Venus Retrograde

The planet governing love, our values, art, and creativity retrogrades today at 10º Aries. read for themes, horoscopes, and more!

Photo by ELIANO DAVIDE on Unsplash

Venus stations retrograde on March 1st at 10° Aries. This retrograde spans both Aries and Pisces and makes contacts with several other planets in Pisces and Aries. This retrograde is also closely tied to the Mercury retrograde, the eclipses taking place in March and the eclipses that took place in September and October of 2024.

Check out the Venus retrograde episode on the Moon Moods Podcast!

The most common association with Venus is relationships, and that isn’t inaccurate, but Venus has dominion over so much more. Venus isn’t just associated with our partnerships, she also governs our values within relationships that attract people to us in the first place, the boundaries that we have within our intimate partnerships, our style and aesthetic, how we express ourselves creatively, and our love language. Each of our own Venus placements are tailored by the sign that we have Venus in, the house she is placed in (and the houses she rules), and any aspects she’s making to other planets. Each of these mold and shape how these themes are expressed in each of our individual lives. Someone with a Venus in Pisces will operate very differently than someone with their Venus in Aries (spoiler alert: these are the signs Venus will retrograde!). As we head into this retrograde it can be helpful to reflect on your own relationship to Venus and venusian themes within your world. Your lens on these areas of life will flavor how you experience a Venus retrograde.

Throughout Venus’ retrogrades we are offered the opportunity to pull back and assess these areas of our lives. Any retrograde, regardless of the planet, is associated with ‘re’ words: revisit, reassess, rethink, review, reflect, and restore. These periods of time become periods where we are processing a lot, our thoughts and feelings may feel a bit out of control, and life feels uncertain. This need to pull back will give you time to process these big Venus questions regarding your own values, your boundaries, your expectations of yourself and others, who you are authentically, and how you express yourself within your world. This is a time to consider – are you living in alignment? Are there boundaries you’ve been avoiding keeping or actions you’ve been taking that don’t align with your values? These are often pretty overwhelming conversations to be having with yourself, and it will be easy to be impulsive and cut ties (especially with Venus in Aries), but don’t make rash decisions right now. Give yourself the time and space needed to truly consider these questions and honor your emotions as they come up.

Venus entered her shadow in late January, which means that we are beginning to see some of what this retrograde will be about for us individually. You may have already noticed hints of these themes making themselves known within your world as Venus has already made her first contacts with planets you may have at the end of mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) and planets you may have at the beginning of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn). That said, these issues are likely confusing in nature and you’re not quite sure where to go for resolution. These issues will likely continue to unfold as Venus continues her journey through the retrograde and then back through these degrees for a third time. That clarity will come, but not just yet, so don’t feel like you need to have everything figured out right now.

Venus retrograde begins on March 1st at 10º Aries and will last through April 12th at 24º Pisces. Here are the major dates to keep in mind throughout the retrograde:

Recent Retrogrades:

In addition, it can be helpful to look back on recent Venus retrogrades. Think back to these periods of time and what was going on within your world. Here are some of the previous Venus retrogrades for you to chew on:

-July, August, September 2023 inLeo

-December 2021 and Jan 2022 in Capricorn

- May and June 2020 in Gemini

- October and November 2018 in Scorpio and Libra

-March and April 2017 in Aries and Pisces (this one is important as it was the last time Venus was retrograde in the same signs as this current retrograde!)

- July, August, September 2015 in Virgo and Leo

Eclipses

We will spend more time on each of the upcoming eclipses in their own post but I want to make note of how the Venus retrograde is connected to the upcoming eclipses as well as the last two eclipses. Venus stations retrograde at 10° Aries. This is the same degree of the eclipse that took place on October 2nd at 10° Libra, the same degree of the March 29th eclipse at 9° Aries, and the same degree that Mercury stations retrograde at in March. Venus stations direct at 24° Pisces which is the same degree of the eclipse on September 18th (25° Pisces) and the eclipse on March 14° at 23° Virgo. This means that each of these astrological happenings are heavily connected to one another. It will be helpful to pay attention to anything that was initiated or important during September and October as these issues will likely be revisited in March. In addition, if you have planets around 10° cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) or planets around 24° mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) as that will make these transits much more personally impactful for you.

PS - if you want to learn how to identity transits in your chart I highly recommend checking out my guide to understanding your chart!

Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, and the North Node

This Venus retrograde is heavily flavored by Venus’ contacts with each of these points in the sky. Venus will make conjunctions with each of these during her pre-retrograde shadow, during the retrograde itself, and again during her post-retrograde shadow. This means Venus will make three separate contacts with Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and the North Node. This is a lot of energy for Venus and in such quick succession! Each of these points have different meanings and, therefore, each of these contacts will feel very different from one another. This will likely feel like whiplash for us. One minute things are feeling beautiful and lovely and the next we’re drowning in our own tears. It will be helpful to take this retrograde one day at a time, especially given everything else that’s going on in the sky (I’ll write more on these separately but to name them here: eclipse season, Venus retrograde, and Mercury retrograde will all happen concurrently).

End of Pisces, Beginning of Aries

There is a ton of energy within these sets of degrees this year. Mercury will also retrograde these degrees, the North Node just moved out of Aries and into Pisces, and Saturn and Neptune will both leave Pisces and enter Aries but then retrograde back to Pisces later this year. It’s a TON of movement for this area of our charts. This Venus retrograde is only the beginning. It opens the door for these issues and areas of focus to unfold over the course of the year. This retrograde feels like a great opportunity for us to really be proactive. The issues that are making themselves known right now aren’t going to just go away. Don’t sweep them under the rug with the assumption that everything will just work out. This is the time to face the issue head on, be honest with yourself and make necessary changes. Venus retrogrades act as an opportunity for you to establish your boundaries, expectations, and ensure you’re living in alignment with your values.

Horoscopes:

Aries