Venus is the jewel of the night sky, known as both the Evening and the Morning Star, that is because she spends part of the year rising in the morning, part of the year rising in the evening and part of the year void, meaning that we can't see her. It is when Venus is travelling behind the Sun that she rises as the Morning star, it is when she is travelling ahead of the Sun that she is the Evening Star and when she is within 10 degrees of the Sun she's too close to be seen and we don't see her in the night sky at all. Venus is the second brightest light in the night sky and is often confused for a plane or even a UFO. Sometimes Venus is so bright, that on a moonless night she can caste shadows. It's on those occasions that instead of moonshine, we witness Venus shine.Venus is the planet of desire; whether it's the desire for love, for money or for whatever our heart desires, for she ultimately rules the heart. But to truly know this planet's influence you have to understand Aphrodite, ruling goddess of Venus. When the ancients looked up at this beautiful planet, it was only natural that its ruling goddess should be Aphrodite, planet of love and beauty. Aphrodite was a goddess that not only knew what she wanted, she made sure that she got what she wanted and what she deserved - and she felt she deserved a lot.
Venus' orbit around the Sun takes 224 days and she typically stays in each Sign for around 4 weeks. Once every 2 years Venus goes into retrograde motion and spends an extended period in one Sign, sometimes over two Signs. A Venus retrograde period is often a time when we have a chance to revisit the past, with an opportunity for second chances, a chance of heart, the return of something lost or a second shot at an old desire, realising in hindsight what you really want. Venus travels close to the Sun and in your birth chart Venus will either be in the same Sign as your Sun or if you were born near the beginning or end of a Sign she could be up to 2 Signs away, but never more than 48 degrees away from your Sun.
As Venus and the Sun travel together or slightly behind or ahead of the other, Venus creates desires that the Sun and Mercury are able to help turn into reality. We are in a slightly better position when Venus is ahead of the Sun and Mercury, because by the time they catch up, the desires are already in place.
Once a year we all experience what is known as a Venus return. That is when Venus passes over the exact point in the heavens that she was when you were born, returning to her same position. This is when you're more in touch with your heart and your desires and you're in a much better position to turn desires into reality, with the laws of attraction working well. Knowing when your Venus return is, is as important as knowing when your Solar return or birthday is. To find out when your next Venus return is, email venusreturn@forecasters.co.nz with you birth date, location and time.
Venus energy works through the power of attraction. Have you ever noticed how, on your birthday you expect to be given V.I.P. treatment. If we have to cook or do mundane chores on our birthday we don't like it? Have you ever caught yourself saying 'I shouldn't be doing this, it's my birthday'? We break our diets, we take the time off from mundane chores and we indulge ourselves. We give ourselves permission to be a little decadent. Well that is Venus energy and it's the kind of energy that we shouldn't save up for birthdays.
There are other planets that keep us grounded and ensure that you we get the practical things done, but Venus' job is to ensure that we also have fun, follow our hearts and most importantly of all, remember to indulge ourselves.Whatever part of your chart that Venus is moving through at the time, is where we have the greatest amount of desire, we feel more entitled, we want it more and also where the laws of attraction are most likely to be operating. Venus isn't about rolling up her sleeves and working to make something happen, she's about expecting it to come to you. This is why knowing when Venus is going to be in a particularly area of your chart is such an advantage. After all, if you know when Venus is going to be in your work or career sector, your romantic or financial sector, it makes sense to wait until then for things to happen, knowing that Venus will be throwing the switch, turning on the laws of attraction and turning you into a magnet, while making you more aware of what you actually want as opposed to what you think you want.
