#yarot

Themes and Keywords: Fertility. Creativity. Maternity. Love. Sensuality. Beauty and attraction. Wife or mother. Receptiveness. The womb. Life and death. Fructification. Love and war goddesses, also the goddess. Mother Nature. Astrology/Element Other than the sun and moon, Venus is the brightest object in our sky. Trailing the sunset, she is the evening star (Hesperus); preceding sunrise, the morning star (Lucifer). Like Inanna of the seven veils, she reveals herself to us in phases. The planet is mysteriously veiled by clouds—and incredibly hot! Venus signifies female attributes, beauty, and how we attract and go about getting what we desire. Her glyph suggests a figure with welcoming arms, and is comprised of the circle of Spirit over the cross of matter. It looks like the Egyptian ankh, meaning “life.” Life emanates from nature. The appetite of life for procreation is born from humankind (the cross) seeking completion (the circle). The glyph is the only one which connects all the sephiroth of the Tree of Life. The planet Venus symbolizes all we find worthy of desire—usually love and money! Venus loves luxury, pleasure, and relationships of all kinds. She rules two signs: airy Libra by day and earthy Taurus by night. Libra, the seventh sign, represents beauty, harmony, balance, and marriage; Taurus, the second sign, is concerned with the comforts, pleasures, and necessities of life. As the lesser benefic, Venus bestows gifts. Her earthy presents are sensuality, refined taste, and resources: favors that grant prosperity. Her airy presents deal with charm, culture, physical symmetry and beauty, diplomacy, discernment, and popularity. In her fullness she represents all that is creative, whether that involves nurturing children, making music, or the creative arts. Her exaltation in Pisces shows that it is through compassion that she best expresses her ideal of love as sacrifice. Mythology/Alchemy The Empress is the representation of alchemical salt. In alchemy salt is the body and base matter. It is what remains after the process of combustion, the substance that survives death and generates new life. Salt is an enigma; it both preserves and corrodes just as Venus is described by the alchemists as “external splendor and internal corruption.” Salt dries things out yet is harvested from the waters of the sea.