blackberries

When I was young my family moved a lot, but we mostly lived in the Pacific Northwest. Wherever we went, we stayed to the outskirts of the towns, where things grew wild and the animals and kids had room to run.

I remember the blackberry brambles. Wide expanses of thorny tangles, growing tall along the sides of gravel roads and spreading along the edges of fields. Among the thick barbed branches and the broad leaves with fine hooks hidden on their undersides there would hang bunches of fruit in various stages of ripeness. There were tiny berries, hard and pale green, dark black berries mummifying on their stems, berries that were half pink and half black, and berries that were large and shiny and perfect, but made my mouth pucker unexpectedly with their pure sour juices.

venus

Venus moving across the face of the Sun. Source: NASA/SDO

Many people are aware of yesterday's rare cosmic occurrence: The Venus Transit. As a lover of astrology, I know that this event also carries a significant energetic influence. So here is a quick explanation:

Every 18 months, Venus goes retrograde, which means that, from our perspective, she moves backwards in relation to the zodiac. This happens 5 times every 8 years, and her path forms a perfect 5 pointed star. During her retrograde cycle, Venus moves between the Earth and the Sun. Normally when Venus and the Sun are conjunct, meeting at the same degree in the zodiac, her orbit places her either above or below the Sun from our perspective. Yesterday's transit, in which she visibly moved directly in front of the Sun, only happens approximately every 120 years. So this was a big deal.

Astrologically, when Venus goes retrograde, she influences all of us, bringing tension to our relationships and and prompting us to take a deep look at ourselves, our relationships and our values. I don't intend this to be an Astrology blog. If you want more details, I encourage you to look it up on any astrology site.