This year brings us a Venus Retrograde – an event where the planet of love, relationships, and finances changes directs, and turns our lives upside down. This article brings us a breakdown of what to expect and how to work with it.
Shortcuts: Dates, What’s a Venus Retrograde?, The Larger Context: Why is this Venus Retrograde Special?, What to Expect from this Retrograde, In the Sign Predictions, Further Reading.
Dates:
The Retrograde starts officially on March 2nd, but the themes will be visible from January onward.
From then until March 27th, the Retrograde will happen in Aries. March 27th onward, it’ll move back into Pisces (what this means and why this matters will be discussed later.)
The end of this event is on April 13th, and it will be integrated until the end of May/early June of this year.
What’s a Venus Retrograde?
Retrogrades are an optical phenomenon where it appears as though a planet stops dead in its tracks, turns around, and moves backward through the skies (de facto, it only looks that way because Planet Earth and Venus are passing each other – like two high-speed trains going in the same direction with one faster than the other, the slower planet/train is object to an optical illusion. Thank you, physics.).
When Venus, the planet of love, relationships, women, and finances (among other things), turns retrograde, this impacts us on Earth: in the sense that the topics ruled by Venus are up for a re-evaluation and sometimes even great life changes. Each Venus retrograde is unique, and this one is bigger than most.
But each Venus retrograde especially impacts women (as Venus rules women), as well as people with Taurus or Libra Suns, Moons, Risings, or stelliums. So, give the people in your life to whom this applies a big hug: they’ll need it during this time.
The Larger Context: Why is this Venus Retrograde Special?
Before we go deeper into the analysis and meaning of this singular event, we’ll have to talk about the lay of the land so you can see why it’s so very special. Venus doesn’t exist in a vacuum… and it’s currently preparing us in a quite personal and impactful way for two major astrological events that will impact the next 14-year- 2 ½-year-, and 29-year-long cycles on this planet. This happens rarely and has to do with the larger context.
Essentially, this Venus Retrograde impacts a part of the skies (early Aries and late Pisces) that will be seeing a massively rare series of astrological events.
Firstly, Neptune, the planet of spirituality and large society-wide events, is changing from Pisces to Aries on March 30th (so, while this event is going on). This is a big event in and of itself as it’s the start of a 14-year-long event and the beginning of a new 165-year-cycle. Also, Venus and Neptune will even meet up before, during, and after this event, tying the events together. Read about it here.
More than that, Saturn will play copycat to Neptune pretty soon, as it too is moving from Pisces to Aries in May of 2025 (while we’re recovering from and integrating this retrograde). Saturn, too, will meet up with Venus – and it’ll meet up with Neptune itself, creating a historical conjunction across the first and last sign of the zodiac. This is super-rare and very impactful on its own… but also, Saturn is the planet of commitment, boundaries, tough experiences, growth, and marriage glue: this one being in the mix for a Venus Retrograde that impacts relationships is quite interesting and auspicious. Plus, it’s the beginning of a 2 ½ year-long event and a 29-year cycle.
And finally, Venus will meet up with the North Node in Pisces, one point of the axis of destiny that deals with fate and soul-led experiences that may even change the trajectory of our lives. This happens every 20 years or so.
Oh – and by the way, as this Venus Retrograde is going on from March 2nd to April 13th, across early Aries to late Pisces, Mercury Retrograde is going on too – from March 15th to April 7th. And early Aries to late Pisces. They’re basically holding hands while they’re the rug out from underneath our lies.
So… you could say that this Venus Retrograde is #NotLikeOtherGirls – uhm, I mean Venus Retrogrades. Put your seatbelt on, darlin’, we’ll get into the analysis of what that means… now.
Venus Retrograde in Aries and Pisces… Re-evaluating decisions, looking at the big lines of our life paths
We’ll start simple. And yet, we’ll start with the true core and big banger of the event: under this Venus Retrograde, we’re going to see and re-evaluate what our biggest and most impactful relationships are and should be. We’re also going to look at the future we see ourselves having for the rest of our lives and ask ourselves a) which people we’d really like to have along – slash, can’t/don’t want to take long for various reasons – and b) what and whom we need to call in for our dream future.
If it’s not going well…
… then this means that future-less relationships will crumble like wrapping paper. But then, wrapping paper is not the gift itself – the relationships that leave you now, even if the breakup feels awful or even unbearable, prepare you for a brighter love ahead. But I’m not going to lie: some relationships will end because of your choice. Others will end because the time for the end has come, regardless of how you (or in some cases, both of you) feel about it.
This is a time of relational wake-up calls of the bluntest reality. Conversations will be had as information comes out, or finally hits home after having been ignored for far too long. Behavioral patterns that were problematic from the get-go, but “tolerable for now” will reveal what they can grow into in the future (for example: it may dawn on someone that the lack of reliability from a partner is truly going to create massive issues in a marriage or co-parenting situation). The need for consequences and the reality of what effects your and/or a partner’s actions have become so big it’s unavoidable.
Relationships that are struggling may have one final rude awakening that, if both people are compatible and willing to work their stuff out, can be turned around. I hope this happens for you if you’re in that boat.
But if you or the other person are unwilling – or if you’re simply just not compatible enough for lasting love – there will be a final severance. From this point on, there’s an opportunity to build the foundation for the actual love that will work out. This event, as well as the Saturn-Neptune-conjunction (until 2026), prepares us for soul-mate-type love and connections that bring meaning to our lives. If something leaves, something better is being built behind the stage for you – so trust what’s coming.
In the meantime comes honesty. Whatever it was that didn’t work, you need to know and own it, or you’ll continue to make this mistake again (f.e. by choosing the wrong partner for you, even if they’d be a great person for someone else).
If It’s Going Well…
… then this event will not end in a breakup. This cluster of astrological events does not take people away from you who are meant to stay, or end relationships built on a firm foundation with a real shot towards a beautiful future – which your soul decides, not your mind.
For people who are with the right person, this event will show how good and resilient your love and your partnership really is. With so much going on in the sky, it’s not unlikely that one or both of you may experience changes in life or even a couple of bad days (as… much more is going on than just the relationship planet doing its thing!), so please don’t take a bit of turbulence for a sign that things are going downhill. But this event will show that your love can survive this, or even thrive under it.
Many people will also individually, or as couples, think about the future. This starts with the personal level (Person A thinking predominantly of Person A’s future, even if Person B is impacted), but eventually leads to important conversations as a couple that will be the tarmac on the runway to your future.
People who are meant to be will make the decisions and gain the skills, information, and further needed physical steps to build the future they’re meant to have together.
If you’re single…
… if you think you’re screwed under these stars just because you may not have a partner, think again. This event puts you first and aligns your future(!!!) with the love and relationships you desire and that you’re meant to have. This is a good time to reflect and reevaluate where you’re now and where you’ve come from.
Simultaneously, this event asks you to do something different if you’d like to see different results in the future. Our paths to love, and frankly, our future, are as individual as we are. If you tried f.e. dating apps and single’s meet-and-greets and it’s not working for you, then guess what: married couples have first met in the local grocery store where she dropped a pint of ice cream on his head by accident. You don’t have to walk the beaten path: be true to yourself on your journey to love. That will lead you to the information, the skills, the experiences, and eventually the partner you need moving forward. (Also, nothing wrong with choosing environments that make it very easy to find who it is you’re looking for. The point is to do what works for you and to be unafraid of doing something in a new way.)
Most importantly, let your intuition lead you (especially from March 27th onward). It’ll be super-charged… and even if its answer for looking for love is “not yet,” it’ll steer you right. Also, remember: your future will be aligned with love, not necessarily your present. So, even if there’s no discernable movement on the physical level, the stagehands of the universe are preparing something for you behind the curtain. And they do so in a big way.
Women
Venus rules women. Under an event of Venus in Retrograde, women are naturally more impacted than men. This means that themes around femininity, questions and expectations of yourself for being a woman, and themes around women’s independence, are going to crash into both the idealization we were raised under and the reality of what truly is and isn’t possible.
This is especially prominent as Venus in Aries deals with an aspect of womanhood that’s very head-through-the-wall, combative, “I’m doing this my way,” and independence. This is great – unfortunately, Venus in Aries in Retrograde also confronts us with the fact that we all have limited energy. Yes, you absolutely do not need someone to hold your hand and make choices for you – and you realistically need to delegate tasks sometimes. Yes, you technically can do anything – and, in order to do something well, you’ll have to prioritize it over other tasks (thereby, letting/leaving others to do the brunt of those other tasks). This is not a reality limited to women, it is one for all humans. And yet, Venus Retrograde reveals where women specifically have wanted to surpass this reality so much (through mind over matter) that they harm themselves trying… and feel guilty for failure.
Is your view on who you should be as a woman making room for your actual physical capacities, time, and energy? Or is it telling you that asking for help – especially asking a loved one for help – makes you a failure in the eyes of feminism? The latter is pretty damaging. (And Saturn in Aries will be a major part of cleaning up the societal beliefs that got us to this extreme we’re living in). Venus Retrograde is the first step for us to get real on the question: “Is my standard towards myself of what it means to be a ‘good woman’ based on an expectation that’s doable… for me, or any human?”
Now, you may have noticed that I predominantly wrote for an
What about men?
Since Venus rules women, men are admittedly less impacted by a Venus retrograde than women. (Now, don’t worry – you’re not being astrologically excluded or discriminated against: as Mars rules men, Mars retrogrades such as the one from December 2024 to February 2025, impact you a lot more than women, so this evens out). For you, Mercury Retrograde in Aries and then Neptune in Aries (March 30th onward) and Saturn in Aries (May 25th onward) are going to bring up themes around masculinity, so, I recommend bookmarking those articles. And also, “less impact” doesn’t mean “no impact.” Here’s how this Venus Retrograde impacts you specifically:
For one, there are several themes that Venus picks up on that have nothing to do with gender: finances, values, relationships, social life, enjoyment, pleasure, love, and arts being some of them. Venus in Aries brings all of these up for you in the same way it does for others.
Secondly, Venus in Aries impacts a) the women you interact with and b) plays out through the people you love in general (regardless of gender). Since they’ll interact with you, there are likely additional effects of this retrograde to you, too.
Now as a last point…
The Trans Debate
This Venus retrograde picks up on themes we’ve witnessed since April 2023… one of which is legislature on trans matters. I’m not opening that can of worms here other than to say that this debate is going to get fired up again during this time and that there’s likely movement forward.
Now, let’s get into the actual main stuffings of Venus Retrogrades:
Love and Relationships
The real meat and potatoes of Venus Retrogrades is not around gender, though this time around, that is a main subject, but around relationships… particularly, love.
Under Venus retrogrades, we often see people from the past returning into our lives. This is particularly strong in this case when Venus re-enters Pisces (so March 27th onward): this carries the sense of a past love returning, long lost love returning, and in some cases, the yearning and heartbreak a past loved one left behind. Hearts will mend during this time: some through reuniting under different circumstances, in a way that’s leading to different results as both parties have grown. In other cases, it will be because a return of a person closes out the past and brings clarity needed for true healing… or lastly, because the unlocking of suppressed heartbreak allows the pain to leave.
Forgiveness and unconditional acceptance are also parts of what we see under this Venus Retrograde – again, specifically after Venus re-enters Pisces on March 27th. Venus Retrogrades teach us all about love, and this one shows us where (and how) we need to accept a person as they are and can love them anyway. This is the time to forgive past heartbreaks, too, so you can have a clean slate moving toward the future.
Venus Retrogrades are also times when we naturally reconsider and think more deeply about important relationships in our lives or even other relational themes in general. “Thinking more deeply” doesn’t mean you’re necessarily rethinking the relationship (we’ve covered this already), but it can also speak of thinking how happy you are with this person and why… as the depth added to your life by this transit can make you even more appreciative and more grateful, too.
From March 15th to April 7th, Mercury Retrograde joins Venus Retrograde, meaning that there are themes around miscommunications, too. Please refer to this article for more information.
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Addictions and Relational Toxicity
Part of being in love is an almost addictive cocktail of hormones that can go hand-in-hand with behaviors that, for some people, turn toxic, self-destructive, or at worst harmful toward others. Under this Venus Retrograde, it’s time to open your eyes to those patterns within yourself and in others. Especially once Venus re-enters Pisces (again… March 27th!) it’s important to look particularly out for the impact of actual addictions and escapist strategies.
Essentially, any habits around avoiding problems that should NOT be swept under the rug, escaping from yourself by throwing yourself head-first in relationships, getting addicted to false romance, and relational over-clinginess get strengthened under this energy. The assignment here is to forgive yourself and others, but still address the root cause of these behaviors and have appropriate boundaries slash self-discipline.
When it comes to even more extreme topics, then pre-existing behaviors of actual victim/abuse, victim-mindset/savior dynamics, and fully fledged addictions become massively strengthened. The time of Venus Rx in Aries (until March 27th) brings up themes around control, power, anger, and action in relationships – which includes the pain and wounds that underlie those things. Under Venus Rx in Pisces (March 27th onward), themes around accepting abuse or enabling toxicity in the name of love are strengthened. However, this might absolutely lead to the rock bottom experiences that allow people to seek help or genuinely set appropriate boundaries/measures of self-protection.
Addictions of any kind, especially those coming from seeking pleasure and relaxation, are strengthened under this Venus Retrograde. If you’re on a path of recovery, please make sure you have more than the usual amount of support so you don’t slide back – if you stay strong, this will be a very, very healing time for you, as Venus Retrogrades actually heal our hearts and address root causes. However, the temptations are running high, too – so watch out for that. For people in actual addictions, or for those with loved ones in active addictions, this energy will likely be very intense, as it either leads to sobriety or a deepening/worsening of the addiction.
Finances
This Venus Retrograde is particularly interesting when it comes to finances. This is a time of heightened temptation when it comes to risky financial behavior (especially in cases where the risk is more reckless than promising), and even a time where “sane” investments and spending may end in losses around money. So, this is a time when only the necessary spending should happen, and when you should research what you’re doing beforehand. If you can, try to make no major purchases under this energy. This is especially potent for Aries, Taurus, Libra, and Virgo risings.
Values
Venus retrogrades are always times when we reconsider our values and have heart-changes around what we truly think is important in life. Under these energies, we may get “value updates” in and of themselves, or see where in our lives we need to live out our values in different ways. What’s important here is that Venus in Aries and Pisces asks us to not judge others so much as it asks us to live our truth and change minds by leading by example. (Of course, extreme cases exist and need to be handled differently – please use common sense here).
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Now, for personal predictions.
In the Signs:
Obviously, the coming interpretations are generalized and don’t take your highly complex and individual blueprint into consideration: please book a reading for further, more specific information on how this event impacts you.
Interpretations are for Sun and Rising Signs.
Shortcuts: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Further Reading.
Aries:
This astrological event asks you to become aware of how you want to be loved by others and where love is impacting your very identity and transforming who you are. Love makes you brave and allows you to do what is seemingly impossible – and that’s the main theme of this astrological event. Plus, this retrograde puts you in touch with soulmate-type love for your friends, family members, or romantic partners, and allows you to heal your heart in a very deep way. This is not a good time to spend more money than you need to as you may inevitably spend more than you needed to.
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Taurus:
This Venus Retrograde is a time to avoid spending money wherever possible (after the event, you can still shop your heart out). Unfortunately, this event carries a heightened likelihood of getting scammed, tricked, or sweet-talked into letting go of your boundaries rather than keeping them upright. Please make sure you don’t do that. Beyond this, this is a time of deep inward reflection and healing, soulmate love, and the loosening of the past’s debris on your psyche. This retrograde brings you revelations and support from your friends (provided that they’re true friends) and highlights plans and hopes for the future.
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Gemini:
For you, this Venus Retrograde impacts your social life, life online, friend groups, and your hopes and dreams for the future. You may have to subtly recalibrate a dream or take actions with/on behalf of your friends, or even take some distance from specific friendships that are a hotbed for drama. Your work life is under a particularly lucky star, especially when it comes to finances and profits… be careful to keep up a diligent work ethic (that’s healthy, mind you) as inertia may make you less productive and steal those profits away again.
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Cancer:
This event asks you to be guided not only from your heart but by a spiritual power greater than you (God). Truth, surrender, and prayer/meditation call you to bigger heights in your capacity to love and receive love in return. This may not be a time where you meet someone, though that could of course still happen. This is rather a time to lay down the roadmap towards a future love and to walk the path itself after the event is over. Commitments deepen and your love for work may lead to profits. A woman in a work environment may play an elevated role.
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Leo:
Belief systems change under this event for you, and part of them may do so because of a big recalibration of belief vs. reality in love matters. This is a time when what you want to be true about relationships is on a collision course with what is true – and it may hurt. However, the second half of this event (March 27th onward) introduces the unfiltered truth and deep transformation and healing. Love may be restored and, like a phoenix rising from the ages, become more beautiful than it used to be. Past pain may be healed, and new values found. There’s a huge theme around spirituality and religion around this time that may mitigate especially the more painful effects.
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Virgo:
This event impacts your relationships in a very, very intense and deep way. Intimacy, trust, power, and truth are the hallmarks of this time as you’re seeing who is worthy of knowing and seeing all your deepest vulnerabilities, and who would actually stick around to a “till death do us part” – whether that’s on a friendship level, or in a romantic relationship. You might also be confronted with secrets and transformational events at this time that impact the way you wish to build with others going into the future. This is a time of soulmate love, engagements, marriages, and life-long commitments. For those who are single (or choose to become that as they learn new things about pre-existing partners that don’t like), this Venus Retrograde prepares the path for a future love.
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Libra:
This event is particularly powerful and potent for you because you’re impacted three-fold: one, Venus is particularly potent for Libra Suns and Risings, two, it’s impacting your house of relationships, and three, it’s impacting a theme particularly powerful for Librans: relationships. This event is both a massive truth-revealer when it comes to the relationships you already have, particularly committed ones, and it also reveals many things about yourself and your own needs. This is a time to commit to loving yourself while you love someone else, it’s a time to help others selflessly and to prioritize physical and emotional healing… particularly from heartbreak. This period in time may be intense, but it will bring potent transformation.
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Scorpio:
This event highlights your health, daily habits, and your commitments and devotion to others. This is not a time to spend on just yourself, but one to heal your heart or help heal/otherwise support the people you love in tangible and selfless ways. The second half of this event is also going to significantly boost your creative energy and help ideas flow and projects come together. You may meet (or rekindle) a soul-deep love. Preexisting relationships deepen in commitment or are reconsidered. Your health may benefit from a more balanced approach to the pleasurable things in life, such as sugar.
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Sagittarius:
This Venus Retrograde is all about dating and romance… but this may not be a time when you’d like to move around and meet new people, or casually explore something with somebody. Venus here shows you how real love is supposed to look and opens your perspective to a potential future love that’s far beyond the bounds of the casual… but someone to call future family. This may also be a time of deepening or re-evaluating a pre-existing relationship on the basis of whether it’s meant to go all the way and last forever. On a different note, this is a time of heightened fertility and creativity where arts are boosted and creative endeavors get more energy. Ideas (and projects) are flowing freely. Home and family are highlighted in the second half of this event.
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Capricorn:
This Venus retrograde is a time to pour into your home and internal, as well as relational foundations. Who is your chosen family? Who is your found family? Who is your actual family – and how can you love them better, and vice versa? Sometimes, we have to tell people how to love and support us because they don’t know how to go about it in the best way (though they’re not lacking in motivation to try!) Give your loved ones the roadmap to success in loving you, and you’ll see your life improve. Beautification projects in your home are boosted at this time. Your heart will heal, especially from things in the past.
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Aquarius:
This Venus Retrograde has a significant impact on your communication and the way you perceive the world, yourself, and the people around you – especially your loved ones. This is a very good time for contract renegotiations, arts that include the written word or voice, creative endeavors in general, and spending on supplies that have to do with all of the above. Yes, you heard that right: you’re one of the few groups whom I’m encouraging to spend money – if you do your research first. Your self-worth and values are up for review as well. Forgive yourself.
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Pisces:
For you, the advice given on finances is particularly important. This may be a time of unexpected purchases and/or money drains. Make sure you’re particularly careful with money at this time as something may come up that you didn’t see coming. Your values and self-worth are also on a major update that impacts your overall lifepath and the way you view yourself. Soulmates may return to your life and/or you may have a new beginning with someone you already, or have come to love.
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Further Reading:
Articles Mentioned:
Mercury Retrograde in Aries and Pisces
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Sending love,
Alexandra
Astrology from the Soul.
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