As with all the retrograde of the planets, it begins a period of introspection, of re-evaluation in our lives, and being the goddess of Beauty and Love, the look inward, has to do with our relationships, not only to other people, but also to things and money.  Love, is the main theme, but it would be better to describe it as the energy that flows in our personal relationships. Our values, another very important point of this archetype, what really matters in our lives, from the depths of the soul, beyond cultural and/or family values. The ability to sustain our lives, through our talents is another Venus issue, our creativity and our ability to generate money. Our concept of beauty, our capacity to love, seduction and survival. All of these are under the umbrella of Afrodite-Venus.

In Astrology, Venus is the ruler of two signs, Taurus and Libra, in the same manner that Afrodite had more than one important relationship in her main story. One with Ares or Mars, her eternal lover and one with her husband, Hephaestus or Vulcan. Two different expressions of personal relationships, one that has to do with the 5th House and the other with the 7th House . I.e. one, romantic love or the act of falling in love (5th house), and the other, the operation of the daily reality of the couple (Libra, 7th house).

An episode of the life of Aphrodite (Venus), comes to mind and although she had many “affairs”, only two very defined relationships, are the most important: Its eternal romance with Ares (MARS), who was her lover, and with whom she had children: Harmony (the uniter) and Eros (Cupid), and her relationship with Hephaestus, her husband, who despite being a very artistic blacksmith, was a rather ugly and a deformed dwarf, son of Hera-Juno. Other sons of Aphrodite and Ares were Phobos (fear- phobia) and Deimos (Terror). Aphrodite was never in love with Hephaestus, but by divine order remains married to him, while she cultivated her love for Ares through countless furtive meetings without the knowledge of her husband, who often travelled the fields of war, repairing swords and shields of soldiers. But Helios (the Sun) the “great seer”, knew of Ares clandestine visits to the bed of Aphrodite, and decided to reveal it to Hephaestus, who plot a plan to catch them in the act. Pretending to leave home, he proceeded to weave a net of gold so thin, that was invisible but very tough. Said goodbye to his wife one night and instead of actually going to work  he hid himself in the Palace where they lived, quietly waiting for his wife’s lover to arrive. He patiently waited in the shadows for the lovers to go to bed and when he had the opportunity, threw the invisible net over the two lovers and trapped them onto the bed. When Helios began to illuminate the room, Vulcan called all the gods to show them his wife’s shame and deceit, alleging that she humiliated him because of his deformities. The gods laughed at the ability of Vulcan to catch them in the Act of love. Since Hephaestus was the son of Hera, wife of Zeus, the latter had to take action and decided to punish the lovers. He convinced the divine blacksmith that to  free them, arguing that they would take care of the punishment, but being  Ares, Zeus’ own son, he let him escape and Aphrodite was carried to the Holy waters which returned her virginity and turn her once more in the absolute goddess that she was. The reality was that most gods would have loved to have been trapped in bed with the goddess of Beauty, since she is irresistible. Why did I think of this story? It is about the pains and shame of being unfaithful, and the inevitability of falling in love. All part of that affair, we call Love.

What has all of this to do with our daily lives? The retrograde of Venus is a time to reflect on our need to relate. What type of relationship do we really need? Obviously, depending on our age, the answer will be different. But when we speak of relationships does not necessarily mean finding a lover or a husband/wife. A wide range or variety of these two aspects of love, are common. The question here, should be, what do we expect from each other? What do we need from our partner? Do I want a family? Do I want a partner? Do I want an adventure? Part of me, needs the relationship with another to be able to feel complete? Can I live without a relationship? All of  these questions will be more eloquent during this retrograde of the goddess of Love. Wherever we are with relationships, will be confronted with these questions and. Something is bringing our attention to our social, creative and emotional situation. The realisation that feeling Love, is no restricted to the feelings to our emotional partner, is another aspect of Venus. To feel beautiful, loved, valued, accepted, creative, need not be a romantic experience,  it rather is an internal process, that has to do with our ability to Love ourselves, and Life itself.

The retrograde may also bring memories of past relationships when we learned important lessons that helped us evolve as human beings, or those that need to conclude properly, to have some proper closure. Our affections of the past, bring us memories back  of important turning points in our lives. It is common to dream with old loves and past relationships. Habits that gave us pleasure no longer inspire us. Material possessions suddenly lose their importance and we meditate on what is really important in our lives. If you are going through a separation or a divorce , perhaps you are deciding  what to take with you and what to leave behind. If you don’t have a partner, it is perhaps a good time to contemplate why. For men and women, the big question is: what is my value, if I don’t have anybody to value me? Do I need others to appreciate me for me to feel of any value? What happens if I lose the power of Venus and I no longer attract anyone? Is this the loss of my self-worth? how do I re-connect with my inner Venus? How do I find Beauty and Love within myself?

Venus, the absolute and indisputable Goddess of Love and Beauty, above all, it lives in Nature, in one evening, in a wonderful full moon, in a flower, in a poem, a song, a smile, under a starry sky, in a Sunrise beside the sea, in the mountains, the forests… Venus never dies and as most goddesses, is immortal. You can always summon her or invoke her and she will come to you and answer your call and your prayer.