The planet Venus is always worth considering in a restaurant horoscope. Among the factors in its domain are things that are attractive to us; the objects, people and ideas that we hold dear and desire. Also, Venus figures in when we discuss talent and anything that we have that increases our value in our own spheres and in the world at large.
Venus is especially significant this August as it transitions into the astrological sign of Cancer on the first day of the month. To some astrologers Cancer is the ultimate food sign, the sign in medical astrology that is associated with the stomach. Through the millennia of astrological thought, Cancer has come to represent all that is associated with home and hearth, and in the gastronomic world particularly the notion of mom’s cooking as the great emotional restorative.
So it is hardly surprising as we enter this month to encounter a flurry of interest in the concept of comfort foods. Indeed, foodservice enterprises are zodiacally encouraged to connect with customers over the concept of emotional nourishment right now, the more familiar the fare the better. With two large caveats…
First, the moon is in Sagittarius at the start of the month. The Moon is the astronomical body most closely associated with the sign of Cancer, and is always relevant in a food horoscope. In Sagittarius, the emotional/domestic energy of the moon is projected through a lens of philosophical breadth and internationalism. The short of it is that meat loaf and mashed potatoes are only comfort foods to a small segment of the global population and a real customer connection, even in the kingdom of comfort foods, entails looking beyond one’s own personal provincialism and into the provincialism of others.
Second, and this is very significant in light of the Moon position, is that Venus in Cancer is in direct opposition to Pluto in Capricorn as the month begins. Space precludes the lengthy exegesis that this configuration deserves, but the upshot here is that you have the full brute force of a harsh business reality facing off against the desire for, figuratively speaking, cake and ice cream. The possibility of overkill is enormous, and customers will fiercely reject the emotional manipulation that is likely to ensue as every foodservice executive in the USA decides to menu macaroni & cheese at the same instant.
Steven Mark Weiss is a career foodservice trade journalist, consultant and author with a confessed addiction to messing around with astrology. His astrologically-themed books include ‘Signs of Taste’ and ‘Signs of Success.’ He cosmically blogs on business matters at blog.stevenmarkweiss.com.
