Venus in Scorpio

Have you ever related a song to a particular time in your life? Do you happen to listen to music while reading, and then the book becomes the song, and every time you hear it, it just brings back memories of that particular time when the book had huge influence on your life?

It was summer 2005 and I was in 8th grade. There was a vivid memory of a rock song on MTV, but every time I made it to the TV the song title disappeared as it ended. The melody kept playing on repeat in my head, and I had no idea how to find it. Gen Z fellows will never understand the pain it took to rush to the radio/TV trying to jot down whatever you could hear, and asking around if your friends knew the song, or searching for lyrics books with the hope of finding it (Yes, lyrics books were a thing!).

From time to time, the song would pop up again in my head, out of nowhere, as I remembered vaguely the lyrics. Until one day in high school, I finally found it while sharing wired earphones with one of the girls in my study group (Yes, wired earphones were also a thing!). It was fabulous:

Here comes the rain again

Falling from the stars

Drenched in my pain again

Becoming who we are

My friend was patient enough to tell me the title (Wake me up when September ends by Green Day). And that marked the beginning of my emo phase.

It was during that time another girl in the group shared with me her favorite manga Red River/Anatolia Story. The story is about a 15-year-old Japanese girl, Yuri, who got lost in the chasms of time and travelled to ancient Hittite empire where she met the crown prince Kail. After a lot of trials and tribulations, she accepted her destiny as the reincarnation of the Goddess Ishtar. At some point, they felt in love. As a learnt priest, Kail was capable of sending her back home in modern Japan. Nevertheless, for many reasons and mostly for love, she made her choice to stay. It was painfully romantic, and heartbreakingly beautiful.

Somehow Green Day’s song holds a lot of resemblance to this story. It is a fascinating love story where one of the parties has to make great sacrifices so that they can be together, and in spite of the happy ending, it will always be bittersweet. There will always be nostalgic moments of a happy, innocent past where life was just laughs and joy.

Later on, when I began my study in tropical astrology, finally I understood why I loved it. This song is the perfect presentation of Venus in Scorpio, whose archetype can be Persephone.

Summer has come and passed

The innocent can never last

As my memory rests

But never forgets what I lost

Wake me up when September ends

In Greek mythology, Demeter, the Goddess of harvest and agriculture, sister of Zeus, was tricked by him and bore Zeus a daughter she named Kore (literally «young maiden»). Persuaded that Olympus and Zeus’ corrupt ways were too much for her daughter’s upbringing, she decided to take Kore to the mortal realm where she lived as a demigod, supposedly the child of Demeter and her mortal lover. Kore lived with her overly protective mother who was in total denial of her being a young spirited Goddess with a lot of potentials. Hades, Lord of the Underworld, fell in love with her and kidnapped her to his realm where she learned about her divinity and powers. She rose from being the victim to be Persephone, Bringer of Death, Queen of the Underworld and ruled alongside Hades. Every year, she would return to Earth at the Spring Equinox in late March and leave Earth at the Fall Equinox in late September to stay in the Underworld with her beloved Hades during the winter months.

Though being one of the chthonic gods and having a fearsome title, the Persephone archetype represents the holy metamorphosis that one can have through a significant crisis. I would like to speculate that Death in her title should not be taken precisely, but considered as a spiritual Death, when one’s identity is broken down, so that one can break through. What a lovely coincidence that the last sentence in the song being «Wake me up when September ends», as it is a reminder to Persephone that it is time to go back to the darkness of the Underworld, where she is the light, where she can heal and rest, ready to come back, full of light and fresh insights for a new cycle.

Venus in Scorpio is emotionally complex. She is not necessarily attractive, but certainly alluring. There is sadness in her smoky eyes, her smiles are rare and you can feel the taste of nostalgia on her lips. Her face is a mixture of innocence and wisdom that you cannot seem to understand. She does not fall in love easily, but if she does, she loves so much that it hurts. She wants them to be fused into one, body, mind and soul. Venus in Scorpio may look back to her innocent past from time to time, and smile at her younger self who was courageous enough to embrace the crazy life with open arms, unaware of the dangers ahead. But she has grown, she has learned so much, now she understands that no matter what happened, she can always feel loved and safe, because at a soul level she is loved and protected. Love is omnipotent and omnipresent. While she could not find the love when it was most needed, she is now capable of self-love.

People born with this Venus placement usually have some important karmic lessons on romantic love. It is highly probable that many of their connections/relationships feel fated. Oftentimes the other party has something they can learn from, regardless the outcome of the connection.

(Not so fun) facts: Although the video clip carries an anti-war message, the song was written by Green Day’s vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter Billy Joe Armstrong as a gift to his father who died from an esophageal cancer when he was 10. In his own words: «It is hard to sing, but definitely therapeutic, because it deals with the passing of someone that you love».

Photo credit: Sandara - DA