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 15, 2012 signals a time to resolve
relationship issues you've been working on since October of 2010.
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 28, 2010. On October 26 British drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline
agrees to settle criminal and civil complaints against the company
for $750 million. Charges against the company, filed by fired quality
manager Cheryl Eckard, claimed GlaxoSmithKline knowingly sold 20
drugs with questionable safety standards – including contaminated
baby ointment and ineffective antidepressants – for many years;
Dilma Rousseff won Brazil's presidential runoff on Sunday, making
her the first female president of South America's largest and most
populous country. She campaigned on -- and now faces the challenges
of -- improving Brazil's infrastructure, education and health care
on October 31; On November 4 the Republican Party gains control
of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, but the
Democratic party retains the majority in the Senate.
Previous
events:
- August
27, 2009 - the death of Senator Ted Kennedy on August 26 was the
dominating news story for the week.
- August
8, 2007 - first reports started coming in regarding a potential
financial crisis; China temporarily bans exports from two toy
manufacturers whose products were banned or recalled in the United
States and other countries on August 8; on August 13 Zhang Shuhong,
the head of a Chinese toy company at the center of a worldwide
toy recall committed suicide and Karl Rove, Deputy White House
Chief of Staff and George W. Bush's leading political adviser,
tells the Wall Street Journal that he intends to resign at the
end of August; NBA referee Tim Donaghy admitted that since December
2006, he had been paid by gambling associates for correctly predicting
which team would win a particular game. He also passed along such
insider tips as which players were injured. NBA commissioner David
Stern called the Donaghy affair "the worst situation"
he had experienced in 40 years with the league and pleaded guilty
on Federal charges related to the affair.
- January
13, 2006 - among the notable news stories: lobbyist and businessman
Jack Abramoff pled guilty on January 3 to three criminal felony
counts related to the defrauding of American Indian tribes and
corruption of public officials; US Representative Robert Ney (R-Ohio)
resigned his position as chairman of the House Administration
Committee (which has jurisdiction over lobbying reform) on January
15 after being implicated in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal;
Rizgar Mohammed Amin, the chief judge in the Saddam Hussein trial,
resigned on January 16 following criticism of his handling of
the trial; Michelle Bachelet is elected the first female President
of Chile on January 15 and on the 16th, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
was sworn in as Liberia's new president, becoming Africa's first
female elected head of state.
- June
8, 2004 - the death of President Ronald Reagan on June 5 was the
dominating news story for the week; the National Electoral Council
of Venezuela announced a recall referendum to remove President
Hugo Chavez (who won the recall vote); CIA Director George Tenet
resigned on June 3 and Deputy Director for field operations James
Pavitt resigned on June 4; Enron was in the news again when CBS
News obtained and broadcast audio tapes of Enron traders gloating
over the way they manipulated energy shortages to maximize profits.
- October
31, 2002 - 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
- 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.
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 2004 are likely to resurface, which will need to be dealt with
in some form before the next 20-month cycle begins on December 21,
2013.
