Honing the Mind
By
Sarah Varcas
Venus’s journey through Aquarius (3rd – 27th January) heralds the start of a shift into the realm of the mind. The goddess of love in the airy Aquarian world of thoughts, ideas and concepts is not an obvious alliance. Venus can be pretty cool in this sign, preferring shared minds rather than hearts, a love of ideas and ideals rather than direct emotional connection. But she is none the less desirous of intimacy, albeit of a more cerebral kind. During her journey through Aquarius we have the opportunity to find common ground with others in the sharing of thoughts and ideas. This can be a lot less threatening to some than the intimacy of emotional passion. During Venus’s journey through this sign we can engage from afar, without emotions clouding the view, to connect in a way that offers both space and intimacy in equal measure.
So how can we best use Venus’s energy now? Well, she offers some comfort in the form of new perspectives and ideas. If we have been wanting to do things differently but somehow couldn’t find our way through, Venus offers to guide us into new possibilities. She is comfortable with the untried and slightly off the wall! She’s happy to relax in the midst of change and know that seeing the bigger picture is generally the best way to embrace new perspectives and discover where they lead. Venus always wants us relaxed and happy, and in the coming weeks she offers that possibility for those who seek to embody a new perspective and try out fresh ways of being who they are.
Come 5th January Mercury joins her in Aquarius for an extended stay (until 13th March) including a retrograde phase beginning later this month. Mercury in Aquarius sharpens the mind and keeps it on its toes. Don’t risk assumptions for Mercury here will blow them out the water. ‘How could you possibly be so predictable?!’, it cries. ‘Can’t you see that anything’s possible if you’ll only open your mind to unlimited possibilities instead of closing it off right at the boundary of the limited ones?!’. This Mercury refuses to be constricted by dogma or tradition, accepted ‘truths’ and received wisdom. It questions and questions and questions again until it reaches the point at which potential unfolds exponentially and the multifarious possibilities of an infinite universe are on the table. With Venus by its side we have both the Mercurial map and the Venusian security to navigate new terrain without fear of getting too disoriented if we temporarily lose our way.
This is a powerful time to get to know our minds more intimately. To follow the journey of our thoughts, through the neural pathways forged in our brain to their final destination. Much of our mental activity is pure habit, nothing more, nothing less. One thought leads to another and another… they run away with us and we allow ourselves to be catapulted out of the present moment into an imagined future or a regrettable past, things lost forever or fears of unpleasantness to come. None of this is real, neither past nor future, for it all happens in our minds which can change in the blink of an eye, as anyone faced with a sudden and unexpected shock will know: what one minute is so desperately important becomes as nothing in the face of an unwelcome turn of events. The mind tells us so much that simply isn’t true. We believe its thoughts and perceive them as ours, and yet it is simply mind, doing what it does – thinking, reasoning, analysing, projecting and anticipating. Always busy but getting nowhere fast! In the first two of months of this year we have the opportunity to get to know its twists and turns more intimately which will help us influence them with greater accuracy and impact. It takes self-discipline, knowing the mind, because it will so easily run away with us, taking us off on a merry dance. When we can engage the detached observation of Aquarius, however, and simply watch without believing and observe without emotional investment, we can begin to know mind from the inside – recognising its strengths and weaknesses, when to harness its skills and when to ignore its tantrums.
We are currently being invited into an intimate dance in the mental realm. The more we engage the more we will see, clearly and without the familiar fog that often surrounds the truth of our mind activity. We don’t have to believe everything the mind tells us, we are not obliged to act on its many demands and we certainly don’t have to give it power over the choices we make and the priorities we set in our lives. The mind is a wonderful servant but can be a dreadful and sadistic master. It’s time to clarify the ranks and ensure everyone knows that mind isn’t in charge it simply has a role to play, nothing more, nothing less. We can let it know when its services are needed and give it space when they’re not. This is how we tame the mind and hone it into a powerful tool which can cut through confusion to the truth and penetrate even the most complex of situations to reveal the wisdom within.
Sarah Varcas
