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Venus
Tarot Card: Major Arcana Number: Sephiroth: Sephiroth Number:
The Empress 3 Netzach/Victory 7
Binah/Understanding 3 cccccccccccc
Venus indicates the area of the chart where there is great lightness for the personality; where one is a natural so to speak. This lightness of being comes with the realization that everything in existence is a recurring phenomenon, meaning there is nothing outside of the parameters already existing even though what is within those parameters may be of infinite variety. Just like a fractal, the formula of creation is on infinite repeat, and through that repetition Universal Intelligence gets to know itself quite well through the birthing of seemingly new phenomena. Within the chart, the Venus placement shows where the personality has very smooth features, hence it is where one is probably very likable with little friction or weight. The Venus archetype itself, as we will see, shows that no matter how far up or down the fractal you go, and no matter how different the many shapes encountered within the fractal may be from one another, the mathematical formula of creation remains the same throughout. This indicates that if you for example have two forms of life which are very different from one another, they are still Universal cousins and are embodiments the same physical and mathematical principles. The Phi Ratio and the Golden Mean can be found in everything from insects to humans, and from ice crystals to plants. This "relatedness" between all things is further shown in the numerology of the card of Venus called The Empress, whose number is 3. 3 is an important number in terms of relatedness, resonance, and the general "all inclusiveness" of the Great Mother archetype. For example, one may take note of the resonating trines (Modality Columns) as discussed on the Modality page or the tripartite nature of the Courts as discussed on Court Cards page, and that all these elemental families themselves operate in trinities, both in Astrology and also within the Kabbalah.
Venus is another feminine archetype like the Moon, though in contrast to the form of Isis the Eternal Virgin as seen with the Moon archetype, this archetype is in fact very pregnant with phenomena. On the Tree of Life, the path of the Empress is attributed to the Hebrew letter Daleth meaning Door, its English equivalent being the letter D. Interestingly, the very letter "D" has a quite pregnant looking shape with its single straight line and single bulbous curve. Also notice how the letter D is in a transparent form on the left side of the Empress card of the Thoth deck. This is the first horizontal path which bridges the archetypal Masculine and archetypal Feminine on the Tree of Life schemata. It is the first path to bridge the pillar of Mercy (right side of the tree) with the pillar of Severity (left side of the tree), connecting 2nd sphere Chokma (the Father) to the 3rd sphere Binah (the Mother). As such this path is closely connected to the function of the Queen scale of Tarot (see the Court Cards page).
Venus is another feminine archetype like the Moon, though in contrast to the form of Isis the Eternal Virgin as seen with the Moon archetype, this archetype is in fact very pregnant with phenomena. On the Tree of Life, the path of the Empress is attributed to the Hebrew letter Daleth meaning Door, its English equivalent being the letter D. Interestingly, the very letter "D" has a quite pregnant looking shape with its single straight line and single bulbous curve. Also notice how the letter D is in a transparent form on the left side of the Empress card of the Thoth deck. This is the first horizontal path which bridges the archetypal Masculine and archetypal Feminine on the Tree of Life schemata. It is the first path to bridge the pillar of Mercy (right side of the tree) with the pillar of Severity (left side of the tree), connecting 2nd sphere Chokma (the Father) to the 3rd sphere Binah (the Mother). As such this path is closely connected to the function of the Queen scale of Tarot (see the Court Cards page).
The Empress ~ Venus - 3
The Greek goddess Aphrodite is another form of Venus. This goddess is representative of love and beauty, and is where we get the word aphrodisiac. Venus indicates naturalness, effortlessness, and attraction. Ultimately Venus is indicative of the effortlessness of Being. There is no "trying" or "doing" with Being. If a man is attracted to a woman or to a piece of music, he does not have to intellectually convince himself of that beauty in order to feel that attraction. It is natural and effortless. And on the same token, the woman herself is not trying to be beautiful or shapely, though she may try to accentuate that beauty with cosmetics. The beauty and the form is already there and does not have to be tooled and prodded into existence. One will also notice the bees on the outfit of the Empress/Venus card. Throughout the Thoth Tarot the bee is symbolic of the "all encapsulating" or "all inclusive" and protective/shielding aspects of the feminine, whereas the snake represents the more exclusive masculine principles. This is further connected to the masculine and feminine polarity of the planets Mars and Venus.
Just as the constellation of Gemini represents the direction away from Galactic Center whereas the arrow of Sagittarius that is opposite of Gemini points toward it, so too the actual position of Mars and Venus in our own solar system symbolically represents these "opposing forces." Venus is feminine (inwardly directed, inclusive) and Mars is masculine (outwardly directed, exclusive). From our position on Earth, Venus is one planet closer to the Sun, and Mars is one planet out further out from the Sun. Venus also rules Libra, a sign of balance, partnerships and marriage, etc, and Mars rules Aries, the Sign of dominion and sometimes "untamed" generative dynamism. Aries and Libra are themselves directly opposite each other on the wheel of the Zodiac as well. So, in general we have these two opposites of love (venus-Libra-feminine) and will (mars-Aries-masculine).
Venus as the "morning star" or "lucifer" is important here. Being that Venus is one planet closer to the Sun from us, astronomically and astrologically Venus can never be opposite of the Sun in an astrological chart. If you look at a chart, Venus and Mercury are usually huddled closely around the Sun somewhere. You could think of them as "helpers" of a sort. Venus adds a kind of "ornamentation" and beauty to wherever the Sun is being expressed in the chart.
But, Mars is the first planet from the Sun where we do have the possibility of oppositions when making calculations from the Earth. Remember, Venus = feminine = inny, Mars = masculine = outty. Mars is the planet of "war" and masculine will, of "Fire Power," "opposition" and sharp angles, etc. Venus balances this by accentuating the Sun, our star, by being so close to it and "never in opposition." This adds to the "all inclusive" rounded/soft features and fertile/pregnant nature of the Venus archetype. Earth itself is the pivot between these inner directed and outer directed dualities, just as earth is also the pivot between the inward Galactic Center (Sagittarius) and its twin the outer Galactic Rim (Gemini, the twins) and beyond. Symbolically you might say this all points to you, ultimately, that is how you are the absolute center of your Universe and how your individual perspective really is an important thing.
Just as the constellation of Gemini represents the direction away from Galactic Center whereas the arrow of Sagittarius that is opposite of Gemini points toward it, so too the actual position of Mars and Venus in our own solar system symbolically represents these "opposing forces." Venus is feminine (inwardly directed, inclusive) and Mars is masculine (outwardly directed, exclusive). From our position on Earth, Venus is one planet closer to the Sun, and Mars is one planet out further out from the Sun. Venus also rules Libra, a sign of balance, partnerships and marriage, etc, and Mars rules Aries, the Sign of dominion and sometimes "untamed" generative dynamism. Aries and Libra are themselves directly opposite each other on the wheel of the Zodiac as well. So, in general we have these two opposites of love (venus-Libra-feminine) and will (mars-Aries-masculine).
Venus as the "morning star" or "lucifer" is important here. Being that Venus is one planet closer to the Sun from us, astronomically and astrologically Venus can never be opposite of the Sun in an astrological chart. If you look at a chart, Venus and Mercury are usually huddled closely around the Sun somewhere. You could think of them as "helpers" of a sort. Venus adds a kind of "ornamentation" and beauty to wherever the Sun is being expressed in the chart.
But, Mars is the first planet from the Sun where we do have the possibility of oppositions when making calculations from the Earth. Remember, Venus = feminine = inny, Mars = masculine = outty. Mars is the planet of "war" and masculine will, of "Fire Power," "opposition" and sharp angles, etc. Venus balances this by accentuating the Sun, our star, by being so close to it and "never in opposition." This adds to the "all inclusive" rounded/soft features and fertile/pregnant nature of the Venus archetype. Earth itself is the pivot between these inner directed and outer directed dualities, just as earth is also the pivot between the inward Galactic Center (Sagittarius) and its twin the outer Galactic Rim (Gemini, the twins) and beyond. Symbolically you might say this all points to you, ultimately, that is how you are the absolute center of your Universe and how your individual perspective really is an important thing.
The Chalice of Ecstasy
In the book Chalice of Ecstasy: Being a Magical and Qabalistic Interpretation of the Drama of Parzival by Frater Achad, he discusses something striking about the shape of the Tree of Life itself, that is that certain paths and Sephiroth form the shape of a cup or chalice, and that this form is closely connected to the mythology of the Holy Grail. The Sephiroth that make this shape are 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and 10. Starting on page 33 we read:
Now, there are several spellings of the name Parzival; the one I have adopted being that of Wolfram von Eschenbach, from whom Wagner derived the Drama. The usual spelling - Parsifal - is interesting since it adds to 388, which, with the addition of 500 (Final Mem. The Water of the Great Sea of Understanding), becomes 888. By Greek Numeration 888 is the number of Jesus the Christ.
But there is another spelling, much more significant, and probably the oldest of them all. PARCHVAL, the numeration of which adds to 326.
It will have been noticed that the most important Points of the Drama are connected with THE CUP - Understanding - Binah the THIRD Sephira; The SPEAR - Will - Wisdom - Chokmah the SECOND Sephira, and THE HEART - The Castle of the Grail - Tipareth the SIXTH Sephira. If we examine these Spheres on the Tree of Life we find they form a Descending Triad representing the Bowl of The Chalice of Ecstasy, the points of which are 326.
Now 326 is the Numeration of IHShVH - The Hebrew Jeheshuah - Jesus - The God-Man or Redeemer. This word also symbolizes the descent of "Shin" the letter of the Holy Spirit into the Four Lettered Word IHVH - Jehova - The Ineffable Name of the Formula of the Four Elements. Thus, PARChVAL symbolizes the whole process perfectly; the Descent of Spirit into Matter and also of the Redemption...
I need only add that The DOVE - Kether - The Crown - when shown above the bowl of the CHALICE (in its natural position on The Tree of Life) together with Yesod - the Foundation and Malkuth - The Kingdom, as the stem and base of the Cup; completes the Qabalistic Design. This arrangement clearly shows how the Chalice is one with the Tree of Life and filled by the Holy Spirit.
The numerical proof is not, however, quite complete - indeed it could never be completed - but let me draw your attention to the word Grail. The old spelling is GRAL and here we find G - the letter of The Moon - and R - the letter of the Sun, coupled with AL, the Great Name of God.
Turning once more to our Qabalistic Design of the Cup drawn on the Tree of Life, let us examine the Numbers of the Sephiroth involved. We shall indeed discover the "Chalice of Ecstasy" for we obtain 1 + 2 + 3 + 6 + 9 + 10 = 31, which is the numeration of both AL and LA - God and Not - Key to the Mysteries both of the Old Aeon and the New and when properly understood the Final Formula of ECSTASY.
But there is another spelling, much more significant, and probably the oldest of them all. PARCHVAL, the numeration of which adds to 326.
It will have been noticed that the most important Points of the Drama are connected with THE CUP - Understanding - Binah the THIRD Sephira; The SPEAR - Will - Wisdom - Chokmah the SECOND Sephira, and THE HEART - The Castle of the Grail - Tipareth the SIXTH Sephira. If we examine these Spheres on the Tree of Life we find they form a Descending Triad representing the Bowl of The Chalice of Ecstasy, the points of which are 326.
Now 326 is the Numeration of IHShVH - The Hebrew Jeheshuah - Jesus - The God-Man or Redeemer. This word also symbolizes the descent of "Shin" the letter of the Holy Spirit into the Four Lettered Word IHVH - Jehova - The Ineffable Name of the Formula of the Four Elements. Thus, PARChVAL symbolizes the whole process perfectly; the Descent of Spirit into Matter and also of the Redemption...
I need only add that The DOVE - Kether - The Crown - when shown above the bowl of the CHALICE (in its natural position on The Tree of Life) together with Yesod - the Foundation and Malkuth - The Kingdom, as the stem and base of the Cup; completes the Qabalistic Design. This arrangement clearly shows how the Chalice is one with the Tree of Life and filled by the Holy Spirit.
The numerical proof is not, however, quite complete - indeed it could never be completed - but let me draw your attention to the word Grail. The old spelling is GRAL and here we find G - the letter of The Moon - and R - the letter of the Sun, coupled with AL, the Great Name of God.
Turning once more to our Qabalistic Design of the Cup drawn on the Tree of Life, let us examine the Numbers of the Sephiroth involved. We shall indeed discover the "Chalice of Ecstasy" for we obtain 1 + 2 + 3 + 6 + 9 + 10 = 31, which is the numeration of both AL and LA - God and Not - Key to the Mysteries both of the Old Aeon and the New and when properly understood the Final Formula of ECSTASY.
Very interesting. Now, we should also take into account the Paths which connect these Sephiroth that make up the Design of the Chalice, and in particular the path of Venus - Daleth - The Door - The Empress. It will be seen that this path forms the actual opening of the Chalice through which phenomena pours into existence and into singular experience as apprehended in the 6th Sephirah, Tipareth, the Sun/Son. The "rim" of the Chalice is Sephiroth 1 and 2, Chokma and Binah, and these two Sephiroth are in an eternal embrace by way of the opening itself, Daleth - Venus - The Door. As the poet and mystic William Blake said:
If the Doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.
The message and meaning of Venus is to remain open, do not hold the masculine above the feminine or the feminine above the masculine, and be careful not to cordon off and distinguish one thing from other things so much as to result in seeing all things through narrow chinks of a cavern. Venus calls for balance which dissolves and disarms the two extremes of misogyny (the hatred of and distrust of women) and misandry (the hatred and distrust of men). Indeed, Venus is the planet symbolizing love and attraction between the sexes, and within the Universe we see the perfect balance and coexistence of masculine and feminine principles. Yes, we have male and female insects, monkeys, humans, birds, fish, etc., and through their coupling and embrace life continues to forever unfold. But looking at the actual physics of the Universe we see the same dynamic which in essence allows existence itself to continue to unfold.
Pulling the archetypes of Chokma (The Father) and Binah (The Mother) off of the map of the Tree of Life and applying it to the Universe, we see at once what it is. We see infinite circumference, and coupled with it the infinite center within that circumference. No matter where you are in the Universe, you are experiencing the center of The Womb, Binah, The Great Mother, The Great Sea, Nuit. Each point of light, each star, each conscious being, each grain of sand and each planet is the absolute center and a representation of Will, The Father, Chokmah. The infinite points and the infinite circumference around them are in an eternal embrace, just like day and night. One surely could not exist without the other.
If the Doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.
The message and meaning of Venus is to remain open, do not hold the masculine above the feminine or the feminine above the masculine, and be careful not to cordon off and distinguish one thing from other things so much as to result in seeing all things through narrow chinks of a cavern. Venus calls for balance which dissolves and disarms the two extremes of misogyny (the hatred of and distrust of women) and misandry (the hatred and distrust of men). Indeed, Venus is the planet symbolizing love and attraction between the sexes, and within the Universe we see the perfect balance and coexistence of masculine and feminine principles. Yes, we have male and female insects, monkeys, humans, birds, fish, etc., and through their coupling and embrace life continues to forever unfold. But looking at the actual physics of the Universe we see the same dynamic which in essence allows existence itself to continue to unfold.
Pulling the archetypes of Chokma (The Father) and Binah (The Mother) off of the map of the Tree of Life and applying it to the Universe, we see at once what it is. We see infinite circumference, and coupled with it the infinite center within that circumference. No matter where you are in the Universe, you are experiencing the center of The Womb, Binah, The Great Mother, The Great Sea, Nuit. Each point of light, each star, each conscious being, each grain of sand and each planet is the absolute center and a representation of Will, The Father, Chokmah. The infinite points and the infinite circumference around them are in an eternal embrace, just like day and night. One surely could not exist without the other.
More on the "All Inclusiveness" of Venus & the Divine Feminine
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Within the Tree of Life schemata we also see where the symbol of Venus itself comes from which is comprised of a circle and a cross. Here, in the picture on the right, we see why the archetype of Venus indicates naturalness and is understood as "all encompassing" since indeed the symbol itself is derived from connecting all of the spheres or emanations on the Tree of Life in a particular way.
The Tree of Life is also indicative of the Pythagorean Tetraktys which is made up of the equation 1+2+3+4=10. The first dot or number 1 represents a point, 2 a straight line, 3 a plane, and 4 represents the first 3 dimensional solid shape, the tetrahedron (Depending if you are a man or a woman, your "tetrahedron" will express itself either as masculine or feminine as the Sephiroth of Yesod is the sphere corresponding to the generative organs). Pythagoras was likely an initiate into Egyptian Mysteries, so it is no wonder that his Tetraktys resembles the Tree of Life and also encapsulates the basic mathematics of the Kings Chamber in the Great Pyramid. The Venus archetype has very ancient roots that go back to one of the earliest known deities, the Mother Goddess. In his talk The Esoteric Flight of the Humble Bee Andrew Gough illustrates the connection between bees and the Mother Goddess archetype. The function of the archetype of The Empress, or Venus, and the behavior of actual bees are very closely related. For example, bees "partake of the essence" of the queen bee and gather around her often. Without the queen, the hive goes into disarray and eventually dies. Other insects, like ants, have a queen who is constantly giving birth without pause, laying millions of eggs and eventually mothering an entire colony. |
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The "essence" that the hosts partake of is the Sun, Tipareth, meaning beauty. The generative and healing power of the sun has many times been symbolized by honey and Bees (It was once said that the tears of Ra were actually bees). One might also say that the "hosts" partaking of this essence may be found in the horizontal path leading from Netzach to Hod, one of only three horizontal paths and the path of the Tower and the "Lord of Hosts." There is much more about this general theme on the Mars page. One must constantly renew the mind and relinquish all that is outgrown, outmoded and outdated for a new order to enter. This happens both psychologically and behaviorally in life as old ways (habits) perish and the opportunity for fresh and new perspectives awaken out of what may seem at first to be a disturbances. These "hosts" represent all the voices and characters of one's own personal mythology and psychology, and some of these characters form distinctive habits and patterns that are little more than reactions to seeming threats, leaving one "frozen with anxiousness." These "threats", as discussed on the Mars page, may often take the forms of anger, anxiety, anarchy, anguish and annihilation. In Greek mythology, always remember that if the gods are not having sex, then they are usually killing each other or in some other kind of torturous tussle. In other words, there is a lot of activity within oneself, and if one continually tries to say "I" out of all this surging activity, or this "quaking mess" as Alan Watts put it, then the Lord of Hosts will eventually blast your "Tower of babble." This Martian action and subsequent gap in and of itself brings a great opportunity for new life, new perspectives and fresh approaches and insight. If one's more tense emotions are repressed or side stepped, then projections occur and detrimental patterns become locked into place, signifying that one's inner court is unable to "come to order" with the world both within and without oneself. Both "left and right" natures of oneself reach an impasse, unable to experience a true "unity through diversity." This very concept of "unity through diversity" must first be true psychologically, physically and spiritually for the individual before it could ever be used to describe a mass "individuals" lacking inner sanctity.
The "all inclusive" Mother Goddess in ancient times was always portrayed as being quite large and curvy, whereas the other feminine archetype of "Isis the Eternal Virgin" or "the Huntress" as seen in the High Priestess or in the Greek Artemis is always thin and lean. When looking at the Tree of Life geometry we find an interesting correlation. The path of the High Priestess exists between the two sephiroth Kether and Tipareth, forming a straight vertical line from the heart of the Tree, the Sun, to its summit, the Crown. In the numerical sequence of the feminine archetypes in Tarot, The High Priestess, the virgin, comes first and is given number 2. Immediately following this 2nd card comes the 3rd which is The Empress, the "opening of the cup." Remember that the path of The Empress is the first reciprocal, horizontal path on the Tree which bridges the gap between the masculine and feminine Pillars. The Empress, Venus, is "The All Begetter". This archetype is eternally birthing and eternally fertile. Indeed the queen bee has quite a job laid upon her as mirrored by this archetype. Her only job is to eventually mother an entire colony, and the Empress, Venus, certainly is the Queen Bee of Tarot. It is also fitting that these figures are on cubes. It is fitting as the cube itself is tied to the Great Mother archetype, the 3rd sephirah Binah on the Tree of Life, to trinities and also and to bees.
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Bees are highly active and communicative insects. They build their honeycombs in the shape of hexagons, and the hexagon is very important here as it is a symbol implicit in the balance between the "transcendent" and the physical, showing that they are the same thing, for example within the Crucifixion story and the trinity of Father, Son, Holy Spirit (see Saturn, El and the Black Cube section of the Saturn page). In essence, the cube of space is symbolic of the womb or "hive" of one's active 3 dimensional awareness that includes both the physical baseness of reality and also the "transcendent" or "metaphysical;" it symbolically contains both the body and the mind, both the spirit and the soul, and both one's outward masculine radiance and expression (the 6 pointed star) and one's inward feminine retreat and protection/containment (the cube).
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Video showing how the Unicursal Hexagram is obtained from the Cube of Space as well.
The Tao of China is a very venusian philosophy. Tao (pronounced Dao, interestingly, as it evokes the D again for the Hebrew Daleth meaning door) literally means "way," which implies, of course, an opening or channel through which something flows. The way is the balance between extremes and following a "smooth curve" or line through life. The second chapter of Hua Ching Ni's I Ching: Book of Changes and the Unchanging Truth deals with this concept very directly and lucidly using examples of many differently shaped lines. Some look like saw tooth wave patterns, implying disturbances. It is also a "shorter line" (shorter lifespan) if there are that many jagged disturbances bunched together. Making the line smooth with flowing, curving waves simultaneously makes the string "longer" (longer life). This is just one way of looking at it. The I Ching is all about Yin and Yang polarities mixing together in different variations, and the Tao may be understood as the balance between them, in a sense, evoking the number 3 again, the number of The Empress.
The Tao gives birth to One. One gives birth to Two. Two gives birth the Three. Three gives birth to all things. - Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching)
Venus and the Empress are connected to the giving of gifts, of togetherness, plentitude and celebration of what you have, of adornment, decoration, music, instruments, beauty, etc. The number 3 is important here. One might look at the 3s in Tarot, particularly the 3 of Cups which encapsulates these themes of togetherness, celebration and abundance. We could also look at it in terms of music. The Waltz for example has a time signature of 3 beats per measure. What does this implementation of the beat 1-2-3 1-2-3 compel people to do?
The Tao gives birth to One. One gives birth to Two. Two gives birth the Three. Three gives birth to all things. - Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching)
Venus and the Empress are connected to the giving of gifts, of togetherness, plentitude and celebration of what you have, of adornment, decoration, music, instruments, beauty, etc. The number 3 is important here. One might look at the 3s in Tarot, particularly the 3 of Cups which encapsulates these themes of togetherness, celebration and abundance. We could also look at it in terms of music. The Waltz for example has a time signature of 3 beats per measure. What does this implementation of the beat 1-2-3 1-2-3 compel people to do?
The 3 of Cups - Abundance