Venus represents your values and how you attract what you desire into your life, as well as your relationships, finances, aesthetic tastes, resources, possessions, creative projects, and feelings of self-worth. When she goes retrograde you can reassess these parts of your life so you can realign them with your deepest soul values.

To make the most of these transits, get the Venus Retrograde Workbook which includes everything you need to know about these times. Get it here!

Note: this text is simplified from the Venus Retrograde Workbook:

Venus retrograde cycles happen once every 19 months and Venus spends about 40 days in retrograde motion. The planet isn’t actually going backwards – it just looks that way to us on Earth. Retrograde motion is an optical illusion caused by the variation in the speeds of the orbits of the planets involved.

When the Earth overtakes Venus in their orbits, Venus appears to slow down and stand still – or station – and then move backwards. The reverse happens when the planet stations direct again at the end of the cycle.

There’s also a shadow period before the station retrograde when Venus crosses the degree at which she’ll later station direct, and another at the end of the cycle that ends when Venus returns to the degree at which she stationed retrograde. This is seen as a loop in the sky.

In general, retrograde motion is interpreted to mean that the energies represented by the planet have turned inwards so they’re not as easy to access with the conscious mind. Activity in the area represented by the sign and house position of the planet will tend to slow down and problems can arise depending on how you deal with the situation.

Here’s a diagram showing the four key moments of the Venus cycle with the Sun – not to scale!

The cycle starts with the inferior conjunction but we tend to start paying attention when Venus enters her shadow just after her appearance as the evening star. That gives us six stages:

1. Venus enters retrograde shadow
2. Venus stations retrograde
3. Sun conjunct Venus retrograde – inferior conjunction
4. Venus stations direct
5. Venus leaves retrograde shadow
6. Sun conjunct Venus – superior conjunction

As the Goddess of Love and War, Venus has a dual nature which is reflected in her cycle where she transforms between masculine and feminine expressions as the morning and evening star.

After descending into the underworld to be renewed at the inferior conjunction, Venus returns as the morning star – also known as Phosphorus or Lucifer – in her guise as the Goddess of War, her masculine phase.

At the midpoint of the cycle at the superior conjunction, Venus becomes the evening star – also known as Hesperus– and transforms into the Goddess of Love, her feminine phase.

But the cycle has a much longer focus because Venus goes retrograde in almost the same place every 8 years, slowly moving backwards through the zodiac 2–3 degrees each time. This pattern creates a beautiful 5-petaled rose and a 5-pointed star that tracks backwards through the signs, like this:

There’s no real start or end point to this cycle – it just runs and runs in a process of continuous change and evolution that hides the secrets of life in its numbers. For example, over 8 years Venus orbits the Sun 13 times giving a ratio of 13:8 which equals 1.625, a number very close to the Golden ratio of phi (1.618).

Phi is a mathematical principle found in nature and underpins everything from the shape of galaxies, to shells and how plants grow, as well as the structure of DNA. It’s an expression of divine order and harmony and is associated with esoteric knowledge and the physical incarnation of the soul.

Venus Retrograde Advice

The deeper meaning of the Venus retrograde cycle is to renew your relationship with yourself and your inner values. This involves finding a balance between the two sides of Venus as shown in her rulership of Taurus and Libra.

The Taurean Venus is sensual and instinctive and motivated by natural bodily desires and appetites. While the Libran Venus is idealistic and refined and sociable, so is motivated by ideas about social acceptability and maintaining harmony.

When Venus goes retrograde, she connects you to the instinctual, primal side of the archetype so you can explore your darker nature and feelings. But the goal is to align your ideals with your instincts so you can return to wholeness and authenticity.

Ideally, you should aim to express your natural instincts in a way that’s socially acceptable without suppressing or denying who you are. But if these two sides of your nature fall out of balance, you’re more likely to experience an eruption of the dark face of Venus during the retrograde period.

Venus retrograde transits are the perfect time to find out what you really feel about everything in your life and how you feel about yourself. Explore your values and what you really care about and whether you’re taking good care of yourself.

Take time out to listen to what your soul needs you to hear so you can discover your deepest values, not what you think you should like or what your family and friends like. The message might not be obvious straightaway and it won’t come through in words. The soul speaks in the language of dreams, images, intuitions, and feelings, and these take time to fully unpack and understand.

Use the weeks of the retrograde to look at your relationships, finances and values to see if you’re living in harmony with your deepest needs. There may be things and people and circumstances in your life that no longer reflect how you see or value yourself, so those things may have to go.

Whatever comes up during the retrograde may take several cycles to fully understand and integrate into your life. You may benefit by looking back to what happened in your life during the previous cycle 8 years ago. Unfinished business could be reactivated now so you can deal with it and find a resolution and renewal.

As with Mercury retrograde, it’s a good idea to resist making big changes or serious commitments while Venus is retrograde because you might feel different once she goes direct. Try not to do anything rash, especially during the inferior conjunction when emotions can run high.

Assess the areas of your life that are affected and stay open to insights into the changes you need to make. When Venus turns direct, you’ll have a clearer sense of your true feelings and then you’ll be able to put plans or commitments into action and make any necessary changes.

Remember: a particular retrograde cycle will only be significant for you if it directly contacts your chart. So look at where Venus is transiting to see whether she aspects any of your natal placements and then prepare wisely.

The Venus Retrograde Workbook can help you to prepare! It’s a comprehensive guide that contains everything you need to know about Venus retrograde and includes printable worksheets and calendars up to 2030. For more details, click on the image or follow this link to download your copy today!

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