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?
To find out how Venus Retrograde in Scorpio plays out in real life, make sure you read Venus Retrograde Stories
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.
If you want examples of Venus retrograde plays out in real life read my blog post Venus Retrograde Stories
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
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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.
On August 17th, 2018 Venus is at the greatest elongation from the Sun. If you look in the evening sky, Venus will rise as far away from the Sun as she can get.
This means Venus starts slowing down as compared to the Sun.
Venus is still moving direct, but because she now moves at a slower speed than the Sun, the distance between her and the Sun starts to decrease.
![WARNING: Venus goes retrograde in October]!
On August 17th, 2018 Venus is as far east of the Sun as she can go. There’s no more place to go. She has reached her limits. At least the evening sky limits. This is her greatest elongation.
She will end her night journey on October 27, 2018, when Venus (by then retrograde) will move on the other side of the sky, only to re-emerge, a few days later, as a morning star.
But let’s go back to the greatest elongation. Venus at the greatest elongation is as far as she can go. This phase is like the Full Moon phase of Venus and will bring a culmination of her journey as a night star.
Topics related to Venus will come to a conclusion, to a culmination.
Something you started early this year can come to fruition, especially if it’s related to ‘Venus’: women and feminine archetypes, beauty, love, money and things you value or feel strongly about.
But just after Venus reaches her greatest elongation, she starts slowing down. She doesn’t want to travel any further.
She got what she wanted – all by herself. Now what?
The irony of this position is that Venus is now as free as she can possibly be. She has never been more independent, more on her own. She can do whatever she wants, away from the binding rules of the Sun.
The Sun is the Self. Your Sun sign is so important for a reason. This is your mission in this lifetime, this is the divine script your soul wrote. The Sun is the reason you are here.
Venus And The Sun – Never Tear Us Apart
But living only from the Sun is pretty boring. That’s why we have all these wonderful planets to go along with, Venus included.
Each planet represents a particular archetype of your psyche. Each planet will show you how to grow in a particular area of your life. Mercury is the mind, Venus is love, Mars is action and so on.
Venus and Mercury have the most important relationship with the Sun, because both Mercury and Venus travel along with the Sun. Mercury never travels more than one sign away from the Sun, and Venus never travels more than two signs away.
So Mercury, Venus and the Sun have a special relationship. Sometimes, Mercury and Venus travel a little faster than the Sun. This is when they are more independent and explore the world on their terms.
And sometimes they travel slower than the Sun. Whenever they do that, they get closer to the Sun. They align what they have learned in their solo journeys, with the individual purpose your soul has chosen to manifest in this lifetime (the Sun).
And this is exactly what Venus will do, now that she starts to slow down and catch up with the Sun.
She has everything. Yet she doesn’t want it anymore. She feels alienated with all her riches.
Venus will move closer to the Sun (to the Self) to integrate what she has learned in her 9-month journey as an evening star.
As Venus begins to move slower than the Sun, your inner Sun takes over.
You will experience this role reversal in your inner sky as well. You can have an internal shift, an ‘aha’ moment. “This is why I wanted to do that”. “This is what that thing really means”. “It’s not what I expected but it makes sense now”. “And this is how that thing fits into my story”.
“La donna e mobile / Qual piuma al vento”
This is the famous line from Verdi’s Rigoletto which translates to:
“The Woman is fickle / Like a feather in the wind”
In astrology, Venus is associated with women, or with the feminine, ‘Yin’ part of the self.
There are endless poems and songs about women’s apparent frivolity and indecisiveness. If you are not that familiar with how Venus ‘works’ – yes, women can seem like that. Maybe you feel like that too sometimes, and you don’t like it.
A Subtle Change Of Heart
But what’s really going on? What happens is not really a change of heart. Women are not fickle – and that’s because Venus always knows what she wants!
What happens is that she takes different approaches to get what she wants. When she moves away from the Sun, she wants to explore, when she moves toward the Sun, she wants to re-align with the Self. Explore and adjust.
You can like the dress in the window, but this doesn’t mean it fits YOU and your character. But at least now you know what it’s ‘out there’. And you got inspired.
Venus rules what we like and what we don’t like. When Venus is direct and has speed, what we like and what we don’t are more important than who we are. We are in the exploration phase.
When Venus is slower than the Sun, the expression of the Self becomes more important. The Self starts to integrate what Venus has learned and use it to fulfill its individual mission. This is also when we become more disciplined, more focused and more aligned with our mission.
EXAMPLE: lately you felt drawn to women who always seem to look good on camera. Their hair always looks amazing, and their clothes always fit. You start following them on Social Media. This is Venus’ exploratory phase. You notice the world around you and get inspired.
Around August 17, when Venus slows down, you have an ‘aha’ moment. The grass always seems greener on the other side but is it really?
What did that appeal to women-who-look-good-on-camera means to you and to your journey? Maybe you liked they always seem to have the time to take care of themselves. And maybe this is exactly what you need too – more ‘me’ time. Why do you need it? And how can you get it?
Think about it.
This is a subtle, but powerful shift that can give a new meaning to your inner struggle.
On August 17 (plus minus two days) you can experience too an internal shift. What subtle change of heart are you experiencing? And what is really going on?
Venus, the Goddess of beauty and love, enters Libra, the sign of relationships on August 6th.
This is a happy placement for Venus because Venus rules Libra. If Venus is about ‘give and take’ and the way we relate to others, Libra is all about 1-on-1 relationships. A relationship involves two people, ‘me’ and ‘the other’.
If from Aries to Virgo we learn about ‘me’, with Libra we delve into uncharted territory. Truly knowing ‘the other’ is an art and science very few of us master, but an art and science Venus in Libra is great at.
Knowing ‘The Other’
You know you know the other when you become aware you are not alone in this word. If the opposite sign, Aries, is about the affirmation of the individual, in Libra you learn that you can only go that far if you follow your needs and wants only.
Becoming aware of the other can be one of the greatest psychological breakthroughs in one’s life. If we skip this step when it takes place naturally (between the age of 13-15), we tend to have problems in relationships later on.
Becoming aware of ‘the other’ means much more than simply acknowledging someone. It goes far beyond that. It is a deep understanding that we are different. One of my teachers beautifully put it: “If you really know someone, you cannot hate them. You can only love them”.
The problem is most of the time we think we know someone. Let’s say we notice they like scrambled eggs while we like an omelet. This is a good start, but truly becoming aware of ‘the other’ is much more than that. That deep knowing, that deep understanding is a mind-blowing experience when it happens, and it shifts your perspective about life forever.
You know you know someone not when you feel sorry for them (the psychological mechanism behind ‘feeling sorry’ for someone is self-identification, you are in fact feeling sorry for yourself).
You know someone when you’re able to distance yourself from them and become a witness. Becoming a witness, an observer, a third party,is a state of complete acceptance without personal bias to alter the event, find fault, or judge. A good way to think about a witness is really to envision a third party, a third person if you like, that is not you, nor your partner.
That is ironic because relationships are about two people, right?
A successful relationship involves two people, but also a third entity that can see things for what they truly are.
Libra And Open Enemies
Interestingly enough, Libra also rules our ‘known’ or ‘open’ enemies. In contrast, Pisces, the last zodiac sign, rules the ‘hidden enemies’.
This is an important distinction. Who are your known enemies? People you agree to disagree with. With open enemies you always know where you stand.
Everyone has ‘enemies’. If you are in business, these are your market competitors. Open enemies are crystal clear about their intentions, and they won’t harm you if you play by the rules. Policemen are also open enemies. They become enemies only if you break the rules.
In fact, you can gain power by knowing your enemies. Benchmarking against a competitor can push your own business further, because it shows what your weak points are.
Libra, The Scales And Reason
Libra is the sign of the scales. Libras are being misjudged for being all about fairness and compromise. It’s much more than fairness and compromise about Libras. A scale simply shows how one side of the scale relates to the other. Is it heavier, or lighter?
Heidi Younger
A scale is a measure of objectivity. Libra is, beyond all, the sign of justice and judgment. It shows you where you’re at – really. We all think we are right, we are so convinced we are right, that we do stupid things in the name of what is right from our perspective. But what is right for us may not be right for others. That’s why you need an objective measure of what’s right. That’s what Libra is about.
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.
To be good at relationships, you need to have reason. After the Leo romance and the Virgo adjustment, for a relationship to succeed, you need to be able to be rational about it. This is the secret of successful relationships. Only after, the relationship can reach intimacy and depth in the sign of Scorpio.
Libra is about a deep understanding of the other, with their differences, with what makes them special. Libra is a triumph of differences, of what makes us unique. If Aries is ‘take me as I am’, Libra is “I take you as you are because I understand you are unique and because I am able to see you for who you are. Because I see your true colors.”
Libra is a cardinal sign. Cardinal sings love to take the initiative, start new things and be in charge. In courtship, it’s Venus the one that chooses and invites, it’s Venus who sends the courtship signals.
Venus in Libra is the iron hand in velvet glove. She knows what she wants, and she goes and gets it! Venus is choosey in Libra, and makes the best relationship decisions.
Libra rules all our 1-on-1 relationships, while Venus is about what we like and dislike.
Venus in Libra shows what we like and what we dislike in relationships.
Sometimes you just ‘like’ someone, as simple as that. You don’t have to like everyone, because not everyone is your match, and it shouldn’t be. Liking the right people and being liked in return is waaay more important than having everyone liking you a little bit.
But to figure out who you like and who you don’t, you need some interaction. You need to have an exchange, a relationship with that person. Liking someone’s photo on Instagram doesn’t necessarily mean you have a relationship with that person. A relationship starts with being open and honest about who you are.
A relationship starts with showing up.
Venus, Libra and Relationships
Both Venus and Libra are concerned with relationships that’s why Venus and Libra are a great astrological match. Venus is in domicile in Libra, and this means that anytime Venus is in Libra we will all get better at what Venus and Libra are good at: relationships.
Being good at relationships means you find the right ‘balance’ (yes, the scales) between what you want and what the other wants. This doesn’t mean equality, and not ever fairness by the standard definition. Life is not ‘fair’. Life is ‘right’. You get what you need, when you need it, even if you think it’s not fair. Life is divine justice.
Sometimes, your needs are more important. Other times, your partner needs are more important. Knowing what, when and how are Venus in Libra’s specialties.
Having good relationships doesn’t mean you have to always compromise. In fact, this is a recipe for disaster. Your partner wants to grow with you. They want to know when they’ve gone too far. They want your feedback, even if that means pointing to what they’ve done wrong.
But ruthless criticism is also a recipe for disaster. And here comes the magic of Venus in Libra.
Venus in Libra knows how to give feedback without sounding like criticism.
I know, from all qualities in the world, this one doesn’t sound particularly sexy. But it is probably the most useful one.
Knowing how to give feedback in the right way is that one skill that can basically guarantee success. Master this and you will master relationships: with your romantic partner, with your colleagues, with your family members, with pretty much everyone.
Venus in Libra is about understanding the other so you can reach a win-win outcome.
The secret of successful relationships is having both parties win. Everything else is either short-term, or it will be taken away from you sooner or later.
Venus In Libra Transit
The upcoming Venus in Libra transit is a great opportunity to improve your relationship skills.
Notice how you react to others, or how others react to you. What is different? What does it work, and what doesn’t?
Venus will leave Libra on September 10th, will turn retrograde on October 4th (in Scorpio), and re-enter Libra on November 1st. Venus will finally leave Libra on December 3rd, this time rising as a morning star.
During its long stay in Libra, Venus will change from an evening star (rising in the evening, after the Sun sets) into a morning star (rising in the morning, before Sun rises).
Venus in Libra is your greatest opportunity to transform the way you do relationships for the better.
The first phase of Venus in Libra is when Venus is in Libra and is an evening star (August 6th – September 10th 2018). This is the best time to examine your current relationship patterns.
The 2nd phase of Venus in Libra is when Venus is in Libra and retrograde (November 1st-November 15th 2018). This is the time to make the necessary relationship adjustments.
The 3rd phase of Venus in Libra is when Venus is in Libra and is a morning star (November 15th December 3rd 2018). Now is the time for new beginnings in relationships. By now, you know what you want, and you know how to understand and relate to the ‘other’.
On March 4th we have a rare alignment: Mercury, Venus and Chiron meet up at 27° Pisces. On the same day, just few hours earlier, we have another exact alignment: Sun conjunct Neptune at 13° Pisces.
This is a lot of Piscean energy to deal with. Let’s go back for a moment to the symbolism of Pisces. The Pisces symbol is two fish tied together by a rope. Yet, the two fish swim (or at least, try to swim) in completely different directions – one swimming toward individuality, and the other towards universality.
Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, a symbol for a journey that has come to an end. At the crossroads, we have two choices: to go back into the material realm and restart the cycle or incarnations, or to leave behind the material realm to become one with the spirit.
Pisces does not give us the answer to this struggle, it simply depicts the struggle of having one foot in the ‘real’ world and the other in the invisible world. Wherever you have Pisces in your natal chart, that is a place of restlessness and ambivalence.
Now let’s have a closer look at the triple conjunction – Venus, Mercury and Chiron at 27° Pisces.
Triple conjunctions (three planets lined up at the same degree of the zodiac) are very rare and therefore highly significant. What makes this conjunction special is the link to Chiron. Chiron will move in Aries on April 17th so this is the last time Chiron meets up with Venus and Mercury in the last sign of the zodiac for the next 50 years.
The ‘key’ to understanding this triple conjunction is Chiron itself. Mercury and Venus are personal planets and they are much more accessible to us.
Mercury represents our mind, how we make sense of the world around us, how we communicate with others, how we express ourselves.
Venus represents how we relate to others, how we make connections with the outside world. If Mercury is concerned strictly with exchange of information, Venus wants to make something valuable with this information – to establish exchanges, to negotiate, to give and take.
That’s why Venus is not only connected to love and beauty, but also with money and possessions. Venus is our unit of value exchange.
Therefore, Mercury and Venus coming together are concerned with exchange of information (Mercury) about what we value, about what is important to us (Venus).
Chiron is a different ‘animal’ altogether and probably the most cryptic astrological significator in one’s chart. While Uranus, Neptune and Pluto (the transpersonal planets) are even more enigmatic than Chiron, they are completely inaccessible to us. Chiron comes with the potential to be – at least to a certain extent – grasped within the limitations of the human mind.
To understand the nature of Chiron we need to keep in mind that Chiron orbits between Saturn and Uranus. Saturn is the most material planet, the last planet visible with a naked eye. Saturn represents the highest form of our ‘mortal’ existence.
Uranus on the other hand is on a higher order. Uranus breaks free from the limitations of the material world – Uranus represents liberation from the chains of what is holding us down here on Earth.
Chiron is therefore KEY, the link between the world as we know and the higher realm of consciousness.
Chiron rules our DNA, which is nothing more than the ‘code’ passed down from one generation to another. This code represents that part of us that never dies, that information that cannot be destroyed. When nothing else is left of our bodies, we still live through our children, a part of us is still manifesting and unfolding with each coming generation.
The reason we keep on passing on a part of ourselves is to bring the potential of our human existence to the highest possible form of manifestation.
And that’s why Chiron is connected to the concept of Gifts. Only the strongest sequences or our DNA are passed on to the next generations, so they can become stronger and stronger, and come closer and closer to ‘perfection’.
But until we learn how to integrate this genetic information that has been passed on to us and to bring it to a higher order of manifestation (the Uranian side of Chiron), Chironian gifts can feel like wounds.
The enigmatic “Las Meninas” by Velazquez is one of the most important paintings of the all time.
The painting depicts a scene from the Spanish court of king Philip IV. The young princess in the center of the scene is Infanta Margaret, the daughter of the king and queen of Spain and the heiress to the throne. Apparently, the whole scene and all the characters revolve around the little princess.
If we look more closely however, we notice a painting in the background of the scene showing the king and the queen of Spain who are the little princess’ parents. If we take an even closer look, we notice that this is not a painting, but a mirror. The mirror in fact shows a reflection from the painting Velazquez (the painter in the left side) is working on. He is actually painting the royal couple!
The main character of the scene is not Infanta Margaret anymore, but her parents. The royal couple is posing in front of the scene as Velazques paints them, while their daughter and several other characters watch. The painting therefore shows their view of the scene. Of the nine figures depicted, five are looking directly out at the royal couple. Their glances which seek for approval, affirm the royal couple’s presence and potency.
The painting was commissioned by the king himself. He chose not to have himself or the queen painted. At least at the first sight, they are missing from the artwork. However, if we dig deeper and understand the cryptic composition of the scene, we understand that they are the ones in the center of everything. Their power is unquestionable. Their power is what gives everything meaning.
But again, the painting says more than that. Although the royal couple’s power is unquestionable, they are merely a reflection in the mirror. The future is in front of them. Infanta Margaret, the future Queen of Spain, will pass on their power to the next generations. Infanta is still a child, and although she doesn’t have yet any real authority, she has the promise of power encoded in her genes.
The triple conjunction between Mercury, Venus and Chiron will give us ‘access’ to one of our gifts. As we described earlier, Mercury and Venus are accessible planets. They will bring to our awareness Chiron’s otherwise cryptic information.
Just as Las Meninas becomes more and more accessible to us as we look at it, some highly important pieces of information about who we are, and what we are meant to become in this lifetime, will be revealed to us.
On January 9th 2018 we have an extraordinary planetary alignment: Sun, Venus and Pluto all align at 19° Capricorn in a triple conjunction.
Triple conjunctions are pretty rare. When we do have triple conjunctions we usually have the Moon (the fastest moving planet) involved. But to have 3 planets – other than the Moon – aligned at the same zodiacal degree is very unique.
Needless to say that if you have planets or angles around 19° Capricorn (and also in Aries, Cancer or Libra) you are especially in the spotlight.
What is also very interesting is that Venus, one of the 3 planets involved, is now in the middle of her synodic cycle. Venus is in fact at the farthest possible distance from the Earth, on the other side of the Sun. When Venus is far away from the Earth we usually miss the earthy expression of Venusian gifts (love, attraction, relationships, money, personal values). On the other hand, on the other side of the Sun, Venus becomes more Goddess-like, more ethereal, more spiritualized.
If Venus close to the Earth is the meal we enjoy with our senses, Venus far away from the Earth is a beautiful painting displaying the same meal. If Venus close to the Earth is the love we consume, Venus far away from the Earth is the idealized, spiritualized, platonic love. Venus close to the Earth is similar to the Moon in nature, while Venus far away from the Earth is similar to Neptune in nature.
When Venus is far away from the Earth as she is now, she expresses herself in an abstract way. And because she is in a conjunction with the Sun, our Self, our personality (the Sun), gets infused with this abstract expression of Venus. Now is a time to approach love and relationships as an ideal concept. Ask yourself: what does love mean to me? What does beauty mean to me? What are my personal values? You can set your ideals as high as the heavens – there has never been a better moment to dream of the highest expression of what you are capable of.
To better understand the different expressions of Venus, have a look at your natal chart and see in which position is your Venus relative to the Sun.
Venus can be maximum 48° before the Sun, and maximum 48° after the Sun. Venus can only be in the two signs which precede, or follow your Sun sign. If your Sun sign is Virgo, your Venus can only be in one of the two signs before Virgo (Cancer, Leo), in Virgo, or in one of the two signs after Virgo (Libra, Scorpio).
If Venus was in direct motion, and within 10° before or after the Sun at the time of your birth, Venus was at the farthest possible distance from the Earth (just like now). You have a very idealized view of love and you can wait a lifetime for the price charming, even if you are in a happy marriage. There is a part of you who doesn’t belong to this world, who wants something that doesn’t exist. It is good to search for more spiritual type of partners who can understand you.
If your Venus is within 10° of your Sun, but it is retrograde, the opposite is true. At the time of your birth, Venus was at the closest possible distance from Earth. You have a more Earthy expression of Venus, you are likely more down to earth, more practical, you go for what makes sense to you, and if you stop liking something, or someone, you just change it and go for the next best thing.
Now coming back to the triple conjunction we have on the 9th of January.
What is really, really interesting is that we have Pluto as the third planet in the triple conjunction. And Pluto contracts are always interesting. If Sun reigns over the visible world, Pluto reigns over the underworld. Sun and Pluto together are the shaman, representing the Soul that has traveled to heaven, has traveled to hell, and has understood the cycles of life and death.
Pluto is a generational, archetypal planet. Pluto’s transit in a sign defines the drives of a whole generation. Baby Boomers for example have been associated with the transit of Pluto in Leo, while nowadays Millennials are associated with Pluto in Scorpio.
Although we are all unique, we do share some traits – and this common traits, this underlying drivers of our personality are the domain of Pluto. When Pluto touches a personal planet, he gets to the very essence of that planet, for good and for bad. People with Sun conjunct Pluto can be very ego-driven and can misuse their personal power (the lower manifestation of the Sun) or on the contrary, they can use their power for good and become extremely generous and compassionate leaders.
Same with Venus. Pluto with Venus can bring Venusian themes to the extremes, for good and for bad. Pluto with Venus can bring extreme jealousy, addiction to love and sex, obsession with money, or, in the higher manifestation can bring deep, passionate love, extreme beauty or artistic sense, the ability to create value and abundance.
Pluto will distill the characteristics of Sun and Venus in Capricorn. Pluto will get to the core of the matter. Capricorn is the most ambitious sign of the zodiac, always reaching for the next version of himself, always aiming for the top. Sun and Venus in Capricorn will want to get to the heights of love, beauty, appreciation. Sun and Venus in Capricorn are interested in nothing but the best – the most beautiful piece of art, the most successful relationship, the best status.
Sun conjunct Venus conjunct Pluto is the best time to ask yourself what do you really, really, really want to achieve. What is the best possible expression of yourself? What is that one thing that defines the ideal you, the YOU of tomorrow?
Venus and Jupiter have a spectacular encounter in the morning sky on Monday, November 13th 2017, at 7° Scorpio.
Venus conjunct Jupiter is not just a regular conjunction… it is a superconjunction. Why is that? Because Venus and Jupiter don’t only cross their elliptic path, but are also become parallel. This means they are on the same declination and longitude. They are basically one next to the other.
You see, if an astrologer says a planet is conjunct another planet, this means the two are aligned along their ecliptic path. But as seen from the Earth, the distance between the two can be significant.
When two planets are also parallel, they show up one next to one another in the sky, and their energies are much more intense than when they are in a regular conjunction.
And there is one more thing: Venus and Jupiter are both visible. In ancient astrology, visibility was the most important omen when making predictions.
Basically, when a planet is visible with the naked eye in the sky, it is much more powerful. When a planet is invisible, its energy is weaker, more introspective, and cannot express itself freely.
Let’s take the example of the Moon. When we have a New Moon, the Moon is invisible, and can only express its energy through the Sun. Same with Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. When the 6 planets are close to the Sun, they are invisible in the sky.
When Mercury and Venus start their retrograde cycles, they are invisible. You may know that Mercury and Venus’s retrogrades are times of introspection. But what you may not know is that their energy is lower because Mercury and Venus are invisible, and that’s the reason why they can only express themselves through the Ego of the Sun.
Now let’s go back to our Venus Jupiter conjunction. What is truly special is that Jupiter just became visible. When a planet becomes visible for the first time, its energy is at its strongest. It is basically the most powerful manifestation of the planet’s energy.
Jupiter disappeared into the sunset in the last week of September and has been out of sight ever since. Finally, on November 11th, Jupiter made its appearance low to the east-southeast horizon. In the coming days, Jupiter will be slowly ascending, getting higher and more prominent.
Sunday morning on November 12th, Jupiter and Venus will be separated by less than 1°. And finally, Monday morning on November 13th, Venus and Jupiter will appear together, side by side: Venus on the left and dimmer than Jupiter on its right.
Now think for a second of what that means. Jupiter, the planet of abundance, luck and faith becomes visible for the first time, just to meet with the 2nd best planet in the sky, Venus, which is also visible and powerful.
Not only we have a conjunction between Jupiter and Venus, the most beneficial planets in our solar system, but a super-conjunction when Venus and Jupiter are also parallel to each other. Moreover, the two planets are visible and stronger than ever, especially Jupiter!
This is truly amazing!
And if this sounds too scientific, just do what our ancestors have done for millennia: set your alarm, wake up early and watch them for yourself. What you will experience will be breathtaking.
You will see them right next to each other. The two brightest planets in the sky, will be one next to each other, almost merging in one single light.
Astrologically, the Venus Jupiter conjunction takes place at 7° in Scorpio and marks a new Venus Jupiter cycle. Those people blessed with planets or angles around 7° Scorpio will especially benefit from this conjunction.
Venus and Jupiter meet approximately once a year to start a new cycle of abundance and growth especially in the area of finance and possessions.
Venus Jupiter cycles repeat themselves every 24-years. 39 revolutions of Venus are equal to 24 revolutions of Earth and 2 revolutions for Jupiter. Every 24 years, the themes of the particular Venus-Jupiter conjunction will come again into our lives. The last cycle took place on 8th of November 1993. Do you recall what happened in your life in November 1993?
As you may know, Jupiter is the luckiest planet in our solar system. Jupiter expands everything it touches. Jupiter stands for growth, abundance, wealth, hope, faith and belief. Jupiter is a symbol of the ruler, of the priest, of the Hierophant, of the one who holds the torch of truth.
No wonder Jupiter has faith. You can only search for the truth if you have faith. When you say “YES” to the world, this is when the opportunities come to you. And somehow, when you say yes, sooner or later, things turn out well. Always. This is the one truth about life and Jupiter knows it better than anyone else.
Now let’s talk about Venus.
Venus stands for how we relate to the world, what we like, what we dislike, the 5 physical senses, what we enjoy doing, our relationships, our ability to give and receive love, our appreciation for beauty and aesthetics.
The Venus Jupiter conjunction takes place in Scorpio, the deepest place in the Zodiac. 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, these part of ourselves we are not even aware of, but which take over every time – our instincts, our reflexes, our reptilian brain.
Scorpio also rules transformation. We are not really ‘born’ and we don’t really die. We just move from one form of existence to another.
Scorpio is about this deep knowledge that we can only access in brief moments of truth.
Venus conjunct Jupiter is one of them.
Venus and Jupiter will shine brightly in the sky and will join forces to light our way. But what way? What exactly are they going to point to?
Venus and Jupiter will show us the Beauty (Venus) of Truth (Jupiter). Whatever part of your chart this conjunction will stir, will come with one surprising truth. The veil will be lifted. Venus and Jupiter will light your way so you can see what needs to be seen.
What is this truth? Chances are you already know it. Nothing too fancy, nothing too out of reach. Don’t expect to have your life turned upside down. The truth that you are going to find is not unexpected. It will not take you by surprise. You will likely find yourself saying “I can’t believe I’ve missed that all my life”, “I can’t believe I’ve been so blind all this time”.
You don’t need to do anything special. All Scorpio wants is authenticity and genuine connection. What is stopping you from getting in touch with yourself? What are you afraid of in getting to know about the other? What are you afraid to say, what are you afraid to hear, what are you afraid to know?
What do you really want? With Jupiter almighty in the morning sky, all you have to do is ask for it.
Jupiter conjunct Venus will help you find a deeper meaning in your life. Something will be revealed to you in a different light, a more truer, a more beautiful one. Neptune is in a trine to the conjunction, bringing Venus and Jupiter to the next level, to a higher expression of beauty and love.
In the heart of the Scorpio, where truth and nothing but the truth can prevail, beauty becomes almost a mystical experience. Truth becomes spiritual healing. Beauty and truth become a deeper understanding of how everything makes sense out there, in the higher levels of existence.
You may need to bring the hidden parts of your soul into the light. Or maybe not. Sometimes catharsis comes without too much soul-searching. You can find beauty in the smell of a flower, in the way a stranger smiles at you, or by looking at the sky in the dim light before the Sun comes out.
The Sabian symbol for the Venus Jupiter conjunction is “A calm lake bathed in the moonlight”, suggesting that beyond all our efforts, lays the need for peace and the readiness to accept the illumination from above. We are sometimes so blind to see the beauty that lays just in front of our eyes.
Venus, the Goddess of beauty and love, meets with Jupiter, the Priest. The path of pleasure and the path of spirituality can be difficult to reconcile. But in the truth of Scorpio, we have the unique chance to blend them together.
Who says there is nothing spiritual in beauty and pleasure? Who says that a spiritual path means renunciation? Right now, we can distill the essence of both. In the alchemy or Venus and Jupiter, we can find the secret formula, the magical elixir that is much more than the sum of its parts.
Wondering how the Venus Jupiter conjunction will affect you?
Look in which house you have Scorpio to find out which area of your life will come into light. For example, if you have Scorpio ascendant, this will be your 1st house, if you have Sagittarius ascendant it will be your 12th house and so on.
Something will be revealed to you. One deep, beautiful truth. This insight will empower you to ascend like the Phoenix from the ashes of your old self-identification.
You will feel the energy more strongly if you have planets around 7° in Scorpio.
If you have strong Scorpio and 8th house energy in your chart, or a lot of Water, you will connect with this energy more easily. If you have mainly Air or Earth, then the energy can be traumatic at the beginning.
But no need to worry. With Jupiter in Scorpio, the good always wins in the end. You can finally find a resolution for a problem which was haunting you for years. You will finally take your power back.
Venus conjunct Mars in transit marks the start of a new relationship cycle.
The Venus Mars conjunction happens once every 2 years and marks a new beginning in relationships and partnerships. Like a New Moon, new planetary cycles offer a fresh beginning.
Venus Mars cycles repeat themselves every 32 years. The last Venus Mars conjunction was 32 years back, on October 5,1985. Try to remember what happened back then, as this conjunction will have a similar energy.
Venus and Mars are the cosmic lovers and in astrology they describe attraction, love and relationships. Mars rules Aries and Venus rules Libra – Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, ruling the Ascendant and the 1st house, Mars is “I”. Venus is the 7th sign of the zodiac and rules the 7th house, or the descendant, and stands for the “The Other”
Even people who are not very familiar with astrology know that Venus stands for the feminine, and Mars, for the masculine. The astrological symbols for Venus and Mars are identical to those used in biology to identify sexes.
One of the most famous books of all time is “Men are from Mars, women are from Venus”.The book shows the polarity of the two energies – Mars, the assertive, masculine energy, and Venus, the feminine, receptive energy.
Venus, Mars and attraction
If you look at the sky, it makes sense that Venus and Mars are all about relating. Venus is the next planet inward from Earth, and Mars is the next planet outward. In astrology, we take the Earth as the center, and Venus and Mars are two planets on the right and on the left.
While Mars relates to the world by taking the lead, acting, doing, Venus relates to the world by sending subtle messages and choosing what she likes, and rejecting what she doesn’t. Mars rules war, Venus rules the law of attraction.
It is not that Venus does not take the lead. In fact, Venus is the one that chooses and invites Mars to get closer. In courtship, it is Venus who sends the courtship signals, makes eye contact and smiles to Mars. And only then Mars is “allowed” to approach Venus.
When Mars comes to Venus without being invited, he might get some success, but all research and studies show that this “success” is short-lived. It takes two to tango.
To have a long lasting attraction, Venus and Mars need to express their role in a natural way. Venus sends the signal, Mars approaches, Venus chooses and the courtship goes on.
The polarity of Venus and Mars
Venus and Mars are planets of polarity, irrespective of one’s gender or sexual orientation. In homosexual couples usually one of the partners takes the Venus role, and the other the Mars role.
It is so important that polarity exists in relationships, that life cannot be created without it. We won’t be here without Mars and Venus. Is it the passion between Venus and Mars, the “secret mix” between the two, that allows creation to take place.
Without a “chemical reaction” between Venus and Mars, we cannot create anything. The world around us is made out of polarities, we have yin and yang, 0 and 1, the North Pole and the South Pole.
The opposite poles of two magnets attract each other, but their similar poles repel each other. That’s why we need both Venus and Mars to create a “magnetic field”.
And as no magnet has only one pole, we both have a Venus and a Mars inside us.
Most creative people in the world tend to have Venus conjunct Mars in their natal chart.
Van Gogh, Hitler, Mahatma Gandhi, Bette Davis, Al Pacino, Amy Winehouse, Kanye West, Bruce Lee, Joaquin Phoenix, Bruno Mars – they all have the Venus conjunct Mars signature.
In Astrology, Venus conjunct Mars is a great time to start new relationships, especially when Venus and Mars rise in the morning sky.
When Venus and Mars rise before the Sun, they have not been “burned by the Sun”, they have not got into the “Ego zone” yet, and can express their qualities freely.
This does not mean evening conjunctions are not benefic, but they express different planetary qualities. For new beginnings, morning rise planets are the best.
Venus and Mars – the divine feminine and the divine masculine
Venus is the Divine Feminine and Mars is the Divine Masculine, so when these two planets meet, they express a special energy that we can all benefit from.
When we master the Divine Feminine, when we master the Divine Masculine, when we allow them to blend into one another, this is when we become “one” with the divine consciousness.
Venus conjunct Venus will ask us to balance our masculine and feminine energy. When the masculine and the feminine energies are in balance, we experience a state of easiness, flow, and great vitality.
If you feel tired or unmotivated it could well be because there is an imbalance in the expression of the Mars energy, of the Venus energy, or both.
You can balance your Mars energy by surrounding yourself with good masculine role models, by watching hero movies or reading hero books, by asserting yourself when you are taken for granted.
You can balance your Venus energy by spending time with good Venusian role models, by discussing relationships with people you trust, by developing compassion and appreciation.
Venus and Mars in your natal chart
Look at where Venus and Mars are in your chart. Is Venus in a feminine sign or in a masculine sign? What about Mars?
Venus and Mars are also crucial in synastry when you want to assess the potential of a romantic relationship.
There are many indicators which describe compatibility, such as Sun and Moon. But if you want to understand the potential for intimacy, passion and sexual chemistry in a relationship, look at your Mars and Venus placement and at your partner’s Mars and Venus placements.
If you are a woman or take the feminine role in a relationship, and your Venus or your Mars are in feminine signs (Yin), a good match for you is a partner who has Venus and Mars in masculine signs (Yang).
If your Venus and Mars are in masculine signs (Yang), again, you are still better off with a partner who also has Venus and Mars in masculine signs, especially Mars.
When a woman is Yin, she needs a stronger man, with more masculine energy. When a woman is Yang, she needs an even stronger man.
If you are a man or take the masculine role in a relationship, and your Venus or your Mars are in feminine signs (Yin), look for a partner who has their Venus and Mars in feminine signs (Yin). If your Venus or Mars are in masculine signs (Yang), both partners with feminine or masculine Venus and Mars are a good match.
When a man is Yang, he needs a softer partner, with more feminine energy. When a man is Yin, he needs an even softer partner.
A Yang Woman with a Yin man is the most difficult combination, but it can be overcome with awareness and acceptance. Physical chemistry is not a “make or break” element anymore in an enlightened, mature relationship.
You will feel the energy of the Venus conjunct Mars stronger if you have Aries, Taurus, Libra, Scorpio ascendant.
