What Is Venus Retrograde?
Venus retrograde occurs when Venus appears to move backward in the sky from Earth's perspective — an optical illusion created by the different orbital speeds of Earth and Venus. This happens approximately every 18 months and lasts about 40 days. Venus governs love, beauty, pleasure, money, values, and the things we find attractive and desirable. When it goes retrograde, all of these areas get reviewed, reconsidered, and sometimes turned upside down.
What Happens to Love During Venus Retrograde
Venus retrograde is famous for two things in love: exes returning, and new relationships that start during this period often not lasting. Let's examine both more carefully.
Exes returning: During Venus retrograde, past relationship patterns and past partners frequently resurface — literally, through contact, or internally, through strong feelings about someone from your past. This can be an opportunity for genuine healing or reconnection, but it's important to approach it with clear eyes: why did things end? Has anything actually changed?
New relationships: Starting a new relationship during Venus retrograde isn't automatically doomed, but it comes with a caveat: you may be seeing the person (or being seen by them) in a somewhat distorted light. The retrograde creates a nostalgic, rose-tinted lens. Relationships that begin now may need to be consciously reassessed when Venus goes direct.
What Happens to Money During Venus Retrograde
Venus also rules money, luxury, and material pleasure. During retrograde:
- Avoid major purchases, especially luxury items or things related to beauty (cosmetic procedures, expensive clothing, artwork)
- Reconnect with what you truly value financially — are you spending in alignment with what actually matters to you?
- Financial situations from the past may resurface — old debts, unpaid invoices, or previous financial partnerships may need resolution
What Venus Retrograde Is Actually Good For
Rather than dreading this period, understand it as an invitation to deep review of Venus themes:
- Reassessing what you value — is your life organized around what actually brings you joy?
- Processing old relationship wounds — not necessarily by reaching out to exes, but through reflection and possibly therapy
- Revising creative projects — re- is the key prefix: review, revise, reconsider, renew
- Understanding your patterns in love — what keeps repeating in your relationships, and why?
Venus Retrograde Through Each Sign
The zodiac sign in which Venus retrogrades colors the entire period:
Venus retrograde in Aries: Reconsideration of independence, selfish vs. shared needs in relationships, how you initiate romance.
Venus retrograde in Leo: Questions about recognition, creative expression in love, the balance between self-expression and partnership.
Venus retrograde in Virgo/Leo: A famously complex retrograde about perfectionism in love and service vs. pleasure.
Venus retrograde in Scorpio: Deep dive into trust, intimacy, power dynamics, and what you've been afraid to admit you desire.
Venus retrograde in Capricorn: Reconsideration of long-term commitments, the balance between ambition and love, what lasting relationship security actually looks like for you.
Signs Most Affected by Venus Retrograde
The signs most directly affected are those ruled by or closely connected to Venus: Taurus and Libra (Venus-ruled) will feel this most personally. Those with Venus prominent in their birth chart, or whose natal Venus is in the same sign as the retrograde, will also notice significant effects.
Venus retrograde is not punishment — it's an invitation to go back and finish what you started in matters of the heart. Sometimes what returns deserves a second look. Sometimes what returns needs to be finally, properly released.