In a recent community post on your youtube channel you noted that Venus has a blacker, smooth, fine, feminine texture in terms of its skin tone. Phaladeepika page 15 interprets Venus as signifying sparkle and on page 23 Venus’s skin is mentioned as brilliant. How should the two meanings be combined?

Phaladīpikā 2.13 describes Venus as follows:

citrāmbara – Her clothing / aura is sparkling / colorful / prismatic.

kuñcita kṛṣṇa keśaḥ – her hair is jet black and curly.

sthūlāṅga deha – her body is “compacted” / “thick”.

kaphānilātmā – her dośa is kapha-vatta.

dūrvāṅkurā bhaḥ – she shines like dew on grass.

kāmana – she is sexy

viśāla-netra – she has big eyes

sādhita – she is what people want. she is perfected. she is educated.

śukla-vṛddhiḥ – she increases brightness / happiness / prosperity.

I agree it is not evident here that her complexion is dark. However, we can see it in “sthūlāṅga” since sthūla and kṛṣṇa are close in their denotations.

Just like Kṛṣṇa is black, but bright – Venus is like that. Dark skin that sparkles.