So it’s been nearly a month since Venus went into retrograde on May 13, 2020. That’s plenty of time for you to start seeing how this planet’s introspective period is impacting you. Here’s a hint: take a look at your relationships and what’s gone down with them in the last couple of weeks.
When a planet goes retrograde, it appears to move backward in its orbit. Astrologically, this tends to shake things up in the areas of our life that that particular planet rules.
While everyone gets all worked up when Mercury goes retrograde there is so much we can learn about ourselves when the other planets go retrograde, as well.
How Venus affects your life
Venus governs several areas of our life that make us feel good. In particular, Venus oversees love and pleasure, and we all want as much of both as possible, don’t we?
Venus rules love and romance so you’ve got to expect that Venus going in retrograde could impact our romantic relationships in some way. Venus also has a say in our other close relationships so friendships as well as family bonds could become a point of focus during this time.
Venus has everything to do with how we express our love and affection for those in our lives, as well as how we expect to have love and affection shown to us.
It is the planet of beauty, meaning it may cause us to re-evaluate our surroundings and figure out how to make them more aesthetically pleasing to us. And Venus is about pleasure and how effective we are at recognizing and nurturing our own desires — even indulging in them in a healthy manner.
So are your relationships a little shaky right now?
If so, you’re in good company.
I’ll be honest. For me, two different relationships are currently in a state of flux. I experienced blow-ups with two different people rather suddenty during this Venus retrograde period.
Communication is scarce and yes, I’m thinking a lot about what these relationships mean to me and whether they are worth salvaging. Or how I need for them to change. And even how I have to change in order for them to become healthier if that is what I want.
But that’s one of the points of a retrograde period. They give us an opportunity to reflect on what we are doing and what we are attracting in our lives, to see if we like where we currently are.
They ask us to slow things down and go inward. We should examine our values. What do you want in a relationship in the first place? Not just your romantic relationships, but also your friendships. If you don’t know that, you’re likely not going to attract relationships that nurture you.
Has a former lover or friend resurfaced?
So another common occurrence during Venus retrograde season is the appearance of a past love or past relationship.
Again, Venus in retrograde gives us the opportunity to reflect on what has already manifested in our lives. Perhaps it is a relationship that can be given a jolt of new life, or perhaps this is an opportunity for you to get some final closure.
In this case, your best option is to allow the situation to play out without involving yourself too quickly. It’s probably not the best time to jump back in a relationship with an ex who broke your heart. Instead, consider your feelings about the relationship — all of them — and give yourself plenty of time and space to allow them to evolve in whichever way they are going to go.
What you need to do now during the rest of Venus retrograde
So if your relationships are a little shaky right now, what should you do?
Nothing — at the moment
We are still in the thick of this and a retrograde period wants you to take the time to really get to the root of what’s going on. This isn’t the time to have a big conversation with someone you’re on the outs with (unless it’s absolutely necessary.) You still have some processing to do, and you might even change your mind about how you want to move forward between now and when Venus goes direct on June 25th. And even then, you’ll want to avoid making major relationship moves as Venus goes through its shadow period until July 29th.
The shadow period is the period of time before and after the actual retrograde period when the planet initially passes the degree of the zodiac that it will go back to during the retrograde period and ending where the planet passes the degree that it was at when it first went into retrograde. There’s a good explanation of the concept here.
Journal
If you want to do something, pull out your handy journal and start documenting those feelings. You can’t have relationship problems without feeling anything unless you’re a psychopath or narcissist so it’s best to embrace the feelings — even the uncertain ones — so you can learn from them.
Trust
This one might be tough because we all tend to let our minds run wild when things feel uncertain but trust the process of Venus retrograde. During any retrograde period, it’s important to slow down and allow the lessons of it to take place. Feel what you feel, figure out what means the most to you and only after you’ve discovered that, act on that information.
Retrograde periods are reset moments. Yes, a relationship reset can be scary and maybe the relationship won’t survive. But maybe it will emerge from the retrograde period stronger. Trust that the changes that are being sparked during this retrograde period are for the best and getting you more in alignment with attracting the relationships that will be most fulfilling to you.
And understand that this too shall pass. Once we get through June and July, your current relationships — or more fulfilling ones — will likely be humming along better than before.
