The Heliacal Rise of Venus, 6 E’ (14th June 2020)

The cycle of Venus was of great importance to the ancient Maya, and often used to time ritual activities including warfare and sacrifices. Venus was generally seen to have an unsettling influence, particularly during the time of the heliacal rising of Venus.

Today we enter that period of potential turbulence, the first rising of Venus as the Morning Star. This is said to be the time when the influence of Venus “spears” certain victims. Although these victims are often leaders, this turmoil is affecting all of us on the planet. That said, whoever holds “high position” would do well to avoid rushing into impassioned decisions  or judgement during the first few days of the Morning Star.

Here is the particular page in the Dresden Codex which refers to the heliacal rise of Venus on an E’ day. In the top left hand portion of the page, you can see the glyphs K’at, Ix, K’at and then E’. These positions relate to superior conjunction, rise as evening “star”, inferior conjunction and then rise as morning”star”. According to biblioteca pleyades, the heliacal rise of Venus on an E’ day “The half animal/half human Venus Lord was identified by Thompson as a jaguar, and by Kelley as a frog. His name glyph suggests an insect or caterpillar, and in fact the features of the illustrated warrior may well be insectoid.  The victim is God E, the Corn God. In the Borgia, a rat-faced deity spears a corn deity, and worms eat corn cobs. The Venus Lord likely represents pests that attack the corn crop.” Could this relate to the locust swarm which has been present in Africa and Asia? Is there a possibility that this will be replicated in Central America too, or the possibility of some other kind of pest in the corn?

However, there is a more positive way in which we can look at it, which I highlighted here in a video about Venus. In order to do this, we have to jump cultures a little and refer to the story of Quetzalcoatl. Quetzalcoatl was an Aztec deity, the Maya equivalent would be Kulkulkan in the post-classic Maya civilisation, Q’ukumatz is another variant.

Quetzalcoatl arrived as a teacher of the people, a civilising influence that taught astronomy, mathematics and agriculture. As the world became a better place, his popularity and influence grew, which attracted the jealousy of his brother, Tezcatlipoca. It is said that Tezcatlipoca disguised himself as an old man and gave Quetzalcoatl pulque, an alcoholic drink made from maguey. He became intoxicated and ended up “cavorting” with a celibate priestess (who may also have been his sister). Shamed, he then either sets himself on fire and rose into the sky to become the morning star, or sailed to the east on a boat of snakes, depending on which version we hear.

It is this aspect which can be seen as being particularly interesting. The rise and fall of Quetzalcoatl mirror the the “rise and fall” of Venus as the morning star. Today, Venus will return as the morning star, and it will get higher and brighter in the sky for the next 60 days, reaching its greatest western elongation (height above the Eastern horizon) around the day 1 E’ (13th August 2020). From our own point of view we can also see this as our own return to brightness, a time to rise and shine again.

The Inferior Conjunction of Venus – 11 K’at (6th June 2020)

Since the day 8 Ix (30th September 2019) Venus has appeared in the west, in the evening sky. From March 2020 onward it became a little lower each night until it became lost in the glare of the sunset. Today, according to the Dresden Codex, is the first day of the inferior conjunction of Venus. Venus is passing between the Earth and the Sun, and as such is not visible in our night sky.

Venus as the evening star can be seen to represent the obsidian mirror, the dark mirror within us showing us the parts of our ego we would rather hide from the world. There has been a particularly strong cycle this time around, one which takes place every 8 years. The dark mirror has been intensified by the power of the year lord, which reached its peak intensity around mid-summer, the light of the sun illuminating not only the things we wish to hide from the world, but possibly the things we wish to hide from ourselves. It has the power to illuminate the half truths that we occasionally tell ourselves, stripping away the false support which comes from them and in turn replacing them with truth. It is on this truth that we can then build when Venus returns as the morning star, and we can move into a time of advancement and enlightenment.

In this cycle within the codex, the first day of the inferior conjunction happens on 11 K’at. This can be seen as looking through our net, our travelling bag, to see what will assist our onward journey and what we no longer need to be attached to. As the rise of the “morning star” begins, what assists our own path of ascension, and what is holding us back in the darkness. The 11 suggests we may be looking in many and varied directions. We are preparing for a journey which will take us through to 8 Q’anil (5th February 2021).

The inferior conjunction of Venus has coincided with some societal upheavals including the downfall of leaders occurring during or soon after. According to Bruce Scofield in his book How to Practice Mayan Astrology:

“Newsworthy events occurring at, or just after, the inferior conjunction are often characterized by impulsive human errors the lead to a levelling or crash of some sort.”