Venus and beauty over the centuries (part III)

(Read part I & part II)

In the third part, we will continue to analyze the correlation between the charts of the greatest instants of Venus’s passage over the Sun with how beauty was perceived during the Carolingian revival.

For the years 789 and 797, the dates for the two pairs of transits are based on the calculations made by Fred Espenak, NASA / GSFC¹:

May 24 789 GMT 15:28
May 22 797 GMT 07:53²

In the angles of the two astrological charts (see below), we can notice the cardinal signs, Libra (789) and Cancer (797), indicating a strong vibration, the beginning of a new era, as cardinal signs indicate the beginning of the seasons. As we learn from history’s chronicles, Charlemagne, Carol the Great, called „the father of Europe” (Pater Europae), brought together for the first time most of Western Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire. He was the King of the Francs in 768, of the Lombards in 774, and the founder of the Carolingian Empire in the year 800. His governance gave birth to a reviving Carolingian revolution, a period of intense cultural and intellectual activity within the Western Church. The Carolingian Empire was the rival of the Eastern Roman Empire, with its capital in Constantinople, also called the Byzantine Empire. Hence, thanks to the support that Charles the Great received from Rome, and adding other intrigues, this led to the eventual separation of Rome and Constantinople through the Great Schism of 1054. Thus, one can notice how the events initiated in this time led to the transformations of the next era.

Venus, the ruler of beauty, is in the sign of Gemini in both charts, in cadent houses which is antithetical to the strong positions in the first and tenth house of the charts of the previous passage from the sixth century. This tells us that her symbolism has seen a decline in the following 250 years: beauty and love have not been the strengths of this period strained by warfare, intrigues, conflicts, and military campaigns.

In the first chart (789), Venus in the ninth house can tell us that true art, beauty was preserved inside religious, cult institutions or universities where knowledge was also found – Mercury in Gemini is in the 9th house.

Venus in the sign of Gemini together with Mercury and the Sun strengthens the vibration of the mutable signs and gives a predisposition to upheaval and transformations, while the ninth house speaks to us about religion, among other things. It is no wonder the cluster of planets in this house as, during this period, although the people of Europe were already converted to Christianity, they also neglected their newly acquired religion, returning to their „barbaric customs” threatening the power of the Church. Thus, the role of the wars pursued by Carol the Great intervenes in order to convert the people of Europe to Catholicism and to strengthen the power of the Church. In both charts, Jupiter, the significator of religious institutions, is ruled by Mars and is in the sign of Aries and respectively Scorpio, meaning that the Church continued its expansion through wars and conflicts. Mars, the god of war, has a strong position in the tenth house, although in the sign of Cancer, the sign of his fall, but that of the exaltation of Jupiter. The Moon in Aries, in mutual reception with Mars as ruler of the 10th house (authorities) highlights once again the power of partnership (seventh house) between the ruling class and the Church (Jupiter).

The eight years that pass between the two moments are fertile periods of processing the new ideas and changes, in which there is a progress of consciousness regarding the nature of the world.

In the second chart (797), Venus is found in the twelfth house and this could signify, among other things, that art, everything that people considered beautiful and pleasant, the way they perceived or created something beautiful, whatever brought comfort whether psychologically or financially, was kept secret. Venus is hiding, but that does not mean that her role is not important, instead she wants to keep the rules of the game concealed, available only for those who really dare to go into the unsettled territory of the 12th house, perhaps secret societies , monasteries, secret places, graves or why not, conspiracies.

From this chart we can find that the authorities preferred to carry wars by using the power of words, the rules change – Mars, as the ruler of the 10th house is in the sign of Virgo in the 3rd house.

In conclusion, the two charts indicate that during the Middle Ages, Venus’s feminine nature was closely related to the spiritual aspects of life: on the one hand, the journey of the ninth house, the exploration of the mysteries of life, the universities or the religious institutions and, on the other, by creating the obstacles and crises of consciousness of the 12th house, to culminate in the evolution of humanity.

To be continued…

ANCUȚA CATRINOIU,
Member of Romanian Astrologers Association

Articolul este disponibil în revista Astrele și în limba română.