Venus

Definition

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, circling it in about 225 days. From Earth it never appears more than roughly 47 degrees from the Sun, and it goes retrograde — appearing to move backward — about every 19 months, for some 40 days each time. Astrology gives Venus a home (domicile) in both Taurus and Libra, its strongest placement (exaltation) in Pisces, its weakest (fall) in Virgo, and difficult placements (detriment) in Aries and Scorpio. Tradition calls it the Lesser Benefic — one of the two "easy" planets.

In Tradition

Western astrologers read Venus as the planet of love and attraction: beauty, pleasure, harmony, and what you value and find worth wanting. In Hellenistic practice Venus belongs to the night-born "sect" and acts as the sect benefic — the most helpful planet — in a chart cast for a night birth.

In Practice

Astrologers read Venus's sign, house, and aspects (the angles it makes to other planets) for your relationship style, your sense of beauty, and what you value, with its house showing where you most naturally attract and enjoy pleasure. Because Venus never strays more than about 47 degrees from the Sun, it sits in the Sun's sign or within two signs of it, which shapes which Sun-Venus pairings are possible. Its return cycles and aspects to natal planets are watched for relationship and financial timing, and its condition is weighed in electional astrology — choosing good moments for marriages, creative work, and money matters. Venus works as a natural counterpart to Mars: together the two govern attraction, desire, and partnership.

Historical Origin

Venus's astrological meanings come from its classical link to the Greek goddess Aphrodite and the Roman Venus. Its standing as the Lesser Benefic is attested in the Hellenistic tradition.

Further Reading

• Robert Hand, Horoscope Symbols
• Sue Tompkins, The Contemporary Astrologer's Handbook
• Steven Forrest, The Inner Sky