gods of desire

working intentionally with venus & mars this month

Art detail, Venus and Mars, Sandro Botticelli, 1483

As I mentioned in this week’s forecast, both Venus and Mars are now moving into signs that they have rulership over. What’s the significance of this? Why does rulership matter? How can we work with these powerful energies over the next month?

The concept of rulership in astrology is a very old one, stretching back to the Thema Mundi, or “birth chart of the cosmos.” In Ancient Astrology In Theory and Practice Vol. I, Demetra George writes, “the Thema Mundi is the name given to an astrological chart that was thought to represent the nativity of the world. It depicted the positions of the planets at the moment of creation. The Thema Mundi originated in Egypt during the Hellenistic era [323 - 30 BCE] and it was discussed in astrological, philosophical, and literary texts for another 1500 years during the Late Antique, Medieval, and Renaissance periods.” Since its appearance, the Thema Mundi has been used as a teaching tool for astrologers to understand the rationale behind the concept of dignity — the relative ease or challenge that a planet may express within a given sign.