This week the Moon is Emily Dickinson’s stylus, inscribing the love language of the planets into the night. It started Saturday, February 1st, when the lunar crescent had a brilliant encounter with Venus in the evening twilight, and it culminates Saturday, February 8th, when the waxing gibbous bridges the gap between the red warrior planet Mars and the star Pollux, the immortal twin in Gemini. Along the way, Jupiter greets the Moon where it passes through the horns of the Taurus Bull, lending wisdom to the Moon’s task on Thursday, February 6th.
First notice that Venus and Mars are like bookends in the evening twilight, with Venus brilliant in the West after sunset, and Mars radiant in the East. Mars can only ever be this bright when it’s on the opposite side of the sky from Venus. In ancient astrological wisdom, the red planet was not only a god of war, but a force connected to the human capacity for speaking. When Mars is bright like this on the opposite end of the night from his beloved, the soul quality of language is strengthened.
Venus is goddess of love, and is always connected to the high art of poetry, the true language of the heart. What this says to me is that if ever you needed to say I love you, now is the time, take advantage of this week’s stars, you don’t have to wait ‘til Valentine’s Day. The Moon asks it of us for friends and loved ones alike.
Here’s how Emily said it:
The Moon was but a chin of gold
A night or two ago,
And now she turns her perfect face
Upon the world below.
Her forehead is of amplest blond;
Her cheek like beryl stone;
Her eye unto the summer dew
The likest I have known.
Her lips of amber never part;
But what must be the smile
Upon her friend she could bestow
Were such her silver will!
And what a privilege to be
But the remotest star!
For certainly her way might pass
Beside your twinkling door.
Our deeds are inscribed into the cosmic spaces, be sure to fill them with love.
Thanks for including The Storyteller’s Night Sky in your weekly routine!
Mary
Hear this episode of The Storyteller’s Night Sky on podcast wherever you listen~and leave a comment! This week’s cover image from Sky&Telescope shows the waxing gibbous Moon bridging the gap between Mars and the immortal twin, Pollux, in the region of Gemini stars.