Introduction to Planetary Influence -2:
Venus in Astrology
– written by Philip Graves – 5 Jan 2004
– reformatted for WordPress, June 8th, 2016
Venus in Astrology
The glyph for Venus shows the Circle of Spirit on the cross of the Soul without the crescent of Matter, in contrast to the glyph for Mercury. Thus, Venus represents the Spirit freed from the burden of Matter and from the material world, and directly energising the Soul, which is the domain of relationship. Yet since the Soul serves also as a relating point between Spirit and Matter, Spirit is drawn into Matter through it, so channelling aesthetic expression into fine and orderly material designs.
According to Martin Schulman’s model, the glyph shows the Circle of creative Spirit pouring its energy directly into the material form of the cross of Matter, thus conferring beauty, harmony and love to the material plane.
Venus evokes attraction and beauty, which when positively expressed manifest as grace; when negatively, as sensuality. Venus, through its function of attracting and beautifying, serves as a positive, harmonious influence on any point it contacts in a figure, and has therefore been traditionally known as the lesser benefic.
Venus governs aesthetic sense; the affections; beauty in nature as an agent of attraction and thus reproduction; the channelling of the instinct for procreation into artistic creativity; courtship rituals; the enjoyment of comfort, elegance and pleasure; extremes of feeling; friendship; the parental instinct; interpersonal relating; romantic love; society; and the sublimation of sexual desire into socially accepted, harmonious forms of co-operation and joint enterprise. It is absorptive; alluring; amiable; artistic; centrifugal; cheerful but prone to depression; coquettish; devoted; discriminating; faithful; feminine; fond of adornments; fruitful; gentle; graceful and gracious; in-gathering; insistent upon propriety; justice-conscious; magnetic; musical; pacific and peaceful; passive; receptive to social concerns; responsive to beauty; self-pitying; sensitive to sex; simple; tasteful; temperate; unreliable in memory; and youthful in approach and perspective; but when denied expression, potentially abandoned; dissolute; extravagant; gaudy; licentious; self-indulgent; slothful and vain.
Venus governs adornments, the arts, beauty, fine clothes, coins, conjugal love, dancing, female relations, flowers, the home, jewels, learning, literature, luxuries, marriage, music, money, ornaments, pictures, pleasures, social activities, singing, toys, and women. It also signifies attachments, the favour of women, joy, love affairs, success, and wealth. It confers a finely artistic, bright, cultured, hopeful, gentle, loving, poetical, pleasant-mannered nature, and beauty of the mind and senses.
People signified by Venus include artists; botanists; choristers; confectioners; dancers; designers; domestic staff; embroiderers; engravers; fiddlers; florists; gamblers; glovers; illustrators; jewellers; lapidaries (jewel polishers); linen drapers; mothers; musicians; painters; pastry-cooks; perfumers; pipers; poets; silk-traders; seamstresses; singers; textile traders; tailors and vendors of women’s apparel, make-up, and other adornments; upholsterers; virgins; and wives.
Places described include beds; bridal chambers; dancing schools; fair places of residence; fountains; furnishings; gardens; and wardrobes. Minerals include alabaster; beryl; brass; chrysolite; copper; white and red corals; cornelians; emeralds; lapis lazuli; marcasite; sky-blue sapphires. Colours signified are white; and pale sky-colour mixed with brown or a little green. Flavours are all that are pleasant, sweet, delectable, aromatic, and addictive.
Herbs are those of a sweet flavour, gentle effect, and pleasant smell, typically with smooth-edged leaves and white flowers. They include alkanet, amber, bean, broad bean, bugle, burdock, catmint, chickweed, clary sage, clover (red), columbine, coltsfoot, coriander, cowslip, cuckoo-pint (lords and ladies), cudweed, daffodil (Narcissus), daisy, dead nettle, devil’s bit, dittany, dropwort, ground elder (bishop weed), elder, fenugreek, feverfew, figwort, fleabane, foxglove, frankincense, goldenrod, ground-ivy, groundsel, herb Robert, hollyhock, lady’s bedstraw, lady’s mantle, lily, maidenhair fern, mallow, marshmallow, mayweed, mercury (annual), millet, mint, mugwort, musk, myrtle, orach, orchid, pennyroyal, periwinkle, plaintain, primrose, ragwort, rocket, rose, sanicle, self-heal, sheep’s sorrel, silverweed, skirret, soapwort, sorrel, sow-thistle, strawberry, tansy, teasel, thyme, valerian, vervain, water-parnsip, wheat, wood sage, and yarrow. Trees include alder, almond, apple, apricot, ash, birch, cherry, cypress, date, fig, gooseberry, grape, olive, peach, pear, raspberry, and sycamore.
Animals include blackbirds; bulls; calves; small cattle; civet cats; crabs; crows; dogs, dolphins; eagles; goats; harts; hens; nightingales; panthers; partridges; pelicans; wild pigeons; rabbits; sparrows; swans; swallows; thrushes; turtle-doves; wagtails; whiting; and wrens.
Physically, Venus rules the appetite; beauty; cell reproduction, substance storage and tissue building; complexion; face; kidneys; navel; neck; nostrils; nutrition; ovaries; renal processes; uterus; thymus; and venous blood and circulation.
When prominent, it describes a person of fair but not tall stature; delightful, shapely body; uniform but slightly darkened complexion; lovely, slightly black, eyes, sometimes wandering, others steadfast; smallish, round, fairly fleshy face face with dimpled cheeks; fair, smooth and abundant hair, usually light brown; lovely mouth with cherry-coloured lips; desire for a neat, trim appearance to clothes and body alike; and inclination to amorous enticements.
If Venus rises before the Sun, the body will be relatively tall or at least upright; but neatly composed, pretty or handsome, and not corpulent or very tall. If after the Sun, the body is shorter, but still appealing in form and well-liked.
Illnesses are those of the abdomen, back, kidneys, reproductive organs, and womb; and toxic blood impurities. They include diabetes, gonorrhoea, hernias, impotency, incontinence, priapism, pustural diseases (measles, smallpox), sores, syphilis, and any arising through inordinate lust.
Unto character, when well placed, Venus confers the habitual wearing of clean apparel; a neat and spruce self-presentation; enjoyment of baths; a relatively easy-going disposition with regard to personal beliefs; fondness of drinking; delight in merry meetings, and in masks and plays; a love of mirth in words and actions; musicality; pleasantness and cheerfulness; a disinclination to quarrel or create legal disputes, or to work or otherwise take pains; quietness of manner; a fondness for keeping the company of others; zealous affections; a proneness to love entanglements and the pursuit of sexual indulgence, and to be on the receiving end of jealousy; a virtuous nature deserving of trust, and free from vice.
When poorly placed, Venus produces adultery; practical carelessness; the coveting of illicit sexual relationships; disregard for own reputation; faithlessness; fanaticism; incestuousness (potentially); irreligiosity or atheism; meanness and laziness as a companion; over-expenditure, esp. on drinking and among loose, scandalous people; proneness to looseness and lewd company; or riotous behaviour.
In ancient astrology, Venus signifies love, marriage and sexuality; agreeability in behaviour and speech; and love of the arts and the good things of life; but when poorly placed, dullness, shyness, sordidness and voluptuousness. As a vocational significator, it produces artists; gold-workers; musicians; and makers of ornaments and other items of beauty. In aspects, it signifies the favour of or involvement with women, or a sexual issue. In a lost-item horary figure, Venus or the Moon show female ownership.