What's wrong with Venus Retrograde?

Moonwalking women in London

It is almost Winter Solstice time. Later (!), Venus goes retrograde. It is like if she is doing the moonwalk. What's wrong with that, I wondered…I checked, found some links and share my thoughts.

IDEAS ABOUT VENUS RETROGRADE
Most astrology sites tell me to take care during Venus retrograde, especially when it comes to desires, buying things or in relationships. Money and love are Venus-related in astrology. When Venus goes retrograde, this is considered as a warning for all that you appreciate. The general advice during Venus retrograde is not to start anything new, like meeting a new lover or start decorating the house. When you travel, you want to get back to where you came from. When you purchase something, the price will fall later (grrr@!). And you might have to reconsider a lot. It is also hard to cure Venus-related ailments (kidney, bladder) and I am glad that I meet the beautician in the week before!:)
Venus Retrograde seems to be good for donations and meeting old lovers and friends. Xmas time happens to be the time for that, too. So after all, Venus Retrograde may be the charity organization's pleasure!

EXPERIENCES

Now, if you come here more often, you know that I love examples, tests and investigations. I will start with me:).

Retrograde periods of Venus happen 'all the time', about every 20 months.  I checked the last time that Venus was retrograde in Capricorn. All that I found was that a few weeks later (Venus direct and running) I catched a cold and ended with pneumonia. The Venus Retro period, however, was OK!

3x TRANSIT VENUS
I wondered about Transit Venus going retro. Usually, with Venus direct, there is only 1 hit. Now this transit of Venus has a double efollow-up! When transit Venus is retrograde there is 3-times hit! First we see how she moves direct, than she does the moonwalk and returns. A retro Venus hits you 3 times! What is wrong with that? Is it because 3 is a cloud when it comes to luv?:) We use to see Venus as a beneficial planet, giving us comfort and pleasure. All good things come in 3, don't they? And all is well that ends well, isn't it? Perhaps, in the end, Venus grants us an extra feel good moment!

I VOLUNTEER

So the upcoming Venus retrograde isn't scaring me.  In fact, I volunteer! I happen to have planned a new kitchen, some decoration and a new door, all bought in Venus direct time, but to be installed in January, right in the middle of the Venus retrograde period. There is always something unexpected when you are renovating a house…Venus direct or retrograde. But if the effect is worse than ever, I'll blame Venus. Of course, there is a risk that my husband and I fight each other over details or because we can't cook for a few days (and will have to eat fast food all the time:). Who knows what happens…I hope that I can resist the temptation of overspending on decoration! 

It is not (just) that I like to take risks. It is just that I can't see what can be wrong about a triple hit ot transit Venus! This time it will also be a personal hit. Transit Venus will be conjunct my Mars 3 times, because of the retrograde phase. There has been a first hit already (yesterday) and nothing special happened…On December 29 the retrograde Venus will hit my Mars and AC/MC again and the final hit will be on March 2. 

HOW ABOUT NATAL VENUS RETROGRADE?
Perhaps there is something wrong when you are born in a Venus Retrograde period? A natal Venus retrograde  makes you shy or not very sociable, they say. The power of Venus is weak. That doesn't seem to be a good starting point for
1. a Queen to be like Princess Catherine (retro Venus applying to square Jupiter) or
2.  a celebrity like Dan Brown (who happens to live behind big walls).
3. Susan Boyle was born with a retrograde Venus  in a separating tight square with Saturn. In the progressed chart there is 15 degrees orb now... It seems that she is shy.
4. Natal Venus retrograde is in the chart of a successful Dutch TV (Albert Verlinde) man who loves to tell all about the love life of celebrities. Early December it was all about his husband, spotted when kissing a younger person…But is that because of Venus Retrograde in the  natal chart? *)

MORE RETROGRADE PLANETS
Retrograde planets are considered to have an inward effect. I would have loved to see something more 'measurable' than this. Perhaps, when Mercury goes retrograde communications don't come easy. When Venus is retrograde, socializing could be uneasy. I think that there might be luxury problems. You know, the kind of problems that disturb those with real trouble. Unless LOVE, LUXURY, PLEASURE and FUN is so important for you (maybe because you work in the field), that you sense it when Venus 'stays behind' for a while.

WINTER SOLSTICE
Here is the Winter Solstice chart for Greenwich.

Click to enlarge

Venus is about to go retrograde, but still going direct, in the Winter solstice chart.

HOW ABOUT YOU?
Personally, I noticed important years when a progressed planet changed direction from retrograde to direct and vice versa. I had that with Mercury going direct and Saturn going retrograde in 1981. The year that Neptune (my ruler 1) happened to be important also. I never experienced a progressed change of direction of Venus.

Venus retrograde's moment of changing direction are at 13d33 on January 31, going direct (a degree of harmony, says Janduz) and at 28d58 Capricorn on December 21 in a degree of contemplation. Any correspondence with the positions in your chart? Then watch what happens and if you like: post a comment and share your experiences.

LINKS
See:
http://www.skyscript.co.uk/gl/retrograde.html

Interesting study of Classical Ideas about Retrograde planets:
http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/60607/Kepler-College-Webinar%3A-Classical-Interpretation-of-Retrograde-Planets-by-MA-student-Maria-Mateus

http://www.zodiacarts.com/whatsup/VenusRetro.shtml

*) I see that Lilly mentioned a 3rd person (with Mercury Rx) and I wonder about the 3rd person in a relationship with Venus Rx...

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The damper in the chart

This post is about  growing tight hard **) Venus-Saturn or Jupiter-Saturn aspects. They often promise dampers. Let me explain...

If you have a natal Venus or Jupiter in a tight and applying aspect with Saturn, any aspect (transit or progression) with Venus or Jupiter will always be followed by an aspect with Saturn. As Venus and Jupiter or the symbols of joy and success, while Saturn is the symbol of reality and setbacks, there is almost always a damper, something frustrating or a "but", every time that there is a party, a pleasant event or trip.
There are exceptions. This rather cold follow up won't occur in case of a transit with a progressed Venus or Jupiter retrograde, having passed the point of the exact aspect with Saturn. In those cases, things changed in the course of life.

Picture your progressed Sun trine Jupiter, followed by a square with Saturn a few weeks or months later. It doesn't undo the prosperity and positivism of Jupiter, perhaps (though it  cAn), but it certainly makes you aware of the nasty sides of life soon enough, so that the period of optimism won't last for long.
Or what if progressed or SA Venus hits your Jupiter, immediately followed by a bump with Saturn? Ohw!&@&€! It is like the wicked fairy on the Sleeping Beauty's birthday party.

But, could you see this inevitable follow-up in another light? Aren't those people with tight Venus-Saturn or Jupiter-Saturn afflictions already used to expect something nasty, always?
First there was the day that you were born with a tight hard aspect between Venus or Jupiter with Saturn. Venus-Saturn restricts the way that you sympathize or enjoy things. You might be just too serious, materialistic or afraid to simply enjoy, love or admire. Maybe when you were a baby, you felt alone and cold or something hindered you in your most intimate and happy moments, who knows. We can't know for sure, but with Venus-Saturn or Jupiter-Saturn your chart tells you to be cautious and wait for more stabile and sure moments to arrive and not to have too much fun. Jupiter-Saturn is like a journey with too many stop overs and too much administration. You are just too cautious, scared or ambitious/materialistic to really go for it. The sleeping beauty waited 100 years for Mr. Right to kiss her, involuntarily and without knowing it, not growing older at all, but still: she had to bide her time.
Physical problems, matters of time and age, your status or parents or your position in society might block the easy flow of the planets Venus or Jupiter and when you come of age you might experience the benefits of Venus-Saturn or Jupiter-Saturn. That leaves little time to enjoy it.

Dampers happen mostly always with such aspects. So it is not surprising that when your progressed Venus meets Jupiter or vice versa, you don't trust it. You dare not jump into the pool of fun, hesitate to sign the papers before consulting an expert, take care not to get hurt too much...

But, still, there is that party, there is the success and there is the joy of that moment and you - somewhat - like it (you just have to agree with that:). The follow-up (the damper) doesn't come unexpected. So you don't even cry. It will be just another confirmation of what you thought it would be like.
(And then they say that it is YOU who causes it, because YOU were not positive enough. Funny, really.)

I think that life is more fun with separating almost exact narrow aspects of Venus or Jupiter with Saturn... Even the wider growing hard aspects don't 'sound' as 'happy go lucky'. Jacqueline Bouvier (who married Kennedy and Onassis) had Venus in a growing opposition with Saturn.

More examples?
Bashar al-Assad (the Syrian leader) has Venus sesquisquare Saturn, applying. In 2004 his progressed Sun reached Venus, but the meetings with the Israeli leaders didn't lead to peace after all. He started good, but it did't last.

Bob Geldof has Jupiter Retrograde in the natal chart. The progressed planet met natal Saturn in the early 70's. His progressed Jupiter changed direction in 2007. In 2006 and 2008 he was nominated for the Nobel Prize. Those years happened to be the years of controversy (see Wikipedia), too...

Sixto Rodriguez has Jupiter tightly semi sextile Saturn, applying. He didn't benefit much of his successes in South Africa, and had 'late success' indeed, but..., well, read the post about it.
Funny how Geldof and Rodriguez both dealt with the disadvantages of 'the international' Jupiter. Geldof because he couldn't become SIR. Rodriguez because he never heard of his success, being in the States.

Steven Hawking has a tight applying square between Venus and Saturn.

Susan Boyle has a separating tight square between Venus (retrograde) and Saturn. In the progressed chart there is 15 degrees orb now...

Dutch terrorist Tanja Nijmeijer has a tight and applying Jupiter sextile Saturn. The sextile perfected in progression when she was about 14 years old. That is when she dreamt of becoming a religous sister. (Interesting, because Jupiter-Saturn is one of the symbols of a religious profession). From that moment on, Saturn came first and Jupiter later. Though the publishing of her diary was seen as the prelude to her execution, instead she became a top member of the FARC.

SEXTILES, QUINTILES AND TRINES
Natal symbols of easy ways (out) and creative cooperation have a different effect. Here are some examples of them:

1. Monika Lewinsky's tight Venus sextile Saturn hasn't brought her much luck or fun up to now. The sextile is applying. In 2002 her progressed Sun was first conjunct Venus and later sextile Saturn. That is when she showed up on TV telling her story and got a contract for (first successful and later failed) TV shows.
! I noticed Venus-Saturn progressed aspects in the chart of Michael Jackson (Venus trine Saturn in the natal chart) in the years that he went into business (buying rights of songs).

2. Malala was born with Jupiter Retrograde. The progressed Jupiter is now at 19Aqu14 (still retrograding) and Saturn remains in the 21st degree of Aries. The natal sextile brings her an opposition with Jupiter and than a trine with Saturn in the 2030's, and that sounds good. Saturn's trines bring at least respect. Jupiter sextile Saturn helps her to find ways out of restrictions.

3. Pope Francisco has a natal quintile between Jupiter and Saturn, applying. The quintile indicates a creative way to join the planets. He ended (Saturn) with success (Jupiter). He is creative in finding a way to see the positive sides of duty and set backs.

4. Tina Turner's Venus trine Saturn is tight and applying and that worked for her!:) A professional and respected artist who loves her work and married late:)..

5. Susan Boyle has a separating tight square between Venus (retrograde) and Saturn. In the progressed chart there is 15 degrees orb now... 

I wonder: do you have a damper in your chart? And how do you deal with it?

**) Hard aspects are: conjunct, square, opposition, quindecile, semi square, sesquisquare and inconjunct.

*) A retrograde planet in your natal chart or by transit might first meet Saturn in the Venus-Saturn or Jupiter-Saturn aspect and make an aspect with Venus or Jupiter later. The progressed retrograding planet has a long lasting effect. The transit will eventually turn and start the 'damper-procedure' as always...

LINKS
On Venus + Saturn on Astromarkt: http://www.astromarkt.net/venus-in-aspect-with-saturn.htmlhttp://www.astromarkt.net/venus-in-aspect-with-saturn.html

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