Astrology | The Sacred Marriage & Invoking Your Inner Beloved

I am my beloved and my beloved’s mine ~ Song of Songs 6:3

Many moons ago, when I was a maiden, young, mystical and just as romantic, I came across Shamanic astrology and fell in love with it almost immediately. I felt it resonated deeply with me, as it spoke of astrology not in terms of good or bad aspects nor predicting our future, but it spoke of our soul purpose and how anything in our chart is merely something we can use for guidance with the intention of more awareness. Often times, it is a tool for validating all we already know and building our trust in ourselves and our intuitive abilities.

For me personally, I found that Shamanic astrology offered me more perspectives and deepened my understanding on aspects and planetary positions for a person’s unique life’s path. Everything interconnected, but always in the greater good, so that a person can fulfill their soul’s purpose. For example, when people think of Saturn in their 7th house, they often fear this and are told it’s bad for marriage, and that it will bring obstacles before Saturn matures later in life, or even divorce if we marry before his return. However, in esoteric teachings, and in Shamanic astrology also, it is precisely this Saturn that makes us discerning – and it protects us, by giving us a bit of a harder outer shell, because many karmic partners may cross our path with not so good intentions. Though we might feel drawn to them passionately and magnetically because of our past life link, and then think our Saturn is placing obstacles to be with our “great love”, he is actually protecting us from a lot of harm down the life. Eventually, it is Saturn in the 7th house, that will certainly bring us our true soulmate. And along with other things in the chart, this Saturn placement was exactly where it needed to be, to help the person get what they longed for their entire life – a true love with their true soulmate. When we view a chart, and the stars above, like a story – there is much to tell, in mystical, meaningful ways.

The main purpose of Shamanic Astrology is to give us the understanding of our own intention, purpose and the cycles of initiation throughout our life. This approach provides a vision of the possibilities we are here to experience and empowers us to make more conscious choices – because ultimately astrology is only a tool and we are the once responsible for our own experience of this life.

Let’s talk about love today. And if you haven’t read it yet, check out my previous article on The Purpose of Your Relationships For Each Ascendant Sign.

One of the most interesting things in both esoteric and Shamanic astrology is that each sign is connected to to archetypes which then allows for deeper meanings and awakening of self. 

Archetypes are powerful. Many stories, fairy tales and myths are actually following a very basic archetype; a mythology that gets re-created and retold all the time throughout cultures. This is because specific myths and stories work in our subconscious as a vehicle of remembering, of initiation, and of awakening. Certain myths awaken our own psychic ability and retrace a shared path of humanity; we retrace information stored in our own consciousness from past lives to awaken parts of us, knowledge in us, that was otherwise hidden. When we hear something of such deep resonance, that reminds us of a part of our consciousness even pre-incarnation, we become engaged in it and start to connect ourselves in a way that’s deeply ingrained in our soul. These stories and myths access our super-consciousness because of this resonance and we begin to remember and to awaken who we truly are. And so – through the use of archetypes, we are essentially awakening ourselves into remembering and re-integrating parts of us from our deep past – the more ancient than time past. 

Few things to keep in mind in Shamanic astrology:

• Our Moon sign represents the lineage of our soul and the relationship skills already learned or worked on in previous lives; it is where we come from and our past life tribe, along with our South Node
• Our Sun sign represents what fuels us in this life
• Our Ascendant represents our soul’s purpose and path, along with our North Node
• Our Venus and our Mars represent our sacred marriage

The Inner Beloved

Venus is the Inner Goddess, while Mars is the Inner God, and each sign corresponds to specific archetypes, which I’ll share further below. Most women resonate with their Venus sign and as such, for most women, Venus represents the intent of her feminine energy and who she is expressing herself as in this life, while her Mars represents the development of her Inner Beloved as well as what she desires and longs for in a partner to fulfill her soul’s purpose. For a man, it is the opposite. For same sex couples, all these concepts apply but just apply what resonates for you as an energy. Ultimately, they are one of the same, dancing in their lover’s dance, together.

Our Inner Beloved is created by three elements:

• Our Inner God/Goddess: Mars for women, or Venus for men
• Our relationship path symbolized by the Ascendant-Descendant Axis, which you can read about here
• Our own self love

Self love is the basis of all sacred relationships and without it, it is impossible to be in harmony within, so that we attract the harmony from outside.

Mars and Venus are the eternal lovers in the sky and the cosmos.

As eternal lovers always do – they dance, they push and pull, surrender and repulse, but always come back together.

They meet and conjunct once a year which symbolizes their union. And after that, they begin separating slowly until Mars runs after Venus again, and takes her in his arms for a conjunction, yet again. This is usually after the time Venus has finished her underground, or retrograde, path.

In some traditions of astrology the meets-ups of Mars and Venus also signify new love cycles which will unfold for each individual and the themes of it depending on the natal charts.

Here are the archetypes, images and God/Goddesses for the signs and energies, and you can also apply them to your moon, sun and all else for more insights. I’ll give you an example further below.

Archetypes

Aries:

• Venus: The Virgin Amazon, Wild Woman, Warrior Woman, Goddess Artemis (Diana)
• Mars: The Rugged Individualist, Aggressive Play, Spontaneous and Willful, Self-Centered Boy with Toys, The Warrior Competitor

Taurus:

• Venus: The Lover, Aphrodite, The Courtesan, The Artist, The Pleasure Lover, The Dancer, The Model
• Mars: The Lover, Intimacy Expert, Pleasure Lover, Dancer, Artist, Musician

Gemini:

• Venus: The Divine Comedienne, The Eternal Youth, The Female Peter Pan, Coyote/Shapeshifter, The Creative Muse
• Mars: Trickster Magician, The Coyote, The Fool, The Shapeshifter, Loki, Hermes (Mercury)

Cancer:

• Venus: The Great Mother, The Nurturer, The Birther of All
• Mars: The Father and Family Man, The Nurturer, The Protector, Identity Based on Giving Love from Responsibility and Commitment

Leo:

• Venus: The Queen, The Leading Woman, The Amazon Queen,
• Mars: The King, The Born Leader, The Leading Man, Apollo, Zeus (Jupiter)

Virgo:

• Venus: The Priestess Dedicated to Sacred Work or Craft, Spider Woman
• Mars: The Priest Dedicated to Sacred Work or Craft, The Servant of The Goddess

Libra:

• Venus: The Wife, The Partner, Goddess Juno (Hera)
• Mars: The Husband, The Partner, The Peacemaker, The Diplomat

Scorpio:

• Venus: The Sorceress, The Tantrika, The Mistress of Magic, The Witch, Goddesses Kali, Pele, Hecate, and The Snake Goddess
• Mars: The Sorcerer, Shaman, The King Stag, The Horned God, Pan, The Green Man, Gods Pluto, God Hades, the “bad boys”

Sagittarius:

• Venus: The Adventurer, The Vision Quest Amazon in Search of Spiritual Truth and Meaning of Life
• Mars: The Hero’s Quest, The Solar Hero, The Vision Quester, The Philosopher Pioneer

Capricorn: 

• Venus: The Matriarch, Queen Bee, The Elder, The Business Woman
• Mars: The Elder, The Prime Minister, The Lawgiver, The Good Provider, The Practical Business Man

Aquarius:

• Venus: The Avant-Garde Revolutionary, The Female Avatar, The Cosmic Visionary, The Grand Experimenter
• Mars: The Cosmic Visionary, The Idealist Scientist, The Universal Free Spirit, The Avant-Garde Revolutionary, The Meditator Seeking to Ascend

Pisces:

• Venus: The Selfless Servant, The Empathic Woman, The Nurse, The Mystical Dreamer
• Mars: The Empath, The Deep Mystical Vision, The Rapture of Transcendental Union, The God Dionysus

An Example: Invoking Your Inner Beloved.

 So let’s say a woman has Sun in Cancer, Moon in Cancer, Ascendant in Taurus, Venus in Cancer and Mars in Scorpio.

As per her Moon sign, she comes from a tribe of home-makers and those who were very family oriented. The lineage of her soul is one of the nurturer and care taker, where perhaps she had little time to focus on her own self. In this life she comes with the knowledge of her past learnings and mastery of kindness, compassion and nurturing, which she will apply towards her current life path, while also she will learn to be taken care of by others and focus more on her own individualized self.

This is because her ascendant is in Taurus, which is a highly individualized energy – it is one of experiencing oneself and life through the senses, highly sensual yet also grounded and stable with a clear knowing on values and quality. Her path is a tantric path and one that will allow her to delve into intimacy on all levels: physical, emotional and spiritual. Through her descendant in Scorpio she will expand her consciousness through the door opening of her higher self, as her relationships will awaken within her all parts needed for her soul’s evolution and enlightenment.

What fuels her will be her sun in Cancer – and I purposefully used this example, to portray how a new moon energy will work. Her desire for nurturing and caring and loving – and being in her soulskin, in her moody cocoon of sensitivity, intimacy and sensuality with her lover – is an extension of her lineage and past lives – and yet, it is the sweetest memory of it that fuels her to experience it more fully in this life. Her Taurus soul’s path will say, “Experience all this love and pleasure for you, and you only – allow yourself to receive all the pleasures given to you and available on this earth, and don’t always give and give to others. Now, it is time to be cared for and deeply, deeply loved by others.” 

Though she might still feel hesitant to allow herself to receive and focus on herself rather than others, because of her past life experiences, she will nonetheless be deeply drawn into sensual experiences, being a lover and experiencing love through mystical and passionate connections. Her partners and soulmates (which she might experience a few because of the Scorpio energy) will take her to the depths of love, passion and bonding. She will certainly meet her God of the Underworld, the tall dark and handsome, mysterious one, whose eyes and hands will only want her. She might fear him, and yet she desires him – because she senses that he can love her in a deep passionate, all-encompassing way.

Perhaps the desire of such deep love will run throughout her life and will be mirrored through her passionate partners and intense relationships. As much as she may want to stay away from her strong desires, she will need to acknowledge them, otherwise the shadow side of her descendant will continue to play out, which in this case will be partners exhibiting behaviours of obsession, possession, domination, jealousy and control.

Her Inner Beloved is symbolized by her Mars in Scorpio (Hades, Pluto, The King Stag, The Sorcerer), which further emphasizes the importance of her tantric path in life and the focus on complete merging and intimacy with a lover. She is meant to experience sacred relationships and deep mystical love. Her own feminine expression is actually one connected to her past life as her Venus is also in Cancer conjunct her Moon and her Sun – this shows that her intent was to expand her nurturer lineage into a different manifestation of the energy applied towards her current soul’s evolution. This conjunction also makes her incredibly tender, gentle and romantic, and as a natural giver she needs to be surrounded by other givers in this life to learn receiving and being cared for deeply. She is the nurturer still and the great mother and yet she desires the sorcerer, the mystic, the Hades who will take her down to the depths on her own self, and the sacred marriage will be fulfilled. She will continue her lineage while transcending it to a greater level through an alchemical process.

While she may appear soft and gentle, remember that it is her that has Mars in Scorpio – and this is a powerful, powerful energy. No matter how she looks like, she needs someone who can match her in her inner power and depth of emotion. And since her fuel, the Sun, is also connected to the past (Moon) and to her love (Venus) – it is almost as if she comes into this life with a longing for a love from a time before time beyond time. She wants her one soulmate. And she’s get it. Because this is what she is meant to experience.

The fact that all are trining each other – as they are in one element, the element of water – shows that desire, intention and outcome will blend beautifully and harmoniously, and that there is no inner conflict.

In summary: She is a Nurturer (Venus) supported by her Inner Beloved the Sorcerer (Mars) to go towards the path of the Lover (Ascendant). She is fueled by the Great Mother (Sun) which is continuation of her many lifetimes spent as that. In a sense, she is fueled by her soul’s memories and longing, while learning that it is okay to take pleasures for your own sake rather than always caring for other, and to allow herself to experience a love deeper and more transformative than anything she’d experienced before. She is learning that being the Great Mother isn’t one sided, and that a Great Mother is also a great lover, a great wife, a great adverturer of the senses. She is learning not to be feel bad about focusing on her own needs and desires, and through creating a balanced harmonious relationship with her Inner Beloved, she is also led more supportively in her own soul work and life purpose. She learns not to fear her deep desires which she perhaps keep secrets because she might fear they are too dark or not acceptable. In fact, it is her sacred marriage within that allows her to fulfill her soul path of mastering life force energy, which is also sexual energy and creative energy. Through the deep love that she feels and will express creatively through various channels, she will inspire others as well as herself to be even more artistic, loving and fulfilled.

Sacred Marriage

There is a universal truth: “As within, so without. As above, so below.” In other words: as the inside shifts and changes, the outside must, and will, as well. To be in the arms of our beloved, if that’s something we feel drawn to, then we must first harmonize and meet our beloved within ourselves. Remember that the purpose of our Inner Beloved is to support us.

A simple integration technique is to apply the archetypes in this affirmation:

“I am a […] Goddess supported by my […] God”

For example, if a woman has Venus in Capricorn and her Mars is in Virgo, then she is a Matriarch who is supported by her Inner Priest. Her self healing and service to others helps her to become a matriarch.

And in the example above, the woman was a Nurturer supported by her mysterious powerful God. So in essence, her gentleness was supported by her ability to see through the veils and set clear boundaries with discernment.

Most of us project the qualities of our beloved and then end up not completely satisfied in our relationships. The only way to come into wholeness is to create inner harmony which will then mirror the same manifested externally as a partner who will walk along with us on our soul’s path. When we work on our inner beloved, or what some might call the “shadow side” so that projections lessen, we will also be able to see more clearly another person which is what sacred relationships are based on: authenticity. Like we talked in Sacred Relationships and How to Build Them,

True lovers meet only when one has the courage to unveil their soul and the other has the humility to unveil theirs also.    

The key to a sacred marriage is for men to connect to and invoke their Venus or Inner Goddess, and for women to connect to and invoke their Mars or Inner God rather than be swayed in projections.

Here are some general clues as to how to invoke our Inner Beloved.

If your Inner Beloved is in,

Aries: Take the initiative to find a purpose or a new mission grounded on integrity and commitment

Taurus: Awaken the sensual self, savour and enjoy the present moments by being completely embodied through dance or the sensory experiences of life, feel your own body, and take pleasure in aesthetics and art

Gemini: Be more curious, take yourself less seriously and commit to play time in the dance of life

Cancer: Accept and honour your vulnerabilities, and learn to nourish yourself and receive deep love and caring from others

Leo: Go beyond the barriers to experience radiant self love and shine brightly

Virgo: Find out and delved into what is your sacred work or calling in this life

Libra: Have the courage to discover that the relationship with yourself is the one you must love and be in harmony with the most

Scorpio: Risk finding what is at the edge of your aliveness, and what is beyond the edge

Sagittarius: Prioritize your quest for meaning, truth and purpose in this life, and renew your connection to spirit on your own

Capricorn: Find an activity that is grounded and productive, and produces practical results

Aquarius: Discover the magic and value of being completely in your own space, and experience the uniqueness of your being

Pisces: Have compassion and empathy for yourself, and devote to selfless service towards others

In the above example, the woman’s Inner Beloved was in Scorpio (Mars in Scorpio), so she needs to acknowledge her deep desires and urges, and not be afraid of the passions she feels.

Subconsciously she seeks eros – and through the experience of eros energy she opens herself, expands, and evolves further on her soul’s path. 

She must learn to experience life force energy for her own sake and respond to desire – for it is desire that will become creation engine. In her authentic response is the aliveness and vitality that awakens her body and soul – and through eros, she transcends the boundaries of all.

When she attracts powerful and intense partners, and experiences intense relationships, it is only to bring her own desires to the surface, so that she can experience herself more deeply and fully, like the beloved she desires who is on his way to her. And it is because she needs to acknowledge and re-claim her own power also – because she is powerful.

“To come to the edge of aliveness, and to risk it all” means to love fearlessly – to love not because she is loved, but because it is amazing to love and experience ourselves through love. She has to fearlessly allow herself to be stirred by the wildish soul of her lover.

Love changes us, transforms us, and kneels us – but it is always worth it.

Wherever love beckons you to go, go, you must follow it.

It is your destiny.

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For more of my writings, browse through my Art of Love.

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Cover art by Liz Huston, The Dreamkeepers Tarot.