On the Threshold of Mystery

words on initiation and Venus as Morning Star

As Venus dances ever closer to Sol I’ve been talking and thinking about initiation and what it means to be initiated. 

A new Venus cycle opens when the Sun and Venus meet in inferior conjunction on August 13th.

Initiation is not something available to a privileged few.  In fact, the opportunity to be initiated into a new life experience or identity arrives each and every time we stand at a threshold.

According to the online etymology dictionary the word threshold comes from the Old English word prescold which means “point of entry” and has evolved to its current sense of “thresh” which is to tread or trample. Thresh also refers to the reeds that were used in the past to cover floors which creates a barrier.  This is worth reflecting on because when we stand at a threshold we are facing a barrier, a door, a gate, a gatekeeper… and we all know what it feels like when we come face to face with a barrier in any form.

We feel anxious, irritable, restless…

Maybe you’re feeling a little like that this week.

Venus approaches the Solar Gate as Hesperus, Evening Star and will leave the throne room as Lucifer, Morning Star.

When we’re on a threshold new things come up for review. And because all eyes are on Venus this week, what we’re in the process of reviewing are our values. 

For an initiation to occur we have to first be aware that we are at a threshold. Not everyone recognizes an initiation when it presents itself and this is mostly because we, in the so-called West, have lost many traditional initiatory rituals. 

Once upon a time we turned to elders for guidance when we reached a margin, a boundary place... Now we listen to marketing companies who sell to us - directly and indirectly through “influencers”.

But I digress…

For those of us paying attention there are signs that foreshadow initiation and some of them I have mentioned above but there are others that are less subtle - like illness. 

Initiation is transition. 

You move from one state into another but not without first separating yourself from an identity or pattern that no longer serves the person you are becoming. 

Like Venus who is in the final stages of shedding what is no longer necessary for her new role as Morning Star. 

Venus will be visible as Morning Star on August 17th.

Usually what has to be discarded is an identity.

Maybe you’ve identified too long as someone’s “better half”, someone’s mother or someone’s child. Maybe you identify as “a good person” and all that culture has piled on top of what it means to be “good” and all that kowtowing has damaged your back and left you feeling depleted and under-resourced.

Maybe… to go where no one else in your family or your culture has ever gone before you’re going to have to question traditional values.

This week our Lady at the Heavenly Gate takes our earthly requests for love and harmony to Sol and when she emerges from her meeting she’s going to encourage us to follow our creative urges.

🌹