Venus
- Morning Star, Evening Star
by Sandra Mosley
Venus' high
visibility has made her the most closely observed planet throughout human history.
Her synodic cycle of 584 days has two distinct phases of approximately 263
days, each of which are separated by intervals when she is totally obscured
from sight.
The shortest
period of darkness marks the beginning of the cycle, occurring when Venus is
closest to Earth and making an interior conjunction to the Sun. After only
7-9 days of invisibility, she reappears dramatically, rising before the Sun
in the east. The Greeks referred to her as Lucifer ("the light bearer")
during this morning star phase. She reaches maximum brilliancy about 3 weeks
after her first appearance, then she slowly decreases in light before disappearing
a second time at the exterior conjunction.
The exterior
conjunction occurs when Venus is at her greatest distance from Earth and passes
behind the Sun. During this interval, she is out of sight for almost 60 days.
She reappears from this much longer period of darkness as an evening star in
the west, called Hesperus ("setting in the west") by the Greeks.
There she sets a little later each night while increasing in brilliance, until
about a month before her next interior conjunction with the Sun.
Dane Rudhyar,
the great astrologer and philosopher, wrote that people born with Venus as
a morning star (before the Sun in the zodiac) are socially impulsive; they
rush into life and love, acting before thinking. People born with Venus as
an evening star (after the Sun in the zodiac) tend to reflect before acting
and they are more able to identify with society's rules.
In mythology,
the goddess Venus was called Aphrodite, "the golden"; the classical
poets imagined her appearing to her lovers bathed in golden light. She was
the bringer of all delights, all sensual joys. Grass and flowers sprung up
at her feet. Known as the goddess of love and beauty, her jealous and vengeful
instincts are most often overlooked in favor of her more attractive pleasure-giving
nature. Although she was married, her long adulterous affair with Mars was
much more publicized. She was unfaithful and possessive, with a reputation
for taking jealous retribution on those whose beauty rivaled hers.
Astrologically,
Venus is associated with women, love and money. Venus in the natal chart describes
what one is attracted to and what one attracts. She is the indicator of that
which is valued: beauty, art, and pleasure. She is acquisitive, magnetic and
receptive. Appreciation is a Venusian word, whether it's used sentimentally
in terms of a personal relationship, or financially in terms of increasing
value. Transiting aspects from Venus to planets in the natal chart are usually
experienced as pleasant and harmonious.
Venus's 40-day
retrograde period begins while she is visible high is the sky as an evening
star and ends about two weeks after she becomes visible in her morning phase.
Retrograde, the Venusian energy turns inward; affection is generally more difficult
to receive or express and financial returns are apt to be delayed. Beginning
a new relationship, buying luxury items and investing in objects of art or
items of beauty is discouraged during the retrograde period. However, it is
a good time to reflect on your values, review your relationships and donate
your energy to a charitable cause. Old friends and/or lovers often reenter
your life at this time. Venus going retrograde on May 17, 2004 signals a time
to resolve relationship issues you've been working on since October of 2002.
Babylonian
and Mesoamerican astrologers paid close attention to Venus, particularly to
her first appearance as a morning star, which was considered a dangerous time.
The Babylonians called Venus the double phased Ishtar -- the morning star of
war and the evening star of love. The Mesoamericans linked the morning phase
of Venus with Quetzalcoatl, one of their major gods, believing that this was
a time when leaders are struck down and natural disasters occur.
Bruce Scofield,
astrologer and researcher, has observed certain types of events occurring around
the time of the interior conjunction and Venus rising as a morning star. He
states that typical news items are of airplane crashes and the discrediting,
resignation or loss of power of public figures. He warns that individuals who
are "ruled" by Venus may suffer upsets of an emotional or biological
nature at these times.
The last
time Venus formed the inferior conjunction with the Sun was October 31, 2002.
Former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow was indicted on fraud charges, SEC chairman
Harvey Pitt resigned, Representative Richard Gephardt announced that he would
not seek reelection as House minority leader and the Republican takeover of
the Senate in the November 5 elections were among the week's top news stories.
Previous
events:
- March 29,
2001 - the arrest of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic made major
headlines, along with news of the emergency landing of a US spy plane in China
after the plane's wings were clipped by a Chinese fighter jet.
- August
20, 1999 - news stories around this time include Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi's
career-crashing sex scandal involving minors, the FBI reverses position on
actions in Waco siege, Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic, questions regarding then presidential nominee
George W. Bush's cocaine use publicized.
- January
16, 1998 - the beginning of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal.
Venus's next
interior conjunction with the Sun is June 8 is an especially rare event as
Venus
transits the Sun for the first time since 1882. Watch the news media from
June 8 (conjunction) to June 15 (heliacal rising) for pertinent events during
this critical period. Venus resumes direct motion on June 29. At that time,
unresolved matters from May 1996 are likely to resurface, which will need to
be dealt with in some form before the next 20-month cycle begins on December
24, 2005.
Read a New
Age perspective on the
rare transit of Venus
Read more astronomical information about Venus
as an evening star
