Venus as bright as she gets. Planets in the February sky.

The clear skies of February are my favorite, diamond bright and so intensely black with stars like crystal. They say that the beauty of the heavens is so enormous that it must be reduced to just pinpoints of light. If we beheld the total magnificence, our human hearts would burst.
Venus in our lifetime will never be as bright as she has been in early 2012, and will be for another two months. As she moves closer to the sun we will loose sight of Venus in May. Then after a spectacular crossing over the Sun's face on June 6, 2012 Venus will move into her hesperidies position, that is, she will become the star the of morning.
Enjoy Venus' brilliance in the twilight near the western horizon, as she reaches magnitude -4.7. Venus is the brightest object in the sky after the Moon. To give you an idea of star brilliance and magnitudes... Jupiter is at the zenith at sundown, at its brightest of magnitude -2.9. Great Sirius, who flies at the heels of Orion, is steady at -2.0. This year ruddy Mars rises in the east at a magnitude -1.2. It is very obvious, even thought not large, because we are not used to seeing a star there. In the constellation Leo, it shines an amber color.It is listed as transiting Virgo in our Tropical Zodiac. And there,it is shattering our assumptions.
The Mayans were highly interested in the eightfold cycle of Venus, she was the mighty herald of big events, or great changes, an auspicious beacon of War and change. Venus makes an eight-pointed star by counting the corners of her retrogrades which complete the geometric form every eight years. The visible transit across the sun. It would be called an eclipse if Venus were the optical equivalent of the Sun. will be a rare event, and one worth getting special protection to see. Venus transits in only June (Gemini) or December (Sagittarius) which fits our esoteric naming of Venus as the soul connector of Gemini and the karmic lover of Sagittarius.
Venus rules all that we value, be it money or beauty or gold or invention. Where Venus shines, wealth will follow. There have always been wars for gain, and here in 2012 another battle rages in our times for values as morals (do unto others) and values as currency (it's over, oil). Art outlives nations, and gold outlives the human race. Both are created and held by Venus. Investing in Art will not be as ridiculous as the one in gold.
In this year we will see changes to all value, as the systemic changes happening right now are transforming the very food you eat and the ground you walk upon. Our infrastructure, our cereals, our grains, our roads, our computer channels, our water, and the details of communication are all going through a minute yet fabulous resurrection. Not everything we expect will survive the changes. And over it all Venus transits the Sun. Not in all the 20th century did she do this. Once, these transits made world headlines, and people flocked from all over the world to the best viewing places to watch this star. So now,we will wait more than a century hence to see this again. Look to the West after sundown. Venus shines next to the crescent Moon on February 25th, send prayers to the meeting of these lights.