Tracing Over 2025 pt. 3

the dance of Venus

Hail Venus, humanity’s queen.

you, source of eros, psyche’s guide,

open our eyes to your sheen,

and open our hearts’ horizons wide.

Venus is the goddess of romance, eros, style, taste, creativity, artistry, craftsmanship, and sociability. If your life is centered around Venusian themes, if Venus is a time lord for you right now, or if you’re just a fan, her dance is very much worth tracking.

I’m writing this forecast as a couple of major Venusian developments stand on the near horizon. The big thing is that Venus will be going retrograde this spring, and it will likely be a rather notable retrograde, as it’s happening alongside a Mercury retrograde and eclipse season. Venus takes her descent into the underworld (a journey mythologized by Inanna’s descent) every year and a half - we’re currently in the final stages of a cycle initiated in the late summer of 2023, although her status as an evening star came about in June of last year. In early April, Venus will be reborn as a morning star, a face that will last until January 2026.

Venus has already entered Pisces, where she’ll end this upcoming retrograde. Venus is exalted in Pisces - it’s her favorite place to be, as depicted by Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. Here, we can reclaim romantic idealism, and the sensual delights of the world serve as an avenue into other worlds. Over the past couple of years, Saturn has been slogging through Pisces, effectively making Piscean themes (which also include our spiritual striving and psychological health) much more heavy and difficult. Right now, Venus is in a conjunction with Saturn, helping us appreciate these serious responsibilities of the soul while also enlivening our imaginal landscape.

At the end of the month, the North Node of the Moon will move into Pisces, just as Venus is sliding into a conjunction with Neptune. Altogether, this is a remarkably dreamy trio, highlighting the end of January and the start of February (and especially Saturday, February 1st, when the Moon joins the party) as a peak moment of the year for Venus. Alongside the North Node’s entrance into Pisces, the South Node will be leaving Libra and entering Virgo - we’re done with a couple of years of eclipses in Libra, stirring up relational karma and conditioning. Still, within a couple of years, Saturn, the North Node, and Neptune will all have left Pisces, whisking away some of the imaginative luster that has graced us since 2011 or so.

Venus will move into Aries on February 4th, where she’ll stay until the end of March, through the beginning of her retrograde. On top of Venus being in her detriment in Aries, Mars, the ruler of Aries, will be retrograde till the end of February and still slow afterward. Thus, this stretch might be difficult for Venusian themes, her need for a retrograde becoming clear.

Venus will begin her retrograde at 10° Aries on March 1st. We previously had a retrograde on this Aries-Pisces cusp during the spring of 2017, which might be a useful time period to reflect on. The themes and contours of that time period are likely to resurface. This time, though, Mercury will also be taking their retrograde at the same time as Venus, and we’ll have a lunar eclipse in Virgo a couple of weeks after Venus begins her retrograde.

Altogether, there’s a sense of a lot of rearrangement and acceleration of change, especially in our relationships and social dynamics. Mercury-Venus conjunctions can be some of the most fun and connective times of the year, but here, these two encounter each other on the edge of the underworld. It’s a recipe for magical chaos, which might throw us down a chutes and ladders-type adventure. To a certain degree, we could say this is already beginning to be underway, but it will especially kick off when Mercury moves into Aries on March 3rd. After that, there’s a Mercury-Venus conjunction on the 11th, the lunar eclipse is on the 13th, and then Mercury goes retrograde on the 15th while still in conjunction with Venus.

Venus has her cazimi with the Sun on the 22nd, and then Mercury has theirs on the 24th. Venus will then move back into Pisces on March 27th, where she’ll make another dreamy triple conjunction with Neptune and the North Node, although this time Saturn will be closer nearby, making things a bit more serious and hefty. Venus will be conjunct Saturn through the end of her retrograde, which ends on April 12th. Venus will move back into Aries on April 30th, immediately making another conjunction with Neptune.

The movement of Juno is also important to track relative to many of the questions we have with Venus. Juno is a goddess of partnership - traditionally, that was marriage, but today, I think of her as representing any sort of soul-mate relationship, romantic or otherwise. At the moment, Juno is in an opposition with Uranus, which will continue for another couple of weeks and happen twice more through the year. Here, there’s an electric excitement stirring up our Juno-type relationships, catalyzing deeper connections while also accelerating metamorphosis out of outworn dynamics. Tangibly, it can just play out as a shakeup in the structure of our deep, intimate connections with people. Juno is making this opposition to Uranus from Scorpio, which is not exactly a stable place for Juno, who has to deal with fear, suspicion, and transformation in Scorpio. Uranus loves Scorpio energy, though, and so these electric connections can be particularly nourishing for the awakening of our more unique, authentic, and brilliant selves. This opposition will be active again during the second half of April and the first half of May, as well as the start of October. These are time periods to look to for potentially stressful but beautiful and consequential developments in our deep relationships.

After Venus ends her retrograde, the key moments of the year will occur for her as she changes signs, which is also when she’ll be making major aspects to the outer planets, who are hanging out at the beginning and end of signs right now. After spending all of May in Aries, Venus will move into Taurus, her sign of rulership, on June 6th, where she’ll be for the whole month—likely a good month for her, although the very start might be rocky with a square to Pluto.

Venus will meet Uranus for a conjunction on July 4th, and then the two of them will enter Gemini together over the following couple of days, giving us a taste of what even more emphasis on Gemini-energy will taste like. At the end of July, Venus will make a couple of hard aspects, squares to Mars, Saturn, a nd Neptune, before making a conjunction with Jupiter on August 12th in Cancer - a definite bright moment on the year and a good time to schedule a vacation. Venus will have moved into Cancer on July 30th.

On August 25th, Venus will move into Leo and oppose Pluto—a fun but dramatic territory. On Sept 19th, Venus moves into Virgo, squaring Uranus in the process, kicking off a month that will likely be a little stressful for Venusian endeavors. Venus will oppose Saturn on October 11th and then move into Libra on October 13th, kicking off another few weeks of Venus in her rulership.

On November 6th, Venus will move into Scorpio, another difficult terrain for her. Still, the end of November will provide some interesting aspects which could bring forth another beautiful time period for her - a conjunction with Mercury on the 24th and trine to Jupiter and Saturn on the 26th. On November 30th, Venus will move into Sagittarius, bringing a festive few weeks forward. On December 20th, Venus will square Saturn and then move into Capricorn, making for a slightly more serious Christmas.

Finally - in navigating these Venusian themes, ritualizing your Fridays can be quite helpful. In the past, I’ve appreciated building an altar for her (including flowers), taking ritual baths, praying the rosary, and taking myself on artist’s dates on Friday. You might also do metaphorical service to Venus, bringing delight to someone, especially of a Venusian variety. It’s a good day to check in on friends or give someone a sweet surprise. Likewise, this might also be a year to participate in some sort of sacrifice for Lent or for Venus’ retrograde, which lasts 40 days - a biblical length of time. If there’s some sweet addiction you’re struggling with, the energies this spring would be helpful in sublimating that desire or connection toward a higher octave.

I hope this was helpful! As always, please reach out for a reading if you’d like more personalized help.

Warmth,

Charlie