"Venus has always been associated with the feminine in astrology and in culture, yet little emphasis is placed upon the wisdom aspect of the planet. With the cycles of Venus we are given insight into the unfolding of wisdom within ourselves and society, especially with the cycle of Venus' inferior conjunctions - the so-called 2nd order cycle of the planet. In her timely and much-needed work, Firegazing, Gail has brilliantly outlined the meaning and import of these cycles and the deeper meaning of a planet that often only receives a passing notice in astrology, yet is so intimately connected with our own lives and what it is to be human. When Venus passes across the face of the solar orb, we are given opportunity to gaze into the very fire of the soul itself. Well done, Gail" - Malvin Artley
Fire-Gazing
When Venus Transits the Sun 2004 and 2012By Gail R. DimitroffTrafford Publishing
Copyright © 2012 Gail R. Dimitroff, PhD.
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4669-1677-7Contents
Chapter One: Fire-Gazing...........................................................................1Chapter Two: Prophecy Or Lunacy?...................................................................7Chapter Three: A Gem In The Heavens................................................................28Chapter Four: The Eye Of The Bull..................................................................37Chapter Five: Vibrant Expectancy—Setting The Stage For A Season Of Light.....................46Chapter Six: The Beauty Of Venus...................................................................50Chapter Seven: Venus And The Fifth Ray.............................................................58Chapter Eight: Cycles Of Light—Past Transits.................................................77Chapter Nine: On The Banks Of The Euphrates........................................................110Chapter Ten: The 2012 Transit......................................................................122Chapter Eleven: Paradoxical Lightness..............................................................132About the Author...................................................................................157Bibliography.......................................................................................159Appendix I.........................................................................................161Appendix II........................................................................................163Appendix III.......................................................................................165INDEX..............................................................................................169
Chapter One
Fire-Gazing When the June flowers are blooming in 2004 Harkness
What happened when, on June 8, 2004, Venus orbited across the face of the sun? There were no transits of Venus during the twentieth century, so this rare event was eagerly anticipated by astronomers, astrologers, and amateur stargazers alike. Some people had been planning for years to catch sight of this event of rare beauty, knowing that the next one will not occur until 2012 and then again not for over one hundred years.
To be exact, the transits occur at intervals of 105.5 years, 8 years, 121.5 years, and 8 years, so it is no wonder that fire-gazers the world wide look forward to the date. This event can be considered a mini-eclipse since Venus will transit across the solar plexus of the Sun. This is a vast energetic network on the face of the Sun from which the chakra term of the same name has evolved. This passage will thus cast a shadow on the Sun's bright disc and presents an occurrence which offers an opportunity to learn much about our sister planet, whose luminescence has earned her the title of both the Evening Star and the Morning Star. The atmosphere of Venus was actually discovered during one of the 18th century transits.
NASA breaks the transit into four "contacts." The first contact, ingress, begins when the disk of the planet is externally tangent to the Sun, and the second when the disk is internally tangent with the Sun. During the transit, Venus crosses the sun at a rate of approximately four arc minutes per hour. The entire event lasts a little over six hours. Contact three occurs when the planet's limb is internally tangent with the Sun, and the last contact occurs when the planet's limb is once again externally tangent to the Sun. The first two contacts are defined as the ingress phase, and the last two are known as egress.
Few transits have ever been recorded by astronomers, with the most recent transit of Venus occurring in 1884. Only one of five such events has ever been available in terms of technology so that it could be actually watched by humanity. Looking back through the corridors of time, one can chart the transits since the discovery of the telescope as follows.
It should be noted that the transits of Venus occur during the months of December and June because it is during this time that the orbital nodes of Venus pass across the sun. As seen from our viewing platform, Earth, it is only transits of the inner planets that can ever be viewed.
It is fair to say that transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable astronomical/astrological phenomena. They occur in a pattern that repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years.
The 2004 transit was visible from Europe, Africa except western parts, the Middle East, and most of Asia except eastern parts. Even though the transit was in progress, it was not visible because of sunset in Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, easternmost China, and Southeast Asia. The Sun was rising when the transit was in progress for the lucky viewers in western Africa, eastern North America, the Caribbean, and most of South America. Those who lived in western North America, Hawaii, New Zealand, southern Chile or Argentina were not be able to view the 2004 transit.
An interesting point can be made. There is always the possibility that the transits of the Earth can be viewed from the outer planets and perhaps, if life exits out there, some creature has probably noted our transits just as we observe those of Venus. Someday it is likely that an astronaut on Mars will view the Earth, as well as Venus and Mercury, making predictable transits across the Sun. He may wonder at the beauty and perhaps draw conclusions about Venus, the Sun and our own planet, earth.
One thing is clear—today we no longer have to position ourselves in the correct place on the planet to glean information regarding this event because radar is used to monitor the process. We no longer seek to measure the astronomical unit, the distance between the Sun and the Earth, about 93 million miles, a task that tantalized and often baffled many world-famous scientists including Galileo, Hell, Copernicus, Kepler, and Brahe.
That work was largely accomplished in the 18th century when astronomers were sent around the globe to glean information. As an offshoot of these expeditions, many places were discovered—Australia, the Cook Islands, and Antarctica, to name a few. Countries at war cooperated to set up viewing stations around the world, so great was the over-riding interest in the 18th century search for valid data. It was presumed that if calculations could be taken from many positions around the globe, it would help astronomers calculate the distance to the sun. The determination to glean good scientific data led to an unprecedented period of international cooperation. Not only was astronomical data willingly shared, but also geographical and navigational information. So great was the crescendo of information that it spurred Captain Cook to further exploration not only in the interim between the transits, but also for at least ten years afterward. Unfortunately the 1761 transits yielded poor data and this only intensified the search for valid data. Fortunately, the second transit in 1769 yielded much better information as astronomers were edging toward defining solar parallax.
By the time the 19th century transits were due, the United States was not to be left behind. S.J. Dick (USNO) in a presentation, "The American Transit of Venus Expeditions of 1882, Including San Antonio" describes how the eight American...
