Venus Retrograde in Leo

Here's everything you need to know.

Hi everyone! Happy almost Leo season!! 

Venus stationed retrograde today, so we’re doing a deep dive into what that means and what you can expect with Venus retrograde. These are all the juicy details I can’t get into over Instagram, because there’s not enough space there. 

First though, life updates. I have already been feeling the North and South Nodes shifting into my 9th and 3rd houses so hard. I haven’t traveled this much in one year since like 2016. The 9th and 3rd nodal transit is one of my favorites, which is what all Aquarius and Leo risings are entering into over the next year and a half. It has to do with higher education, spirituality, writing, speaking and travel - all things I love. 

I am currently in Italy with my fiancé to look at venues for our wedding next summer. I am officially getting married on June 8, 2024! I was interviewed by The New York Times about choosing a wedding date with astrology, which came out today and you can read here.

When choosing the date, I knew it had to be under the Sun-Venus-Mercury triple conjunction in Gemini that takes place at that time, and I really wanted Jupiter to be in early Gemini trining Pluto in early Aquarius. All of those Gemini transits will be in my 11th house and my partner’s 7th house, which are ideal houses to have highlighted when you’re wanting to be social and throw a big event like a wedding. I’m not entirely happy about the moon being in my 12th house on that day, but it will be in Cancer (the sign it rules) and it’s right after a new moon takes place, which again is ideal. I’m going to do a future newsletter on this topic of choosing the best dates for big life events, because I could keep going and going here. 

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Monthly Recommendations 

Books:

This is Assisted Dying by Stefanie Green, MD: Reading books about death is oddly comforting to me, because it helps to put life into perspective and makes you realize what actually matters when you’re at the end of your life. This nonfiction book is about a Canadian doctor who helps terminally ill people end their lives on their own terms (which is legal in Canada), rather than having them decline slowly from their illness and suffer from a ton of pain. The stories she shares of the moments when patients took their last breaths and the words they exchanged with their loved ones right before made me cry several times. I could not put this book down, I read it in two days. 

TV:

Vanderpump Rules: I had never seen this show until I heard about the scandal that happened this spring, so I decided to watch the most recent season and now am going back to watch all of the earlier seasons. I’m obsessed. What’s fascinating is that a lot of the main cast has Virgo in their chart and news of the affair broke right at the time of the full moon in Virgo in early March. And now they’re back to filming another season while Mars is in Virgo. It will be interesting to see what happens when there is a Mercury retrograde in Virgo in late August/early September! Maybe more hidden info comes out about some of the cast. Listen to this episode of the Allegedly Astrology podcast if you want to hear about the astrology of Scandoval. 

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Venus Retrograde

Technical Stuff

Okay, first let’s get into the technical details of Venus retrograde. We hear about Mercury retrograde a lot, because it happens so often - 3 times a year. However, Venus retrograde is more rare, only occurring about every 18-19 months for 40 days at a time. This time around, it is starting on July 22 and ending September 3. Random side note, but does anyone remember that early 2000s movie with Josh Hartnett called 40 Days and 40 Nights? The main character decides to be celibate for 40 days in order to change his dating patterns. That movie is major Venus retrograde vibes. 

Venus is the planet that is associated with love, romance, personal tastes, style and money, so when Venus is retrograde all of these areas of your life get intensified and may need some reworking. Often, what happens during Venus retrograde is that you may realize that you need to change certain relationship and dating patterns that aren’t working for you anymore. If you’re single it might be that a current romantic situation is urging you to look at why you maybe keep attracting unavailable people or how you might self sabotage when getting to know someone. If you’re in a relationship, you may want to put more effort into spending time with your partner and better communicating with each other. If you’re currently in a relationship that’s on the rocks, this Venus retrograde may amplify those already existing problems. You may realize that you’re done engaging in the same old, same old with that person, or it may even be that information you previously weren’t aware of in the relationship comes to light.

Hearing from people from your past is super common during Venus Rx. You might gain closure with an ex, but definitely be wary of jumping back into a relationship with them or jumping into a new relationship in general. Once Venus retrograde lifts, the same problems might start to resurface, or you could realize that the relationship isn’t exactly what you want. This doesn’t have to strictly apply to romantic relationships either, and it might just be that you hear from old friends or someone you’ve had a falling out with may resurface. In addition, I typically notice that my social life slows down a lot during Venus retrograde and I find myself confused about who I even want as my friends and end up feeling kind of dissatisfied with certain friendships, so if that happens to you, you’re definitely not alone. Overall, you will be reflecting on what people you want to surround yourself with and who really adds value to your life. 

I also know there’s a lot of fear around getting married during a Venus retrograde, when I don’t think there needs to be. It’s natural that relationship themes are brought up more strongly at this time, and that you would want to put extra energy into a current partnership. Like I said before, I would proceed with caution mainly in new relationships that come up at this time or reconnecting with exes. In existing relationships, it might be that you’re entering into the next phase of your relationship or working to feel closer to one another. 

Leo Themes

Relationships aside, Venus also embodies your personal style and tastes, areas which I think will be brought up a lot with this retrograde happening in the sign of Leo specifically. You might be reflecting on your appearance and how you want to present yourself. You may think that there’s something there that needs fixing, like wanting to get Botox or filler for the first time or doing a drastic style transformation. If you work for yourself or have some sort of public persona, you might be considering what you want your personal brand to be, or how you might “rebrand” yourself. You’re figuring out how you can best express yourself and share your personality with the world. I would try not to act on any major beauty procedures or make a huge change to your image during this time though. Use the retrograde to reflect, and then proceed again after the retrograde is over. 

In addition, Venus Rx may have you returning to past creative hobbies that you may have forgotten about, and you may want to find an outlet for self expression. This doesn’t have to literally mean making art, it could just be that you’re returning to hobbies that light you up and tapping into the spirit of your inner child. 

Venus Retrograde Cycle 

Another key thing to note with Venus retrograde is that it doesn’t occur in all 12 signs of the zodiac. There are only 5 signs that Venus retrograde takes place in every 18 months, and at this moment in history those signs are Leo, Aries (backtracks into Pisces), Scorpio, Capricorn and Gemini. Over the course of many years, Venus retrograde will start to shift into the signs preceding all of these ones, so the Venus retrograde that is now in Leo will eventually start happening in Cancer, but not for many many decades. Therefore, if you have any of these five signs as your sun, moon, or rising, Venus retrograde will be a way bigger deal for you than it is for other people. Especially when the retrograde is happening in the same sign as your rising, because that is your 1st house, the house associated with your sense of self, identity, and how you present yourself to the world. Venus retrogrades occurring there will prove to be pivotal turning points in your life. It may even feel like your life can be divided up into 8 year increments, with new chapters starting every time the Venus retrograde occurs in your rising sign. Shoutout to all my fellow Leo risings this time around! Other fixed signs, Aquarius, Taurus, and Scorpio, may feel this retrograde more intensely than others too. 

So although Venus retrograde happens every 18 months and you can reflect on the one that happening in Capricorn back at the end of 2021/early 2022 for reference, a Venus retrograde hasn’t happened in Leo since the summer of 2015, 8 years ago. That’s the time period you will want to revisit to see how similar themes might be resurfacing for you.

You will also want to pay close attention to the date of August 13. That’s the midpoint of the Venus retrograde cycle, when the sun and Venus meet up at the same degree of Leo. Around that date, you may receive greater clarity in a relationship, or you could feel more connected to people. That couple day period around the 13th may be when you’re doing a lot of socializing. 

Venus Retrograde in World Events

Venus retrograde will not only be felt on an individual level, but also in the world at large, so pay attention to Venus retrograde themes popping up in current events. There might be big news regarding celebrity relationships (particularly breakups or hidden info coming to light), or there might be several news stories about groups of people not being treated fairly. Venus is all about equality and maintaining a balance, so when it is retrograde it becomes increasingly obvious where there is inequality in society. This Venus retrograde in particular will be conjunct Lilith, so all of these negative projections people put onto women might be a focus too. Last summer, abortion bans were put into place when the new moon in Cancer was conjunct Lilith, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that topic is revisited in the news cycle during Venus retrograde conjunct Lilith. Another topic that I think fits with the Venus retrograde theme is universities ending legacy admissions. This brings up the subject of how all applicants are not being treated fairly when applying to schools. It also incorporates the financial aspect of Venus, because legacy admissions typically favor students from wealthier backgrounds.

If we revisit world events that took place the last time Venus was retrograde in Leo specifically, we can note that the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in the summer of 2015 right before the Venus retrograde began in August. Then during that Venus retrograde, a surge of gay couples got married because they now could. We have returned to that same Venus cycle 8 years later, and there are talks of reversing this ruling and certain states are now trying to ban gay marriage. I definitely expect there to be an uprising against this at some point during the Venus retrograde. This example brings in how Venus retrograde often challenges relationship norms, and gets people to look outside of the status quo of how society thinks relationships “should be.” 

Also, we can’t forget about the writer strike happening. The strike is all about having fair pay (such a literal Venus theme!!) for screenwriters in Hollywood, and it’s been going on for several months now. Something has got to give there, so maybe an agreement can get reached with Venus retrograde. And on a much lighter note, you may see a change in fashion and beauty trends. I mention fashion and beauty specifically, because those are such Leo themes. Leo is a sign that is all about appearance, and can be kind of vain sometimes. To contrast, Gemini is the sign associated with the spreading of information, and I noticed a huge shift in social media trends in 2020 when Venus retrograde was in Gemini. This was when Tik Tok got huge in the U.S., and also things like Zoom got super popular in the workplace. These were new trends in how people connected with each other at the time. So a similar vibe, but just apply it to the arts, fashion and beauty instead. 

Other Info

And because I always get people asking what it means if they have Venus retrograde in their birth chart, I will address that here. When you have a planet retrograde in your natal chart and that planet goes retrograde, you still feel it. It’s not like you have a get out of jail free card. If you have Venus retrograde in Leo specifically or even Venus in Leo, not retrograde, pay close attention. You’re going through a major Venus return right now, and how you go about relationships and friendships might be completely transformed. You’re literally getting a 5 month Venus return, when normally a Venus return lasts 4 weeks. 

For in depth descriptions about what this Venus retrograde means for your individual chart based on what house it’s happening in for you, stay tuned for the monthly forecast coming tomorrow for all my paid subscribers!