Astarta is a demon of lust and pleasure. Astarota's wife. Queen of the Spirits of the Dead. The Phoenicians worshipped her as an astral deity, the embodiment of the planet Venus, goddess of love and fertility, war and hunting. She was portrayed as a naked horseman, with gold skin, often with horns on her head, shooting from an archery. The cult of Astarte, prevalent throughout the Middle East, was accompanied by orgies and "sacred" prostitution.