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This post will be very different from the ones I’m usually writing. As I’m still feeling its impact, I will reflect on what I’ve experienced from January to October 2022, which was a Capricorn Morning Star Venus Star Point phase, and why this particular Cap MS VSP phase was so outstanding.
By sharing some personal experiences, I hope to spark your interest in studying your life cycles, which provide insights into various aspects of your existence. Familiarizing yourself with your astrological cycles helps you overcome hardships and keep up hope. You will see your path and potential for growth with more clarity once you learn to uncover the patterns working in your life.
Life is all about cycles intertwining, the past meeting the future in the present, the light revealing itself in the darkness.
Ancient Advice
The most profound insights about my life path and how it unfolds I’ve gotten through comparing different astrological cycles. Profections and zodiacal releasing are my two most used techniques, followed by progressions and primary directions. Since 2021, I’ve included the Venus Pentagram cycle, which has revealed itself as an unexpectedly insightful tool.
Colleagues from two-thousand years back have told us always to determine the degree of importance of a topic that has shown up with one technique through other methods. The more astrological techniques point to the same theme, the more confident one can be that it has significance. My experience confirms the validity of this ancient advice.
Before I get into what factors were active in my astrological cycles during the Capricorn VSP of 2022, I want to review some of the events I’ve experienced during these 9.5 months.
Experiencing Loss
The year began with a great loss. My dear grandfather, who was more like a father to me, was suddenly called from time into eternity.
Despite the sad circumstances when this happened, I had reason to be grateful. We live in different countries, and I only see my family twice a year. When my grandfather fell ill, I was doing my annual visit at the end of the year. I saw him once for a couple of hours during this visit. Shortly after, he was taken to the hospital. This was the last time I saw him and hugged him.
Pushed Forward
A significant change also happened in my work life, pushing me to focus even more on my purpose and developing ways to share my gifts. I have experienced divine guidance throughout my life. At the same time, I’m very familiar with self-doubt and the fear of sticking out. I would rather hide in a cave underground than pursue a place on the mountaintop, lol.
The Capricorn VSP phase of 2022 has shed more light on how the different parts related to this challenge work together and how this is a gift. One positive outcome is my Venus Star Course, which I have developed with much care and love over almost the entire period. It has been a work of great dedication.
At the moment of writing this post, I’m teaching the course for the second time in English and have translated the material almost entirely into Finnish. I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to create and teach this course!
Maternal Roots
In summer, I experienced something I had never before. My mother, my grandmother, and I went on a journey. It was not just any journey. We went to visit my granny’s childhood home. My mother had planned this trip for a few years, investigating the place’s current name (it previously belonged to Germany but is now part of Poland), how to get there, and how to prepare for when traveling with granny.
This visit to my maternal ancestor’s home was a profound one. We spent a few wonderful days together. We were three generations on an important mission to discover our roots. We even met a kind older gentleman with his dog in my granny’s village. They were happy to walk us through the tiny place.
We didn’t speak the same language, and my translation app wouldn’t work correctly, but there was a heartfelt connection, especially when we arrived at the place where my granny’s grandmother had been buried, where today, only weeds and trees grow. We shed mutual tears about our shared history. Understanding and compassion can be shared and felt despite speaking different languages.
Video: On the day of the Summer Solstice, when the Sun is at its highest point in the sky here in the Northern hemisphere, when the day is longest and the night shortest, the owner’s little dog of the place where we stayed (if you look close, you can see him running in the distance) guided me to this old, mighty oak tree.
Look how beautifully the sunlight gleams through these bushy branches!
This Year, I Had a Wish
I always think of a zodiac sign’s modality, element, and polarity. When contemplating the Capricorn VSP 2022 (cardinal, earth, feminine), I understood that this could be when I could deepen my relationship with nature. I not only wished for it with my rational mind. I felt it. I was longing for it. To my joy, the circumstances had my wish come true.
I have never spent so much time outside as during the Capricorn VSP phase of 2022. I walked through the forests, visited caves and historical sites, spent time on a beautiful lake, went swimming several times, and had a great few days at my friend’s summer cottage.
I’m not used to being in nature. It was not one of the things we did in my childhood home. This is partly why I’ve sometimes felt uncomfortable outdoors. What you don’t know scares you, right? My relationship with nature has changed since I moved to Finland, although I could still feel reservation toward it during the past years.
The Capricorn VSP phase of 2022 did strengthen my bond with the earth in many ways. It was a healing experience. I’m now more at home in the forests among the trees, the weeds, the squirrels, the snakes, and the rocks. Nature talks to me. Just the other day, I was reminded of something the trees tell me often. That’s what they say:
”Some of us are much older than you or any other of you humans living currently on this planet. They have witnessed hundreds, even thousands of revolutions around the great light. You, humans, are adventurous travelers, popping by only for a short visit. We welcome you, and we have a lot to tell you. Nice you come to visit us.”
Tree wisdom, Feb 11, 2023
The Tarot has been a tool that has supported my re-bonding with nature tremendously. You might know about my special connection to the Mythologia Fennica Tarot, a deck inspired by Finnish mythology and folklore. I love it!
Photo: The Tarot is an excellent tool for diving into the symbolism of the four classical elements. During the Capricorn VSP 2022, I focused on studying the Folk of Earth (corresponding to the Suit of Pentacles in the RWS system).
In this picture, you see the Bear card, which corresponds to the Knight of Pentacles.
The Great Mother
My contemplations about Capricorn and the many hours spent in the woods and close to water, sensing the elements very strongly, have deepened my understanding of the physical experience and life on this planet.
The Capricorn VSP 2022 goaded me to study the Great Mother, the Goddess, and the Divine Feminine even further. If you have followed my blog, you know I started this journey in the Spring of 2021, which fell into an Aries VSP phase, the receiving foot on my Venus Star.
Photo: Finnish Goddess Mythology and the Golden Woman: Climate Change, Earth-Based Indigenous Knowledge and the Gift (2018) is a thought-provoking study by Finnish scholar Kaarina Kailo (Ph.D.).
During the Cap VSP 2022, I was fortunate to find Kaarina Kailo’s work about matriarchal societies, the gift economy, and Finnish mythology. Her work has encouraged me to continue digging deeper into stories and depictions of the Feminine.
At the end of the Capricorn/beginning of the Libra VSP phase in late autumn, I attended a Finnish lecture series titled (Engl. translation) “The Many Faces of the Feminine: Women, Nature, and the Divine”, where Kaarina Kailo gave a presentation about modern matriarchal studies and the return of the Goddess.
Video: Rumbling thunder and lightning at the summer cottage reminds me of how much we are connected to and at the mercy of the forces of nature.
Through my observations and studying the mythology related to the planet Venus, which is strongly connected to nature and its cycles, I, again and again, come to the conclusion that there is more to the Feminine than the modern mind is ready to accept. There is a lot of resistance and wishful thinking regarding the nature of the Divine Feminine. I say this often: Venus (the Feminine) is not only love and light.
The Astrology Behind
Now, let’s get to the exciting part. How does astrology mirror my experiences? To keep this section concise, I’m restricting it to profections, the Venus Pentagram, and transits. However, other techniques, like zodiacal releasing and solar returns, have also pointed to the same topics, further highlighting the significance of this period in my life.
Let’s look at profections first. The Cap VSP 2022 fell into a fourth house profection year in my astrological cycles, activating Capricorn and fourth house matters like family, roots, and home. This means the Cap VSP 2022 had relevance to me on a very personal level.
The activation of a sign, and therefore life area, by annual profections of the Ascendant happens only every twelve years. With the activation of Capricorn, factors in that sign in my chart—Mars, the IC, and the south node—also got activated. The IC and south node share similar symbolism with the fourth house. It’s all about foundations.
Image: All events pointed to Mars, the IC, and the south node in Capricorn in the subterraneous, the fourth house, representing the foundation and roots of my life.
Only by looking at these few simple factors can we already see how astrology reflects a huge part of the themes and events that showed up in my life during the Capricorn VSP of 2022. But what about the Venus Pentagram?
I was born when Aquarius was still part of the five-pointed Venus Star. Aquarius is my Star’s receiving hand, creatively helping my VSP (the head of my Venus Star). The point that previously went through Aquarius transitioned into Capricorn in 1986, meaning the Capricorn VSP phases have coincided with my Star’s receiving hand ever since.
The fourth house profection of the Ascendant had activated my Mars. Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn, was my timelord for the entire Cap VSP 2022. What did these two planets do during this significant 9.5 months period?
Saturn was transiting Aquarius, my Venus Star’s receiving hand in the fifth house, feeding me insights and sparking my creativity. Saturn returns to a sign only every 29.5 years. This isn’t your every-year transit! A considerable part of 2022 I spent working on my Venus Star Course. Mars entered Gemini, my ninth house, and the giving foot of my Venus Star in August 2022. I started teaching my course for the first time three weeks later.
Graphic: In 2022/2023, Mars spends the longest time in Gemini because of its retrograde period. Mars entered Gemini in August 2022 and leaves the masculine domicile of Mercury in March 2023. Graphic: Astro-Seek.
The Gemini transit of Mars 2022/2023 is unique because it extends to a seven-month stay in Gemini due to Mars’ retrograde period. The last time Mars stayed for that long in Gemini was in 1943. Usually, Mars changes signs every two months. I could feel Mars’ entrance into Gemini, giving me new energy after a long preparation phase. Most importantly, this was when I could finally put out what I had created over the past months.
Mars is a crucial factor in my chart. He is the host of the sign that contains five planets and the VSP. I’ve always felt the significance of Mars, but through the Venus Star, I realize its magnitude related to what I am meant to share with the world. Mars’ extended presence on my Star’s giving foot in Gemini has been a unique moment in time associated with the place my creative energy and the many resources governed by Mars are heading toward – the ninth house of spirituality, including astrology.
Photo: Of course, nothing happens without Saturn knowing about and overseeing it. This year, I was fortunate to meet my timelord on a clear August night.
Much of what I understood better during the Cap VSP 2022 is related to Saturn in my chart, of which the fourth house with its connections to the past is part. I got the sense Saturn will lead me even more into the depth of his wisdom in the future as the newly birthed Libra VSP is opening a gate to his treasure chest in my chart.
Cycles Intertwining
Combining annual profections with the Venus Star cycle, there are, in my case, three planets that alternate being time lords during the Capricorn VSP phases occurring every four years. These are Saturn, Venus, and Mercury in that sequence, repeating the cycle over again.
Which planets are timelords during the Capricorn (and all other) VSP phases is unique to each individual. In some cases, only three planets share rulership; in others, a few more planets take on the duty of being timelords. I’m only at the beginning of uncovering what information is contained in all this, but I already can see patterns and, through them, the worth of this comparison.
Alone the fact that the ruler of Capricorn, Saturn, himself is one of the planets involved in my case is significant and a pointer that the Capricorn VSP phases that coincide with the activation of Capricorn through profections are special. Venus’ role as the ruling planet over my Ascendant is also crucial, as well as Mercury’s, who rules both signs on the giving side of my Venus Star. Venus and Mercury are also both copresent with my VSP.
Comparing the eight-year Venus Star cycle with profections and other techniques, like solar returns (SR), is a work in progress. Through this approach, I’ve come to look at cycles and patterns in a new way. For example, the fact that Venus is always close to the Sun means she can only ever be, depending on the degree in the natal chart, in the two signs next to the Sun in the SR chart. If the ruling planet of Venus is not located in these signs in the natal chart, there will never be a conjunction of Venus in the SR chart to this planet in the natal chart.
I’ve come to understand the significance of this because, in my case, Venus does make a connection from the SR chart to her host, Mars, in the natal chart in some SR years, like during the Cap VSP 2022. Because she is the ruler of my Ascendant, this is a noteworthy find. In fact, Venus and Mars had a rare sign exchange in the SR chart coinciding with the Cap VSP 2022, with Venus being in Mars’ natal sign and Mars occupying Venus’ natal sign. Mars hadn’t been in this sign in any of my SR charts since 2008, but this year, being also activated by profections (!), he was, and most remarkable, close to my VSP, which he rules over!
Tip: There is a new module in Planetdance for studying solar return transits. You’ll find it under Time → Return Transit List. Astro-Seek also has a tool that displays SR transits called Repetitive Patterns in Solar Returns.
I won’t go into more detail about my findings comparing different techniques with the Capricorn VSP phases in my personal life as I have done already. However, I want to mention that the previous Capricorn Morning Star Venus Star Point phase eight years ago, occurring in 2014, also coincided with a loss in my family.
Your Cycles
My attempt with this post was to give a glimpse of how comparing different astrological cycles can grow our understanding of the mechanics working in our lives, helping us to identify the most critical topics and themes and connect the dots between them.
Reading about my experiences might be boring and reveal little to you. But I know you’ll see patterns emerging once you start studying your own cycles, and that’s when it gets interesting! Studying your life cycles is a profound and rewarding experience that sheds light on your unique path and helps you strengthen your relationship with the Divine.
Life is all about cycles intertwining, the past meeting the future in the present, the light revealing itself in the darkness.
Sindy 🕊️
*******
Read my post, Light and Dark — The Great Mother in Astrology, Tarot, and the Finnish Epic Kalevala, on my blog here.
Watch my walkthrough of the Mythologia Fennica Tarot on YouTube here.
Read about my services and Venus Star Course on this page here.
Featured image: lake Vitträsk (Kirkkonummi, Finland), photo taken by me on Sept 8, 2022
Living in Cycles 