Some of the most beautiful stories I’ve witnessed when working with people have been Venus Retrograde stories. There’s something magical about the depth of the reflection, about the raw honesty and the vulnerability that Venus retrograde awakens, that brings the best out of people.
What’s fascinating about these stories is that people always end up doing something completely counterintuitive… there is always a twist that develops in these stories, as you will soon read.
Venus retrograde brings to the surface all of our repressed feelings and emotions.
Venus Retrograde In The News
If you’ve been watching the news you’ve probably seen already lots of things coming up. I usually look in the news to see what topics are trending on the day a planet goes retrograde.
Just before Venus went retrograde, Lady Gaga was invited to the Stephen Colbert show, where she spoke about trauma and abuse. That night, Venus retrograde was conjunct Lady Gaga’s Moon and Pluto. She said:
“If someone is assaulted or experiences trauma, there is scientific proof — it’s biology — that people change. The brain changes. What it does is it takes the trauma and it puts it in a box and it files it away and shuts it so that we can survive the pain.”
This quote is emblematic for Venus retrograde in Scorpio. Scorpio is the Underworld, the realm of the subconscious. Just because something is hidden, doesn’t mean it doesn’t change us, doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect us.
The second event that got into the news was the mixed martial arts fight between Connor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Khabib (who won the fight) jumped out of the fighting octagon into the crowd, to attack a supporter – an unprecedented act in sports. The fight happened when Venus switched direction and was EXACTLY conjunct Khabib’s Pluto. Venus was at 10°49’ Scorpio and Khabib’s Pluto at 10°49’ Scorpio.
Basically, all his suppressed emotions came out. For good (he had an unusual force and stamina and won the fight) and for bad (he lost control and set a bad example for the sport).
After the fight, Khabib justified his actions by blaming his opponent who had previously mocked his family and his religion. This example shows the rage that can accumulate for a long period of time. Just because Khabib had stuffed it down, didn’t mean that it had gone away.
The scene of Khabib jumping out of the fighting octagon in rage is also emblematic for Venus retrograde in Scorpio. All the things that make us hurt, all the memories we felt when we were out of control and powerless, come to the surface, to be dealt with.
The first three weeks of Venus retrograde are for purging, for bringing these trapped feelings into our awareness.
That’s definitely not an invitation to do what Khabib did, but an invitation to acknowledge and show compassion for your suppressed emotions.
Venus Retrograde is the best time to clear your basement. It’s not only the ugly things that will come out. Also our treasures. Treasures you were not even aware were hidden there.
Venus Retrograde Stories
I would like to share some stories from the last time Venus went retrograde in Scorpio in October 2010.
Vanessa had a high profile job in sales. Although she worked twice as hard as anyone else and generated three times more revenue than any of her colleagues, her promotion was still not coming. Basically, the manager favored other employees who happened to be close friends or relatives.
When Venus went retrograde, Vanessa’s manager announced the promotions for the coming year. Someone else got promoted, someone who was always late and had difficulties reaching their target. Vanessa was devastated. More than being upset for her not getting the promotion, she was infuriated about the injustice.
She felt powerless and hopeless. After three weeks (when the new Venus cycle started), she decided to resign. She had no plan for the future, she didn’t know what to do next. She completely surrendered.
During one late night at home, wondering why it had happened, she suddenly had a revelation. She remembered the numerous situations when she got herself into ‘impossible situations’. The impossible situations are situations that are impossible to change, no matter how hard you try.
She realized she knew all along when something is a lost cause, but she got herself repeatedly into ‘impossible situations’ so she can experience, again and again, feelings of powerlessness. She wanted to be defeated.
When she finally realized that, all her struggle went away. It was not her fault, as she recognized the same traits in her parents, and in other members of her family. She inherited the need to be defeated.
Just by acknowledging that, everything changed. That mental model didn’t have power over her anymore. When Venus went direct, she found an amazing job (not in sales, but in operations, a job that fit her much better).
She didn’t care about being promoted anymore. In fact, she realized she needed more time for herself. The promotion came only 3 months later. Vanessa was now comfortable with her feelings, and the others felt secure around her too, and finally recognized her leadership potential.
Losing One’s Voice
Amanda was a singer. She was singing 3 days a week in a restaurant. She was sharing a tiny flat with her longtime partner and another friend. When she moved into that city she had big hopes. She hoped she would become famous. She dreamt of a family and of a nice house.
She was now in her early 40’s and realized that probably none of her dreams will come true. When she was on stage singing (just a few days after Venus went retrograde) she suddenly lost her voice. No matter how hard she tried, she could not make herself sing. She left the stage embarrassed and went home crying. The voice came back a few hours later but she knew she would never go back.
She realized she was living a fake, soulless life. She was fake. That’s why she couldn’t sing anymore. She simply couldn’t play that role any longer. She didn’t want to be in that city, she was not happy in her relationship, she didn’t want to sing in a band. She remembered herself as a child, during her singing classes. She deeply feared her music teacher, who was always admonishing her, saying that her voice didn’t sound ‘studied’ and elegant enough.
She realized she has lost her voice not that night, but a long time ago. She had an honest discussion with her partner, who supported her. They finally decided to move out of the apartment in the city center and rented a tiny house in the suburbs. Amanda became a singing teacher, helping other people find their true voice.
As you can see in these examples, Venus retrograde firstly comes with a loss. You lose something of value. And then, it’s exactly this loss that helps you get clarity of your situation. This sudden awareness empowers you to change yourself and change your life.
Venus retrograde has already started. Can you feel the intensity? I’ve got tons of emails from people all over the world asking me what’s going on. You may be wondering if all the craziness in the world has to do with Venus Retrograde, and so, you may be curious how Venus Retrograde will affect YOU.
If life got a lot more intense lately, you’re not alone. Venus retrograde is a big thing because Venus goes retrograde less than any other planet – only once every 19 months and only 7% of the time!
Venus Retrograde in Scorpio is by definition more intense than any other Venus Retrograde because Venus in Scorpio is the sign of intensity and transformation.
But not the whole 6-week Venus Retrograde will be like this. Yes, the first three weeks are going to be intense. This is a phase of purging. Those trapped thoughts, feelings and memories are finally ready to come out!
The 2nd half of Venus Retrograde is completely different. After Venus is conjunct the Sun, we are officially done with the previous 19-month Venus cycle. A new cycle begins. The focus will be on how to start afresh.
Venus Retrograde will end on a glorious note with Venus going direct at 25° Libra, conjunct the highly benefic fixed star Spica.
This Venus Retrograde can have a wonderful happy ending. But it requires awareness. You have to do the work. Venus in Scorpio is not a time to run away. It’s a time to stay with your feelings, no matter how unsettling they are.
You may wonder how Venus Retrograde will affect you in particular.
Although Venus retrograde will affect all of us, some people will feel it stronger. It will affect you more if you are a Scorpio, a Libra, a Taurus, or an Aries, or if you have your Moon or your rising sign in Scorpio, Libra, Taurus or Aries.
Venus Retrograde will also influence you more strongly if you have a planet or an angle in your chart between 25° Libra and 10° Scorpio. Not sure if you have a planet there? You can check out by generating your natal chart on astro.com → free horoscopes → extended chart selection.
Whether or not you have a planet in Libra or Scorpio, Venus Retrograde WILL influence you in some way. That’s because there is an area of your chart that Venus will cross over. This is where the action is going to happen.
All you need to know is your ascendant sign. I use whole sign houses, so if you use another house system you can adjust accordingly.
Aries Ascendant
If you are an Aries ascendant, Venus retrograde will start in your 8th house of shared resources, trust, intimacy, sex, debt and rebirth. Your relationships with other people will be a source of resentment at first. You may feel you are doing too much and get too little in return. As a result, blow-ups and emotional confrontations can erupt. The solution is in Libra. Libra will show you how to be level-headed in situations that otherwise drive you crazy, and will teach you how to improve your conflict resolution skills. You can transform the resentment into an opportunity to put your relationships on equal footing.
Taurus Ascendant
If you are a Taurus ascendant, Venus retrograde will start in your 7th house of relationships. In the first three weeks of Venus Retrograde, your relationships will be tested. You may be tempted to put an end to some of these relationships. But before you do that, try to see if you can still work them out. When Venus moves back into Libra (that’s your 6th house) she will help you sort things out from a place of humility and compassion. Sometimes life is not fair, and relationships are not fair either, but it doesn’t mean they are not rewarding in any other way.
Gemini Ascendant
If you are a Gemini ascendant, Venus retrograde will start in your 6th house of work, health, daily routine and service to others. All these things can become a source of stress in the first three weeks of Venus retrograde. You may feel fed up. You’ve worked so hard and all your efforts seem to give little return. The secret? Connect to your heart. When Venus moves back into Libra (that’s your 5th house of living from the heart) you will re-align yourself with your heart’s purpose. You will find out how to find joy and fulfillment in areas of life that are otherwise a source of struggle or anxiety.
Cancer Ascendant
If you are a Cancer ascendant, Venus Retrograde will start in your 5th house of living from the heart. In the first three weeks of Venus Retrograde, you may feel you have lost your zest for life. The answers to your lack of motivation and vitality lay in your family life. Your vitality is an expression of how emotionally safe and nurtured you feel. Whether it is an unresolved issue with a parent, or with someone from your house, this is what you need to fix in order to unlock your heart.
Leo Ascendant
If you are a Leo ascendant, Venus retrograde will start in your 4th house of home, family, roots and emotional security. The first three weeks of Venus retrograde will require you to do ‘shadow work’ in these areas of your life. There is something that needs to be fixed. The solution? Be open to consider new ideas and accept different points of view. It’s not easy to do that when we feel anxious and unappreciated, but embracing a “beginners mind” attitude will actually do the trick for you. When you distance yourself from your emotions, you can see objectively what’s going on and make the necessary changes from that place of awareness.
Virgo Ascendant
If you are a Virgo ascendant, Venus retrograde will start in your 3rd house of communication, everyday activities and the regular rhythm of life. The first three weeks of Venus Retrograde will be very busy. All your mental clutter will come to the surface. The solution can be found in your 2nd house (this is where Libra is in your chart). The 2nd house is the house of money and assets. Do you have enough security in your finances? Do you spend your time and energy on the right things? By honestly answering these questions, you will find out what you need to move away from, and what you need to focus on.
Libra Ascendant
If you are a Libra ascendant, Venus retrograde will start in your 2nd house of resources: time, money and energy, and the resolution will be in Libra, which is your 1st house. Are you using your money and resources in the right way? Do they reflect who you are? Your relationship with money and resources is an expression of how much power you allow yourself to have. It’s about you, not about the money. There is something you need to address: maybe it’s your money mindset. Pay attention to your health, too. Your body will signal when something is not on.
Scorpio Ascendant
If you are a Scorpio ascendant, Venus retrograde will start in your 1st house of identity and will end in your 12th house of the unconscious. In the first three weeks, Venus retrograde will show you which parts of yourself are not fully aligned with your integrity. Perhaps a blind spot. The solution can be found in your 12th house. Pay attention to messages that come to you from the invisible world. Something that was unconscious will eventually become conscious. This is the best time to integrate your shadow.
Sagittarius Ascendant
If you are a Sagittarius ascendant, Venus retrograde will start in your 12th house of the unconscious motivations, blind spots, and overlooked opportunities. In the first 3 weeks of Venus Retrograde, you may feel lost and alienated. The solution is in your 11th house of friends and groups of people. If you haven’t found God on a peak of the mountain, maybe it’s time to call a friend. Having a connection with real people will restore your sanity.
Capricorn Ascendant
If you are a Capricorn ascendant, Venus retrograde will start in your 11th house of hopes, dreams, friends, and communities. Do you feel disconnected from your hopes and dreams? Do you expect that someone or something from the outside will help make them happen? That the stars need to align? The answer to the struggle can be found in your 10th house of the higher self. Instead of expecting the world to change, choose to become the change you want to see in the world.
Aquarius Ascendant
If you are an Aquarius ascendant, Venus retrograde will start in your 10th house of status, career, and achievements, pointing to how you may sabotage your career by not paying enough attention to your overall vision. By going back to the drawing board, you will find the answers you are looking for. Do you really have a purpose or you’re just trying to what others expect from you? Have a look at your life – it’s not that important what other people think of it – the real question here is whether it’s in line with YOUR path. Not with society.
Pisces Ascendant
If you are a Pisces ascendant, Venus retrograde will start in your 9th house of vision and purpose. The first three weeks of Venus Retrograde will feel as though you have lost your faith in life, that you have lost your compass. The solution can be found in your relationships with others. Your overall direction in life is connected to people you are close to, you make agreements with, or share resources with. What is it about these agreements that you need to revise? Which people can you trust? Under what revised terms can you continue the relationships with these people?
The New Moon in Libra takes place on October 8 (if you live in the US) or on October 9 (if you live in Europe or Australasia). The New Moon is at 15° Libra.
This New Moon will feel more like Scorpio than Libra.
Also, the New Moon applies a very tight square to Pluto. And Pluto is the ruler of Scorpio.
As you can see, we have a lot of Scorpio energy connected to the New Moon. And what does Scorpio stand for? Transformation, transformation, transformation.
New Moons are connected to new beginnings, but because the ruler of the New Moon, Venus is retrograde, this new beginning is somewhat connected to the past.
Still, because it’s a New Moon, it’s not about closing chapters, it is about opening new chapters.
Making Peace With The Dark Side
Therefore, the New Moon in Libra is about sorting things out. What kind of things? Those things that lay in your subconscious. Your subconscious is the metaphorical Underworld, the realm of Scorpio and Pluto.
What can you do to bring the unconscious to the surface?
Everything starts with making a decision to try a different approach.
Libra is the scales that ponder the benefits and the costs. If it’s worth it, she will go for it. Libra is a cardinal sign after all. And cardinal signs are about taking action.
The New Moon is also trine Mars. Mars is the planet of assertion and drive. Mars will push you to assert your personal will. You are motivated. You are ready. It’s time to clean the basement!
In Scorpio, Venus operates from the subconscious. Venus retrograde in Scorpio digs into the subconscious to expose what’s hidden behind your passions, your relationships, your finances, your jealousy, your need for intimacy, your control issues.
Do you feel empowered in these areas of your life or not? If not, it’s time to find out why.
But the New Moon is in Libra, the scales, the symbol of objectivity and discernment. Libra will take a look at all the mess that came to the surface. She won’t freak out. Libra knows everything in life is a little bit of this and this and a little bit of that.
Are you jealous? Then Libra’s approach is to analyze the pros and the cons of being jealous. There is a good thing about being jealous: it means you are passionate and invested. And there are some cons, too. This jealousy can alter your judgment and make you make decisions that you regret later. Libra’s approach is to take your jealousy and turn it into something harmonious, workable and balanced.
Reconstruct Yourself
The Sabian symbol of the New Moon is “After a storm, a boat landing stands in need of reconstruction”.
The storm is a symbol for the indestructible forces of nature connected to the Scorpio / Pluto archetype. It is a symbol of fate, of how things are supposed to work, in the grand scheme of things.
The boat landing represents our free will – it is a man-made structure that defies nature. Our free will comes with benefits (we get to choose) but also with a cost (it interferes with the natural flow of life). Nature will too, adjust to us, but it will take time.
We need toconsciously re-invent ourselves so we can align the two realms: our free will, and our fate.
Most of the time, the boat landing will help us make our lives better. But there are times when we need to withstand storms. We never have 100% control, no matter how advanced the engineering is. Some storms will damage us, and there’s no way around that.
But it is exactly the broken structure, what is left of us after the storm, that is our greatest opportunity.
When you feel you’re falling apart, that’s, in fact, your unique chance to reconstruct yourself, to reinvent yourself, so that you can grow into an even better human being.
What action will you take to reconstruct yourself? The New Moon in Libra is the best time to take that first step.
The event of the month is, of course, Venus retrograde in Scorpio. Venus changes course on October 5 at 10° Scorpio and will stay retrograde until November 15.
This is one of the most intense Venus retrograde we have had in a while. Why? Firstly, because it’s in Scorpio. Usually, that’s ‘enough said’. Scorpio is the sign of change and transformation. After any serious Scorpio transit, something inside you changes forever. Once you emerge from the storm, you’re never the same person again.
Scorpio is the sign of hidden things, so Venus retrograde will expose your most hidden secrets, especially those related to love and relationships. No matter how happy our relationships are, there is always stuff buried deep inside.
Venus retrograde will dive into the Underworld to expose this buried stuff. When Venus is retrograde, she is in fact in a perfect alignment with the Earth and the Sun. Venus disappears in the rays of the Sun to dive into the metaphorical Underworld, where she gets purified.
When Venus is retrograde, the pull of self-transformation is so strong that we cannot ignore it. Whether or not you are aware of it yet, you too are ready to dive in.
Venus retrograde makes an intense opposition to Uranus, the planet of unexpected change, freedom, and liberation. Usually, one Uranus transit is enough to break the chains of illusion. But this time we have an unusually long Uranus transit, because of Venus’ back and forth motion.
Because it takes so long, Venus-Uranus will break the strongest chains – those chains you thought are impossible to break. Ultimately, the Venus-Uranus opposition will liberate us from the prison of our outdated Selves, so that we can have mature, meaningful and authentic relationships.
Let’s have a look at the most important events of October 2018:
October 2nd, 2018 – Mercury is Square Pluto
On October 2nd, 2018 Mercury is square Pluto. We all have obsessive thoughts from time to time. The reason they become obsessive is that there are certain aspects of our lives we believe we have no control over. And the anxiety of ‘not having control’ creates these obsessive thoughts.
Obsessive thoughts are thoughts that got caught in a loop because we’re not addressing the underlying cause that created them in the first place.
Your challenge during this transit is to pay closer attention to these obsessive thoughts. Where do you feel powerless in your life, and why? Pluto always asks for the ‘why’ and will ‘torture’ you until you find out. Once you have found out, the simple acknowledgment of the ‘why’ usually solves the problem.
October 5th, 2018 – Venus goes Retrograde
On October 5th, 2018 Venus goes retrograde. Venus is how the world makes us feel. When Venus goes retrograde in Scorpio, the sign of the truth, you may discover some things in your life that aren’t that pretty.
But the worst thing you could do is to try to brush them off. That strategy, my friend, is not going to work. Scorpio EXPOSES. The more you try to hide it, the more it will come to get you.
Venus goes retrograde in Scorpio for a reason. We all have some skeletons in our closet. These skeletons get bored too, and once every 8 years, when Venus goes retrograde in Scorpio, they want to come out. The question is: are you going to build a stronger lock to keep them in there for 8 more years, or are you going to let them out?
Are you ready? Have no fear. You can actually thrive during this process, and I’ll show you how. Watch out for my announcement of the Venus retrograde course!
October 9th, 2018 – New Moon in Libra
On October 9th, 2018 we have a New Moon in Libra. This New Moon is square Pluto. Venus, the ruler of the New Moon, is in Scorpio AND is retrograde. This New Moon in Libra will feel very Scorpionic, so don’t expect love, peace, and chocolate.
New Moons come with new beginnings. This particular new beginning has a ‘retrograde’ flavor to it. There is some ‘unfinished’ energy about it. Something about this new beginning will require some digging into the past. If you start something new around October 9th, there is more to it.
On the same day, Mercury moves into Scorpio, the most investigative sign of the zodiac. Mercury likes to go into the secret corners of your mind and expose the most creepy thoughts and feelings. These are things we usually hide from others and even from ourselves.
Mercury is an objective planet, and Scorpio is all about the truth. Not the objective truth of Libra, but the emotional and sometimes ambivalent truth of deep-water Scorpio.
Mercury in Scorpio is about applying radical honesty in your everyday life. Radical honesty doesn’t mean telling your friend “you look fat in that dress”. It starts with yourself. Are you really honest – with your own feelings – when you tell someone they are fat? What really drives you to say that? Is it honesty or something else?
October 10th, 2018 – Mercury opposite Uranus; Venus square Mars
On October 10th, 2018 Mercury is opposite Uranus and Venus is square Mars. This is a high energy, erratic day. You can have an irresistible desire to speak your mind or to take decisive action in one of your relationships.
Taking action is always a good idea, as long as you take it from a place of confidence and alignment. If you are out of alignment, is not a good idea to rush in into an action you will end up regretting later.
On a positive side, these dynamic aspects can help you find creative solutions to some problems you’ve been avoiding.
October 12th, 2018 – Sun square Pluto
On October 12th, 2018 Sun is square Pluto. The Sun is in Libra and Pluto is in Capricorn – we have some serious cardinal action! Power struggles are usually the norm when the Sun makes an aspect to Pluto, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Pluto only wants to show you that there is some higher truth about life that you may not be aware of yet. Pluto will push you outside your comfort zone to find this higher truth. It can be uncomfortable at first, but it is so much worth it. This is a great day for self-development or self-inquiry.
October 15th, 2018 – Mercury conjunct Venus
On October 15th, 2018 Mercury is conjunct Venus at 8° Scorpio. Venus is making her last appearances as an evening star. In just a couple of days, she will disappear under the beams of the Sun, ready to be transformed in a morning star. Mercury, on the other hand, has just emerged from the beams of the Sun. He has a message for Venus. This is the call for transformation.
The Sumerian myth of Inanna begins with Inanna deciding to attend her sister’s husband’s funeral. This is her pretext to go into the Underworld. Venus will indeed disappear from the sky 3 days later, on October 18. This pretext, or call to action, is Mercury. He will bring you the message. What is YOUR call to action?
October 19th, 2018 – Mercury trine Neptune; Mercury square Mars
On October 19th, 2018 Mercury is trine Neptune and square Mars. You can have lots of ideas thanks to the harmonious Mercury trine Neptune aspect, but the dynamic square to Mars will help you put them into practice. If you are more reserved, this transit will give you the impulse you needed to bring your ideas into the world. If you are very extroverted and confident, you can become a little bit too much in love with your ideas and try too hard to push them on others.
October 23rd, 2018 – Sun enters Scorpio
On October 23rd, 2018 Sun enters Scorpio. When the leaves start falling, and Halloween approaches, you know that the Scorpio season is about to start. Scorpio is the sign of change and transformation that can lead to inner strength. October/November is also the season when we usually get the flu. Getting the flu is not pleasant, but it can, in fact, help your immune system get stronger.
And this is how Scorpio operates. It creates a bit of discomfort so that you can become stronger, better and enjoy life even more. Venus (retrograde), Mercury and Jupiter are already in Scorpio. When the Sun joins in, you will become aware of what exactly you need to transform in your life so you can become stronger and better.
October 24th, 2018 – Full Moon in Taurus
On October 24th, 2018 we have a Full Moon in Taurus. The Full Moon in Taurus is on high voltage! This Full Moon should be called the “AC/DC Full Moon” as it is exactly conjunct Uranus.
The Moon and Uranus are in the first degree of Taurus, and Sun is in the first degree of Scorpio. The ruler of the Full Moon, Venus is retrograde and approaching the conjunction with the Sun. Something is in the making.
Taurus and Scorpio are FIXED signs are they RESIST change. Uranus is the planet of change. What do you think it will happen? When it comes to Uranus, I don’t make any predictions. Prepare for a revelation. Something needs to change. You may not know what exactly, but you already feel it coming.
October 26, 2018 – Venus conjunct Sun
On October 26th, 2018 Venus retrograde is conjunct Sun and a new Venus cycle begins. The interior conjunction with the Sun basically means the end of the Venus current cycle and the beginning of a new one. This is the most important day of the Venus retrograde and one of the most important days of the year.
Venus throws herself into the arms of the Sun. This is where she gets purified, where she sheds her old skin. And this is where she gets clarity and where she seeds her intentions for yet another 19-month journey.
And this is where she will metamorphose from an evening star into a morning star. Today is a turning point. Mark this date in your calendar. Pay attention to what happens around this date. Journal it.
October 29th, 2018 – Mercury conjunct Jupiter
On October 29th, 2018 Mercury is conjunct Jupiter at 27° Scorpio. This is the last aspect a planet makes to Jupiter in Scorpio before Scorpio moves into Sagittarius. Jupiter moved in Scorpio in October last year and brought us the #metoo movement.
Mercury is the planet of news and announcements so we can expect the big announcement of the Jupiter in Scorpio transit.
In your natal chart, you will get some information about the area of your life ruled by Jupiter. If you are a Gemini ascendant for example, and Jupiter rules your 7th house, you will get some news about your relationships.
October 30th, 2018 – Mercury enters Sagittarius
On October 30th, 2018 Mercury enters Sagittarius. Sagittarius may not be Mercury’s favorite sign, but it’s certainly an interesting transit.
Mercury is the planet of factual information. Mercury only believes in what he or she can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell.
Sagittarius, on the other hand, is the planet of abstract knowledge, of dogma, of what we believe without questioning. Sagittarius is the sign of philosophy and religion.
Where Mercury sees the details, Sagittarius sees the big picture. In the coming weeks, you may struggle with seeing the forest for the trees. That’s unless your natal Mercury is in Sagittarius or Pisces… in this case you will feel at home with this transit.
Nevertheless, by striving to find details in the big picture, to see the concrete in the abstract, you can have some revelations. This transit is great for studying and any kind of intellectual work where a fresh perspective is needed.
October 31st, 2018 – Venus opposite Uranus
On October 31st, 2018 Venus is opposite Uranus. Venus makes another exact opposition to Uranus (the 2nd) and shortly after Venus leaves Scorpio and moves back into Libra. After the exhausting process of digging into the depths of our souls, Venus moving back into Libra will feel like the light at the end of the tunnel.
Finally, there is hope. Finally, you will be able to see the silver lining of this heart-shattering transit. Not only Venus moves back into Libra, the sign where she feels at her best, but on the same day, Venus rises again in the sky. This is the first appearance of Venus as a morning star. She’s alive, and ready to start again. And so will you be!
The Full Moon in Aries on September 25 is conjunct Chiron and square Saturn.
The Moon and Chiron are braced together in the first two degrees of Aries, at the beginning of the zodiac.
The Full Moon in Aries conjunct Chiron is vulnerable. It’s like a kid in the 1st day of school. Remember when you did something for the 1st time? Remember the feelings of vulnerability and anticipation? “I am really able to do this?” “What if others think I’m a loser?”.
Aries is the 1st sign of the zodiac and normally he doesn’t care about what others think of him or her. However, right now the Moon in Aries is conjunct Chiron. Chiron feels like an outcast because he IS different. He is an amazing, gifted teacher but he doesn’t know that yet.
Also, the Full Moon in Aries is opposite the Sun and Mercury in Libra, and Libra does care about what others think.
The cherry on the cake, if we could say this, is an almost exact square from Saturn.
Saturn is in Capricorn, where he fully embodies his traits: the tough teacher who obeys the rules and is here to show you that you should, too.
How can you be yourself (Moon in Aries), be mindful of others (Sun in Libra) and also fulfill the expectations of the society (Saturn in Capricorn)?
The answer? Be vulnerable. When you embrace your vulnerability, your awareness increases. So what if you haven’t done it before? When you stay present you pay attention. You become more aware of subtle clues from your environment.
The Full Moon in Aries is not about the usual Aries energy: hey this is me, take me as I am. It’s not about entitlement. It’s about being mindful, being aware, it’s about approaching life with a beginner’s mind.
There is a more subtle message to this Full Moon. That is to stay strong in the face of adversity and follow your north star, no matter what.
Whatever you do, keep going. Do you feel resistance? Break through it.
No matter how the world tries to bring you down, keep going. Don’t go against it, learn from the others, adjust, but keep going.
You can make it.
Yes, you should listen to other people’s feedback. During the Libra season, we naturally pay more attention to the other. But in the end, it’s all about you.
Will you keep going even when it gets tough?
The ruler of the Full Moon, Mars, is in Aquarius, makes positive aspects to Sun and Mercury, now in Libra. The secret is to stay level-headed and not to take things personally. I warn you, it won’t be easy. When Chiron is conjunct the Full Moon, things are anything but easy.
But Chiron, the wounded healer, is also the wisest teacher. Your deepest wound is your greatest gift. Sometimes we do have to go through some pain and suffering so we can arise stronger, wiser and better.
When good things happen to us, we think it’s luck…but we forget about all the hard work that got us there.
You may know that most people who inherit or gain a large sum of money waste it. That’s because they haven’t earned it themselves. The only things that matter in the end are the ones we earn with our sweat and blood.
Life is challenging from time to time and will push out of our comfort zone. That’s how we learn to appreciate it.
Venus Retrograde – Venus’ Descent Into The Underworld
Venus goes retrograde less than any other planet, but when it does, it touches us to the core of our heart.
Venus retrograde is similar to a descent into the underworld: a part of us must die so that a new version of ourselves can emerge.
Did you know that Venus, our sister planet, is the 3rd brightest object in the sky, after the Sun and the Moon? Venus affects us deeply, and when it changes direction, our life changes too.
Venus retrograde is so much more significant because it happens only once every 1,5 years of 584 days. And Venus retrograde is nothing else but the beginning on a new Venus cycle.
Yes, just like Sun has a cycle (365 days, or a year), just like Moon has a cycle (29 days, or a lunar month), so does Venus.
What is spectacular about the Venus cycle is that it has two distinct phases: Venus rising as a morning star, and as an evening star.
For 9 months (btw, did you know that Venus cycle correlates to the human gestation?) Venus rises before the Sun. This is her morning star phase.
She then disappears from the sky for approximately 2 months. After 2 months, she rises again, this time as an evening star. After that Venus disappears again, this time for two weeks. A new Venus cycle starts, with Venus rising again as a morning star.
Complicated? Venus’ movement back and forth, before and after the Sun can seem confusing (it was confusing for our ancestors too, and some cultures believed that Venus was two different stars!).
When Venus transforms from an evening star to a morning star, she actually disappears from the sky. Venus goes retrograde.
The Rebirth Of Venus
Venus retrograde happens exactly at the end of a Venus cycle when Venus shifts from an evening star to a morning star.
Venus changes her clothes from an evening lady to a morning warrior.
When retrograde, Venus has to leave behind her beautiful evening gown and embrace the purity of nature. This is the rebirth of Venus.
Venus retrograde is nothing else but Venus’ rebirth.
The transformation is a complete metamorphosis. No wonder Venus retrograde completely turns our life upside down, too.
I know people who lock themselves in the house, refuse to go out, say no to invitations, don’t make any purchase, and don’t even go to the hairdresser when Venus is retrograde. But unless we understand that Venus retrograde is a necessary process of transformation, we will miss out greatly on opportunities to change ourselves and our lives for the better.
Venus is retrograde for 40 days. Many myths have been connected to the 40 days period: Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. Moses and the ancient Hebrews wandered in the wilderness for 40 days. Buddha is said to have fasted and meditated for 40 days before reaching Samadhi.
But perhaps the most significant Venus retrograde myth is the Sumerian myth of Inanna’s descent into the underworld.
Venus And The Myth Of Inanna
Inanna is no one else but the Sumerian counterpart of Venus. Inanna was the Goddess of fertility and abundance and the most important deity of the times.
Her morning and evening phase where indicators of agricultural productivity. Food was the most important thing for our ancestors, food basically meant life. No wonder Inanna (Venus) played such an important role at the time.
The myth of Inanna’ descent into the underworld is nothing else but an allegory of Venus’ retrograde cycle.
The myth starts with Inanna deciding to travel to the underworld to visit her sister Ereshkigal, the Goddess of the Underworld. To the Sumerians, Venus disappearing under the horizon meant Venus went to the Underworld
Inanna passes through 7 gates to Underworld and she has to remove a piece of clothing or jewelry at each gate–> she needs to let go of her old identification of the self
She finally arrives in the Underworld, but her sister decides to kill her –> this is the phase when Venus is conjunct the Sun and a new Venus cycle starts. To start anew, a part of us must die
The goddess of the Underworld who strikes Inanna dead is nothing else but our shadow side, which we need to learn to integrate
Emissaries from the Earth come to rescue Inanna and resurrect her. Inanna is resurrected and comes back to Earth –> this is the phase when Venus appears again in the sky, this time as a morning star.
Inanna’s myth is the story of Venus retrograde when Venus ‘shapeshifts’ from Evening Star to the Morning Star.
To recap
At the beginning of Venus retrograde, Venus appears to change her direction and starts moving backward
Venus becomes invisible in the evening sky as she is approaching the conjunction with the Sun
Mid-retrograde cycle Venus conjuncts the Sun and a new Venus cycle starts
7 days after the conjunction Venus appears again, this time in the morning sky
And 10 days after her appearance, Venus finally starts to move forward again.
The Real Meaning Of Venus Retrograde
Two things are important to keep in mind about Venus retrograde:
Venus changes from an evening star to a morning star–> Venus retrograde is about a metamorphosis from one state of being to another
Venus starts a new cycle –> Venus retrograde will come with a new beginning in your life.
Venus retrograde and a new beginning? This can come as a surprise to you because you probably have a long list of things you should NOT do when Venus (or any other planet) is retrograde.
But now that you know that Venus actually starts a new cycle when retrograde, it makes sense it comes with new opportunities.
That’s not the case in the first half of Venus retrograde. The first 20 days of Venus retrograde are about letting go of the old, and NOT a time for new beginnings. This is when old lovers or unfinished things from the past come into your life – so that you can finally deal with them.
So yes, the first half of Venus retrograde is about letting go of something of value.
However, when we start the second half of Venus retrograde things take a completely different turn.
Born Again
This is a little-known secret but exactly at the middle of the Venus retrograde (this will be October 26, 2018), when Venus is conjunct the Sun and closest to the Earth, this is the best time for a new beginning. This is when you have more free will than ever. In the heart of the Sun, you can manifest whatever your heart desires.
This is also a time of confusion. When Venus is conjunct the Sun, she is also invisible. Things may not be what they seem. But now, more than ever, it is important to listen to your heart. Even when the actual evidence may be missing, it’s important to listen to what your heart is trying to tell you.
This doesn’t mean you should make a big decision yet. It will take a few more days until Venus will appear in the sky again (on November 5th). This is when things will start to make more sense to you.
As you can see, there is so much more to Venus retrograde than ‘don’t start a new relationship now’ or ‘don’t make important decisions’. Venus retrograde will come with changes, that’s for sure, but the purpose of these changes is to make you a better person.
Let the heat of the Sun burn you, just like Venus throws herself into the arms of the Sun, just like Inanna is killed by her alter-ego, Ereshkigal.
If you do it, you will finally shed your old skin, and let go of whatever is no longer serving you.
And then, just like Venus is born again, this time in the morning sky, a new you will emerge.
At the time Venus is conjunct the Sun, she is as close to the Earth as she can be. This is the time to have an honest look at your core values and discover what you hold most dear.
Yes, Venus retrograde can initially come with a loss. You will have to let go of old values, relationships, or your attitude to these relationships. But if you do it, then your life will be completely transformed.
Venus Morning Star, Venus Evening Star
Venus retrograde is that part of the 19 months or 584-day Venus cycle when Venus changes from an evening star to a morning star.
Venus spends half of the cycle as a morning star and the other half of the cycle as an evening star.
These two faces of Venus correspond to the two signs Venus rules: Taurus and Libra.
Taurus has the characteristics of Venus as a morning star, and Libra has the characteristics of Venus as an evening star.
When Venus rises a morning star, before the Sun, she is straightforward, sensual, and keen to meet her needs and desires.
Venus morning star is about self-love – about learning how to love yourself for who you are, straight and simple.
You were born with Venus as a morning star if your Venus is before your Sun in your natal chart. EXAMPLE: If you are a Virgo, but your Venus is in Leo or Cancer, you are a Venus morning star. If you are a Virgo and your Venus is also in Virgo, Venus has to be before the Sun (e.g. Venus is at 10° Virgo, and Sun is at 20° Virgo).
When Venus rises as an evening star, she has learned about self-love. She is now is concerned with the love for another. That’s why she appears in the sky AFTER the Sun has set (which is a symbol for Libra).
Venus is now interested in others. You were born with Venus as an evening star if Venus is after your Sun in your natal chart. EXAMPLE: if you are a Virgo, but your Venus is in Libra or Scorpio, you are a Venus evening star. If you are a Virgo and your Venus is also in Virgo, Venus has to be after the Sun (e.g. Sun is at 10° Virgo, and Venus is at 20° Virgo).
We can see the two faces of Venus everywhere in nature, and in art.
Let’s take two famous painters who depicted Venus in their masterpieces.
Firstly, there is Titian, who captures the raw sensuality, materialism, the physical love of Taurus, or Venus as a morning star. Look at her, she oozes sensuality!
And then there is the famous’ Botticelli “the birth of Venus”. He focuses on the delicacy, beauty, perfection, and serenity that are Libra – or Venus evening star qualities.
Venus is depicted naked. She is naked just like Inanna was left naked when she arrived at the Underworld, got killed and then resurrected. Her nudity represents the essence of love, those values that never die, true love and beauty.
Venus is depicted naked. She is naked just like Inanna was left naked when she arrived in the Underworld, got killed and then resurrected. Her nudity represents the essence of love, those values that never die, true love and true beauty.
Venus: Self-Love And Selfless Love
We need both types of Venus in our life: self-love (Venus morning star) and selfless love (Venus evening star).
Your Venus natal phase tells you which type of love you were born to master in this lifetime.
Are you a Venus morning star? You then need to master self-love. You need to learn how to love yourself. Attention, narcissism is not self-love, it’s, in fact, a lack of self-love masked as self-love. True self-love does not need validation from the outside.
Are you a Venus evening star? You then need to master selfless love, the love for the other. This doesn’t mean you have to become a doormat and do whatever it takes to please the other. It simply means to love ‘the other’ for who they are.
No matter what your natal Venus phase is, Venus retrograde is a reminder that in order to fully embrace Venus, you need to explore both. You cannot love the other if you don’t love yourself. And what is self-love alone, if it cannot be shared with another?
Venus retrograde is a promise that just like Inanna rose from the dead, your heart can rise too, into more and more love, with every Venus retrograde cycle.
Do you feel the earthy, feminine energy? On September 9 literally ALL 10 planets are in feminine signs, and all of them (with the exception of Mars) make positive aspects.
That’s pretty incredible. Don’t believe me?
Uranus (2° Taurus) is trine Saturn (2° Capricorn) and Mercury (6° Virgo), forming a grand earth trine. Grand earth trines are best for making things happen.
The New Moon (Sun and Moon at 17° Virgo) is trine Pluto (18° Capricorn) and sextile Jupiter (18° Scorpio). A New Moon is the best time to initiate new things… and when you have the support of the most ‘potent’ planets, Jupiter and Pluto, impossible is nothing, like in the Adidas commercial.
The New Moon in Virgo will definitely come with stellar opportunities, if you know how to navigate through the muddy waters of the earth and water signs.
We also have two tense aspects: the New Moon in Virgo is opposite Neptune, and Mars is square Venus. However, these aspects stand no chance to spoil this beautiful New Moon. It’s even better we have a little bit of tension, because too many positive aspects can lead to inertia.
The ruler of the New Moon, Mercury, is in Virgo, which is great, because Mercury has both his domicile and exaltation in Virgo. No better place to be for Mercury and multiple opportunities for you!
New Moon Opposite Neptune
The most important aspect the New Moon makes is an opposition to Neptune. Neptune oppositions can have a bad reputation, but this usually happens when we don’t understand how Neptune works, and we try to outsmart it. And we don’t do that with Neptune (or with Pluto) – right?
Also, because we have so many positive aspects right now, I truly believe this time we will see more of the positive manifestations of Neptune.
What can we expect exactly from a New Moon opposite Neptune?
We basically have both the Sun and the Moon on one side of the zodiac (in Virgo), opposite Neptune on the other side of the zodiac (in Pisces).
The Sun and the Moon are the Yin (Moon) and the Yang (Sun) which together represent our identity.
A New Moon opposite Neptune is a time to question your identity, the old definition of who you are and embrace instead the timeless, infinite, everlasting Self you really are.
Because Neptune is an outer planet, this conflict (the opposition) happens outside your consciousness.
That’s why Neptune transits are famous for the confusion they bring. When something happens outside yourself, you cannot measure it, you cannot make sense of it.
But it is in the chaos that a new order emerges.
The old foundations of your identity are now shaken so you can find new possibilities, so you can discover who you can become.
Neptune opposite the Sun and the Moon will challenge your old identity, so a new, higher self can emerge. Neptune dissolves the identification with your ego, so that you can step into a higher expression of yourself.
Venus Square Mars – Guns And Roses
A few hours before the New Moon, we have an intense square aspect between Venus and Mars. Venus and Mars are the eternal lovers that chase each other, need each other, but never quite understand each other.
Venus-Mars transits bring both attraction and repulsion.
Like it or hate it, Venus in aspect to Mars will not leave you indifferent.
Venus and Mars are now in a tense aspect – a square – so they ‘argue’ with each other. If Venus is the ‘receiver’, Mars is the ‘initiator’ – he likes to get his way whether or not others approve of him (while of course, Venus wants everyone to like her).
Venus is the Goddess of beauty and Mars is the God of war. If Venus is the rose, Mars is the gun.
If Venus brings people together, Mars separates them.
Venus square Mars will show us that sometimes life is both guns and roses. And it is in the apparent conflict between the two that creation becomes a possibility.
A good metaphor for Venus in hard aspect to Mars is the Earth spinning around the Sun.
Gravity attracts the Earth towards the Sun, and simultaneously the centrifugal force pulls Earth away from the Sun. These two forces provide the opposing tension that keeps the Earth alive.
Now, in the creative possibilities of the New Moon, is good to keep in mind that if you want to make something happen, you need a bit of friction.
So instead of getting angry if things get too intense, ask yourself what is the creative potential of the situation you got yourself into.
Venus In Scorpio – Embracing Intimacy
After the square to Mars, Venus moves into Scorpio, literally just before the New Moon becomes exact.
Venus will stay for a very long time in Scorpio (until December 3rd) due to the upcoming Venus retrograde.
Because the New Moon and Venus’ ingress into Scorpio happen at the same time, whatever you start at this New Moon will be connected to Venus’ transit in Scorpio.
While the New Moon in Virgo is factual and practical, Venus is Scorpio is mysterious and emotional.
If there is one word that could describe Venus in Scorpio, that is intimacy.
Being intimate with another human being can trigger feelings of vulnerability.
Venus retrograde in Scorpio will analyze every single corner of your mind and soul. Nothing will stay untouched.
She will explore the dark side of your psyche and expose what hides behind your deepest needs and fears. Rage? Jealousy? Nothing will stay unscrutinized.
Your task with the New Moon in Virgo is to become more intentional about your need for intimacy.
You could sit in the dark corners of your bedroom, checking your social media feed, stalking people you admire, wishing you could share a real connection with them, OR you can make a plan about what are you going to do about it.
A good place to start is acknowledging your need for intimacy. If you are a human (and of course you are) you need intimacy, you need real connections with others. That’s how we humans are wired.
The problems arise when we are ashamed of our need for intimacy.
You may think needing intimacy makes you weak. But the opposite is true. Embracing your need for intimacy makes you vulnerable, makes you real. And this is the real strength.
While retrograde, Venus will move from Scorpio back into Libra, the sign of relationships. Venus moving from Scorpio to Libra will show you how to transform your fears of intimacy so you can have better, more mature relationships with others.
Cosmic Opportunities
We talked about the opposition to Neptune, about Venus square Mars and about Venus in Scorpio. All these aspects will influence your experience of the New Moon in Virgo.
But to understand the fundamentals of the New Moon in Virgo, let’s get back to basics.
As you probably know, New Moons are times of new beginnings. Virgo is an earth, mutable sign. So we will have a new beginning related to being practical (earth) and flexible (mutable) in the same time.
In the zodiac, Virgo follows Leo, a fixed sign. Leo is a very intense, creative, but also stagnant energy. Leo resists change, because it wants to preserve the flame of creation. Virgo is the next step – and brings what Leo has created to the next level of perfection. Virgo will make sure that whatever Leo has created ‘makes sense’. The object of creation basically needs to pass the ‘common sense’ test of Virgo.
Virgo has the incredible gift of ‘knowing’ what makes sense and what doesn’t.
If there is one word that could describe Virgo that would be ‘common sense’. Common sense is not taught in schools but it’s perhaps the most useful quality we can have.
Common sense is the ability to quickly makes sense of the world, to make good judgments and behave in a practical and sensible way.
So The New Moon in Virgo is all about common sense, right?
We have a little complication.
Common Sense vs. Cosmic Sense
You also know by now that the New Moon is opposite Neptune in Pisces. Pisces is the polarity of Virgo: both Virgo and Pisces are mutable, flexible signs, but while Virgo is an individual sign, Pisces is a collective sign. While Virgo is an Earth, practical sign, Pisces is a Water, intuitive sign.
Neptune is the planet of ‘no borders, no limits’, of that place where there is no space and time as we know it. The place where all realities collide and where everything is possible.
Neptune represents the higher laws of the universe we don’t fully understand with our limited human thinking. Even if we don’t understand these cosmic laws, it doesn’t mean there’s no order in cosmos.
Yes, there is a higher law, and because we cannot understand it, we must believe in it, we must have faith that it is there. That’s why Neptune is the planet of spirituality and blind faith.
Virgo believes in what she can see, on what makes sense to the rational mind. Virgo is ‘common sense’.
On the other hand, Neptune and Pisces are about the ‘cosmic’ sense – the higher laws of the universe, the intelligent design where everything makes perfect sense.
‘Common sense’ vs. ‘cosmic sense’.
The New Moon in Virgo opposite Neptune is your opportunity to start something new – something that can bridge the gap between the ‘common sense’ of reality as you know it, and the ‘cosmic sense’ of a reality you can only dream of.
You will feel the full effects of the New Moon two days later, on September 11, when the Moon becomes visible, aka rises again in the morning sky.
If you have planets or angles around 17° Virgo, the New Moon will come with an important opportunity for you.
Venus Retrograde 2018 starts on October 5th at 10° Scorpio. Venus retrograde will last for 40 days, until November 15th when Venus goes direct at 25° Libra.
Venus is the Goddess of love and relationships. When retrograde, your relationships are being tested.
You have 40 days to review, revisit, re-evaluate your love life and your relationships.
If Venus Retrograde 2018 is already giving you chills, listen to this: Venus goes retrograde in Scorpio, the most intense sign of the zodiac. Death, sex, finances, and taboos – in general, what people never talk about – are Scorpio’s territory.
Can you imagine what it means to have the Goddess of Love going through Scorpio? The Valley of death, the inferno?
Let’s put it like this: If Romeo and Juliet was an astrological transit, it would have been Venus Retrograde in Scorpio.
An Alchemical Process Of Transformation
But no reason to be afraid: Scorpio’s death is metaphorical. Nothing will literally die during this Venus retrograde, but your life will be transformed to an extent you never thought was possible.
Venus Retrograde in Scorpio will be challenging, but it will bring a rebirth of the heart.
There’s no coincidence that Venus is retrograde exactly for 40 days. Number 40 is a sacred number in pretty much every religion and is usually associated with fulfillment of promises, BUT ONLY after a period of testing, trial and probation.
The purpose of the “trial” or the retrograde period is to guide you back to your heart.
Venus Retrograde will thrust you out of your comfort zone and into the unknown. Yes, it can be challenging. Yes, it can be painful. It can feel like an unending, uphill battle against the world. But it will be totally worth it.
Venus In Scorpio – All Or Nothing
As you know, Venus is a symbol of the feminine. Venus rules love, relationships, money, and personal values – the most important things in life. The key word here is value – Venus is our unit of value exchange.
What about Scorpio? Scorpio rules the big cycles of life and death, our legacy, what we “share” with others and with the universe as a whole, those things we have no say in. You have no say when you are born. You have no choice but to die, sooner or later.
Scorpio rules the deepest corners of our psyche – our instincts, our reflexes, our reptilian brain. Scorpio also rules our secret desires, our taboos, all the things we choose to keep secret from others, and sometimes, even from ourselves.
In Scorpio, Venus is deeply seductive. She craves all-consuming love and deep emotional connections – and she’s not afraid to dig through the dark side of things.
Venus Retrograde in Scorpio will remind you of that one thing you always wanted to have but never got. And it will inspire to try to go and get it. This time, it’s all or nothing.
The first part of the Venus Retrograde 2018 (from October 5th to October 31, when Venus is in Scorpio) is highly intense. You can experience obsessively intense feelings and all-consuming attraction.
Venus In Libra – It’s All About Relationships
But there’s much more to this Venus Retrograde than the obsessive intensity of Venus in Scorpio.
While Venus retrograde starts in Scorpio, Venus Retrograde ends in Libra.
And this is where (in Libra) we will have the final outcome, the resolution of this transit.
Libra is the sign of the ‘other’, the sign of relationships so the outcome of this Venus Retrograde will likely be connected to your relationships.
Libra is the only sign of the zodiac that is not a human or an animal – it’s the only inanimate object of the zodiac. Libra is the sign of reason.
The ultimate goal of this Venus Retrograde 2018 is to show you how to find reason in passion, how to find objectivity in what otherwise is your subjective perspective.
This can take different forms. Maybe you will learn that in order to get what your soul craves so much (Scorpio) you need to first understand what the ‘other’ wants (Libra). If your deepest desires aren’t being met is maybe because you need to revisit the underlying principles of ‘give and take’ and strike to find a better balance.
The Dance Of Venus And Venus Cycles
We cannot talk about Venus Retrograde without talking about the strikingly beautiful dance of Venus.
The Earth-Venus dance for 8 years creates this beautiful 5-petal flower with the Sun at the center.
As you can see, the tight inward loops represent a Venus retrograde.
Every 8 years (and 5 Venus cycles) Venus comes back to the same area of sky, activating the same area of your chart. In any given century, there are only 5 points in the sky where Venus goes retrograde.
Venus doesn’t go retrograde in Libra, Sagittarius or Pisces for example. Venus only starts her retrograde in one of the following signs: Scorpio, Leo, Gemini, Aries, and Capricorn.
Why Is This Venus Retrograde So Important?
From all Venus retrogrades, Venus in Scorpio retrogrades are the most profound and bring the greatest transformations.
Many of my clients mentioned the Venus retrograde in Scorpio as being the most life-altering Venus retrograde of their lives.
For years I wondered why is that. What makes that portion of the sky (the first decan of Scorpio and the last decan of Libra) so special?
And then it finally struck me.
What makes Venus Scorpio retrogrades so special is that almost everyone alive has a transpersonal planet (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto) on Venus’ retrograde path (25° Libra to 10° Scorpio).
And transpersonal planets are the most mysterious, life-changing energies in the universe. When a personal planet like Venus travels over a transpersonal planet, it comes with once-in-a-lifetime, fated events.
No wonder everyone feels Venus retrogrades in Scorpio much more intensely than any other Venus retrograde.
Let’s have a look how Venus Retrograde 2018 will affect you depending on which transpersonal planet she makes a conjunction to…
Venus Retrograde Conjunct Natal Neptune – The Longing Of The Heart
If you are born between 1953 – 1962, your Neptune is on Venus’ retrograde path. This means Venus Retrograde 2018 will conjunct your natal Neptune.
Neptune is the planet of higher love and idealism, but also the planet of fog and confusion.
Neptune blurs the lines between reality and imagination and paints beautiful pictures that may or may not be real.
Venus with Neptune can make you want to drown in love. Your desire to experience an out-of-this-world connection is stronger than ever.
Venus Retrograde 2018 conjunct natal Neptune can make an ordinary connection with another human being feel fated and can confuse the most rational person on Earth. If you are born between 1953-1962 you will have a longing to experience a soulmate connection.
If you are born between 1973 – 1977, your Uranus is on Venus’ retrograde path. This means Venus Retrograde will conjunct your natal Uranus.
For you, Venus Retrograde 2018 will be an unsettling transit, for good and for bad. Something will change, suddenly and irremediably.
Venus conjunct Uranus makes me think of the machine used to bring patients with cardiovascular arrest, back to life.
With Venus and Uranus, it’s of course, a metaphorical return to life.
When you don’t live from your heart, you are a walking dead. You don’t even know who you are and what you want any longer.
And in this place of apathy, all you need is a trigger, an impulse to connect you with your heart again.
If you’ve been feeling apathetic, Venus Retrograde 2018 conjunct Uranus will change that. Expect major changes of heart, even if nothing seems to be happening in your life right now. This transit may turn your life upside down, but by the end of it you’ll be free and live more authentically.
Venus Retrograde Conjunct Natal Pluto – The Essence Of Love
If you are born between 1981 -1988 your Pluto is on Venus’ retrograde path. This means Venus Retrograde 2018 will conjunct your natal Pluto.
Pluto’s intensity can be sometimes too much to handle for lovey-dovey Venus. Pluto will get to the core of the matter, and will ‘distill’ the characteristics of Venus. A metaphor for Venus-Pluto is perfume.
Perfume is made by extracting oils from flowers by pressing and steaming them. Perfume oils are then aged for several months or even years. It’s a laborious process. But then the result is the very essence of that flower.
The flower may have died years ago, but its essence remained. The essence – the perfume – is in the same time ‘less’ (thousands of flowers have to die to make a perfume), and in the same time, ‘more’ (the fragrance is much more intense than of a thousand flowers together and can last forever).
Venus with Pluto will make you want to experience that type of love that never dies.
During this transit, you will feel that there is no sacrifice not worth taking so that you can experience such love.
If you were born outside these date ranges, you don’t have a transpersonal planet (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto) on the Venus retrograde path. However, you may have other planets (Moon, Sun, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn), an angle (ascendant, descendant, IC, MC) or a lunar node in Libra or Scorpio. To find out, generate your natal chart and check whether you have any planet between 25° Libra and 10° Scorpio.
Is Venus Retrograde 2018 A Bad transit?
Venus Retrograde 2018 can certainly feel like a difficult transit. And this is because Venus Retrograde can bring unfinished business back into your life: past lovers, (including past life lovers), old friends, or repeating patterns in your relationships.
And we humans are wired to avoid having to deal with unfinished stuff. Otherwise, we would have dealt with the ‘stuff’ in the first place.
Unfinished stuff is heavy, energetically consuming and requires hard work and sacrifice. But if you don’t solve it, then it lingers somewhere in the background, and it ends up consuming even more energy and effort in the long run.
And this is where Venus Retrograde chimes in. She will challenge you to change what you are most comfortable with.
Let’s say you’re used to be the “giver” in relationships. Venus Retrograde will make you see the reality for what it is. Maybe people take advantage of you. No more hiding and fooling yourself that these people love you for who you are.
Or maybe you are the one taking advantage of others. Venus Retrograde will expose any unfair advantage or manipulation attempt in order to maintain power.
If the passion in your relationship has faded, you will want to do something about it: either by exploring new paths of intimacy with your partner, or by falling in love with someone else. This doesn’t mean you will start an affair (although this is certainly a possibility when Venus is retrograde) but you will most likely project this desire into something, or onto someone.
Because of all these examples, you may be tempted to believe that Venus in retrograde is a bad transit. Yes, Venus Retrograde will likely bring heartache. Yes, it will challenge you to the core of your being.
But Venus Retrograde 2018 is not a bad transit.
The reason Venus Retrograde comes with difficult choices is to allow a new you to emerge. A better you.
You can only become this better version of yourself when you open your heart, do an honest introspection and explore your deepest needs and motivations.
This is what Venus Retrograde can help you with.
“Be thankful for every heartbreak, for they were planned. They come to your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave. Their purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life. And you do.”
Venus Retrograde 2018 Opposite Uranus – A Once In A Lifetime Transit
The most important transit Venus makes while retrograde is an opposition to Uranus.
This is particularly important because it will last unusually long – until the beginning of December!
What normally is a five-day transit will last for 3 months. Uranus is disruptive even in small doses. This means this retrograde will be unusually disruptive.
When I say disruptive, I don’t mean it in a negative way. Disrupting your ‘business as usual’ can be a good thing, because it will ultimately bring you the freedom and liberation you desperately needed, even if you didn’t know you needed it.
Uranus will ask you to become honest with yourself and look into your heart in order to make the changes you need to make.
This transit is usually associated with “love at first sight” but what is really behind love at first sight, is the desire to acknowledge the truth of who we are and what we really want.
Who says love and freedom cannot coexist? The purpose of this transit is to teach you how you can have both.
Venus Retrograde 2018 Dates
In mythology, Venus (or Innana) is described as descending into the underworld as an Evening Star during the first part of the retrograde, experiencing a rebirth while she’s invisible (conjunct the Sun), and then emerging anew as a Morning Star.
Let’s have a look at the most important aspects Venus makes while in retrograde:
PHASE I – Venus dims as an evening star
September 3rd – Venus enters shadow at 25° Libra
September 8th – Venus (29° Libra) is square Mars (29° Capricorn)
September 9th – Venus enters Scorpio
September 12th – Venus (2° Scorpio) opposite Uranus (2° Taurus)
September 16th – Venus square the Nodes of the Moon
October 5th – Venus goes retrograde at 10° Scorpio
October 10th – Venus (10° Scorpio) square Mars (10° Aquarius)
October 15th – Venus is conjunct Mercury at 8° Scorpio
PHASE II – Venus invisible: Venus goes into the underworld
October 18th – Venus becomes invisible, falling below the horizon and into the underworld
October 26th – Venus conjunct Sun. A new 584-day Venus cycle begins. The conjunction marks the transition of Venus from an evening star to a morning star
October 31st – Venus (0° Scorpio) is opposite Uranus (0° Taurus)
October 31st – Venus goes back into Libra
PHASE III – Venus rises as a morning star
November 5th – Venus becomes visible again, this time as a morning star
November 9th – Venus (26° Libra) is trine Mars (26° Aquarius)
November 15th – Venus goes direct at 25° Libra
November 30th – Venus (29° Libra) opposite Uranus (29° Aries)
December 2nd – Venus re-enters Scorpio
December 18 – Venus gets out of shadow at 10° Scorpio
Take Action
Even if every Venus retrograde is different, Venus retrograde cycles follow a clear pattern.
Unlike other retrogrades, like Mercury retrogrades or Mars retrogrades, Venus retrogrades are very cyclical. Remember the beautiful flower pattern?
Venus cycles repeat in fact 5 times over a period of 8 years. Each Venus retrograde is a repetition of the Venus Retrograde that happened 8 years ago, 16 years ago and so on.
Every 8 years Venus goes back to the same area of your chart.
Last time we had this was October 2010. Venus retrograde activated the same area of your chart. What happened back then in your life? Check your diary, look at your social media feed, or search your mailbox to find out what was going on in your life.
Secondly, if in August we had 6 planets retrograde, in September we are left with 2! Things are really getting better.
In September we also have a record number of positive aspects, including a grand earth trine on September 7.
Jupiter will also form a sextile to Pluto. Jupiter and Pluto are the most powerful planets of the zodiac, and are notoriously associated with wealth creation. Jupiter is in the sign of Pluto (Scorpio) so the two powerhouses really dig each other. September is indeed a good time for finances. But you need to be brave and do something different in your approach to finances. Remember, abundance is firstly a mindset, THEN a lifestyle. Now is your chance to do something about your financial future.
If you have personal planets and angles between 1-3° or between 14-19° in earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) September 2018 will be glorious!
But let’s have a look at the major astrological events of the month:
September 6th, 2018
On September 6th, 2018 Saturn goes direct. The planet of discipline and tough love goes direct! With 6 planets retrograde in August (Saturn included) you probably had more than your share of tough love.
When retrograde, Saturn takes his time to make sure you learn his lessons. Everything happens very, veeery, veeeeery slllllowly. But when you’re done with Saturn’s lessons, you are DONE for good and those things won’t bother you again in the future.
September 6th comes with another good news: Mercury enters Virgo, the sign of its rulership. Mercury feels great in Virgo. Mercury is a very objective and flexible planet, and Virgo is all about analysis and paying attention to details. Virgo is also a mutable sign meaning it deals very well with change. Most importantly, Mercury rules the mind.
Mercury spent a lot of time in Leo, including 3 weeks of retrograde motion. If you’ve been stressed and oversensitive lately (Mercury in Leo is a bit dramatic, especially when retrograde), that will change now.
Your mind will just ‘know’ how to focus on what is relevant. You will find it easier to organize your thoughts and articulate them clearly. That’s also because Mercury travels right now with the speed of light: Mercury will spend only 16 days in Virgo!
September 6 until September 22 is the best time to work with sticky notes, make to-do lists, draw a mind map, make a timeline, and put together an action plan for the rest of the year. This is also a good time to start a mindfulness practice – Mercury is very perceptive in Virgo.
September 7th, 2018
On September 7th, 2018 Sun is opposite Neptune in Pisces. This is the “Alice in Wonderland” transit.
Sun is the Self, the EGO, what you see when you look in the mirror. Now imagine that mirror gets blurred out of the sudden. That’s Neptune opposite the Sun.
If Sun is a picture of you, Neptune is the Instagram filter. The Instagram filter is not ‘good’ or ‘bad’ per say. You can use the filter to escape yourself, or you can use it as a source of inspiration: to please your aesthetic sense, to play with different versions of you, to tap into different personas, into different parts of you that want to come out but don’t know how otherwise.
Yes, Neptune opposite Sun can distort your sense of the self, of who you are, but this is because Neptune wants to find a higher order into your every day (oh-I’m-so-used-to) reality. And to find this higher order you firstly need to tap into chaos. Don’t be afraid, stay there. Find your inspiration. Soon, a new order will emerge, and a new You will emerge.
September 8th, 2018
On September 8th, 2018 Venus in Libra is square Mars in Aquarius.
This is the first Venus-Mars square, we have one more on October 11 when Venus is already retrograde.
Venus and Mars are the eternal lovers. Venus is the feminine principle and Mars the masculine principle. Women are from Venus, men are from Mars anyone? Venus square Mars will make you aware of the differences between these two polarities. Venus square Mars can bring conflict, but also intense desires and sexual attraction.
What is interesting is that in between these two squares, we have a very long Venus opposite Uranus transit.
All these aspects announce huge changes in relationships. This autumn is BIG for relationships. More than ever before, you will feel ready to reclaim your freedom and have more authentic, genuine relationships.
September 9th, 2018
On September 9th, 2018 we have a New Moon at 17°Virgo. Virgo is the organizer of the zodiac. Virgo is also the sign of productivity. If you give something to a Virgo they will make it better. Which area of your life needs some improvement?
The New Moon in Virgo is a great time to take action to make your life a little better. The New Moon is opposite Neptune, so let your imagination guide you. Look in which house you have Virgo to see which area of your life is up for improvement.
Also on September 9th Venus enters Scorpio. This is a very important transit because Venus will go retrograde in Scorpio one month later. Venus will basically start its retrograde motion in Scorpio, move back into Libra, go direct in Libra, and then finally move back into Scorpio.
When a planet begins its retrograde in one sign and goes direct in the sign before, this is when it brings the greatest transformations. You probably already know that Venus is all about love and relationships. Scorpio is a deep, emotional sign, while Libra is a rational, intellectual sign.
Water signs is where we believe we act on intuition but are in fact on autopilot. Being on autopilot is not a bad thing! If we wouldn’t have the ability to internalize learning, we would never evolve.
But in order to change the way we feel about something we need to move from water (Scorpio) to air (Libra). Basically, we need to rewire our thoughts and mental models.
Venus moving from Scorpio to Libra will show you how to re-wire your fears about love and intimacy so you can have better, more mature relationships with others. This is a time to face your deepest fears about love and intimacy.
September 10th, 2018
On September 10th, 2018 another planet changes signs: Mars. Mars re-enters Aquarius. Mars firstly entered Aquarius on May 17th (can you believe it?) but because Mars was retrograde this summer we have such a long Mars in Aquarius transit.
This Mars retrograde has been particularly difficult – I’ve received tons of messages and complaints about it! but Mars back in Aquarius will come with the final resolution. You will finally understand what this Mars retrograde was all about and what it meant for your evolutionary journey.
September 12th, 2018
On September 12th, 2018 Venus (now at 2° Scorpio) is opposite Uranus (now at 2° Taurus). This is a VERY important transit because it will last pretty much forever – until the beginning of December!
We will, of course, have a 2nd and a 3rd Venus Uranus opposition (because of Venus and Uranus retrograde), but the 2nd and 3rd oppositions will take place when Venus will be back in Libra and Uranus back in Aries.
I looked at all transits Uranus makes when he’s back in Aries and this one is the most important. It’s like Uranus moved back into Aries ON purpose for this transit… to bring freedom and liberation in your relationships.
Venus opposite Uranus will COMPLETELY change your views on love and relationships and I cannot stress that enough. Usually, Venus opposite Uranus lasts for approximately 5 days but this time it lasts for almost 3 months!
There is so much more to this transit, and I will write more about it closer to the date. Until then, mark your calendar. See what happens around September 12th, what themes emerge, what messages you receive, and I can promise you will have a much easier life when we have the 2nd and the 3rd opposition later in October-November. Astrology is such a useful tool for self-awareness. If you understand what happens, why, and what’s the bigger picture, your life becomes so much more meaningful.
September 13th, 2018
September 2018 is the month of oppositions! So far in September, we had Sun opposite Neptune, Venus opposite Uranus. On September 13th, 2018 Mercury is opposite Neptune. You may think your thoughts (Mercury) belong to you … but is it really so?
Our minds are highly perceptive and highly influential. Our thoughts are not fully ours. They are a combination of the messages we receive (and we have very little control over them) and our interpretation of these messages (here we have more control, but not 100%).
The message of Mercury opposite Neptune? Be aware of what you take in. Reality is created by the sense and meaning of the worlds describing it.
September 18th, 2018
On September 18th, 2018 we have the last Mars Uranus square. Phew! Just as a quick reminder: we had the first one on May 16th and the 2nd on August 1st. Mars is the planet of action and Uranus is the planet of freedom.
Action + freedom? Shake, after shake, after shake. And this is been going on for months now! At least by now, you know what you needed to break free from.
September 22nd, 2018
On September 22nd, 2018 Mercury enters Libra. Mercury is the planet of the mind, of the intellect. After you put order in your thoughts while Mercury was in Virgo, now is decision time. Libra has a reputation for being indecisive. In fact, in Libra is where the best decisions are made.
Libra is an action-oriented, cardinal sign after all. Libra is in the middle of the zodiac so it has the full picture and understands both sides of the scale – therefore it does what is fair, and what is right. No wonder Libra is the sign of justice!
The only time Libra doesn’t make a decision is when a decision should not be made yet, and more research and analysis is necessary.
In the coming weeks, you can rest assured that you will make better decisions and you will work better with other people.
September 23rd, 2018
On September 23rd, 2018 Sun enters Libra. The day is equal to the night, no matter where you live on Earth. We are all equal! No differences, no prejudices. When we understand that, life naturally becomes all peace and harmony. And Libra IS the sign of peace and harmony.
In this turbulent times when everything from our everyday communication to Social media is filled with hate speech its worth remembering that beyond any differences, we all share something in common: our humanity.
What an irony, that Libra is the only inanimate sign of the zodiac! Libra is a reminder that true reason can be found where there is no trace of flesh or nature. Sun’s yearly transit into Libra is a reminder – and an invitation – to be more human, more reasonable, to seek peace and common ground.
September 25th, 2018
On September 25th, 2018 we have a Full Moon in Aries. The Full Moon is square Saturn. The Sun and the Moon are both in cardinal signs and are squared by Saturn, who is also in a cardinal sign (Capricorn). The message?
Whatever you do, keep going. Don’t get stuck. Do you feel a resistance? Break through it, because everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.
September 30th, 2018
Wake me up when September ends. If you’ve been asleep throughout September, then on September 30th you will definitely wake up, because Pluto, the planet of deep transformation and truth goes direct. And when Pluto wakes up from hibernation, you cannot keep your eyes closed any longer, either. And this is a good thing because October will bring even deeper, soul-shaking transformation.
On August 26th, 2018 we have a Full Moon at 3° Pisces.
The Full Moon in Pisces is probably the best Full Moon of the year. Why?
The Full Moon only makes positive aspects – sextiles and trines – with other planets. In fact, the Full Moon forms a special pattern called Kite. Kites are positive, dynamic configurations which bring opportunities.
The Full Moon is conjunct the fortunate fixed star Fomalhaut. Fomalhaut, also called the Watcher of the South, is one of the 4 royal stars (the others are Regulus, Aldebaran, and Antares) and is associated with riches and honors.
Both rules of the Full Moon (Jupiter and Neptune) form a trine. Neptune is the modern ruler of Pisces and Jupiter is the traditional ruler of Pisces. When both rules of a sign make a favorable aspect, they ‘agree’. This is a double YES!
Jupiter, the planet of faith, is now in Scorpio, the planet of trust. Neptune, the planet of dreams, is now in Pisces, the sign of endless possibilities. The message? Keep the faith and dream big! You will see this theme repeating over and over during this Full Moon.
All You Need Is Trust And A Little Bit Of Pixie Dust
After a difficult eclipse season, the Full Moon in Pisces comes with a happy ending. You know those movies where the hero is continuously tested to the point of breakdown, and still, somehow he or she makes in in the end? The good finally prevails. This is how the Full Moon in Pisces will feel like.
And the good news doesn’t end here. Immediately after the Full Moon, Mars goes direct. Life truly comes back to normal! … or at least for a while. (heads up: Venus goes retrograde in October).
What I really like about this Full Moon is that is on the apex of a kite aspect pattern.
Imagine a kite floating in the sky, pointing to the Moon. The kite is maneuvred from the earth, yet it reaches toward the sky. When you can’t find what you are looking for here on earth, look up.
The kite will bring you an opportunity you were not even aware of.
The Full Moon And The Virgo Season
We are now in the middle of the Virgo season. Virgo is a time to get organized and be realistic. If your harvest is not what you expected, you can still make adjustments.
Most people give up just before they’re about to make it. Virgos instead (Capricorns too) stick to the plan. When everyone else moves to the next best thing with the hope this time they will make a better choice, Virgos actually finish what they have started.
Persistence always wins. Before giving up, think about how you can improve what you’re already doing. How can you become more productive? Productivity doesn’t sound very sexy, but the results it brings are very sexy indeed. Stick to what have you been doing in the first 6 months of the year, at least for one more month. You will thank yourself.
How does the Full Moon in Pisces fit into the picture? A Full Moon is a time of culmination, a time to reap what you’ve sown. A Full Moon always takes place in the opposite sign of the Sun. To get results, you need to take the opposite perspective.
Virgo vs. Pisces
We are now in the Virgo season, but the breakthrough will come if you look in the opposite sign of Pisces.
Both Virgo and Pisces are mutable signs. Virgo ends our individual journey around the zodiac (Aries to Virgo). Pisces ends our collective journey around the zodiac (Libra to Pisces).
Virgo and Pisces are associated with endings, but they bring much more than just that. Virgo and Pisces bring choices and possibilities. And depending on what you choose, you have a final outcome. An outcome, not an ending.
But the way Virgo and Pisces approach this is very different.
If Virgo is down to earth, Pisces floats in the sky.
If Virgo is very practical – and choosy – about what opportunities to pursue, Pisces is imaginative and embraces pretty much everything. There’s nothing unworthy to Pisces – Pisces can find a little bit of themselves in everyone, and everything.
Surrender To A Miracle
In astrology, Pisces is the sign of miracles. In the endless sea of possibilities, miracles are possible, as long as you believe in them.
Pisces is all about surrender. Surrender has somewhat a negative connotation. It’s like you can only surrender to what is negative, undesirable, and beyond your control.
But what you find when you surrender to the grace of God, Universe, or however you want to call it, is nothing like that. Beyond fear, there is only love.
What about surrendering to a miracle? Do you believe a miracle could even happen to you? You can’t know for sure, but you can embrace the possibility. Let yourself float, just like a kite in the sky.
“Who’s to say where the wind will take you/ Who’s to say what it is will break you/ I don’t know which way the wind will blow”
The message of the Full Moon?
Find the balance between persistence and surrender. Stick to your path. Give it one last push. Surrender to the endless possibilities that lay beyond what you can even imagine. And believe that a miracle, somewhere, is waiting for you.
Everyone will benefit from this Full Moon. If you are a Pisces, or if you have Pisces rising, you will benefit even more so. If you have planets around 3° in feminine signs (Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces), the Universe will offer you a one of a kind opportunity. Make sure you don’t miss it!
