Bite the Poisoned Apple - The Dark Side of the Moon & Venus in Aspect

Many astrological cookbooks treat the Moon – Venus aspect as very congenial...just excellent. I've read somewhere, though I can't remember where, that this is the 'milk and cookie' aspect. Ironically, this may not be too far from the truth, at least for the women with this aspect. As someone who has Venus conjunct Jupiter and the Moon, I not only have professional experience working with others with the Moon and Venus in aspect, but also dramatic personal experience. The Moon - Venus aspect has a distinctively darker side that is rarely mentioned; thus, my interest in bringing more attention to how this aspect can function in a harmful - yet Soul-evolving - way than what has so (too) often been written.

Please be aware that aspects taken out of context of the whole chart can be misleading; despite this potential, it is often useful to examine each individual piece of the puzzle first before integrating the entire chart. Thlook at the Moon & Venus in aspect is an exercise in examining just one small piece of a very complicated and intriguing puzzle - that of an individual Soul and what is represented in his or her natal chart.
 
The Initiation

The poisoned apple and the sleeping death brought to us so vividly in the story of Snow White can be viewed as an analogy to the Moon (Sleep, Dream-world, Unconscious) and Venus (the Apple has long been associated with Venus and the feminine, love, fertility) in aspect.

Biting the Apple (a Mars action – penetration) leads to a deeper understanding and awakening of womanhood or the feminine, but one must experience ‘love’s first kiss’ in order to be truly initiated.

The Moon – Venus aspect can become ‘poisoned’ and painful at adolescence. The first love is a rite of passage for these individuals and often, our first love is our parent of the opposite sex. Yet, as the Moon-Venus individual blossoms into womanhood, she may be suddenly thrust away from her father or shamed (by her mother or other female role model) for expressing her love and affection in a natural way.

A simple hug or kiss can turn into the ‘poisoned apple’ (tainted love) without warning or understanding. The initiation (recognition that one is changing – becoming a woman, becoming fertile) can feel like the death of her relationship with her father…and her mother.

Mother as the Wicked Queen (or evil witch)

The Moon-Venus individual’s Mother (or other mother figure) may feel uncomfortable with her daughter’s blush of adolescent beauty. She may feel that she is in decline and her own concern of her loss of beauty (Venus) through aging is amplified by her confrontation with the Moon-Venus child’s innocent erotic power. When she looks in her magic mirror, the mother is no longer the fairest in the land. If the mother is unable to embrace the beauty in wisdom (the apple) of her approaching Hecate phase, she will – consciously or unconsciously – begin poisoning her daughter psychologically with mixed messages and signals.

 

Read the rest of this article