The present article was inspired by a recent DM on twitter. I had made a tweet, stating basically that, the planet of beauty can also make on ugly, and a user messaged me asking that I kindly elaborate.Let me...
The present article was inspired by a recent DM on twitter. I had made a tweet, stating basically that, the planet of beauty can also make on ugly, and a user messaged me asking that I kindly elaborate.
Let me start off with a few basics…
The keys to a “strong” Mars and a “strong” Venus are easy enough?—?simply behave as a strong Mars or Venus would and there you go.
Mars at is best is never easily destabilized, he is master of himself, self-controlled, self-tamed and does not react based on emotion but is thoughtful of his actions. So, the next time someone provokes you, you are allowed to feel angry, but be very conscious of your reaction and try to react moderately, or not at all. The next time you are faced with eating an extra cupcake, knowing that it may not be the best diet decision, say “no!” to yourself. Mars is a malefic, and all malefic negate, reject and control, both themselves and others. In order for Mars, the wrangler of beasts, to tame others, he necessarily must tame himself, and one who easily gives himself over to his vices and emotions and makes any decision that is not based on thought and logic, he fails and risks devolving into a beast.
Other ways of strengthening Mars include other acts of discipline like waking up on time, working out, being honest?—?as honesty not only takes bravery, as only those afraid of owning up to their errors lie, but honesty is also purifying, and Mars is a planet of fire. Mars, being a fiery malefic, is also a correcting force, which is why it is important for morality and ethics.
Venus is all that pleases the senses, and so to strengthen her, one must freely and shamelessly pursue that which excites one, regardless of whatever societal rule or custom that may inhibit one. Do you like pizza with pineapple, even though others protest with “fruit does not go on pizza!”? Do it! Eat it! Savor it with gusto and tell everyone else to go to Halifax. Do you enjoy watching violent movies with the most psychologically disturbing bloody scenes? Go for it!
Venus is also the planet of intra-personal and inter-personal intelligence, and so another way of strengthening it is through practicing empathy, compassion and all the arts of love-making?—?which is not limited to sex.
It curious isn’t it? If you study the above statements, the key to one’s strength is the key to the other’s weakness, in a sense, and this also helps us understand planetary enmity. Now, according to Vedic astrology, Mars and Venus are not technically enemies, but they belong to enemy camps.
So, we have discussed the basics of how to strengthen each planet, but there is more to it than that. For this I will reference the concept of yin and yang. Yang is full of energy, vitality, force and freedom and it “ejects” its white, light energy freely into the universe, but… in doing so, it eventually loses all of its “yang” light and transforms itself into yin. Same goes for yin, the cold, controlled, empty vessel that collects light energy… it can do so to such an extent that it becomes yang.
In alchemy, for example, it is taught that a man cannot ejaculate, even during sex, because to do so is to lose his yang energy which eventually means he becomes yin and becomes polarized against his partner, and in so doing he loses attraction for her, which is followed by a whole host of interpersonal and intrapersonal problems.
Now, what does all of this have to do in the context of Mars and Venus? Venus is beauty, its most well-known characteristics. But, do we not know that health and beauty go hand in hand? What happens to the body of one who only ever gives himself over to indulgences? Fast-foods, caviar, vodka, sleeping all day, wasting his juices having the most delicious, orgasmic and ejaculatory sex? He eventually wastes that beautiful body and it begins its slow decline into ugliness. Do you see? It is because it is so far towards one extreme, that it falls back to the opposite, as yang transforms into yin.
It’s interesting that Venus is connected with all the houses of death in astrology (2nd, 7th, 12th) because that is what it means to give into love?—?it means destroying your own self in the act of uniting yourself with something else. Mars, on the other hand, is connected with the houses that build and preserve the body and fights against foreign invasion (which can mean foreign bodies that seek to “invade” our own body through penetration), houses 1, 8 and 6, as Mars is karaka of the sixth house.
Furthermore, in some occult circles it is said that women gain their beauty because men… ahem… “throw” their energy their way, the woman sucks up this energy, leading to her wealth, knowledge and ever growing seductiveness, leaving the unskilled and untrained man dumb, dull and… “dry”?—?not to mention, ugly.
What about Mars? Is Mars not the ability to conquer? Remember that Mars gets his strength through austerities and denials of pleasure. But… what in this world is worth fighting for if not pleasure and love? Venus is herself planet of inspiration, the planet that stirs us, excites us, provokes us! She is also technically what gives us power, relating to soma or semen in ayurveda?—?Mars and Venus relate to energy in the same way as an engine and fuel. Mars is the engine, but Venus is the fuel. If the highly Martian denies himself of all that is pleasurable and resist anything that “stirs” himself in an attempt to maintain control over himself, he will risk destruction by external forces that not only possess some of his strength and discipline, but also possess the added passions and inspirations that he has spent so much of his life denying himself. In overdoing his penance, he has weakened himself.
Remember that Venus and Jupiter are benefics and so planets of addition?—?planets that give and make full. They relate to fat and physical juices, without which, Mars’ heat would reduce the body to skin and bones, which can subsequently be blown to ash by a single breath.
It’s interesting, when one considers nakshatras, that Krittika is connected to both Venus and Mars, by way of rashi and deity, and Krittika is god of war, for he possess both the strength and discipline (Mars) and hungry, beastly lust for blood as his drink of choice (Venus).
Early on in this article, I have provided basic advice to strengthen the Mars and Venus of those who have them weak, but now I will do the opposite, I will offer advice to “weaken” the Mars and Venus of those who have got them so strong that it creates an imbalance in their chart.
If your Venus is too strong, then you are too indulgent, so to balance this… add more Martian qualities into your life. Maybe don’t have an ice-cream sandwich as a midnight snack, maybe (or, I should say, never) watch pornography and ejaculate often. Practice saying no to yourself and develop other means of self-control. Venus is planet of beauty, but actually it relates to beauty because beauty is pleasure (for the self and others). The planets that more directly craft beautiful objects are Mars and Mercury, planets connected to the regulation of the body, good health and (in the case of Mars) self-denial.
Again, Mars is a malefic and relates to the anus?—?Mars excretes from our system anything that is damaging to us. Mars is also the “lunar” aspect of the 8th house, and relates to celibacy, telling us that unwisely “offering” our bodies for others to “consume” can also deplete our delicious juices.
Now, if your Mars is too strong, you will burn out which will eventually lead to your being conquered… which is the opposite of what the planet of conquest is mean to allow. For you, apply more cooling Venusian practices into your life. Maybe don’t go to the gym 6 days a weak, and have a day of being totally lazy, eating whatever you want and watching whatever guilty pleasure television program you want to. Have a day or two a week where you sleep excessively, wear whatever you wish, whether over-dressed or under-dressed and fret time and money away with friends and family. You don’t have to drink alcohol, which would break down your body’s health, but buy yourself a nice drink.
The irony of life! These planets, depending on their combination, can literally create one another or destroy one another.
This little article on balance is reminiscent of the classic tale of the buddha and the middle way. Legend has it that upon listening to a woman playing a guitar he realized that, in order to make music, there needed to be a combination of tightening the guitar string and loosening the guitar string. You cannot live your life in a state of forever tightening, or else you will break the string. Neither can you always loosen, or else the instrument will remain unplayed.