A Lifetime of Venusian Dynamics

During meditation earlier this week, I gained insight into certain parts of myself that have always been in my chart; however, I don’t believe I’ve brought them into self-awareness before now. I think it’s important to share this type of insight because it’s part of why I love Astrology & Human Design. These systems are an affirmation of what I know of self, and what I continue to discover.

Before getting into it, I use this space to share a lot of personal stories. If you’d like to support this page, I would greatly appreciate it if you would subscribe. For now, I do not have anything blocked by a paywall; this space is to give me a sounding board and to hopefully inspire others to learn more about themselves in the process

Building the Foundation of Belief

There has been an experience happening in my workplace lately that’s thrown a bigger spotlight on a common issue females experience in male-dominated industries. Personally, I’ve been immersed in masculine spaces since I was young. My family has a large presence in the trades; my father’s family are builders, he’s in trucking, and other members of the family are electricians. We also grew up with traditional gender roles in the household, and my grandfather always had final say. Of course, my father expected the same while we were growing up.

During high school, you could find me in mechanical shops watching the guys work on their ‘race cars,’ sometimes sanding or doing body work if I felt like assisting. Mostly, I hung out with the other 2-3 girls who tagged along in that crowd. When I was kicked out at 16, I lived with a few of my male friends for a year or so.

A Female Army Medic

Me & My Battle Buddy - I'm the short one

I joined the Army at the end of my junior year of high school. Living out of the back of my car wasn’t cutting it any longer, and I jumped at an opportunity to escape my small-town life. Avoid my parents and save myself from getting into more serious trouble. Females make up about 18% of our soldiers, and there are only certain jobs that we can be in. Being a medic was one of them, which is the route I chose.

Looking back on my deployment, I was 1 of 6 female personnel in a unit with over 180 soldiers. An artillery unit normally doesn’t include females, so when deployment added us to the roster, it was a different level of integration. Challenging not just for us coming in, but for the men to adapt as well.

During that deployment, I think about a conversation early on with my platoon sergeant at the time. We had 2 females in the platoon, and he was asking how things were progressing so far. We were about 2 months in at this point. I was blunt when I told him that we were segregated too much, and if they wanted trust to be built within the unit before going overseas, that needed to shift. His surprise was evident when we brought up being allowed in the common area of the male barracks for an hour or two at the end of the day to increase camaraderie. Having to explain that activities such as playing cards after training, or sharing beverages and stories while a movie played, build relationships, and we were missing that with 90% of the people we were supposed to rely on. A simple solution to a deeply embedded issue.

On my way out, 12 years later, I remember having a conversation with other leaders in my infantry unit (I was senior enlisted at this point) on how it was inappropriate to have a female junior enlisted sleep on a cot in the bathroom during a drill weekend. After I raged quietly for a moment, I asked their reasoning for it. Please explain why a member of the unit was unable to sleep on the drill floor with the rest of the soldiers. When their answer was “well, she’s a female, and we want to make sure she’s separated from the males,” I almost exploded. A drill floor, for perspective, is a large open space that fits the entire company (~200 people) comfortably, along with equipment, vehicles, etc. My next question to them: “Do you have a reason to think that a fellow soldier would be unsafe around her comrades while she’s sleeping?”

Something so simple, and this young soldier was afraid of speaking up to the seniors. I was reminded of how important it was for those like me to change perspectives, even slightly, before I left that world entirely.

Present-Day Waste

For the last decade, I’ve worked in the trucking industry, specifically in waste, where women make up around 22% of the workforce. A bit better than 18%, but still quite a minority. I’ve worked my way up the corporate ladder in a spider web-like fashion, moving through departments when opportunities arise. Certain manager positions stand out, where I’ve had to work twice as hard as anyone else to prove that I was worthy of my position. Dealing with the antics of men twice my age who had manners that made my toddler look like an angel in comparison. Having a strong backbone from the military helped this quite a bit.

My recent position has moved me outside the operational side of the business and into the fleet side, where, you guessed it, there are even fewer females occupying positions. With the move has come more opportunities to venture out into the community spaces, such as educational facilities for career fairs or mock interviews with graduating students. Last week, I had my first experience at a technical school interviewing students interested in possibly working for our company. A random student decided to interrupt me in the middle of a question to inquire about my marital status. Taken aback for a moment, I navigated back on track until I got to the end and asked if there were any questions about the role, company, etc. He took that as a time to ask more personal questions about where I lived, my age, and even commented at the end about what a shame it was that he couldn’t take me out…

At first glance, some might say big deal, why make a thing out of it…but you know what? My male counterpart next door didn’t have that happen to him.

In a professional environment, there should be an unspoken acknowledgement of what is or is not appropriate behavior. I was there to interview candidates for roles in our company, a professional representative providing support for the school. Respect should be inherently expected from all sides. Instead, I received an experience that felt degrading in the way it discounted my career experience.

That’s why I said something to my HR representative, who organized the event; we passed it up through the proper channels at the school, and conversations will be had. To sit in silence is to condone behavior, and I’m determined to leave these spaces better for those women who follow after me. We deserve to occupy them just as much as the men working alongside us.

But how was this an insightful experience?

Well, my Venus sits at the very bottom of my chart in Scorpio, conjunct both my IC and Pluto. There is a level of depth that I demand from my relationships, to be sure. If we aren’t being real and getting to the root of things, then what are we doing? Having that placement has taught me a lot about harmful relationship dynamics, another topic for another time, but also about the deeply ingrained thought patterns surrounding gender roles in our society. Up until today, I hadn’t fully connected that to the workplace; however, I saw most of the patterns popping up in my personal relationships with my family or partners throughout the years.

Opposing that Venus, slightly wide but still loud, is Jupiter in the 10th house of Taurus. She’s almost halfway between Jupiter and my Midheaven, the way I’m seen in public spaces or my career. It clicked that this is how the opposition keeps showing up in my life. Jupiter is taking those Venus in Scorpio themes and pulling them into the workplace, making them stand out for sure, but also giving me opportunities to react with wisdom gained through a lifetime of experience. Sometimes the knowledgeable teacher becomes so through trials.

I get asked often why Astrology has become so integral in my life. This is one of the reasons. It helps me understand a little more about myself over time, and with that knowledge, I can choose to embrace those aspects that can be challenging and meet them head-on. Instead of shying away from situations like this, I can start to accept that these occurrences are happening for a reason, it’s not just bad luck; they can be presenting me with an opportunity to make a difference in the industry. A purpose I didn’t even realize I had, and yet one I’ve been passionate about for decades.

Fun fact, as I write this, transiting Venus is trine Pluto in the sky, amplifying these patterns for everyone, more so for those of us with this signature already embedded in our charts. This aspect is happening in my 11th house of groups/community, and the 7th of relationships. A beautiful example of gaining contentment through pattern recognition, conscious awareness of themes, and a trust in divine timing.

In Closing:

I hope the Scorpio Full Moon on this May Day is illuminating for all of us in ways that benefit our life’s journey.

If you’d like to see how things are playing out in your chart, I have started offering readings for both Human Design and Astrology. You can email me at cosmicleighaligned@zohomail.com or book a reading from the services page on my website if you are interested.

Until next time