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Why Venus Retrograde Might Make You Break Up

Photo credit: Katie Buckleitner
Photo credit: Katie Buckleitner

From Cosmopolitan

Venus has been traversing the deep waters of Scorpio, the most intense sign, for a few weeks now and has brought more passion and intensity to your relationships. Scorpio obsesses over authenticity and in this transformative sign, Venus seeks to change your relationships for good. This added intensity galvanizes the positive connections in your life and doesn’t hesitate to cut off loose ends and toxic people. To really kick things into high gear, Venus also goes retrograde on Friday, October 5 EST, starting a cycle that lasts approximately 40 days.

Venus is the planet of love, beauty, pleasure, and money. When it goes retrograde, its energy is turned inwards, compelling you to examine your relationships much more closely and preparing you for some big changes. Venus also goes retrograde the least out of every planet, so every year and a half when it does goes retrograde, it’s especially noticeable and chaotic-feeling.

As you probably guessed, it's generally not a great time for any shaky relationships. Venus retrograde pushes you to look at what was working well in your old relationships, and what caused you and your ex(es) to part ways. How has your behavior changed in your relationships? Weird, coincidental repeats of past behavior in your relationships happen so you can answer these questions for yourself, and a common theme of Venus retrograde is ex-lovers and old friends coming back into your life. Giving and receiving love feels more difficult now, and you might find yourself falling out of love as you realize that your wants and needs in your relationships have changed, or just aren’t being met.

New relationships or new jobs are NOT favored by this astrology! Since your ideas around love are being challenged and transformed during Venus retrograde, you might find that today’s “love at first sight” becomes your worst nightmare in a few months. Your finances or career might also be in trouble, since Venus rules over money, too. A new job or investment opportunity can sound promising, but triple-check the fine print before signing up and do your research so you're not saddled doing something you hate.

Venus retrograde, like all of the other planet’s retrogrades, sounds daunting at first! The astrological weather all year has been centered on maintaining healthy relationships, cutting off those who no longer serve you, and clearing out old baggage from the past. Venus stays in Scorpio until Halloween (spooky!) and then spins back into Libra until it ends its retrograde cycle on November 16. For a few weeks, you feel congenial and lighthearted again, enjoying refreshed, pleasant relationships after this retrograde forces your unhealthy contacts to exit stage left.

At the end of the day, Venus’ mission is to feel pleasure, love others, and enjoy time with other people, even during a retrograde. The next six weeks can feel like ripping off a band-aid, but remember that it’s expediting the process towards having happy and healthy relationships! Venus re-enters Scorpio on December 2, providing you an opportunity to strengthen these new connections and solidify your love life and social life. And Scorpio’s transformative vibes leave you with a brand new idea of how you view relationships and more clear definition of your wants and needs from others.


Venus Retrograde for the Signs:

Aries: Intimacy, sex, and your deepest relationships are highlighted during this period. Issues in the bedroom urge you to approach intimacy differently and reconsider what is attractive to you. You could also have problems with taxes or finances you share with your partner, so budget wisely. On the other hand, an unexpected bonus could fall into your lap, temporarily filling your pocketbook with more cash. On Halloween, the retrograde enters Libra and conflicts arise in all of your relationships. Friendships might fall apart, your S.O. could exit the picture, or an ex could come around looking to hook up again. Think long and hard before saying or doing anything that could permanently change your relationships.

Taurus: Venus retrograde starts off in your chart’s relationship zone, so your friends, lovers, and coworkers are the perpetrators of drama in your life. You’re more prone than the other signs to dealing with an ex-partner or ex-friend causing a ruckus for the next few weeks. Feeling the love from others isn’t easy right now, but go out of your way to assure others that you love and care for them, and the good karma will come back around by the end of the retrograde. Definitely don’t start a new relationship. Even if you’re in the talking stage now, your ideas around love are likely to change over the next few weeks. When Venus enters Libra on Halloween, your work-related contacts can cause major headaches for you. Finances are tight, so make sure you don’t go too hard when you go Black Friday shopping!

Gemini: Venus retrograde is all about self-care for you! The temptation to over-indulge on tasty-but-terrible food and veg out is especially strong for the next month, so you need to make a point of eating healthy and staying active. Retrogrades are great for cutting old habits and starting new routines-examine the parts of your "treat yourself" regimen that might be doing more harm than good. Unhealthy relationships take a toll on your health and the tiniest bit of stress right now can make your body feel completely off. When Venus enters Libra, romantic relationships feel particularly unsatisfying. Issues in the bedroom can lead to tension with your partner and you might find yourself falling out of love-or falling IN love with someone who’s absolutely not your type at all.

Cancer: Venus retrograde is asking you to really reconsider your love life. If your relationship is going swimmingly, don't worry! You can use this time to introduce new ways to have fun with your lover or partner, whether it be in the bedroom or a surprise date night. If you’re living the single life, someone new may compel you to question your ideas of who you’re actually attracted to. Old contacts from your past may resurface now as well. When Venus enters Libra at the end of the month, your familial ties and home life become confusing. Passive-aggression with your family or roommates easily explode into arguments, and you become restless and dissatisfied with where you live. Instead of planning to move, why not try redecorating? You're likely going through a creative block during this time, so pushing yourself to reorganize your living space might do you good!

Leo: Venus retrograde starts off in the part of your chart that has to do with your past and your home life. The people that re-emerge during the next few weeks remind you of some deeply-buried past hurts. You can take this time to review your past relationships and clear out any emotional baggage. When Venus flies into Libra, communication issues run rampant in your life, disrupting all your relationships. Drama with your parents can spring up, too, and if you have siblings, bickering might happen more than usual. Double and triple-check that e-mail or text before you send it-the tiniest typo or misinterpreted phrase can blow up into a full-blown argument. It’s a mentally busy time where you find yourself spending all of your alone time analyzing and mulling over your wants and needs when it comes to relationships. The conclusions you draw could lead to you feeling inspired to cut someone off, or do the opposite and ask out a crush. Just don’t act now! Wait until the end of the retrograde before taking any big leaps.

Virgo: The people you see every day–classmates, acquaintances, coworkers, siblings–can cause a lot of issues in your life for the next few weeks. Try to be congenial when it comes to any type of communication. Your sign already has a problem with coming off as cold or overly-critical, so if you don’t tread lightly now, ugly confrontations are almost guaranteed. When Venus retrogrades backwards into Libra, your income becomes less steady as well. Avoid the temptation to spend big over the next few weeks, because you never know what kind of issues will come up and require a little cash to solve. Review your budget now before circumstances force you to live more frugally for the next few weeks. All in all, just think through everything you do more carefully during this time.

Libra: You may have been feeling more insecure than usual lately. With Venus retrograde, you’re especially tempted to distract yourself from any negative emotions with expensive food, drinks, sex, or material possessions. This leads to over-spending on luxury items that only makes you worry about your bank account. Plus, buying a lot of stuff doesn't make you feel better in the long-run anyway. When Venus enters your sign at the end of the month, you distance yourself from others and spend time contemplating the way you come off to others. This could be focusing on your appearance, or, on a deeper level, getting to the root of how you behave in your relationships, and why. Self-love is key to surviving this retrograde–don't be afraid to admit to your flaws and work to fix them!

Scorpio: You’re reconsidering how you come off to others, but don’t do anything yet. If you’ve been thinking about getting a dramatic haircut, an extreme makeover, or a new tattoo, hold on! Changes to your appearance during Venus retrograde rarely go as planned, and you certainly don’t want to be stuck with a style you hate. You’re likely to feel lonely for a while, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. While your self-presentation is under review, you establish new patterns and behaviors when dealing with others. This could turn your friends off from you, but can also attract entirely new people. When Venus enters Libra, all of the karma you’ve accumulated in your relationships comes rushing back to you. If you’ve been honest and kind with others, your relationships flourish and your friends bring you the same joy and love you brought them. If you’ve been less-than-great to others, the universe serves you a taste of your own medicine.

Sagittarius: Past relationships are all you can think about for the rest of the month. Old lovers, best friends you parted ways with, and other important figures in your life occupy your mind and might even make a surprise appearance in the real world. The variety of people you’ve been attracted to in your life, and their distinctive traits that turn you on or off, all mix together in your head and it’s hard to tell what it is you want out of relationships. Your current partner could now be off-putting or annoying to you, or someone you wanted nothing to do with in the past can take a place in your heart. When Venus flies into Libra, your social circle is shuffled around. Friends can become lovers and vice-versa. Steady companions can disappear and acquaintances can become your new bestie. Just think carefully before letting certain people into your life.

Capricorn: Any sh*tty behavior in your friend group is highlighted now, and problematic habits become more and more prominent until you’re forced to leave the group or oust the offender. In-fighting and drama can break apart your network of pals, and for your structure-loving sign, this could be a nightmare. You need consistency from others, but instability is a characteristic of your relationships during Venus retrograde. At the end of the month, your work relationships take center stage. Your relationships with authority figures are more strained now, so tread with caution when you’re at the office. Your professional goals and aspirations are subject to dramatic change over the next few weeks, but don’t quit your job just yet. Rethink your career path, and make a plan to meet your new goals. You can send in applications to new places if you’re absolutely sure you want a change, but wait until the end of the retrograde before you say yes to any job offers or new sources of income.

Aquarius: You’re the zodiac’s natural rebel, and have a special talent for shaking up the status quo. This eccentricity is often the biggest reason why others love you so much, but while Venus is in retrograde, others may interpret your quirkiness as weird or unattractive. Chill out, or your wacky behavior could seriously hurt your reputation now by offending people who don't know you well enough to get that you're just joking. When Venus enters Libra on Halloween, you can let your freak flag fly again. Your usual crowd may become distant, but you can enjoy some time flying solo and learning to have fun by yourself. It’s a good time to travel, study a new topic, or eve make plans to go back to school. You find yourself enamored by people who totally aren’t your type-but with Venus being retrograde, your type is completely up for debate right now!

Pisces: You find yourself dreaming more and more about your goals for the future. Your mind is full of ideas of new places to travel, new people to meet, and new things to study. Make plans to pursue these new interests! You might meet a lot of pushback from others who don’t support your ideas or think you're too unrealistic. Don’t listen to the haters. Go your own way, and the people who matter will stick around. When Venus slides into Libra, your sex life can start to fizzle out. You feel like the things that used to turn you on now bore you to death and your relationship can feel stale. Watch out for ex-lovers or your old FWB hitting you up during the retrograde. Even if you’re still into them, your relationship with them is over for a reason!


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