The Fifth Gate of Ascent
June 17, 2026: Venus meets with the moon in Leo
Venus is high in the evening sky, shining brightly as Evening Star. She meets with the moon at the Heart Chakra gate.
The Gatekeeper Speaks
The present moment contains the past and future.
The secret of transformation is in the way we handle this very moment.
-Thich Nhat Hanh
Green and Gold Essence
The Quality of Sacred Responsibility
The more you’re committed to something, the closer you are to it, and the less you separate yourself from it. When there’s complete knowledge and complete commitment, there’s complete union with what you want. Then you become it; you are that. So commitment becomes the embodiment of what you are committed to.
-A.H. Almaas, Diamond Heart Book One
Inquiry Questions
Take some time to drop in, deepen into the quiet of your unfolding soul, and explore what is here now in your awareness, rising as Evening Star.
Sacred Warrior, brave and fearless one, how do you love? What new capacity have you gained on this side of the Underworld, to love as your genuine self?
Bold and beauteous One, What is lovable about you? What beliefs still linger around not being loved? What wisdom do you gain from your ancestral lineage around love?
Sacred Warrior, what keeps you from experiencing yourself as Love? What will it take for you to own the responsibility of being Love, for yourself and for those you are called to protect?
Bold and beauteous One, what is it like to embody and be Love itself?
What is your own unique lens through which to explore this Essence of Green and Gold, the quality of sacred responsibility, for Venus’s ascent as Evening Star? With whom do you journey this cycle?
Ritual Space
Take some time to drop into ritual space as you receive the initiation of this gate. We step into liminal space, time out of time, in ritual space. We connect with the lineage of those who have watched the stars for millennia, receiving the gift of Venus's journey, aligning ourselves with the cycles that are already unfolding. We remember our nature as beings who cycle, change, transform. We remember how to receive knowing directly, rather than needing others to tell us what is so.
You may wish to create an altar, light a candle, and anoint yourself with oils. Sit with this gate, the quality of Essence that is being called forward. As you deepen in surrendering to receiving initiation, ask who would come to guide you in your journey with this quality of Essence? What of yourself do you offer in return? What is calling to be set down at this gate? What pattern, belief, way of being in this world, is challenged by this quality of Essence? What are you ready to release in order to deepen more fully in this journey?
What gift is revealed in the releasing of this pattern, belief, or way of being? What has more freedom to be itself in this release? You may see this directly, or may need to live with this initiation throughout the whole cycle and come back and answer this question before entering into the next gate. You may wish to draw cards to receive guidance in this way.
As you complete your experience in ritual space, take time to offer thanks and adoration to the archetype, to Venus, to your personal guide that arose for this journey, to your ancestors and lineage. Offer thanks to the land that holds and nourishes and grounds you. In the giving and receiving we remember our deep connectedness to all beings everywhere, throughout time and space.
