In April, scientists discovered what they believed to be the oldest known jewelry, appearing some 30,000 years before previous estimates of the origins of culture. Not having pragmatic or survival-oriented purpose, the recently discovered jewelry, experts assume, demonstrates that humans had an early interest in adornment, beautification, and ornamentation. From an astrological point of view, we might assume that this recent discovery suggests that signs of the astrological Venus were alive and well even in the most primitive stages of human history.

In astrology, Venus is the culture bringer. Although not responsible for mass evolution in cultures and societies, Venus is the astrological symbol that refines, beautifies, and brings style and sophistication. Venus brings with her the development of individual taste and preferences. Living in survival mode, the associations of Venus would have very little bearing in life, but with increasing upward mobility and more leisure, the style and preferences associated with Venus have a tremendous bearing on modern living. Venus is the part of our psyche that asks: “What image do I want to portray? What do I value in life? What gives me pleasure? Do I like this or do I like that?” Venus may or may not bring loads of meaning or depth into one’s life, but it is essential for bringing pleasure, materialistic and relationship well-being, and self-esteem into one’s life.

Venus in aspect to other planets in the birth chart is a good indication of what we value, what we desire, what sort of style we exude, our aesthetic tastes, and, perhaps most notably, what sort of romantic relationships we will tend to partake in. We might think of the online profiles for dating websites as giving conscious expression to how our Venus functions in our life. Through these profiles we answer what sort of dates we find pleasurable, what we are looking for in a romantic partnership, what we do for fun and free time, What music we like, and what entertainment we enjoy—all facets of Venus. Certainly, other factors are very important for compatibility, but Venus is quite crucial.

The following brief profiles gives a sense of the variability of Venus through aspects it makes in the birth chart. The archetypal expression of the planet aspecting Venus will certainly incline one’s tastes, attractions, desires, and value system. Aspects to Venus may not show if one prefers vanilla to chocolate; however, it is a rather important factor for what we want in a partnership, our sense of style, how we handle money, what is attractive, and how we act in relationship.

Venus in Aspect to Jupiter: Epicureans, the High Life, and Popularity

When Venus forms a significant aspect to Jupiter in the birth chart, the pleasure principle is highly operative in one’s life. Webster’s Dictionary defines “epicurean” as “ fond of or adapted to luxury or indulgence in sensual pleasures.” Certainly, bearers of Jupiter-Venus aspects are epicureans and lovers of the high life. Possessors of Jupiter-Venus aspects can teach the rest of us in the fine art of entertaining and style, but they may need to learn how to control excessive indulgence in what they find pleasurable. There is also an inclination of Jupiter-Venus carriers to be driven towards popularity, likeability, and to be part of the in-crowd. The innate charm and friendliness of these individuals often make them well-liked, if not admired.

Example I: Jennifer Anniston

The highly successful star of the sitcom Friends enjoys her Venus in opposition to Jupiter. Anniston is able to balance a girl-next-door amiableness and charm with the refined high tastes and what many consider impeccable style. In the 1990’s, Anniston defined the “look” for aspiring twentysomethings who yearned for her popularity. Anniston’s appeal and agreeable charisma were key ingredients for Friends’ phenomenal success.

Example II: Dennis Kozlowski

You may not recognize the name, but you will remember the case. Kozlowski was the recently indicted former CEO of Tyco International. Not unlike scenes taken from Citizen Kane, Kozlowski’s life was the epitome of rags to riches to rages again. Although being a highly shrewd and competent businessman, Kozlowski’s fatal flaw was his extreme appetite for excess and luxury—a trait that would ultimately undermine his accomplishments and successes as a businessman. Born with a triple conjunction between the Sun, Venus, and Jupiter, Kozlowski had a swollen need for wild extravagance and unchecked spending for opulence. Kozlowski “borrowed” liberally from his company to avoid high rates of taxation, buying $6000 shower curtains and $2000 wastebaskets. However, Kozlowski’s most damning moment was the public release of video footage of an over-the-top, lavish birthday party for his wife. An homage to the orgiastic celebrations of ancient Rome, the birthday party featured gladiators, exquisite ice castles, and pyrotechnics and fanfaire a la Cirque de Soleil. Kozlowski’s actions represent the excessive greed and fraudulence of postmodern capitalism and the shadow side of the Venus-Jupiter combination. Although Oscar Wilde said, “Nothing succeeds like excess,” in this case, nothing of high excess truly succeeds.

Venus in Aspect to Saturn: Refinement and the Down Side of love

If Jupiter-Venus aspects symbolize a surplus of desire, pleasure, and relational needs, Saturn-Venus contacts often correlate with the polar opposite—a retrenchment or withdrawal from the pleasure principle. Saturn-Venus contacts don’t necessarily translate into a lack of love, friendship, or pleasure, but there is often a cautionary stance or prudence toward relationships and materialism. The Saturn-Venus aspect can often give the carrier a hard won civility, grace, and poise that other aspects don’t display. Thus, the critical nature of Saturn can actually be used to help hone and refine one’s personal aesthetics and tastes. If, however, the Jupiter-Venus aspect can be guilty of excessive opulence and overindulgence, the Saturn-Venus combination can be accused of wallowing in the melancholic aspects of relationships and fixating on the more dour and gloomy aspects of intimacy.

Example: Frank Sinatra

Born with a Venus-Saturn opposition, we see in Sinatra two manifestations of the planetary combination: endurance and somberness toward love. Enduring the rise and fall of many popular music fads, Sinatra’s music had tremendous staying power. For nearly sixty years, Sinatra stayed true to his crooner roots, establishing his reputation as an American icon. This classicism and durability is a hallmark of any Saturn aspect, and it helped Sinatra achieve an extraordinary legacy in the world of entertainment (Venus). Beyond this stalwart durability, we also see in Sinatra a facility and attraction toward lamenting the downside of relationships. In what many Sinatra aficionados call his best album, In the Wee Small Hours is a collection of somber, reflective lamentations about love. On this recording, we hear Sinatra’s respects to the lonely man, broken and callous from the ways of love. In a similar recording, Sinatra’s rendering of the song “Love and Marriage” is the classic cautionary, if not cynical, tale about long-term relationship (and theme song for the ultimate Saturn-Venus sitcom, Married with Children).

Venus in Aspect to Uranus: Trendsetters and Chameleons

Venus-Saturn bearers are classicists and traditionalists; they create and define the establishment in terms of style and proper decorum, critiquing that which fails to live up to their standards. In reaction to this, Uranus-Venus birth charts bring in much needed experimentation, boldness, daring, and youthful creativity to style, tastes, and romance. Leave it to these individuals to be the avant garde in popular trends in fashion, entertainment, and etiquette. The experimentalism and creativity that these individuals are predisposed toward can lead to major flops and faux pas on the one hand, or stunningly novel statements that create all the rage in fashion, the arts, and entertainment. It is the nature of Uranus-Venus individuals to be horribly confined and bored with the status quo and in need of radical makeovers and rebellions from time to time.

Example I: Cher

Very few people can forget Cher’s multiple Academy Award fashion shockers that stunned the entertainment world and earned her a number of worst dressed list nominations. Born with a Uranus-Venus conjunction in Gemini, it is in Cher’s nature to reinvent and rebel against convention—even her own. From Native American princess, fitness queen, and glam and glitz pop diva, Cher has exerted an independent, campy irreverence to her style and chic. However, Cher’s most successful reinvention came not in fashion but through her music. In her fifties, Cher decided to once again focus on her singing career, scoring big with the #1 “Believe,” underscored with a techno and electronic feel (another quality of Uranus as coupled with Venus).

Example II: Prince

Contestably, Prince gets the vote for all-time artistic reinvention. Prince Nelson dropped his one word moniker for a symbol that bared the lingual translation of “The artist formerly known as Prince.” How’s that for bizarre? Nevertheless, born with a tight Uranus square to Venus, Prince is prone to display the outlandish, unconventional, and simply unprecedented behavior of a significant Uranus aspect. Questionable reinvention aside, Prince displays some of the best attributes of a Uranus-Venus aspect: aesthetic flair and brilliance, a flashy and provocative style, and an undeniably radiant and dazzlingly creative spirit.

Venus in Aspect to Neptune: Glamour and the Romantic Ideal

With Venus in aspect to Neptune, the lower and higher octaves of love connect. Venus and Neptune are the pairing that are often most affiliated with the image of beauty: glamour, cosmetics, and fashion photography. With Venus-Neptune aspects searching for the ideal—or becoming idealized—can be a large psychological priority. Although the notion that Venus-Neptune aspects lead one to becoming an arch romantic, there is also a decadent and indulgent quality to the aspect. The pleasure principle of a Venus-Neptune aspect can become extremely captivating and enchanting, compelling one to loose one’s sense of discernment and judgment. Among the caveats of the Neptune-Venus aspect are penchant for losing one’s self in relationship—to be intoxicated by the state of love. With Neptune in aspect to Venus, love holds the extremely addictive and alluring capacity of being able to reunite with lost aspects of self.

Example: Leonard Bernstein

The preeminent conductor and popularizer of classical music for the United States in the twentieth century, Leonard Bernstein led a high profile glamorous life in the circles of the New York social elite. Born with a conjunction between Venus and Neptune, Bernstein demonstrated the highest and lowest potentials of the combination. The Venus-Neptune combination can grant an incredibly gifted and nuanced ability in the arts, and such was the case with Bernstein. His compositions and conducting demonstrated a lyricism and subtly rarely matched; his musical accompaniment to West Side Story’s “Somewhere” is highly indicative of the romantic longing and need for merger that this combination can manifest. However, Bernstein also indulged in some of the more problematic circumstances of the planetary pairing. Second perhaps only to Andy Warhol, Bernstein was the famous celebrity that was heralded by New York’s party crop. Over time, partying caught up with the famous conductor as drugs and alcohol contributed to his relatively early death.

Venus in Aspect to Pluto: Demon Lovers and Deep Relationship

When in aspect to Pluto, Venus's desire nature and relational style is typically rendered intense, deep, and potentially possessive and controlling. Arguably the most passionate and subterranean of the relational styles associated with Venus, this pairing can create heat as well as jealousy and self-destructiveness. In order to understand the pairing better, we turn to individuals born with the pairing to understand the style of this intense planetary combination.

Example I: Glenn Close

Born with Venus opposite Pluto (with Pluto rising, no less) Close's roles often feature the intense, obsessive, even sadistic side of the Pluto-Venus interface. In one of the most popular films of the 1980s—and arguably responsible for a temporary spike in relationship fidelity—Close starred as the notorious Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction, the very definition of the jealous, vengeful lover. Close's rendering of a sexy, but highly dangerous and murderously possessive lover is the character study and template for Venus-Pluto phenomena. Although Alex may be her most infamous role, Close has attracted several of the demon lover-type roles through her life, as her birth chart suggests that she has a psychological predisposition for rendering an authenticity to these portrayals.

Example II: Jeremy Irons

With a Venus-Pluto conjunction in Leo, Irons brings a high level of British sophistication and nuance to the seductiveness of the Venus-Pluto phenomenon. In films like Damage and Lolita, Irons explores taboo relationships—often a predisposition of the Venus-Pluto bearer. In films like Reversal of Fortune (co-starring aforementioned Glen Close), Irons plays the notorious Claus von Bulow, the subject of one of the more mysterious murder cases in recent decades.

Birth Data:

Jennifer Anniston: February 11th, 1969
Dennis Kozlowski: November 16th, 1946
Frank Sinatra: December 12th, 1915
Cher: May 20th, 1946
Prince: June 7th, 1958
Leonard Bernstein: August 25th, 1918
Glenn Close: March 19th, 1947
Jeremy Irons: September 19th, 1948