Natal Wheel › Guides › Aspects › Sun and Venus
Sun and Venus · the self and what it values
Sun in aspect to Venus
Venus is never more than about forty-eight degrees from the Sun, which rules out every aspect beyond the conjunction and the semisextile; a Sun-Venus square, trine or opposition cannot occur at all. The pair still carries meaning. The Sun is purpose and the sense of being someone in particular; Venus is taste, affection and the capacity to find things worth having. Where they meet, identity and pleasure are closely tied, and charm tends to become part of how the self is recognised. Venus in the sign before or after the Sun gives a slight offset between who a person is and what that person enjoys.
What each planet brings
| Sun | identity, vitality, purpose |
|---|---|
| Venus | love, value, pleasure |
The soft aspects (trine or sextile)
No trine or sextile exists between these two, and none should be looked for. The semisextile, with Venus one sign away from the Sun, is the mildest contact on offer: a small difference of tone between purpose and pleasure, usually showing as versatility in matters of taste. Ease in love and money, where a chart has it, is described by Venus by sign and house instead.
The hard aspects (square or opposition)
Hard aspects here are impossible, the maximum elongation being well under ninety degrees. Any chart appearing to show one has a data problem behind it. Difficulty in affection, or in valuing oneself accurately, is described elsewhere: most often by Venus in contact with Saturn, Neptune or Pluto, or by the condition of the seventh house and its ruler.
The conjunction
The conjunction is common and lends warmth to the whole personality: an eye for beauty, a wish to be liked, a knack for making an occasion pleasant. Artistic and social gifts often follow. When the contact is very close the sense of self can lean on being appreciated, and disagreement gets postponed longer than is useful. The generosity is genuine rather than tactical.
Reading it in a chart
The orb settles how strongly this shows: a contact within a degree is a defining feature of a chart, one at the edge of the orb is a colouring. The signs the two planets occupy change the manner, the houses change the arena, and a third planet touching either of them can change the reading entirely.