Venus
The planet of love and money: what it stands for in astrology
Venus is the second planet from the Sun and, after the Moon, the brightest object in the night sky. It is named for the Roman goddess of love and beauty.
What it stands for
- love
- beauty
- values
- money
In the birth chart
In the birth chart Venus shows what a person loves and values: how they give and receive affection, what they find beautiful, and how they handle money and possessions. Its sign describes the style, and its house the area of life.
The name and the myth
Venus is the Roman form of the Greek Aphrodite. Because the planet is seen both before sunrise and after sunset, the ancients took it for two different stars, a morning star and an evening star.
How astrology reads it
Astrology pairs love and money under Venus because both are about what we value. It rules Taurus, which takes the material side of that, and Libra, which takes the side of partnership and balance. Venus also turns retrograde, roughly every 19 months, and that is read as a time to reconsider relationships and spending.
In tarot
In the Golden Dawn scheme, Venus goes with The Empress, Four of Wands, Two of Cups, Seven of Cups, Five of Swords and Nine of Pentacles.
Planets other than the Sun and Moon seem to move backwards at times. How retrograde planets are read.
Tarot, astrology and numerology are traditions of symbolism. This page says what the tradition associates with its subject. It does not predict anything and it is not advice.