Whether it appears as the Morning Star or the Evening Star, Venus, the second planet from the Sun, outshines almost every object in the sky. Venus is the planet of love and pleasure. It rules over your capacity to express affection and to enjoy beauty. By looking at the position of Venus in your birth chart, you can answer such questions as: What kind of lovers do you attract? Are you flirtatious? Do you find happiness in your love affairs, or are you often disappointed? Where do your creative talents lie?
ASTRONOMICAL FACTS
Venus is a terrestrial planet and is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet" because of their similar size, mass, proximity to the Sun, and bulk composition. It is radically different from Earth in other respects. Astronomers say that Venus is a hothouse hell, its fractured plains and ancient volcanoes smothered beneath thick blankets of poisonous clouds. With a surface temperature of 737 K (464°C; 867° F), a totally toxic atmosphere, and a surface pressure 100 times higher than that on Earth, it’s uninhabitable, as unlovely a place as you can imagine.
VENUS IN ASTROLOGY
In classical mythology, Venus (Aphrodite to the Greeks) was the goddess of love and beauty. She was the lover of Adonis (and others), the constant companion of the winged god Eros, and the unfaithful wife of the god Vulcan, who caught her in bed with her favourite paramour, Mars, the god of war.
In astrology Venus rules over adornment and decoration, the social graces, art, luxury, harmony and friendship. The influence of Venus in your chart indicates how you relate to the opposite sex, whether you are popular and make friends easily, and also what artistic leanings you have. It rules your ability to love and to share with another person, and also governs your choice of gifts, cosmetics, flowers, and art objects.
The planet governs the higher emotions; its greatest gift is the gift of happiness. It can be said that Venus makes life beautiful.
Astrologers associate Venus with love, flirtation, seduction, affection, beauty, and pleasure. Venus lends your personality allure and desirability, and tells what kind of sex appeal you possess. Venus represents your values, and response to money and possessions.
She shows your ability to bond with other people. How desirable it is for you to incorporate something which we encounter out there – whether it is another person or food or experience, etc.
Venus represents the desire to attract that which we like (sexual attraction). We can see how we fall in love and the way we express our affections. It shows if you are inclined to be romantic and tender towards your companions.
In a horoscope, Venus represents Evaluation. Once it has established connections to the outer world, a child must learn to evaluate the desirability of what it meets: if it touches a hot iron, it is very likely that in the future, this object will be avoided, or at least treated with a different degree of respect! Most probably, the child will consider the iron to be “bad”, and reject it: a subjective judgement, to be sure, but one of the type which is necessary for survival. Venus thus symbolises that which we subjectively consider to be “good” or “bad”, as desirable or undesirable.
Venus represents the desire to live in harmony with others. Since Venus “attracts” with the intention of “incorporating” new elements into our life, it will often attempt to “harmonise” even threatening elements. A possible explanation for this is that Venus at times will try to “incorporate” too much, and thus, the attempt to “harmonise” may be seen as a survival mechanism which becomes activated when life-threatening elements have not been subjected to a filtering process prior to their incorporation.
As a "female" planet, Venus loves sensuality and pleasure-time. Venus also shows if you have artistic inclinations and impulses. It is your personal taste and aesthetic.
Being the planet of pleasure, it points to the kinds of amusements you are drawn to and in what ways you spend your money.
Viewed from Earth, Venus can never be more than 48° from the Sun. That translates to a maximum distance of two signs between Venus and the Sun.
Symbol: 
The symbol for Venus includes two components from the Metaphysical tradition: the cross of earth and the circle of spirit. Most people today associate it with the biological symbol for women.
Venus rules the signs of Taurus and Libra.
You can read about Venus in each Sign here!
You can read about Venus in the Houses here!
