Venus entered the sign of Cancer at 7:54a PDT on Monday, 31st July 2017. Upon its entry, 1-on-1 relationships of all kinds shifted their focus to the emotional nurturing and support present or absent in the relationship connections in your life. Who is really there for you in the face of changes and challenges? Who can you count on to emotionally encourage and empower you when you need it most?
Cancer is the Zodiac sign often associated with mother-like nurturing, care, and protection. It represents our emotional foundations – the origins of our emotional identities and expressions. We often look to Cancer to better understand where we seek out emotional support, protection, and encouragement.
Venus is the planet of balance, justice, fairness, and equality. It is often associated with one-on-one relationships of all kinds, and is a major player in matters of negotiation and diplomacy. It also acts as a mirror for our individual self-identities – either reflecting ourselves directly to us OR providing an opposite to assist in our self-discovery.
Together, Venus in Cancer brings up the following questions:
- Is this relationship emotionally supportive of me as an individual? Do I feel good in the relationship? Do I feel emotionally supported by the relationship?
- Is this relationship truly a partnership? Are we equitably benefitted through this connection, or does the connection truly only beneficial for one of us?
- But what may be the most important questions to emerge under the influence of Venus in Cancer – Is my emotional investment in my partner reciprocated by my partner? And do I reciprocate my partner’s emotional investment in me?
During this 2017 version of Venus in Cancer, the balance and reciprocation of one-on-one relationships and partnerships will be at the fore. It should be noted that this isn’t intended to be a matter of tit-for-tat, but rather, a matter of balance. It’s not about giving each other the same – it’s about making sure both parties involved are getting what they each need in order to feel emotionally cared for, supported, and encouraged in and beyond their shared relationship; and it’s important to know that those needs may be different. This is about emotional equity more than emotional equality.
This is how Cancer’s energy sometimes fails us. We as humans tend to think that everyone feels in the same way we do. We think that because we feel emotionally supported when people spend quality time with us that others do, too. Yet what if your partner needs you to do things for them, not just you sit and talk to them as you’d prefer? What if your partner needs you to buy them gifts, even if receiving gifts drive may drive you nuts?
And on a more obvious level, what if your partner is not supportive or encouraging of your career goals or ambitions? What if they become angry with you because you spend more time at work than with them or if they’re jealous of you because you are successful in your career endeavors while they may not be? What if they feel you don’t support or encourage them in their ambitions or goals?
That’s the point of this 2017 Venus in Cancer. It helps us recognize how some of our relationships may or may not be emotionally supporting and encouraging us. It reveals the strengths and weaknesses of our relationships to the fore in ways which provide opportunities for us to either bring balance and equity to them, or to recognize how they may need to be released from our lives.
We will experience both the blessings and heartaches during this 2017 Venus in Cancer period. There will be certain relationships which will demonstrate their powerful positive presence in our lives. There will also be relationships which reveal their toxicity to our lives. This is a sorting period, especially since the entirety (except for the first day) of the 2017 Venus in Cancer period will occur during a 9 universal month numerologically (August) – a month of fulfillments, endings, and clearings. This is a time for becoming very clear about which relationships really provide the emotional support we need in order to live our lives authentically and honestly, in alignment with our inner truths. Yet the fact this begins on the last day of an 8 universal month (a 3 universal day, by the way) reveals a growing awareness of the power and influence our closest emotional relationships can have on the trajectories of our lives, both individually and collectively.
Here are some of the upcoming transits involving this 2017 Venus in Cancer so we can better understand how this energy is likely to show up over the next few weeks:
- Cancer Venus opposite Capricorn Juno Retrograde, most exact on 4th August (4.26°) – Is your partnership more about your partner’s goals, your goals, or does your partnership support both of you in equitable ways? Does your emotional connection balance or disrupt your pursuit of your individual goals and ambitions? This transit will provide you with feedback about just how aligned (or misaligned) your relationship actually is.
- Cancer Venus sextile Virgo Mercury, most exact on 10th August (11.34°) – What role does your partner play for you? What role do you play for your partner? And do your roles for each other support the everyday functionality of your individual lives AND your life together, or other words, does your relationship work for both of you in the real world? If it does work, this is a good time to let your partner know how much you value and appreciate them. If it doesn’t work, this is a good time for you to have a serious talk with your partner about what each of you need emotionally & whether or not those needs can be met in your relationship.
- Cancer Venus trine Pisces Neptune Retrograde, most exact on 11th August (13.48°) – How effective are YOUR rose-colored glasses? How determined are you to only see the positive in your partner, no matter what is being revealed to you by others at this time? This is a wonderful opportunity for you to recognize the best of your relationship, yet it could also be an opportunity for you to turn a blind eye to any challenges you and your partner may be facing. Cancer Venus also makes a conjunction transit with Ceres on this day (13.52°), challenging you to assess your emotional investment in the relationship. Is the emotional support and safety you feel with your partner more valuable to you than anything or everything else about your relationship? If so, you may want to take some time to explore which other elements of your partnership – if any – also have value for you. The energy of this transit may also push you to recognize how you may be using your relationship as a measure of your own self-worth, or how emotionally dependent you may be on your partner for your own emotional stability and security.
- Cancer Venus semi-sextile Leo Mars, most exact on 13th August (15.90°) – Reciprocated emotions could lead to passionate displays of affection intended to put the relationship on display, making it known to others. However, unreciprocated emotions could lead to expressions of anger, especially if the relationship is seen as an extension of one’s individual self-expression. The key here is that the state of the emotional connection is what fuels the individual’s action(s).
- Cancer Venus square Libra Jupiter, most exact on 16th August (19.43°) – Fairness, balance, and justice are paramount importance to Venus and its sign of rulership, Libra. This transit increases awareness of any imbalanced, unjust, or unfair situations and circumstances in partnerships of all kinds by making discordance more obvious and, therefore, more challenging to sustain. The issues will need to be resolved for the partnerships to survive, or the relationships may fail under the pressure to balance the imbalances.
- Cancer Venus quincunx Sagittarius Saturn Retrograde, most exact on 18th August (21.22°) – Right on the heels of the Venus-Jupiter square, Venus may be forced to face some harsh factual truths which may dissolve the illusion of a relationship’s emotional equity and fairness. A matter may emerge which could force you to face whether or not a relationship as taking you in or out of alignment with your personal truth, your personal growth, and/or your long-term goals.
Venus is in the sign of Cancer now through 26th August 2017.
Thank you for reading and sharing Signs and Numbers. Until next post…
~ Light, Love, and Blessings,
Grace
