On the 8th June, Venus makes a rare transit across the face of the Sun. Two views of it are presented below:

As Above So Below: The Venus Passage of the 21st Century by Lorraine Exley
Thy return Posterity shall witness. Years must roll away, but then at length the splendid sight again shall greet our distant children's eyes. - Jeremiah Horrocks 1639
We are now on the eve of the second transit of a pair, after which there will be no other till the twenty-first century of our era has dawned on earth, and the June flowers are blooming in 2004. When the last transit season occurred the intellectual world was awakening from the slumber of ages, and that wondrous scientific activity which has led to our present advanced knowledge was just beginning. What will be the state of science when the next transit season arrives God only knows. Not even our children's children will live to take part in the astronomy of that day. - William Harkness1882
To have seen even a part of a transit of Venus is an event to remember for a lifetime. - Robert Grant

On June 8th 2004 Venus will use the power of the Sun to beam her energy down upon the Earth. In a passage lasting 6 hours we are united beyond time with the above words of William Harkness and Jeremiah Horrocks, as we have the opportunity to witness a planetary spectacle never seen by any living person. The Venus mysteries speak the core truths of many ancient metaphysical belief systems, including the East Indian teachings on Enlightenment, the Rosicrucian philosophy, and the prophetic cosmic plan described by the Mayan culture. The indigenous people of the world always held Venus in awe as they connected directly to the mysteries of this early evening or morning star which shines so brightly and is the first to appear in the sky.
The cosmic signs above us have much to reveal of the relationship of mankind to the Universe. A cycle of Venus begins with its first morning star appearance every 584 days, with five of these cycles occurring in exactly eight years. This gives the Sun and Venus an 8:5 relationship which equals 8/5 or 1.6 which is the Golden proportion (1.618), revealed in the unique principle of nature which lies in living things. Uniting celestial and terrestrial processes under one principle, this sacred geometry states As above, so Below. The movement and pattern that Venus traces around the ecliptic in her eight year astronomical cycle form a pattern that was seen as a five petalled rose or to others as a five pointed star.
When The Rosicrucians chose the five petalled rose as their symbol they were celebrating this pattern. The Golden proportion can be found in all five petalled flowers. The rose family and all the flowers of edible fruit bearing plants are based on five and signal to man that these are his proper foods while seven petalled plants are seen as poisonous to mankind. The pentagonal shape that Venus reveals thus becomes the symbol of Life.
To others the movement of Venus appeared as a five pointed star, the sacred symbol of the Pythagorean Order, referred to as the magical pentacle, containing the golden proportion within the sacred pentangle. This was used as a password or secret symbol amongst the Order. An almost perfect natural pentangle of mountains spans the center of the Order of the Knights Templar around Rennes du Chatres in France and it is clear from their architecture that the Order were well aware of the golden proportion and geometry of the pentangle. Both the Cathars and the Knights Templars believed in the Grail Family as descendants of Christ and Mary Magdelene and connected Mary Magdelene to Venus which was represented by this shape.
As a talisman it was used all over the East as a charm to resist evil and was found on the statue of the Anubis in Egypt. In medieval times the five points that Venus made represented the five knightly virtues of generosity, courtesy, chastity, chivalry and piety. The women's branch of freemasonry uses the five pointed 'Eastern Star' as its emblem, with each point depicting a heroine of biblical lore. The Wicca pentagram, another five pointed star representing Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit, also has its roots in this cycle.
The birth of the morning star was also shown as a symbol of Jesus Christ revealed in Revelation 22:16 as 'the bright and morning star' and again in Revelation 2:28 the Christ promised to those who overcame the world that 'I will give him the morning star'. The Star that announced his birth was depicted in Matthew 2:2 as an upside-down pentagram. Theology is full of references to this star and it becomes clear that the appearance of Venus is connected with great Spiritual revelation and even the appearance of a Master.
In the Dresden Codex, the Maya had an almanac that displayed the full cycle of Venus. Their belief was that there had been four ages prior to our own. The upcoming transit of 2004 is the start of an eight-year cycle ending in 2012, the year that marks the end of their final age, spoken of as the Enlightenment of humanity. The Mayans were greatly interested in the Pleiades star cluster, which they viewed as the rattle of a great cosmic serpent. The Lord Quetzaclcoatl, meaning plumed serpent was identified with the planet Venus and was believed to have lived at the start of the fourth age, which began 11th August 3114 BC referred to by the Maya as the birth of Venus. The planet Venus was said to have been formed when Quetzacoatl after committing incest with his sister was filled with guilt and sacrificed himself by throwing himself into the fire and transforming into Venus. The prophecies await his glorious return and with the Venus passage we are now entering a predicted time of this return, bringing with it the cleansing of all karma and Global Enlightenment. We are currently in a period of decades which brings Venus farther north and closer to the Pleiades cluster. In Mayan cosmology a new phase in evolution was entered on January 5th 1999, and has been waiting for the boost given by this Venus transit to allow us to fulfill our cosmic destiny. To many the Lord Quetzacoatl and the Messiah are one and the same.
The Vedic tradition in India, also sees this Transit of 2004 as a turning point which is the start of the Golden Age, coming to fruition at the next Venus Transit in 2012.
All around the world Venus is celebrated, her sisters in other cultures sharing the same aspects of fertility, food, serpents, rainbows, nurturing, birth, death, rebirth and transformation. She is beautiful and powerful though sometimes she can be fierce but only when she needs to protect her own and bring about eventual harmony. On the planet Venus itself, stands a volcano named Maat Mons after the Egyptian Goddess of Truth and Justice.
When we speak of Venus we connect to the Divine Feminine. Venus loves the Arts, and features strongly in the birthcharts of great artists, poets and musicians. Her connection with the Golden Proportion, is revealed in many great paintings and musical harmonies. The Venus transit of 1631 witnessed the glory of womanhood celebrated in the paintings of Rubens and Rembrandt and we find that during the last Venus Passage the Divine Feminine was also valued for its divine beauty and place in creativity, a time of Pre-Raphaelite art revealing the glory of womanhood.
But women were not just to be celebrated as the muse or divine goddess, this was the age of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn where men and women worked together as equals in spiritual and magical ceremonies. Through the protection of the mystical pentagram the Women of the Golden Dawn evoked the Lady Venus in their magical journeying and returned with the report of being given 'the secret of the Holy Grail'. Also during this time Madame Blavatsky founded the Theosophical Society fostering an interest in spiritual and creative matters. Women were allowed to study medicine and practice as doctors and were finally given control over their fertility with the setting up of birth control clinics. There was an awareness of the secret power of the Divine Feminine, going back to the Renaissance and the Holy Grail which is nowadays believed to represent the Divine Feminine. These concepts occurred during Venus Passage years and hidden in them is said to be a secret passed only to initiates that may yet be revealed by the coming transit. Already this year the Christian Church has elevated Mary Magdalene from Prostitute to great Spiritual Leader and women in the Middle East are being freed from masculine left brained constraints, as the world moves towards a more right brained feminine approach.
Venus is our sister planet, acting as a 'cosmic mirror' to Earth and during any conjunctions and passages she always turns the same face towards the earth. During her coming passage in 2004 Venus, as in many previous transits will show a Gemini face, where she will stay in the same sign from April 3rd to August 7th which is 126 days compared to the usual 3 weeks, forty three of which (from May 17th to June 29th) are retrograde. So we have a long period to bathe in the Venus' Gemini energy, experiencing both its lighter and its darker, more mysterious side. Venus is usually seen as the glowing light against the dark sky, but during this special passage we see her in reverse, dark against the light of the Sun. The highlight of the event is when Venus is seen as a drop on the edge of the Sun. Is this her cleansing tear? We then have 8 years in which to assimilate it all.
By looking at previous Venus Transits we can get some idea of what is in store for humanity. The Gemini face being shown will focus on various aspects of that sign. The most obvious is in Communication. If we look back at previous Venus Passages we can see that the thread of communication leading to globalisation has been running through them with the dates of recent previous passages being: 1518, 1526, 1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, 1882, 2004, 2012.
It was during previous Venus Passages that our great inventions in communications took place, connecting different peoples of the world. This often involved travel and exploration and during the transit of 1518 there was the first circumnavigation of the globe when Magellan crossed the Pacific. Again communication was the mark of the 1631 transit when the National Mail Service was established enabling people to connect to each other. In 1761 we see the first example of global collaboration in science as scientists around the world worked together from seventy-seven different points around the globe in order to measure the distance to the Sun. It was this collaboration which led to Captain Cook's famous Australian voyage when he was sent to Tahiti to observe the transit. Although this was at the height of the Seven Year's War, despite bitter hostilities astronomers were given letters of cooperation to enable them to pass enemy lines unmolested. It was an extraordinary feat of unity, which is the key mark of Venus. 1874 brought more in the lines of communication as the telephone was patented, followed by the completion of the Atlantic telegraph cable and the founding of the World Post Union.
The strong Gemini influence also showed in great writings. In 1762 Rousseau's Social Contract was published stating that 'Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains'. This led to European Enlightenment which inspired much of the political order of Europe and America leading to the idea of liberty and civil rights.
The year 2003 was much ruled by Mars, which came the closest it had been to Earth for 73,000 years. It was a year exhibiting many of the Mars characteristics, with much focus on war particularly between the East and West. Now in 2004 it is the turn of Venus and the chance to resolve these issues through the harmony she provides. But it is up to mankind to use these harmonies for their greatest benefit and it is to this end that the Oneness Ceremony was developed.
As we have already seen, the effects of a Venus passage are demonstrable. It is a time during which global unity is highlighted, a time for collaboration and cooperation across the globe. The astronomical effect will be visible across the world, excepting the West Coast of America, and we will all be charged with that beam of light whether the sun is visible or not. The Cosmos is greater than any of us and gives clear signs if only we will read them. The sunspot activity prior to the Harmonic Concordance on November 8th 2003 reinforced the strength of the cosmic signs being revealed. All around the world wondrous things were experienced. It is all part of the cosmic pattern.
Carl-Johan Calleman, a Mayan specialist, conceived the Oneness Celebration to bring about the global harmony that we so desperately need if humanity is to reach the state of enlightenment necessary for our entry into the next stage of evolution. Already preparations have begun. The Oneness Ceremony takes place from the 6 - 8th of June. In the Tzolkin count used by the Mayan Daykeepers, those days are represented by Light, Alligator, and Wind meaning Radiance, the primordial Mother, and Spirit. Sharing the same energy, the Declination Degree and Shamanic Symbol for that time are: 23°N, equivalent to 10° 17' Gemini - 19° 03' Gemini
There is a great storm.
The crocodile's mouth is open wide, his jaws waiting.
The elephant stamps his giant feet, crushing all before him.
Now is the time.
The oceans swirl and the crocodile swallows the world.
The weight flips him over so we can only see his underbelly; inside it is black, there is no light.
Holes are made in the crocodile's belly so light can come through like stars.
It is a time of waiting, a time of blackness, silence.
There is bird song, light creeps in, the crocodile gives birth to the world as a round egg.
It is transparent and we are waiting for it to hatch
When the Mayans greet each other their words are In Lak'esh. This means 'I am another yourself'. In other words We are all One. Now is the perfect time to demonstrate this, we can all be part of the Oneness Celebration, wherever we are, whatever we are doing, as the light of Truth and Justice streams down bathing us in the Venus qualities of Love Beauty and Harmony. This is the moment, and we are the ones, that the world has been waiting for.

Venus 2004 by Paul F. Newman
On 8th June, 2004, when Venus and the Sun make their closest conjunction for over 100 years, it is a rare two-way conjunction exact by both longitude and declination. It takes place at 17 degrees 54 minutes of Gemini on the tropical zodiac and 22 degrees 48 minutes north of the equator by declination. This is by far the most powerful astrological activation of 2004 and means that the vibes of Venus will be extra strong.
UK and USA
Apart from having a general influence on the world around this time, the Sun-Venus cazimi makes noticeable links to the charts of both the United Kingdom and the United States. On the UK chart the Sun-Venus at 17 Gemini falls exactly opposite the UKs Mercury at 17 Sagittarius and trines the UKs Venus at 16 Aquarius. With the Sun-Venus also falling in the ninth house of the UK chart it suggests much information and speculation on a harmonious event. The Sun-Venus declination at 22N48 is very close to the UK midheaven of 23N09 and contraparallel the UK Sun of 23S04. It definitely affects this chart.
But the activation is even more direct on the USAs chart, where the Sun-Venus declination of 22N48 is exactly parallel the US Sun (22N48). The natal Sun of The United States is at 13 degrees of Cancer by longitude which is the antiscion of the Sun-Venus conjunction at 17 Gemini. This is more or less equivalent to having a direct transit of Sun-Venus to the US Sun. The powerhouse of the United States is The Pentagon - a five-sided Venus symbol.
Morning Star - Evening Star
Although a parallel conjunction of Venus and the Sun is rare, a normal zodiac conjunction of the two planets (non-parallel by declination) takes place five times in four years. Tracing this on a zodiac wheel will produce a pentagram. At each of these conjunctions Venus changes its position from one side of the Sun to the other, so that for approximately 290 days it either rises before or after the Sun. Thus Venus is perceived as a Morning Star or an Evening Star for a period of a little over eight months each between zodiacal solar conjunctions.
In the first half of 2004 leading up to the Sun-Venus conjunction, Venus is ahead of the Sun in the zodiac and is therefore an Evening Star, appearing brightly as the first star in the sky after sunset. After the conjunction Venus will remain behind the Sun in the zodiac and become the Morning Star, the last star to be seen in the sky before dawn.
Venus across the face of the Sun
The rare alignments of Venus moving across the disk of the Sun are clustered in pairs and separated by about 120 years. (Four conjunctions within 234 years). The last two parallel conjunctions took place in 1874 and 1882. The current conjunction of 2004 will be followed by another in 2012 (6th June 2012). In 2004 Venus as a little dot moves across the face of the Sun's southern hemisphere. In 2012 it will transit the Sun's northern hemisphere.
The transit of 2004 lasts for over six hours from approximately 06.20am to 12.20pm clock-time (BST) in Britain. The maximum point from an astronomical view is around 09.20am. The Venus planetary hour during this time runs from approximately 06.35 - 07.55am. The Oneness Celebration takes place at 12 noon.