Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Venus

We happily spend long hours at this time of year and it seems we come to work with Venus setting and leave with Venus Rising - the proverbial morning and evening "star". 

It is just past mid-day and our bright little friend is nowhere to be seen and additionally it is far to early to play "did you know that..." but remember that old ditty "star light star bright first star I see tonight..."? It is the evening star "Venus" which, by some celestial magic turns into the morning star in the east.  It is regular and something of a comfort. Think about it. The moon all but disappears regularly - fading in and out - but this gentle orb shows up on time and shows us west at night and east in the morning as if following and then dragging up the sun.

Poe wrote a poem (yes that Edgar) wrote a poem called "Evening Star" as part of the published set we know as Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827).  Folks have been writing about Venus or discussing it and have noticed it from antiquity (Hesperus in Greek mythology), biblically (How Brightly Shines the Morning Star), and spiritually (wow! lookatthat!) and an occasional musician captures it perfectly like this:

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