1.
There is a patch in the wall that
was a hole.
Behind it are the things of
the past and of the
distant future.
What are those things
we believe which
do not exist
yet.
I reach through this whole
Photographs and dog eared books
and pieces dismembered
I patch
2.
There have been few moments
A few
coal and ashes
Here,
to make them sparks.
3.
I lost something to that lovely whole
Patched it up loose and simple
painted
so I might come along a stranger
and see.
A pithydamb, in two parts. Please play ‘Dust Bird Baths,’ the first track on this album, first:
http://fat-cat.co.uk/fatcat/release.php?id=285
1.
The diplomacy of exile
must be learned, says a
balky mule. The rule of a
mule, what else could there
be for those who cannot
reproduce their parents’ genes,
refusing to wear their worn out
jeans. The rule of unchosen
exile, of wanting to be what isn’t
set free, of wanting to be wanting.
Wanting for what. For the right
question of course, for it is an
exile from answers, a mule
cannot answer to reproduction
and so phe learns to be
diplomatic, sensitive and wanting.
So much at once so let us
just call the mule Sophie. She or he
is too sensitive and not enough
senseable, not able enough to make
good sense, not enough able to make
good of the two cents left
in a pair of worn out jeans.
He or she doesn’t much see
sense in all of this talk of genes.
Who does. Doctors
and thoroughbreds, to race or mend
the racer. So, particularly sensitive
to matters of race
Sophie walks around, smiling sometimes
sometimes not. Who could
expect him or her to race with
such unshapely hips and bowed
shoulders or just flat out
enormous donkey ears. No,
neither the race course nor
the mule was attracted to
one another so then there
was a desert and then an
oasis and then the mule
wonders if there is more
than mere nourishment to the
world. This is Sophie’s world, so
read philosophy or poetry or
whatever books best express
your character but phe is in
an oasis and really the
library is a very boring place.
Or at least, a mule can only
sit still so long.
In any case it’s movement
which is most attractive to a
mule and so, a learned learning
diplomat, Sophie meets other
mules at the watering hole and
faces attract but being irreproductive
there is mostly just an exchange
of sensitivity and satisfaction of
want. This being what a
watering hole leads to and so
doesn’t the oasis become boring
too, first the books and then
even the carnal nourishments
and then clearly ever so clearly
everything else falls away and
the mule is left with the
bare life of desiring-production.
Which is to say one must
produce something, after all,
this being god knows whose
will, a will one signs at
birth that a life will exceed
one’s death…
The mule sights the will
while standing in the oasis.
Having crossed the desert and
had done with libraries phe
senses the fact that a will
was signed, a will assigned,
a willing desire to will
to produce, and this is when
the mule meets someone very
special. Not someone, but the
one. One’s very own one.
Not an other, do not get me
confused, do not confuse your
one with your other, for this is
what we all do and it is holding
us back (None of us know what
we need; that is what makes us
who we are),,, which is to
say the one is the bug
which desires to produce and
came with our genes and jeans.
It was the bug that signed
the will and crawled into the
mule’s head, for better or
worse, it was fleeing
the bug that brought the mule
into the desert, it was
hiding from the bug that
brought Sophie to the library,
it was the bug, all of it was
the bug, the bug wants everything
out and if you sit still too
long god knows the bug will
begin scratching in your skull.
But whosoever was it that
fed the bug, wonders the mule,
staring soberly at the will with
its little bug signature. Was
it not the maker of the race,
the builder of the course, the
attendees to the grand prix,
was it not namely one’s parents
and by not wearing their
jeans does one not elude
their genes. They were the
makers, they, they thought they
were taking down the machine
but then it picked up what
they made and thanked them
for the shiny new appendage.
The mule says no, I will be
all legs and no arms, I
will move but will not make,
or what I make will be
as ethereal and shortlived as the
belches of an English toad.
The mule stands at the oasis
avoiding the race and admiring
the myriad races. Sensitive,
diplomatic, and wanting to be
wanting, the mule has seen
what all making really is.
Says some learned German named
Gebsner: All “making,” whether
in the form of spell casting or
of the reasoned technical
construction of a machine,
is an externalization of inner
powers or conditions and as
such their visible, outward
form. Projection, says the
mule, all those thoroughbreds
with their projects and
projected victories, all of
that is the projection of what
one already has and so why
listen to the bug when really
the bug is just the callous
carnivorous cantankerous
fool who has forgotten how
fulfilling bare life is, already
in itself foolhearty enough
to satisfy all equestrial types.
The mule says this while
sighting the will which the bug in
the brain signed and then says no –
to that race I shall not be consigned.
And so resigned, the light of day
dimming over the oasis, a
projector screen lights up and
the screen begins to flicker.
For every mule a screen.
It helps one not to scream,
too many facts to gleam,
a one debugged is a one unscreened,
left open and available to the
surrounding scene, the mule needs
a rule and it is a rule of
exile, exile from jeans and
genes and all the worn out
scenes already tried and
already tired no matter how
new so I am going out tonight
all the same it doesn’t
matter who or what I see
I will see spontaneously and
without a will, I will, you
see, and no, let’s stay in and
watch a movie.
2.
(From The Ever-Present Origin by Jean Gebsner, 1949, around the time the piedigger wrote an essay on ‘The Question Concerning Technology’)
At one time man himself, or, more precisely, the human body, was the instrument of sight or thought across distances - tele-vision and telesthesia - or the perceptor of the faint radiation of the aura, while today man fashions instruments for such purposes.
This is not an opinion as to the value of the natural, or the lack of value of the artificial instruments. Yet the very fact of the quantity, indeed the quantification of the constructed artifacts could well cause us to reflect on the phenomenon even where we are speaking of valuable precision instruments. Detractors of such instruments will decry them as being substitutes, defenders will point to the enhancement they bring, and both will be able to marshall weighty arguments to defend their positions. But this conflict of opinions does not resolve the problem; it merely achieves the termporary triumph of one or the other opinion.
Yet to the extent that the machine is an objectivation of an externalization of man’s own capabilities, it is in psychological terms a projection. We have already spoken of the decisive role of projection in the emergence of conscoiusness: it is only because of these projections, which render externally visible the powers lying dormant within man, that he is able, or more precisely, that it is possible for him to become aware of this intrinsic potentiality which is capable of being comprehended and directed.
All “making,” whether in the form of spell-casting or of the reasoned technical construction of a machine, is an externalization of inner powers or conditions and as such their visible, outward form. Every tool, every instrument and machine is only a practical application (that is also a perspectival-directed use) of “inherent” laws, laws of one’s own body rediscovered externally. All basic physical and mechanical laws such as leverage, traction, bearing, adhesion, all constructions such as the labyrinth, the vault, etc., all such technical achievements or discoveries are pregiven in us. Every invention is primarily a rediscovery and an imitative construction of the organic and physiological pre-given “symmetries” or laws in man’s structure which can become conscious by being externally projected into a tool.
This is equally true of the natural capacities at the disposal of magic man we spoke of above such as telesthesia and telepathy; but it is not true of our radio and television. Today, European man supercedes, that is, excludes time and space by utilizing such contrivances since he is caught up in the consciousness-sustaining world of space and time and is scarcely able to achive this supersession any longer by himself. Magic man does not need this exclusion at all since he lives and moves and is absorbed in a spaceless-timeless world of which he is a part. In this respect the acts of yogis are not miracles but natural occurrences; the miracle would be if such phenomena or events unbound by space and time did not have their place in the spaceless-timeless world.
The European has for the most part forfeited these capacities through the unfolding of consciousness and has replaced them by their projected objectivation or externalization into television and radio. (The giant telescopes belong to this same context inasmuch as magic man “saw” and “knew” those phenomena which we “discover” via such instruments, though in a merely optical and sectoral form.) We might also say that we would not have such instruments if we did not possess within ourselves the genuine capability of such achievements as they permit.
This consideration also points up the limits of technology, for technology is definitely unable to bestow on man the omnipotence which he imagines himself to have. On the contrary, technology necessarily leads to an “omn-impotence” to the extent that the process of physical projection is not realized. It is, for example, a requirement of a projection that it not be left without temporal limits; it must be integrated. But such integration is possible only if the projection is retracted, and retraction can be realized only out of a new conscoiusness structure. Psychic projections can be undone only by conscious mental understanding. Does this perhaps suggest that material-physical projections can be resolved through the integrating spiritual capacity of diaphany? Be that as it may, we have in any event a possibility of resolving the problem of technology, a problem which cannot be solved merely by further technological advancement.
What is this pain in my brain that flows through my throat to my chest. Funny, chemical cascades create real pain, so now I know why I need to be chemically numbed, well not me, I’ve never been flying high like all my somatic friends. I can never really believe that I need a TRIP away from myself. My reality, it is what it is, I don’t want a paradigm shift.
I awake from my pensive slumber, voices are debating, and repeating the same argument. Either it will crystalize or it won’t, but I guess sometimes it does both. I realize now that I don’t care.
Maybe I am lying when I say I don’t need to TRIP, maybe I already escape with this pen. I need more frequent injections!
We are talking about drugs, in this meeting I mean, and this drug in particular it is worth billions. I was told not to say the word drugs around the kids, I should say active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Chuck interrupts my thoughts with I’ll let Meghan speak about the newly formed analytical team. The screen goes dark as the projector resets. Now, wait still dark, okay now the screen appears bright and white with little black markings. Oh those are words. Okay I get it now, it says in bold Analytical Method Development Efforts. I really must pay attention at these meetings, this is my job after all.
That reminds me, my date yesterday told me if she were financially comfortable she wouldn’t do what she does. She would go out and change the world. I was very naive and thought coming to work was something to do, but I guess getting paid is nice.
I could just walk out of this meeting, they know I booked my ticket to escape. I am a free man, 5 more weeks, but till then I am still a prisoner. And even then my escape will end in August when I am shipped off to school.
In the meeting now we are trying to organize who is going to analyze smaples. Beauracracy is so powerful I mean really really powerful. Why should I have to tell anyone other than Yola Mick asks….Haha because the levers of control must be adjusted just right. It is not a fear it is a reality: things will slow down, haha you don’t know it is about control. We must control the process. Everyone and their mother if they are Cc’ed on the email I don’t care just make sure you follow the chain of command.
I just realized the data we are now discussing makes me excited. So perhaps a portion of this vocation does speak to me, tickles my fancy I think they say. There are sadly not enough of these moments in my work day. The data, the results, the slow progress towards making billions of dollars for someone else cannot captivate me the way I want to be captivated. There are too many numb moments in my day, there is too much resignation, there is too much indignation. When I feel an ape, granted a clever one at that, could replace me then I know that I must be heavily sedated in order not to rebel. So I am taking my TRIP and you can’t stop me. I am taking my TRIP, and when I return I will seek the frost on the windows. And do you not know what the Frost on the windows is? It is the moisture frozen on to the glass, well I guess it could also be the morning dew frozen too the crops too. It is whatever I want it to be, a frenzy or a quiet sunrise, or a galactic storm, it could be me under the apple tree.That is what I will seek avocation and vocation enjoined as one. Forgive my plagiarizing heart I am but a tramp with no real creative skill I steal freely from other creativity, and this gives me joy. So when I return from my TRIP I will seek only to fuse together, to enjoin, to enjoy, joy!
Word on the street is pinko’s closing so this is my last post, Duvel is a beer, Willem is a bird, the piedigger is Heidegger and for those of you that haven’t read him his favorite character is Dasein - which I mistransbliterate, Dehsihn. Oh and the germ-man is Nietzsche. And best read on empty stomach with ‘Strangers’ by the Kinks (from Darjeeling Limited soundtrack) playing in the background.
…and slowly learning
to believe that you can’t
listen to DCfC because
AC and Y make much more
well-informed music I
open the piedigger to a
random page and he says
Uncanniness reveals itself
authentically in the basic
state-of-mind of anxiety
and so I begin to wonder
well if I don’t feel
anxious listening to these
affirmative bands am I
then feeling less uncanny,
and thus being less
authentic, and is enjoyment
had at the price of honest
prurience, and is it Duvel,
is it Duvel, is it Duvel
Drivel. Better to have the
split than be a well-formed
ego. Better to h-a-l-v-e than to
be. And so if I enjoy now
and then this is better than
to be, being
always anxious, better
to enjoy half the time and
ignore the rest, better to
enjoy and never rest, better
to be always talking and
listening and do I have the
same shirt as him and
let’s just go out and forget
who we are, forget who we be,
always and again.
But on the page before
the piedigger italicizes
In conscience
Days Inn calls itself. But
I’m forgetting I’m not going
to remember and so look
at all these dutch about
their days going on call,
calling on one another, topping
up and losing their cells
in the cancer of a late night
and who’s to
say oblivion isn’t good
for the health. Doctors
on their pagers and on
the same page the piedigger
says The call comes
from me and yet from
beyond me, gosh this is a
good random page, you were
expecting him and yet
you weren’t and then
your pants rumble in
more ways than one and
you perk I mean pick up.
From and from beyond
me I see canals lined
with houseboats and all
the little Willems speckling
the trees, doting on their
feathers, and I sigh.
This book is too goddam
much, I think, as the
lady next to me hangs
up and drags her cig and
I look down to read
Indeed the call is precisely
something which we ourselves
have neither planned nor
prepared for, nor voluntarily
performed; and of course it’s
not cells but the goddam
conscience he’s talking about,
he’s talking about the calling
that comes from me and yet from
beyond me I can see
the billboards for a beer
I recognize but dislike,
Duvel is so much sweeter,
Duvel is so much darker, he
is mine and no one else
has hardly ever heard of
him I have him any
place I can.
I do not wish to confuse
you but can you not
see. I am incapable of
sitting still, and the germ-
man says he likes brief
habits and so do I,
and so do you so let’s
go and forget who we do
you really care, does anyone,
it’s all going to shit anyway
so what’s the difference
if we and that one there
yes I like her, don’t
you Duvel, don’t you, get
into me and let’s follow
and maybe something will
happen, forget the goddam
morose piedigger, forget
morose, get verbose, get into
me and let’s follow, she’s
going to the park, they all
go to the park and even
if she’s not I will and
it will be warm there,
sunny and sweet, sweet and
simple as a Days Inn
and I will sleep and
she will come to me and I
won’t have to remember
to forget and get into me
Duvel, get in, get in.
Hi Pinkos
I have not abandoned you. I’ve just been in my own hot little world. I’ll be back in the States in June! I can’t wait for all your air conditioners and cheese.
I’ve got a first draft of this thing . I think of it as an Imbriglio-style nonfiction. I don’t know if it’s interesting, if it’s worth reading, but at least it exists, justifying my year–which I felt like I needed.
much love
So I wrote this astrology article last week…. freelancing project I found on Craigslist. I was given an outline, which told me the target audience was women 18-35. The title I was given was ‘Love, Career, and Money: How astrology can help you in these aspects of your life.’ I wrote this bit on love. The section on the signs I paraphrased largely from other sources. I’ve left out the prefatory paragraphs that open the essay. In astrology, love is ruled over by the planet/god Venus. Venus as a force of love. Venus as a planet whose workings we in no way understand. That’s what I’m talking about. And no, I do not believe astrology is the best way of understanding what I am talking about. It was what was at hand.
In astrology, Venus is the planet that represents love. Love as a sensual indulgence, love as the renewal of creative energies, love as the bond sanctified by marriage: these are what Venus stands for. She more than stands for them; she is the sensual experience, the creativity being renewed. When two people love one another they are under her spell, their faces reflect her magnificent glow. A child laughing gives her voice. An artist observing a scene sees through her eyes. Her energy exudes from material items of finery, and graces the contours of every beautiful sight. She beams through the paintings of the Renaissance; she was herself the Renaissance. She is the renewal of spirit over the decay of matter. With anything that gives us an impression of aesthetic perfection, a certain pleasure can be felt to course through one’s body, a wholeness, a sense of the sublime. This sensation is produced by Venus. Her power is a balancing act. To offset the hardships of the world, she reminds us of the sheer pleasure of sensuality. She is confident, often brazen, but certain of getting her way: a queen more subtle than the rest of the court. She slides amidst the labyrinthine territories of life, flickering everywhere over the landscape a steady plume of wildflowers. Apparently at random, her seeds sprout up through the thickest pavement. She is a breeze laden with scents of spring passing through the thickest concrete jungle.
A contemporary astrologer writes, “Psychologically, as astrologically, Venus is to be regarded as the function of relationship. Possibilities of relationship on various levels are embodied in her image. Like all planetary functions or archetypal forces, Venus works equally in men and in women. She causes the striving for completion in all that is incomplete.” (Gods and Planets, p. 49). A moment ago, we held relationship to be the very essence of life. Venus is the goddess of relationships. Is she, by inference, also the goddess of life? In some ways, she is. In general, people whom we consider to be ‘full of life’ are animated by the spirit of Venus. These people bring others together; they inspire love, and act as muse for artistic creativity. A woman (or man) who embodies Venus’ energy will arouse the desire for relationship in others. As we will see, this energy rules over the star signs Libra and Taurus. But even if you were not born in one of those signs, Venus still plays a role in your astrological chart. Venus is the mother of all relationships, and she is the one who sends Cupid at his bidding. Once he has cast his arrow, Venus’ energy is what makes his love-arrow stand the test of time. She acts differently in everyone, but she always seeks the same: love, beauty, and their perpetuation from one generation to the next.
Venus is the energy of beauty, and astrologers hold this energy to be an essential part of a woman’s nature, requiring expression in every woman’s life. Before you say ‘Uh-uh, it’s no woman’s duty to be beautiful,’ you should know that I agree: the way that beauty is understood in our culture leaves a lot to be desired. As many times as we hear the phrase ‘Beauty is on the inside,’ a thousand more advertisements barrage us with the opposite impression. Everywhere, we are trying to refute the oppressive notion that women are only good for relationships, only good for being beautiful. Isn’t this more important than reaffirming the old stereotype? This is where we must pull back, and take a wider look at astrology. When an astrologer determines the placement of Venus in your chart, they look at the star sign which the planet was in at the time of your birth. Your Venus sign is different from your Sun sign. We can talk about Venus as a general ‘function’, which is to say, as a divine force or ‘goddess’, but when it comes to the human individual, Venus is always particularized and given a specific role. You are a Venus-in-Aquarius, a Venus-in-Gemini; you are not trying to be Venus herself. Beauty functions differently in each star sign, and so people make different aspects of their lives beautiful. Some people put their desire for beauty into a garden, others into their home lives, and still others into their relationships. What is sad about our culture is that beauty has become so overwhelmingly affixed to the body. We are rarely encouraged to make other aspects of our life beautiful. Friedrich Nietzsche, while no friend to women, was certainly a worshipper of Venus in writing, “But we want to be the poets of our life - first of all in the smallest, most everyday matters.”[i] Again, beauty functions differently in everyone. We don’t all want to be poets, and most of us would prefer to leave the small, everyday matters out of the purview of aesthetics. The key is to know what aspect of your life is most fertile for the expression of your beauty - your personal, living poetics. Astrology can help you understand where in your own life this expression will be most productive and enjoyable.
This is the main thing to remember about Venus, that she wants to enjoy herself. This enjoyment is available to everyone, but it helps to know where you are predisposed to find it. Whether in love, matchmaking, the arts, fashion, or just simple sensual experience, the beauty of Venus is more in how she enjoys these things than in the things themselves. Venus is found everywhere that pleasure, play, luxury, or delight in the senses is expressed. Her power ‘rules over’ objects, and is found in flowers, jewelry, gems, fine clothes, and fabrics such as velvet and satin. It is more in how these objects are enjoyable to the senses - visually stimulating, pleasing to touch - than how rare or expensive they are, which makes them articles of Venus.
The Modern Day Myth-Understanding of Venus
By giving you a sense of the divine beauty of love, astrology can help you find it in your own life. Indeed, it is not at all commonplace today to believe in a goddess of love. There are gods and goddesses on the screen and in sports, and those coming from a religious background may believe in God, the loving Father. But a goddess? For this, we have only pop stars. From Marilyn Monroe to Anna Kournikova, it is easy to think of famous women represented in our culture as embodying the spirit of love. Some of these women - Madonna, Penelope Cruz, and others - even share names with ancient divinities. The Romans burned incense before temples dedicated to Venus; we moderns can buy the perfume line of Venus Williams. We watch stories of love on TV, in movies, and in advertisements. We hear about love in songs, we talk about it in conversation. To be certain, love is still a binding force, even if we consider its cultural representations to be incomplete or misleading. The question is always being posed to us, especially in advertisements: How can we ourselves come to embody love? How can we be like the stars? One eventually realizes that is not by modeling oneself on the goddesses that one becomes like them; nor is it by purchasing their products. One is lived by love, or has it not at all.
In Ancient Greece, there was a god or goddess for every human emotion and character trait, and these divinities were enmeshed in a mythological tradition. Aphrodite (called Venus by the Romans) embodied the living power and spirit of love. Of course, for the Greeks, she was more than this, more than an ‘embodiment’. She was not just an ideal against which a woman’s beauty and lifestyle could be measured, in the way that pop stars are today. Everything ‘represented’ by Aphrodite was in fact her own expression. For example, as goddess of love for the Greeks, Aphrodite was understood to be the origin of all laughter and carefree joy in the human world. A woman laughing was not merely thought to be “like” Aphrodite; Aphrodite herself laughed through the woman. The laughter and mirth of young girls, the gleeful exchanges of socialites, are all voiced by the spirit of love. There was something more complete in the Greek understanding of the world. With laughter, it was not just that something was funny and caused a person to laugh. The act of laughter was the expression of a goddess. It was the manifestation of a divine force, a decidedly female energy. To laugh was to be possessed by Aphrodite.
This is not to say that we should all take up polytheism. We have no way of knowing whether the everyday Ancient Greek always saw ‘Aphrodite’ in a human expression of love. The point is more that if a Greek person so chose, he or she could refer to the mythology passed down by their ancestors for a more inclusive idea of how love operates and manifests itself in human society. In our own culture, the reputation of some individuals as love-embodying may reach epic heights and stardom, but there is no satisfactory explanation for why this occurs. With many pop stars, we can explain their appeal by saying “Oh, they have good genes; look at their parents.” Or, we might argue that this beauty is entirely superficial. Cosmetics, unnatural diets, and a whole spectrum of behind-the-scenes preparation go into creating their appearances. We can go one step further, and say that none of the stars and models is objectively “beautiful” at all. Only the passing standards of a culture dictate what is beautiful, we might say. Finally, we can give up altogether with the idea that beauty is something natural by asserting, once and for all, that sex appeal is an illusion manufactured by hegemonic, male-dominated societies. While there is truth to each of these arguments, we have to recognize that they only get us so far. If we rest content with saying “Gods and goddesses of love are made nowadays; they aren’t born that way,” we have really just explained away beauty, rather than looking for its source. Sometimes a person walks down the street, perhaps not even a particularly good-looking person by culture’s standards, and everyone watches them, without knowing why. Before we have begun to care about careers, compatibility, and money, we have love-crushes, even as small children. What does one see in that person on whom one has a crush? Why is it so often a person’s smallest mannerisms that cause us to fall in love with them? What is it in a casual smile, or a toss of the hair, which catches our eye and makes our hearts beat through our chests with sudden glee?
It is sometimes remarked that while other cultures have a hundred words for love, we have only one. Yet, to whatever extent the English language lacks, it is still possible to understand the diffuse workings of love in modern society. To be certain, the way that magazines and the media portray love leaves something to be desired. From an early age, advertisements lead us to believe that love is found by acting like certain famous people. Reality TV, for better or worse, illustrates the comically harsh extremes to which a relationship based on infatuation, obsession, or idolization can go. As rational adults, most of us eventually learn that love can never subjugate itself to the cause of furthering one’s career or social standing. All the same, few can say what true love is. It is in this respect that astrology is a useful tool, as it can help us to recognize and appreciate the range of ways in which love is expressed. For some people, each relationship is different from the last. Others find themselves in the same situation over and over again. Astrology provides us with a system for understanding the patterns of our relationships, whatever they may be. Building upon the conceptions of the ancients, and turning to the language of the planets and the stars, it opens those willing to listen to a hundred new ways of understanding human love.
When most people think of astrology, they think of Sun signs. You probably know your own sign, and you may have an idea of which signs you’re most compatible with. It’s important to go deeper than this. The Sun and planets are energy bodies, and the signs of the zodiac are representations of how these energies work. To truly understand your horoscope, you have to understand not only your own sign, but the signs which the planets occupy on your natal chart. When we talk about Aphrodite or Venus, we’re talking about a particular cosmic energy. This energy enters into each of us, and acts differently in each person according to the conditions in which he or she was born. If you’re very eager, you can skip ahead and find a brief description of how Venus acts in each sign. But before doing that, you might like to know more about her. Who is this goddess we call Venus (or Aphrodite)? Where did she come from? What aspects of life does she control?
Venus in Greek Mythology: Aphrodite
Few characters from the annals of religious history can match Aphrodite for an origins story. She was born, according to those imaginative Greeks, when Uranus castrated his father, Heaven, who had been in the middle of making love to Uranus’ mother, the Earth. Put in another way, the Greeks believe that Venus, the goddess of love, sprung from the separation of the primal father and mother, Uranus and Gaia (heaven and earth). The potency of the paternal heavens is sundered by the child (Kronos/Saturn). Now, this is only the beginning of Greek mythology. After Kronos on the genealogical tree, comes Zeus, and with him all of the other famous inhabitants of Mount Olympus we learn about in school. The goddess of love is born before this. She arises, as Hesiod records, out of the foam that bubbled up on the surface of the ocean after Uranus’ genitals had fallen from the sky. She is even said to have emerged perched upon a scalloped shell. The Greeks were certainly imaginative. In any event, it is a highly significant story, and it is important to consider the different ways in which it might be interpreted, as the difference actually reflects divergent approaches that one might make in thinking about the role of love in one’s own life.
In astrology, Venus is regarded as the energy of relationship. The vivacity and health of one’s relationships with others, with the world, and with regard to oneself, is the expression of Venus’ power. The energy that brings people closer to the things outside them- binding them to the people and the activities they love, and giving those people and activities the power to complete a person’s happiness- is hers. How strange that in the original myth, this goddess of love and relationship should be born in an act of divorce! Without getting too psychoanalytical about this, we can see a few ways of approaching this story of dismemberment and emergent love. On the one hand, we could focus, as Freud would, on how the story portrays love as emerging from a family battle. Many Freudians believe that the need for love derives entirely from the child’s separation from his or her mother. What an unnecessarily sour thought! We could go more metaphysical, and lay emphasis on the fact that Venus’ birth coincides with the rise to power of the despot, Saturn. But this would be just one more means of reducing love to the status of a side-effect. In far too many ways, we are always being convinced that love is not of primary importance in our lives. The Saturnine values of discipline and well-structured approach to career are the main emphasis of our cultural education, while love is made to wait for the weekends.
Deep down, most of us want to be like Aphrodite, riding the waves aboard a colorful, sparkling shell. Of course, it isn’t really in our power to do so. Shells don’t even float! Yet, when we think about love in our own lives, it’s best to remember this image. We need that carefree drifting, that gravity-defying balance, that spray of life’s oceanic foam splashing in our face. We should never resign love to the status of being a lost vestige, a memory of our former power, unity, and prestige, a lost paradise never to be recaptured. Venus is always waiting to surprise us, to show us beauty somewhere. And she is by no means trying to ‘make up’ for something. While it’s pleasant to think of love as a counterbalance to the stern seriousness of the Saturnine ‘real world,’ that isn’t really Venus’ role in the world. Her true role, if she can be said to have a role at all, is to bring light. She is the brightest planet in the sky, the North Star giving guidance to every lost traveler. Love is the measure of its own value, and bows before no other. It is an immaterial currency emanating from the songs of birds and glinting in the corners of every subtle smile. Why debase its beauty by interpreting it in terms of a familial past or in relation to a harsh, material reality?
We all know about Cupid, that spontaneous and capricious element in love; but Venus’ power runs deeper. She was invoked before marriages by the ancients, in the hope that she would bless the newlyweds with a bond as spiritual as it was legal. She makes friendships deepen unexpectedly, revealing elements of a person’s character that we never thought were there. Ancient goddess of fertility, gardens, and vineyards, she is found in all the places that give us cause to rejoice and take pleasure in the senses.
Venus as Energy
Venus’ energy in your life is revealed in what you attract and how you interact with others. The placement of Venus in your chart can also tell you about your openness and acceptance of your femininity. We all experience and express our gender in different ways. Family life can play a large role in this, as can the community we live in, the friends we have, the career we undertake, our religion, and personal beliefs. People grow up with different expectations placed upon them as to what it means for them to be a woman, and the role of cultural education in making us who we are should be respected, or at least acknowledged, especially when it comes to thinking about how we have developed in our own lives. But prior to all the twists and turns, beneath the experiences both sweet and sour which serve to shape the way we think above love, we each have our own predisposition. This is something astrology can help you to understand. Openness to love, being receptive to its possibilities, is something that can be learned. It is also something we can be born with. Either way, it’s a matter of coming into a relationship with Venus on your own terms, such that your loves can blossom and develop to the full extent of their potential.
Venus can be your guide in love. Indeed, she already is such, exercising her power within your psyche’s deepest sensual cravings. While we cannot choose who we fall in love with, we can have a well-formed idea of the patterns that show up in our loving relationships. There is a timeworn adage, ‘Opposites attract.’ This is certainly true in astrology. We tend to be attracted to people in star signs at the opposite end of the zodiac, and this is because Venus, the energy of our attraction, aims to maintain balance. If you have always had relationships with people who are quite unlike yourself, this is perfectly natural. We often love others for having characteristics that we ourselves lack, or which we wish we had. This can be discomforting: we may find ourselves idealizing a partner, ascribing them a personality and power far beyond what others see in them. Of course, you can go too far in this. It can be detrimental to your own inner psychic health to praise your lover too highly, to consider them to be in a realm higher than yourself. Love should not be worship, but some dose of idealism about your partner, some exaggerations about their virtues and beauty are necessary. Venus has a will towards fiction. She carries the initial spark over in a relationship, permitting both partners to enjoy each other’s company in the long term, and to this end, some ‘mythologizing’ of your lover is of good use.
Opposites attract, but individuals very similar to one another can also make a good match. A fiery, outgoing personality may not need to strike a balance by forming a relationship with a more thoughtful and reserved lover. Venus also causes connections to form between people born under the same star sign, or between signs close to each other on the zodiac. What tends to happen is that we are met with a choice. You may be with someone now, or even just in the stages of an initial attraction, wondering whether this person is right for you. Astrology does not have black and white answers. It can tell if you and your beloved are incompatible in terms of your star signs, but there is always some leeway here. More so, your horoscope or astrologer will be helpful to you in weighing the advantages and disadvantages involved in choosing a particular lover. By giving you an idea of how you are predisposed in matters of love, and by providing an interpretation of the manner in which your personality wants to express its Venusian energies, astrology can help you make this choice. Are you best suited in a relationship centered around a shared career path or common set of interests? Are you likely to be happy committing yourself to someone who is ‘everything you want to be’, and for whom you, in turn, can be everything they lack? Should your love be like the wasp and the orchid - two very different creatures drawn together unconsciously, the one aggressive, and the other passive? Should you see your lover often, should you marry them, or will proximity only cause Venus’ embers to sputter out, having not had the time to ignite? These are the sorts of questions astrology can answer. For a woman, the position of Venus in a horoscope indicates what type of relationship, with what tone and intensity, what degree of independence or intimacy, is proper to her at a given moment. We are each of us changing, passing through moods and personal seasons, entering now a period of ease, now a crisis, now a reprieve. The position of Venus in our lives, which is to say, our energy for experiencing love and expressing beauty, is continually in transition.
Venus’ power is not restricted to our love affairs. She is a part of all our social interactions. Everywhere that we express ourselves openly, engaging with others in laughter and good humor, the light of Venus shines through. Venus makes friendships deepen. Her place in your horoscope also tells whether you are best off having a few close friends, or a wide network of acquaintances and confidants. We express our beauty not only with our lovers, but with everyone with whom we are close. Without a doubt, Venus is most visible in the lightness of love and erotic sexuality. Sitting in a park in springtime, one can be overwhelmed by the sensation of her force. The lilting melody from a street performer, the flowers, the dance of lovers wandering carefree amidst nature’s rejuvenation - all of this is Venus. But she is also found in less austere places, in material things like candy and cosmetics, insofar as these things bring us greater pleasure in life. Again, Venus is not a property inherent in objects and scenes; she is the energy expressed in our enjoyment of them. Music tends to emanate from Venus. The pleasure of plucking a guitar string, or playing a melody on piano; the revelry of dancing at concerts, listening to a new album, or singing in the shower; our perking up at the sound of a favorite friend or family member’s voice: these and more are the joys of hearing Venus’ eternal song. Every time that our aesthetic taste is awakened, or that we creatively add an aesthetic element to our environment, we pay homage to her.
In the rest of this section on love, we will first look at how Venus’ energies metamorphose from one sign to the next; following this are descriptions of Taurus and Libra, the two signs which Venus rules over.
Venus in the Signs
Venus works differently in each of us according to which sign it occupies in our horoscope. If you do not know your horoscope, you can still round down the possibilities. Seen from Earth’s sky, Venus is never more than 48° away from the sun, which means Venus can only be in your own sign or either of the two signs preceding or following your sign.[i]
Venus in Aries: Aries is fiery, courageous, and utterly impulsive. For those who have Venus in Aries, physical appearance will be the spark of love. They will be flirtatious, to the point that they can even fall head over heels in love, only to realize later that they were in love with someone other than the person they thought. All the same, they are deeply romantic. Whether passion can be sustained in a relationship will make or break it for Aries Venuses, and they will work hard to ensure that the flame of love keeps burning.
Venus in Taurus: Taurus is materially grounded, and never impulsive. With Venus in Taurus, a person will be patient in love, hoping that it will last forever. Love means everything to them, and a Taurus Venus will sometimes become possessive over a lover. The passion in their heart is solid and sustaining, and if a breakup occurs, they can have a hard time letting go.
Venus in Gemini: Gemini, an air sign, loves change. Gemini Venuses may tend toward lack of commitment, but they also need a strong, communicative connection with their lover. They like to maintain constant contact with their lover, having a passion for being stimulated. Romance and intellect are of equal importance here, and literary talent is often an effect of having Venus in Gemini.
Venus in Cancer: Cancer’s love is a sensitive one. Those who have Venus in Cancer want to be immersed in love. This is partly out of a need for security, but it also stems from a passion for growth and nurturing. Cancer Venuses are not likely to rush into anything, but when secure in their love, they are loyal and deeply caring. Learning how to fulfill one’s own needs is important here, if one wishes to avoid projecting a feeling of neediness.
Venus in Leo: Leo is an ardent sign, fixed in affection. Love thus tends to be the most important part of life for Leo Venuses. Passionate romance is what they dream about, and in a relationship, they form a generous and selfless association based on mutual self-expression. Relationships can be quite effusive and dramatic here, and Leo Venuses are well advised to do their best to maintain a sense of self apart from their lover, in order to avoid stifling them.
Venus in Virgo: Virgo is scrutinizing and detail-oriented, and those with Venus in Virgo know what they like, and what they don’t. With a strong sense of social and emotional values, Virgo Venuses are sometimes too critical in relationships. But they can also be the most sincerely affectionate lovers. They tend to be shy and soft-spoken, and when they love, they love deeply.
Venus in Libra: Libra is in love with love itself, and so, Venus is very well placed in this sign. Libra Venuses seek to create harmony and beauty wherever they go, and they form strong partnerships with those they care about. Their passion for social grace may make them appear superficial, but this is just the effect of their love of relationships in general. Marriage is especially important to Libra Venuses.
Venus in Scorpio: Scorpio is intense in love, often to the point of jealousy. Here, Venus becomes an all-consuming passion. Scorpio Venuses have a deep need to find true love. They seek the magical alchemy of connecting with a person in both heart and soul. Venus in Scorpio cares about security, and will sometimes form partnerships in order to attain that security. Their love is powerful, mysterious, and absolute.
Venus in Sagittarius: Sagittarius is idealistic and spiritually-oriented. Venus in Sagittarius is an expansive love, all about adventure and excitement? and their love doesn’t always last. Sagittarius Venuses tend to have an aesthetic lifestyle, which includes having many friends. They like to share a sense of humor with their lover, and find a love filled with honesty, truth, and understanding to be the most fulfilling.
Venus in Capricorn: Capricorn is practical and cautious, and with Venus in this sign, a person will seek a quiet, slow, and safe approach to love. Venus Capricorns make steadfast and loyal lovers, taking personal attachments very seriously. Material possessions and money are also important here, and a Venus Capricorn will be happiest in a relationship that provides a strong financial base.
Venus in Aquarius: Aquarius is rebellious and original. Aquarius Venuses often come off as emotionally detached, but they are absolutely magnetic. They take a unique approach to life and love, marked by freedom and openness. They have a deep desire to find unconditional love, but they also shy away from emotional scenes. Sometimes promiscuous, and never possessive, Aquarius Venuses seek a relationship which permits them to be themselves.
Venus in Pisces: Pisces is compassionate and sympathetic. Venus in Pisces has an intuitive, empathetic grasp of love, and has a strong sense of spirituality in life. Here, love becomes imaginative and creative, a spark of brilliance, transcendent and natural all at once. Pisces Venuses are generous and artistic, often finding outlet in writing and music. Their love is unconditional, and sometimes, exhausting.
Libra
Libra is the quintessential “people person.” Venus’ joy in laughter, casual conversation, and sensual delight pervades nearly every aspect of a Libra’s life. If you are a Libra, lucky you! You love bringing people together, and enjoy nothing more than to use your Venusian traits to draw out the best in others. Your tact and good humor makes you a pleasure to be around. When your friends want to go out for a night on the town, they call you first. Libras are the life of the party, born social swingers, and excellent matchmakers. They employ the power of love in everything they do.
Libras are aware of their own magnetism. It is said that Libras tend to be considerably more beautiful than other signs? is it a rumor, or Venus’ influence? Either way, theirs is an unusual beauty. They are not necessarily handsome in a classical sense, and neither do they put much energy into preparing their appearance. A Libra’s beauty works more like a magic spell; an allure, rather than an attraction. Their magnetism is simply irresistible. On some intuitive level, they tend to know this. They do not go around looking for love, but let their lover come to them. They do not want win over others, nor do they want to be won: they more enjoy being the object of affection, the apple of their beloved’s eye. In a relationship, Libras keep the upper rein, but always in a charming way. They are gentle and firm in taking charge, and while they may have fears about being dominated by a partner, they are never too authoritarian. Libras can often be promiscuous, but in love they will be thoughtful, and will always try to settle issues with their partner in a peaceful, harmonious way.
Venus’ kernel of balance and creativity comes to bloom in Libra. Friends will go to a Libra with their talents and be greeted with encouragement. They may even get some advice about how to make their talent profitable. In social situations, Libras lay the ground rules. Possessing a strong sense of what constitutes appropriate behavior, they have no patience for rudeness or bad manners. When conversation reaches a standstill, they know just what to say to spark it up again. They are also experts at resolving conflicts, taking time to consider all sides of an issue before looking for that perfect imaginative solution, a win-win outcome. Libras cherish the qualities of balance and beauty in all aspect of their lives. They tend to be big on fashion and the decorative arts, they are passionate about painting and music, and are often musically gifted themselves. With a penchant for collaboration and an exquisite eye for aesthetics, Libras often seem to have it all? at least when it comes to love, sociability, and art.
Taurus
In Taurus, Venus attains a more possessive, grounded character. Whereas in Libra, Venus exerts a delicate, intellectual influence, here the goddess of love becomes more material and forbearing. Those born under Taurus tend to trust only what is readily at their senses, and are motivated by pleasure and comfort. They will often be materialistic, taking pleasure in the acquisition of physical possessions, and in the establishing of a strong, secure structure to their life. For the most part, though, they do not let their materialism get the better of them. To others, they will often appear a beacon of calm, in whose company one can be assured of safe and tender retreat. They are good listeners, and will pay attention with unmistakable earnestness. Steadfast realists, they are not overly analytical; they do not delve deeply into matters of hopes and dreams. Taureans are straightforward, and give their allegiance wholeheartedly to the people and beliefs they value most.
When it comes to love, the Taurean will be patient, seeking a good pace and timing to any relationship. Their commitment to their partner and family is unflagging, and they will work hard to make good for those closest to them. Taureans will often be attracted to people who have the opposite temperament from their own. They admire and seek out spontaneity, flexibility, and versatility, but these characteristics may ultimately put them at odds with a lover. A Taurean does not like to venture far out of his or her comfort zone, which can make others think of them as stubborn and fixed in their ways. A commitment is a commitment, a belief is a belief: Taurean men and women stake their claim in the Earth, and hold on for dear life. They will build their reputation slowly, methodically, more practical than intellectual in their social interactions. They are very good at building trust and taking on responsibility, having a well-developed sense of community and social initiative.
Taureans are dependable, and they like dependable things. For this reason, their artistic interests will tend towards anything which stands the test of time - architecture and antiques, for instance. Just as a well-built building stands through storms and troubled times, the Taurean is almost unshakeable in his or her being. They have a close spiritual connection with the Earth, which gives them a sense of the eternal harmony of terrestrial things. This sense of harmony makes them adept at music, and even better as chefs. With Venus’ passion for luxury and indulgence brewing in their blood, they are great lovers of food and wine, sometimes to the point of gluttony. A Taurean will likely be capable of making a good meal, but moreover, they will make a good friend. Embodying good faith, even temper, and gentleness, Taurus brings the light and beauty of Venus down to Earth, turning her power to the most immediate, practical concerns.
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Venus is a major force in our lives, whether we currently are in love or not. She plays some part in all of our relationships, romantic or platonic, and is a large factor in our self-esteem. Her power flows through us whenever we experience sensual beauty or express this beauty ourselves. Astrology is of great value in how it makes us aware of how we can best exert Venus’ loving energy in our lives. It encourages us to plot our own destiny and become horticulturalists of the spirit, active purveyors of our most personal traits and talents. By giving us a sense of mythology and cosmic force, it helps us to deal with the harsher demands of our culture - the demands of sex appeal and career. In an increasingly secular and entrepreneurial world, it helps us to make informed decisions about the course of our life, decisions that will lead us to invest our desires in the spheres where they can best be satisfied. In this, astrology provides us with structure. But with this last word, structure, we have passed into the dominion of another astral body: Saturn. It is to this divine energy, the god of career, that we now turn.
Continuation of 5/13/06 post.
I feel awful. I feel downright awful. She could have at least made it clearer. She could have at least. Elise. I would have liked it better if her name were Elise.
The problems happen as I spit mucous on the ground. Or rather that helps to clear them up. The esophagus, you understand. A very vital organ. One is best suited keeping it in fine order. Best suited. “If you do not understand what you are saying then you are saying something false.”
I was always rather organized. My insides all knew their function. But a question is a stifling, and the more that pile up, the more excruciating the weight becomes. But as I was saying, my throat is clear since spitting. I deposited the problems sinkside in a cesspool of salient saliva.
Which is to say I don’t much want to talk about them. The waiter comes. Duvel is here. What a day I would be wasting, letting him get warm in the sun. What a day. I sit with him here, here in the dim light. I sit with Duvel. It is dark in the dim light. Wearing label over glass, wearing label glasses walk by the europeans long in splendor and speaking gibberish to my ears. They are equally commercialized, commerceialized, committed to the common cause of commerce, no regard for mercy, or rather in a confused sort of commingling, they live in commercy, the commerce of mercying, the deferral of mercy until the full commencement of ializing, aisleizing, becoming I-alized: both Duvel and the europeans partake in equal measure of commercialization. This therefore has been a preposterous flight of words from the deed pruriently primal to it all.
I do not wish to confuse you, but I must give some indication of what this is about. I’m sick, nervously sick, oscillating between epileptic fits of furious energy and general paralysis. The Swede says that. The norwegian knows too, he knows of whispers, embraces, hesitant confessions, half-pronounced words, tiny squeals… Freddy says Oedipus and the Frenchman says his father’s name. And the dane says Just need a bit of crop rotation. And even if the brit says All you need is love and Please don’t belong, please don’t you be very long, the blood throbs all the same, and I must roll up my shirtsleeves. And then my forearms itch and I must go through the whole process all over, conflict to resolution, repulsion to attraction. The endless cycle of subjuffering. Crop rotation, but someone or something else doing the rotating. Samsara. I must go through it over and over, I must. There can be no questioning it. The germ-man says it recurs. The germ-man says. It is the greatest weight, to which one must always and again learn to open one’s eyes and say yes.
I can no longer hide the magnitude of the effect which reading l’Anti-OEdipe has had on me. When I was young, I came into consciousness upon the idea that this was a struggle to the end, eat or be eaten. Death is the one propelling us, I thought, for He is the only thing mightier than Me. But after deluge I see the roots of everything called ‘mightier.’ I have seen the mite of Death hiding in the wood of the ark. Push that swing Malkmus says, and watch it break straight like an arc. Christ, watch it swing. Christ.
He had not dipped his feet in ink
before entering the forum.
He had not entered through the second-floor window
even once.
He had worn no hammer around his neck.
He had buried no sandwich under the pines.
He had not traced a headstone with the tip of his tongue,
nor had he the intention!
He spoke no nocturne.
He had taken no photograph
of a Mughal emperor.
He had not once stood backwards in the elevator.
He had not once been a widespread famine.
