Last week I heard a show on NPR that highlighted a woman who had always been unattractive because of her big nose until she had an accident and the doctor suggested that while she was having surgery that she have her nose fixed. After the surgery, according to her own account she was “a babe.” As a result, she had a unique perspective on what it’s like to be pretty vs. “ugly.”

The second house is most commonly associated with money and wealth, but it also houses our personal resources, our self-esteem, what we value and how well we value ourselves. I’ve written earlier on the relationship between self-esteem and wealth, and there is a strong connection between them. In the second house we develop a relationship with our environment and learn what belongs to us and where we fit into the world. The strength of this sense of belonging to the world and having a secure place is what helps to determine our financial success and our ability to accumulate wealth and prosperity.

Studies have shown, cruelly, that beauty is tied to success. But these studies do not prove that it’s perfection that is tied to success – merely a perception of attraction. If cosmetic surgery enhances one’s confidence in one’s value, then it can have benefits to that individual. But if surgery becomes the tool in the pursuit of perfection, the point is missed and the inner lack of self-worth remains.

Life can also be difficult for the beautiful as they age. We have seen this with movie stars who go into seclusion because their identity is so wrapped up with their beauty and they can’t bear to be seen in public. In these cases the second house has not been developed and the physical beauty, the only resource, is now disappearing. The beauty of youth fades early, but Venus remains present throughout our lives. How are we to express her, and gain the benefits of the second house?

Venus rules the second house, and in her guise as Goddess of Beauty she also places a high value on attractiveness. Venusian beauty is not a perfect geometrical facial shape or perfectly sized breasts; it is rather the power to attract. I used to know an aerobics instructor who had a face which most people would classify as homely. Yet she had the most beautiful smile, and with it the ability to draw people to her like a magnet. This is the real power of Venus.

photos from corbis.