Venus in Astrology: Love, Values, Beauty and Ruled Signs

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Venus, the brightest planet, symbolises attraction, values and harmony. The myth of Aphrodite and Ishtar, the 584-day cycle, the signs it rules and the limits of this reading.

Key points

Astronomical nature	Second planet from the Sun, the brightest object in the sky after the Moon
Orbit around the Sun	About 224.7 days
Return to the same position relative to the Sun	About 584 days (the cycle of the shepherd's star, the morning and evening star)
Maximum angular distance from the Sun	About 47 degrees: never far from it in the sky
Rulership	Taurus and Libra
Exaltation (tradition)	Pisces
Symbolic keywords	Attraction, values, pleasure, art, harmony, relationships

Venus in the sky

Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It completes its orbit in about 224.7 days. Because it is closer to the Sun than we are, it never moves more than 47 degrees away from it: it is seen either in the evening, shortly after sunset, or in the morning, before sunrise. This double appearance earned it the name shepherd's star (the evening star, étoile du berger in French), although it is a planet. It is so bright that it can sometimes be seen in broad daylight.

Two surprising facts: Venus rotates on its axis backwards compared with most planets (the Sun would rise in the west there), and its "day" lasts about 243 Earth days, longer than its year. Its thick atmosphere keeps the surface at about 460 °C. None of this is visible to the naked eye: from the Earth, it is a point of light of great purity, which has always fascinated observers.

Aphrodite, Venus and Ishtar

Among the Romans, Venus is the goddess of love and beauty, identified with the Greek Aphrodite, who was born, according to the myth, from sea foam. Even earlier, the Mesopotamians associated this body with Ishtar (Inanna among the Sumerians), goddess of love and war. The Babylonian observations of Venus are among the oldest known astronomical records.

Friday owes its name to the Latin Veneris dies, "day of Venus"; the Germanic languages keep the trace of a Norse goddess (Friday, Freitag). Its symbol, a circle surmounted by a cross, is often described as a hand mirror: an image that tradition has made popular.

What Venus symbolises in astrology

In the birth chart, Venus evokes attraction and values: what we love, what we find beautiful, the way we charm and enter into relationships, the taste for pleasure, art and gentleness. It is also linked to money and possessions, to what we hold dear. It represents the search for harmony, peace and sharing. Its symbolic shadow: complacency, dependence on comfort or on the approval of others.

In Hellenistic tradition, Venus is one of the two benefics (with Jupiter), that is, a body with a favourable tone. This classification is a convention: modern astrology qualifies it a great deal.

Rulership and exaltation: the signs linked to Venus

Situation	Signs	Note
Rulership (ancient and modern)	Taurus, Libra	One earth sign and one air sign: sensual pleasure and a taste for harmony.
Exile (or detriment)	Aries, Scorpio	Signs opposite the homes.
Exaltation (tradition)	Pisces	Tradition places it around the 27th degree of Pisces.
Fall	Virgo	The sign opposite the exaltation.

See the portraits of Taurus and of Libra.

The 584-day cycle and the five-pointed star

Venus returns to the same position relative to the Sun and to the Earth about every 584 days (19 months). A remarkable fact: five of these cycles make up almost eight Earth years. The moments when Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun therefore trace, around the zodiac, five points that form a five-pointed figure, sometimes called the Venus pentagram. This astronomical fact is accurate; that the ancients saw a sacred symbol in it is an interpretation.

Every 19 months, Venus also seems to move retrograde for about 40 days. As with Mercury, this is an optical effect. Astrologers associate it with a time of reassessing values and relationships, although this has not been demonstrated.

Reading Venus in a chart

As with Mercury, Venus stays close to the Sun: in a chart, it is at most two signs away from it. One looks at its sign (the way one loves and charms), its house (the area in which one seeks pleasure and worth) and its aspects (see astrological aspects and houses). The Venus of a chart is not a portrait of the love one will meet, but a way of reflecting on one's tastes and expectations.

An honest view of this reading

Venus is a symbol, not a physical factor: the position of a planet tens of millions of kilometres away does not influence the choice of a partner. Attempts to test "astrological compatibility" between couples have shown no effect. These images can be used as a mirror for talking about one's tastes, without turning them into a prediction. See the history and limits of astrology.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Venus called the shepherd's star?

Because it is very bright and visible either just after sunset or just before sunrise, at the time when shepherds took their flocks out or brought them back in. It is nonetheless a planet.

Which signs are ruled by Venus?

Taurus and Libra, in ancient and modern astrology alike.

What does retrograde Venus mean?

Venus seems to move backwards for about 40 days every 19 months, because of the relative positions of the Earth and the planet. It is an optical illusion; the astrological interpretation (reassessing values and relationships) is symbolic.

Can Venus be far from the Sun in a chart?

At most about 47 degrees, a little more than one and a half signs: it therefore lies in the Sun's sign or one or two signs away from it.

Does a chart with Venus in a particular sign predict love affairs?

No. Astrology has not shown any ability to predict romantic relationships. Venus in a chart is a support for reflection on what we love and the way we live it.