(Pic by me)

A kiss on the hand can be quite continental and oh so romantic, but its true, diamonds are a girls best friend- especially if you have Venus in Taurus.

Any self respecting Venus in Taurus girl knows that as lovely as it is, romance fades, but diamonds don’t, and living in this material world, a girl needs to make sure that her future is beautifully and practically catered for. After all, men grow cold as girls grow old and we all lose our charms in the end. But square cut or pear shape these rocks don’t lose their shape and diamonds are a girls best friend.

Contrary to popular opinion, Venus isn’t really about love. Sure its placement shows how we like to give and receive affection, but it is really all about what makes us feel good and what we find attractive, and from there, how we like to approach relationships- so that we feel good. Taurus is fixed and earthy and sensual and physical and Venus is in rulership here. With Venus in Taurus, that is what makes you feel good- earthy, sensual, physical body stuff.

Where Venus in Aries is about quick gratification, Venus in Taurus likes to go sloooooow. She likes to take her time. As Kylie sang “don’t want to rush it…skip the beat & move with my body… Slow.” Venus in Taurus is sensual rather than sexual and is generally a same partner girl- this is one placement that doesn’t get turned on by too much variety. Cuddles, massages- anything that makes you feel comfortable makes her feel good.

Venus in Taurus is also attuned to physical and material security. She likes beautiful objects, beautiful food and she doesn’t like to share. She values consistency and commitment and although slow to move, will do whatever is needed to hold onto her partner or her security- often she sees the two as being intertwined.

In Taurus, Venus cares about her appearance a lot- certainly more so than when she was in Aries. As Taurus rules the throat, scarves, pendants and necklaces are great accessories. Luxury is appreciated, so this Venus will wear a single great piece of jewellery rather than a mountain of fakes. Whilst an art lover, she doesn’t do alternative or artisan- unless there is also a statement of style.

Depending on other aspects, Venus in Taurus can be prone to over-accumulate (especially if in challenging aspects to Jupiter or the Moon) … just to be sure that she has enough and won’t run out. This can apply to food, to purchases, whatever. This tendency can also come out if she feels insecure- particularly in relationships. Venus in Taurus is the ultimate comfort eater/ shopper and will tend to those foods which feel texturally luxuriant and sweet- chocolate, cream, cakes.

As practical as she is, Venus in Taurus likes to be wooed in the traditional meaning of the word. She loves long, expensive dinners that she can dress up for and linger over. Also earning good brownie points are lazy Sunday afternoon country picnics with rugs and scarves and proper crockery and utensils (leave the stubby holders and paper plates at home).  When it comes to sex, Venus in Taurus likes it to be luscious, in every sense of the word. Perhaps that is who uses the Chocolate Body Butter my BFF & I saw at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory (did that come out loud????).

Mr Venus in Taurus loves the whole feminine archetype and tends to be attracted more to the image of romantic rubenesque than wafer thin waif. He has an appetite and likes a woman with voluptuous curves in all the right places that he can take his time and enjoy. Mr Venus in Taurus likes a traditional, conservative woman, an earth mother. He doesn’t really want his partner to be too independent, too quick witted (not that it is politically correct to admit such a thing) and likes to know that she will be a stable platform for him- well that is the image he likes to have… The good news is that he rarely strays from home and won’t push you into the latest fad diet- heaven forbid- that could mean you putting him on one, and Mr Venus in Taurus likes his food too much to tolerate restrictions.

Mr Venus in Taurus doesn’t do complicated mind games- to him, if you say you are “fine”, he will take it at face value. He doesn’t like change, so suggestions to vary routines or stray from favourite restaurants will be greeted with suspicion. Unfortunately this also means that you may have problems getting him off the couch and away from the TV on weekends once the honeymoon period is over. At least you know where he is.

Time rolls on and youth is gone
And you can’t straighten up when you bend
But stiff back or stiff knees
You stand straight at Tiffany’s

Diamonds are a girls best friend.

Neither Marilyn Monroe (28 Aries), Kylie Minogue (0 Gemini) or Madonna (0 Leo) have Venus in Taurus… although Marilyn comes close . I just used their lyrics, because they suit the placement and I like the songs. I could have also used Kylie’s “Chocolate” or Pet Shop Boys “We’re S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G, we’re shopping…”

It may be officially Autumn, but Sydney is still turning on the warm days and blue skies. Easter next weekend and school holidays, so no doubt the rain will start then!

As an aside, I will be out of Aus for work for the next couple of weeks, so won’t be doing a newsletter next weekend. I will still keep up the twice weekly postings I have to do for Your Career & The Cosmos, but probably will be a tad slack on the personal blog…depending on how the REAL work goes, I guess.

On the Blogs

Last week was not good. I succumbed to a nasty head cold which kept me away from the gym for a week and consequently in a very bad mood. This meant also that I lost no weight at all on The Plan. With a couple of weeks in Hong Kong, this worries me… a lot! Apologies for any grumpiness that found its way into the posts.

All Aries posts are now up and I am now officially over Aries. For those who haven’t caught them:

• Lets Get Loud- for Your Career & the Cosmos- Mercury in Aries and workplace communication
• I Like it Loud- From fantasy land in Pisces, Mercury is moving into Aries ready to put his money where his all too loud mouth is. Also how to annoy someone with Mercury in Aries- you never know when it will come in handy. Would you believe the amount of traffic I have had in the last week where people have typed (I kid you not) “How to annoy an Aries” to land on this post!
• On Your Career & the Cosmos- Watch me pull a rabbit out of a hat- Everything you ever wanted to know about your Aries Boss, but were too scared to ask.
• On Your Career & the Cosmos- Making the Impossible Possible- Aries in the Workplace
• Pandemonium- Aries in all his wonderful yet exhausting glory. Dedicated with love to my favourite Rams.

Also on Your Career & the Cosmos:

• Your Emotional Overdraft- using 2^nd house solutions to deal with crappy days/weeks/whatever- or how some political incorrectness turned a crappy week into a Friday afternoon..

More for the Astro peeps, I have also continued the Jupiter transit series, with posts on 7^th house transits (For Better or For Worse) and 8^th house transits (For Richer or For Poorer).

What’s happening up there?

OK, a bit happening next week:

• A Full Moon at around lunchtime (Sydney time) on Tues 30/3. This falls at around 10 Libra, so if you have any planets/ chart points there… I won’t be doing a separate post on this, other much better words than mine are written on Moon stuff…google it or check out AstroSparkles on Facebook.
• Venus moves into home territory of Taurus on Thurs 1/4/10, while Mercury follows her a couple of days later. Will try & get something out on each of these.
• Pluto turns retrograde 7/4/10. More on what this means in a separate post as well.

Venus moves into Taurus April 1, so I figured I would share a recipe. I like to cook, but am not a huge baking type person and tend to avoid things I have to measure, roll, ice or cut little dinky shapes out of. This, though, is easy looks sort of peasant-y and countryfied and I am making it this afternoon to take on a picnic tomorrow to a place where we are going horse riding afterwards (poor horses…).

This is one of those cakes where everything just gets slopped together and thrown into a baking dish. The whole thing can then be unveiled on your picnic in all its rustic glory. Make sure you have some double cream or custard in the esky alongside the beers and tomato sauce and this cake will add some decadence to the simplest sausage sizzle.

Looks extra posh if dusted with icing sugar and dolloped with really good proper berry jam… but i can’t usually be faffed.

Originally taken from Delicious Magazine (June 2008).

Ingredients:

300 ml thickened cream

175g unsalted butter (chopped)

3 eggs (from happy free range pecking and clucking and scratching chooks)

2 cups plain flour

1 cup caster sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

3 green apples (peeled, cored, thinly sliced & tossed through some lemon juice)

300g frozen mixed berries (thawed)

Heat the oven to 180C & grease & paper a 32cmx22cm baking dish. Heat the cream & butter together in a pan over medium heat until just before it boils. Let it cool down a bit so it doesn’t scramble your eggs.

Beat eggs and sugar together until thick and pale & then slowly add the cream & butter mix. Fold in the flour, vanilla & fruit & then slop it all into the pan.

Bake for 40mins or until golden and the skewer you poke into it comes out clean.

(Pic from www.dreamstime.com)

I studied Economics at University, which is an interesting choice for someone with as much Pisces as I have and for someone who always wanted to be a writer…I think I have mentioned before that I am not great at decisions or goals.

Anyway, one of the only macro-economic principles that I grasped with any sort of passion is the concept that you can spend your way out of a depression. I am sure that Keynes (or whoever it was, I have forgotten the detail, maybe Friedman? All I remember is that nasty thick pink textbook…) was actually thinking about, well, macro economies rather than my emotional state when he first invented the theory, but it does fit.

Unfortunately, though, the theory, regardless of whether you are looking to rescue an entire economy or simply feel better after a crappy day, assumes venturing into the territory of other peoples money, ie the 8^th house.

Traditionally the 8^th house is about debts, inheritances, other peoples resources. When Jupiter comes through this part of your chart, it is these issues which will be highlighted. Perhaps you may get an inheritance, perhaps you may go into more debt. With Jupiter opportunities abound- good and bad- and things expand quickly and easily- again- with both good and bad results! If you currently have an unaddressed 8^th house issue, it may get a whole lot worse quickly.

A Jupiter 8^th house transit is a good time to use joint resources to pursue an opportunity. You may have formed a partnership when Jupiter was in the 7^th, now might be the time to pool joint resources to purchase a property or invest in a business. Now is the time to put that business plan together and approach a Bank for finance- you probably will be successful in your application.

As with all Jupiter transits you do need to ensure that over confidence doesn’t cloud your judgement- a successful application for finance does not necessarily mean that the venture will be successful- the funds will need to be repaid at some point.

Transits of the 8^th house will also impact the 2^nd, 5^th and 11^th houses- and speaking literally, any change (either positive or negative) to your finances from 8^th house sources will also change your 2^nd house possessions and resources (and relative stress levels), and your ability to play with friends…so to speak.

The 8^th house is associated with Scorpio and therefore with life changing and transformative events. It is also about death. Some astrologers associate sex with the 8^th as well- la petite mort, perhaps? Personally I see sex as a 5^th house activity, but you may have another opinion… So, during an 8^th house transit you might start to look deeply into Scorpio or Pluto type things- eg really deep, spiritual, meaning of life and death issues- possibly even the occult or other spiritual practices.

If your Sun or Ascendant is in Leo, Jupiter will be transiting your 8^th house while he is in Pisces- and really, is there any other sign who can spend their way out of depression with quite as much style? Mr Keynes (or was it Friedman?) would be impressed.

How some politically incorrect banter turned a really crappy week into a Friday afternoon. Check it out here.