In English we must use adjectives to distinguish the different kinds of love for which the ancients had distinct names. Mortimer Adler
Most who find themselves drawn to astrology very quickly learn of Venus and her role in determining one’s identity. She is the heavenly body of love, sentimentality, pleasure, art, and happiness. In the natal chart, the house and sign she resides in shows how one approaches relationships, what they seek in a partner, and what appeals to our senses in general. For these reasons, she is one of the main heavenly bodies acknowledged in synastry, the art of relationship astrology, and yet she is not the only one of her kind.
Venus is not alone, she is joined by sister asteroids and small planets that add facets to the Venusian aspect of our identities. Aphrodite, Astarte, and Ishtar are her counterparts - her sisters, her other identities. In this article, these different “facets” of Venus will be explored, along with the influence they have in the natal chart.
