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Astrologically, Venus is the ambassador of love, affection, attraction, harmony, beauty, artistry, social exchange, charm, sensual pleasures and cultural preferences. In short, all of the stuff we enjoy about life is represented by Venus. In male charts, Venus also stands in as his internal feminine, and what he values in women, regardless of gender identification and sexual orientation. Another way of saying this is that a man’s yin energy–his ability to go with the flow, to receive, to manifest his innate magnetism–is part of the whole Venus package. The man who is unaware that he carries these so-called feminine traits will likely project them onto women, regardless of the type of relationship they share, until he learns that he owns these qualities himself.
The 12th House is that part of the energy field that we tap into for solitude when it’s necessary to recover and recharge our batteries. It’s the space you enter during sleep, dream and meditative states. The 12th House is your portal to the imagination–which can assist the seeker of unity consciousness to dissolve into something greater than yourself. For purposes other than spiritual awakening, the imagination is also where one goes for fantasy and daydreaming. And, with Venus housed here, the imagination gets a fair bit of play through erotic fantasy. There is a whole hidden life–one could say universe–contained within the 12th House.
Venus has a natural affinity for the 12th House, inasmuch as she is exalted in the 12th sign of Pisces, which is co-ruled by Jupiter and Neptune–each of which are the natural guardians of the 12th. In this liminal sea, the left brain (linear and logical) holds little sway. Think flying dreams and breathing under water. In this right-brained and empathic domain, Venus’ magnetic ability is especially strong. The man with this natal signature pulls in content from his vast and well-developed imagination, and materializes it in some form or another. Maybe it’s a song, a painting, a trip to some exotic locale, or a pot of gold. This is the brilliance of Venus in the 12th House. It’s also part of the reason many yearn for the man with this placement. His talent seems effortless, as if he just channels what he does. There is nothing aggressive or assertive about his ability, and it seems lacking in self-promotion. This is the opposite of what we might expect in a hypermasculinized patriarchal system. And so we watch and lean in to him, all the more mesmerized.
Yet there is an undertow of danger within the oceanic 12th House. In tandem with the natal placement of Neptune, there tends to be a colossal blind spot in this sector. And therein lies a clue as to why the ancients dubbed the 12th as the House of Self-Undoing. The man with Venus in the 12th can’t see that he’s flying low, so to speak: that his Venus is hanging out (wink) in plain sight. The rest of us can see it as clear as day. Most people can see, feel, hear, and generally sense this Venusian energy emanating from him, though he may be the last to know how pronounced his effect is on others.
Beguiling, yes. Also a bit of a shoot-yourself-in-the-foot kind of trap for the man who is not yet awake to himself. Part of the ongoing challenge with a 12th House ‘personal planet’ such as Venus, is to become aware of what we hide from ourselves. Those of us who fall for the 12th House Venus dude are pretty clear on why he’s special. And, though his intuition about others is reliable, he’s in the dark about himself. In an effort to explore his sometimes conflicted attractions, then, he’s lulled into secret or ‘taboo’ love affairs.
Even the man who has spent time diving into his unconscious and cultivating its pearls of wisdom will experience attractions that are deemed off-limits in some way. It’s not that his 12th House Venus eventually loses the desire for forbidden fruit, but the man who has developed enough self-awareness can consciously choose not to take a bite out of that apple. The difference between knowing himself or not is the difference between being taken for a magic carpet ride that lands him in hot water, versus choosing to get (down) on the carpet to begin with.
Venus is affiliated with judgment and evaluation. And love affairs of the secret and/or forbidden kind are often the stuff of harsh judgement to those who look on. The story often goes that so-and-so should know better, or that he needs to quit fertilizing someone else’s garden. This is analogous to the crowd who doesn’t understand why an addict won’t quit heroin. The 12th House Venus guy isn’t necessarily trying to be malicious, should he delve into a secret romance with someone else’s mate, say. He is not without conscience. But his potential for secret affairs may be the shadow acting out from an as-yet unrealized and un-met need for seclusion.
It cannot be over-stated that daily time to voluntarily withdraw from the external world is one of the required keys that eventually unlocks the safe that stores the wealth of a 12th House Venus. This the abode of the soul, after all. Once the man with this energy combo sees the virtue in taking time out to unplug and to be silent in his own space, he can wake up from the spell that Venus places him under. His attraction to unavailable lovers loses much of its steam, whilst the strength of his creative output and spiritual energy increases. And from this wholistic place, the 12th House Venus man steps into his true source of power, and intentionally forms romantic attachments that are worthy of his soulful magic.
Related: The 12th House Venus Woman