The Third Gate of Ascent
April 19, 2026: Venus meets with the moon in Taurus
Venus is low in the evening sky, shining brightly as Evening Star. She meets with the moon at the Sacral Chakra gate.
The Gatekeeper Speaks
When you know the truth, that is the freedom. You are the truth. You are the truth that transcends all the facts. Seeking the truth will set this truth free. The truth is the essence of your heart. It is the real metal of your heart, the gold of the alchemists.
-A.H. Almaas, Diamond Heart Book One
Gold Essence
The Quality of Sovereignty
Little by little, we become aware of our life with all of its conflicts and barriers without totally believing that this is all there is. The more we’re able to pay attention and disidentify, the more we’ll be able to see the real truth that is there like veins of gold in piles of rocks. The truth is the gold in the ore. Developing this capacity to pay attention and to disidentify at the same time ultimately leads us to experience our essence.
Essence is in the sensations, emotions, and mental events, but it’s not any of them. Precious stones are in the earth, but they are not the earth itself. They are something else. So is Essence in you. It’s not your flesh, not your emotions, not your thoughts. But it is embedded there. Essence is in you like the gold in the rock, like precious stones in the earth.
-A.H. Almaas, Diamond Heart Book 1
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, where is the seat of your power? How are you the empress of your realm?
Bold and beauteous One, what apparently stands in the way of you choosing to stand in your authentic power?
Sacred Warrior, what do you desire? What is it like to want that?
Bold and beauteous One, what does it feel like to become Desire itself?
What is your own unique lens through which to explore this Essence of Gold, the quality of sovereignty, 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.
