Venus Switches from Evening Star to Morning Star – Hold on to your Hat
By Barry Orr and Bruce Scofield
The end of Venus's visibility as an evening star ends on about August 13th, 2007, when it disappears into the Sun's rays. On August 18th (GMT), it reaches inferior conjunction. On August 22nd (approximately), Venus makes its first appearance as a morning star, rising in the pre-dawn sky just before the Sun. (Technically, this is know as its "heliacal rising.") The Maya viewed this emergent Venus as a malevolent deity, a "spearing god" who struck down specific groups or things depending on the associated position of the apparition in their 260-day calendar. The details of this association are contained in the Venus tables of the Dresden Codex, one of the few surviving books of the Maya culture.
bco on 08.21.07 @ 02:34 PM EDT [more..] [No Comments]