The Five Petals of Venus

and the Limits of Reason

The way of love is not a subtle argument.  The door there is devastation.

                              -Rumi

               A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants.

                              Schopenhauer

This time out I want to think through how we use reason to bring about results and the limitations of reason in this regard.  Without a doubt, our ability to discern the range of possibilities within any situation and to apply things we already know about the world to anticipate outcomes has made us mighty in The Earth.  Our adaptation to nearly every clime of The Earth, and eventually, to adapt these climes to US must be credited to reason as we are taking it up here.  At the same time, the unintended and often undesirable outcomes we experience clearly demonstrate that reason alone has its limitations in terms of bringing about desired outcomes over the long term (and sometimes even in the short term). 

The power of reason to bring about desired outcomes is limited by our failure to recognize all of the possibilities resident in any situation.  Further, our information about the world may be incomplete or faulty.  These limitations can, to some extent, be overcome by more keen observation and clearer discernment of the quality of information at our disposal.  But the quality of observation and information is not the most potent factor that limits reason’s ability to bring about desired outcomes. 

Reason, for all its power, always acts at the behest of an even more powerful force – the force of desire.  When this desire is “simple” (food, shelter, freedom from predation, etc.), reason is a great boon.  We, perhaps more than any other creature, survive chiefly by our wit.  But when these basic needs have been met and we are at leisure to turn to “less pressing” matters, we almost always find that there are deeper, more subtle needs.  We then set about applying our powers of reason in meeting these needs.  Unfortunately, the more subtle and abstract a need, the harder it is to identify much less project the best way of meeting it.  When we are hungry or cold, when we are in the presence of something which might harm us, the exact nature of our need and the paths to meeting them are usually bright and clear.  Our deeper, more existential and aesthetic needs are more obscure.  In these, we see less clearly what object might satisfy the need and what path might bring us to that end.

I am deliberately avoiding the distinction between NEEDS (what allows us to continue to exist) and WANTS (what makes our existence barrable), because I believe this distinction might not be as important as is often supposed.  Everybody needs to eat, but do we need to eat steak is a valid enough question.  But we might just as easily ask why we NEED to eat at all.  The simple answer is that we would perish if we did not.  The uneasy rejoinder to this is “why do we NEED to continue living?”  This is the question at the heart of religion and philosophy.  Many answers have been proposed to this question, but I think the most obvious one is “Because we WANT to”. 

This is not an answer that will satisfy most of us at first sight.  Surely there is something less contingent, something that makes our continued existence NECESSARY.  Perhaps we owe it to our community or to future generations, perhaps to honor and serve God or some other “ultimate good”.  Perhaps, but these are all conjectures.  What is CERTAIN is that most of us, most of the time, simply WANT to live.  Further, most of us agree that one of the worse fates that can befall us is to cease wanting to live.  This is why Albert Camus insisted that the most important philosophical question was whether to commit suicide. 

It is my position that desire is both the motivation and justification for existence itself while reason is merely a tool to serve desire.  Reason is the vehicle that takes us where we WANT to go.  Want is in the driver’s seat.  Without want, reason sits idle or simply spins its’ wheels.

As always, I entertain these thoughts within the broader context of magik.  Beyond (and possibly including) the fulfillment of basic needs, everything we bring to pass by will and intention, from the crafting of a feast to the most refined magikal working, is motivated by desire.  We want to enjoy our food not simply “refuel’, we want our shelter to be beautiful as well as adequate, we want our lives not only to persist but to have MEANING.  When we are motivated to make our present circumstances different from what they are, we experience the lure of desire. 

The quote from Rumi at the start of this essay demonstrates the difficulty of reasoning with desire.  The Schopenhauer quote suggests that while we can act in the service of desire, we are not free to act to change our desires.  But it might be possible to understand them; where they come from and how they act upon us.  We may begin to see the possibility, if not to alter our desires or lessen their grasp upon us, to at least learn something about ourselves and our lives.  Desire can become a teacher of self-knowledge which is, as Socrates taught, the beginning of wisdom.

The personification of desire has gone by many names.  For me, she is Venus (or Aphrodite).  As Goddess of beauty, love and what is precious, she appears in our lives when we are drawn to something and want to have and hold it.  She is there at the wedding feast but also at the clandestine meeting of illicit lovers, at the beautifully prepared banquet and in the squalor or addiction, in our most carnal moments of sexual pleasure and in the purest bond between parent and child.  She is LOVE, the force that, according to Empedocles, attracts and binds all things. 

One aspect of Venus, and of all Gods, that we don’t always think of is that they have little or no concern for our wellbeing or even happiness as we understand it.  Their main concern is that we show our devotion by prayer and offerings and, most importantly for us, learn the lessons they teach us.  Not that our lives will become easier if we do.  All who dwell in the material world are subject to loss and gain.  This is a fate that not even the Gods escape.  What we learn from them is how to endure loss and make the most of gain.  If there is a difference between fate and karma, this is it.  If we bare our loss with grace, avoiding bitterness and use our gain wisely, like good seed, this might smooth out the turbulence between loss and gain.  In the long run, this is the way to endure.

Venus is a capricious Goddess.  She can be a beacon that guides us to our highest good (if there is such a thing) or a siren leading us to shipwreck.  She is not easily swayed by reason but is quite adept at employing it to her own ends.  In what follows I will present some of her faces by looking at the Tarot cards connected with her by astrological correspondence.  A story emerges there that might remind us of our own experience of her gifts, where they have led us and where she might compel us to go. 

The Emperess

Venus appears in The Emperess.  She is wealthy and powerful, fecund and beautiful.  These are the gifts (or curses) we receive from her.  Wealth can sustain us and those we love but can purchase distractions and vices that make us weak and heedless.  Power can shape the world for good or ill depending on how we wield it.  Fecundity can multiply our resources and creativity but might lead us to sow more than we can reap leading to wasted potential.  Beauty is the lure in which all good things must partake if they are to capture our attention and allegiance, but it can also be the cause of pride and envy.  Even love, which is what she is most well-known for, has its dark side.  The extremes to which we are willing to go in love’s name, from the fierce, even fatal instinct to protect our loved ones to the damage to reputation, family and community standing we are willing to bare when who or what we love is considered taboo.  Remember that Aphrodite loved Ares more than anyone else.  Wars are fought and suicidal risks are common under the Venusian influence.

From the noblest pursuits to the rankest of follies, Venus underwrites everything we love and value.  Love and value are subjective.  They have no necessary connection to other virtues like goodness and truth.  Those are the offices of other deities, each of which have their own shadow.  It is best to develop a relationship with these deities which allows for “social knowledge”.  The relationships we have with others tell us something about ourselves and contribute to self-knowledge.  This is no less true for the Gods. 

Finally, The Empress implies an empire. Empire is always plagued with enemies on its borders and turmoil within.  An empire of peace is a shining dream which endures even now.  Whether such an empire is possible or even desirable is not the point – if this is what Venus wants, she will do all she can to compel us to build it.  Lovers always want to build a world of their own no matter what or whom they love.  An empire requires laws and protection.  Love and War, Venus and Mars.

Four of Wands

Ares Decan 3 (4/10-4/19 +/-)

Associated with the element of fire which transforms and illuminates, Wands imply ideas of leadership, passion and vision.  Fours indicate that we have reached a state of stability from which we can build. 

This is a card of arrival.  We see a small gathering.  Two people beneath a canopy stand before a palace or fortress.    We may have overcome trials to arrive here, but now we can take a moment to celebrate the first modest successes of a new venture. The birth of a child, immigrants in a new land, a new job in a new city.   New possibilities are open, and we face them with enthusiasm and vigor.  Venus presents us with a frontier upon which we might build our dreams.  There is perhaps nothing more compelling than possibility itself. 

There is much potential to make mistakes here.  When we find ourselves in a new situation, we should remember that it is only new TO US.  The new land has its own ecology.  Maybe there are natives – trends already alive in the land of which we are unaware.  While a new situation might make us drunk with possibilities, not all of these will be to our advantage long term.  It is a good idea to get used to the lay of the land.  Remember that this land has its own agenda and a history before our arrival.  Every new person we meet has a history that might take us time to know.  A new job is always in a structure with its own culture and “politics”.  A new love will have a wealth (or burden) of previous experience that we need to be sensitive to if we want the seeds we plant to grow there.

Two of Cups

Cancer decan 1 (6/21-6/30 +/-)

Associated with the element of Water, Cups represent all that “fills” us, spiritually, emotionally, aesthetically.  Two is the number of beginnings (ace being more the architype of the journey of the suit as a whole).  In the “feminine” suits, the twos represent uniting. 

The figures toast one another and what they will build together.  Between them, a caduceus-like figure with two serpents intertwining, topped with two wings and the head of a lion.  The serpents represent the two (or multiplicity of) individuals in a graceful dance of unity.  The wings represent the transitional stage of uniting – they are separate but act as one.  Finally, the lions head indicates power and nobility. 

While in the Four of Wands Venus infatuates us with possibility AS SUCH, here we have found a PARTICULAR possibility which commands our deepest affection.  We are ready to commit.  This is a card of marriage and contracts, of joining with another to create something more than what we could alone.  It is not just about the commitment of people to one another; it is any commitment that we hope might weave us into the larger pattern of life. 

As yet there is none of the day-to-day routine that dulls the senses and blunts curiosity.  Over time we know that partnerships face times of tedium and disappointment.  But in this shining moment there seems no end to what this new union of hearts might bring.  It is Venus in her guise as our deepest heart’s desire, the arrival of the beloved.

This beautiful image has it shadow too.  At the moment when we first commit, we create a sharp image of our beloved.  This image can inspire us as we go forward together.  But it can be resistant to the change that comes with growth.  It is an irony of commitment that what we set out upon to help us grow can become its greatest impediment.  The couple who becomes disillusioned with one another because the other just “isn’t who they used to be” when this is exactly what we should expect Venus who, as a mistress of fertility, is concerned that things should grow. 

When people don’t grow together, they grow apart.  The 32^nd chapter of the I Ching, “DURATION”, concerns itself with marriage.  We are taught that when two people set out together to make something greater than the sum of its parts, the relationship will change over time.  Newly weds are different from young parents, people in the prime of life, building careers, establishing a home, etc. are different from retired empty nesters.  The form may change but what remains, at least in theory, is the “unwavering direction of the heart”.

But the heart can be fickle, as Venus herself can be.  This can not be changed.  But this is more a result of not knowing, or being honest, about what we REALLY want, even if it contradicts the idea of what we “SHOULD” want or are willing to settle for.  Sometimes we should refrain from pledging ourselves until we have listened to our heart.  Unfortunately, we usually learn this lesson in retrospect, after the violence and heartbreak of separation.  The important thing is that, sooner or later, we actually learn.

This is not just about romantic relationships.  Everything we commit ourselves to requires us to remain faithful to it while we and it grow and change through our connection.  People often waste a lot of years tied to what they thought they should want.  But the heart will not be silenced forever and eventually it yields to the Venusian call.  When this happens, it can turn a settled life upside down.  This will happen again and again over a life, and perhaps over many until we learn at last our heart’s desire. 

Nine of Pentacles

Virgo decan 2 (9/2-9/11 +/-)

Because these are Pentacles, we know that this beauty and value is of a material nature.  Because it is a nine, we are at the penultimate moment before wealth finds its proper end.  What we build may outlive us but who will be left to enjoy this bounty?  To what ends will it be put?

We see a woman of means in a verdant garden.  Traditional lure tells us that she grew this garden herself.  The trained bird testifies to her vision, independence and power.  Yet she is alone.  What is more, the snail at her feet, seemingly unseen, is a reminder that no matter how great our fortune, we can’t take it with us when we die.

Perhaps she likes it that way.  Perhaps she likes it this way.  There is freedom in single mindedness and single handedness.  There is a strong sense of sovereignty that many might prefer to the compromises which any healthy bond with other people demands.  It is important to remember that Venus is in favor of what ever most commands our hearts.  Sometimes this means building a world of our own.  Artists, political and social leaders, entrepreneurs and all manner of creative and ambitious people are often willing to forfeit close relationships, even with their own families and closest friends if it means creating EXACTLY the world they see in their minds eye.  Sometimes such persons can be thoughtless and even abusive toward others in their zeal.  Venus can be ruthless and can compel us to be so when we are mad with passion.   

Yet we do not know what she will do. She might leave a great bequest to the future. Venus asks us what WE might do.  Who or what might you include in your will?  How much allure is held by a world without you in it?

Seven of Cups

Scorpio decan 3 (11/13-11/22 +/-)

Once more we are in the Element of Water and the question of what will quench our deepest thirst.  The Sevens show us the moment immediately after the perfect balance and fullness of the suit.  The powers begin to wane, and things begin to lose their balance.

A glowing cloud promises all the things the heart might want.  Unlike in the Four of Wands, where it possibility itself aroused our desire, here we are confronted with a multiple specific paths, any of which might bring us the deepest pleasure and greatest fulfillment.  We are given no direction about WHICH cup we should choose or whether its contents might truly satisfy or only bring regret.  This is a card of excessive desire and “fear of missing out”.  That the figure remains in darkness suggests that even though we might have anything (well, nearly anything) we have no inner light to guide us.  It is the Venus of the opium den, brothel, casino and shopping mall.  A place where partners might be betrayed and fortunes lost, disease of the body and mind and even death itself might rest in any of these cups. 

Yet even here there is the possibility of growth and redemption.  In the teachings of Buddhism and Taoism we read of sages who chose to meditate in saloons and whore houses.  Jesus himself walked among prostitutes and thieves.  But we must find our inner light, where Venus shines within us.  Sometimes she offers temptation as a test of love and faith. 

Five of Swords

Aquarius decan 1 (1/20-1/29 +/-)’

Fives represent the moment before balance and perfection of form.  The Sword, associated with the Element of Air, is associated with the mind.  This is Venus armed and willing to stop at nothing to have what she most desires. 

It is worth remembering the power Venus has over reason.  When our desire becomes desperate enough, we can rationalize nearly anything, even at the cost of doing harm to others.  Love wants to bind thing but she is equally capable of excluding things that are contrary to this binding.  Empedocles reminds us that the life of the world depends on Love AND Strife.  Aphrodite loved Ares best.  Love and War are never far apart.  What are we willing to banish in the name of Love.

We see a victorious warrior.  In addition to his own sword, he holds two more, presumably surrendered by enemies long vanquished.  Before him on the ground we see two more.  These have been thrown at his feet by the retreating figures in the distance.  Although banished, these two are still alive and will remember their humiliation and loss.  Slighted rivals, the dispossessed and all the things we have set aside for Love still live.  They retreat into shadows and distant lands but they might return one day to undermine Loves kingdom

There is nothing to be done about this.  The Buddha taught that attachment leads to suffering.  While this is most certainly true, Love asks “aren’t there some things worth suffering for?”.  We would not be able to feed our children or protect our loved ones if we weren’t willing to deal out suffering to others.  This card is less a warning about the excessiveness of Love but a stern reminder of what it costs.  All is fair in Love and War but there will always be casualties.  Remember this when Venus bids you raise the sword.

The Hierophant

Taurus (Sign Ruler Venus)

Taurus is a sign of earthly wealth, pleasure and security.  It is the Earth sign in which crops are planted and plans laid.  Because it is a “fixed” sign there is the implication of duration and resistance to change.

In Tarot, Taurus is represented by The Hierophant.  A religious authority initiates two novices.  Their kneeling posture suggests submission to tradition.  The keys with which they are being presented tell us that the “order” to which the novices pledge themselves promises mastery and access to powers both earthly and spiritual.  But they must surrender sovereignty to enter this order. 

Venus demands sacrifice, commitment and obedience to form.  Even in her most passionate moods one must sacrifice something.  She doesn’t much care what it is as long as it is given with one’s entire heart.  But only we can decide to make this pledge but if we do, we are bound to it and to its consequences.

Justice

Libra (Sign Ruler Venus)

In Libra we reap what we have sown.  It is an air sign which implies the life of the mind.  Because it is a cardinal sign there is the suggestion of beginnings.  This is the place where Venus teaches and also takes her due.

The figure of justice holds a scale and sword.  The scale measures what we have sacrificed (and asked others to sacrifice) for Love against the fruits that Love has born.  Where there is imbalance the sword “trims off” what is excessive.  This trimming can hurt a lot.  Justice is not always gentle but its measure is precise.  This measure will be taken whether we have followed Venus to the most profound heights of spiritual love or the deepest depths of debauchery. 

Conclusion

On the day this essay is published (Friday August 2,2024), Venus will have emerged from under the beams of The Sun and will shine in the sky as the evening star.  As part of my practice, I will make an offering to her to thank her for my good fortune in love.  Part of this offering was a pledge to compose a “hymn” to honor her.  Although this essay is not that hymn, it encompasses most of what she has taught me of the wonders and perils of love. 

Thank you for reading.

Venus Wishes Ring.