VENUS - in general

With Venus at the forefront of astrological chat this week, here's what astrologer Ingrid Lind had to say about the planet's role in astrology and in the natal chart generally. The quote is from her little book Astrology and Commonsense (1962), from which I quoted extracts for each zodiac sign last year.

VENUS
Governs adolescence. Rules or has affinity with the signs Taurus and Libra. Keywords: harmony, unison, relatedness.

There is no doubt that all aspects to Venus in the chart indicate the ability or otherwise for forming relationships. Venus always seems to me to be very vulnerable to all aspect contact. Contact with Uranus can sway her to the unusual or perverse, with Mars to passion, with Jupiter to prodigality. Restricted by Saturn she functions coldly; friendships are made with difficulty or end in sorrow.

I realise that a planetary principle has no sex and applies to man or woman. Nevertheless I am inclined to visualise Venus as a sensitive and artistic woman. She takes colour from the sign she is in to a pronounced extent; in Pisces, for instance, tender to the point of folly, in Capricorn calculating her value. She is so to say the love-nature of the native and by means of the chart this can be isolated and studied apart from the rest of the chart.

There is also the connexion between Venus and money matters and it is useful to study Venus in a chart in relation to the native's attitude to money or possessions.

Hmm - does this work for me and mine? I have Venus in Sagittarius. Husband has Venus in Taurus. I can't say I'm particularly Sagittarian in my "love-nature" - maybe I've gone "over-the-top" at times, unwise over-enthusiasm for a person or project isn't unknown to me, but it's not exactly the norm. Sagittarius connects to travel, and I do love, love, love to travel! There's a trine from Venus to Saturn and Moon in Aries in my chart, as well as a square to Neptune in Virgo. Both aspects could serve to rein in potential excesses, I guess.

As for husband, his natal Venus is at home in Taurus, he's in love with (as well as me, I hope) art and music, dotty about jazz in particular. His Taurean love-nature could be classed as classic, I guess....except that Venus is conjunct Uranus (my Sun's ruling sign). Not classic at all - jazzy in fact! Interesting!