Today the planet Venus makes a conjunction with the Sun, known as a Venus cazimi. It marks the mid-point of the Venus retrograde, the point at which Venus will pivot from an evening star to a morning star.
During this period, as Venus is close to the sun, she disappears from our view. Astronomers refer to this as being “under the beams.”
It’s a time in which Venus — normally the brightest evening star — is dark, because the Sun’s light obscures her. It’s similar to a new moon.
Symbolically, a cazimi is when a planet gets infused with the light of the sun. Think about how you feel after a day at the beach, soaking in Vitamin D. It’s a refresh; a recharge of the planet’s battery.
This is especially potent for Venus as it prepares to pivot to a new role as a morning star, and it mirrors what might be happening in our lives.
But there’s also another side to this.
Under the beams of the sun it is dark. We don’t see the planet when it is conjunct the sun.
Mythology connects this to the underworld. Like a new moon, this is a time to go inward, and especially a time to look at our wounds and other pains, for the purposes of healing them.
The Myth of Innana and Ereshkigal
The Venus cazimi is tied to a 2000 year old myth about the Goddesses Innana and Ereshkigal.
Innana is the goddess symbolized by Venus. She ruled the upper world. Her sister, Ereshkigal, was the Goddess of the underworld.
The essence of the myth is that Innana decided to go down to the underworld to visit her sister, who was in mourning. She told her attendants that if she didn’t return in a few days to come find her.
On her way down, she had to pass through seven gates. At each gate, she had to remove one layer of her protective amulets, until she finally was stripped bare.
Once she arrived, Ereshkigal was overcome with wrath and killed Innana, impaling her on a meat hook.
Her attendants sought help, and Innana’s father created two flies. They flew down into the underworld, where Ereshkigal was moaning in labor pains.
Ereshkigal would cry, “Oh, my insides” and the flies would respond, “Oh, your insides. Ereshkigal would cry, “Oh, my outsides” and the flies would respond, “Oh, your outsides.”
Ereshkigal is surprised by this unexpected compassion. She asks the flies what she can do for them. Their request is to resurrect Innana, and she agrees.
Although this myth offers lots of lessons, to me, this is one of its most potent:
The healing power of being witnessed in our pain.
The mere fact of being mirrored by the flies, of being recognized in her pain, of feeling the compassion of others, softened Ereshkigal and allowed her sister to return to life.
When we are in pain and suffering, it’s hard to see past our own issues. We can become ignorant of or hardened to others’ suffering.
But when we feel witnessed, it can soften us and make us more compassionate to others.
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