What Would You Like?

In yesterday’s blog, I wrote about the competing voices we often feel when we consider our wants and needs in relationship. Today I want to get a little more specific, and talk about the function of the planet Venus.

Venus is The Goddess of Love (and Relationship), but in our charts she doesn’t represent the gooey, sentimental side of partnerships. She tells us about who we find attractive and the kind of expectations we have about relationships. Mostly, she tells us how a person relates and what they value. It’s a rather abstract energy.

The sign that Venus is in is one of the most important factors, although the matter does get complicated by things like house position and aspects to other planets. Yet sign sends a message about relationship expectations that usually is pretty direct. Of course, over time we all evolve into more complex beings, and so we find more varied and sophisticated ways of expressing the root energy of Venus in a sign.

Take, for example, Venus in Taurus. In her home sign of the bull, Venus enjoys sensual pleasures and ‘the good things in life.’ Venus in Taurus might like to connect over a leisurely meal, or at least in comfortable and beautiful surroundings. In this sign, the goddess enjoys things in the moment.

On the other hand, Venus in Aries can be competitive, enjoying ‘the chase’ of romance. In the sign of the ram, Venus may get turned on by a competitor in career, or someone who is athletic, assertive, and active.

One of the greatest challenges we often face in integrating the relationship energies in our charts is to reconcile the Sun and Venus. While Venus never gets more than two signs away from the Sun, these two planets can have a very different vibration, particularly when they are in neighboring signs.

If your Sun is in the sign of Cancer, there’s probably a strong desire for identification with one’s origins, whether that is family, clan, or country. There’s a conservative, organic feel to the sign of the crab that likes security and can be rather protective.

Now imagine that Cancer Sun challenged by a somewhat flirtatious and outgoing Venus in Gemini, where the goddess wants to make connections and explore new possibilities. Cancer is looking for security and tends to go deep, while Venus in Gemini likes to slide along the surface and collect new experiences. Obviously, these two planets will have to broker an agreement of some sorts.

But it’s not just Venus and the Sun that need to work things out… as we’ll explore tomorrow.

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