Today Venus enters the “shadow” of her upcoming Retrograde — although Venus doesn’t actually reverse directions until May 15, we’re now under the influence. While Venus is Retrograde, until June 27, the Goddess in each of us and in the collective memosphere is up for reevaluation, reawakening and reconnection.
And, this Friday — the much maligned Friday the 13th — is actually a day for honoring and celebrating the Divine Feminine. Friday is Venus’s day (after Freya, the Norse incarnation of Venus), and the number 13 is sacred to the Goddess (because there are 13 lunar cycles in a year). In the pagan tradition, as I learned from Caroline Casey, Friday the 13th was devoted to making love all day. Other ways to honor Venus include making art, making beauty and making peace.
So this seems like an auspicious moment, after months of neglect, to re-launch my beloved Venus blog. Hi.
While Venus is Retrograde, all “RE-” words — reawaken, review, renew, revise, revisit, reclaim, reconnect… — apply to the Venus-ruled realms of love, beauty, art, pleasure, relationship, money, values and worth. To get a feel for what we’re getting into here, you could look back at the previous Venus Retrograde — October 8 to November 18, 2010.
Venus Retrograde is typically a time for: reassessing and renegotiating relationships; resolving old issues with a current or former partner; and reconnecting with friends and lovers from the past. Venus teaches us about projection — she is the mirror that reflects your self back to yourself in the form of your partner, friend, enemy, boss, etc.
Ultimately, Venus is about self-love and self-worth, and Venus Retro will tend to reveal these unhealed parts of ourselves.
Amplifying this theme, Venus is currently conjunct the South Node in Gemini, and squaring both Mars in Virgo and Neptune and Chiron in Pisces. The Venus-South Node conjunction supports healing and releasing old, self-sabotaging Venusian patterns that may include: undervaluing yourself and your work; compromising your truth in order to please others and fit in; and sacrificing your integrity to earn money or others’ approval.
Venus’s square to Neptune and Chiron triggers the early childhood and/or past-life wounds that created these unconscious (until now!) patterns in the first place. The square to Mars can stir up anger about how we’ve felt victimized by these patterns in the past — and, ideally, inspire one small step we can take to reclaim our power in the present. We are advised to feel, express, and move through the feelings — particularly the grief (Neptune/Pisces) and anger (Mars) — but not to get stuck in self-pity, blame or despair.
The North Node in Sagittarius points to the best way forward — hold the vision for the future you want to create, stand in and speak your truth, and take the risk of moving toward happiness and freedom, trusting your instincts to guide you.
The highlight of this Venus Retrograde will be her rare eclipse of the Sun on June 5, signifying the reawakening of the Divine Feminine in the collective consciousness. I find the timing of this event intriguing, leading up to the first exact square between Uranus and Pluto on June 24, the planetary headline of 2012.
Venus Retro and the Venus-Sun transit remind us that it is essential to source ourselves in the feminine during these tumultuous, transformative times. If we pull off the miracle of rebirthing a sane new world as the old patriarchal order self-destructs, it will be through love, pleasure, beauty, art, compassion and connection.
– Emily Trinkaus
Portlandia friends – Please join me this Saturday, April 14, 6:30-8:30pm, at New Renaissance for my Venus Retro workshop Restoring Love and Pleasure. We’ll explore the above themes and much much more, including how Venus Retro will influence your personal birth chart. And – friends everywhere – I’ll be a guest on Human Spirit Radio on Friday, April 20, 2:00-3:00pm PDT, talking about Venus Retro, the Uranus-Pluto square and all sorts of exciting cosmic events. Please tune in!
reviving venus 