The Planet Venus

"One Touch of Venus" a film from the 40s starring the radiant Ava Gardiner, Venus de Milo the celebrated Roman sculpture, "Venus in Bluejeans" as sung by the '50s teenage heartthrob Bobby Vee, Venus Williams the tennis star, and "Venus" as song by still another '50s teenage heartthrob, Frankie Avalon.   No matter what the medium, Venus appears in a variety of guises throughout our popular culture.

Venus, or Aphrodite as the ancient Greeks christened her, is the goddess of love and beauty. The 'dreamiest of the dreamy'.  She is one of the 7 classical planets, which means they can be seen with the naked eye and were known to the ancient astrologers and astronomers before the advent of the telescope. The other classical planets include the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

Venus is the second brightest object in the night sky, the moon being the brightest.  In Roman and Greek mythology she was famous for stirring the god's and men's passions alike and proved irresistible to both. In astrology, Venus is identified with the principles of harmony, balance, beauty, empathy and compassion. She is drawn towards pleasure and sensuality. She places great stock in her creature comforts and is the most feminine of all the signs of the zodiac. Venus influences all of our romantic relations, marriages and business partnerships. She governs our sex lives as well as the arts. However, Venus is not always charm and harmless as she is  known to have 'an iron hand in a velvet glove" when it suits her.

In medicine, Venus is associated with the lumbar region (or lower back), the veins, the parathyroid, throat and kidneys.

Venus is the planet most identified with the day Friday.  In the romance languages (those derived from Latin) which include Spanish, French and Italian, the word for Friday often resembles the word Venus (viernes, vendredi ad venerdi respectively).

In Chinese astrology, Venus is associated with the most precious and coveted of metals, gold, which the Chinese ascribe the qualities of strength,persistence and endurance.

In Indian astrology, Venus is known as Shukra and symbolizes wealth, pleasure and fecundity.

In Norse mythology, Venus is associated with their goddess Freyja, the goddess of love and beauty.

adapted from Wikipedia