This essay is written by frequent guest contributor to About.com, Eileen Grimes, a Seattle astrologer and author of Titanic Astrology.
The Venus retrograde process, for those who have it natally, and also when we’re going through a Venus Rx transit (which starts tomorrow at about 9:16am Pacific time, for 6 weeks), has so much to do with the re-examination of value and worth, in a very personal way. One has to define values on one’s own terms. In the karmic sense, the Venus retrograde person is said to be repeating lessons not learned from a previous lifetime, and if so, the urgency of the Venus expression is intensified. Relationships become vehicles for finding personal love within themselves.
In an evolutionary sense, one with Venus Retrograde could be looked at as being called upon to ‘get it right” or “go deeper” with the experience. This is Venus at the graduate level of college. The advanced degree in Venus-ology is needed to set things to rights within the world.
Those that I’ve known with Venus retrograde usually have a stronger than average creative force - not just talent, but the actual creative force. My own mother had Venus retrograde in Aries herself - the creative output she had was staggering (professional artist with over 200 paintings, exceptional seamstress, and a very good singer). There was an enormous need to express this part of herself, and the fact that she was also a Taurus was a bonus.
Because the Venus Experience is more subjective, intimacy issues became more self-directed. For certain, the Venus Rx experience is much more intense, and can likely be a focalizer of the entire chart - that perhaps one’s entire existence must filter through the Venus experience. The Venus Experience becomes much more important, when viewed from this perspective.
During the next six-week Venus retrograde phase, the object is to define love in our own terms (Aries), and not relying on the projections so much for validation, but to seek our own approval of ourselves.
