Venus retrograde and the significance of 40 days
(This article first appeared in 2014.)
Astrologer Marina Macario makes an interesting point – that the 40 days and 40 nights of the Venus retro period corresponds to the 40 days and 40 nights that Jesus traveled in the wilderness.
Forty is mentioned in the bible often, but most famously when Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness for forty days. Could this be referring to the astrological phenomena of Venus retrograde? After all, Venus has two sides to her. She is the goddess of love and war according to the Babylonians. The word Lucifer (which is often confused with Satan) means light-bringer and refers to Venus in her morning star phase. The ancients said the first few days of her Lucifer phase was a particularly dangerous time. People born with Venus as a morning star are said to rush headlong into love affairs and are very passionate. Venus as an evening star is has more of the receptive, traditional meaning.
You might also be interested in this earlier article I wrote about the two sides of Venus, and in this article about Lucifer as Venus, the Light Bringer.
I became curious about the significance of 40 days and 40 nights, because before Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for this length of time rain fell on Noah for 40 days and 40 nights. Moses fasted for 40 days and 40 nights before he was given the Commandments. Jesus remained on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights after the crucifixion. And Buddha is said to have fasted and meditated for 40 days and 40 nights before reaching Samadhi. These 40-day periods seem to relate to periods […]