Love is reality, it is the basis of all beings, all emotions. When we open ourselves to love, the soul desires to separate from the ego and get lost within the space of the Beloved. In my post about Moon being exalted in Venus' rashi, I talk about the concept of Soma and how it likes to be consumed in the physical sense by the fire of love. Today I want to talk about the spiritual consumption of the soul and the diminishing of ego that takes place with Venus. Venus exalts in the sign of Pisces which is the natural 12th house of loss, distant lands, and uncharted territory. Venus is embodied beautifully by Radha in Sri Krishna Leela because She is the very form of Lakshmi who seeks to be the Lord's lover and not his wife. True unconditional love thrives in the sign of loss mainly because real love destroys the ego, the notions of who we are, and what we must be. Radha was never jealous of Krishna giving love to the other gopis, she was only focused on what she could give to her beloved. She could see nothing beyond Krishna. Venus thrives even in the sign of loss and separation for it wants nothing but whatever the lover wants. If the lover desires to move away, to be indifferent, Venus is so united with the lover that despite physical separation it stays united with the beloved. Sri Radha is known as the Mahabhava (the great emotion) because she would drown and sink herself and was left to be consumed and dispersed within the ocean of love that her beloved had to offer. When Radha and Krishna were together, Radha would ask her Lord, 'Where is Radha?' and Krishna would smile and retort with, 'Where is Krishna?', this is a representation of Venus having only one eye and that eye is also not its own but the lover's because nothing remains of the self when there is a greater purpose to achieve. Radha broke a lot of boundaries placed by society and was almost ostracized for the kind of love: erotic and spiritual, that she held for the beloved. She denied the world to embrace true love and the 12th house is the lonely path to God for this reason because many might think of the quest toward something 'unreachable', never 'known' as foolish and dangerous. However, the path of love is that of reaching for within yourself over and over again until the beloved becomes one within you, and aches for you.
'There is passion in the universe: the young stars, the whirling galaxies - the living, pulsing earth thrives in the passionate embrace of life itself. Our love for one another is the language of our passionate God...It is desire that spins us round, desire that sends the blood through our veins, desire that draws us into each other's arms and onward in the lifelong search for God's face'
-Dr. S. Iyer.
Parvati's quest and the determination of the Moon
Parvati means 'she who is of the mountains' because she is the princess, the daughter of the mountains. In her very name, we see the determination of the Moon and how the Moon can bend and pull the beloved to Her will. Parvati signifies the householder's path because of the exaltation of the Moon in the sign of Taurus which is the natural 2nd house. She becomes Kameshwari (personification of Desire), Devi Annapurna (She who can suffice the appetite of Lord Shiva/She who feeds the world), and even Dhumavati (She who is widowed because of consuming Her Beloved) to keep the senses of Lord Shiva engaged within Her divine play so that She can consume His attention which is why She is also known as Mahamaya. One of the names of Lord Shiva is Somnath (Lord of Soma) because He wears the Moon on His crown and His head is constantly turned towards His wife. The 2nd house is that of providing for our loved ones, and having enough resources to feed those around us (children, grandparents, etc.) but the secret of having a beautiful and sustainable family life is that there needs to be devotion and constant attention from the partner we choose to marry. In the 2nd house, things are solidified because it's also the house of speech. We begin to label things and define them before we explore their evolving nature in the 3rd house. Marriage is giving a word and keeping that at the highest value which is why the Moon feels content and safe in it.
The security that Moon seeks by wanting to cultivate a sustainable and stable life versus the dangerous nature of Venus that wants to be nothing, to be completely consumed shows the two paths of approaching the divine. One is not better than the other and each has its setbacks but a good balance between devotion and sustaining the ego a little bit in the early stages of the spiritual path is necessary so that we don't fall victim to complete hedonism or complete renunciation. The ascendant in our charts where our ego and sense of self are situated is blind to both of these houses so either path can diminish the ego, however, one must ask themselves if they're doing the consuming (Moon) or are being consumed (Venus) by Love.
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