Venusin Traits of Natal Chart-A Crucial Point

orning Star, Evening Star
The brief overview of the Venus cycle presented in the previous page provides a multiplicity of factors susceptible to
astrological interpretation, and it offers a foundation for a process-oriented classification of Venus types. Such a classification
consists of two fundamental types Venus Lucifer, the Morning Star; Venus Hesperus, the Evening Star. As we'll
presently see, each of the two types presents a particular emotional temperament and a particular sense of values,
meaning, ideals and appreciation. Additionally, each of the two primary types carries a special retrograde subtype.
Determining your Venus type is easy. First locate the Sun in your natal chart. If Venus is clockwise from the Sun, your
Venus type is Lucifer, the Morning Star. On the other hand, if Venus is positioned counterclockwise from the Sun, your
Venus type is of Hesperus, the Evening Star.
If you haven't had your birth chart calculated, simply look up your birth day and year in an ephemeris. If the Sun is further
along the zodiac than Venus, your Venus type is Lucifer. If Venus is further along the zodiac than the Sun, it's Hesperus. While
you're at it, check to see if Venus is retrograde (indicated by the letter R in the Venus column above your birthdate). In the
ephemeris and horoscope graphics generated by Khaldea2001TM, retrograde planets and listings are shown in red. For
example, if your natal Sun is 20 degrees Gemini and your natal Venus is 10 degrees Taurus, your Venus type is Lucifer, the
Morning Star.
While the interpretation given here provides the most fundamental approach to the cycle of Venus and its place in
astrology, it is important to note that it does not factor the latitude of Venus into the picture. Additionally, a thorough
astrological consideration of ones emotional nature requires an examination of the house and sign occupied by Venus, as well
as considering how other astrological planets, especially the Moon, Mars, Saturn and Neptune tie in with Venus and the chart
as a whole. Nevertheless, the interpretations below provide the first and most fundamental approach, and they deal not only
with our emotional make-up, but also with our value-system and how we interpret, evaluate and make sense of our lifeexperiences and the world around us.
Venus Lucifer
A new Venus cycle opens when the Sun and Venus meet in inferior conjunction. It is a moment when the Venusian faculties
of emotion and evaluation are impressed with what Dane Rudhyar calls a "new quality of will and purpose." But the new
quality of Venusian response and meaning does not become realized all at once. It is rather gradually translated from
potentiality to actuality throughout the 584-day Venus cycle.
The first half-cycle of the Venus cycle is characterized by a spontaneous, eager and impulsive emotional nature. It
corresponds with the constructive, biological activity predominate during the waxing hemicycle (from the conjunction to the
opposition) of the lunation cycle. But while the approximately 29-day lunation cycle deals with our most basic and essential life
forces, and with adapting to the demands of daily life, the Venus cycle deals with our inner nature and the set of meaninggiving values guiding our daily actions and forming our long-term goals.
People born during the Luciferian or Morning Star half of the Venus cycle generally let their feelings lead the way, tending
to feel and emote first and think later, especially if natal Venus rises before Mercury. They are emotionally fresh,
spontaneous and open to new experiences. Emotionally resilient, Venus Morning Star people usually recover quickly from
emotional or romantic disappointment, while Venus Evening Star people are more likely to scar emotionally and carry deepseated resentments because their emotional make-up tends to process and replay scenes of disappointment and hurt. But
when a Venus Lucifer person, especially one born while Venus was retrograde, experiences profound emotional pain or abuse
early in life, she may "close down" emotionally and assume a protective or fearful attitude toward life and relationships.
Venus Hesperus
Venus' second half-cycle begins at the superior conjunction which always occurs when Venus is direct and moving through
the zodiac near its greatest velocity and continues until the next inferior conjunction. A few weeks after the Sun and Venus
meet in superior conjunction, Venus emerges on the other side of the Sun, appearing as Hesperus the Evening Star.
Corresponding with the waning hemicycle of the lunation cycle (from Full Moon to New Moon), Venus' Evening Star halfcycle denotes a deliberate and goal-oriented emotional make-up seeking to extract and distill the meaning of experiences
encountered and ideals formulated during the Morning Star half-cycle. Whereas emotions and feelings eagerly rushed forward
during the Venus Lucifer period, they are now more controlled and introverted in the Venus Evening Star period, though
not necessarily less intense!
Although Venus Evening Star people may not show emotions are largely and as easily as Venus Morning Star types, they
often experience emotions more intensely because they tend to become more privately and internally involved with their
emotions and their emotional life. Feeling after the fact, so to say, Venus Hesperus people may take a long time to recover
from emotional trauma, thinking about and anguishing over a lost love or a bitter disappointment for years.
Relationship between mixed types, while not necessarily favorable or unfavorable, may at times produce
misunderstandings and a sense of being "out-of-synch". In such instances, it is not unusual for the Venus Morning Star partner
to claim to immediately "forget about" or "get over" a disagreement or fight, while the Venus Evening Star person may require
much longer to "forgive and forget." One may be amazed and deeply perplexed that the other can so easily disregard a painful
incident, or that it made such a minor impression on his partner; the other may be annoyed that her partner still brings up
that "old" issue of a few days ago, thinking, "It doesnt bother me, so why should it bother him?"
The descriptions of the Venus types (and subtypes) which follows are illustrated with the birth charts of numerous
personalities. Thorough interpretations of the sample charts are not attempted here, but indications are provided regarding
how Venus fits into the chart as a whole, and some additional hints are given regarding the key factors of the nativities.
Additionally, in the examples an exhaustive interpretation of the Venus types is not attempted. We point the way, and offer
suggestions, because our approach encourages self-devised, self-initiated learning and thinking. We encourage you to study of
the biographies of personalities who interest you, and if you wish to learn more about the astrological planets and asepcts, you
may want to have a look at The Planets - Celestial Organs and their Function, and The Eon: The 36 Cyclic Aspects.
You can also learn more about the planets, astrological aspects, the signs and the houses, and much more by browsing the
online edition of A Handbook for the Humanistic Astrologer and The Astrology of Relationship.
enus is seen stationary, turning direct, about three weeks after its inferior conjunction with the Sun, marking the
beginning of the approximately nine-month long Lucifer-Direct phase of Venus. During this face of Venus, the emotions
become more relaxed, free-flowing and less encumbered by fear of loss, hurt and rejection.
Venus Lucifer direct people are not necessarily more emotional, or even more emotionally demonstrative, than Venus
Lucifer retrograde types. But whereas Lucifer retrograde people internalize emotional difficulties, often to an intense degree,
and tend to fear or anticipate future emotional hurt, Lucifer direct people are more emotionally relaxed, at ease and resilient.
They seem to quickly bounce back from a romantic break-up, a personal rejection, a disappointment or an insult. Because they
appear to bounce back so easily, and because they do not always appear to register emotional impacts, Lucifer direct types
sometimes seem like emotionally detached social butterflies. But such an impression can be deceptive because Lucifer direct
people can be very adapt at concealing their emotions, which are often far more intense, delicate and vulnerable than they
care to reveal. This is especially so of people born during the early part of the Lucifer direct phase, because they tend to be
working their way out of the Venus retrograde character, and are therefore more delicate emotionally than those born later on
in the phase, who tend to possess quicker, more fluid emotional natures.
Venus Lucifer types often conceal the more vibrant (and dark) sides of their emotions because they desire to fit into the
cultural mainstream, a tactic Venus Morning Star direct people often feel will at once give them a greater sense of self-worth
and enable them to effect their culture and its values and ideals more successfully. Nevertheless, Lucifer direct people can be
very direct and demonstrative regarding their feelings, and they tend to have an open and optimistic approach to life and to
relationships.
Venus Lucifer direct people are often involved in promoting new values, ideals, outlooks and ways of life created or
exemplified by others. They do not wish to live a life "against the grain," which is more the destiny of Lucifer retrograde types.
And because they wish to "fit in," they tend not to "act out" their emotional turmoil as fully as Venus Morning Star retrograde
types.
Although Lucifer direct types are not likely candidates for a tragic, misunderstood artist, they are often very successful at
producing the sort of social and culture reforms and change the more tormented and misunderstood Lucifer retrograde types
dedicate themselves. They excel at politics, leadership and the at art of making things happen. Bestowed with a strong sense
of ideals, Venus Lucifer direct people are often of a humanitarian spirit, wishing, and often working long and hard, to make a
beneficial contribution to society.
About two weeks after turning direct, while rising about 40 zodiacal degrees before the Sun, Venus is most brilliant in the
pre-dawn morning sky. In natal astrology, it is difficult to gauge if Venus Morning Star natives born while Venus is brightest
are more or less emotional than others - especially because they tend not to "act out" as much as others. Indeed, rather than
"acting out" they tend to play an acceptable and comfortable role.
While it may be difficult to gauge the emotional intensity of the few people born while Venus is most brilliant in morning
sky, these individuals do seem to be very dedicated to their work, possessing compelling ideas and values. Examples
include Alan Watts, the English cleric turned Zen philosopher; Robespierre, a ruthless leader of the French Revolution; cowboy
humorist/philosopher Will Rogers, and opera star Luciano Pavarotti.
The birth-chart of Alan Watts features a well-defined See-Saw, with a tight conjunction of the Sun, Mercury and Mars in
the first house, Capricorn, and with Venus Morning Star in the twelfth house, Sagittarius, trine Neptune retrograde a suitable
configuration for a Zen thinker. Watts was also a gifted promoter and, along with Allen Ginsberg and a few others, played a
large role in bringing Buddhism and Mysticism into mainstream Euro-American culture.
In the instance of the birth of Robespierre, leader of the ruthless "Reign of Terror", we find Venus Morning Star in the
first house, near Uranus, the planet of revolution. Saturn is just below the Ascendant - suggesting a strict, stern character and Mars and Neptune are conjunct in the sixth house, Leo, trine Jupiter and Pluto, both retrograde in the tenth house. Venus
is "under-aspected," forming only a powerful tri-octile (135 degrees aspect) to Mars. Venus not only signifies our emotional life
and our values and ideals, it also symbolizes judgement, which is something Robespierre performed with unequaled
ruthlessness. Yet the ruthless judgement of the reign of terror was based on a revolutionary, but limited, set of values, ideals
and goals, albeit tinged with vengeance and cruelty.
Sex-Symbol Marilyn Monroe was born shortly after Venus Morning Star was brightest. Her birth-chart shows Mercury
rising four degrees before the Sun - she liked smart men, said Albert Einstein was the sexist man she had ever met, and had
an over-powering attraction to Robert F. Kennedy. Venus is the most elevated planet, and it is trine Neptune in the first house,
Leo - a fitting symbol for a glamorous film star. But the most powerful and revealing configuration of the chart is a tight Tsquare in fixed signs, formed by Neptune opposing a conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter in the seventh house, with Saturn
retrograde in the fourth house square both ends of the opposition, suggesting potent parental complexes.
Venusian qualities become more pronounced, and the emotional nature more active and responsive, between the time of
Venus' maximum brightness and its maximum elongation from the Sun (about 47 degrees ahead of the Sun); that is, about
thirty-six to seventy-two days after its inferior conjunction with the Sun, while Venus is still moving through the zodiac slower
than the Sun.
Rock icons David Bowie and Jim Morrison were born two to three weeks before maximum elongation. In Morrison's
instance, there are no planets between a Sagittarius Sun and Venus at the first degree of Scorpio, but the tenth house Sun
broadly opposes Uranus, Mars and Saturn in Gemini. The latter three bodies are retrograde. Additionally, the chart features an
outstanding number of quintile aspects, and Pluto retrograde is conjunct the north lunar node, just below the Descendant, and
square the Moon. David Bowie was born just after a conjunction of the Sun and Mars, and both Mars and Mercury stand
between the Sun and Venus, suggesting Bowie's Venus Morning Star qualities are somewhat filtered through Mercury and
Mars, symbolizing his faculties of intelligence and self-promotion, reinforced by a quintile linking Venus and Mercury. Pluto
retrograde is seen just below the Descendant, with Saturn retrograde and the Moon nearby. The latter two bodies are trine
Venus.
Leader of the 1916 Russian Revolution, Nicolai Lenin was also born soon before maximum elongation. In Lenin's birthchart a conjunction of Mars and Neptune in Aries (suggesting a ruthless, ideological attitude toward life) is found between a
sixth house Sun and a third house Venus. Additionally, the Mars-Neptune conjunction forms a tight square to Uranus, which is
on the north lunar node. Saturn retrograde has the focus, in the first house, Sagittarius.
Singer-songwriter, painter Joni Mitchell was born ten days before the maximum elongation of Venus Morning Star. In her
horoscope, Mercury rises one-degree before a fifth house Sun, in Scorpio, while Venus is conjunct Neptune - appropriate
symbols for her multi-faceted talent. Her chart also features a tight T-square in mutable signs, formed by Venus opposing the
Moon, with a conjunction of Mars and Saturn (both retrograde) at the apex - a stressful and difficult configuration from which
she probably draws much material.
"Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse." Film icon James Dean was born just three days before the
maximum elongation of Venus Morning Star. His chart features Venus in the first house, quincunx (150 degree aspect) Mars
retrograde and a trine to Neptune (film, glamour, suicide) and a sextile to a Scorpio Moon. Saturn and Mercury lie between
Venus Morning Star and the Sun, and the pair opposes Mars retrograde, Pluto retrograde and Jupiter retrograde. Both ends of
the compound opposition square Uranus in the fourth house, Aries.
Early abstract artist Paul Klee and modern composers Maurice Ravel and Alexander Scriabin were born two to
three weeks after the maximum elongation of Venus Morning Star - that is, when Venus began to "loop back," moving
toward the Sun, attaining at geocentric velocity greater than the Sun, and gaining.
In the instance of Paul Klee, Mercury Sagittarius retrograde standing in the ninth house very near the Midheaven is
situated between a Sagittarian eleventh house Sun and Venus in the eight house, Scorpio, symbolizing the mental approach
and philosophical values he shared with many early-modern artists. Additionally, Venus forms a trine with Jupiter and the
Moon in the first house, Pisces, and a tight opposition with Mars conjunct Neptune retrograde in the second house Taurus.
The birth-charts of early modern composers Ravel and Scriabin both show Venus rising about forty-four degrees before
the Sun, and both have Saturn and Mercury retrograde standing between the Sun and Venus, though not in the same
sequence. In the instance of Ravel - who was born at a New Moon Venus is seen in the third house, Aquarius, at the apex of
a tight T-square with Neptune (the planet of music) just below the Descendant and Jupiter retrograde just above the
Ascendant. Additionally, Uranus is at the Midheaven.
We now come to a long segment of the Venus Lucifer direct phase during which a much larger number of people are
born than during the "sub-phases" discussed above. Coming out the its maximum elongation from the Sun, Venus Morning
Star spends about six months increasing velocity and moving closer to the Sun - advancing toward the superior
conjunction. This part of the cycle of Venus symbolizes a gradual refinement of goals and values, as well as a more deliberate
and confident approach to relationships. In a sense, Venusian qualities are being honed and better defined as they become
closer integrated with Solar will. The emotional nature becomes more fluid, spontaneous and fearless as Venus gains velocity
over the Sun, and individuals born during this period tend to be more emotionally secure and demonstrative than those born
before maximum elongation. Yet other horoscope factors, such as Saturn retrograde, may figure into the picture, which may
symbolize a tempering or repression of the emotions and the expression . . . or, at times, just the opposite. Additionally,
individuals born toward the close of the Venus Morning Star direct phase often seem to take on some of the characteristics of
associated with Venus Evening Star types.
In astrological symbolism the planet Venus and the sign Taurus represent the throat, the vocal chords, the voice, vocalists
and singers. Early woman of Rock, Ann Wilson, and alternative singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette, were both born a couple
months after maximum elongation of Venus Morning Star, and the horoscopes of both feature Venus in the sign Taurus.
During the early-70s Ann Wilson formed Heart - one of the first successful Rock bands led by women - with her sister,
guitarist Nancy Wilson. One of the strongest and most compelling voices of Rock, Ann Wilson was born with Venus rising about
thirty-six degrees before the Sun, with Mercury situated between the two. In her chart Venus is seen in Taurus just below the
Descendant, square a powerful Moon-Pluto conjunction in the ninth house Leo. Additionally, Venus is the focus of a number of
quintile and decile based aspects (derived by division of 360 by 5 and 10, or multiples of 5 and 10, producing aspects of 36
degrees, 72 degrees, 108 degrees, 144 degrees, and so on. See my The EON: The 36 Cyclic Aspects Symbolically
Depicted for more on the aspects). In addition to forming a decile (36 degrees) with the Sun, Venus is also involved in a
triangular formation consisting of a bi-quintile (144 degrees) to Neptune and a quintile to Jupiter, with a bi-quintile between
Jupiter and Neptune. It is an apt configuration for talent, fame and success as a vocalist and songwriter, but there might be a
story behind the singleton Jupiter standing alone at the Nadir.

The birth-chart of Alanis Morissette also features a number of decile and quintile based aspects. Venus in the tenth
house, Taurus, rises forty degrees before the Sun (a novile aspect) and is bi-quintile Neptune in the fifth house of creativity
and self-expression - a fitting symbol for a highly expressive singer. Significantly, Venus is exactly opposite the Moon in the
forth house, Scorpio, which is conjunct Uranus retrograde a striking symbol of the female angst which in 1997 brought
Alanis worldwide attention (and unparalleled success) with her album Jagged Little Pill.
Icon Madonna was born a bit further along the Venus cycle, when Venus rose about twenty-two degrees before the Sun;
that is, midway between maximum elongation and the superior conjunction. Both Venus and the Sun are in Leo, with Venus in
the eleventh house of associations, connections and aspirations, and with the Sun in the twelfth house (with three other
planets), suggesting she is much deeper and more complex than her public image. Notably, the edgy and non-conformist
planet Uranus stands midway between the Sun and Venus. Additionally, Venus forms a tight square to Neptune (music) in the
second house (money), which is conjunct Jupiter (expansion, compensation, success) and the north lunar node (what one
aspires toward). Saturn is retrograde in the fourth house.
Giovanni Casanova was also born midway between maximum elongation and the superior conjunction. In his instance,
Mercury rises between Venus and the Sun. Venus and Mercury are conjunct in the fifth house Pisces, and Mars and Jupiter are
also seen in the fifth. Uranus (conjunct the south lunar node) is rising and, significantly, Mercury (the scribe) and Venus are
opposite Pluto retrograde in the eleventh house of friends, associations and social enjoyments. Casanova was more than a
famous lover who wrote a lot about his sexual exploits (Venus, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter in the fifth house), he was also a
penetrating social historian and his autobiography not merely depict his sexual escapades, they also provide an inside look at
the courts and aristocracy of his time.
Victoria Woodhull was one of the most important women of the 19th century, and one of the most Promethean women
of all time. An early feminist, one of the first truly liberated women, a consort of J.P. Morgan, an early health food advocate, a
financial advisor, one of the first "channel writers," and a candidate for the office of the President of the United States, Victoria
Woodhull was born with the Sun and Jupiter at the Ascendant, both in the last degree of Virgo. Venus rose twenty-one degrees
before the Sun, and Jupiter and Mercury retrograde are seen between the Sun and Venus.
The birth-chart of nineteenth-century social satirist Oscar Wilde shows Venus rising fifteen degrees before the Sun.
Venus is the focus of a number of septile based aspects (derived by the division of 360 by 7 and by multiples of 7). Venus also
forms a bi-quintile aspect with Uranus (he was persecuted for his unconventional, homosexual lifestyle) and a decile with
Mercury, symbolizing his literary artistry and talent.
As Venus draws near the Sun, it attains its maximum velocity through the zodiac. When the arc between the two
reaches about ten zodiacal degrees, Venus is so near the Sun that it is no longer visible in the morning sky. The period of
"invisibility" lasts several weeks before and after the superior conjunction; it symbolizes an integration of Venusian guiding
qualities and principles with solar will geared toward the fulfillment of an ideal, vision or creative goal . . . or solar will (or
egotism) eclipsing and overshadowing Venusian values.
Romantic composer Frederic Chopin, scientific genius Nikola Tesla, and singer/songwriter Tori Amos were born at the
close of the Venus Morning Star phase, just before the superior conjunction. Chopin's horoscope shows Sun and Venus just
below the Descendant, with Pluto on the Descendant, and the three form squares to Neptune and Saturn, which straddle the
Nadir. In the instance of Tesla, a lifelong celebrant, the Sun and Venus straddle the Nadir, in Cancer, while forming squares to
the Moon and Mars (the latter is also conjunction the south lunar node) in the sixth house, Libra. The Sun quintiles Pluto,
which is rising - suggesting Telsa's energy discoveries, as does the bi-quintile linking Mars and Uranus in the first house. Tori
Amos was born when Venus rose two-degrees before the Sun, and her horoscope shows both bodies in the ninth house Leo,
along with Uranus in Virgo. But the focus of her chart seems to be placed more on Saturn retrograde in the fourth house
(always a powerful symbol, often indicating a father complex) and Jupiter retrograde (symbol of compensation) in the fifth
house, both of which stand alone.
I am reluctant to provide gender specific interpretations for Venus Lucifer direct for a number of reasons. As we have seen,
this particular face of Venus comprises a number of "sub-types", and it is better to attempt to achieve a integrated
understanding of the entire Venus cycle, and the gradations of the Venus Lucifer direct type, in basic human terms.
Additionally, in this phase, and in the corresponding Venus Hesperus direct phase, gender shadings regarding the Venus
function - especially concerning core issues and physiological complexes are far better symbolized by Venus' place in the
chart as a whole and by her connections with other planets.
Venus is seen stationary, turning direct, about three weeks after its inferior conjunction with the Sun, marking the
relationships.
types.
than the Sun.
Venus.
Venus is seen stationary, turning direct, about three weeks after its inferior conjunction with the Sun, marking the
relationships.
types.
than the Sun.
Venus.
enus is seen stationary, turning direct,
about three weeks after its inferior
conjunction with the Sun, marking the
beginning of the approximately nine-month
long Lucifer-Direct phase of Venus. During
this face of Venus, the emotions become
more relaxed, free-flowing and less
encumbered by fear of loss, hurt and
rejection.
Venus Lucifer direct people are not
necessarily more emotional, or even more
emotionally demonstrative, than Venus
Lucifer retrograde types. But whereas
Lucifer retrograde people internalize
emotional difficulties, often to an intense
degree, and tend to fear or anticipate
future emotional hurt, Lucifer direct people
are more emotionally relaxed, at ease and
resilient. They seem to quickly bounce back
from a romantic break-up, a personal
rejection, a disappointment or an insult.
Because they appear to bounce back so
easily, and because they do not always
appear to register emotional impacts,
Lucifer direct types sometimes seem like
emotionally detached social butterflies. But
such an impression can be deceptive
because Lucifer direct people can be very
adapt at concealing their emotions, which
are often far more intense, delicate and
vulnerable than they care to reveal. This is
especially so of people born during the
early part of the Lucifer direct phase,
because they tend to be working their way
out of the Venus retrograde character, and
are therefore more delicate emotionally
than those born later on in the phase, who
tend to possess quicker, more fluid
emotional natures.
Venus Lucifer types often conceal the
more vibrant (and dark) sides of their
emotions because they desire to fit into the
cultural mainstream, a tactic Venus
Morning Star direct people often feel will at
once give them a greater sense of selfworth and enable them to effect their
culture and its values and ideals more
successfully. Nevertheless, Lucifer direct
people can be very direct and
demonstrative regarding their feelings, and
they tend to have an open and optimistic
approach to life and to relationships.
Venus Lucifer direct people are often
more vibrant (and dark) sides of their

emotions because they desire to fit into the
cultural mainstream, a tactic Venus
Morning Star direct people often feel will at
once give them a greater sense of selfworth and enable them to effect their
culture and its values and ideals more
successfully. Nevertheless, Lucifer direct
people can be very direct and
demonstrative regarding their feelings, and
they tend to have an open and optimistic
approach to life and to relationships.
Venus Lucifer direct people are often
involved in promoting new values,
ideals, outlooks and ways of life created
or exemplified by others. They do not wish
to live a life "against the grain," which is
more the destiny of Lucifer retrograde
types. And because they wish to "fit in,"
they tend not to "act out" their emotional
turmoil as fully as Venus Morning Star
retrograde types.
Although Lucifer direct types are not
likely candidates for a tragic,
misunderstood artist, they are often very
successful at producing the sort of social
and culture reforms and change the more
tormented and misunderstood Lucifer
retrograde types dedicate themselves. They
excel at politics, leadership and the at art
of making things happen. Bestowed with a
strong sense of ideals, Venus Lucifer direct
people are often of a humanitarian spirit,
wishing, and often working long and hard,
to make a beneficial contribution to society.
About two weeks after turning direct,
while rising about 40 zodiacal degrees
before the Sun, Venus is most brilliant in
the pre-dawn morning sky. In natal
astrology, it is difficult to gauge if Venus
Morning Star natives born while Venus is
brightest are more or less emotional than
others - especially because they tend not to
"act out" as much as others. Indeed, rather
than "acting out" they tend to play an
acceptable and comfortable role.
While it may be difficult to gauge the
emotional intensity of the few people born
while Venus is most brilliant in morning
sky, these individuals do seem to be very
dedicated to their work, possessing
compelling ideas and values. Examples
include Alan Watts, the English cleric turned
Zen philosopher; Robespierre, a ruthless
leader of the French Revolution; cowboy
humorist/philosopher Will Rogers, and
opera star Luciano Pavarotti.
The birth-chart of Alan Watts features
a well-defined See-Saw, with a tight
conjunction of the Sun, Mercury and Mars
in the first house, Capricorn, and with
Venus Morning Star in the twelfth house,
Sagittarius, trine Neptune retrograde a
suitable configuration for a Zen thinker.
Watts was also a gifted promoter and,
along with Allen Ginsberg and a few others,
played a large role in bringing Buddhism
and Mysticism into mainstream EuroAmerican culture.
In the instance of the birth of
Robespierre, leader of the ruthless "Reign
of Terror", we find Venus Morning Star in
the first house, near Uranus, the planet of
revolution. Saturn is just below the
Ascendant - suggesting a strict, stern
character - and Mars and Neptune are
suitable configuration for a Zen thinker.

Watts was also a gifted promoter and,
along with Allen Ginsberg and a few others,
played a large role in bringing Buddhism
and Mysticism into mainstream EuroAmerican culture.
In the instance of the birth of
Robespierre, leader of the ruthless "Reign
of Terror", we find Venus Morning Star in
the first house, near Uranus, the planet of
revolution. Saturn is just below the
Ascendant - suggesting a strict, stern
character - and Mars and Neptune are
conjunct in the sixth house, Leo, trine
Jupiter and Pluto, both retrograde in the
tenth house. Venus is "under-aspected,"
forming only a powerful tri-octile (135
degrees aspect) to Mars. Venus not only
signifies our emotional life and our values
and ideals, it also symbolizes judgement,
which is something Robespierre performed
with unequaled ruthlessness. Yet the
ruthless judgement of the reign of terror
was based on a revolutionary, but limited,
set of values, ideals and goals, albeit tinged
with vengeance and cruelty.
Sex-Symbol Marilyn Monroe was born
shortly after Venus Morning Star was
brightest. Her birth-chart shows Mercury
rising four degrees before the Sun - she
liked smart men, said Albert Einstein was
the sexist man she had ever met, and had
an over-powering attraction to Robert F.
Kennedy. Venus is the most elevated
planet, and it is trine Neptune in the first
house, Leo - a fitting symbol for a
glamorous film star. But the most powerful
and revealing configuration of the chart is a
tight T-square in fixed signs, formed by
Neptune opposing a conjunction of the
Moon and Jupiter in the seventh house,
with Saturn retrograde in the fourth house
square both ends of the opposition,
suggesting potent parental complexes.
Venusian qualities become more
pronounced, and the emotional nature
more active and responsive, between the
time of Venus' maximum brightness and its
maximum elongation from the Sun (about
47 degrees ahead of the Sun); that is,
about thirty-six to seventy-two days after
its inferior conjunction with the Sun, while
Venus is still moving through the zodiac
slower than the Sun.
Rock icons David Bowie and Jim
Morrison were born two to three weeks
before maximum elongation. In Morrison's
instance, there are no planets between a
Sagittarius Sun and Venus at the first
degree of Scorpio, but the tenth house Sun
broadly opposes Uranus, Mars and Saturn
in Gemini. The latter three bodies are
retrograde. Additionally, the chart features
an outstanding number of quintile aspects,
and Pluto retrograde is conjunct the north
lunar node, just below the Descendant, and
square the Moon. David Bowie was born
just after a conjunction of the Sun and
Mars, and both Mars and Mercury stand
between the Sun and Venus, suggesting
Bowie's Venus Morning Star qualities are
somewhat filtered through Mercury and
Mars, symbolizing his faculties of
intelligence and self-promotion, reinforced
by a quintile linking Venus and Mercury.
retrograde. Additionally, the chart features

an outstanding number of quintile aspects,
and Pluto retrograde is conjunct the north
lunar node, just below the Descendant, and
square the Moon. David Bowie was born
just after a conjunction of the Sun and
Mars, and both Mars and Mercury stand
between the Sun and Venus, suggesting
Bowie's Venus Morning Star qualities are
somewhat filtered through Mercury and
Mars, symbolizing his faculties of
intelligence and self-promotion, reinforced
by a quintile linking Venus and Mercury.
Pluto retrograde is seen just below the
Descendant, with Saturn retrograde and
the Moon nearby. The latter two bodies are
trine Venus.
Leader of the 1916 Russian Revolution,
Nicolai Lenin was also born soon before
maximum elongation. In Lenin's birth-chart
a conjunction of Mars and Neptune in Aries
(suggesting a ruthless, ideological attitude
toward life) is found between a sixth house
Sun and a third house Venus. Additionally,
the Mars-Neptune conjunction forms a tight
square to Uranus, which is on the north
lunar node. Saturn retrograde has the
focus, in the first house, Sagittarius.
Singer-songwriter, painter Joni
Mitchell was born ten days before the
maximum elongation of Venus Morning
Star. In her horoscope, Mercury rises onedegree before a fifth house Sun, in Scorpio,
while Venus is conjunct Neptune appropriate symbols for her multi-faceted
talent. Her chart also features a tight Tsquare in mutable signs, formed by Venus
opposing the Moon, with a conjunction of
Mars and Saturn (both retrograde) at the
apex - a stressful and difficult configuration
from which she probably draws much
material.
"Live fast, die young, and leave a goodlooking corpse." Film icon James Dean
was born just three days before the
maximum elongation of Venus Morning
Star. His chart features Venus in the first
house, quincunx (150 degree aspect) Mars
retrograde and a trine to Neptune (film,
glamour, suicide) and a sextile to a Scorpio
Moon. Saturn and Mercury lie between
Venus Morning Star and the Sun, and the
pair opposes Mars retrograde, Pluto
retrograde and Jupiter retrograde. Both
ends of the compound opposition square
Uranus in the fourth house, Aries.
Early abstract artist Paul Klee and
modern composers Maurice Ravel and
Alexander Scriabin were born two to
three weeks after the maximum
elongation of Venus Morning Star - that is,
when Venus began to "loop back," moving
toward the Sun, attaining at geocentric
velocity greater than the Sun, and gaining.
In the instance of Paul Klee, Mercury
Sagittarius retrograde standing in the
ninth house very near the Midheaven is
situated between a Sagittarian eleventh
house Sun and Venus in the eight house,
Scorpio, symbolizing the mental approach
and philosophical values he shared with
many early-modern artists. Additionally,
Venus forms a trine with Jupiter and the
Moon in the first house, Pisces, and a tight
opposition with Mars conjunct Neptune
retrograde in the second house Taurus.
velocity greater than the Sun, and gaining.

In the instance of Paul Klee, Mercury
Sagittarius retrograde standing in the
ninth house very near the Midheaven is
situated between a Sagittarian eleventh
house Sun and Venus in the eight house,
Scorpio, symbolizing the mental approach
and philosophical values he shared with
many early-modern artists. Additionally,
Venus forms a trine with Jupiter and the
Moon in the first house, Pisces, and a tight
opposition with Mars conjunct Neptune
retrograde in the second house Taurus.
The birth-charts of early modern
composers Ravel and Scriabin both show
Venus rising about forty-four degrees
before the Sun, and both have Saturn and
Mercury retrograde standing between the
Sun and Venus, though not in the same
sequence. In the instance of Ravel - who
was born at a New Moon Venus is seen in
the third house, Aquarius, at the apex of a
tight T-square with Neptune (the planet of
music) just below the Descendant and
Jupiter retrograde just above the
Ascendant. Additionally, Uranus is at the
Midheaven.
We now come to a long segment of the
Venus Lucifer direct phase during which
a much larger number of people are born
than during the "sub-phases" discussed
above. Coming out the its maximum
elongation from the Sun, Venus Morning
Star spends about six months increasing
velocity and moving closer to the Sun advancing toward the superior conjunction.
This part of the cycle of Venus symbolizes a
gradual refinement of goals and values, as
well as a more deliberate and confident
approach to relationships. In a sense,
Venusian qualities are being honed and
better defined as they become closer
integrated with Solar will. The emotional
nature becomes more fluid, spontaneous
and fearless as Venus gains velocity over
the Sun, and individuals born during this
period tend to be more emotionally secure
and demonstrative than those born before
maximum elongation. Yet other horoscope
factors, such as Saturn retrograde, may
figure into the picture, which may
symbolize a tempering or repression of the
emotions and the expression . . . or, at
times, just the opposite. Additionally,
individuals born toward the close of the
Venus Morning Star direct phase often
seem to take on some of the characteristics
of associated with Venus Evening Star
types.
In astrological symbolism the planet
Venus and the sign Taurus represent the
throat, the vocal chords, the voice,
vocalists and singers. Early woman of Rock,
Ann Wilson, and alternative singer/
songwriter Alanis Morissette, were both
born a couple months after maximum
elongation of Venus Morning Star, and the
horoscopes of both feature Venus in the
sign Taurus.
During the early-70s Ann Wilson
formed Heart - one of the first successful
Rock bands led by women - with her sister,
guitarist Nancy Wilson. One of the
strongest and most compelling voices of
Rock, Ann Wilson was born with Venus
vocalists and singers. Early woman of Rock,

Ann Wilson, and alternative singer/
songwriter Alanis Morissette, were both
born a couple months after maximum
elongation of Venus Morning Star, and the
horoscopes of both feature Venus in the
sign Taurus.
During the early-70s Ann Wilson
formed Heart - one of the first successful
Rock bands led by women - with her sister,
guitarist Nancy Wilson. One of the
strongest and most compelling voices of
Rock, Ann Wilson was born with Venus
rising about thirty-six degrees before the
Sun, with Mercury situated between the
two. In her chart Venus is seen in Taurus
just below the Descendant, square a
powerful Moon-Pluto conjunction in the
ninth house Leo. Additionally, Venus is the
focus of a number of quintile and decile
based aspects (derived by division of 360
by 5 and 10, or multiples of 5 and 10,
producing aspects of 36 degrees, 72
degrees, 108 degrees, 144 degrees, and so
on. See my The EON: The 36 Cyclic
Aspects Symbolically Depicted for more
on the aspects). In addition to forming a
decile (36 degrees) with the Sun, Venus is
also involved in a triangular formation
consisting of a bi-quintile (144 degrees) to
Neptune and a quintile to Jupiter, with a biquintile between Jupiter and Neptune. It is
an apt configuration for talent, fame and
success as a vocalist and songwriter, but
there might be a story behind the singleton
Jupiter standing alone at the Nadir.
The birth-chart of Alanis Morissette
also features a number of decile and
quintile based aspects. Venus in the tenth
house, Taurus, rises forty degrees before
the Sun (a novile aspect) and is bi-quintile
Neptune in the fifth house of creativity and
self-expression - a fitting symbol for a
highly expressive singer. Significantly,
Venus is exactly opposite the Moon in the
forth house, Scorpio, which is conjunct
Uranus retrograde a striking symbol of
the female angst which in 1997 brought
Alanis worldwide attention (and
unparalleled success) with her album
Jagged Little Pill.
Icon Madonna was born a bit further
along the Venus cycle, when Venus rose
about twenty-two degrees before the Sun;
that is, midway between maximum
elongation and the superior conjunction.
Both Venus and the Sun are in Leo, with
Venus in the eleventh house of
associations, connections and aspirations,
and with the Sun in the twelfth house (with
three other planets), suggesting she is
much deeper and more complex than her
public image. Notably, the edgy and nonconformist planet Uranus stands midway
between the Sun and Venus. Additionally,
Venus forms a tight square to Neptune
(music) in the second house (money),
which is conjunct Jupiter (expansion,
compensation, success) and the north lunar
node (what one aspires toward). Saturn is
retrograde in the fourth house.
Giovanni Casanova was also born
midway between maximum elongation and
the superior conjunction. In his instance,
Mercury rises between Venus and the Sun.
Venus and Mercury are conjunct in the fifth
house Pisces, and Mars and Jupiter are also
between the Sun and Venus. Additionally,

Venus forms a tight square to Neptune
(music) in the second house (money),
which is conjunct Jupiter (expansion,
compensation, success) and the north lunar
node (what one aspires toward). Saturn is
retrograde in the fourth house.
Giovanni Casanova was also born
midway between maximum elongation and
the superior conjunction. In his instance,
Mercury rises between Venus and the Sun.
Venus and Mercury are conjunct in the fifth
house Pisces, and Mars and Jupiter are also
seen in the fifth. Uranus (conjunct the
south lunar node) is rising and,
significantly, Mercury (the scribe) and
Venus are opposite Pluto retrograde in the
eleventh house of friends, associations and
social enjoyments. Casanova was more
than a famous lover who wrote a lot about
his sexual exploits (Venus, Mercury, Mars,
and Jupiter in the fifth house), he was also
a penetrating social historian and his
autobiography not merely depict his sexual
escapades, they also provide an inside look
at the courts and aristocracy of his time.
Victoria Woodhull was one of the
most important women of the 19th century,
and one of the most Promethean women of
all time. An early feminist, one of the first
truly liberated women, a consort of J.P.
Morgan, an early health food advocate, a
financial advisor, one of the first "channel
writers," and a candidate for the office of
the President of the United States, Victoria
Woodhull was born with the Sun and
Jupiter at the Ascendant, both in the last
degree of Virgo. Venus rose twenty-one
degrees before the Sun, and Jupiter and
Mercury retrograde are seen between the
Sun and Venus.
The birth-chart of nineteenth-century
social satirist Oscar Wilde shows Venus
rising fifteen degrees before the Sun. Venus
is the focus of a number of septile based
aspects (derived by the division of 360 by 7
and by multiples of 7). Venus also forms a
bi-quintile aspect with Uranus (he was
persecuted for his unconventional,
homosexual lifestyle) and a decile with
Mercury, symbolizing his literary artistry
and talent.
As Venus draws near the Sun, it attains
its maximum velocity through the
zodiac. When the arc between the two
reaches about ten zodiacal degrees, Venus
is so near the Sun that it is no longer
visible in the morning sky. The period of
"invisibility" lasts several weeks before and
after the superior conjunction; it
symbolizes an integration of Venusian
guiding qualities and principles with solar
will geared toward the fulfillment of an
ideal, vision or creative goal . . . or solar
will (or egotism) eclipsing and
overshadowing Venusian values.
Romantic composer Frederic Chopin,
scientific genius Nikola Tesla, and singer/
songwriter Tori Amos were born at the
close of the Venus Morning Star phase, just
before the superior conjunction. Chopin's
horoscope shows Sun and Venus just below
the Descendant, with Pluto on the
Descendant, and the three form squares to
Neptune and Saturn, which straddle the
will geared toward the fulfillment of an

ideal, vision or creative goal . . . or solar
will (or egotism) eclipsing and
overshadowing Venusian values.
Romantic composer Frederic Chopin,
scientific genius Nikola Tesla, and singer/
songwriter Tori Amos were born at the
close of the Venus Morning Star phase, just
before the superior conjunction. Chopin's
horoscope shows Sun and Venus just below
the Descendant, with Pluto on the
Descendant, and the three form squares to
Neptune and Saturn, which straddle the
Nadir. In the instance of Tesla, a lifelong
celebrant, the Sun and Venus straddle the
Nadir, in Cancer, while forming squares to
the Moon and Mars (the latter is also
conjunction the south lunar node) in the
sixth house, Libra. The Sun quintiles Pluto,
which is rising - suggesting Telsa's energy
discoveries, as does the bi-quintile linking
Mars and Uranus in the first house. Tori
Amos was born when Venus rose twodegrees before the Sun, and her horoscope
shows both bodies in the ninth house Leo,
along with Uranus in Virgo. But the focus of
her chart seems to be placed more on
Saturn retrograde in the fourth house
(always a powerful symbol, often indicating
a father complex) and Jupiter retrograde
(symbol of compensation) in the fifth
I am reluctant to provide gender specific
interpretations for Venus Lucifer direct for a
number of reasons. As we have seen, this
particular face of Venus comprises a
number of "sub-types", and it is better to
attempt to achieve a integrated
understanding of the entire Venus cycle,
and the gradations of the Venus Lucifer
direct type, in basic human terms.
Additionally, in this phase, and in the
corresponding Venus Hesperus direct
phase, gender shadings regarding the
Venus function - especially concerning core
issues and physiological complexes are
far better symbolized by Venus' place in
the chart as a whole and by her
connections with other planets.
The Evening Star hemicycle of Venus

begins at the superior conjunction of
Venus and the Sun, while Venus is moving
at or near its maximum velocity. In the
Venus cycle, the superior conjunction
corresponds to the opposition and the Full
Moon. It is a moment of fulfillment of
Venusian values and goals - or the
beginning of a realization of failure to
integrate new Venusian qualities into the
fabric of personality. In the first instance,
the second half of the Venus cycle
symbolizes the distillation of meaning and
purpose from prior experience. In the latter
instance, the cycle tends to become a
closed circuit of devolution, repeating past
failures and shortcomings. But inevitably
there is both partial success and partial
failure, a blend of the two.
If your natal chart features Venus
Hesperus Direct, your feeling nature tends
to be mature and outwardly reserved. Yet
in spite of your tendency to withhold public
displays of emotion, you may be
emotionally intense under the surface, and
symbolizes the distillation of meaning and

purpose from prior experience. In the latter
instance, the cycle tends to become a
closed circuit of devolution, repeating past
failures and shortcomings. But inevitably
there is both partial success and partial
failure, a blend of the two.
If your natal chart features Venus
Hesperus Direct, your feeling nature tends
to be mature and outwardly reserved. Yet
in spite of your tendency to withhold public
displays of emotion, you may be
emotionally intense under the surface, and
even explosively expressive in your private
life. In another sense, while Venus Lucifer
denotes an outgoing emotional nature,
Venus Hesperus suggests a more deliberate
and reflective emotional nature that tends
to feel after the act.
Venus Evening Star direct people are
guided by the distillation of experience and
a highly refined and often elaborate set of
guiding values, ideals and goals. They take
in the big picture and base their
judgements and plans on personal and
historical precedents. They are more
given to formulating and executing longterm plans with deferred incentives and
rewards than Venus Morning Star types,
who tend to let their immediate feelings,
emotions and desires guide the way.
Venus Evening Star direct types are
inclined to evaluate and react to
situations after they take place, and
their post facto judgements tend to rest on
a set of values and expectations based
either on a cultural tradition and its
morality or on one's own past experience
and observations. In any instance, as a
Venus Evening Star type your strong sense
of values and ideals tend to temper your
emotions and feelings. In other words, for
Venus Hesperus people, their Venusian
qualities tend to be most visible in large
ideas and systems. The world knows them
for their big ideas, schemes and successes,
but to their lovers and family they are loved
and feared for their big emotions. Their
emotions are intense, and displayed on a
large canvas because they tend to
internally process, replay, elaborate and
amplify their emotional experiences.
Whereas Venus Morning Star types
tend to release their emotions in a more
immediate fashion, letting them out and
often forgetting about their content, Venus
Evening Star types internalize their
emotional experiences, both the pleasant
and the unpleasant. So when their
emotions do fully surface, they often erupt
with pent-up force. When such eruptions
occur, family and lovers might feel
overwhelmed or think the expression is out
of proportion, that the Venus Evening Star
person is "over-reacting" or perhaps
becoming too emotionally involved in
relationship. This is especially the case
when a Venus Evening Star makes a big
reaction to a seemly minor incident or
disagreement. It is not the single, isolated
event she is reacting to, but to a long
series of similar incidents which she has
been internalizing and feeling uneasy about
for some time. Feelings of frustration or
resentment might have been exaggerated if
the Venus Evening Star person had
attempted to discuss her hurt feelings in a
person is "over-reacting" or perhaps

becoming too emotionally involved in
relationship. This is especially the case
when a Venus Evening Star makes a big
reaction to a seemly minor incident or
disagreement. It is not the single, isolated
event she is reacting to, but to a long
series of similar incidents which she has
been internalizing and feeling uneasy about
for some time. Feelings of frustration or
resentment might have been exaggerated if
the Venus Evening Star person had
attempted to discuss her hurt feelings in a
"rational" manner, yet unable to succeed
because her partner, perhaps a Morning
Star type, didn't recall a particular incident,
or thought it not worth discussing, or
avoided addressing the issue.
The tendency of Venus Evening Star
types to internalize emotional
disappointment or abuse gives them much
in common with Venus Morning Star
retrograde people, but theirs is generally a
larger perspective, with greater patience
and reliance on precedents.
During the first several weeks of its
Evening Star phase, the light Venus is
lost in solar brilliance. It is only when an
arc of about ten zodiacal degrees separates
the Sun and Venus that the Evening Star
may be actually seen by the unaided eye in
the early evening sky just after sunset. In
astrological symbolism, the period between
superior conjunction and Venus' first
visibility in the evening sky suggests an
integration of solar will with new Venusian
visions and ideals developed during the
Morning Star hemicycle. Whereas those
born during the closing period of the
Morning Star hemicycle tend to be more
concerned with personal or individual goals
and creative fulfillment, those born during
the Evening Star phase tend to place more
focus on social values and in making a
creative contribution to their society. But in
a less integrated personality, the superior
conjunction might represent proud
egohood, a "do what thou will" attitude. As
with every astrological factor, however, one
needs to be careful not to make too much
of the Venus type. The whole chart needs
to be considered, and any particular
astrological symbol stands not on its own
but as a part of a whole picture. The chart
as a whole is the ultimate astrological
symbol.
People born at the beginning of the
Venus Evening Star phase may dazzle us
with their solar brilliance, but behind their
solar will often stands strong Venusian
vision, values and goals. For example,
novelist and social satirist George Bernard
Shaw, prototype superstar Franz Liszt, and
editor Helen Gurley Brown were born just
after the superior conjunction of Venus and
the Sun.
George Bernard Shaw, one of the
most intellectual men of his age, was a
penetrating wit and an insightful satirist of
Victorian society. His birthchart shows
Venus at the Nadir, rising immediately after
the Sun. A Promethean Mercury rises much
ahead of the Sun, suggesting his avantgarde views and mental orientation.
Franz Liszt, who in the nineteenth
Shaw, prototype superstar Franz Liszt, and

editor Helen Gurley Brown were born just
after the superior conjunction of Venus and
the Sun.
George Bernard Shaw, one of the
most intellectual men of his age, was a
penetrating wit and an insightful satirist of
Victorian society. His birthchart shows
Venus at the Nadir, rising immediately after
the Sun. A Promethean Mercury rises much
ahead of the Sun, suggesting his avantgarde views and mental orientation.
Franz Liszt, who in the nineteenth
century achieved unprecedented fame and
notoriety as a concert pianist, was born
when Venus rose three degrees after the
Sun - the mirror image of his friend,
composer Frederic Chopin, who was born
just before the superior conjunction. In the
instance of Lizst, Mercury rises before the
Sun and forms a productive sextile aspect
to Neptune (the planet of music), and
Venus is trine Jupiter in the eleventh house.
Although Lizst is best known as the first
superstar performer, his musical
compositions are now becoming recognized
as precursors to twentieth century music.
Additionally, Lizst brought to musicians a
new social standing, elevating them above
the status of "servants," to which they were
designated before his time. Indeed, he was
the first musician to enter through the front
door.
During the middle part of the twentieth
century, Helen Gurley Brown, editor of
Cosmopolitan magazine and author of Sex
in and Single Girl, played a tremendous
role in re-defining gender roles and
liberating female sexuality. Though she was
not as outspoken as edgy feminists of the
time, as an editor her influence was deep,
enduring and ubiquitous, and she never
sacrificed her femininity in realizing her
vision of a "new woman." Her chart shows
Venus in Pisces rising three degrees after
an Aquarian Sun. A visionary Promethean
Mercury retrograde in Aquarius rises before
the Sun. The Sun and Venus form biquintiles to Saturn retrograde in the ninth
house very near the Midheaven, as well as
squares to a twelfth house conjunction of
the Moon and Mars in Scorpio. The edgy
and revolutionary planet Uranus rises soon
after Venus.
It is important to note that the three
above examples feature Mercury
Prometheus - that is, Mercury rising before
then Sun - which in a sense can
"masquerade" as Venus Lucifer. Mercury
Prometheans let their minds - or their
rationalizations - and thinking guide the
way, and when born during Venus Evening
Star, they tend to seem mentally proud,
egotistic and judgmental. Often maintaining
a degree of restraint in the relationships,
they do not easily give themselves
completely.
After Venus becomes visible in the
early evening sky, it continues to distant
itself from the Sun for about six months,
rising later, and remaining visible longer,
each evening until it reaches maximum
elongation from the Sun 216 days after
superior conjunction. During this period
values become more defined, longer term
incentives are pursued, and perspective
a degree of restraint in the relationships,

they do not easily give themselves
completely.
After Venus becomes visible in the
early evening sky, it continues to distant
itself from the Sun for about six months,
rising later, and remaining visible longer,
each evening until it reaches maximum
elongation from the Sun 216 days after
superior conjunction. During this period
values become more defined, longer term
incentives are pursued, and perspective
deepens. A greater reliance is placed upon
traditions and systems because they are
required to integrate experience, to give
meaning to existence, and to serve as a
foundation for judgement. Emotions and
feelings become tempered (or conditioned)
by morality and tradition.
Johann von Goethe, author of Faust
and one of the greatest intellects of all
time, was born midway between the
superior conjunction and maximum
elongation. His natal horoscope shows a
Full Moon, and the Sun and Venus are in
the tenth house, Virgo, with Sun at the
Midheaven. Mercury is in the ninth house,
Leo, rising before the Sun and opposite
Uranus. Saturn is at the Ascendant.
The birthchart of Wolfgang Amedeus
Mozart shows Venus in the sixth house
rising twenty-two degrees after the Sun.
Both are in Aquarius and the Sun is in the
fifth house conjunct Mercury, rising one
degree after the Sun. Saturn, rises four
degrees before the Sun. The Sun, Mercury
and Saturn are opposite Neptune
retrograde. The Moon and Pluto form an
exact conjunct in the fourth house,
Sagittarius, and they in turn form a square
to Uranus on the Descendant (and south
lunar node) and a sextile to Jupiter in the
second house, Libra. The chart features a
rather large number of quintile and decile
based aspects, including a quintile linking
Venus and the Moon. Mars retrograde in
the tenth house is trine Venus.
The natal horoscopes of Mohandas
Gandhi, liberator of India, and poet Paul
Verlaine, both feature Venus Evening Star
conjunct Mars. In Gandhi's instance, Venus
rises thirty-eight degrees after the Sun,
with Mercury in Scorpio just below the
Ascendant, rising between Venus and the
twelfth house Libra Sun. Venus is in the
first house, Scorpio, with a Scorpio Mars
rising two degrees behind it. The VenusMars conjunction is involved in a tight and
powerful fixed T-square - Venus-Mars is
opposite a conjunction of Jupiter and Pluto,
both retrograde in Taurus and in the
seventh house, and both sets of
conjunctions form squares to a Leo Moon in
the tenth house of politics and the public
life. Additionally, the Venus-Mars
conjunction trines Uranus in the ninth
house. A conjunction of Venus and Mars is
always significant in a birth chart, and it
generally tends to figure into the sexual
life, either directly or indirectly. In his
younger years, Gandhi was hypersexual,
turning celebrant in his later years as a
social activist. Additionally, Venus rising
before Mars suggest Gandhi's Martian
nature was bridled and guided by Venusian
conjunctions form squares to a Leo Moon in

the tenth house of politics and the public
life. Additionally, the Venus-Mars
conjunction trines Uranus in the ninth
house. A conjunction of Venus and Mars is
always significant in a birth chart, and it
generally tends to figure into the sexual
life, either directly or indirectly. In his
younger years, Gandhi was hypersexual,
turning celebrant in his later years as a
social activist. Additionally, Venus rising
before Mars suggest Gandhi's Martian
nature was bridled and guided by Venusian
values and principles, and this symbol is
reinforced by the fact that the two bodies
are in autumnal signs.
In the instance of Paul Verlaine, the
sexual symbolism is even clearer and more
revealing. His birthchart shows a seventh
house Taurus Venus rising forty-one
degrees after the Sun in the sixth house,
Aries. Pluto rises twelve degrees after the
Sun, and Mars rises three degrees before
Venus. A conjunction of Uranus and
Mercury rises soon before the Sun. The
conjunction of Mars-Venus, Taurus, in the
seventh house of relationship and others is
at the apex of a very tight fixed T-square,
forming squares to both ends of an
opposition between Moon in Leo in the
tenth house near the Midheaven and
Neptune in the fourth house near the Nadir.
Verlaine was an outstanding poet and
writer of the mid-nineteenth century, but
he is today most remembered for his
tumultuous homosexual liaison with Arthur
Rimbaud, a relationship which culminated
with a gunshot wound inflicted upon
Rimbaud and a prison term for Verlaine.
While in prison, Verlaine embraced
Catholicism, though his reform seemed
short-lived and he spent much of his
remaining life drinking and consorting with
prostitutes.
The horoscopes of Gandhi and Verlaine
are examples of another sort of Venusian
dualism, a dualism other than the
fundamental and obvious duality of Morning
Star and Evening Star. While Verlaine was
born while Venus and Mars were in the
vernal sign Taurus, the two planets were in
the autumnal sign Scorpio, during the birth
of Gandhi. Additionally, Gandhi was born
with Venus rising before Mars - signifying
Venusian values, principles, goals and
incentives guiding Martian action - while
Verlaine was born with Venus rising after
Mars, suggesting a more macho, dominate
approach to life and relationships.
Ideally, Venusian values and principles
guide Martian action. But astrologers today
have all but lost sight of the fact that there
is a fundamental difference between Venus
in the vernal signs (Aries, Taurus and
Gemini) and Venus in the autumnal signs
(Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius) - just as
there is a fundamental difference between
Venus' "rulership" of Taurus and its
"rulership" of Libra.
In An Astrological Study of
Psychological Complexes, Dane Rudhyar
writes that symbolically, Venus as a
"behavior-determining factor in man's inner
life, is related mainly to the zodiacal sign
Libra (her 'day house') and to the fall
equinox, the symbolic time at which the
mature seed is released from the planet
Gemini) and Venus in the autumnal signs

(Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius) - just as
there is a fundamental difference between
Venus' "rulership" of Taurus and its
"rulership" of Libra.
In An Astrological Study of
Psychological Complexes, Dane Rudhyar
writes that symbolically, Venus as a
"behavior-determining factor in man's inner
life, is related mainly to the zodiacal sign
Libra (her 'day house') and to the fall
equinox, the symbolic time at which the
mature seed is released from the planet
that bore it. Venus a ruler of the spring sign
Taurus (her 'night house') is, on the other
hand, subservient to the positive Mars-inAries, the energy at the core of the vernal
equinox period. Venus is then that which
gives substance to the Martian impulse and
outward initiative. It is the woman who
'bears children to' her man and concretizes
his desire for self-extension into progeny.
Thus, generally speaking, Venus in the
early vernal signs of the zodiac is largely
dependent upon the Mars function which
gives it direction and purpose; it is Venus
as an instinctual power of fertility. But
when placed in autumnal signs, Venus
acquires a very positive determining energy
which dominates, for good or bad, the
emotional life."
As we move toward the maximum
elongation of Venus as Evening Star,
we encounter a group of personalities
inspired by big ideas. They possess the
vision, evaluative abilities and long-term
motivation required to successfully
integrated large bodies of knowledge and
experience into important theories and
systems of philosophy, science and religion.
The natal horoscope of J.
Krishnamurti features a see-saw pattern
suggesting a fundamental dualism of
personality. Venus Evening Star rises
thirty-eight degrees after a third house
Taurus Sun. Mercury, Pluto and Neptune
rise before Venus, and Jupiter and Mars rise
after Venus. The Sun is opposed Uranus in
the ninth house and Venus opposes an
eleventh house Moon. While still a boy,
Krishnamutri was promoted by Annie
Besant and C. W. Leadbeater as the vehicle
of the coming Maitreya, and a large number
of devotees gathered around him and
joined the many worldwide organizations
he "headed," such as the Order of the Star
of the East. Later, he went his own way and
eventually K. become identified as a
philosopher of "Wholeness" and "nondualism," yet his philosophy remained
essentially dualistic because it was deeply
rooted in denial.
Dane Rudhyar, the premier
philosopher of Wholeness who has given
Wholeness its fullest formulation, was born
a few weeks before Krishnamurti. His chart
features Mercury Prometheus and a number
of quintile aspects and no planets between
the Sun and Venus Evening Star. Rudhyar's
multi-dimensional philosophy of Wholeness
is founded in a "total affirmation of being."
The natal horoscope of Charles
Darwin shows a number of planets
between the Sun and Venus Evening Star.
Born about six weeks before maximum
Dane Rudhyar, the premier

philosopher of Wholeness who has given
Wholeness its fullest formulation, was born
a few weeks before Krishnamurti. His chart
features Mercury Prometheus and a number
of quintile aspects and no planets between
the Sun and Venus Evening Star. Rudhyar's
multi-dimensional philosophy of Wholeness
is founded in a "total affirmation of being."
The natal horoscope of Charles
Darwin shows a number of planets
between the Sun and Venus Evening Star.
Born about six weeks before maximum
elongation, when Venus was forty-four
degrees behind the Sun, Darwin was able
to formulate a vast and revolutionary
scientific hypothesis. Additionally, his
horoscope also features a conjunction of
Saturn and Neptune in Sagittarius on the
Ascendant, which ties in with the
authoritarian, almost religious, foundation
and zeal of Darwinism.
Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon
Church of the Latter Day Saints, formulated
and promoted a grandiose religious system,
one of the first modern religions. Born less
than two weeks before maximum
elongation, Mars, Mercury and the Moon
rise between a Sagittarian Sun and an
Aquarian Venus in the seventh house. His
chart also features a conjunction of Uranus
and Saturn in the fourth house Libra.
Betty Friedan was one of the very first
promoters of the women's movement of
mid-twentieth century, and her The
Feminine Mystique was as revolutionary
and as important in its day as the work of
any leader in science and religion. Friedan's
natal horoscope shows Mercury, Uranus
and Mars rising before Venus, and it is
notable that Mars is in Pisces and Venus in
Aries, both in the third house of
communication. Her birth chart features a
strong see-saw pattern, comprising one
group in the first quadrant (first to third
house) opposite another group in the third
quadrant (seventh to ninth house). All of
the planets in the latter group - consisting
of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Pluto - are
retrograde (because they roughly oppose
the Sun). Notably, Venus and Mars oppose
Saturn retrograde in the ninth house Virgo,
which is near Jupiter.
What happens when there is a
breakdown or devolution of Venusian
values following the superior
conjunction? Marquis de Sade was born
about twelve days before maximum
elongation, into a class and family
background which allowed him, at least for
a time, to more or less freely act out his
anti-social values. Jupiter, Neptune and
Saturn rise between the Sun and Venus.
Most notably, Venus is conjunct Saturn and
both are in the twelfth house, along with
Neptune (a planet often associated with
sadism and sexual aberration). Mercury
Prometheus rises immediately before the
Sun, suggesting, in terms of the whole
picture described here, emotional
detachment and de Sade's undeniable
talent as a writer. The planetary package is
led by a powerful Mars in Aries, elevated
near the Midheaven, which squares Venus
and Saturn. The Moon in the second house
Virgo, Pluto retrograde in the fourth house
Most notably, Venus is conjunct Saturn and

both are in the twelfth house, along with
Neptune (a planet often associated with
sadism and sexual aberration). Mercury
Prometheus rises immediately before the
Sun, suggesting, in terms of the whole
picture described here, emotional
detachment and de Sade's undeniable
talent as a writer. The planetary package is
led by a powerful Mars in Aries, elevated
near the Midheaven, which squares Venus
and Saturn. The Moon in the second house
Virgo, Pluto retrograde in the fourth house
Scorpio and Uranus in the sixth house
Capricorn (significantly conjunct the south
lunar node) are found below the horizon,
and they each seem to stand alone.
Born shortly before maximum
elongation, Werner Heisenburg is the
formulator of one of the most important
and far-reaching principles of physics - the
principle of indeterminacy, which bears his
name. In his horoscope, Uranus rises soon
after a Sagittarius Sun, followed by Mars,
Saturn, Jupiter, and finally Venus. A first
house Scorpio Mercury rises before the
Sun, and it forms a productive sextile with
Venus.
Long before the women's movement of
the 1960s-70s started changing the world,
Marie d'Agoult was a liberated woman,
the paramour of Franz Liszt and, writing
under the pseudonym Daniel Stern, one of
the most important French social
commentators and philosophers of her
time. Born three days before maximum
elongation, her birthchart features Sun in
Capricorn on the Nadir, conjunct the north
lunar node. Mars and Mercury retrograde
rise soon after the Sun, and much later,
Venus, which is in the fifth house, Aquarius.
Additionally, Neptune is square Venus and
decile Mercury, and Venus is trine a
conjunction of Saturn and Uranus in the
first house.
At maximum elongation Venus' speed
of daily motion matches the Sun, and
slowing. The Evening Star period following
maximum elongation is much shorter than
the span leading up to it, and Venus turns
retrograde seventy-two days after
maximum elongation. After maximum
elongation, Venus' velocity of daily motion
rapidly decreases, leading to its station
seventy-two days later.
Individuals born between maximum
elongation and Venus' retrograde station
tend to be more involved with their
emotional life than those born before
maximum elongation. People born while
Venus is moving toward its Evening Star
retrograde phase may possess big ideas,
expansive vision and long-term goals
similar to those born earlier in the Venus
Hesperus hemicycle, but they tend to be
more easily hurt emotionally - and they
register emotional pain and trauma deeply,
taking a long time to get over it. More than
other Evening Star direct people, they tend
to feel, emote and evaluate after the fact.
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was born
twelve days after the maximum elongation
of Venus. A powerful Leo Sun in the second
house, opposite a conjunction of Jupiter
and Uranus, rises forty-five degrees before
retrograde phase may possess big ideas,

expansive vision and long-term goals
similar to those born earlier in the Venus
Hesperus hemicycle, but they tend to be
more easily hurt emotionally - and they
register emotional pain and trauma deeply,
taking a long time to get over it. More than
other Evening Star direct people, they tend
to feel, emote and evaluate after the fact.
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was born
twelve days after the maximum elongation
of Venus. A powerful Leo Sun in the second
house, opposite a conjunction of Jupiter
and Uranus, rises forty-five degrees before
Venus, which is in the fourth house Libra.
The Moon, which is opposite Pluto, rises six
degrees after Venus and a third house,
Virgo conjunction of Mars, Saturn and
Mercury rises between the Sun and Venus.
HPB was one of the most important and
influential women of the late-nineteenth
century, and her Secret Doctrine is the
most all-embracing metaphysical work ever
published. It was (and remains) as
influential as any modern scientific theory
or religious work. While Blavatsky, like the
earlier examples, was successful in
formulating a vast system of thought, she
was also famous for her highly emotional
nature, symbolized by a Leo Sun - perhaps
frustrated by an exact conjunction of Mars
and Saturn.
The natal horoscope of contemporary
poet and writer Jim Carroll shows a
bright Venus in the sixth house, Virgo,
close to the south lunar node, rising thirtyseven degrees after the Sun. Saturn in
Virgo and Neptune in Libra are also seen in
the sixth house, and Pluto and Mercury rise
between the Sun and Venus. Mars and the
Moon are exactly conjunct in the third
house, near the Nadir, and they are also
conjunct Uranus, which rises seven degrees
earlier. The triple conjunction is the apex of
a T-square, being linked by squares to both
ends of an opposition between a twelfth
house Jupiter and Neptune in the sixth
house. Additionally, Jupiter stands alone in
the twelfth house, a singleton above the
horizon. Outwardly calm, Carroll's dairies
shows another side.
A bright Venus Evening Star is also
featured in the birth chart of Catherine
the Great, Empress of Russia. Her
birthchart features Mars rising shortly
before a first house Taurus Sun, with an
exact conjunction of the Moon and Venus
rising forty-two degrees later (Moon rising
immediately before Venus). Neptune is
situated between the Sun and the MoonVenus conjunction, and it is trine Pluto in
the seventh house of relationship. One of
the most unusual women of all time,
Catherine the Great is often regarded as
hypersexual. Although the number of her
for love affairs might have been inflated by
early biographers, a Taurean Sun is
certainly one of the most sexual and
sensual configurations for a woman, and in
the instance of Catherine the Great, an
exact conjunction of the Moon and Venus in
Gemini suggest a promiscuous approach to
relationships, perhaps exaggerated by Pluto
in the seventh house and Uranus Scorpio
retrograde in the eight house. But
Catherine the Great had a stern side,
symbolized by Saturn in the first house,
hypersexual. Although the number of her

for love affairs might have been inflated by
early biographers, a Taurean Sun is
certainly one of the most sexual and
sensual configurations for a woman, and in
the instance of Catherine the Great, an
exact conjunction of the Moon and Venus in
Gemini suggest a promiscuous approach to
relationships, perhaps exaggerated by Pluto
in the seventh house and Uranus Scorpio
retrograde in the eight house. But
Catherine the Great had a stern side,
symbolized by Saturn in the first house,
just below the Ascendant.
Finally, a self-actualized creative,
one of the most successful, unique and
truly resilient women of Rock, Stevie
Nicks, was born at the end of the Evening
Star direct phase, one week before the
retrograde station of Venus. Her natal
horoscope features a Aries ascendent
(proactive, independent and strong-headed
self-determination) and a loose see-saw
pattern with all planets below the horizon
except the Moon in Capricorn, in the tenth
house near the Midheaven (symbolizing her
public life), and Jupiter retrograde in the
ninth house Sagittarius (symbolizing her
metaphysical outlook and the significant
internalized, compensative influences of her
parents and grandfather). The massing of
planets below in horizon is contained by a
trine linking the Sun in the second house,
Gemini, and Neptune Libra retrograde in
the sixth house just below the horizon (the
latter planet symbolizing her poetic and
musical talent, her "love found and lost"
themes and her attraction to the mystical,
and a predisposition to drug use). Neptune
forms a very significant square to the Moon
and another square, this one exact, to
Venus in Cancer conjunct the Nadir, which
in turn completes a cardinal T-square with
an opposition to the Moon across the
meridian (the one of the most challenging
configurations for a woman, yet it also
signifies her mother's strong influence and
support and Stevie's remarkably
passionate, powerful and projective/
compelling feminine energy). A Gemini
conjunction of Mercury and Uranus in the
third house is situated between the Sun
and Venus (symbolizing her songwriting
talent, her youthful quality, and the
character and action of her drug of choice
cocaine). The Mercury-Uranus
conjunction is opposite Jupiter retrograde
(bringing it all back to the big picture and
Stevie's faculty for seeing and
understanding her life-experiences
holistically).
The gestalt pattern and containments
of Stevie's chart, and her signature Tsquare, are key factors in considering the
chart as a whole, but there are many more
factors operative here. For instance,
Neptune is linked by bi-septile to the
Mercury-Uranus conjunction, and Saturn
(which forms a loose conjunction with
Pluto) is seen at the midpoint, forming
septile aspects to both Neptune and the
Uranus-Mercury conjunction, comprising a
septile-based triangular formation.
Additionally, Venus and Mars are septile,
and Pluto is linked to both ends of the
opposition between Jupiter and the
conjunction of Uranus and Mercury by
chart as a whole, but there are many more

factors operative here. For instance,
Neptune is linked by bi-septile to the
Mercury-Uranus conjunction, and Saturn
(which forms a loose conjunction with
Pluto) is seen at the midpoint, forming
septile aspects to both Neptune and the
Uranus-Mercury conjunction, comprising a
septile-based triangular formation.
Additionally, Venus and Mars are septile,
and Pluto is linked to both ends of the
opposition between Jupiter and the
conjunction of Uranus and Mercury by
octile-based aspects (forty-five and onehundred and thirty-five degree aspects).
Stevie has always been very close to
her parents (Jesse and Barbara) and
family. In additional to her chart's strong
focus on Venus, Cancer and the Nadir,
there are several significant contacts
between the three charts. Jesse's and
Barbara's synastry is significant Jesse's
Sun is in Cancer, Moon in Scorpio; Barbara
(whom Stevie resembles) has a Scorpio
Sun, Cancer Moon. Jesse's Sun-Pluto
conjunction is right on Stevie's Venus and
I.C., and his retrograde Jupiter is conjunct
her tenth house Capricorn Moon the very
close contact with Stevie's Venus and I.C.
signifies her father's profound influence on
her personal integration, her strong sense
of personal values and loyality, Stevie's
tenth house Capricorn Moon is strongly
suggestive of her father's (and
grandfather's) influence, as well as
symbolizing her ability to adapt to and
survive success and superstardom.
Barbara's Sun, Mercury and Mars are trine
Stevie's Venus, and conjunct her dauther's
seventh house Scorpio south node. It is
perhaps here, and to Stevie's seventh
house Scorpio south node (which is very
near Pluto's 1989 perihelion) and Part of
Fortune, and to her Venus-Mars septile,
that we should seek symbols of Stevie's
Scorpionic side. Additionally, Stevie's
Gemini Sun is opposed by her mother's
Saturn, and the mother's Pluto opposes the
daughter's Moon.
The retrograde station of Venus
commences the concluding phase of
the 584-day cycle of Venus. Lasting only
21 days, during the Evening Star
retrograde period of Venus and the Sun
toward each other in zodiac - from
opposite directions.
In astrological symbolism, the final
phase of the cyclic relationship between
Venus and the Sun - as seen and
experienced from our geocentric
perspective - represents the
essentialization and internalization of the
experiential contents of the entire cycle.
The new set of values, ideals, goals and
incentives released at the beginning of the
cycle are now integrated into a large
tradition, and formulated as enduring new
forms which, while new, remain faithful to
fundamental values - artistic, religious,
metaphysical, scientific or national.
If you are one of the very few born
during Venus' Evening Star retrograde
phase, self-expression for its own sake is
not enough. For you, your work and your
creative outlets must have an enduring
experiential contents of the entire cycle.

The new set of values, ideals, goals and
incentives released at the beginning of the
cycle are now integrated into a large
tradition, and formulated as enduring new
forms which, while new, remain faithful to
fundamental values - artistic, religious,
metaphysical, scientific or national.
If you are one of the very few born
during Venus' Evening Star retrograde
phase, self-expression for its own sake is
not enough. For you, your work and your
creative outlets must have an enduring
social value. Though you tend to be
outwardly reserved in your social
relationships, you are passionate about
your ideals and goals . . . and in your
intimate relationships.
Venus Hesperus retrograde types are
often diligent workers, especially in creative
fields, and they often find themselves
intensely involved with, and often icons of,
the avant-garde and social movements of
their time. Highly dedicated, they possess a
large capacity for self-sacrifice. Yet their
true natures are often misunderstood by
others who are unable to see the breadth
and depth of their emotions, ideals,
motives and goals.
"How glorious it is, but how painful it
is also, to be exceptional in this
world!" So wrote poet, writer and
dramatist Alfred de Musset in his 1842
work La Merle Blanc. A leading figure in
the Romantic Movement of the earlynineteenth century, Alfred de Musset was
born two days after the retrograde station
of Venus, with Venus situated in midCapricorn in the twelfth house.
Significantly, there was a Sun-Saturn
conjunction and a superior conjunction of
the Sun and Mercury less than two days
before his birth.
In de Musset's natal horoscope, the
Sun, Saturn and Mercury are in Sagittarius
and seen in the eleventh house of
associations, friendship and aspiration, with
Saturn rising a degree before the Sun (it is
therefore the planet of oriental
appearance), and Mercury rises a degree
after the Sun. The triple conjunction is
opposite a fifth house Gemini Moon, while
also forming bi-septiles to Jupiter
retrograde on the third house cusp, squares
to a first house Pluto, and sextiles to Mars
in the seventh house of relationship.
Neptune is elevated in the tenth house
Sagittarius, near the Midheaven, an
appropriate symbol for a poet and
dramatist. Alfred de Musset was the first
modern dramatist of the French language.
He was a talented creator of
multidimensional female characters, he
wrote of love from the depths of experience
and integrated classical clarity and purity of
form with the passionate subjectivity
characteristic of Romanticism. Alfred de
Musset was at the center of the Romantic
Movement and was an early lover of
novelist and liberated woman, George
Sand.
Vocalist Nancy Sinatra was also born
a few days after the retrograde station of
Venus. Her birthchart features five planets
in the twelfth house, including a
conjunction of Venus stationary retrograde
wrote of love from the depths of experience

and integrated classical clarity and purity of
form with the passionate subjectivity
characteristic of Romanticism. Alfred de
Musset was at the center of the Romantic
Movement and was an early lover of
novelist and liberated woman, George
Sand.
Vocalist Nancy Sinatra was also born
a few days after the retrograde station of
Venus. Her birthchart features five planets
in the twelfth house, including a
conjunction of Venus stationary retrograde
with Mars and the Moon. Other than the
conjunction, the only aspect to Venus is a
septile to Uranus in the eleventh house.
Neptune stands alone, below the horizon
near the third house cusp.
In the birth chart of a man, Venus
Evening Star retrograde often indicates a
high degree of artistry, and a tempered and
disciplined approach to work. de Musset
showed a careful appoach in his creative
work, though not particularly so in his
personal life. Other careful and successful
male artists born during the Venus Evening
Star retrograde phase include abstract
artist Wassily Kandinsky and musician/
artist Graham Nash.
The premier abstract artist of the
twentieth century, Wassily Kandinsky,
was born midway though the Venus
Evening Star retrograde phase. Venus rises
twelve degrees after the Sun, and it is
conjunct Mercury retrograde, which rises
three degrees earlier. The three bodies are
in the first house Sagittarius. Saturn in
Scorpio is on the Ascendant, opposite Pluto.
Kandinsky's art, though thoroughly
revolutionary, entirely abstract and nonrepresentational, was the product of an
utterly systemic approach which grew, in
part, out of Kandinsky's study of
Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine. In
Kandinsky's work, every primitive - point,
line, curve - every color, every geometric
form has a place and meaning according to
they system of his devise. A highly
Saturnian approach, but also an approach
which aimed at integrating new forms with
traditional values, creating a new approach
of lasting value - particularly in view that
both Venus and Mercury were approaching
the conclusion of their cycles of relationship
with the Sun at his birth.
Graham Nash, member of the supergroup Crosby, Stills and Nash, was born at
the very close of a Venus cycle, less than a
day before an inferior conjunction. In his
birthchart the Sun-Venus conjunction is
situated in the third house Aquarius, near
the Nadir. Mercury, retrograde in the forth
house Aquarius, rises about thirteen
degrees behind the conjunction, and the
three oppose a Leo Moon in the tenth house
very near the Midheaven. Neptune is in the
eleventh house and there is a stellium of
four planets in the seventh house including Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Jupiter,
the latter two being retrograde. The MoonMercury opposition forms a T-square with
Saturn and Uranus at the apex. Nash
brought to the group he formed with
Stephen Stills and David Crosby a
disciplined professionalism, an attention to
house Aquarius, rises about thirteen

degrees behind the conjunction, and the
three oppose a Leo Moon in the tenth house
very near the Midheaven. Neptune is in the
eleventh house and there is a stellium of
four planets in the seventh house including Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Jupiter,
the latter two being retrograde. The MoonMercury opposition forms a T-square with
Saturn and Uranus at the apex. Nash
brought to the group he formed with
Stephen Stills and David Crosby a
disciplined professionalism, an attention to
traditional musical values, and a vocal
polish needed to leverage the group to
super-stardom. In addition to being a
musician and talented songwriter, Nash is a
photographer, artist and social activist.
For a woman, Venus Evening Star
retrograde is often more difficult and
stressful than for a man, and social and
cultural factors may contribute more to it
than anything inherently female.
Additionally, this Venus type seems to
manifest in the form of self-sacrifice and
renunciation more frequently for women
than for men. Yet, this too may have more
to do with "sexual politics" than with
anything inherently female.
Dancer and double-agent, Mata Hari
was also born midway between the
retrograde station of Venus and the inferior
conjunction. Her natal horoscope features
the Sun and Venus in the ninth house,
Cancer. Significantly and revealing, Mars
rises just one degree after Venus
retrograde and the two are very near the
Midheaven. The Venus-Mars pair are
opposite the Moon in Capricorn near the
Nadir - a difficult, but very powerful, set-up
for a woman! Equally revealing, Jupiter is
retrograde in the first house Scorpio,
suggesting a predisposition to self-sacrifice
and involvement in social causes - perhaps
deeply rooted in a need to compensate.
Jupiter trines the Sun, Venus and Mars,
opposes Pluto in the seventh house,
squares Uranus in the tenth, and sextiles
the Moon. Saturn is retrogade in the fifth
house. A double agent for the allies during
WWI, Mata Hari's motives and intrigues
were too deep for the French to appreciate.
The classic example of Venus
retrograde, Annie Besant, was a
remarkably ascetic and influential woman.
In the 20th century she was known not
only as the adopted mother of J.
Krishnamurti, but also as the leader of a
very large, international theosophical
organization and a leading figure in the
early struggle for Indian independence. Her
horoscope features a sixth house Venus
rising three degrees behind the Sun in the
sixth house, Libra. Venus is also conjunct
the north lunar node and involved in a Tsquare with the Moon and Uranus. One of
the most famous and infamous women in
Britain, Besant was a feminist and a strike
leader, an early advocate of birth-control (a
Venus retrograde symbol because it goes
"against the grain" of natural biological
imperatives and traditional female gender
roles), a lover of George Bernard Shaw
and a large figure in the Fabian Movement.
Time-management is key to success
sixth house, Libra. Venus is also conjunct

the north lunar node and involved in a Tsquare with the Moon and Uranus. One of
the most famous and infamous women in
Britain, Besant was a feminist and a strike
leader, an early advocate of birth-control (a
Venus retrograde symbol because it goes
"against the grain" of natural biological
imperatives and traditional female gender
roles), a lover of George Bernard Shaw
and a large figure in the Fabian Movement.
Time-management is key to success
and accomplishment, and a plan
outlining a series of achievable steps is
crucial to the completion of any endeavor.
Nature provides us with the most apparent
and usable time management system in the
monthly rhythm of the Lunation Cycle (the
monthly cycle of relationship between the
Sun and the Moon, as we experience it on
earth). If you give attention to this natural
cycle, and plan and execute your important
activities according to its rhythm, you will
soon realize greater success, satisfaction
and fulfillment.
Such a statement might have seemed
obvious to someone living in pre-industrial
times, to someone who daily experienced a
deep connection with nature and her
cycles. But today we are a culture of city
dwellers and office workers. Most of us
have lost touch with the most fundamental
cycles of nature. Few of us know the phase
of the moon from day-to-day even if we
make a habit of always knowing the "moon
sign." We enjoy artificial lighting and
central heating, and we may live and work
in an urban area where the sky is obscured
by an artificial, architectural skyline. As a
result, our lives, activities and relationships
have become increasingly discordant and
out-of-synch with natural cycles.
Getting back in tune with natural cycles
is increasingly important as modern living
becomes evermore stressful and chaotic.
That's one reason why daily moon phases
are prominently displayed on the Khaldea
Calendar, to help us attune ourselves with
the natural rhythm of the Lunation Cycle, to
help us get back in touch with "real-time"
and to live more fruitful, successful and
meaningful lives.
Lunation Planning is for Everyone!
Everybody has had difficulty finishing a
project because they simply couldn't follow
through to conclusion. Some pick-up and
drop projects because they have trouble
focusing on a single line of activity and
developing it in a persistent, consistent
manner. Others may be full of ideas, but
somehow never get anything done.
Constructive and resourceful individuals
know how important time-management is
to success.
Regardless of which type you are,
Lunation Planning can help you get and
stay on the right track! If you just can't
finish things, you will certainly improve
your productivity by merely attempting to
tune into natural cycles and patterning your
activities according to Lunation Planning. If
you are already managing your time pretty
well, with Lunation Planning you'll discover
somehow never get anything done.

Constructive and resourceful individuals
know how important time-management is
to success.
Regardless of which type you are,
Lunation Planning can help you get and
stay on the right track! If you just can't
finish things, you will certainly improve
your productivity by merely attempting to
tune into natural cycles and patterning your
activities according to Lunation Planning. If
you are already managing your time pretty
well, with Lunation Planning you'll discover
how to organized your projects and
enterprises more effectively, and you'll find
yourself working in a more relaxed and
natural manner.
Lunation Planning is a natural, organic
time-management system based on the
29.5-day Lunation Cycle and its 8 Phases.
Everyone, in their own way, naturally feels
and performs better when they tune-in to
its rhythm. When guided by this natural
cycle, our projects and endeavors be
they long-term or short-term, acted out by
an individual or by a group are more
successful and rewarding. Lunation
Planning is the oldest time-management
tool. Lunation Planning is universal and has
roots in every culture.
In the article entitled Find Yourself in

Your Horoscope, published in the
September issue of this magazine, I stated
what I regard as the fundamental principles
of a constructive, spiritually valid and
growth-stimulating approach toward
astrology, especially toward the study of
the birth-chart of an individual person. I
described the birth-chart any birth-chart
as Life's plan for a successful process of
individualization of the human spirit. This
individualization of the spirit in the person
is expressed in potentiality in the act of
the first breath of the newborn thus, in
the birth-chart. It is actually made
manifest in and through the individual's
responses to a series of basic life
experiences and especially to various crises
of personal growth indicated in
progressions and transits.
By responding successfully to the
challenges inherent in the crises of growth,
the spirit of the individual becomes
progressively more fully active and
"incorporated". At the same time, the
concrete personality (body, soul and mind)
grows ever richer and more integrated
and, if all goes well, more consecrated to
and identified with the purpose for which
the birth occurred.
The essential aim of any spiritually and
psychologically valid type of astrology is to
help individuals (and, in the case of
"mundane" astrology, groups or nations) to
respond ever more successfully to the
challenges presented by everyday life, by
crises of growth. The true aim of astrology
is to help the individual in seeing his or her
"crises", small or big, as phases of growth
and not as either senseless and chaotic
and, if all goes well, more consecrated to

and identified with the purpose for which
the birth occurred.
The essential aim of any spiritually and
psychologically valid type of astrology is to
help individuals (and, in the case of
"mundane" astrology, groups or nations) to
respond ever more successfully to the
challenges presented by everyday life, by
crises of growth. The true aim of astrology
is to help the individual in seeing his or her
"crises", small or big, as phases of growth
and not as either senseless and chaotic
occurrences or steps on the road to
personal frustration, defeat and
disintegration.
These principles need to be constantly
repeated, in one form or another, because
so much of astrology fails to embody them
in the manner in which it is used.
Theoretically, every sound astrological
interpretation of a person's chart should
not stress what a life situation is or will be
but, instead, what the person will require in
order to meet successfully this situation or
crisis. The birth-chart and its progressions
and transits reveal the celestial way to
meet bio-psychic crises and solve personal
problems the way of divine intelligence
and cosmic order.
In order to understand such a way, the first
thing demanded of the student of astrology
is that he or she grasp the idea that in all
activities two principles (or forces),
opposite in essence yet complementary in
their effects, are always operating. This is
often called, in astrological books, the
principle of "polarity". Two opposite signs
of the zodiac are polar opposites; likewise,
the "two Lights" (Sun and Moon) are polar
opposites. The planets are also paired in an
attempt to understand the meaning of the
activities and functions they represent.
There are several ways of pairing the
planets. In one of the ancient methods
which has left its mark, for instance, upon
the sequence of the days of the week
the Sun is not coupled with any planet. The
Sun is the sacred "seventh" the alpha
and the omega while the Moon (Monday)
and Saturn (Saturday), Mars (Tuesday)
and Venus (Friday), Mercury (Wednesday)
and Jupiter (Thursday) are paired. These
three pairs represent three basic levels of
being or three kinds of substantial basis for
the operations of life: the biological (MoonSaturn, Mother-Father substances), the
emotional (Mars-Venus) and the mental
(Mercury-Jupiter).
In such a clarification, a very ancient one,
the Sun, as the spirit-self, is seen operating
through three "vehicles" or "planes of
manifestation". The three pairs of planets
constitute the cosmic agencies or energies
which build and sustain these three types
of manifestation (or, as the Theosophists
say, "bodies") physical, astral and
mental.
In another kind of classification, which I am
adopting here, the planets are paired
according to levels of activity. The Sun is
paired with the Moon; the number of levels
is theoretically left undefined, as there is
always the possibility for an individual to be
active at some higher level. Nevertheless,
the Sun-Moon pair remains the foundation
constitute the cosmic agencies or energies

which build and sustain these three types
of manifestation (or, as the Theosophists
say, "bodies") physical, astral and
mental.
In another kind of classification, which I am
adopting here, the planets are paired
according to levels of activity. The Sun is
paired with the Moon; the number of levels
is theoretically left undefined, as there is
always the possibility for an individual to be
active at some higher level. Nevertheless,
the Sun-Moon pair remains the foundation
(and reveals the essential purpose) of the
organic processes from which ever higher
"overtones" of conscious activity may arise.
I have dealt already with the Sun-Moon
pair (cf. the forementioned September,
1950, article and previous ones on the
lunation cycle); I am now to study in
sequence the other pairs: Mars-Venus,
Jupiter-Saturn, Uranus-Neptune, MercuryPluto.
We saw that the Sun-Moon pair refers to
the basic character, rhythm and quality of
the life-force, the basic energy (or "fuel")
used by the entire organism in its complex
biological and psychological operations
(Sun) and also to the mode of distribution
and circulation (Moon) of this power of life.
All life-power comes from the Sun; it is
distributed by the Moon, which makes
available at every moment (if all goes
well!) the kind of energy needed to meet
the constantly changing demands of earthly
organic existence.
With Venus and Mars, we enter the realm
of planets as such. Planets modify and
differentiate the solar life-force. They
provide the specialized types of energy
(which the Moon will then distribute) to fill
the requirements of any particular
situation, of any organic (physical or
psychological) need of the personality.
Because Venus and Mars are the planets
closest to our globe, they refer in astrology
to the most intimate factors in the
personality, to the most immediate and
spontaneous expressions of human life.
This "intimacy of living" operates first of all
at the generic level of biological instincts;
there we find Venus and Mars related to
the sexual functions that is, to the
transfer of the biological characteristics of
the parents to a progeny.
These biological characteristics become at
the level of the conscious and individual
personality the essential feature of the "I",
of the personal ego which feels itself
unique and different from all other personal
egos. In every person, there is an element
of personal freedom and pure spontaneity
of being, however weak and ineffective it
may be. There is a realm in which one feels
"I am I, myself" and from which one strives
to act in pure self-expression toward
objects, situations and people that appear
to him good, valuable and fulfilling. It is to
this realm that Venus and Mars refer.
Venus symbolizes the feeling or intuition of
individual selfhood, the sense of value. In
its highest expression, it stands for the
divine archetype of man, the spiritual flame
that is the permanent identity of the
individual person, the "Luciferian Spirit" or
Kumara of occult lore. But, generally
speaking, Venus establishes the character
"I am I, myself" and from which one strives

to act in pure self-expression toward
objects, situations and people that appear
to him good, valuable and fulfilling. It is to
this realm that Venus and Mars refer.
Venus symbolizes the feeling or intuition of
individual selfhood, the sense of value. In
its highest expression, it stands for the
divine archetype of man, the spiritual flame
that is the permanent identity of the
individual person, the "Luciferian Spirit" or
Kumara of occult lore. But, generally
speaking, Venus establishes the character
and essential quality of the intimate and
direct realization which any individualized
person has of his (or her) self and of what
is "good" or "bad" for this self (sense of
value).
Mars, on the other hand, represents the
desire and ability to act out this feeling of
being a self; to act it out, not in terms of
whether it fits social or traditional patterns,
rules or laws (these belong to the JupiterSaturn realm), but simply out of the sheer
joy of being "I". Mars is also the power of
"desire", which means the pull toward
whatever the Venus function has declared
to be valuable to the personality or the
instinct to fight or to run away from
whatever is declared dangerous or inimical
to the organism as a whole.
What one should call the "emotional life" is
a twofold manifestation of this immediate
sense of individual being (Venus) and of
the desire and effort to express it in acts
(Mars).
The Emotional Life and Its Problems
Following the pattern set by the lunation
cycle, from New Moon to New Moon (a New
Moon being a conjunction of the Moon and
the Sun), it is possible to study the
constantly changing relationship of the
planets Mars and Venus. Both revolve
around the zodiac at different speeds; the
astrologer can watch the cyclic recurrence
of their conjunctions, squares and
oppositions.
However, because these planets actually
revolve around the Sun and not around the
Earth (which also revolves around the
Sun), the geocentric motions of Mars and
Venus (their motions as seen from the
Earth) are not even. Most of the time,
these motions have the same direction as
those of the Sun and the Moon; but part of
the time, Mars and Venus appear to move
in an opposite direction (that is, backward
in the zodiac); they are then said to be
"retrograde". This fact is the first to take
into account in studying the problems
related to the emotional life of a person
and in trying to decipher "celestial solution"
to these problems.
Because of their proximity to the Earth,
Venus and Mars pass less time moving in a
sense opposite to that of the two "Lights"
than any other planet; this is logical
because these two planets deal with the
most spontaneous and direct expression of
personality. The feeling of being "I, myself"
is rooted in the very fact of being alive and
for conscious man is hardly separable from
this fact. If "I" is represented by Venus
(the pattern of selfhood), then "am" is an
expression of the solar life-force; there is
no "I" where there is no "am".
Nevertheless, there are psychological
Because of their proximity to the Earth,

Venus and Mars pass less time moving in a
sense opposite to that of the two "Lights"
than any other planet; this is logical
because these two planets deal with the
most spontaneous and direct expression of
personality. The feeling of being "I, myself"
is rooted in the very fact of being alive and
for conscious man is hardly separable from
this fact. If "I" is represented by Venus
(the pattern of selfhood), then "am" is an
expression of the solar life-force; there is
no "I" where there is no "am".
Nevertheless, there are psychological
conditions in which the conscious "I" is
actually working against the instinctual flow
of the vital forces of the human organism.
There are personalities whose "sense of
value" (Venus) runs counter to their
natural instincts (ascetics, for instance) and
who seek to overcome and transcend, for
one reason or another, the feeling of being
separate and independent "individual souls"
and the Martian desires of the individual
soul; people also whose emotional nature is
stamped from birth by a process of
disintegration and fighting against the
healthy rhythm of the organic "will to be".
When these and similar conditions prevail
as innate tendencies, one may expect to
find Venus and Mars, or both, "retrograde"
at birth. But, and this is an essential point,
this does not mean that the negative
meaning of these tendencies must exist in
the life of the person. There is, most
definitely, a positive meaning to a natal
Mars or Venus retrograde. Wherever these
planets are retrograde, this does not mean
that the person has to have negative or
defective emotional lives but that there is a
need to to use the Venusian or Martian
functions in a manner that brings their
development in contrast to the natural flow
of the life-force in the body.
This may mean personal-emotional
conflicts; but conflicts of themselves can be
most valuable. They imply, or lead to, a
dynamic state of consciousness and at least
latent creativity. One of the typical and
often-mentioned cases is that of the leader
of the Theosophical Society and of a
number of other reform movements, Annie
Besant, whose Mars and Venus were both
retrograde. She crusaded for birth control
(i. e., a procedure inhibiting the natural
process of the life-force) as well as for the
occultist's path of ascetic or quasi-ascetic
self-control.
In other instances, Mars and Venus, or one
of them, retrograde may indicate
disturbances and blockages in the
endocrine glands' system, particularly the
sex glands and perhaps the thyroid. This
may provide deep emotional frustrations;
but these, in turn, can lead to a more
introspective, subjective and mystical
approach to life and thus become factors of
the most positive value, spiritually
speaking. These retrograde planets serve,
thus, the divine purpose of the incarnation
of the spirit in this particular human being.
All that is required is for the individual to
recognize this to be true and to stop
fighting against, and resenting, this
damming-up of the biological-psychic
energies of human nature.
Spirit (and indeed the Mind symbolized by
but these, in turn, can lead to a more

introspective, subjective and mystical
approach to life and thus become factors of
the most positive value, spiritually
speaking. These retrograde planets serve,
thus, the divine purpose of the incarnation
of the spirit in this particular human being.
All that is required is for the individual to
recognize this to be true and to stop
fighting against, and resenting, this
damming-up of the biological-psychic
energies of human nature.
Spirit (and indeed the Mind symbolized by
Mercury) develops, at first, on earth in
counterpoint to Nature's instincts which
are represented by the Sun-Moon pair.
Even a definite and prolonged illness may,
for this reason, serve in some cases the
purpose of the spirit. A person who lives
the spiritual life is one who lives in
accordance with the purpose and direction
of the spirit in him. The main value of
astrology is that it can be a powerful help
in making us recognize, then accept, the
purpose of the spirit as it seeks to
demonstrate itself in and through both our
congenital setup (natal chart) and the
sequence of our life experiences after birth
(progressions and transits).
In considering whether Mars or Venus is
"direct" or "retrograde", we are studying
actually the phases of their cycles of
revolution around the Sun, as seen by an
observer on the Earth. Without getting into
the details of the phases of these VenusSun and Mars-Sun cycles, I shall simply
state that Venus is retrograde around the
time of its "inferior" conjunctions to the
Sun that is, when it passes between the
Sun and the Earth it is then most
brilliant and nearest to us. There is a
"superior" conjunction of Venus to the Sun
when the Sun is found between the Earth
and Venus.
Venus, because of its proximity to the Earth
in the solar system, can never be seen
more than 47 away from the Sun in the
zodiac. It is seen, therefore, close to the
Sun in the sky and only either just before
sunrise or just after sunset. It is, therefore,
either "morning star" or "evening star";
because Venus can make only very few
aspects to the Sun (semi-sextile, semiquintile, novile and semi-square), the allimportant Venus-to-Sun relationship can
best be analyzed in terms of these two
positions of Venus.
As Morning Star, Venus rises before the
Sun" its zodiacal longitude is less than
that of the Sun and it is called Venus
Lucifer (the bearer of light). As evening
star, Venus "sets after the Sun" its
longitude is greater than that of the Sun
and is called Venus Hesperus (of the West).
Venus as morning star in a birth-chart
indicates a type of emotional activity
which, symbolically, seems ahead of the
self. The person goes out to meet the world
(and especially other persons) with an
eager expectancy, as if life itself depended
upon the results of the meeting. Yet if the
meeting proves disappointing, the result
may be a psychological attitude of
compensatory coldness and blockage a
mask of self-protection. Typical of this
emotional attitude is the adolescent
eager and yet ready to recoil if hurt, over-
Venus as morning star in a birth-chart

indicates a type of emotional activity
which, symbolically, seems ahead of the
self. The person goes out to meet the world
(and especially other persons) with an
eager expectancy, as if life itself depended
upon the results of the meeting. Yet if the
meeting proves disappointing, the result
may be a psychological attitude of
compensatory coldness and blockage a
mask of self-protection. Typical of this
emotional attitude is the adolescent
eager and yet ready to recoil if hurt, overimpulsive and oversensitive and, at a
higher emotional level, the man or woman
with a contagious "warmth of feeling" and
with creative enthusiasm (Walt Whitman,
F. D. Roosevelt, etc.)
Venus as evening star in a birth-chart
indicates, on the other hand, a person
whose main emotional tendency is to feel
after the act. The feeling-emotion results
from, rather than anticipates, the
experience; it has the character of a moral
or esthetic judgment upon the experience.
This judgment is usually conditioned by
some traditional, social or religious value.
The emotional life tends to be more
"cultured" or "aristocratic" or else it may
be beset by fears, inhibitions and the kind
of objectivity which destroys any
spontaneous warmth of feelings (George
Washington, Woodrow Wilson, Eisenhower,
Einstein, etc.)
Obviously, these characteristics are very
general and may be modified by the exact
distance of Venus to the Sun, by Venus's
relationship to Mars (and other planets)
and by Mars's character for, if the Mars
function is frustrated or deviated, even a
spontaneous and warm Venus function can
see its avenue of expression (Mars)
blocked.
Mars can make any geocentric aspect to
the Sun, as it moves outside of the Earth's
orbit. It is retrograde when it is in
opposition to the Sun the Earth stands
then between the Sun and Mars and is, as
it were, subject to the opposite pulls of
solar vitality and Martian activity. In such a
condition, Mars is closest to the Earth and
fully illuminated by solar light as is a Full
Moon. This "Full Mars" phase is, therefore,
a symbol of objectivity in action. The
individual born with Mars retrograde is
usually forced to gain a new perspective on
his Martian power of desires and initiative;
this, in most cases, can only be gained as a
result of some frustration and damming-up
of libido to use a Freudian term, coined
by a man who had a most prominent and
insistent Mars retrograde!
The time before (and especially after) an
opposition of Mars to the Sun is, thus, a
time for a reorientation of the person's
power to act and to express himself in a
personal, spontaneous (often blatant and
egocentric) manner. It implies the need for
a revision of attitude toward one's usual
behavior, probably because the results of
previous actions have proven destructive or
perilous. If one resists and resents this
celestial demand made upon him that he
mend his ways and that he acquire greater
maturity, then the Mars function may turn
vindictive and aggressive. Man hits hither
opposition of Mars to the Sun is, thus, a

time for a reorientation of the person's
power to act and to express himself in a
personal, spontaneous (often blatant and
egocentric) manner. It implies the need for
a revision of attitude toward one's usual
behavior, probably because the results of
previous actions have proven destructive or
perilous. If one resists and resents this
celestial demand made upon him that he
mend his ways and that he acquire greater
maturity, then the Mars function may turn
vindictive and aggressive. Man hits hither
and yon, just to prove that he can act "as
he pleases!" or he keeps moaning over
his fate and gives vent to bitterness and
complaints, thus defeating the celestial
purpose.
Besides considering whether Mars is
retrograde or not (thus, close to its
opposition to the Sun), the astrologer
should pay special attention to any aspect
between the Sun and Mars, for Mars is, by
nature, that which exteriorizes in acts the
power of solar vitality. Mars releases power
for sheer self-expression or for deliberate
use; the use may be constructive or
destructive, indicating a building-up or a
tearing-down process both of which are
necessary if there is to be the fullness of
personal development. A quintile (72
aspect) of Mars to the Sun is a particularly
significant aspect, inasmuch as it suggests
at least the strong possibility of creative
acts i. e., of acts through which the self
in man makes his mark upon his
environment.
The square and particularly the semisquare of Mars to the Sun at birth indicates
the ability to mobilize readily and
effectively one's vital forces under the spur
of strong emotional desires. It depends
upon other factors in the chart, and upon
Mars's position in the zodiac and in the
natal houses, what this quick mobilization
of energy will aim at it may even have
no aim at all, except the need to "let go of
steam"!
In studying the emotional life of a person
and its problems, the zodiacal and house
positions of Mars and Venus are obviously
of great significance, but not of such
exclusively important significance as the
average astrologer believes a convenient
belief, which makes interpretation easier
and quicker. The position of Mars in the
natal houses is, nevertheless, an essential
indication of the field of experience in
which the individual should best focus his
personal activities if he is to fulfill the
spiritual purpose of his existence as an
individual, while zodiacal position will
confirm (what is usually evident) the main
characteristics of the way a person goes at
things and seeks to act upon people.
Likewise, the natal house in which Venus is
placed indicates the best department of
personal development in which the
individual ought to focus his sense of value
and his efforts at realizing the basic quality
of his individual selfhood the field in
which he can be himself most
spontaneously and purely. The zodiacal
sign which contains Venus represents the
essential quality of selfhood (among twelve
basic qualities) which best identifies the
nature of the individual's ideal of emotional
things and seeks to act upon people.

Likewise, the natal house in which Venus is
placed indicates the best department of
personal development in which the
individual ought to focus his sense of value
and his efforts at realizing the basic quality
of his individual selfhood the field in
which he can be himself most
spontaneously and purely. The zodiacal
sign which contains Venus represents the
essential quality of selfhood (among twelve
basic qualities) which best identifies the
nature of the individual's ideal of emotional
fulfillment and self-realization.
The symbols of the zodiacal degrees on
which the two planets are located (and the
Sabian series of such symbols has proven
to me to be by far the most valid) are also
most revealing keys to the ideal according
to which a person seeks naturally and
immediately to evaluate life situations and
relationships with people (Venus) and to
act out his real self (Mars), regardless of
traditions and socio-ethical patterns or
pressures.
One should never forget, however, that
Mars and Venus are to be studied and
understood as a pair. The one can not
really be understood without the other, no
more than it is possible to evaluate a
person's vitality and power to be a
functioning organism, able to live in a
particular environment, if the Sun and the
Moon (and the phases of the lunation
cycle) are not studied as a complex,
dynamic whole.
The cycle of conjunctions of Mars and
Venus may not be as important as the
lunation cycle; nevertheless, it is assuredly
worth considering as a key to the MarsVenus relationship. With Mars, personality
goes out into experience; with Venus, it
draws a (positive or negative) harvest from
experience. It is the balance between the
out-goings and the in-goings which reveals
what the emotional life of the person
actually is.
Emotional confusion and a quality of oversubjectivity and perhaps egocentricity are
often found where Mars and Venus are
conjunct in the birth-chart. Such a natal
conjunction is rather frequent in the charts
of individuals seeking to tread the "occult
path". In a sense, these individuals often
short circuit their emotions.
The opposition between Mars and Venus at
birth gives emotional objectivity but also,
at times, emotional stalemate, indecision or
inner conflict between desire and will. The
square often conduces to great emotional
activity and may be an important element
in a particularly "creative" kind of
temperament. The semi-square tends to
stress emotional conflicts and "wear and
tear" or worry; but it also often accents a
powerful emotional dynamism and selfprojection. The sextile and trine are
supposedly "harmonious" configurations
but may reveal an easygoing nature which
builds well but in a rather narrow or
traditional manner.
In an article published in this magazine
(April, 1947), I made a special study of the
Venus-Mars cycle and of the "Parts" which
can be deduced from the natal positions of
these two planets when the moment of
stress emotional conflicts and "wear and

tear" or worry; but it also often accents a
powerful emotional dynamism and selfprojection. The sextile and trine are
supposedly "harmonious" configurations
but may reveal an easygoing nature which
builds well but in a rather narrow or
traditional manner.
In an article published in this magazine
(April, 1947), I made a special study of the
Venus-Mars cycle and of the "Parts" which
can be deduced from the natal positions of
these two planets when the moment of
birth is at least approximately known. I
showed how, in every fifth conjunction of
Mars and Venus, Venus is retrograde
(about every 77 months) and how,
moreover, these special conjunctions recur
(with a lag of about 7 degrees) every 32
years, with a great cycle of around 50
times 32 (50x32) years.
The years in which these "fifth
conjunctions" occur offer particularly
important opportunities for emotional
repolarization and revaluation. The places
where they fall in a natal chart are likewise
significant. The last one occurred
November 7, 1946, on the first degree of
Sagittarius; the next will take place in
1953. It may also be quite worthwhile to
find out where the Mars-Venus conjunction
which preceded birth occurred. This
zodiacal degree symbolizes the ancestral or
"Karmic" source of the emotional nature of
a person; but if the conjunction occurred
before the time of conception, special
attention should be given also to the points
of opposition between the two planets.
What is particularly important is to
differentiate between aspects which follow
a conjunction ("waxing" square or trine,
etc.) and those which follow an opposition
("waning"). This is a general principle
which, in my opinion, could never be
stressed too much in a truly psychological
and psychotherapeutic type of astrology; I
discussed it at length when studying the
lunation cycle and the "Lunation
Birthday".

Venusin Traits of Natal Chart-A Crucial Point

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orning Star, Evening Star

story behind the singleton Jupiter standing alone at the Nadir.

more vibrant (and dark) sides of their

suitable configuration for a Zen thinker.

retrograde. Additionally, the chart features

velocity greater than the Sun, and gaining.

vocalists and singers. Early woman of Rock,

between the Sun and Venus. Additionally,

will geared toward the fulfillment of an

The Evening Star hemicycle of Venus

symbolizes the distillation of meaning and

person is "over-reacting" or perhaps

Shaw, prototype superstar Franz Liszt, and

a degree of restraint in the relationships,

conjunctions form squares to a Leo Moon in

Gemini) and Venus in the autumnal signs

Dane Rudhyar, the premier

Most notably, Venus is conjunct Saturn and

retrograde phase may possess big ideas,

hypersexual. Although the number of her

chart as a whole, but there are many more

experiential contents of the entire cycle.

wrote of love from the depths of experience

house Aquarius, rises about thirteen

sixth house, Libra. Venus is also conjunct

somehow never get anything done.

In the article entitled Find Yourself in

and, if all goes well, more consecrated to

constitute the cosmic agencies or energies

"I am I, myself" and from which one strives

Because of their proximity to the Earth,

but these, in turn, can lead to a more

Venus as morning star in a birth-chart

opposition of Mars to the Sun is, thus, a

things and seeks to act upon people.

stress emotional conflicts and "wear and

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