The binding knot of the past (Alrisha) transforming into the liberating soul-bond (Mirach) that allows Andromeda to free herself
On 2 September 2026 at 19:42 UT, the C.G. Jung Foundation of New York posted an announcement [1][2] for a five-week online course beginning 9 November: Why We Love the Way We Do – The Patterns That Shape Love, Intimacy, and the Experience of Being Truly Known, taught by David Rottman.
The chart of that exact moment is unusually eloquent.
Venus at 24° Libra 36′ stands in almost exact conjunction with the Uranian planet Zeus (25° Libra 11′) and the Midheaven (25° Libra 19′). This Venus–Zeus–MC stellium sits directly on the fixed-star pair Spica and Arcturus — traditionally linked with the ideal of soul-mate union and the pure expression of masculine and feminine in divine partnership. Martha Wescott’s description of Venus/Zeus captures the energy perfectly: a “burning love,” an intense creative fire that kindles passion and makes us acutely aware of what turns the flame of relationship on or off.
Meanwhile the Sun at 10° Virgo is conjunct the stars Alioth, Alsuhail and Zosma. These stars speak of the responsible use of personal will, the need to reassess one’s course, and the toxicity that can surround the heart. In short, the chart announces an ideal of soul-level love while simultaneously insisting that the path to it requires conscious mastery of the deeper patterns that keep us repeating the same emotional stories.
Uranian midpoints reinforce the theme: Venus = Zeus = Pluto/Hades. Pluto/Hades points to the dark recesses of the psyche — early love templates, instinct, guilt, and the step-by-step construction of psychological complexes. Exactly the territory the course explores.
The Sabian symbol for Venus at 25° Libra — “Information in an Autumn Leaf” — adds a final poetic touch: with the right attitude of perception we can see beneath surface appearances and discover the depth of spiritual truth in all things. That is essentially the method of the course itself. About Venus retrograde Dane Rudhyar writes:
“The cycle of Venus begins during its retrograde period, signifying a phase of renewal and reorientation of feelings, emotions and values. It is a time when the future attempts to free itself from the past, clearing the way for the development of a new set of values and a new emotional sense. But attempts to fight or rebel against the past and its values and morality can bind us to the very things from which we seek to free ourselves.” - Dane Rudhyar
Between the announcement and the first class, a major Venus retrograde cycle unfolds. Venus stations retrograde on 3 October at 8° Scorpio 29′ and reaches its interior conjunction with the Sun on 23 October at 0° Scorpio 45′. At that moment Sun and Venus form a tight T-square with the horizon axis and with Pluto at 3° Aquarius — the precise degree of C.G. Jung’s Ascendant.
The fixed stars opposite the Sun–Venus conjunction include Alrisha (the knot that binds the two fishes of Pisces) and Mirach (bonds of the soul that allow two beings to become more than either can be alone). Alrisha creates the neurological tension that seeks resolution by embracing the primordial past so that a new future can arise — a perfect celestial image of the “love templates” formed in earliest life that continue to shape adult intimacy.
Erin Sullivan’s words on Venus retrograde describe the psychological climate participants will enter: an instinctive recoiling, a cold hard look at one’s relationships, and deeply mysterious transformations whose meaning only becomes clear months later. The five Mondays of the course fall squarely inside this retrograde period.
Thus the sky itself stages the journey the course invites: from the fiery ideal of soul-union announced in September, through a Scorpio–Plutonian underworld review of relationship patterns, toward the possibility of loving and being loved for who one actually is.
The astrology does not merely decorate the course. It enacts it.
[1] https://x.com/cgjungny/status/2095235833284505758
[2] https://cgjungny.org/continuing-education-fall-ii-2026-why-we-love-the-way-we-do/
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