Venus keeps her secrets very well for one who is our closest neighbor. From the days of old she is surrounded by mystery. As the shining morning or evening star she exhibits her beauty. But looking at her through a telescope shows her shrouded in thick layers of cloud. Many myths were told of her but till recently nobody knew what her surface looked like.
The first humans to try to reach Venus were the Russians in 1961 with the Venera I, but it failed and they had to try 12 more times before finally succeeding with the Venera XIII.
And now Venus turns out to be a very volatile planet with raging storms and temperatures up to 400 C. - hot enough to melt lead.
Wondrous is the way the clouds rush around Venus (60 x faster than the clouds of other planets), countering the turning of her axle. And the layers of clouds even have different speeds. Confusing but beautiful.
A day takes longer than a Venus year.
The main aspect of Venus is feeling, emotions. She can be passionate in loving and hating or charming and caring. But always her first concern is towards people. Her relationships with people are on an emotional basis. Emotions can change as rapidly and incomprehensibly for her (non-Venus) surroundings as the swirling layers of cloud on the planet Venus. She understands emotions of others and of herself. Also she can create space for others to grow and develop in.
Venus is not a logical thinker. She judges situations and people emotionally (sympathy or antipathy), quick certain emotional judgements. She rather despises logic and will never be convinced by it alone. In an argument the passionate Venus will stop at nothing and wear you down with histrionics, while the quiet Venus will tell you that you are right, but go her own way and charmingly make you like it.
The strongest aspect is empathy. Being secure in her own feelings, she also feels those of others and reacts to them. She will listen when she feels you need to talk and hold you in her arms if that is what you need. And she expects the same from you. She is tolerant towards mistakes: everybody makes them, one learns from them and afterwards you can laugh or cry about them together.
On the other hand, because Venus is so secure in her emotions she plays with them in herself and in others. At times she gets carried away by her own play-acting and the situation gets out of control. Two Venus people realize this and usually manage to stop in time, but with people with some of the other planetary qualities it can lead to a definite break in the relationship. For instance with Saturn because Saturn will not forgive harsh hurting words from one he trusts. Or with Mars when Venus sneers too much about his pet project.
Another aspect of Venus is that she is practical in daily life. The perfect Venus job is nursing. She sees what is necessary for the well-being of the patient (child, surroundings) and does it. A glass of water is always put within reach of a patient, a drooping plant receives water. Her feeling will tell her whether to be sweet or forceful towards the patient: if he falls either to help him up or to let him struggle up by himself. These things are mostly done automatically but sometimes she will play the role of sacrificing herself to help you. She almost always wants to be acknowledged and admired. (Who doesn't? But Venus might well create a scene if she doesn't get it).
Venus has little idea of who she is, not much I-consciousness. She knows all about rapidly changing emotions, but not what her centre is. Her life has no long-term direction. She lives in the present, moving along on the waves of emotions and feelings. Her will is not well-developed in the sense of working towards an ideal or future goal, though she does have an immediate sense of duty towards people. This duty sense does not go on into extremes as it often does with Saturn or, in another way, with Jupiter - it just goes as far as Venus feels it is necessary right here, right now.
Meeting people Venus will say something personal and nice or make an underhanded snide remark. She is never cool and indifferent. In telling her experiences it will always be the relationships with people, how they felt, how she felt, what happened between them emotionally. She has the quality of making everyday occurrences sound like something very special. She does not really like to make long term social plans. She much prefers to decide right now if she feels like going. Friendships can be long-lasting if both are on the same wave length and very satisfying for both, especially if Venus is strong in her empathy and has learned to curb her wilder desires.
Venus will be tastefully dressed, harmonious in use of color and material with just that something extra to make it special. Her house will have the same quality - a place where people feel at ease with the surroundings. Although sometimes, usually in the young Venus, it might become a kind of studied mess.
Green is the color of Venus, soothing and life-sustaining. Before a plant can flower it needs green leaves to feed it. Copper is Venus' metal and this also turns green when it oxydizes.
Strangely enough Venus often thinks she is Saturn as soon as she realizes that Saturn has the deepest feeling ability of all the planets. Maybe it is not so strange because Venus is the only planet to be able to reach and know her feelings and emotions immediately. This is very different with Saturn, but Venus has learned early in life that she can easily reach and express her feelings and that others cannot so she thinks 'feeling' is her exclusive domain.
Venus age group: 14-21 years of age. In this period we learn that we have feelings and we experiment with them. We try out how far we can go with rage and see if crying or sulking can change the rules. We make emotional friendships and either love or hate our teachers. Nothing is gray; it is either black or white. Love for leaders and underdogs; in between is boring.
In the body ears and kidneys are ruled by Venus. Ears: 'Listen, if you have ears to hear with' (Bible). Kidneys filter the blood, upkeep the blood pressure and stimulate the making of red blood corpuscles. Prof.dr. Hein Koomans who has been researching the kidney for many years says:
'The kidney is a very clever organ, maybe even more inscrutable than the liver or the heart. It does not give up its secrets easily. Even with a computer we cannot simulate a system like the kidney; we cannot even find out how the different cells of the kidney work.'
Schooling task for Venus: Venus should learn that thinking with the head is also desirable. She should learn to become more centred and give direction to her own life. Feeling should become a sense organ, listening for (to) the needs of her surroundings; she should become more selfless.
Example: Picture a situation like this: A dike has just burst and water is pouring through. There is danger of the rest of the dike crumbling away. Already houses have been flooded and the victims are milling around in panic.
What will Venus do in a situation like this? Her first thought is of the victims. She will immediately go there with soup, blankets and comfort. She attends to the immediate needs. There are also organizations that work like this and are thus influenced by Venus.