Venus sparkles, dazzles and lifts our spirits through her desires, and her aspirations to incarnate beauty itself. As if authenticating these claims, she boldly performs an intricate, sublime dance through the Heavens. If we trace her movements from our perspective on Earth, we find her orbit makes a beautiful masterpiece, a shape we can appreciate- a five-petaled rose, perfect in symmetry and form.
Venus represents our heart’s desire, all that we love, and the way that we express this love. Much like the invisible, yet unmistakable, forces of a magnet, she is adept at coaxing, persuading and seducing, attracting what she desires into her private sphere. Her ability to sweet-talk exists because she genuinely thrives on harmony, cooperation and peace. Instead of fracture and disassociation, she yearns to gather and unite. This is an authentic expression of herself, and one many people find appealing.
Her relationships are precious to her, she lovingly puts the time in to tend to them. With them she weaves a dazzling web, connecting people, resources and good will, into a solid, cohesive alliance. Within this silken web you will find beauty, pleasure, luxury and wealth.
She is the buzz of our romantic life, filling us with artistic abilities, and imbuing a sense of aesthetics so we can appreciate the beauty of our world. Through the eyes of our lovers, we glimpse our own power to enchant, and captivate, through the joys of romantic love. She loves showing affection, falling in love and lavish displays of heartfelt emotions. Venus desires a sense of satisfaction through romance, sensual experiences, gifts, beautiful objects, delicious tastes, and by harmonizing with the people in her environment.
The Goddess of Love gives us free reign to express strong, passionate emotions. It’s our personal preferences, likes, dislikes and desires that empower us. Our greatest desires motivate our thoughts and deeds, and thus creates who we are. Whether our impassioned behaviors support temporary or superficial cravings, or the pursuit of the higher echelons of Truth, it is all the same to Venus.
Every 8.5 years her orbit forms the image of a perfect five-petaled rose. She traces out the outline of each fine petal in the span of approximately 19 months. During these months she spends half her time as the Morning Star, and half her time as the Evening Star. As each petal reaches completion, it also marks the completion of a synodic cycle of Venus. This means she returns to the same point where her cycle originally started. Her larger cycle, the one that sees the five-petaled flower in full blossom at the end of 8.5 years, is called her pentagonal cycle.
The synodic cycle (the one that is about 19 months long) starts when Venus transforms from an Evening Star into a Morning Star, and simultaneously begins her retrograde motion. She either rises in the early morning before the Sun, as the Morning Star, or she rises in the evening after the Sun, as the Evening Star. It may seem paradoxical, kicking off her cycle when she appears to be moving backwards in the sky. Perhaps her surprising dance move is supposed to catch our attention, to make sure we notice her.
The astronomical event which pinpoints the start of her synodic cycle is called an inferior conjunction. Venus conjuncts the Sun, while she is nestled in between the Sun and Earth. At this time, her physical presence is closest to us here on Earth. Yet she becomes invisible as she approaches the Sun’s beaming rays of light. Nothing can outshine the Sun when it’s that close, so she remains shrouded from our view until she becomes the Morning Star and stations direct (her retrograde period ends and she moves forward once again). Venus is retrograde for about 40 days, once in her 19 month synodic cycle.
From here on, Venus makes her descent, reaching for the greatest elongation from the Sun. She once again turns invisible as she makes her way to the superior conjunction with the Sun. This time Venus is the furthest away from the Earth that she can get. When she reemerges once again, it is as the lovely Evening Star. Then slowly she ascends to play the role of the Morning Star, turn retrograde and ignite the next synodic cycle.
During her conjunctions with the Sun, Venus receives an infusion of solar light and inspiration. It burns off the chaff, the unnecessary, and the detritus. Everything that stops her from developing into a sophisticated, experienced, evolved soul ends up as cinders and ash. What doesn’t survive the heat of the Sun, was not worthy of being part of the new transformation of Venus.
As the Morning Star, the Goddess gets sassy and hikes her skirt up so she can run through the stream. Rising just ahead of the Sun, stealing his golden rays, she takes on yang characteristics. Yang is masculine in nature, and its qualities include activity, heat and domination. Impulsive action based on passionate feelings, and a burning desire to experience love, romance and sensual delights are at the forefront. There is an eagerness to pursue pleasure and enjoyment, and an ability to bounce back after a romance gone awry.
As the Evening Star, the Goddess dons her long, elegant evening dress and becomes yin. Yin is feminine in nature, slow, patient, cool and nurturing. She takes her time in deciding on a partner, on who to bestow her love on. She needs time to sit, ponder her own heart, and test the patience and affability of her chosen one. After an affair of the heart ends, recuperation comes slowly, as the pain gradually passes away.
Whereas Morning Star Yang Venus anticipates the excitement of life, the adventure in romance and the fun in forming relationships, Evening Star Yin Venus relaxes into herself, content to take her time in romance and forging close bonds. When Venus rises in the morning, the seeds of a new lesson implant themselves into our psyche. When she rises in the evening, those lessons culminate, leaving us a little wiser, and more mature than when we planted the seeds.
Venus Retrograde is a significant event in astrology. During this period she relies less on her five senses, and external stimulation in general. This is a yin time, and thus she starts to revert inwards and live in a darker, quieter space, without outside distractions. She replaces sensual experience with inner guidance, filling up with internally generated images. Messages sent directly from the heart, for the heart.
Input from the outside is minimized, which is why it feels like pleasures are harder to come by, things feel less sexy, less enticing, food less juicy. Now is the time one must confront cracks in relationships, changing values and a shifting sense of aesthetics. These issues become sore, sticking out like an inflamed bump on the skin. It itches, doesn’t look so pretty, and causes irritation. The normal way we experience peace, balance and harmony buckles and warps under this heavier, yin atmosphere. We need to evaluate our problems and find solutions, to put an end to things that cause disharmony.
Venus not only gives meaning to the beautiful aspects of our lives, such as weddings, courtship, parties and friendship, but even the darker events which sweep us up, including war, crime and illness. Venus easily puts on a pretty mask everyday to keep social interactions light, and operating on a smooth, harmonious level. The mask hides a whole host of veiled, primitive instincts that we generally like to keep hidden- envy, hatred, addiction and other self-destructive behaviors.
It can seem there is no end to the strife and bloodshed war brings, yet it can also be the source of rousing, impassioned feelings of togetherness and unity. War dances, military parades, and patriotic anthems all bring out the spirit of fellowship and community that a nation needs to survive the rigors of battle.
The active yang principle, represented by the soldiers and the military operations, needs to feed off the yin that comes from a sense of national cohesion and support. Those displaying yin traits, the ones keeping the home fires burning, give the soldiers something to come back to and a reason to fight. In turn, they protect the women, children, sick and unhealthy ones, the home front and The Motherland.
Venus would rather be at a party, or redecorating her house, but when duty calls, when her fragrant balm can soothe and uplift the tired, anxious and hopeless, she does not skirt her responsibilities. Spraying and sprinkling her love, beauty and charm is her way of counterbalancing the nastier, confrontational side of life. Venus gives us a reason to carry on.
