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Remember when the worst we had to fear from Venus retrograde was a break up? This past week timelines are filled with astrologers reassuring us that we might not all break up during this transit. Understandable. Nobody likes break ups.

Know what else is awful? That feeling when you know it’s time to break up but, for whatever reason, you just can’t do it yet. This is usually me during this transit. So much so that I’ve vowed to myself in the past to check in with myself before Venus retrograde to see if I might be denying something important.

What about when a country feels like this? In denial of an ugly truth. Unable to choose a life-affirming path. Trapped in a relationship that isn’t good. What about a generation? This Libra season, as Venus turns its back on us, I’m thinking about larger implications of relating. The risk of shame, violation, and marginalization. That which affects all of us. Some more than others.

Venus is a personal planet. One that moves fast enough and dwells close enough to us that it defines our personal experiences in our birth charts and through it’s transits. This is unlike the slower transpersonal planets that define generational shifts. As we take a close and penetrating look at how we in the states view the most vulnerable among us, this transit feels bigger than a break up.

This Libra season, it feels like justice itself is at stake.

Libra has a history with justice. Its symbol is the scales. Its ruler is Venus with its themes of expression, sensuality, and order. Venus has been associated with femininity and women. October is domestic violence awareness month, women’s history month. I read a Twitter thread recently detailing many-a-famous strike or riot organized by women and pointing out that they all happened in October. This season brings us the equinox when light and dark are perfectly balanced.

We associate Venus, Libra’s ruler, with surface things, appearances but also with love and partnership. Libra is the natural sign of the seventh house, house of partnerships. We look to this house to learn about relationship matters. (Hence the fear of breakups during Venus retrograde.)

Conversely, the sign opposite Libra is Aries…

Aries is ruled by the war-planet, Mars and is the natural sign of the first house. Across form partnership we have the house of the self. As usual these two signs supply the themes for the lunation with the last full moon being in Aries and the upcoming new moon being in Libra. These are both cardinal signs, signs associated with beginnings. Aries heralds spring and Libra, fall.

Unlike in recent months, we don’t have an abundance of planets moving retrograde. Saturn and Pluto stationed direct in the month of September. That being said Venus returns to one of the signs it rules, Libra during this season and on October 5th it stationed retrograde, turning its back on us for approximately 40 days.

As far as this year and retrogrades go, there isn’t much left to see…

This is much smaller than it was last month. I’ve taken out all past events and left only the active or upcoming retrogrades. If you’ve been reading this series and have your birth chart handy, you already have some idea how to answer the question of how Venus retrograde might affect you personally.

You know that it’s not as simple as “how will this retrograde affect Scorpios?” You’ve gathered from past posts that your houses may not match that of another person sharing your sign. You know that the exact position of the planets won’t be the same for you as someone else. Even in the case of identical twins.

I’m hearing from folks that supportive habits and choices are more important than they were before. Maybe you’ve been skimping on the spiritual baths. The adequate sleep. The nurturing food. The emotional support. I don’t need to pull up your chart to know that we need to lean into our support systems more now than ever. Perhaps this comes down to Venus’s dance in and out of the sign of Scorpio, the sign most likely to preserve itself. Or maybe it’s a feature of Venus retrograde in Scorpio squaring Mars.

Ok, Siobhan, but what does that mean?

For whatever astrological reason, we are getting the collective lesson that we cannot wait for love from our partners and loved ones, from the world. Not without asking and in some cases demanding. Not without making our needs plain. “This is what I need. This is what love means to me. This is how I know that I matter.” We need to model it. We need to insist. The season demands this much and more.

As Venus turns its back on us it also trines Neptune. No matter how heavy things seem, no matter the tension or frustration we encounter, we may yet dare to dream. We may yet dare to feel compassion and connectedness and want to uplift the people we relate to and folks in general. We may yet hope for better.

As Venus stations direct again opposite Uranus, our optimism may yet again be tested. This transit asks, how do you respond to surprises in relationships? If you are a natural rebel, already exploring alternative relationship styles and finding other ways to access your freedom, now’s a great time to find other rebels like you.

If paired with a more conservative type you may feel the pinch of your differences. For a transit like this, let a fling be a fling. Keep your nonmonogamy ethical. Save the gamble for another time. Look at the house where Venus is doing its dance in your chart for the most personalized information.

Venus Rx in Scorpio

You have an opportunity to reevaluate, revisit, or internally explore (Rx) partnerships, creativity, receptivity, or resolution (Venus) in a penetrating, transformative, and possibly vengeful way (Scorpio), especially when it comes to your ______ (insert house). See the chart below for information and questions pertaining to the houses.

 Depending on the house where Venus stations ask yourself:

As we pick up steam at the end of this year and fall gives way to darkness, it’s a good time to pace ourselves. Spoil yourself where  previously you neglected. Moderate where previously you indulged. Listen where previously you felt entitled to speak. Rage or compromise as needed. It’s time to embody balance… fully.

We may not be able to right the wrongs in the world right away. But with time and concerted collaborative effort, working on ourselves and on the world, our best will be more than enough.

And now for a “LIbra” theme song.
[NSFW. CW survivors, nudity]