by Robert Wilkinson
Venus goes stationary retrograde at 6:33 pm PDT on July 22, 2:33 am BST on July 23. What can we expect?
Let’s begin looking at this Venus retrograde by examining some things about Venus. Venus symbolizes what we like, what we value, what we appreciate, and our overall aesthetic inclinations. So when Venus goes retrograde, it definitely affects everyone’s values, pleasures, love life and other close relationships.
When Venus is retrograde, we can find different ways to relate to others, or different ways to image what we like and how we like it. It can bring back old relationships, old memories of relationships, or old relationship patterns updated for the present. Given Venus rules values, it can bring back old value systems for new evaluation, or the return of old memories of things we valued and appreciated in the past.
During a Venus retrograde period, we have a chance to review, revalue, reevaluate, and rework our appreciations and our ways of relating to others. Because Venus is associated with Narcissus, we can get different looks at direct and indirect forms of narcissistic behaviors, or how people in our past exhibited these, as well as our subconscious vanities and superficialities which enable us to be seduced by the passing fancies of our world.
Venus Retrograde in Leo – Is It Harmonious or Frictional to Its Nature?
This one begins at 29 Leo and then retrogrades back to the second decan of Leo, going stationary direct at 13 Leo in early September. Leo is a fairly good position for Venus, since it harmonizes with its Libra side and knows the fixity of its Taurus side. Because it’s the third decan of Leo, the Aries decan, Venus is not “at home” and feels a fit in “exile,” which is aggravated by Mars, which also rules the third decan of Leo.
When in Leo, Venus is in its 4th sign relative to its natural rulership of Taurus, and in its 11th sign relative to its rulership of Libra. So in Leo, Venus learns about the noble qualities grounding its easygoing practical side, and glimpses its noble aspirations through expressing heart to its friends or within a group setting. In Leo, Venus is both grounded and aspirational, with fire feeding its Air qualities.
In Leo, Venus retrograde indicates that we will be in a reflective creative-expressive mode, where past ideas and people can be understood in a new light. It may be we’ll remember someone who precipitated the release of our creative potential, or the expression of our heart-centered individual spirituality, or someone who helped us externalize those values. This is a “backward looking” period in our Venus ruled areas of life where we can re-evaluate or appreciate someone or something in a new way before the natural balanced forward motion of Venus can proceed.
Take a look at old relationships, and see which helped you find a quest for a new type of life, or someone who made a significant difference as you hit a point of “emergent spiritual knowledge” or spiritual relationships. At the end of the process we’ll all have a different understanding of why we had to retire from some old dramas, or now have the need to retire from old dramas in our Venusian areas of life.
Recurring Venus Retrogrades
Also, I should note here that Venus has a recurring cyclic dance it does with the Sun, which I recently gave you in the article Long Wave Cycles of Venus Retrograde. As I explained there, when Venus was retrograde in Dec 2013 and Jan 2014, it closely tracked its retrograde span from late December 2005 through early February 2006. During that earlier period Venus went retrograde at 2 Aquarius, and retrograded back to 17 Capricorn. The 2013-2014 period began at 29 Capricorn and retrograded back to 14 Capricorn, so it did substantially overlap.
The 2015 Venus retrograde that began at 1 Virgo and retrograded back to 15 Leo substantially overlapped its retrograde span of its late July through early September 2007 retrograde period, which went from 3 Virgo back to 17 Leo. The 2017 retrograde in Aries and Pisces tracked the Venus retrograde period in March-April 2009. The 2017 one began at 16 Aries and went back to 30 Pisces, while the 2009 retrograde began at 14 Aries and went back to 27 Pisces.
The late 2018 Venus retrograde that began at 11 Scorpio and retrograded back to 26 Libra had a similar retrograde path to the Oct-Nov 2010 Venus retrograde period, which went from 14 Scorpio back to 28 Libra. The May-June 2020 went from 22 Gemini back to 6 Gemini paralleling the May-June 2021 Venus retrograde which accompanied a once in 120 year Venus occultation event. That one began at 24 Gemini and retrograded back to 8 Gemini, so as you can see, the spans closely parallel each other. Links to the important 2012 event are at the bottom of this article.
This one, spanning 29 Leo back to 13 Leo, closely tracks the Venus retrograde period of the Summer of 2015 when it retrograded from 1 Virgo back to 15 Leo, except that this one is entirely in the sign of Leo, showing that long wave cycle has shifted from dual signs to one sign. The next one will happen in 2025 where it begins in Aries and retrogrades back into Pisces, paralleling the Spring 2017 retrograde.
What Is Venus Retrograde and How Can We Use the Energy Wisely?
When Venus goes retrograde, it’s a great time to begin reflecting on values and relationships. This would include our relationship to money, wealth, and things in general, as well as why we value what we do in our relationships, and whether we're working off of old tapes, old hurts, old attachments, and old aversions in relationships that bear no resemblance to what we're living with today.
While in Leo it makes its usual conjunctions with Mercury and the Sun, but this retrograde will be extremely dynamic as it begins with a weeks’ long Yod as the nozzle for Neptune and Pluto! Add the Sun opposed to Pluto just before the station, the Sun’s entry into Leo just minutes after the station, and Chiron going stationary retrograde early Sunday morning, and it’s easy to see this is a powerful and important station.
The first intense “storm zone” in the retrograde period is the Venus Yod accompanied by Mercury square Uranus on July 23 and then Mercury conjunct Venus at 29 Leo, activating the Yod between July 25-29. And of course, when retrograde Venus will again square Uranus in the second week of August, followed by its “Inferior Conjunction” with the Sun on August 13 at 21 Leo which I’ll write more about in early August.
Venus retrograde can help us update our likes and dislikes to current values and conditions freed from old subconscious tapes that are not useful in our present day to day relationships to people and things. It may bring memories of old hurts and misunderstandings, but in re-experiencing old wounds we are given opportunities to free ourselves of subconscious patterns that seduce us into suffering. We can break free of the old patterns by superimposing our mature self's values and short circuiting the echoes of memories of perceptions based in prior ignorance or victimization.
That some people hurt others is a reality in this impermanent world. Still, we do not have to suffer needlessly based in old emotional habits that do not serve our need for love, wisdom, veneration, compassion, and self-respect.
I have found that even when these are absent, and hurtfulness is all around, by maintaining these higher values within me, I can transcend the outer conditions, and no longer struggle with those who want to suffer, or dish it out to others. A very wise man once said words to the effect that life is painful, but we do not have to suffer.
It does take courage, strength, and good will to transcend the tendency to suffer, but in releasing the habit of suffering, we take control of our magnificent eternal consciousness and are able to find a tremendous compassion and power. Using these, we are able to enter into the pain and suffering wherever we find it, and break the link between the two.
Venus retrograde in Leo can help us take a new look at how authentic we are in our relationship expressions and activities, and see if there needs to be new blood, or new fun, or new spontaneity in our interactions. We can get new insights from relationships which ended long ago, and find a new way to release old feelings based in misunderstandings. Perhaps old hurts can be seen for their value in liberating us from frustrating interactions and possessions we no longer valued. A Venus retrograde is good for reconnecting with those we once loved, or having a new appreciation for people in our past who allowed us to express ourselves and not feel shamed or devalued.
So as you move through these times, whether they are cheerful or painful for you and those you are with, try to remember that regardless of what's going on around you, we have the choice to BE however we need to be in that moment to bring forth the highest self we are able. It is that which is beyond the fluctuations of personality, and the means by which we can be the light in the darkness of this impermanent existence.
The Stationary Retrograde Sabian Symbol
A planetary retrograde station sets the themes for what will be reviewed, remembered, or renewed. This station falls at 29 Leo. It is said that the last third (decan) of any sign deals with the individual, mental, and spiritual levels of life, and being the third decan of Leo it has a sub-influence of Aries. While I've given you a sense of this degree up to now, this is where we go into depth.
The symbol for the 29th degree of Leo is “A mermaid.” From the Marc Jones class notes in Dane Rudhyar’s The Astrology of Personality, we read this is a degree of “Pure longing for a new order of selfhood,” “critical point in emergent evolution,” and “Perspective; or a sense of incompetence.”
In The Astrological Mandala. Rudhyar states this degree is "a stage at which an intense feeling-intuition rising from the unconscious is about to take form as a conscious thought.” He says this symbol “suggests that the fire of desire of concrete and steady form burns at the root of all techniques of self-expression,” where “an unconscious energy archetype is reaching toward consciousness through the creator, as cosmic Love seeks tangible manifestation through human lovers.”
He states that this is “a great evolutionary urge,” and a “yearning for conscious form and solidity.” So the illumination available via this Full Moon is through the Light of going through some serious releases of love and/or creativity, where something involving heart Fire is seeking manifestation. He states this degree falls in the Span of Interpretation, Act of Stabilization, and Scene of Release on the Individual-Mental level.
Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of “humanity’s insatiable appetite for experience (of)... self-assurance, and of the nascent eagerness of the soul for a ...personal participation in every possible facet of self-fulfillment.” This is about our “ineradicable purity” at core, and our need to repudiate compromise.
He goes on to state that this is about responding to our creative needs. He offers the keyword IMPORTUNITY, and states when operating positively, the degree is “a completeness of quickening to inner instincts of the being and a real willingness to trust them.”
So this is a Venus retrograde where we can experience a longing or expectancy about to take shape, or remember an old longing seen through new eyes. This is a look back to recalibrate how we dance with others, as well as ourselves, expressed through a stabilized energy field of spontaneity, creativity, courage, heart strength, and nobility. Allow the beauty of knowledge of your individual creative expression take shape in the world as the Life and Love you ARE to come forth naturally and playfully.
This span involving Leo can show us how we became more true to our values when found a sense of perspective, or how others’ perspectives gave us a longing for a new life. We can understand prior emotionally stuck people by taking a look at how they weren’t able to share, or play, or be naturally spontaneous in their time with us. This will show us dances past and present, and why some relationships had to end, clearing the way for more better ones.
Every Venus retrograde gives us the chance to examine and heal hurts and misunderstandings we internalized in the past. This Venus retrograde can show us how we chose to leave unhealthy relationships behind, or those which gave us mixed signals and confused messages. With this retrograde, we can re-evaluate internalized blocks and suspicions, as well as resentments, and resistances so we may show our Highest Self to the world.
Don’t be surprised if these themes show up in your social life, or in a reconsideration of values from previous times in life. There may be interesting returns that open a deeper understanding of past relationship dynamics, or show you opportunities to adjust your efforts to find renewed cooperation from others. This will help us get to internalized antagonisms, and open perspectives and insights into human motives and folly.
With themes of “multiple expansions through multiple sacrifices,” find original ways to look at things, and be creative in playing with perspectives. This may bring unexpected twists and turns along the way, but ultimately we will find healing by September in our Leo sector of the chart. Take a new look at old relationships or misunderstandings, since you may find you took things more personally than you needed to, and by releasing the old and embracing the new that’s approaching, you can find more balance in your self-expression
The Magic of Venus Retrograde
Venus direct and retrograde in Leo promises us 4 months of learning to like all things Leo! This will bring beauty or something of value to wherever we have Leo in our charts, and people with significant Leo planets or points will love the fire they’re feeling in their interactions.
You can find out a lot more about Venus retrograde cycles and how Venus retrograde manifests by getting your copy of The Magic of Venus: Friendships, Soul Mates, and Twin Flames. It is the most comprehensive book on Venus ever written, and offers a multi-faceted view of why we attract the people we do, as well as how to re-shape our inner Venus to create more satisfying relationships in the future.
This work is an in-depth examination of the psychological dimension of Venus, the spiritual dimension of Venus, and the astrological dimension of Venus. It offers practical techniques for changing your image of what you want to attract your heart’s desire, and how to make your relationships more fulfilling because you are living a Soul-ful life. You’ll find out about why you like or don’t like people and things, why you’ve attracted who you have in the past and present, and how to make those attractions more aligned with your Soul purpose in the future. A major theme weaving the various dimensions together is understanding why Soul Mates come into our lives, and how to know the difference between a Soul Mate and our Twin Flame.
It has chapters on the qualities of each sign’s natural mate, the qualities of Venus in each sign, Venus retrograde, and when crucial choices and changes are made, affecting who we attract in the future. It was written for both astrologers and lay people, and as it has a thousand gems for better relationships, with self, others, and Source, please consider getting your copy by going to the link above! (And when you’re done, please leave a review on Amazon, since it helps the book and all other books on astrology as well!)
On a final note....
While relatively rare, a Venus occultation of the Sun (a type of retrograde phenomenon) usually occurs every 120 years, mas o menos, though it has been known to occur more often. That particular 2012 “event” tied together past and future in a huge way, in that it will be in play for the 10 Jupiter cycles that began then.
As I pointed out at the time, that Venus RX period and the subsequent Jupiter transit triggered some long wave energies directly related to themes set into motion around 1889-1895 when Neptune conjuncted Pluto in Gemini, beginning a 500 year period. Everything that’s happened in the past 120 years is directly related to the seeds set into motion by that conjunction. As I told you then,
Neptune and Pluto danced around the conjunction, going stationary at 2, 5, 7, and 8 Gemini before actually conjuncting at 8 and 9 Gemini in 1891-92. After that they danced on their stations near each other at various points between 8 and 16 Gemini before moving out of range. Themes related to this “primum mobile” will be explored and expanded to whatever degree thanks to this Venus retrograde coupled with Jupiter’s transit of this span in Gemini over the next year.So say goodbye to an old 120 year cycle, and hello to a new one! This is a "change of season" in the 500 year Neptune-Pluto cycle, and marks the beginning of a new quarter cycle, or "season" in that long wave influence.
As I promised, here are the articles on the 2012 Venus “occultation event.”
Venus Transit of the Sun – What Is It, How Does It Happen, and Other Historical Transits of Venus
Venus Retrograde Conjunct the Sun June 5, 2012 – What Does That Rare Event Mean?
Copyright © 2023 Robert Wilkinson
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