRULY want, and demolishing old social conditioning.
Retrograde – a time for reflecting, reviewing, reassessing, revisiting.
Capricorn – ambitious, potent, make-shit-real and build it strong.
December Solstice – the seasonal turning point (Winter in the North, Summer in the South) when Sun enters Capricorn – a time for celebrating what we’ve already built and achieved, and setting bold intentions for what is to come next.
This is a powerful wave to surf, especially if we take up a post-patriarchy stance.
Venus is famously the goddess of love and romance, often associated with soft shades of pink, with classical beauty, with being seductive.
But that’s a BS patriarchal version of Venus, worth questioning.
The patriarchy says that women can’t be trusted to know their own minds, that we can’t be relied upon with money, that there are rules about who we’re supposed to love, who we’re supposed to hang out with.
The patriarchy says that a woman who knows her own mind, who wants what she wants and says so without shame or apology is too bold, too assertive, too needy, too greedy, too much.
The patriarchy says there are certain desires which – in a woman – are shameful, immoral, inappropriate.
The patriarchy says that women are inherently and automatically more nurturing than men, that feminine energy is ‘passive’, that it’s ‘natural’ for women to put other people’s needs before their own.
Mighty goddess Venus is NONE of those things.
She is not nurturing.
She is not passive.
She is shameless in her desires, not because she rebels against ‘morality’ but because she doesn’t recognise those rules.
And she is most definitely NOT for the use, delectation, or pleasure of men.
Yes, she is beautiful, but that’s for her own self, based on her own tastes – not in order to please societal standards of beauty.
Yes, she is the goddess of desire, but that’s not because she is desirable (though she is) – it’s because she knows how to desire without apology, shame or attachment.
Yes, she is all about relationships – but when Venus takes a lover, she takes him for HER OWN benefit, not for his.
Venus is entirely self-focused.
Venus helps us to know ourselves, by helping us know what we finds beautiful, who we like to hang out with, what we values, and what we desire.
Botticelli painted her as decorative, demure and modest in his famous work, sometimes known as Venus on the Half-Shell.
But she is not a demure and modest object of desire – she is a fucking GODDESS.
Her predecessor, goddess Ishtar, was a ferocious goddess of love and war. Venus and her Greek counterpart Aphrodite are the descendents of that powerful entity.
Venus remembers how to be fierce.
And we have no positive role models for Venus in our culture.
When the Venus energy rises up in women, our patriarchal culture uses terms like ‘gold-digger’ and ‘selfish’ and ‘pushy’ and ‘high-maintenance’.
And it’s even more so, for women of colour, for women living with a disability, for women whose sexuality and gender expression is anything other than cis-heteronormative.
Those of us living in the west all grew up swimming in the waters of patriarchal myths.
So it’s not surprising if our relationship with our own inner Venus needs a little work.
This Solstice PLUS Venus Retrograde is a hugely potent time to reconnect with your own inner Venus, so she can help you become your full, glorious self.
Here’s a starting point to activate and immerse in the Venus energy, this Solstice (if you’d like a deeper dive, grab my free resource to Meet Your Venus):
Bring a little more (or a lot more) beauty into your life
- not socially acceptable, instagrammable beauty, but the things YOU find beautiful
- don’t spend a ton of money – Venus LOVES to know you have money to hand
- find simple ways to adorn yourself – hair, face, clothing, jewellery
- find simple ways to adorn your surroundings – fresh flowers, a pretty tablecloth, the good china
- tend to your existing beautiful things – dust the ornaments, polish the silver, clean the jewellery, wash the makeup brushes
create a Venus ritual
- light a candle (colour doesn’t really matter, but I like to use gold or white for Venus – definitely NOT pink)
- read sexy poetry aloud, and dedicate it to Venus
- write your own poem to Venus
- create an Unapologetic Desire list
nourish your senses
- be deliberate about this – imagine each time you indulge in sensory delight, you are communing with Venus and feeling those things on her behalf
- ask your body what she would like to experience next – what sense is craving attention: smell, taste, touch, sight, hearing?
- schedule time for sensory pleasure every day between now and the end of Venus Retrograde (expect some resistance from your social conditioning on this one! – and do it anyway)
- carve out time to dedicate a little self-pleasure to powering up your own inner Venus
Tapping into what we TRULY want is always worth doing.
This Venus Retrograde, turbocharged by the Solstice, is a powerful period of time to pay attention to this work.
EXACT TIMES
- 19 December 2021 at 5:36AM – Venus turns Retrograde at 26º Capricorn
- 21 December 2021 at 10:59AM – Sun enters Capricorn (December Solstice)
- 29 January 2022 at 3:47AM – Venus turns Direct at 11º Capricorn
PS if this sounds super scary, or too difficult in the face of personal circumstances, or beyond what you could manage right now – I get it. The wiring we inherited from our cultures can feel like an impossible barrier. I’d love to help with that:
- start out with my free Venus resource and take it one tiny step at a time
- pick up my DIY resource to help tap into your Unapologetic Desire
- make the decision to get a little help (if that’s me, here’s where to find out more)
Janette Dalgliesh is a coach and astrologer, who helps women of all kinds, from all walks of life, to experience the deep joy of living their soul’s true purpose in the world. You can find her at www.janettedalgliesh.com
