With Venus Conjunct Mars, You May Rediscover Your Primal Passions

On August 24, Venus will form a conjunction with Mars at five degrees of Virgo, beginning a new cycle between the planets that signify our most intimate desires. Since Mars and Venus are the closest planets to our Earth in orbit, they connect us with primal feelings and passions which we discover within our inner darkness, away from the rationalism and judgment of daylight. The union of Mars and Venus initiates us into a process of rediscovering what we want in relationship, as well as how we wish to creatively express ourselves. Amplifying our capacity to break free from old relational dynamics, the conjunction of Venus and Mars is forming a flowing trine with Uranus in Taurus. Venus and Mars coming together calls for embodiment rather than intellectual analysis—getting in touch with bodily senses to uncover desires untethered from societal conditioning.
Read me: Mars in Virgo Is Here to Upgrade Your Life

While Venus relates to what we find beautiful, pleasurable, valuable, and distasteful, Mars represents our ability to pursue our desires, fight for our values, and separate ourselves from whatever we find intolerable or displeasing. Their conjunction in Virgo, an inwardly directed earth sign of discernment, promotes discriminating where we have veered from our authentic path by neglecting our most heartfelt desires in favor of cultural expectations. The mutability of Virgo enhances the potential to experience a metamorphosis of how we relate with others, while the earthiness of Virgo makes insight likely through tactile and sensual means. The heat of Mars uniting with Venus, combined with their trine to Uranus, can volatilize change in foundational aspects of our life that had previously brought stability but now feel rigid and stagnant.
What do the stars have in store for you this month?

Remarkably, the conjunction of Mars and Venus on August 24 will be the third in a row in Virgo, the first time that Mars and Venus have formed three successive conjunctions in the same sign since the early 1970s. Mars and Venus formed the first conjunction in Virgo in the series on November 2, 2015, and the second on October 5, 2017. As a result, whatever meaning Virgo has in your natal chart has been involved in an extended process of change in how you express and fulfill your desires since November 2015. It will be especially helpful to consider what new impulses for relationship and creativity developed following the last conjunction of Mars and Venus in October 2017, and what lessons you can distill from being at the close of the cycle that can bring guidance in reseeding the coming cycle.
Read me: Swim Good This Virgo Season With Your Personalized Tarot Pull

A crucial difference with the Mars and Venus conjunction in Virgo this year compared to the last two is that both Venus and Mars are invisible, combust in close proximity with the sun. While Venus is at the beginning of a new cycle with the sun (Venus solar conjunction on August 14), Mars is at the end of its cycle (Mars solar conjunction will occur on September 2). The closeness of the sun to Venus and Mars brings a purgative, cathartic intensity to their union that will bring stark awareness to any underlying motivations we have been acting from that are no longer in our best interest. As Mars and Venus become revivified by the creative potency of the sun, use the fire felt in your inner senses to guide you into creative actualization of your deepest desires. Taking the risk to experiment with new ways of relating, expressing yourself, and fulfilling your sexual and emotional needs will reward you with increased clarity regarding what is truly most worthwhile to pursue and embody.

Art by Art Fucker