The Story of Venus
Venus is the Roman name given to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexual ecstacy. She was born as a result of a battle between Uranus, Father Sky, and his son, Cronos.
After Cronos won the battle, he castrated Uranus and tossed the severed genitals into the sea. The
churning of the sea turned the genitals into foam.
Legend has it that Aphrodite rose out of the sea foam as it floated lightly over the waves.
The West Wind was so taken with her beauty that he gently blew her to the island where the three Graces lived.
There they dressed her in beautiful clothes and jewels. Then they took her to Mt. Olympus in a golden
chariot drawn by white doves. There, she was welcomed joyously.
The Birth of Venus
Sandro Botticelli (1444-1510)
So that the gods would not fight over her, Zeus immediately married her off to Hephaestus, the god of fire and metal smithing.
Known to the Romans as Vulcan, Hephaestus was the weak and crippled son of Hera, who threw him from Mount Olympus at the first sight of him.
He was rescued by the sea nymphs and eventually built his palace and forges under
a volcano on the island of Lemnos.
Hephaestas was so astounded at his good luck at getting Aphrodite for his wife that he set to work making all
sorts of lavish furnishings and jewelry for her, including an exquisite golden girdle.
He even wove majic into the lacework of the girdle to please her. She was absolutely irresistable whenever she wore it...mortals and gods
alike fell hopelessly in love with her.
Hephaestus, God of Labor
But Aphrodite was not at all happy about the situation.
She did not like the dirty shavings and soot left by his smithing. And she did
not find him physically attractive enough. She wanted beauty and finery in all her
surroundings...especially in the objects of her affection, of which there were many.
Mars and Venus Caught in the Net
Guillemot, Alexandre Charles , c1831
Aphrodite's most well known paramour and true love was Ares, the god of war. Hephaestus, suspecting that his wife
was having affairs, made an unbreakable invisible net of fine silver threads.
During one of their love trysts, as Aphrodite and Ares lay in bed, Hephaestus burst upon the scene and dropped the net over them.
While they lay naked in his trap, Hephaestus summoned all the gods and goddesses to come and witness the shame of their adultery.
The gods and goddesses, however, just laughed, since it was Hephaestus himself who had made the magic girdle for Aphrodite.
Together, Aphrodite and Mars had a son named Eros, known as Cupid to the Romans. He was the constant attendant of Aphrodite and grew to become the
god of erotic love. He often carried a silver bow and arrow with which to pierce the hearts of gods and men in order to arouse the feelings of love.
Venus in Astrology
In the astrological scheme of things, Venus is the Goddess of love. She is
associated with beauty and art and romantic, sensuous love.
Venus is charming and has the best of taste. Elegance, grace, and culture are
her trademarks. And she's very sexy besides. She knows what she wants and how to get it.
If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, the way to a woman's heart is through romance.
In your natal chart, the sign Venus is
in describes your sense of beauty, what kind of things you like, and how you express your love.
It shows what you need to surround yourself with in order to feel happy and comfortable.
The house where you find Venus tells where you need beauty and love to be present in your life.
This is where you spend energy to create something you find beautiful.
From the Blog by Donna
Beauty is a very personal thing, defined by the "eye of the beholder".
Venus is, therefore, one of the Personal Planets.
Its orbit is not only inside that of Jupiter, but inside the orbit of Earth itself.
Venus is never more than 45 degrees away from the Sun, so it will always be in
the same sign as your Sun or in one of the signs before or after your Sun sign.
Our hearts don't really wander very far from home at all.
Venus in the Sky
Image Courtesy of NASA
Venus spends almost
four weeks in each sign
Slightly smaller than Earth and orbiting just inside of Earth's
orbit, the length of Venus's year is closest of all the planets to the Earth year, at 225 days.
Venus's day is actually longer than it's year, at 243 days for one full revolution of the planet. It turns
backwards, too...compared to the other planets, at any rate.
Venus turns retrograde every 19 - 21 months. The retrograde
periods last about a month and a half.