As the brightest star, Venus has long been admired. The oldest reference linking Venus to love was in Mesopotamia around 660BCE, so her connection to romance is ancient. Modern astrologers use your personal Venus to describe your love style, as well as likely relationship experiences. Venus has 12 different love attitudes, based on the sign in which she’s placed in your birth chart. However, even more important than your Venus sign are any planets that aspect, and therefore influence, Venus.
Aspects
Aspects reflect planetary geometry. They show the unique ways in which different planets connect. Through forming aspects, planets exchange energy and modify each other’s tastes, like two people chatting at a party, learning from the interaction. Aspects change from one day to the next, so your aspects are part of what makes your astrology unique.
The five original aspects are the conjunction (0 degrees), sextile (60 degrees), square (90 degrees), trine (120 degrees) and opposition (180 degrees). Each aspect has its own quality. For example, planets that are conjunct are fused together, like two people running a three legged race. They blend together, operating as a single unit. However, planets in square aspect can get in each other’s way, creating tension and friction.
| Aspect | Degrees | Meaning |
| Conjunction | 0 | Fusion, blending, togetherness |
| Sextile | 60 | Supportive, flowing |
| Square | 90 | Friction, adjustment, tension |
| Trine | 120 | Easy, talent, lucky |
| Opposition | 180 | Balance, see-saw, differences |
Your Venus takes on the qualities of any planet aspecting her, such that your needs and wants in love become coloured by these extra themes. For instance, when Venus and Jupiter aspect, love and relationships adopt an adventurous style, but if Pluto aspects Venus, must be intense and deep.
If you’re still learning about your planets, read through the different profiles and see which one(s) most fit with your desires and love experiences. If you’re familiar with your own chart, skip ahead to the profile of the planet(s) that aspect your Venus.
Venus/Jupiter
If you have Venus and Jupiter in aspect, love must be exciting and full of adventure. You’ll want to experience as wide a variety of dating and romantic experiences as possible.
Jupiter loves travel and under his influence love can have an exotic or foreign connection. You might fall in love with someone from a different country or cultural background as your own, or meet The One whilst travelling. Moving for love is also possible.
Jupiter is also the lucky planet, which in relationships typically manifests as generosity. You give abundantly to those you love, wanting to treat them in ways they normally wouldn’t indulge themselves. Your generous spirit must be tempered with reality to avoid situations of unreciprocated generosity, where you give and others take. (This is more likely if Venus and Jupiter aspect by square or opposition.)
As Jupiter symbolises faith and philosophy, committing to someone who shares your beliefs is important. Knowing you value the same things and share a common big picture vision is part of the attraction. Jupiter also has an optimistic side, so a partner who appreciates your “glass half full” view of life and love is key. You’re likely to see relationships as an adventure to journey through, learning and evolving as you go.
Jupiter’s key concepts of integrity, faith and morals mean love has to be just, fair and functional for both people for you to commit. Your generous instincts mean your conscious lesson lies in developing moderation in how much, how often and to whom you give.
Venus/Saturn
Saturn represents the principle of maturity and time, so if you have a Venus/Saturn aspect, you seek lasting relationships for which you’re more than prepared to work hard. Security and commitment are key love concepts, even though you may be initially shy about expressing affection.
With the most serious planet, Saturn, influencing your heart, you approach love practically. You’re a romantic realist and know that sharing time together is key to building a solid foundation. Love doesn’t need to be hurried, instead, you prefer to enjoy each different stage of a relationship.
Since Saturn has a grounded quality, you’ll consider how to balance external responsibilities, like career, family and finances, with the needs of your relationship. Saturn offers you strength to manage challenges in love, as well as a reliable quality that the right person finds irresistible in you. You love like Catherine loved Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, seeing love as the bedrock of life; as something essential but not flashy or public.
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Your steadiness and ability to be the rock of support for those you love is part of your appeal. Saturn’s lasting qualities show you believe love can endure, giving you the ability to overcome relationship challenges that might prove too great for others.
You may prefer partners who are much older or much younger than you, where the wisdom of maturity and the security of experience becomes part of the attraction. You’ll likely find Saturn’s seven year quarter cycle important in charting the changing rhythms of your relationship experiences.
Saturn respects tradition, honours ritual and seeks conformity so love must fit into whatever paradigm you’ve used to create your life. You’ll prefer relationships that have an acceptable, appropriate quality. This is the aspect under which Venus prefers to play it safe, as such, your love choices must offer security and long term stability above all.
The typical Venus/Saturn heart does boundaries very well, so learning to soften and go with the love flow is an important love lesson.
Venus/Uranus
With the planet of rebellion influencing your heart, love must be unconventional. Uranus likes to challenge the status quo and do things differently, so your love life and partners are likely to be quirky or have a few unusual qualities. While others may be surprised or even judgemental of your choices, the authentic love choice is always what’s right for you.
Uranus represents the black sheep archetype, as he celebrates individuality rather than conformity. It’s more important to honour the unusual desires in your heart than try to fit a person or partnership into society’s sometimes limiting definition of acceptable love. Your personal love needs can only be met by stepping outside the box. This quote, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, captures some of the trailblazer energy around love for you: “Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
The form of your ideal relationship doesn’t exist as a standard convention. It’s up to you to develop a strong sense of individual tastes and desire to help you create it. You may buck convention or challenge social and family norms about the way to love, showing those around you, through your actions and choices, that love really does come in all shapes, sizes and colours.
You might suffer from what’s known as the “freedom/closeness dilemma”, since Venus loves to bond and Uranus prefers space and independence. Thus, your ideal love includes a partner or situation where having regular time apart or to pursue your own interests is key.
This can work well in long distance relationships, or in partnerships where two people have opposing work schedules. Kahlil Gibran sums up your need for space in this seminal quote on marriage: “But let there be spaces in your togetherness, and let the winds of heavens dance between you.”
For you, the excitement of what’s new adds to the thrill of love, so the routine of daily life can dull the edge of romance. Rather than looking for regular ritual, like a standing date night, you’ll benefit from constantly changing routines and experimenting – in whatever ways you feel comfortable.
Venus/Neptune
Love comes with a dreamy, intuitive feel if you have Venus in aspect to Neptune. This pairing sees you strive to live the romantic fairy-tale, as you seek your perfect Prince Charming, but your journey to happily ever after must include a spiritual aspect to love for lasting fulfilment.
With so much about Neptune being illusory and inspired by fantasy, pursuing the perfect love can lead you initially off track. Your trusting nature can leave you open to being taken advantage of, so this three point checklist may help you recognise unhealthy partners/relationships before you get too involved.
Venus/Neptune hearts should avoid relationships with people who:
a) don’t have a means of supporting themselves
b) have a drug, alcohol or other substance abuse issue
c) aren’t actually available (I.e. may still be involved elsewhere)
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Neptune arouses a level of compassion and caring towards loved ones such that you can fall into the pattern of trying to use love to heal. Neptune brings out in Venus a desire to merge and blend completely with a partner, so being selective in the early days of love is key to ensure you only open your heart to someone truly deserving.
Neptune offers an intuitive quality to love that helps you energetically tune in to what others need or desire. Your life lesson comes from learning when to offer support and when to allow space for a loved one to help themselves. This may involve having to learn how boundaries can support rather than restrict love.
Spiritual and creative connections are possible with Venus/Neptune, so developing a shared meditation practice, rituals around retreat or simply supporting each other’s artistic expression can be a functional and inspiring way to honour the Venus/Neptune love experience, without losing yourself in the process.
Venus/Pluto
Love is intense and must be deep before your Venus/Pluto heart is satisfied. It’s said that Venus/Pluto people don’t take lovers, but hostages, which is an extreme way of alluding to the elements of control and ownership that can emerge in love if you’re a Venus/Pluto person.
You’re looking for someone with whom you share that magnetic almost instant connection. Passion is essential, but you won’t reveal the truth in your heart unless there is absolute trust. Honesty and loyalty are incredibly important qualities. Betrayal is something you rarely forgive. Love is black and white in the hearts of Venus/Pluto people – you’re either in love and would take a bullet for your partner, or things are over and you’re no longer in each other’s lives at all.
Pluto is linked to Hades, god of the underworld, and like Persephone, who was drawn into the underworld against her wishes, love may sometimes create situations in which you must make profound choices to ensure there’s balance around power and control.
Romantic feelings can turn obsessive in the hearts of Venus/Pluto people. This typically happens if/when your natural suspicions about something not being quite right are aroused. Pluto leaves no stone unturned and this extreme ‘need to know’ can drive you to probe deeper about the truth in your own and a loved one’s heart. For you, love is a path to transformation.
Your instincts about people are rarely wrong, so develop a pattern of listening to your gut. You have a natural affinity for picking up on inconsistencies and will most value honesty and openness in a partner, even though you’ll play your own cards close to your chest. Secrets are sexy here, but only when the truth won’t hurt.
For some, the expression of a Venus aspect is clear and easy to understand. You may recognise the tides of your heart in the descriptions above, and gain insight into how to best create the kind of love that most touches you. For others, Venus aspects are blurred by different chart factors. Not everyone has a strong Venus aspect, and some have more than one. In whatever way your Venus story manifests, these ancient archetypes can help you better understand your own heart, making it easier to give and receive fulfilling love.
Planet keywords
| Planet | Qualities in Relationships |
| Jupiter | Generous, adventurous, foreign connections, open minded, shared faith. |
| Saturn | Serious, committed, willing to work, age differences, maturity, responsibilities. |
| Uranus | Unconventional, independent, fluctuating, electric. |
| Neptune | Dreamy, romantic, spiritual, creative, struggles with boundaries. |
| Pluto | Intense, powerful, magnetic, can indicate control themes. |
