Galery

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Retrograde Venus

Author: Ghali

The retrograde phase of Venus lasts from October 8 to November 19, 2010. In the article on retrograde Mercury I clarified what is retrograde movement from the astronomical point of view and why we, here on Earth, see the planets move counter to their natural zodiacal course.

I will repeat only the basic things:

What is typical of those positions and respectively of the retrograde movement astronomically:

1. The planet is closest to Earth - its other positions are more distant.

2. Because it is very close to Earth, the planet is very bright and visible for us from Earth.

3. Planet passes through the same section of the celestial sphere, when viewed from Earth, more than once.

The conclusions from these three factors are as follows - the retrograde planet becomes powerful and strong because of its proximity to Earth. There is something specific, something special associated with it. It is just different. It operates in a manner that is "inverted" and opposite to its usual functioning. Passing though a specific section more than once means that it brings us back to something, it makes us pay attention to it, to note it.

Venus retrograde phases are exactly 5 within 8 years and form an interesting figure if we look at them in the zodiacal circle.

As you can see, it is a pentagram - the symbol of the creative person. This is not a casual fact at all as it shows the importance of Venus in the natural geometry, but also in life.

The picture shows a retrograde series of Venus that began in May 2004 and will end again in May 2012, at the sign of Gemini. The final retrograde of the series has a tolerance of about 2 °, so that retrograde periods shift by one zodiac sign back within 120 years.

The present retrograde phase is in the sign of Scorpio. Although the actual retrograde phase lasts about 40 days, another 30 days are counted before and after it that are the "shady" areas around the retrograde phase. This means that the entire period lasts about 100 days or about 3 months. In these 30 days before and after the actual retrograde phase, Venus sinks and disappears. It becomes invisible as it is in the shadow of the Sun.

Thus the entire retrograde phase lasts from September 10 to December 20.
 
According to the Greek mythology, the goddess of love Aphrodite (Venus) was born from violence. What an irony! Aphrodite was born when Cronus (Saturn) neutered Uranus whose semen fell into the ocean. It immediately gave birth to Aphrodite, in all her brilliance. The Aztec and Mayan also associated Venus with violence. They believed that when Venus enters the retrograde phase, it turns into a man who was seduced and became the father of a sea monster. Then, he is sacrificed to the Sun and reborn turns into “her” again.

Today, the astrology prefers to speak about the beautiful side of Venus. And why not! It is so nice and wonderful to talk about things like grace, elegance, beauty, justice. But in Greek mythology, Aphrodite was known for her magic belt, a gift from her husband. And when she wore it, she was irresistible - sexy, desired, beautiful, magnificent. And she flared up a lot of passion. There is even such a phenomenon in the atmosphere called “the belt of Venus” - just before sunrise or after sunset the horizon is bathed in pink light, which symbolizes the belt.

Loyalty and faithfulness to her husband were not a priority of Aphrodite. She was unhappy because her marriage was arranged; therefore, she was looking for love and pleasure, cheating with Mars (Ares). Then her husband terminated the marriage.

What is the astrological meaning of the retrograde phase of Venus?

This Venus is not happy. It functions in a way that is not natural for it, it is reversed. And this can make it get out any hidden motives or "monsters" to the surface, which are usually shrouded in its shadows. In its retrograde period, from Goddess of Love Venus becomes Goddess of War.

So, passing through the same section of the zodiac three times, Venus, similar to Mercury, makes us pay attention to something. And since we, humans, like to fall asleep for many things around us, we need a shock to wake up.

Venus is the planet of love, beauty, aesthetics. The planet of our pride. Of our passions and temptations. Venus is our desires, which we think would make us happy and content. It is the desire to share any experiences with the others, particularly with the intimate partner. It is our human love and passion. It symbolizes everything that is valuable to us, everything we are devoted to. I will summarize all the symbolism of Venus in one word - value.

There is an opinion today that Venus is associated with material resources, finance, money. I will pay little attention to this issue.

On one hand, it is understandable due to the natural control of Venus over Taurus, which is the second sign of the zodiac. And as such is associated with human resource. Venus, as I wrote above, represents what we value deeply and has tremendous value for us, that which attracts us and in turn we attract to us.

Because money has become a cult in today's world, it is understandable why Venus is defined as its ruler. I would not oppose the assertion that Venus symbolizes money and wealth, if they have some value when it comes to genuine and deep passion. All of us have heard the saying that money can not buy love. And love is the top priority of Venus and where there is love, money rarely has any value.