I am my beloved and my beloved’s mine ~ Song of Songs 6:3
As a spiritual astrologer I love blending various techniques and modalities for a deeper understanding of one self. If you’ve had a reading with me, you know that we go over the beauty of your path through many different perspectives such as Western, Esoteric, Vedic and Shamanic, in addition to my intuitive and spiritual guidance. And you know how much I love astronomy and mythology, so I always love seeing how the skies and stars actually looked like at the time and day of your birth, which constellations were rising highest guiding you – as I believe that celestial awareness deepens our knowledge.
Ah love, sweet love. I love doing love readings for my clients, and I love sharing my knowledge. Previously we’ve talked about the darakaraka, or the one your soul seeks; the importance of Jupiter as the essentials of compatibility from a spiritual and esoteric perspective; and we’ve also talked about the higher purpose of relationships for your soul’s path and inner growth in this life. And today, I’ll guide you through a beautiful technique from Shamanic astrology about the Sacred Marriage and Inner Beloved; I often use this in my readings with clients, because I find it beautifully complementing the spiritual and mystical teachings also.
For those of you interested in booking a reading with me, where we dive into your unique chart and love story, browse through my Offerings.
Before we begin, what is Shamanic astrology?
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 everything in our chart is merely something we can use for guidance with the intention of more self awareness. Often times, it is a tool for validating all we already know and building our trust in ourselves and our intuitive abilities.
As a spiritual astrologer this is my belief as well: that the stars, moons and constellations are all only indicators of time, of all that has already been consumed by time, and yet they offer an opportunity for a deepening. By seeking the within and gaining for self awareness, we essentially seek to dissolve some of the pre-conditioning of this world and move beyond the boundaries of lines and charts – towards our true essence, rising at its highest sweetest scent. This inner walk serves the confidence on the path that way. When we view a natal chart, and the stars above with our naked eye with the help of astronomy, like a story – there is much to tell, in mystical and 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 perspective, and after the reading and opening of that doorway to esoteric knowledge, we will then be given back our key. What we do thereafter, and how we use the knowledge, is only up to us.
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
Your Inner Beloved is essentially the part of you which you need to awaken and develop, which then will resonate with your right partner for you in this life. It is the part of you that desires to be married within you, and in time too, externally, you’ll touch the lips and hands of with that person embodying your Inner Beloved also.
If you are born a woman, your natal Venus represents the intent of your feminine energy and who you are expressing yourself as in this life to create and attract romance and abundance; while your natal Mars represents the development of your Inner Beloved, as well as what you desire and long for most deeply in a partner to fulfill your soul’s purpose.
If you are born a man, your natal Venus becomes your Inner Beloved, while your natal Mars is your expression of love.
For same sex couples, all these concepts apply the same. It doesn’t matter whether you are a man attracted to men, they’d still be an embodiment of your natal Venus; and if you are a woman attracted to women, they’d still be an embodiment of your natal Mars. Energy is energy, it doesn’t change; but of course, apply whatever resonates for you. Ultimately, they are one of the same, dancing in their lover’s dance, together.
Our Inner Beloved is created by three elements:
- Our Inner Beloved: natal Mars for women, or natal Venus for men
- The higher purpose of our relationships in this life, symbolized by the Ascendant-Descendant Axis
- Our own self love, because intimate relationships are a mirror moving us towards our true self and union with God
Sacred relationships essentially mean that we are deeply bonded to someone on a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual level. True intimacy can only happen when boundaries dissolve and we show our true selves; and such relationships are based upon truth and purity of self.
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, because they belong together.
They meet and conjunct once a year which symbolizes their union astronomically and astrologically; 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, where she purified herself again to come into inner truth.
In some traditions of astrology the romantic meet-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.
To understand the right partner for you, you need to understand the sign and its energy, at all its various ways of manifestation. You also need to pay attention to the aspects and house placements; and as I always say, aspects are absolutely crucial – because they shapeshift the energy and change it. For example, you might have a Mars in Gemini, but if that’s aspected by Pluto, it will act Scorpionic.
Shamanic astrology uses archetypes for all its signs. So let’s say that you are a woman and your natal Mars is in Aries – i.e. your Inner Beloved is in Aries. Well, the Shamanic archetype for this placement and energy is known as The Rugged Individualist, Aggressive Play, Spontaneous and Willful, Self-Centered Boy with Toys, The Warrior Competitor. The energy of Aries is cardinal fire, and as all else in life in can go two ways. It can burn the house, or warm up the food and bedsheets. At its one end, this energy can bring partners who can be a bit too impulsive, rash, brash, or self centered; and you yourself can be really attracted to independent, sporty kind of men. However, the right partner for you is someone who is independent yet knows how to give and share; is courageous and with integrity, rather than just being competitive; and knows how be passionate without destroying things, because impusivity is not maturity. But how would you attract that partner? Well, you need to be those things, you need to develop these qualities within you and grow and mature; so ask yourself whether you are generous, giving, patient, emotionally mature, self accountable?
Suppose this Mars was aspected positively by Saturn, the right partner for you in this life would be someone who is emotionally mature, patient, self disciplined and a hard worker. And suppose it’s in the 12th house, well perhaps you really long for someone who is spiritual, or has visited monasteries, or who will also open up and expand your own spiritual wisdom, and be capable of teaching you the essence of things rather than perceiving only through the touch of them.
Now, let’s go through an example.
An Example: Invoking Your Inner Beloved.
So let’s say a woman has her natal Sun in Cancer, Moon in Cancer, Ascendant in Taurus, Venus in Cancer and Mars in Scorpio.
As per her natal 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 known as 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 intimate, private and sensitive moody cocoon 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.
In Shamanic astrology, which uses archetypes for all of its signs, her Inner Beloved is symbolized by her Mars in Scorpio, which carries the archetypes of Hades, Pluto, The King Stag, and The Sorcerer. This 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 in Cancer) supported by her Inner Beloved the Sorcerer (Mars in Scorpio) to go towards the path of the Lover (Ascendant in Taurus). She is fueled by the Great Mother (Sun in Cancer) 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 Beloved, and for women to connect to and invoke their Mars or Inner Beloved rather than be swayed in projections.
For example, if your Inner Beloved is in Aries, take the initiative to find a purpose or a new mission grounded on integrity and commitment.
If your Inner Beloved is in Cancer, accept and honour your vulnerabilities, and learn to nourish yourself and receive deep love and caring from others.
If your Inner Beloved is in Leo, go beyond the barriers to experience radiant self love and shine brightly; and inspire and empower others to be more confident by letting them know their special gifts and talents, and encouraging them and supporting them in their unique self expressions.
In the above example, the woman’s Inner Beloved was 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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Cover art by Frank Bernard Dicksee via Wikimedia Commons.
