The 24 August 2012 "Astronomy Picture of the Day" (APOD) shows a time lapse sequence of images taken on 13 august 2012. In the picture is the Moon and Venus at conjunction and an occultation. A similar conjunction and occultation took place in ancient times prior to the birth of Jesus Christ on 31 August, 0004 A.D.. What it would have symbolized to the ancient star watchers is interesting to learn.
You can find that APOD picture, "Moon Meets Morning Star" at http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
If you look at the link on a different date, a different photo may be present. Just go to the bottom of the page, click on "archive" and run down the list to find the correct title. Click on the title and the correct picture will come up.
According to the ancients, the Moon was considered to be the god of knowledge and knew everything that had happened and would happen. When the Moon god passed directly in front of the bright Venus god, the Venus god was shown to be not as powerful as before, for its might had been overshadowed by the all knowing Moon god. According to the symbolism the Venus god had been bowed before the new God predicted to be born on Earth. Therefore the new God, later named Jesus Christ, was predicted to be more powerful than Venus. This was shown by the god of knowledge illustrating the fact. This is one of the celestial events which predicted the power of the new God to the ancient sky watchers.
According to the ancient astronomers/magi/magicians/priests/wisemen, if observed in the dawn of the day,the wandering star Venus would affect the lives of all royalty, all nations, crops and agriculture, health of everyone, and the outcome of wars. Believed to be the god that started the astrological forecasts of the future, Venus had been considered the god of love, beauty, fertility, and harmony and ruled the constellation of Taurus. The Babylonians called Venus "Ishtar" and "Bilbat". They believed Venus brought sympathy and pleasure. Venus was considered so important, the Babylonians left tablets with over 7,000-astrological interpretations about her. The Sumerians considered her the queen of heaven.
The Egyptians symbolized the planet as "Bennue," a heron-like bird that dies and comes back to life. That may have been due to Venus moving behind the Sun, periodically disappearing from view and reappearing later. They thought Venus had been reincarnated or reborn.
You will enjoy reading about the symbols and symbolism concerning the relationships between the Moon and Venus in my book Unraveling the CHRISTMAS STAR Mystery.