My goal today will be to explore the 7 gates and their correlation with the stages Venus moves through in her retrograde process. The seven gates represent the journey from Venus Station Retrograde to the Sun Venus Cazimi or conjunction in my analysis. The Venus Rx process has four distinct phases, the pre shadow phase, Venus station retrograde, Venus station direct and post shadow phase. There is also the Sun Venus Cazimi which marks an important part of the journey when she moves from an evening star to a morning star. She burns bright in the heart of the Sun at this time marking the midpoint of the entire cycle.
Mythology of Inanna
The mythology of Venus retrograde is told through the story of Inanna, also known as Ishtar, and her descent into the underworld. As she does so she passes through seven gates and at each gate she is required to remove one piece of her royal clothing. The Sumerian myth tells us what she has to remove with the idea that each gate represents a particular psychological or spiritual surrender. This symbolic peeling of superficial layers mirrors the backwards motion the beautiful planet makes every 18 months for 40 days and 40 nights.
Inanna is a very powerful goddess and the progression through the 7 gates involves stripping away everything she possesses and values, her power and identity. The laws of the Underworld are not consistent and predictable. They surprise her in their lack of fairness. That being said, they cannot be questioned. In the end she stands naked before her sister Ereshkigal where she is judged, killed, and her corpse hung on a hook. Only afterwards is she restored and permitted to then return to the land of the living.
This myth became a powerful story and system for initiation.
The Death of Gugalanna
Pre Shadow Phase
The pre shadow phase of the Venus Retrograde cycle is when Venus transits the degree she will later travel back to. The events around this time period are important as they will be the reason and precursor to why she descends to hell.
Gugalanna, Ereshikfal’s husband, has died and she feels she must go to the underworld for the funeral rites. She prepares herself in regalia although she knows the journey is dangerous and instructs her minister Ninshubur about what to do if she does not return. This is the justification of her journey but leaves a mystery to why she would go to such lengths for her sister’s husband. Some believe she feels called because she has already mastered the heavens and wishes to confront the powers of death.
Gate 1 – Crown
Venus stations Retrograde – Authority and Identity
The planet Venus, an evening star, stands still at the station retrograde before turning around and travelling backwards in the sky. This is the degree of the zodiac she will retrace later when she returns to the surface and land of the living.
At the first gate Inanna must surrender her status as Queen of Heaven and enter into her sister’s domain, Ereshkigal’s Underworld. This is the door that separates heaven and earth. At this gate, Inanna is stripped of her sugurra, her crown, a representation of her status. She gives up her name, her legacy, her status, authority over others and the power her identity wields. She gives up her identity. From there she will descend towards invisibility and into the dark.
Surrendering the crown is an act of letting go of your sovereignty, the labels we attach to ourselves. In Inanna’s case, “I am the Queen. I have authority. I know who I am. I have a position in this world.” This is the identification of the ego.
This is synonymous with releasing ourselves of pride, the titles we have and have worked for, and the respect we garner from others. Remembering what each gate requires, she has no bargaining power or authority. She cannot negotiate her way out around this discomfort. So, the first gate is truly about not being able to take our power with you. The authority and respect you have gained so far in life cannot help you.
At the first gate, you loose the highest symbol of yourself but it is the least difficult to give up. It is merely stepping over the threshold.
This is the release of all that you are named.
Gate 2 – Earrings
Venus Retrograde and Her First Hard Aspect
The first time Venus Rx makes a hard aspect would make sense to represent the second gate. This is the moment you realize you are not in control of the narrative and need to listen to what the depths of the psyche is telling you. You realize there is much more going on than you thought.
The gatekeeper requests her lapis lazuli earrings at the second gate. Although not described in ancient text the meaning behind this, lapis lazuli is a gemstone of royals and considered very prestigious in ancient Mesopotamia. This valuable adornment shows the next step in the dismantling of her status. The ears allow us to hear, they bring wisdom and perception. In this way, the second gate might be psychologically connected to what we think and our opinions of ourselves and the world. As the first gate was connected to the letting go of “I am”, the second gate could be the release of what “I know.” This is a surrender of all that is certain and all that is true to the wearer. We all tell ourselves stories from what we experiences about our small worlds. This gate is that perhaps that story isn’t the whole story or even a true story. If the pretences are stripped away, perhaps then you can truly listen. In this way, the ears become uncovered at the second gate.
This is the release of truth.
Gate 3 – Necklace
Venus Retrograde and the Confrontation with Expression
This part of the Venus Rx process is where there is some clarity around the values used to describe yourself. This is what I love and want. This is what I am worth. This is what I believe a relationship should be. This is what beauty means to me.
Inanna must give up her beautiful double strand lapis lazuli. It sits closer to the throat which gives you the right to speak who you are and proclaim your truth. In this part of the stripping away process, the confrontation becomes about letting go of the way in which you speak about yourself. It does not work anymore. So this is about your personal story and the narrative dropping away and being replaced with recognition and admission. If I know the truth, what can I no longer keep saying. So if gate two is about listening and hearing the truth, gate three is to admit what that changes to your current life.
This is the release of expression.
Gate 4 – Breast Ornament
At gate four Inanna must surrender her breastplate called ‘nu-gig” which means Come, man come. This is part of Inanna’s power she has over men from a sexual and erotic lens. This is representative of her desirability and shedding away the parts of her power that come from her beauty, her sensuality, and the power of being desired. Her power sensually over others is part of what makes her divine and is part of her heavenly gifts. It is not something that is inherently bad.
This stage of the Venus cycle has to do with the question of what you really want and desire. We might be aware of something here that can be true about our own desire, but we can still be emotionally attached to it. This can be in relation to a person or a way of being. This gate deals with the lessons of the powers of seduction as protection which involves the ability to obtain love and validation. This is the question of who you are when you are not being loved, when you don’t feel attractive, or desired by others. The question becomes then, who and what do you really want? So if we strip away validation, fantasy, attraction and the desire to be chosen, then what.
This is the release of desirability.
Gate 5 – Gold Bracelet
At the fifth gate, Inanna’s gold bracelet is removed from her hand. There is a strong association with this stage as the letting go of personal agency, being, doing, grasping, possessing, and controlling outcomes. Your hands wield your universe. It is where you conjure and direct focus and intent. You have go let go of our labels and ego, recognized truth and listened, questioned desire, and now you can be free of being part of your creation process, letting go of your manifestation strength and capabilities.
This gate asks us what happens when you stop trying to manifest your desires into reality? What happens when you let go of trying to be involved and wield your small microcosm into being? This is where you stop trying to fix the problem, work on the relationship, and troubleshoot the career decision. You discover here that the thing that isn’t working is the thing itself and instead of trying to fix it, you evaluate why you wanted it in the first place.
This process removes your hands and the act of doing something about it. This is the release of control and surrender to what the outcome must be.
This is the release of personal capability.
Gate 6 – Lapis Measuring Rod and Line
Gate six becomes very close to surrender. Venus is close to the Sun here under its rays. The Sun is so bright that it is difficult to see Venus at all and she becomes invisible. In this stage, there is a profound lesson here surrounding the comprehension of the outcome. When Venus is this close to the Sun, she is distraught, uncomfortable and prepares for death.
This period is about letting go of the ability to measure, judge, and define what is happening. Although you released control around what the outcome must be, this process is about releasing the need to understand it and realizing that none of that matters. Trying to understand where you went wrong, what your contribution was to the situation, what it says about your self worth, and where might this lead are all ways in which you might measure or judge a situation. Venus is the balancing act so this rings true to her heart when she is asked to release her basic representation of what it means to be the Goddess herself. Her system of pros and cons and balancing the scales and judgements of right and wrong die in this stage. She looses the order she normally has and the systems in place to maintain and restore it.
This is the release of discernment.
Gate 7 – Royal Garments
Venus retrograde meets up with the Sun at the same degree in conjunction. This is called a Cazimi when everything Venus holds dear is burned off and what remains is of true value. The Sun illuminates this essence and carries it forward. This marks the midpoint of the Venus retrograde cycle and the inferior conjunction.
The garment is removed and she stands there naked. This represents the finale boundary between the self and the world. Once removed, there is nothing left between her and her sister, heaven and hell. It is the last piece of her before she can meet death. She looses this last external piece of her life on earth that separates her from oneness with death. In this she no longer have protection. This period represents when you have nothing left to lose.
Ereshkigal places the “eye of death” upon Inanna and she is hung on a hook to die.
The Cazimi then illuminates who you are without anything else covering you.
This is the release of life.
Return to the Land of the Living
Post Shadow Phase
Inanna is rescued by her priests and returns to the land of the living. However, a price must be paid and someone must take her place. In her ascent, she comes across many who mourned her and refuse to allow them to take her place. When she returns to the palace, she finds her husband sitting on the throne adorned in luxury and fine clothes. She fixes the eye of death upon him to take her place in death. One might think of this as the transformation that is required within the relationship and the journey he must now go on. She returns as a morning star carrying the energy of independence, strength and Venus as heroine. A new Venus then becomes visible. As Venus returns to the degree that she started her journey she reemerges into the heavens to rule with new depth and introspection.
Read more about Venus Retrograde through the Houses
What does it mean when Venus goes retrograde through a particular house in your chart? Explore in more depth what the Venus Retrograde process means for you at this time and understand themes of value, money, relationships and exchanges that might take place at that time.
READ HERE.
Venus Retrograde Dates
From Station Retrograde to Station Direct
- Dec 19th , 2021 – Jan 29th, 2022 (26° – 11° Capricorn)
- July 22nd – Sept 3rd, 2023 (28° – 12° Leo)
- Mar 1st – Apr 12th, 2025 (10°Aries – 24° Pisces)
- Oct 3rd – Nov 13th, 2026 (8° Scorpio – 22° Libra)
- May 10th – June 22nd, 2028 (19° – 3° Gemini)
- Dec 17th – Jan 26th, 2029 (24° – 08° Capricorn)
