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Simplifying the orbit of Venus for Pagan Devotions

Simplifying the orbit of Venus for Pagan Devotions

Last updated on: January 18, 2017 at 8:00 am by Melissa Hill

Simplifying the orbit of Venus for Pagan Devotions 2017-01-02T11:32:36-04:00 Melissa Hill

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As I’ve delved into my exploration of the importance of the Dawn in my own personal devotional practice I’ve also gained an interest in the morning and evening stars. The ancients saw this bright star in the morning and evening sky and often it became a representation of the dawn itself, or her companion. Even in ancient times they were aware that in fact the morning and evening stars were the same thing: the planet we now call Venus. It is second only to the Moon in brightness, outshining all the other planets and stars in the night sky.

Classical Image of the Birth of Venus from the Sea

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Technical Stuff Explained:

Venus is an interior or inferior planet. By this, astronomers mean that in the grand dance that is our solar system, its orbit is smaller than ours and it circles around closer to the sun than we do. What this means is that like Mercury, when we look for those planets in the sky they will never stray very far from the sun. Mercury is often hard to see, because it’s so close to the sun, but Venus is easy to see and goes through cycles where it’s visible as the Morning Star, disappears while it’s near the sun, for about two weeks, then appears later as the Evening Star again. This year it will take about 142 days for it to travel from it’s highest point as the evening star on January 12th to it’s highest point as the morning star on June 3rd.

Possible Fairy Tale Connection:

This yo-yo like action that Venus appears to take around the sun is called its solar elongation, which is only really interesting because of the way it’s traditionally referred to: as being East of the sun for evening appearances and West of the sun for morning ones.

Anyone remember the old fairy tale called “East of the Sun and West of the Moon”?

It’s the exact same phrasing as the traditional naming convention for Venusian orbit. Now I begin to wonder if the fairy tale was encoding astronomical data? That is an answer for another day, but I do know that the “Wicked Stepmother” has a golden apple, which is often a symbol of the sun.

“Though I am old with wandering

Through hollow lands and hilly lands,

I will find out where she has gone

And kiss her lips and take her hands;

And walk among long dappled grass,

And pluck till time and times are done

The silver apples of the moon,

The golden apples of the sun.”

— W. B. Yeats, The Wind Among the Reeds

Is it possible that the golden comb and the spinning wheel which are gifted as part of the tale are references to the night sky? I think it is possible, and I’ll let you know if I find out.

How to Use the Orbit of Venus in Ritual and Devotional Timing:

Either way, for anyone who worships Venus, Aphrodite, or any of the Dawn or Dusk deities knowing the dates for the Venusian synodic period (it’s orbit in relation to our own and the Sun) can help create a powerful devotional calendar timed to the night sky. For instance we know that on March 25th Venus is in its inferior conjunction, which means that it’s lined up between the earth and the sun and we can’t see it. This year it is the time that it is traveling from being the evening star, to becoming the morning star. We know that it’s missing from the sky for about 2 weeks.

Timing your Devotionals according to Venus:

From now until March 11 Venus will take the form of the Evening Star, and devotionals and prayers to her in the evening would be wise. She will reappear as the Morning Star around April 8th and will be at her highest point on June 3rd and will continue to be present as the Morning Star until late December, around the 26th, by my calculations. This would be the time that would be good to pray to her in the morning or during the dawn. That means that the morning star will be present during the dawn of summer solstice, a powerful and beautiful event while the moon will be a waning crescent.

Also interesting is the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter on November 13th where they will be very close together.

To sum up:

Now – March 11 Venus is the Evening Star

2 weeks of no visible Venus, it is next to the sun

April 8th – December 26th it is the Morning Star

Jan 12th is the greatest elongation east of the sun

June 3rd is the greatest elongation west of the sun

If you use my research in your devotional practice, please let me know, I’d love to hear about it! Also, please go to my Patreon page and consider setting up a small donation to support this work if you’d like to see more.

Sources:

http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/movements.htm

http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2017.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_period#Synodic_period

http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/venus.htm

http://ensign.editme.com/t43dances?show-menu=true

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspects_of_Venus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus#/media/File:Venus_geocentric_orbit_curve_simplified_(pentagram).svg

By Unknown – Unknown, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6680369

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