by Robert Wilkinson
Venus goes direct at 25 Pisces 6:02 pm PDT on April 12, 2:02 am BST on April 13. This is a threshold from which we move forward in many Venus-ruled areas of our lives. Much that we’ve been reviewing between early March and now has enabled us to remember old people, old initiatives, previous times when we found a new leadership, and re-value what has been and will continue to leave our lives.
Venus direct indicates we’ve begun a period where She will move through Her shadow zone between 25 Pisces and 11 Aries for the third time, giving us a chance to apply what we learned during its retrograde period. This offers us the ability to cultivate skill in using our Venusian planetary functions within the lessons indicated by the degree spans it’s occupied.
As I've pointed out in previous articles outlining how the retrograde influence works, we first experience the sign lessons when planets cross those spans. Then we get a new look or new experience of those sign lessons when planets retrograde across those spans. Then we get to weave these two approaches or understandings together and apply them when the planets again go direct and cross the span a third time.
What Has Venus Retrograde Brought Us, and Where Is It Going?
In this case, Venus, the planet of love, relationships, values and resources, having begun its retrograde at 11 Aries, has now moved back to 25 Pisces, where it now moves forward again. Its time in Aries and Pisces has given us insights into potential new life orders as well as ancient ghosts involving people we once knew and things we once valued. This could apply to any Venus-ruled area.
As Venus rules resources and how we used them, a Venus retrograde gives us a look back to see if we’re being driven more by subconscious cues or making conscious choices. As our only resources are time, energy, and money, we get a new look at these during Venus retrograde.
As I mention in my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend, Venus’ planetary duality is Wisdom/Folly. We are told this part of us is how our subconscious mind responds to our self-conscious perceptions. Venus retrograde has allowed us to review some Aries and Pisces elements of internalized relational memories to see how past likes and dislikes affect our current subconscious reactions.
If there were reconnections with people and values from the past, we can now move forward in more thoughtful and natural ways. The reviews, rewinds, and remembrances we’ve experienced the past month and a half have shown us how relationships in the past helped us get a new perspective on others, especially “the law of unintended consequences,” or old conflicts resulting from misunderstandings or perceptions which should have been taken a different way by us or our peers way back when.
We now can move forward in the life areas indicated by the houses where we have 25 Pisces through 11 Aries. Obviously it also impacts the houses where we have Taurus and Libra in our chart, just as it has influenced any planets we have in Taurus or Libra, giving them a Pisces or Aries backdrop since January.
How To Apply This Knowledge In Your Chart
By way of illustration, in my chart the Venus retrograde fell in my 8th house. Among other things, I got a Venusian "review" of several people who have died in recent months, as well as memories of ancient relationships which had to end for all the right reasons. I’ve gotten to reflect on many old friends who are no longer on Earth, and heard from several that I haven’t heard from in years.
The retrograde began at 11 Aries, a degree of “the introduction to a new life order,” which is closely conjunct my Sun at 12 Aries. All of us were introduced to a new life order which will only come forth beginning in mid-May when Venus leaves Her shadow zone. I am sure that Venus going SRX on my Sun and going SD on my Jupiter promises a new life once the old leaves. And I have truly glimpsed “a new order of Selfhood” and stand poised to move forward these next few months into a new “value of my Light/Life.”
As Venus rules my 3rd and 4th houses, and co-rules my 10th as an intercepted sign, I’ve had delays and postponements in factors involving those houses. However, and perhaps Mercury’s RX between 10 Aries and 27 Pisces was a contributing factor, I took time to finish my next book on “The Cycles of Life: The 7 Year Cycles and Stages of Eternal Change.” This is a book explaining a system of chart analysis I’ve developed over a 50 year period which explains the quality of each year of each quadrant of each season of life. Mercury helped me get a new perspective and finish what needed finishing!
Venus retrograde also brought me the fact that several people I’ve known and loved a long time won’t be here much longer. I also wrote a song for the first time in 25 years! So besides the Pisces losses and echoes of memories of old feelings and people, I’ve also had a type of Aries regeneration via the book which should help society at large (8th house) understand the cycles of everyone’s life.
This period has made some things perfectly clear which were hung up going in circles before the retrograde, like the way I quickly finished the book. I’ve also remembered people I’ve had to banish since 2023 because of remembering I don’t have to tolerate others’ abusive speech or behavior. The biggest problem has been the number of delays across all my Mercury and Venus areas of life. But since I know retrogrades, I just did what I could at the time and postponed the rest until now.
As usual with Venus retrograde, I’ve been thinking back on prior homes and moves, and have been reviewing how I came to see things in my early life. It has also led me to an understanding of my need to love and laugh with life to strengthen my heart which will allow me to move confidently into the new life order promised by its RX station on my Sun.
The Sabian Symbol for Venus Stationary Direct
Venus goes direct at 25 Pisces. We are told the symbol for the 25th degree of Pisces is "The purging of the priesthood.” In The Astrology of Personality, where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, 25 Pisces is said to be a symbol of “ability periodically to cleanse from all selfish dross the channels for spiritual service,” “true vision,” and “Soul reformation.”
In The Astrological Mandala he offers that this degree is one of “the power of the Soul to intervene in the personal life and to induce necessary catharses.” He states this symbol is about eliminating negative ego attitudes and “dogmatic rules and habits which not only have become empty of inner meaning, but very often have been perverted by the demands of the … emotional nature, and by the … rationalizing intellect.”
He goes on to say that “a purging or catharsis is needed to restore not only fresh and creative spontaneity, but even more the contact with the Soul and the God-ordained dharma.” He tells us this is part of the “final consummation of the process” of actualizing some potential that requires “moments of crisis and purification.” He says it falls in the Span of Protection, and is the final degree in the emotional-cultural level of the Scene of Perpetuation in the Act of Capitalization.
Dr. Jones says this degree symbolizes “the penalties that await whatever may fail to prove its worth,” where we must demand “an absolute integrity for (our) spiritual or immortal insights,” and not tolerate those who fall short of our ideals “in those who elect to be custodians of (our) higher and invisible treasures.”
He states that we must “approach the problems of (our) own regeneration through a dramatization of potentials (we) recognize but cannot altogether instrument,” while not “tolerating their depreciation.” He offers us the keyword REFORMATION. We are told that when positive, the degree is "revolt against all superficial exaltation of human nature.”
So now, through our Venusian function, we get to go through forms of purification so our Soul can come forth unimpeded by personality and egoic considerations. This should help us renew our contact with our Higher Self, and eliminate old rules and habits that have no place in our future. We can now find a blend of Venusian and Saturnine wisdom and understanding as we say goodbye to old relationships as we stand on the threshold of new ones!
From Here Our Venus Areas Move Forward
This sets a platform for Venusian realizations along these lines and the ability to move forward with a sense of opening to a new purified Self as we stand at the end of an old era. Though Venus in Pisces is very deep, empathic, and highly sensitive and intuitive, when it re-enters Aries we’re all going to accelerate into a new world!
And because of Venus being Herself, embrace all that is fun, natural, and in synch with your sense of your heart, your creativity, and your ability to dance with others in our world. This is in play through the next Venus retrograde which begins at 9 Scorpio in October 2026, which retrogrades back to 23 Libra.
One thing which may be important is that in December 2023 Neptune went stationary direct at 25 Pisces, and so the coming Venus months will in some way echo the collective atmosphere of 2022-2024. Perhaps what we experienced collectively in that period will in some way be brought back into focus in coming months.
Obviously, if Venus makes aspects to your natal planets from 25 Pisces, then by those aspects your planetary functions will be challenged or understood, used productively or become specialized according to the specific aspect Venus makes to your planets. This will impact both the life areas of the houses these occupy, as well as the houses they rule.
So now that Venus is direct in motion, it means the life areas ruled by Taurus and Libra (the houses with those signs on the cusp, or edge of the house) should now show some movement forward after many weeks of being slowed, stopped, or even seeming to go backwards. Venus retrograde has given us all a chance to slow down in our interactions, take a new look at old relations to see what was of value, what was blocked, and if they created insecurity or suspicion in our relationships since then. We’re now done with a period when some Venusian things were on hold and can proceed from here, since we know what to expect now that Venus moves forward in Pisces and Aries.
Elaborating on the concept that Venus a background effect for those areas ruled by planets we have in Taurus and Libra, I have Neptune in Libra in the 3rd, spiritual ruler of my 5th and 8th. Venus going direct will affect my Neptune function, and so indirectly my 3rd, 5th, and 8th house. That's definitely looming large in my life! As I also have Venus in Taurus and this station is septile my Venus, it’s the “fork in the road at the end of a cycle” with poignant losses shown by Venus going direct exactly conjunct my Jupiter.
So from here we move forward in the Taurus and Libra sectors. The interesting thing is that Venus now begins two months of being trine Mars which will harmonize our Aries and Scorpio sectors with our Taurus and Libra sectors, with April focused on the Water trine and May focused on the Fire trine!
Venus is also conjunct Saturn with both septile Pluto, showing an emergent “fork in the road” relative to the healing powers being awakened by Pluto. Areas most affected are 2-6 Aquarius, 23-27 Pisces, 14-18 Taurus, 6-10 Cancer, 28 Leo-2 Virgo, 20-24 Libra, and 11-15 Sagittarius. This implies we’ll see this energy triggered when Mars moves through late Leo and early Virgo between June 10 and June 22 (with Venus in the Taurus zone!), followed by Jupiter in Cancer and the other Cancer transits in June and July. After that, September is another activation month.
Venus had Mars in Cancer as its dispositor when it was in Aries, and Jupiter when in Pisces. So Venus has been learning through communication, discovering information, exchanging information and knowledge, and finding ways to adapt to unclear conditions. When it goes back into Aries, Mars will again be its dispositor, but it will be strong in Leo and as noted, they’ll be in trine the entire time, lighting up the sky and inspiring play and creativity.
Planets going from retrograde to direct challenge us to move forward with a view to what we’ve just been through. At least Venus has shown us what is true, good, and valuable in the changes we are considering. Much of what we’ve just been through will be much clearer when Venus leaves its shadow zone in mid-May and begins 6 weeks of favorable aspects to Jupiter!
So as you move forward, open to blessing and releasing all you don’t want to bring into your next world, enjoy the growth in your empathy as well as your ability to face a new life order and appreciate the beauty and value in that new life. We’ve now seen the future and gone back to the past to finish up whatever needs finishing. Glide with the flow through the rest of April, and get ready to flame on in multiple ways in May and June!
Be at peace and move forward with spontaneity and power this Spring and Summer, especially in areas ruled by Taurus and Libra or where you have planets in those signs. Have fun taking your “wisdom after the review” with an eye to using those insights in the near future. And the beat goes on and on and on...
The Magic of Venus: Friendships, Soul Mates, and Twin Flames.
Now that we’ve gotten acquainted with Venus in Pisces and Aries for the past 3 months and counting, we should have a new appreciation of those areas of our life! This should have brought beauty or something of value to wherever we have late Pisces and early Aries in our charts, and people with late Pisces or early Aries planets or points should be loving the depth connections as well as the inspirational fire they’re feeling in their interactions.
You can find out a lot more about Venus retrograde cycles and how Venus retrograde manifests, as well as in direct motion, 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 explains why we attract the people we do, as well as how to re-shape our Venus to create more satisfying relationships in the future. It features an entire chapter on Venus retrograde and how it can manifest in a natal chart which is sure to give you insights about this and past Venus retrograde periods!
This work examines the psychological, spiritual, and astrological dimensions of Venus. It offers practical techniques to attract your heart’s desire and how to make relationships more fulfilling by living a Soul-ful life. You’ll find why you like or don’t like people and things, why you’ve attracted people in the past and present, and how to attract those who are more aligned with your Soul purpose in the future. A major theme 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!)
For your review, all the Venus retrograde articles.
Venus Retrograde In Aries and Pisces - All The Articles
© Copyright 2025 Robert Wilkinson
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