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The planet Venus as disaster-bringer is equally apparent in Mesoamerica, where the observation and veneration of Venus amounted to a collective obsession. For the Aztecs and Maya alike, the heliacal rise of Venus was an occasion of ominous portents marked by dread and hysteria. Bernardino de Sahagún, a Franciscan friar writing in the 16th century, chronicled the Aztecs’ perception of Venus:
“And when it [Venus] newly emerged, much fear came over them; all were frightened. Everywhere the outlets and openings of [houses] were closed up. It was said that perchance [the light] might bring a cause of sickness, something evil when it came to emerge.”
In the attempt to propitiate Venus, the Aztecs offered it human sacrifices, a practice associated with the planet in the Old World as well. What is there about the planet Venus that could have inspired such grim rites? Venus’ present appearance would never inspire mass hysteria or vivid tales of impending doom and world destruction. How, then, are we to account for the fact that Sahagún’s testimony documenting the Aztec’s attitude towards Venus echoes the Sumerian skywatchers’ conception of Inanna/Venus: “To provoke shivers of fright, panic, trembling, and terror before the halo of your fearsome splendor, that is in your nature, oh Inanna!”
http://www.aeonjournal.com/venus.htm