Whenever retrogrades come through our astrological transits, they intensify our emotions. Many may cringe at the sign of the retrograde just as they cringe at the reversal of a tarot card. The opposite, the resisted, the distorted, the damaged. When we entered Venus in retrograde last Saturday Morning, we literally experienced the illusion that the planet appears to be moving backwards. When planets reset their course, they become direct again.
We may recognize Venus for her sensuality, love and law of attraction, and the famous painting of her birth through the sea shelled painting of Aphrodite. When we track her threads, we see the historical significance of Venus has changed throughout time. We look upon the Goddess Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of love, beauty, sexual desires as well as wisdom, war, and combat. She was one of the most revered deities in the pantheon. The beauty of her duality, which rests in as above and below.
Just as Inanna serves in duality of both love and war, masculine and feminine, we can call to her and invoke ritual for this time during retrograde. What is calling you forth to look at during this time? What is ready to be shed? Throughout this time, these rituals for Venus Retrograde will focus on the journey deep within our relationship to self-love. What does it mean to truly show up for oneself? When we show up for ourselves in daily sacred practices that help sloth away unwanted skin, we truly begin to court Inanna. Here are some rituals to invoke during this retrograde period.
Gua Sha Breast Massage
Massage and self-touch are so powerful when exploring parts of the self we may not give permission to ourselves to fully feel or accept. Tender touch from another feels amazing, yet the true deep connection you have with self-massage can reclaim parts of ourselves that remained wounded or hidden.
Gua Sha Massage is a traditional Chinese medical treatment which believes to release unhealthy energies from injured areas while stimulating blood flow and healing. It may be referred to as spooning or coining in Western traditions. Gua Sha massage can have an intensive bruised appearance, though this not the case when focusing on breast massage. Using a Gua Sha tool, one can help to break up any stagnant lymph within the breast tissue. Our lymphatic system is the largest system circulatory system within the body. It doesn’t circulate actively like blood, instead moves passively from external activity such as movement or exercise.
Moving in an inward motion across the breast and upwards motion towards the armpit can help release any stagnation from the lymphatic system and promotes release as well as encourages immunity. We once again meet love through our ability to pay tenderness towards a part of a womyn’s body that holds great power, our breasts. My experience with Gua Sha has been self-affirming as it allows an internal conversation with an extremely objectified part of my body through societal standards. This meditative practice helps to uncover any wounds carried in this area which is close to and surrounds my heart. Even without the Gua Sha tool, breast massage daily can help us tune into and process what we are storing in parts of our hearts we may not be willing to get close to.
Writing to Your Inner Beloved
This is adapted from my teacher and soul guide, Laura Larriva Page of The Rhythm Way.
Write a letter to your inner beloved. That part of yourself you desire to be close to, yet maybe don’t fully allow yourself to witness. Let yourself be romanced by that part of yourself that still shies away from the surface. We connect with a deeper sense of who we are and look closely at how the world has hardened to us to what is innately beautiful within. We question our egos and the very fabric in which we exist from. This curiosity in itself is true love and devotion to our inner beloved.
Pay attention here. What comes up for you? What emotions, sensations, imagery makes it way to the surface? Use this as a reminder to return, to know this conversation is on-going and doesn’t have an ending. There is always the opportunity to court and romance your inner beloved, and no better time then when Venus is drawing you deeper to that sense of the intimate space with soul.
At one time Venus was considered both the morning star and evening star. Venus is invisible by day because its relationship to the Sun, yet always finds its way when it rises before sunrise and sets before sunset. What are ways we can navigate through this period that surrounds our inner relationship grid? This time of Venus retrograde is to get clear on what relationships are truly serving us through our journeys, and where ties need to be severed so that new growth can come forth.
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Whenever retrogrades come through our astrological transits, they intensify our emotions. Many may cringe at the sign of the retrograde just as they cringe at the reversal of a tarot card. The opposite, the resisted, the distorted, the damaged. When we entered Venus in retrograde last Saturday Morning, we literally experienced the illusion that the […] -
Whenever retrogrades come through our astrological transits, they intensify our emotions. Many may cringe at the sign of the retrograde just as they cringe at the reversal of a tarot card. The opposite, the resisted, the distorted, the damaged. When we entered Venus in retrograde last Saturday Morning, we literally experienced the illusion that the […] -
Whenever retrogrades come through our astrological transits, they intensify our emotions. Many may cringe at the sign of the retrograde just as they cringe at the reversal of a tarot card. The opposite, the resisted, the distorted, the damaged. When we entered Venus in retrograde last Saturday Morning, we literally experienced the illusion that the […] -
Whenever retrogrades come through our astrological transits, they intensify our emotions. Many may cringe at the sign of the retrograde just as they cringe at the reversal of a tarot card. The opposite, the resisted, the distorted, the damaged. When we entered Venus in retrograde last Saturday Morning, we literally experienced the illusion that the […] -
Whenever retrogrades come through our astrological transits, they intensify our emotions. Many may cringe at the sign of the retrograde just as they cringe at the reversal of a tarot card. The opposite, the resisted, the distorted, the damaged. When we entered Venus in retrograde last Saturday Morning, we literally experienced the illusion that the […]
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