Venus goes to the Bank

Astrologers believe in the “rule of three,” which says that anything occurring at least three times is a bonafide pattern. When I got three emails about banking problems during the first week of Venus retrograde, I figured I should rethink my ban on linking Venus with finances. Oh sure, Venus likes the good stuff money can buy. But I’ve never felt her presence inside banks or lending institutions, which have always felt more Saturn to me. My friend April Elliott Kent agrees: “Venus money wants to be out running around free with the wind in its hair, stimulating the economy and whatnot – not sitting around in some boring-ass building with guys in suits.”

Even so, the money stories kept coming this Venus retrograde–the ongoing mess of the economy, Bernard Madoff pleading guilty to stealing billions, AIG paying bonuses to the dimwits who got us into this mess, and Jon Stewart trouncing CNBC’s Mad Money Cramer for not reporting about the market with greater integrity. More personally, I heard stories of credit cards being charged twice for the same transaction, another charged not at all for a purchase that had left the store, and an account that went into arrears because an online statement never reached the cardholder. One client sent me a check but didn’t stamp the envelope. And for the first time ever, I discovered I had cashed someone’s check without sending her a report!

So I’m now willing to believe that during the retrograde Venus hovers around the green stuff. Still I can’t sense her juicy laughter in statements and bank drafts. The next time I deposit a check, I’ll look around for the flowers and chocolate!