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.

On the other hand, Venus is the most proud among all the planets. It bears wealth, success and everything gained (even a fight) as an adornment, which it is pride of. It does not seek to possess material things because of its own pleasure but to delight the others. Given that money is something that we all pursue and admire, it is clear again why it is referred to the ruling of Venus.

Let us, however, consider the following.

I watched an ad of a car. The seller and the customer walk round the car. The seller asks questions to the customer:

- You need this car, because..... (various assumptions follow)?

The customer replied negatively to all of the questions.

Finally, the seller asks:

- Do you really need this car?

- No, I do not need it! But I WANT it! replied the customer

So, this is Venus. It wants, not because it needs.

Actually, people do not want money. They want things that money gives them. I wrote what are the reasons.

So, I think ruling the money is not the natural function of Venus. It rules the thing money can buy - cars, jewelry, artwork, clothing, furniture, fun and entertainment - music, dance, sex and everything you can think of. The money itself, the income, is under the natural control of Jupiter.

Now, let me go back to retrograde Venus.

Anything that Venus symbolizes during the retrograde period is accented strongly. Retrograde planets, as I said, are near the Earth and are therefore at the peak of their visibility and brightness. This makes us pay attention to see what is powerfully before us and what we have not been able to see or simply did not want to see it and pushed it aside.

Problems in relationships between people, especially between intimate ones often go to the fore during this period. The retrograde phase symbolizes the turning back we all do. We are turning back to old problems in the present relationship, to old relationships that just "happened" to remind for themselves. Tension arises because of old unresolved issues and repressed feelings. Potential partners appear too, which are very tempting, but not always worth the price you have to pay for them.

Many temptations associated with old and missed desires appear. From this perspective, people tend to "overeat" in the retrograde phase of Venus, because somehow get the opportunity to meet these desires or to go back to their persecution. The search for different types of beauty strengthens - both literally and figuratively: Venus puts on the magic belt and prepares to hang the next scalp on it.

Astrology advises to think better because it could turn out (after the retrograde period) that we have bought an expensive exotic vase and it is a cheap fake. But if we want to buy "antiques" (in every sense), or something second hand, we can make the best possible deals because the seller is the one who loses the notion of the value of what he sells.

The old saying that you value something only when you lose it holds true for the retrograde phase of Venus. The good news is that the triple passing through the same area of the zodiac allows us to go back and look for new solutions so that the loss is not complete.

People tend to see something valuable in them in this period and to understand that they want something that has no value. They say the right answers come when you ask the right question. The right question in the retrograde phase of Venus is as follows: "Is this right for ME? What do I want? Why do I want it? ". But also - "What can I offer?". All agree in the world of Venus. We specify limits and whether we want to satisfy the needs of others or not. Therefore, negotiations and diplomacy, business relationships and business partnerships are also ruled by Venus.
 
The time of the revelations is when Venus coincides with the Sun. This happens in the days around October 29. People often do not realize they have done something unusual to make the necessary changes. Sometimes they consider it a mistake. But later, the “mistake” appears to be correct.

What I have described above refers to the real nature of Venus. Besides its natural functions, it has specific ones in each individual horoscope according to the ruling of houses and the position. And these areas also stand in focus.

This retrograde phase of Venus occurs in the sign of Scorpio. And Venus is in the company of Mars. Astrologically, the conjunct of Venus and Mars is defined as a beginning of a new cycle between the two planets and it is very important. But the topic is too long, and is not the subject of this article. I will just mention something specific.

Venus has a natural function to determine the value of everything a person encounters. The function of Mars presents the ability and desire to give real, completely instinctive expression of it. When Venus decides that someone or something is valuable, then Mars is the one who "goes" to win and conquer it. If Venus considers something or someone dangerous or disgusting, then Mars will either fight it or run away.

In this case, Venus serves Mars. And the emphasis during the retrograde phase is on the desire to express ourselves, to throw in experiences based on subjective and instinctive values. And the value and the benefit of the experience are revealed after the action itself. It may be that what we asked for and received is not what we expected. But there is the opposite option – the thing from which we did not expect anything valuable and useful to become one of the most valuable things in our lives.

”Who knows whether it is happiness or unhappiness? Only time will tell” – would say a Chinese peasant.