Venus appears throughout the centuries and throughout cultures in paintings, poetry, sculpture, and dance. Anyone who has ever heard of Venus in the astrological sense automatically associates her with the arts, with beauty, and with love.
If we continue to look at the planets through the stage of a medieval kingdom and its cast of characters, Venus plays the fair maiden, the beautiful and privileged daughter of the King and Queen. She is surrounded by great comfort and thoroughly enjoys the luxurious lifestyle, the vibrant fabrics and rich textures of her elegant clothing, the courtesans and the pomp and circumstance of a royal life. She delights in the music, in the festivals and the dances and rushes eagerly to dress in the exquisite jewels and ballgown designed exclusively for her. She has not much to concern herself with, except for learning crafts like needlepoint or piano. Outside the castle, she finds pleasure in the beauty of nature, in the aroma of herbs and flowers, in the gorgeous rainbow of colors of the blossoming trees and flowers, in the stylized garden topiaries and mazes sculpted from emerald green hedges.
When Venus is in good condition, well-placed, and aspected by friendly planets in an individual’s birth chart, the natives innately possess the ability to view and experience the world with this same joy and lightheartedness regardless of their station in life, their place of residence, or who their parents are. Yet most people, even with a favorable Venus, will have to deal with hardship from time to time and when those times arise, they may be completely thrown off and unable to handle themselves without assistance, or they will hold their head high, keep their chin up, and smile through the rough spots. Those with a prominently placed Venus in their birth chart will tend to see the bright side of things and feel most comfortable when in harmony with others, avoiding conflict and confrontation as much as possible.
Most people associate Venus with love. From the Vedic Astrology perspective, this is not quite accurate. Venus is considered the planet of sensuality, romance, and pleasure whereas the Moon is aligned with Love, that deep feeling and intimate connection to another person that warms our hearts, nurtures our Soul and awakens our spirit. The Moon bonds us with others emotionally, at much deeper levels, and at its most mature, the Moon seeks to connect with its capacity for unconditional love of all humanity. Venus, on the other hand, gets us out socializing and meeting the partner whom we may perhaps one day bond with Moon-to-Moon, so to speak, and if not, Venus is perfectly content without commitments. She is, quite simply put, our capacity to enjoy life.
That brings us to another consideration in Vedic Astrology regarding the relationship of Venus and the Moon. After relating to the idea of Venus as the princess and the Moon as the Queen, Venus, in particular, is the lest comfortable when these two are nearby. What teenage princess would prefer to hang out with her regal mother when she’d rather be in the company of her ladies in waiting or her young, handsome suitors? What this means astrologically is that should anyone have Venus and Moon conjunct, in mutual aspect, or in each other’s sign in their birth charts, there is likely to be felt a bit of tension. Things will not be so smooth, and often times there will be emotional overtones to be dealt with. Where the connection between them occurs, which houses they occupy and aspect, will determine where this uneasiness can be experienced.
Another reason Venus and the Moon are not necessarily comfortable with each other is that Venus also represents the indulgent mistress who may be secretly or obviously the King’s favored lover. Venus as mistress becomes the seductress, the beauty casting spells and wrapping everyone she sets her eyes on around her little finger. Venus is sexy, physically alluring, and mesmerizing to the senses. Again, depending on the condition and placement of Venus in one’s chart, there may be tendencies towards comfortable, healthy relationships or challenged, manipulative, or overindulgent experiences.
Through this series on Planetary Characters, it’s important to remember that while the planets are being referred to as him or her, each planet represents inherent qualities and intelligent energies manifesting through each of us– regardless of our gender. Everyone has a little Venus in him or her, and some might have a lot!
Beyond the beauty and vixen archetypes, Venus is a teacher who is deeply interested in sharing, observing, and benefiting the lives of others. Although art is attributed to Venus, those with a Venusian career path are not necessarily in the arts or art instructors, though many might be. In teaching, Venus expresses creatively and has the capacity to design appealing courses, explain topics with visual methods, and create an atmosphere of learning that puts people at ease. This preference for harmony is carried through in other relationships as well.
In the Tarot, the Major Arcana card associated with Venus is The Empress, who is seated on her throne in nature, surrounded by a lush landscape of trees, gardens, and beautiful waterfalls. She is in touch with nature and depicted as pregnant, symbolizing the creative act which is encouraged to produce art and beauty in the world, to be receptive, open, and observant to all the abundance and enjoyments life has to offer. She is full with ideas, possibilities, and desires to please the senses.
We can segue nicely into the next character, Saturn, with an example of a famous woman who has Venus conjunct Saturn on her Ascendant (First House). Her Venus is strong in its own sign of Libra. Libra is an Air sign, which supports the voice and the career path of this singer. Saturn is exalted in Libra and on the Ascendant which produces a tall, slender physique and dark hair. Her appearance has been and continues (at her current age) to be influenced by Venus and Saturn. The pair has manifested in many ways– the business (Saturn) of beauty (Venus), the discipline (Saturn) to stay young and beautiful (Venus), the enjoyment of costumes (Venus) for business (Saturn) and pleasure (Venus), longevity (Saturn) in entertainment (Venus). You may have guessed who I am referring to: the legendary Cher.
In the next and final part of this series, Part 7, we’ll look at Saturn. Every kingdom has its elderly and its wise sage. Saturn is both, and more.
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Written by Renate Maria Bell -certified Vedic Astrologer, Jyotish Visharada, and approved teacher with the Council of Vedic Astrology. She can be reached at renatembell@aol.com 2022© Do not use, post, repost, or reprint in part or in whole without the expressed written consent of the author.
Image of The Empress from the Rider-Waite tarot deck