3 Reasons Why Venus Retrograde is Such a Big Deal

Venus, the planet of love and desire, art and beauty, is officially retrograde.

Perhaps you’ve been hearing talk about it and wondering why its such a big deal.

I’ve got you covered here.

Logistics of Venus Retrograde in Leo 2023

Venus stationed retrograde July 22, 2023 at 9:33 PM ET, at 28º36’ of Leo. It will be retrograde for 42 days.

On August 13 Venus will form a conjunction with the Sun, and will emerge on the other side of the Sun as a morning star.

Venus will station direct at 12º12’ of Leo on September 3, 2023, which will officially end the retrograde period.

Venus will then travel direct from 12º12’ to 28º36’ Leo, a period it already covered from June 19 through July 22.

It will return back to 28º36’ of Leo on October 7, 2023.

3 Reasons Why Venus Retrograde is Such a Big Deal

(1) It’s One of the Personal Planets

Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are generational planets. They spend between 8 (Uranus) and 20 (Pluto) years in a sign. When you look at birth charts of people born in the same decade, they generally have Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in the same signs.

Jupiter and Saturn are collective planets. Jupiter changes sign once a year, while Saturn spends 2.5–3 years in a sign.

Mercury, Venus, and Mars are the “personal planets.” They travel faster and therefore change signs more often. They are the big differentiators, after the sun, moon, and rising sign.

Their archetypal energy are energies we tap into in the daily course of our lives. As such, when they go retrograde, we feel it more. Parts of our daily lives that are ruled by the retrograde planet can feel “off” or like they are falling apart.

Venus represents desire, love, relationships, art, beauty, form, connection, union, the social contract, and the unwritten rules we live by. These are themes that are woven into the fabric of our lives, so much so that often we take them for granted.

We don’t often consider how or who we choose who to love. We may not consciously think about who defined our standard of beauty, or why we like or dislike certain things.

When Venus goes retrograde, it invites us to pause and review these areas, to make these unconscious parts of ourselves conscious.

(2) It’s the Second-Rarest Planet that Retrogrades

From our perspective on Earth, every planet eventually goes retrograde.

The outer planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto — each spend approximately 5–7 months of every year retrograde.

Mercury goes retrograde three to four times per year, for three weeks at a time. So we are accustomed to its retrogrades.

That leaves Mars and Venus. Mars stations retrograde every 26 months. It’s retrograde period typically lasts for 4 months. So when it happens it’s a big deal.

Venus stations retrograde every 18 months, for approximately 40 days.

Things that happen with less frequency feel bigger to us. The relative rarity of Venus and Mars retrogrades when compared to the outer planets and Mercury, combined with the longer duration of these retrogrades compared to Mercury, make Mars and Venus retrogrades a big deal.

(3) Venus Retrogrades Often Mark Cultural Pivots

Although it’s a personal planet, a review of history shows that Venus retrogrades often mark pivotal cultural moments where social consensus changed around “Venus” topics such as love, marriage, fashion trends, and beauty.

In Episode 405 of The Astrology Podcast, astrologers Chris Brennan, Nick Dagan Best, and Patrick Watson discussed this in-depth.

Some fascinating examples included:

• The Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v Hodges, which ruled that the fundamental right to marry applies to same sex couples. That decision was issued just before Venus stationed retrograde in Leo in 2015, paving the way for a record number of same-sex marriages that summer, during Venus’ retrograde.
• Demi Moore appearing naked and pregnant on the cover of Vanity Fair in 1991 during Venus retrograde in Leo. While that might not be a big deal today, at the time it was very controversial and unheard of.
• Boxer Muhammed Ali announcing his affiliation with the Nation of Islam and his new name (from his birth name Cassius Clay) after winning his first heavyweight title — something that was very “against the grain” in the conservative, white America of 1964.

In addition, during Venus retrogrades we often see shifts in fashion, changes in what music dominates the popular culture, notable changes in hair trends, and shifts in the social contract and standards we live by.

These are things to watch for as we embark on this current Venus retrograde journey in Leo.