One hundred and eighty degrees
An opposition is a half circle with an orb of eight degrees on either side, so a sixteen degree band in total. Venus moves a little over a degree a day in geocentric longitude and Jupiter creeps along at a twelfth of a degree, which means the pair takes roughly two weeks to cross that band.
Venus and Jupiter reach opposition about once a year on average, a few months either side of their conjunction. So the aspect is common and, more importantly, it is shared. Anyone born in the same fortnight has it, which is the first thing an honest page about it should say.
Because it is an opposition, the two bodies sit in opposing signs and, given a birth time, in opposing houses. That axis is what the aspect is actually about.
A dialogue about enough
Venus signifies taste, attraction and the terms on which exchanges feel fair. Jupiter signifies enlargement and the assumption that more is available.
Placed opposite, they cannot fuse. The reading is a running negotiation over sufficiency, usually conducted through other people, since oppositions tend to be experienced as something coming from outside. In practice it often shows as generosity that runs ahead of the budget, or as taste that keeps outgrowing the setting it is in, followed by a correction.
The more useful version of the same reading is perspective. An opposition lets you see the appetite from the other side of the chart, which a conjunction never does. Whether that becomes moderation or just a longer argument is not settled by the aspect.
Because Venus never gets more than about forty eight degrees from the Sun, an opposition to Jupiter also tells you something about where the Sun sits. Jupiter is somewhere on the far side of the chart from Venus, and therefore some distance from the Sun as well, which usually means Jupiter is visible for much of the night at the time of birth.
What separates one chart from another
Start with the orb. Inside two degrees the description tends to be recognisable. At six or seven it is a footnote, and it will be outweighed by anything tighter in the chart.
Then the houses, which need a birth time and which supply the subject matter. The second and eighth axis makes it about money, yours against other people's. The fourth and tenth makes it about private comfort against public standing. The fifth and eleventh makes it about pleasure against the group.
Then the sign pair. Venus in Taurus opposite Jupiter in Scorpio is a slow, physical version. Venus in Libra opposite Jupiter in Aries is quicker and more argumentative. Same aspect, different lives.
Finally look for Saturn. A Saturn contact to either end is the classic supplier of the restraint this aspect does not carry on its own.
Check the sign rulers too. If Venus is in a sign whose ruler is under pressure elsewhere in the chart, the easy half of this reading thins out considerably, and the correction described above arrives harder.
Retrogrades and the honest limits
Jupiter spends about four months of each year retrograde, so a natal retrograde Jupiter is the ordinary case and not a signature to build a reading on. Venus retrograde is less common, about forty days every nineteen months, and it is worth noting when it occurs.
A Venus retrograde loop near an opposition to Jupiter can produce three passes over a few months. Someone born inside such a sequence has the contact unusually reinforced, and that is one of the few things that genuinely raises the aspect's weight.
Otherwise, keep it in proportion. A wide opposition that touches nothing else is background, not fate. The check above gives you the orb, the retrograde status and the houses, which is exactly the information needed to decide which of those two you are reading.
Questions people ask about this
What does Venus opposite Jupiter mean?
It means Venus and Jupiter were close to a hundred and eighty degrees apart at birth, in opposite signs. The tradition reads it as a continuing negotiation between taste and enlargement, usually played out through other people.
How long does the aspect last in the sky?
About a fortnight each time, because Venus gains on Jupiter at roughly a degree a day and the orb is eight degrees on each side. Everyone born in that window shares it.
Is it a difficult aspect?
Both planets carry the benefic label in traditional doctrine, so it is rarely described as harsh. Oppositions still create tension, and here it usually appears as generosity or spending that outruns the resources.
What makes the reading personal?
The house axis and the orb. The sign is shared with everyone born in the same period, so the individual part of the reading depends on a birth time and on how tight the aspect is.
Can it perfect more than once?
Yes, if it falls near a Venus retrograde period. Venus is retrograde for about forty days every nineteen months, and an opposition near that can complete three times.
How does it compare with the square?
Venus square Jupiter creates the same excess through friction at ninety degrees, which tends to feel internal. The opposition externalises it, so it is more often noticed in relationships.