The Full Moon of Venus

From June 2 – 6, 2024 (exact on June 4), we will experience what is known as Venus’ Superior Conjunction to the Sun, an important part of the Venus Synodic Cycle and completion of one of the points of the 5-pointed star or rose that Venus’ path makes in our skies from our viewpoint on Earth.

If you are a Venus-dominant person – if you are a Taurus or Libra Sun, Moon, Rising, Venus, or Signature Sign person, or if your natal Venus is conjunct your Sun or Ascendant – these Venus transits will be very important to your activities and development.

The Five Petals Rose of Venus, from Astro-Seek.com

So, while we had Venus’ inferior conjunction during the last Venus retrograde in August, 2023 - inferior conjunctions only occur during the retrograde when Venus is between the Earth and the Sun (perigree), and spark the beginning of a new Venus cycle which lasts 8 years, forming 5 points of the star, which occur when the Sun and Venus connect – this conjunction will occur with Venus in its superior conjunction, when it is furthest from the Sun, or when the Sun is between Venus and the Earth (apogee).

(Yes, that’s right – the Morning Star is called “Lucifer,” the light bringer. And Superior and Inferior do not refer to better or worse, but as higher and lower in aspect or closeness.)

The same signs keep (mostly) reoccurring – Aries, Gemini, Leo, Scorpio (though we had a very late Libra conjunction instead in 2022), and Capricorn – and it has been repeating these signs since August 1987. From the appearance of Libra most recently (October 2022), we are beginning to shift signs again and we will start experiencing Venus’ morning and evening shifts in Libra and less in Scorpio; I expect that Aries will soon be replaced by Pisces in the coming decades as well.

In astrology, Venus in her Morning Star, or Lucifer status in a natal chart – found if Venus is located in the chart in an earlier position than the Sun – is expressed as new and youthful, vibrant, sparkling, energetic, spontaneous, impulsive, reactive, intuitive, and eager. Those with Venus Hesperus – found if Venus is located in the chart in a later position than the Sun – is expressed as languid, slower to process emotion, thoughtful, indulgent, glamorous, and wizened.

The Venus Lucifer period is a time of new beginnings in love, partnerships, and values; the inferior conjunction is like the New Moon of Venus and acts as a reset time during Venus’ retrograde passage through the underworld. Venus Hesperus is the blossoming of the seed that was planted during the inferior conjunction; the superior conjunction acts like a Full Moon, the flowering of maturity wherein a deliberate turning point can be reached and things we wish to continue or cut away can be discerned.

Each time that Venus returns to the place of her last solar conjunction in that sign, which is 4 years prior and will always be the opposite of the current type of conjunction (i.e., if this year is a superior conjunction in Gemini, then four years ago it was an inferior conjunction in the same sign, near the same degree), and this will complete that lesson. We may find that lessons repeat (the universe loves using the stars for this) until we connect the dots and grow beyond it, and the themes will keep coming up during these returns to the same time and place.

So, this year’s transition from Morning Star (Lucifer) to Evening Star (Hesperus), harkens back to not just 9 ½ months ago when we had the most recent retrograde in Leo in August 2023, but to four years ago when Venus was retrograde in Gemini in 2020 and at her inferior conjunction with the Sun at 13 Gemini.

To go even further back, we could look back eight years ago at the tremendous Transit of Venus – a very rare transit that can only occur during an inferior conjunction, with Venus retrograde, and with the Nodes of the Moon (North Node or South Node) are all together in the same sign and close in degree – on June 5, 2012.

From the Nasa.gov website:  “Transits of Venus across the disk of the Sun are among the rarest of planetary alignments. Indeed, only six such events have occurred since the invention of the telescope (1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874 and 1882). The next two transits of Venus will occur on 2004 June 08 and 2012 June 06.”

Transit of Venus, June 5-6, 2012.

Considered to be a potent time of manifestation of what the heart desires, returns to this point can bring an echo of what was wished for during that transit, a check-in point to see how it’s going, and offer an opportunity to revise the wish so that it is more aligned with the querent’s authentic needs and desires. This can be true for any return to the previous “New Moon” of Venus in the same sign and degree, but especially so for this return, as it echoes the potent Transit of Venus “Super New Moon” of 2012.

So, if you have any dreams or wishes related to Venus’ themes of love, relationships, partnership, art, beauty, pleasure, diplomacy, or financial abundance that you’d like to manifest, revise, or increase that you may have begun four years ago or especially twelve years ago in June 2012, this June 2-6 is a magical time to do just that.

As with a full moon, this Venus-Sun conjunction marks the culmination and completion of one cycle and the beginning of another. In Gemini, we are thinking and talking about our values, our money, our needs for love and connection. Intellectual stimulation will feature strongly in this – if there is no mental connection, no stimulation of curiosity, there will be no connection. Think about how you have evolved and matured in your relationships since this time 8 years ago, from 4 years ago, and also when this synodic cycle began last August 13 (2023), when Venus was retrograde and in her Inferior Conjunction with the Sun. Are you communicating well with your partner or your community? Are you inspired? Are you bringing inspiration to those you care about? Are you sparking joy, continuing to grow, collaborating with others to come up with new ideas about the expansion of the mind in the service of Love? Are you releasing and healing the heavy weight of the painful past so that you can be in the present moment with an open heart and curious mind?

June 4, 2024, is the time to do just that.

Botticelli’s Venus