Venus retrograde does not have to be about sad love life. For some of you, this transit is all about money and beauty. That’s why almost five months of Venus in Leo allows you to become aware of your personal value and relationship quality that stems from it. If transiting Venus is conjunct your natal planets, it will show this transit’s theme. Natal house where all this happens will tell us more.

Everything we think and feel about ourselves affects our natal chart. There is a reason why problems arise during this transit. They are linked to a belief about personal worth and your ability to love yourself. It is the foundation for everything else in life. Heart that is anxious and afraid of intimacy cannot enjoy love. Such a heart can only kill love in the beginning. Yes, you know this summer will be dramatic!

Venus retrograde is every year and a half or so. Venus and Mars in Leo told their love story together during July 2021, which for some of you was a time of marriage crisis. Events that happened that summer left a great whole in your chest.

Especially for those who believe that there is only one person for them and who are no longer with that person. Now the attempt to continue the story of these two planets lasts from June until 10^th of July when Mars will move into Virgo. We will have to think a little more with our head and not so much with our injured ego.

(Fun)Venus retrograde times

Retrograde Venus in Leo from July 23^rd -September 4^th raises questions of what is not working in natal house where Leo is located. For whom do you surrender your power? How do you behave in order to be liked just a little bit more? OMG, why can’t you be loved by authentically living your TRUE SELF? For some of you in long-term relationships and marriages, this may be related to eclipse in August 2017 at the 28th degree of Leo. This year Venus retrograde starts from this exact degree.

This is especially true for you with Venus in Leo if you have personal planets or natal Venus ruler in aspect with transiting Venus. If your natal Venus is at 28th degree of fire signs, this transit is particularly important for you because it will guide you to achieve your wishes! House ruler in which Venus retrograde transits and its aspects will show quality of existing relationships.

Venus in Leo was already retrograde during August and September 2015. It would be wise to think about what kind of love problems you had then, because a particular challenge may have roots stemming from that time.

Facts

But let’s go back a little. In Bible, fasting lasted 40 days, which is equivalent to Venus retrograde transit. It is a necessary time when we need to see that love energy emanates from inside to outside. It is now necessary to focus attention on that inner part. As transiting Venus rules Jupiter and Uranus in Taurus, issues of money, material security and real estate sales/purchases may be in crisis.

Venus naturally rules the 2nd and 7th house. Generally these are areas that are blocked by karmic influences from near or distant past. Venus is associated with Taurus and Libra and in these signs it is well placed. If you have ascendant or personal planets in these signs, you may feel less energy as Venus begins to approach its retrograde season.

Venus in Leo is ruled by Sun until October 9^th when Venus finally leaves this sign. Pluto goes direct the next day, but until that time love life is susceptible to ego trips. It will become clear whether there is anything left from past love. October will be full of great change in emotional status. For everyone this is different depending on natal chart and context. Chiron, which will trine Venus almost all the time, gives a chance for old wounds to heal. It will be supportive if we are brave enough to look within ourselves.

Transformations & destruction of love life

Many of you will feel that there is an unconscious attachment to energies, relationships and partners that you have outgrown. Especially if you have planets at 12-28 degrees of fixed signs. Many of you have begun to realize that you do not have confidence to have a relationship you want. This has been noticeable since 19^th of June when Venus entered shadow. Karmic 12th degree of Leo indicates that we need to see that something has either ended or is ending. Only that “release” is not pleasant and we do not like it at all.

Exactly on 6^th of June Venus opposed transiting Pluto in Aquarius which happened for the first time. That is why some relationships did not survive because square energy with nodes in Taurus/Scorpio was active at that time, too. Lunar Nodes were intended to reprogram your love subconscious in order to establish new emotional life. Many people still chose the old again.  Venus now asks if you are ready to fix all this mess.

Many of you will have to give up something very important to get what they really need. Many of you are starting to feel who they really as heart chakra opens up. Previously that realisation was blocked by unhealthy relationships. You are not that person anymore. At least I hope you are not because it would be really sad if you suffered so much without healing anything!

Profound change has taken place in you, whether you are aware of it or not. That’s why relationships should change as well. All of this can relate to March and Pluto transit during spring when fixed energy was emphasized and many relatinships ended.

Relationship between Venus and Sun

If there is a problem in natal Venus-Sun relationship, it will be more clearly seen during this transit even if there are no aspects to retrograde Venus. Venus is always related to Sun, so it should be viewed as such. For many women, Venus is combust, which is again similar to retrograde quality. Now we are especially talking about marriage and official relationships.

Some old problem can be deepened to become aware of responsibility we have for love in our life. That someone who is our Sun, whose role is usually played by husband/wife during retrograde cycle might no longer provide warmth of love. It is very possible that this lasts much longer, but we are only seeing that now. However, “challenge” is in our energy and it can only be solved in it.

It is necessary to take into account transiting aspect of Sun and retrograde Venus, as it indicates beginning of relationship’s new cycle. That time should be used to determine what kind of relationship we have. Quality of consciousness, which is again natal Sun, always shapes our future. Our love life is just one aspect of manifestation of our parents’ relationship and our relationship with them, which is seen through Moon/Sun aspects. What goes around comes around. It’s up to us to break unhealthy patterns.

New Moon in Leo

New Moon in Leo that awaits us on August 16^th at the 23^rd degree can be especially important due to square with Uranus in Taurus. Many of you will wonder who is the authority in their love life, marriage or relationship. You will become aware of quantity and quality of love in your heart and become clear of what you want. This will immediately affect amount of self-confidence in order to change and improve your love life.

We will become aware that everything we experienced in love during our entire life was created by our heart, closed or open. Is it closed again now? What is really deeply in your heart begging for your attention? And no, it won’t be solved by getting into a new relationship or choosing to be alone if your level of self-esteem and self-love is not evaluated.

Who didn’t respect you, so you still don’t respect yourself and destroy all opportunities for love and healthy relationships? You have outgrown something, but pride and ego may still prevent you from experiencing love. Some of you will look for excitement in shopping. Some will try to revive friendships in which there is no connection, just so they don’t have to deal with themselves and their feelings. This is the time to see what type of action reflects lack of self-love. Many relationships will end if they cannot be repaired as Venus aspects nodes from end of July. This is good news even though it may not seem like it!

Eclipse

What will happen during retrograde period began during eclipse in April at 29th degree of Aries. At that time, many of you could not clearly see themselves in those who were attractive to them and decided to go separate ways. They had time to reassess their emotional life and eventually realize that they are worth more than they gave themselves credit for.

Venus trine North Node/sextile South Node will on 2^nd of October show that love has potential to completely change your life. In order for that to happen you have to let someone go and take time to work on yourself and your fears to love and be loved. October will be time for new relationships and good life opportunities.

As eclipse awaits us again later that month, we will understand what we want and what we are now finally ready for. That this is why period of retrograde Venus is a time of preparation for something much better to come! After all we are talking about Leo – it has to be royal!

Venus returns to degree where retrograde began on October 6^th which is moment when it comes out of shadow, so there is no need to rush anywhere with your choices and decision. By October, it will be clear to you what priorities are in your emotional life. If something didn’t happen during summer or you started a relationship, but it just didn’t work out, you might decide to part ways. I hope that at least in that process you have understood who you are and what you want. There are other people on this planet to be with.

What not to do

Key words now are PERSONAL WORTH and SELF-LOVE. Oh, what a cliché! But it’s a cliché because no one really deals with it. This is not the time to start a new business, especially if it concerns art, working with children or beauty. For that you have to wait for period of directness. If you’re thinking about tattoos, piercings or dramatic style changes, it might be wiser to leave it for fall. Definitely avoid medical interventions, aesthetic surgeries and invasive beauty treatments.

Retrograde Venus can significantly affect self-confidence, so many of you will feel need to change something in their style. Later they will probably not be satisfied if they did it to please others and not themselves. Change on the outside means nothing when at the core of our being we feel an emptiness that makes us feel unloved. Who doesn’t love us (anymore)?

Put off buying something expensive because it will not benefit you or bring disappointment. Price may be unreasonable. Your Venus is hungry for love and it tries to satisfy that hunger in a way that will only leave you empty. Do the right thing – start loving yourself. Loving yourself means giving up drama!

Relationships during retrograde period

If an important person enters your life during retrograde period, your relationship may go through tests. Typically, retrograde concerns old connections and relationships that somehow find their way back to us. I guess through those holes in our heart that we still haven’t healed, thinking that it’s not our responsibility. If an important person has returned or seems to have that tendency, you should first evaluate your relationship with yourself.

Leo carries past love life karma. Problem you are facing now may not have anything to do with this life. Energy is shifted inward and it is tight and dark inside. Who would want to enter those caves of emotions!? Those who are brave(hearted)! Also on 28^th of July Mercury and Venus will conjunct and things can turn out just the way you didn’t want them to. Mercury in last week of August and in first half of September highlights relationship problems that can escalate due to poor communication.

Venus retrograde in natal chart or progressions does not mean that there must be problems in love or with money. It is possible that relationship to these topics changes during your life or undergoes a transformation caused by a loss. If your natal Venus is retrograde, it will go direct in progressions at some point that we can see in ephemeris.

It is an important year that will happen, depending on degree of Venus, no later than the age of 45. We also have reverse case. Some of you were born with Venus direct which will at some point become retrograde in progressions. That’s why you can’t always see everything through transit and all techniques have to be combined. All this will show root of relationship problem. If it really exists, transit of retrograde Venus can bring a partner who “serves” to solve this challenge. Hallelujah!

Transit aspects

Some of you will fight with yourself and lose hope that what you want can come true. Some of you will choose money over love and decide to divorce. Many of you will be craving for freedom, love experiments and drastic changes. This is especially emphasized as Uranus will square Venus on 2^nd of July at the 21^st degree. This will happen again on 10^th of August during retrograde on 22^nd degree and on 29^th -30^th September again at the 22^nd degree when Venus is direct. Being patient is wise, but some risk might pay off, too.

This is the time to take care of yourself and finally stop being afraid of love. Old wounds need to be healed and someone important who is no longer part of your life has to be forgiven. Venus will square Jupiter on June 11^th -12^th at 5^th degree and then during retrograde on August 22^nd-23^rd at 15^th degree. After that on the 17^th -18^th of September same aspect occurs again on that degree, but Venus will be direct.

Examples

If retrograde Venus activates South Node or is in 7th house it can seem like there is no person to be in a relationship with. If Venus aspects natal Chiron, some old wounds can be activated now. If your partner has Sun, Venus, or Mars in aspect to your retrograde Venus, they may inflict pain on you now, as a form of revenge for something that has hurt them.

It is clear that relationship is unhealthy if someone wants to hurt their partner and that is not love. However, pain during this transit arises from non-acceptance and resistance to love.

Natal Moon and its relationship with retrograde Venus on a daily basis will show how we handle this transit. We should be aware that any transit that activates natal Moon always has to do with inner child themes. Now those unconscious memories are opening up. What have we learned about love through relationships with grandparents and those who took care of us?

For some of you, Venus retrograde in Leo activates old conflicted energy that is still simmering within you. Everything that is happening now has to do with something long ago that you have not healed.

It’s painful though

If this is a breakup time for you, you can help yourself is by taking responsibility for your own happiness and your heart. Venus retrograde can be best used when we can clearly see if we are deluding ourselves that something more will come from a relationship. No, it won’t. This is the maximum. It is only important now that YOU clarify to yourself whether you want more and whether you value yourself more.

Venus retrograde is like fatal 29^th degree which is very karmic and has something destined about it. Something must die. If you’re going through midlife crisis, all of this will be amplified. That is why this transit asks for flexibility. It is looking for a heart that is not rigid and brittle, because otherwise it will break.

Life is a constant change and you always have opportunity to be a new person. This transit reminds us to live in the present and in accordance with our values. Take care of yourself and give yourself chance to clearly see it is OK that you once wanted something. If that no longer resonates with you, you can let it go.

Use summer to finish your creative projects and do what makes you happy. In autumn, you will realize that your relationship and attitude towards love has changed a lot. You may be attracted to different types of attachment.

Synastry

You have attracted everything into your life yourself, all people and experiences. That is why we must first see relationship with any person through our natal chart and only then move on to a comparative analysis. We will see every important relationship through 7th house in natal chart, which can be problematic. If 1st house is not embodied, it is projected onto 7th that means on your partner whether you have it or not.

In order to understand retrograde Venus in a relationship, we can use synastry. There it will be clearly seen what kind of energy entity is created between two people. We can further analyse this through composite that will show quality, challenges, lessons and relationship purpose. Composite will show very of relationship and what kind of energy is in it. It is always necessary to start from natal chart.

Only when we understand that we can add transits and advanced techniques, but all this makes no sense if there is no relationship. Comparing with a partner with whom you are not yet in a relationship usually manifests a different vibration when you are in a relationship than during interpretation.

Here’s an example! If in synastry your natal Moon is conjunct your partner’s Venus where there is also square with transiting retrograde Venus, this relationship can face turbulent drama. It will concern dilemma of whether person we are with is really right for us. However, what happens depends on state of relationship before Venus retrograde began. Relationships that are on shaky ground don’t stand much of a chance now. Some relationships will end if they take more than they can give, due to insincerity, disrespect and character differences.

What you can do to help yourself during retrograde period:

1. Become aware of what useful this transit is teaching you because it is obvious that you need some lesson. If this is a painful period for you, mantras and yantras for Venus can help. Be more compassionate towards yourself and give yourself more love. Learn to fill your “love tank” on your own.
2. Be creative. The world’s greatest art were created because a writer/painter/musician was unhappy in love and suffered. If someone doesn’t want to be with you, don’t take it personally. What other people do has nothing to do with you.
3. Since every planet in natal chart and its aspects are some form of movement, how does your Venus want to move and express itself? Express it through body movement and dance.
4. Remember that retrograde Venus works for you to make your love life better and more beautiful. Problems arise because they existed buried deep within us. Now is the ideal opportunity to heal them. Make it a 40 day self-love challenge.
5. Don’t add more mess to your love life. Try to see that it’s good that you can’t be with someone. There must be a higher meaning in that for sure.
6. If you have attachment fears and avoid serious relationships, work on integrating these themes through meditation with your inner child. Become aware of where that fear comes from. What connections have remained unhealed and unresolved? Don’t be a slave for love, make yourself happy because that is your task.
7. Do not agree to be satisfied with what you are not satisfied with. Don’t lower your standards. Set boundaries and remove those who do not appreciate you from your life. You don’t have time for those who don’t know if they want to be with you or not.

When you are overwhelmed by fear that love relationship is over or that you will be forever alone, think about the following questions:

On a scale of one to ten, how secure do you feel your love relationship is? How safe do you feel within yourself? What fear exists in this relationship? How much do you value yourself? Is your self-image defined by your partner or this relationship? What do you tell your friends about your love life?

Change the story if you don’t like it. Is what you have really love or just passion? Are you doing something in love that makes you suffer even more? In connection to a problem you are facing right now, how much is your responsibility for it? Take full responsibility. Do you give a chance to those who are not on your wavelength for fear of being alone?

Learn to live by principle of carpe diem because that’s all we really have in this life. Let go of love plans. You only have now. Love now and make life better for yourself and others. Cross out conquering of emotionally unavailable people and cold hearts from your priorities.

Few final words

This is a time of evaluation and establishing new personal values, especially for those with natal planets activating this transit. Maybe something you love very much falls apart or you endure a heart break. It doesn’t have to be only about love. If something broke inside you in the past – deal with it now! Problems you have will not be solved just by looking to blame others. They are especially not going to be solved by waiting for this transit to pass. Become aware of why you are not living the life you want.

During summer, it will become clear to you what is really over. Some of you already figured it out in the first week of June. End is there for the sake of transformation, but it requires a change in you for love to finally come alive. Those who made a love choice that left them feeling powerless and unable to look into eyes of a special person for fear of being hurt and abandoned now have an opportunity for a second chance.

Even thought its impossible to get rid of emotional pain forever, love should not hurt. Use this time to be kind towards yourself if you are alone. Build relationships with those who will be there for you even when the going gets tough. Remember old friends and spend more time with them.

Draw, paint and sing! Be creative! What is happening now is just one stone on path of your spiritual evolution. Don’t skip it. Love is not gone, but you may really have to walk away from that old relationship in order to finally live love in all those beautiful mornings and magical nights yet to come.