October 2018: Venus is Pulling the Strings

Photo by Etienne Marais

Happy October! We are now in a 1 vibration month (1+0= 10), so take a deep breath because you get a little bit of room for a fresh start, of sorts… and what I’m about to talk about? It may help to clear some things out.

I know it’s not usual for me to write something up in the middle of the month like this- no full moon to write about, here- but I feel that this is too important an astrological time NOT to share before it takes place. And if you’re like me (AKA you have some really prominent Scorpio in your natal chart, which is where Venus will be retrograde), then you’re probably already feeling the effects of this one.

Venus Retrograde, my friends, takes place at the end of the week.

Now, as I wrote in my last article, we have just gotten through the thick of it- Saturn, Mars, Mercury, and Pluto have all gone direct, and we are merely waiting on Neptune to do the same at the end of November, and Uranus to do the same at the beginning of 2019… So what’s this business about Venus entering the picture?

Venus Retrograde is both one of my favourite, and one of my most feared times of the year. Here’s why:

Pros:

-It helps you to see life (and yourself) from a different angle and a different perspective

-It helps to challenge your views on your current relationships (especially those that are romantic and/or sexual in nature)

-It helps you to reassess where you are in your life, and whether or not you are in alignment with your needs and your passions

-If you listen and allow it to, it can help you find what feels like it is missing in your life

Cons:

-It may make you feel like you’re crazy out of your mind obsessed with someone. You may spend much of your time ruminating over someone. If that’s the case, try to turn your attention inward… What are you trying to feel from them that you don’t think you can feel from yourself? How can you work to receive that from yourself?

-It provides for rocky paths in current romantic and/or sexual relationships

-It is the perfect time for karmic relationships to come into play. This is a con because it’s a pain in the butt to deal with- such a roller coaster of emotion- but it’s also a pro because you will learn some of your most important lessons from this, should you choose to listen

-You could become obsessive over

Venus Retrograde is all about being able to really take the time to assess your life and make sure that you are truly in alignment with your wants, needs, and highest passions. If you feel that there is anything lacking or mundane about your life, your current relationship if you are partnered, your career, the way that others treat you, your self-care routine, or your love for yourself, VR is going to operate like a spotlight, helping to illuminate exactly what it is that is missing. If you put the work in, it will also help to illuminate exactly what steps you need to take to find the missing piece and incorporate it.

As Venus will be retrograde for the first 3/5 weeks in the intense water sign of Scorpio, this retrograde period will be filled with much more longing, obsessive feelings, and rumination than most others. Scorpio (speaking from an authority of experience, here… sun, moon, ascendant, Mercury, Pluto are all Scorp in my chart) is very much about diving into the depths to get the fullest, deepest information and feeling that you possibly can, and then using those answers to inform your view and understanding of the surface.

The problem is that it can be easy to get stuck in the dark depths of the ocean’s underlayers, so it is important to keep a check on yourself. Are you wallowing in self-pity? Are you thinking so much about someone else that you are neglecting your own self, your basic care, or your responsibilities? Are you looking too much and too hard at the details or trying to find specific things that aren’t actually there, to a point where you are sabotaging your relationships more than you are actually serving them? It is time to take a breath- give yourself time and permission to come back up to the surface- drowning will serve no one.

On the 31st, Venus will move into the sign of Libra for its last two weeks in retro (it goes direct on 16 November), helping to bring balance to any imbalanced intensified brutal longing that Scorpio may have brought to the picture. Additionally, it will help to illuminate where balance is lacking in your relationships- with self, with partners, with close friends and family, with money, with your career, with… pretty much anything you care about.

Who knows what will unfold during this retrograde period- something that comes along once every 19 months or so. I’m excited- are you?

Happy October… it’s gonna be a wiiiilllldd ride ;)

Much love,

xx Rachel at D2S <3

PS- If you want a Venus Retrograde Survival Checklist, check it out on patreon.com/doorwaytoself!