In astrology, Venus is the planet associated with love and money. In Greco-Roman mythology, she's associated with love, fertility, beauty, and victory. Venus has immense allure and appeal. She represents mainly good things. Heck even her day, Friday, is a day of joy and relaxation.
But isn't that the danger? You can't relax all the time. You can't have fun all the time. There can't be beauty in everything, no matter what sappy Instagram posts make you believe. There is simply a balance, where her sign, Libra comes in. Though Venus's original form, Ishtar, was a goddess of love as well as war. Her portrayal today is largely in part because of Ishtar.
Unfortunately, indulgence seldom knows balance. Taurus, the sign Venus rules, is specifically known to deal with indulgence. But Libra, the sign of balance, is also ruled by Venus. Just as there are many sides to Venus, there are also many sides of love.
Love can definitely be all-consuming. That's why it's so closely associated with passion, because it can make us blind to anything else. If we're willing to fight for what we love, then perhaps it is truly fitting that Aphrodite was also a war goddess. Love has spurned it's fair share of fights.
The very fact that she came from Uranus's (which in astrology, is associated with chaos) testicles, sperm, and blood can clue us in to the nature of love. Love is passionate. Love is chaotic. Love can cause us to be irrational. But the blood part of that origin story is so terrifying. But I suppose that's why she's also a war goddess, and the goddess of victory. Love (or at least a perverted form of it), can drive us to places we never want to go. It can also help us set our sights on what we want. In some ways, that's the catch. You can't love when you're all closed off. You have to be vulnerable, feel safe, and give it your all.
What are you willing to do for love? That's the ultimate question - how do you love, and how far are you willing to go for it? Since Venus is the planet so closely associated with both love and money, I think it's interesting for us to consider just how well those two things seemingly don't go together. Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life. Don't follow your passion - you'll never make any money. Never mind the sheer amount of times couples fight about money. Both love and money, the things that we herald as fixes to all our problems, can also be the source of them as well.
And that is exactly what makes this planet so tricky. We can further see more of her juxtapositions in her children, Timor (god of fear), Metus (god of terror), Concordia (goddess of harmony) and Cupid (attraction and desire, though some myths contest that he was Venus's child at all). Love can bring about a lot of funny feelings (fear, panic, jealousy, anger), but we have to first be able to risk it in order to love. It's hard to find a balance with such extremes, though. But I guess that's what we have to ask ourselves - is it worth it?
Alternate art for this blog.
