We’re in the middle of a Venus retrograde period, lasting from October 8 to November 18. Today is the day in Venus’ backwards journey that she conjuncts the Sun. The Sun sheds light into the dark corners and brings illumination to Venus’s domain, which is the domain of relationships.
Has your relationship gotten stuck? Has romantic, erotic love gone away? Have you been working at restoring love? Today look for special insight. It could arise spontaneously from within or it could come from conversation with other people. Look for a new understanding that reframes your relationship or how you behave in it. This insight could come anytime between October 26 and 30.
(If you’re just starting this thread here, please begin here. Then what follows will make more sense.)
Love Flies Out The Window
When Eros awoke to find Psyche watching him by lamplight, he knew his identity had been revealed. He could no longer stay. Dismayed and angered that Psyche had done exactly what he’d asked her not to, he flew away and returned to his mother, Aphrodite.
Did Eros want to leave Psyche? Of course not. He was just as in love with her as she was with him. But he couldn’t maintain their relationship in the light of day, for fear of being caught by his mother, Aphrodite. Unfortunately, keeping his identity a secret had become a point of vulnerability for Eros, a vulnerability Psyche’s sisters exploited. They aroused Psyche’s curiosity and fear, claiming that he was a terrible monster and goading her to get a look at him in the light. Psyche was afraid, but didn’t really believe them. She wanted to know Eros truly and love the person he was, instead of keeping their relationship in darkness. So she lifted the lamp over him.
Romantic love is a delicate thing, a dance of illusions. We want to look and behave our best when we are in love. When the illusion is shattered, love flies away in fear. Isn’t it ironic that we come to relationship to be seen and then can’t stand it when it happens? When she lifted the lamp, Psyche had no idea what that simple act would cost her. But all the pain that ensued was necessary pain, because without it, her marriage could not tolerate the light of day. Her desire to see Love face-to-face was the catalyst for doing the work necessary to restoring Love to her marriage—but this time in the daylight.
Let me say this again in a different way.
The human psyche craves love, and will accept it, even if given only in darkness. The psyche recognizes love as benevolent until fear and jealousy creep in. When goaded by dark emotions, the psyche will become curious to see the face of love, but upon being looked at too closely, romantic love flies out the window and the psyche has to do inner work in order to restore love.
Have you had an experience of love “flying out the window” in the last several weeks? Have you shed light on some aspect of your relationship and found that it is not what you thought it was? Have you or your partner run away from being seen?
Psyche’s journey has begun—has yours?
Read “Psyche Panics” for more insights about this powerful myth.
