On Monday, 8/31, Venus enters her pre-retrograde shadow. This means it’s been eighteen months, and Venus is about to retrograde. This is a complicated retrograde, meaning that it crosses over multiple signs – from sign #8 (Scorpio) back into sign #7 (Libra). It’s worth noting here that Scorpio is the sign of Venus’s exile and Libra is the sign of Venus’s domain. This retrograde will likely encompass it all – the good, the bad, and probably the ugly, too.
The Set Up
Venus, our planet of love, pleasure, and relationships, is our second fastest-moving planet, retrograding every eighteen months or so. This makes our Venus retrogrades “business as usual”, although the sort of business that happens somewhat infrequently. Despite what many pop astrologers will claim, retrogrades aren’t something to fear. Instead, they are an opportunity to switch gears and experience life in an unusual and concentrated way.
Retrogrades don’t mean that the planet ACTUALLY is moving backward, of course. It is a shift in our perception of the planetary movement through our skies. In this way, our perspectives can become slightly skewed during these times, making it easy to misinterpret and misconstrue. Venus retrogrades, in particular, highlight our interpersonal relationships (both Big R Romantic Relationships and others) – the ways that they are working, and the ways that they are not! Venus also rules over art and most forms of (non-language-based) creativity.
During a Venus retrograde, it is better to work on finishing an art project rather than showing your work. Relationships of all kinds can become more strained as natural imbalances become more apparent; this offers an opportunity to refine and rebalance responsibilities, but it can also represent a tipping point, when one person involved decides that they have had enough. The general population is likely to be more dissatisfied and disgruntled, which can affect anybody who works in a people-forward environment (sales, retail, serving, sex work, etc.) Those who enjoy a bit more emotional drama may even enjoy the Red Flags and Long Nights that might arise. In a phrase, your experience may vary.
Venus’s retrogrades affect some people more than others. By order of significance, these people are most likely to be affected by a Venus retrograde:
- If you have Sun, Moon, or Ascendant in Taurus or Libra, or Venus closely conjunct (within 2°) to your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant
- If your natal Venus was retrograde or out of bounds
- If the current retrograde crosses over your Sun, Moon, Venus, or Ascendant (in conjunction) or makes a square or opposition
- If the current retrograde crosses over your Mercury, or Mars, or makes a square or opposition with them
- If the current retrograde makes a trine with one of your personal planets or your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant
- If you work in a job that involves art, therapy, sex, design, beauty, relationships, the public, or are currently undergoing a task that involves one of these domains during this retrograde cycle
- If you live with, are in a relationship with, or closely work with a person who meets the above criteria
One can assume that the more of these factors in play, the stronger you may experience the effects of a Venus retrograde cycle. This isn’t to say that what you experience will be bad or wrong – some people experience a lot of freedom from Venus’s journey. The more open you are to giving up control and staying open to the ever-changing landscape of a Venus cycle, the easier it will be.
This Venus retrograde is comprised of three parts:
- The pre-retrograde shadow, which begins on 8/31 at 22° Libra
- The retrograde period, which begins on 10/03 at 08° Scorpio and ends on 11/13 at 22° Libra
- The post-retrograde shadow, which ends on 12/15 at 08° Scorpio
This puts the degrees between 22° Libra and 08° Scorpio in the hot seat until mid-December. That is 22°-29° Libra (conjunction), Aries (opposition), Cancer and Capricorn (square), and Gemini and Aquarius (trine) as well as 00°-08° Scorpio (conjunction), Taurus (opposition), Leo and Aquarius (square), and Cancer and Pisces (trine).
During her retrograde, Venus will conjunct the Sun (this is a guarantee) and Mercury. She will also sextile Mars and Jupiter twice (important) and pass over each of our outer three planets thrice (mostly unimportant). We should also note that Mercury will retrograde on 10/24 and end their retrograde on 11/13 at the same time as Venus. This is the third time in a row that Mercury has retrograded “inside” Venus’s retrograde period; this is highly significant.
The Nitty Gritty
Venus is in her exile in fixed, water Scorpio – the deep pool where emotions go to die, or at least to submerge and never return. At its most immature, Scorpio is restrictive and vindictive, things that don’t exactly help us get along well with other people. On the other hand, Venus is in her domain in cardinal, airy Libra – THE sign of relationships. Signs are not always at their best in their domains (that goes to the exaltation); instead, we should view them at their most concentrated. At its most immature, Libra people pleases themselves all the way into emotional manipulation, which also doesn’t help us get along with other people.
We speak about the immature presentations here because when a planet retrogrades, it regresses. Because this is one of our three personal planets (and, moreover, one of our relationship planets), it will affect all of our interpersonal interactions over the next couple of months. Even when we are handling Venus’s retrograde decently well, there will be people in our lives who are not. This will go doubly for the second half of the retrograde (from 10/24-11/13) when both Venus AND Mercury will be retrograde.
Hold on to your butts; we are going to be emotionally dysregulated (Venus retrograde) AND unable to talk about it (Mercury retrograde).
Expect these 21 days to suck, and hope for the best.
It is what it is; this is our astrological weather for the next three months, but we still need to live in it. Life doesn’t stop because our personal planets retrograde, but the vibes can change a whole lot.
Unless you are in the midst of a personal relationship breakdown (which definitely can happen during a Venus retrograde), it can be wise to view this energy as “vibes”. We don’t have to absorb other people’s rancid energy. Having good energetic boundaries is a major bonus during personal planet retrograde – a strong view of what’s yours and what’s not. If it’s yours, you should manage whatever is going on. If it’s NOT yours, let it roll off of you.
Yes, Venus retrogrades (and especially Venus + Mercury retrogrades) are Break Up Weather, but that is simply because personal planet retrogrades tend to put people off kilter, which allows the cracks to rise to the surface. A solid relationship can handle some conflict; Venus retrogrades, in particular, can be a great time to strengthen your relationships by addressing problems head-on and seeking solutions. The problems come when there is base incompatibility; sometimes there is no fixing things.
This is where the Red Flags and Long Nights come in. There are certain people who use conflict to soothe their nervous systems, who thrive off of the ups and downs. This isn’t a blame-or-shame game here; we can acknowledge this as the maladaptive coping strategy it is. The Karens of the world – those that thrive through being loud and intrusive – will have a field day with this type of energy. The big flex is obviously not to be that type of person and to avoid them if you can.
It won’t always be possible. That might be part of your Venus retrograde journey, overcoming the programming that causes you to create conflict as a release.
I’m being really real here: it’s bad luck on our part that Venus will be in the sign of her exile AND that she will be in the sign of her domain. In Scorpio, Venus can be vindictive and conniving, and in Libra she can get emotionally controlling and manipulative. If you dig deeper enough into astrology, you will start to realize that I could reverse this list just as easily.
It’s the Scorpio part of this retrograde that puts us deep into our feelings (perhaps drowning in them, or at least submerged). It’s the Libra part that will situate it deep inside our personal relationships. We then involve retrograde Mercury in Scorpio (lying to themselves as much as to anyone else), the Sun in Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius, and sextiles to both Mars and Jupiter in Leo.
We’ve got a lot of pieces in play. As Venus moves between our two signs, as the Sun moves between its three signs, as Mercury moves into and out of retrograde, while Venus sextiles Mars and Jupiter, is she still retrograde or has she moved into forward motion again?
We have to remember this is going to be a long transit: from 8/31 when Venus is at 22° Libra to when she finally moves on from 08° Scorpio on 12/15. Not every day is going to feel bad, good, transformative, or itchy…
I think that everyone will feel this. I may be biased here, though; Venus is both my Chart and Solar rulers.
If you’re in a stable relationship, you don’t work with public, and you aren’t in the art/beauty/sex/tips/sales world (AND you don’t meet the criteria listed above), you could, feasible, barely notice the retrograde at all. If you like people though, if you want to make the world a better place, if you love with your whole damn heart – Venus can be very hard to ignore.
(If this post isn’t for you, if you are not Venusian in any way, that is completely okay!)
If you are Venusian, you likely have a natural inclination towards one of the following: I create, therefore I am. I am beautiful, therefore I am. I am sexy, therefore I am. I see beauty, therefore I am. I love, therefore I am.
Even if you’ve never considered yourself to be Venusian, if you relate to what I just wrote, you should keep reading.
I think Venus retrogrades can be the most complicated of the personal planet retrogrades, at least for Westerners (especially New Englanders with a fairly classic education who were raided by hippies, because that is all I can truly speak for) because we have a lot of baggage around love and bonding. Protestantism (are Puritanical thinking even more so) has done a number on how we allow ourselves to love. When the conservatives are trying to erase all mention of anything other than one woman who kept herself pure for her one man, and the rites we have gained to marry who we need to marry seem never more at risk; it is time for a Venus retrograde.
Does it make sense when I say that personal planet retrogrades are a part of the pendulum swing that measures out human forward momentum?
Retrogrades rub us raw; they don’t let us stagnate in a stasis. They are a reminder that life is a circle, that we are just on a giant rock caught in the gravity of a gas ball floating through space. We are the tiniest thing in this great vastness, and yet, because we are all that we know, we are everything that matters.
I need to be a sappy Taurus about this. You’ll have to forgive me; my Pisces dad died this spring, and I’m feeling really nostalgic. It can feel like love falls apart when Venus retrogrades, like nothing was worth it, like life is completely meaningless. But I challenge you to see it a different way. Have you ever dropped something on the ground and a complete stranger picked it up for you? Have you ever shared intense grins of pure bliss with a toddler as you pass each other at a trailhead? Remember the time that the woman told you to go in front of her in line because you only had two things and she had a cart full? The neighbor who had too many peaches and put them out on their stoop for anyone to have?
It’s really about grabbing on and holding on too tight to your others, especially when the world feels like it’s falling apart. Every single person on the planet has been living in a Chicken Little moment for six years, whether they have enough in them to pay attention to it or not.
We all went through a mass trauma, and nobody is ready to talk about it.
If you’re ready to process some shit, this will be a great opportunity. This is why it sucks when astrologers only talk about the bad of retrogrades. There are major opportunities here, too.
The sweet would not be so sweet without the sour.
Expect an ex or two to show back up, and be relieved when it doesn’t happen. This is the cosmic right time to remind everybody that your exes are your exes for a reason. Seek closure if you need it, but know that there’s a very good chance that you won’t get it. If you have a Scorpionic ex….
you already know. Enjoy the ride if you can.
The only real thing you can do in advance of a retrograde like this is to try to stay aware and be prepared. If you’re prone to depression, the dates when Venus is retrograde in Scorpio (10/04-10/25) should be considered Red Flag Weather; this is going to be in line with the waning energy of the Sun, so those who can be prone to an Autumn SAD should stay aware. Take extra precautions to be kind to yourself and do what you need to stay afloat. If you can’t make good brain juice, store-bought is fine.
I expect the threat of relationship implosion to be the highest around 10/10 – our Libra new moon – ruled by retrograde Venus and when retrograde Venus in Scorpio will square off with Mars in Leo. This would be a really good day to cast a love binding (yikes, don’t do this, kids), a commitment ceremony, or a big-deal breakup spell.
The retrograde will get easier when Venus is in Libra, as she will not be square to Mars by sign, which is a relatively bad omen, generally.
That said, I have to emphasize again that from 10/24 – 11/13, both Mercury and Venus will be retrograde at the same time. That’s rough no matter how you cut it. Schedule less for this time, especially if you work in art sales or visual communication. Apply those terms and all of this liberally, and in the way that makes the most sense in your life. This is just a weather reading; only you know where you live and how the weather affects you.
This is going to make the Hollows extra Hollow. Some people like it that way. The secret with a Venus retrograde is to find the love, to find the beauty, to find the joy. It’s still there. You might just need to recalibrate your expectations.
Putting it all together: How the fuck do I magic about this shit?
If you have something Venus-related to protect, do so before or on 10/03, when Venus retrogrades. This could be a spell to keep your art visible on the internet, a spell to get lots of tips at your bartending job – even a spell to keep your inspiration high so that you can finish your senior painting project on time. I mentioned a few (bad) ideas for the Libra new moon above.
I don’t generally like to recommend working with retrograde Venus unless you are already very familiar with her energy in prograde motion, or you were born while Venus was retrograde. I will make some exception for those born while Venus is out of bounds, as that also confers a strange relationship with her energies.
That said, Venus retrogrades can be deeply healing for the heart. Why not cast a love spell on yourself?
Put yourself in a jar (your name, photo, pieces of hair, whatever) with nine rose petals, a pinch of catnip, and some pink glitter. Put it on a mirror near your bed and shake it every morning when you get up. Put on your favorite clothes. Where the lotion that you want to smell all day. Smile at the flowers. Eat or drink your favorite foods. Call your favorite person. Love yourself.
Hard mode: cast a love spell on everybody. You are one of everybody, so this is still a love spell on yourself.
The Details
8/31 – Venus enters her pre-retrograde shadow 22° Libra
9/8 – Venus in Libra trine North Node in Aquarius (1)
9/10 – Venus in Scorpio opposed Chiron in Taurus (1), Venus enters Scorpio
9/15 – Venus in Scorpio square retrograde Pluto in Aquarius (1)
9/22 – Sun enters Libra
9/26 – Full Moon 03° Aries
10/03 – Venus retrogrades 08° Scorpio
10/04 – Mercury enters its pre-retrograde shadow 05° Scorpio
10/06 – Mercury conjunct retrograde Venus 08° Scorpio
10/10 – New Moon 17° Libra, retrograde Venus in Scorpio square Mars in Leo
10/20 – retrograde Venus in Scorpio square retrograde Pluto in Aquarius (2)
10/23 – Sun enters Scorpio, Sun conjunct retrograde Venus 00° Scorpio
10/24 – Mercury retrogrades 20° Scorpio
10/25 – retrograde Venus enters Libra
10/26 – Full Moon 02° Taurus
10/28 – retrograde Venus in Libra opposed Chiron in Aries (2)
11/04 – retrograde Venus in Libra sextile Jupiter in Leo (1)
11/09 – New Moon 16° Scorpio
11/10 – retrograde Venus in Libra sextile Mars in Leo (1)
11/13 – Venus stations direct 22° Libra, Mercury stations direct 05° Scorpio
11/22 – Sun enters Sagittarius
11/24 – Venus in Libra trine North Node in Aquarius (3)
11/28 – Venus in Libra sextile Jupiter in Leo (2), Venus in Libra opposed Chiron in Aries (3)
11/30 – Mercury exits its post-retrograde shadow 20° Scorpio
12/04 – Venus enters Scorpio (2)
12/12 – Venus in Scorpio sextile Mars in Virgo (2)
12/15 – Venus exits her post-retrograde shadow 08° Scorpio
Further Reading: Working With Personal Planet Retrogrades
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