By Amanda Painter
Working with any kind of passion or talent, whether artistic, sexual, ideological or other, requires a healthy dose of discipline to be of any use. You can have a knack for stringing phrases together with elegance and impact, but if you can’t be bothered to sit down at the computer on a regular basis, you’ll never ‘be a writer’.
Photo by Amanda Painter
To come at it another way, all of the hottest, most explosive romantic trysts in the world do not add up to a solid relationship without some kind of foundation, container or counterweight. Or — at the very least — some form of auxiliary fuel that burns way slower.
This weekend’s astrology is all about this balance and blending of passion (or talent) and discipline. It appears in the form of Venus, which ingresses Leo at 11:33 am EDT (15:33 UTC) Friday, making a trine to Saturn, which is retrograde in the first degree of Sagittarius. The Venus-Saturn trine is exact Saturday at 2:23 am EDT (6:23 UTC).
Leo and Sagittarius are both fire signs; they bring the passion and the heat. Fire is also associated with the spirit. Both fire and spirit need to be consciously directed and fed to be constructive and life giving. Left unattended, fire can either fizzle out or blaze into a destructive inferno; so, too, can spirit (think ‘life without purpose’ and ‘religious zealotry’ for the equivalents).
What we have with Venus in Leo is that fire/spirit taking shape through the heart, and given an outwardly directed expression. Loyalty, affection, desire and compassion are out in front where you can see them and feel them — sometimes in more dramatic or dramatized format than is strictly necessary. But then, some people really respond well to that; at the very least, it’s not an ambiguous message.
Saturn in Sagittarius gives spirit, passion or philosophical zeal a clear container. With Saturn retrograde, the inner container is emphasized over any kind of external kind; that is, what shape your beliefs and spiritual life take within you, rather than the social constructs or dogma you ascribe to.
Touching on relationships again, containers and structures matter. And by ‘container’ or ‘structure’, I don’t mean ‘label’. It matters little whether you call yourself ‘married’ or ‘polyamorous’. It matters greatly that you and your partner(s) have defined some clear space of trust, intimacy, honesty, ethics, respect and affection.
That’s the kind of container that allows passion to grow and morph and yet still get fed sustainably without letting the spark die — and without consuming and destroying one or more of the people involved, along with the relationship. The idea is not for passion to leave you a burnt-out shell, but rather warmed and able to return warmth. This is Venus in a functional role that’s truly about love.
Saturn is more than just structures, though; there’s the discipline, responsibility and authority facet. Discipline and responsibility are really just authority internalized in a functional way (as opposed to, say, the internalized voice of a domineering or abusive parent, which is dysfunctional).
As mentioned, this is what lets us turn our creative talents and passions into tangible results. You have to show up and do the work; you have to practice; you have to be willing to give it a try even when you don’t feel like it. Sometimes you let it rest; often you persevere.
Put that way, cultivating a talent sounds a lot like cultivating a relationship. Venus and Saturn in harmony this weekend are opening the flow for both. Against the backdrop of Mercury retrograde in Gemini — which will be stationing direct June 11 — some harmony and flow could be very welcome in the midst of any missed connections, wayward communication and temporary setbacks you’ve endured.
Thank you Amanda. Really great description of this working love aspect. It just feels so good, and I am proud to finally feel tangible shared results with regards to open, honest, heart space building communication beginning again this week. Also, I am finding much more ease and natural flow i believe due to Mars now moving onto the Actional level degrees in Gemini. All feels more comfortable now, here!
Thanks Amanda – this is inspirational! I love your distinction between dysfunctional and functional internalised authority – it’s made something in me fall into a new place of understanding.
yes Amanda it strikes me that a Saturn in Sag retrograde IS quite constructive for how we want conduct ourselves with classic Sagittarius themes. zeal is zeal but it would be nice to have a stable zeal with self-consistent meaning, something that should be completely available so close to the scorpio-sagittarius cusp. i think it is exciting — although there is a lot of blocking, resistance and fear as is the usually case with me and mine that capricorn caution caution creating a dampening – for the kind of simple, bright Neptune in Sag people to take the opportunity to really explore belief patterns and how they fit into the psychological whole of who we are. thanks for the encouragement to use a creative Venus and express all this regardless of the upcoming retrograde. yes yes. i watched Apocalypse Now recently and it turns out the Colonel Kurtz and I share some reading material. except i won’t take it super literally, if i get around to reading it at all… along those lines i’ve organized a little baby poetry project that, if completely successfully, could turn into something absolutely ginormous. i’m probably thinking too big but it’s got a “if not now then when” feeling to it. and organizing is not writing the poetry, that’s for sure. it’s either just-do-it or i will need to offload whole topics of life to lighten up, just for the sake of lightening up. the downer is i might lose a few too many dreams & inspirations. still i think Saturn in Scorpio will make its demand of authenticity but i’d still not like to take that very seriously– somehow i think Colonel Kurtz might rear his ugly head if i do. fear fear caution caution.
Beautiful!
Good aspect to look forward to, this one. Venus is currently opposite my natal Venus, so an assessment of my values, how I got them, where, which ones I want to keep, let go of, all has been on my mind lately. Saturn is in my 4th house about a degree away from my natal Uranus. I think maybe since Saturn’s retrograde I’m living with a perception that any sort of limited view on how full my life can be is self-imposed. Yet some limits are real. For example, I am still living in Louisville, waiting anxiously to start the next leg of my journey on July 25th when I move to Boulder. In due time, I suppose.
Also, this piece reminded me of a new-ish song by Martin Sexton called “Do It Daily”. Also I suggest, as many have, “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. But more than that, I suggest doing the morning pages exercise she suggests in the book, where you write 3 pages every morning. It doesn’t even have to make sense, you just write. 3 pages is a commitment, believe me. However, I did it for a couple years, and it did a lot for me. I’ve considered starting up again lately, but I feel like my astrology journal is aiding in making happen whatever needs to happen to open up my writing channels.
P. Sophia, Eskimobee, Amy C, Davidchristopher, Michael — so gratified to know this is hitting home for people!
And if you’ve just read this and felt like it’s just not where you’re at, check out Len’s post. I think he taps into the “low energy” side of the current astrology. In fact, I wish I could have read his piece yesterday as I was trying to focus and figure out how to write my own, because my writing only happened after I gave myself permission to step away from the computer, do something else (which, incidentally drew on activities that I burned out on long ago), and then come back to trying to write.
Um…ditto
And thanks for this piece!
I strongly agree with your ideas, as I have Saturn and venus trine in my chart, thanks for your description, which is so precisely outline the situation.
Another way, compared with Saturn square venus, I think Saturn trine venus person might treat the responsibility and the patterns of the beauty spontaneously, rather than regard it as burden. Saturn trine venus would like to cultivate the passion and promise within time, they both grow and get matures through the relationship and like what you have side, keep the bonderies and space to cultivate the sustainability of the long run love. I though they might focus on long run creativity and muse in the relationship, which has gone through the difficulties and beyond, but stand on the bonderies.
Amanda……Thank you for your thoughts and guidance…………synchronistic elements ….like streams are meandering through your writings …and those of others…………the will of the vine on the fence ….seems to say it all………..(the roses are blooming)………..thank you……………..
Amanda: Although looking at different aspects, both your and Len’s piecies today speak to me similarily today of balance. Like all is where it needs to be at the moment, and as Len says, like a painter stepping back to take a look at his work. It is what I am feeling anyway, a comfortable dose of letting go and flow. Thanks again.
Amanda, both your and Len’s writing touched on my inner musings today. With natal Venus and Saturn in a broad conjunction, I get the “love of a discipline” applied to a dream, creative work etc….Perhaps this weekend’s trine will facilitate the flow I have been seeking to bring what’s inside out. Thank you both!!!
Barbara, Mary, Chao Zheng , Amanda — yes, to all of it! And thank you for noticing the interplay of vine and fence. I know it’s not my most striking photo, but I was seeing the themes of the astrology in there, and could not resist using it.
I hope everyone has a productive, or restful, or inspired, or balanced weekend — whichever you need most, or however you find yourself framing things.
