VENUS

Element: Water

Day of the Week: Friday

Astrological sign: Taurus, Libra

Exaltation: Pisces

Detriment: Aries, Scorpio

Fall: Virgo

Tarot card: The empress

Archetype: The princess, The maiden

Goddess: Aphrodite, Ishtar, Astarte

Metal: Copper

Medical Astrology: Kidneys, Reproductive system (primarily female but does contain some correspondence to men as well), Veins, Urinary Tract, Ovaries

Energetics: Sweet, Moist, Cooling

Ayurvedic Constitution: Kapha, Vata

TCM: Yin

Humor: Phelgmatic

Chakra: Heart chakra (Anahata)

Plants: Rose, Ladys mantle. Motherwort, Yarrow, Cleavers, Linden, Cacao

Evolutionary teaching: Cultivating a connection to something greater, the cultivation of creativity, development of emotional bonding, vulnerability, trust, self love, compassion, empathy, forgiveness, unconditional love, cultivation of sacred sexuality, positive contributions, guided by the path of the heart, Finding harmony within self, people, and environment.

This section is dedicated to the Gods and Planets. Here you will find a description of each planetary archetype and corresponding deity

All the planets, gods, goddesses, & astrological signs represent an archetypal self. They are all seen as energetic aspects of the psyche. These archetypes play out in many different ways in our lives and represent our strengths & weaknesses. These symbols offer us wisdom, advice, and suggestions to integrate these archetypes into our psyche by developing healthy relationships with these celestial forces. The gods communicate with us through dreams, ritual work, meditation, our emotions, sensations, & symbolic imagery. The teachings of these archetypes take us on an inner dimensional journey by guiding us back to wholeness. The quest of the explorer into the esoteric and alchemical realms of symbolism is to do so from a holistic perspective as opposed to the current model of a scientific worldview that isolates and views our reality as purely intellectually understood through what we can see with our own eyes. These realms are understood through the development of our intuition, the integration of the psyche and the subconscious into our everyday life experiences, enhancement of our psychic capabilities, and trust in an underlying order. The goal of understanding the archetypes is to develop, transform, & refine each of these celestial energies within ourselves and embody their highest virtues.

Venus is the essence of the divine feminine representing the feminine principle. She is the morning and evening star said to be the brightest light in the heavens after the sun and moon. Her art of binding is reflected in that she can be seen as the luminous evening star as well as the brightest star in the morning. As she casts her light into the dark and from the darkness, she illuminates her beauty and brilliance into the light of day. In this way, we see how she unites and bridges both day and night, walking the middle path of yin and yang. Venus also reflects the light of the sun stronger than any other planet.

She is the quintessence of balance and has a profound relationship with the emotional heart. She symbolizes the feeling sense of the heart and represents our emotional desires. Venus renders magnetism and a strong attractive gravitational pull. Through this celestial energy, we learn to perceive through the heart. This archetype has to do with our emotional responses. When Venus is present we synchronize and harmonize to the same vibrational frequency to whatever is in our presence. Venus does not perceive separation she only perceives unity by uniting things together. She recognizes patterns of similarity as opposed to differences. Venus represents heart perception and how we communicate with nature. Through the lens of the heart, we perceive sentience in all things and are able to see the depth, beauty, and core essence of all.

With an evolved & positively integrated Venus, we perceive a reflection of ourselves in everything. When we perceive our reality in this way we learn that everything in life, every experience we encounter is there to teach us something. When we allow ourselves to view life in this way we are able to learn, grow, and evolve more quickly because we learn that life is not happening to us, it is happening for us. The tarot card associated with Venus is The Empress. The archetype of this card is the mother, through her we learn how to love, trust, embody divine compassion, and grow into a more evolved self.

Copper is the metal associated with Venus and is said to be Venus in material form. The island of Cyprus is said to be the home of Venus and where copper had been extensively mined. Copper is soft and very malleable, it is easy to work with and takes shape or form into however we want it to. This shows us the reflection in copper of Venusian dynamics. Venus is also very sensitive, fluid, easily influenced, & flexible. It is regarded to be one of the oldest metals known to man alongside gold and silver. Copper vessels have been found as early as 5000 BC. In medical astrology, Venus corresponds to the kidneys, veins, urinary tract, & female repro system. Some issues we may face when undeveloped in lack or excess of this celestial energy are issues with diabetes, deficient kidney function, UTIs, and other corresponding organ system disturbances. Homeopathically copper has been used to treat some of these issues. Copper also has a high level of conductivity for warmth and electricity. It was also said that everything Venus touches is seduced by her beauty. She causes the striving for completion in all that is seen as incomplete.

Psychologically Venus is seen as a guide to the deepest layers of the unconscious due to her emergence from the ocean. The glyph of Venus is said to resemble a hand mirror corresponding to Venus being a symbol for the mirror in our relationships with others. We also see the association with the hand mirror in the story of snow white when the queen questions the mirror “who is the fairest of them all”. When the mirror responds that it is snow white we see raging jealousy and envy come forth in the psyche. This story depicts the unintegrated aspects of Venus when in lack of harmony with this celestial archetype. Venus is also associated with addressing issues of self-worth and the kind of validation that is needed from others to bring about their inner love for themselves. It is often expressed that Venus represents a woman's self-image (the hand mirror) and for a man which represents the feminine archetype for him is often projected onto women he encounters. The evolutionary lessons of Venus teach us that we cannot love another until we learn to truly love ourselves first. The amount in which we show up and give love to another is the same we accept and give to ourselves. We cannot receive unconditional love for another until we unconditionally love ourselves.

The archetype of Venus is said to inspire matter to more perfect forms of expression, leading to the higher aspirations of the above planets after we’ve evolved past the lower levels of consciousness that predominate material desires. Through the realm of Venus, we aspire towards harmonious union. She is regarded as the Goddess of love, beauty, the arts, & creativity. Venusians receive higher visions that are expressed from the heart's desires and how we perceive beauty. It’s our aesthetic perception. In the realm of Venus we learn, grow, and evolve through our relationships. Through engaging in conscious relationships with others we may reveal our true essence. Often our relationships hold mirrors for us and present us with difficult challenges to learn and grow from if we choose to see them in this way. The Venusian archetype teaches us about self-love and how to love ourselves unconditionally. The love that we give to ourselves is often going to be the love we receive in our relationships. It is when everything we experience reflects the love that we provide for ourselves. When we experience our lives through Venus we learn the importance of self-care, that ultimately we are our own soul mate, and that we have the power and capacity within ourselves to be our own hero, healer, and leader. It’s about taking a look at those aspects of ourselves that we dislike and wish to change but instead learn to love them without judgment, criticism, shame, or guilt. Through Venus, we learn that our relationships are here to make us conscious and that they are self-mastery tools that keep us aligned with our higher purpose. Through our relationships with others, we learn what it means to have patience, strength, compassion, forgiveness, empathy, loyalty, who we truly are, and true love.

When we learn to provide all of those aspects to ourselves we learn how to give them to another. These are the lessons and teachings that Venus guides us through when we choose to consciously engage with this archetype. Venus balances inner and outer worlds when we learn that there is no separation between the two. Through the lens of the heart, we perceive unity. When we learn to perceive through this lens we learn what it truly means to have compassion for all beings because we recognize that we all go through the same battles and we all ultimately want the same things in life. Our inner and outer worlds are one and the same, this is the process of harmonization.

Psychologically, when Venus isn’t well-developed and is in deficiency we may see someone who is lazy, indulgent, stagnant, depressed, isolates themselves, fears intimacy, has a low libido, disconnected from nature, & lacks compassion. In overabundance and not positively implemented we may see characteristics reflected in someone that is needy, needing external validation, lacks confidence, lacks self-love, has attachment issues, judgmental, critical of others and themselves, jealous, manipulative, self-serving and centered, impulsive, greedy, poor relationship to intimacy, overly sexually active, uses sex as a way to manipulate and control, fears being vulnerable and opening up to others, closed off-ness, acts upon desire and surface-level relationships through temporary satiation. On the other hand, when Venus is well integrated into our psyche we will see someone who is open to engaging in authentic relationships with others, open-hearted with clarity, empathetic towards others, genuinely care about the well being of others, sensitive to the needs of other people, contain confidence, self-accepting, & engage in healthy sexual relationships not based upon primitive instincts of desire. The evolutionary lessons we learn from this celestial energy are to integrate a positive self-image into our psyche and unconditional love for ourselves.

This archetype guides us into knowing our self-worth and value in the world. It is how we develop positive emotional bonds with others and learn to engage in deep connections with another human being, not in relationships that are solely for self-gratification or personal gain. Here we learn to engage with others in a genuine way where we uplift each other, inspire, co-create, support, encourage, empower, and strive for growth in our relationships based on acceptance and unconditional understanding. Venus also teaches us how to cultivate sacred sexuality and to learn how to honor the sacredness of that space with another person. Venus is sensitve to the energy exchange she gives and receives from sexual interactions with another, therefore she is reminded of the importance of the sacredness of engaging with someone through divine love and a deep reverence for the other as opposed to physical gratification or forcing a sexual experience upon someone. Venus establishes trust, comfort, and a safe container for the other person to feel seen, held, heard, & deeply supported. Through the evolutionary lens, the teachings these archetypes provide us are to learn how to integrate the virtues of these planets into our psyche and acknowledge where we may be imbalanced and learn how to heal with the right support, love, and understanding and then integrate these teachings into our every day lives.

Aphrodite

The goddess of nature in full bloom. The name Aphrodite means “born from the seafoam, emerging from the sea”. In ancient Greece, many of the names associated with Aphrodite were attributed to the sea. She was born out of seafoam after Saturn overthrew Uranus and his creative seed scattered throughout the heavens. Some of his seed fell into the oceans and thus Aphrodite was born and arose onto the land of Cyprus. It was depicted that when she arises the sea is full of life and is no longer barren. Sea gods and goddesses were also often portrayed as shapeshifters that took on various forms.

In ancient Greece, she is described as the goddess of the animals, plants, all things of the earth, love, & procreation. Bringer of all delights and sensual pleasures. She is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. She was often seen with a dove on her shoulders, the dove representing purity. She often appeared to her lovers bathed in golden light. When she touched the ground the Spring had sprung and out came the blossoming of grass, flowers, the seasons, & Along with all the wild animals and birds following her. When Aphrodite stepped foot onto land for the first time, she was greeted by other divine goddesses that adorned her in extraordinarily beautiful clothing and jewels. They then invited her to dance, bathe, & anoint themselves from head to toe in oil. Aphrodite is called upon when we want to invoke love into our lives. It was said that she was traditionally worked with and invoked during weddings or when a widower wants to marry again.

Aphrodite was seen wearing a magic girdle and those that she lent it to were filled with love for her. She was able to bind and bring together any who were estranged or unenthusiastic. She is love and the forces that bring and promote unity. She is seen as delight, sensual joy, devotion, and a passion devoted to outer and inner beauty. She encourages the pleasure of the senses and love for all. However, though delightful, irresistible, kind, loving, and caring she was also said to have boundaries. As enticing as the gifts she bestowed onto those who called upon her, one must pay her an appropriate amount of attention, admiration, & gratitude. For any that have refused her, she would incite jealousy, strife, unquenchable longing, and deem someone forever brokenhearted. It was said that whomever is not intuned with the virtues and principles of Venus and closed themselves off to her, wanted to compete with her, did not serve her, or show her gratitude for the offerings she provided she would bestow eternal juvenility and bind those to the masculine principle and a patriarchal world.

Ishtar

Queen of love, descended into the underworld to seek the soul of her deceased lover Tammuz. This myth pertains to the cycles of Venus. When the planet is further ahead of the sun she appears as the morning star. Once she approaches conjunction with the sun she begins to descend and become invisible, thus her journey of descent into the underworld. When she returns she becomes the evening star seen as the Queen of heaven. When the goddess of love is untamed, primitive, desirous, & instinctual she is more concerned with the act of falling in love as opposed to the commitment of maintaining a long-term relationship. The teachings of the story of Ishtar guide us to remember that there is a greater maturity that needs to take place through reflection instead of acting on desire and impulsion. When the goddess endures her time in the underworld she is no longer simply just the goddess of love but in time when she emerges from the darkness, she then becomes the Queen of the heavens. She brings us the wisdom of unconditional love as opposed to projection and fantasy through temporary satiation. The teachings of this story indicate that we must transform our primitive instincts of desire, immature love, and impulsion through growth and maturation before we can truly understand compassionate relating.