Venus And Self Esteem

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”
― Joseph Campbell

Where in the chart is the key to self esteem? Well, the Moon shows our needs for emotional satisfaction, but esteem, the word itself, is more closely aligned with valuation. What we find valuable relates more to Venus, though these issues can often overlap. Venus is associated with partnering and romantic love, but if you look at some of the expressions of Venus in myth you can see desire for pleasure that is divorced from morality. This is so because Venus “values” are not necessarily moral or ethical, they are merely what one finds appealing, what one desires, what brings pleasure.

Morality and ethics are more associated with Saturn, judgement and restriction, Jupiter, philosophy and higher thinking, or Neptune, inspiration from outside oneself. Venus energy in its pure form is without morality. It’s not immoral, it is amoral. That is literally neither good nor bad. What we value is not right or wrong, it simply is. When it interacts with other planets and energies in our chart it acquires a link to a moral construct. But on the subject of self esteem, let morality go for the moment.

Venus shows us what we find attractive and what we attract. These are ONE THING. Venus is also involved in projection. I’ve heard it said so many times that what we find attractive (valuable) in others is what we really wish to be or have for ourselves. Venus is acquisitive. If we don’t embrace finding or creating what we want in ourselves, we will often find that same trait or quality in others and seek to acquire it in that way. If we project this desire for value, we can become possessive of the other because loss would mean leaving a hole in the self. If we cultivate our Venus within ourselves, no one can take that away. Then our partners become tasty bits of cake and frosting which we can truly enjoy, rather than the whole meal that can never fully sustain us.

If we apply morality to a Venusian trait within ourselves and deem it “wrong” there is the propensity to dissociate ourselves from that quality. But we cannot root out the desire. What then is likely to happen is we find that quality in others and reject or berate them for it, more projection.

Self esteem is just a made up term for the condition of a fully realized, non-projected Venus. Your Venus qualities are not just what you find attractive; they are a description of what you must embody, value in yourself, in order to truly find pleasure. Your Venus attributes are already there. You just have to stop rejecting or projecting them.

I’m okay, you’re okay, blah-de-blah-de-blah. Did someone mention cake? Now I want cake.

Where is your Venus? What is valuable and attractive about you?