244. VENUS RETROGRADE Oct-Nov 2026: 💛 Forecasting Astrology

In this episode, Alison and Arwynne discuss the upcoming VENUS RETROGRADE cycle happening across Scorpio and Libra in Autumn 2026.

SUPPORT THE SHOW

If you’ve been listening to the Starzology podcast regularly and finding value in the episodes, you may like to support the show. Contributions help with the day-to-day costs of keeping the podcast running and creating future content.

YOUR HOSTS
⠀⁠
Find Alison at  Starzology

Find Arwynne at MsPink

 ⠀

⭐️ EPISODE RESOURCES ⭐️

• Venus Retrograde 2026 includes diagram
• Venus: Her Cycles, Symbols and Myths by Anne Massey
• Venus Star Rising: A New Cosmology for the Twenty-First Century by Arielle Guttman.
• Venus Signs: Discover Your Erotic Gifts and Secret Desires by Jessica Shepherd
• Venus: The Gift of Love by Martin Schulman
• Person to Person Astrology by Stephen Arroyo

• Invest in yourself, get STARZLIFE Astrology Newsletter

New Moon Wishing: A Self-care Guidebook
Follow the transiting Moon. Use this self-care guidebook and track your own New Moon Wishes each month.

 ⠀⁠
⠀⁠
⭐️  ALISON'S ASTROLOGICAL SERVICES ⭐️
 
More on Astrological COACHING and CONSULTATIONS with Alison.
⠀⁠

The Aspiring Astrologer's Book 
⠀⁠

New Moon Wishing: A Self-care Guidebook 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Welcome to the Star Zoology Astrology Podcast. I am your host, Alison Price, and I'm here with my good friend and co-host, Arwen O'Neill. Hello, Alison. It's great to be here. So nice to have you once more. So in this episode, we're going to be talking about the Venus retrograde period in 2026. Yes. Venus is going to be retrograding. We're going to talk about all that all give all the dates and all the details, and it's crossing from it's going to be going from Libra into Scorpio and then retrograding back into Libra and then moving back into Scorpio. And it's quite an interesting thing because it's it's quite a wide um area of the zodiac that it's it's covering. It's almost, well, what is it? It's 20 degrees. So that's something kind of interesting, yeah. For sure. And Venus in general. Let's just talk a little bit about Venus in general for those who don't know anything about Venus, some sort of keywords for Venus. Absolutely. We would say it's love and money. Yeah, love and money, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 1:06

It's to do with with well, traditionally we would say for women, but for anyone who is, you know, feminine, female presenting, whatever, um, it is about your how you attract your mate. How and it's not about how you go after your mate, because that's that's Mars, but it's about how you attract and and how you present yourself and how you how you choose to um put forth those um attractive qualities, um, charm and allure, and you know, the makeup you wear, the the clothes you you you know put on. As RuPaul famously said, we're all born naked, the rest is drag. Wow. So yeah, that's a that's a good one. I love that quote. Yeah, it's a very Venusian quote because yeah, you know, you Because it's so true, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:50

We uh we really are, and it's how we adorn ourselves. Adorn, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 1:55

And um, even if you think back to like the Egyptians and Cleopatra, and they had all the is it the coal and the turquoise and the beautiful eyeliner, which also sort of served to protect their eyes from the the glare of the sun, but was a beautiful uh adornment that we are still wearing today. Yes, and uh all the headdresses and all the beautiful jewelry, and every every society going back to you know Neolithic and Paleolithic, they we we unearthed you know pots and you know spearheads and all these things, but also jewelry, wonderful shells, drills, exactly adornments that uh that people wore, and that's a very Venusian thing. And of course the Venus, the Venus carvings, that's another you know, thing that goes to the tell us more about that. Yes, the Venus of Willendorf, for example. This is one of these, um, one of the earliest carvings that they found, which is uh considered an effigy, an effigy to um, it was way you know pre-predated the Greek and Roman Venus and Aphrodite, but it was a fertility goddess that uh an unnamed fertility goddess of of like tens of thousands of years ago that they carved out of stone and and they found them everywhere. It wasn't just the the Venus of Willendorf is the most famous because it was one of the best preserved and it was in a um you know and it's a mini sculpture, that's what we said of a woman. Of a woman, and you know, it's it's very um to our modern eye, we would be like, wow, that's okay. Um, not what you'd see in Playboy or whatever, but but really emphasizing what was important, which is the breasts, the butt, you know. Yes, yes, a real woman, the healthy thighs, the you know, and and it was all about uh fertility, so it's about the fruitfulness, fruitfulness and and fecundity. There's a there's a weird word, yeah, but also the the continuity of the species. It was incredibly important in in these um you know tribal societies that children were born and and were nurtured and were healthy, otherwise, you will starve and pass away as a as a tribe, yes, yeah, and as a species, so yeah, clearly we um we nailed it, mission accomplished as a species with a living proof. Wow, yeah, yeah, way to go, our ancestors. But uh, but yeah, these uh these little symbols are found all over uh Europe and and Asia and Africa and whatnot, these uh these little fertility um carvings. Yes, yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

And even the actual glyph or Venus, which is the circle above the cross, yeah, looks like a person. Right.

SPEAKER_03 4:23

A person with the well-endowed top half. Yes, if you will. Yes, to be compared with the Mars, which is either a man holding a spear or something else. Something else, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Exactly, exactly. So the Venus symbol also in in the Egyptian hieroglyphs, that was known as the Ankh, right? Oh, the eternal life. Yeah, it's very similar. So it's a very similar thing, and of course, um, I know that uh that Venus glyph is actually the symbol for copper, because copper is Venus's metal, because a million years ago I lived on a on a in a in a town where there was a copper mine, and this symbol was everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

The copper kettle, there was the Venus symbol, because that is the symbol, the the apparently the scientific symbol for copper. I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

How did I not know that?

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Yes, and and copper is Venus's metal, whereas um iron is Mars's, right? And and and tin is stupid as more. Right. I mean you you don't see a lot of weapons carved out of copper. No, no, no. Yeah, but um copper comes into the into the mix when we talk about the bronze age, yeah, when money came into being, right, um, and they had bronze and they had well, they had gold, silver, um and bronze and then coppers, really. That's what they were still called in England when I was a kid, the the copper coins. Yeah, the pennies basically are the copper. And um, so it has to do with money as well. And when money was invented, when coins were invented, yeah, to stop the bargaining of two chickens for a hen or whatever, is that the same thing? Two chickens for a goat, now that suddenly we they converted it into money.

SPEAKER_03 5:55

And that was during the age of Taurus, yeah, prior to because then it's not just about trading with with people in your town, because uh you know, the ledger system or whatever would would you you'd have an understanding with the the the shepherd or the the people who grew the chickens and you'd have an ongoing relationship. But once you started going out and conquering other lands, then you needed a common currency because you're not going to go back to that butcher whenever, you know, like you don't have a relationship established. That's why money became you know necessary, was really because when you're conquering, then you need to have a common, you know, a coinage that and also then you can have like your little king's face on it or what have you. You're exactly Caesar, you know, exactly spreading the word.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

And coins were invented um during the age of Taurus, which was prior to the age of um Ares, which is what 4,000 to 2000 BC. Yeah. And um, which is Venus's sign.

SPEAKER_03 6:47

Yes, yeah, absolutely. Um, and I've always thought it was interesting that we have on Wall Street the the bull, like the beef bull. Yes, it's it's so astrological. It's a it's Taurus, it's the symbol of Taurus. And of course, it's funny too, because you know, you're not supposed to have like effigies of like, you know, golden calves or whatever, but yet everyone's if you've ever gone to New York and been past Wall Street, everyone's touching the bull. It's so pagan, it's hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

Yes, yes. Well, that was that was the symbol. It was it was the bull uh during that period, and only when we got into the age of Aries did the ram and the the sheeps and the lambs to the slaughter become a thing. Right, and the the lamb of God and all that. Yes, yes, so yeah, so Venus um has many, many connotations, and it's not just a symbol in your chart, there's a lot behind it that is certainly worth exploring, I think.

SPEAKER_03 7:38

Yeah, yeah. And I know we've talked about Venus, the goddess in the past, because of course I'm the goddess lady. I I do love my badass goddesses, but one of the things that's so funny about Venus is that everyone thinks, oh, she's just the goddess of love, and she wears this toga and she's you know reclining on a setay and she's like bringing bringing forth uh, you know, all these suitors and stuff. But she was um she was very quick to anger, and she, if you didn't worship her properly and correctly, and uh she could rain down some hellfire just like you know, just like the best of them. Yeah. She struck an entire island of women blind because they were not uh properly uh serving their husbands in the in the you know. I see. Yeah, so yeah, gotta give the goddess her due.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

Got to.

SPEAKER_03 8:22

And also, uh uh sort of circuitously, she may have been responsible in some way for the uh the the old Trojan war. She was the she was the one who Paris uh selected in the uh the judgment of Paris, where uh you know the the three goddesses were competing, and uh she was the one who said, you know, I'll give you Helen of Troy's hand in marriage, the most beautiful woman in the world, and Paris couldn't resist that uh that bribe. So arguably, you know, Helen of Troy, sure. They all say that she's the face that launched a thousand ships and started the Trojan War. But she was a passive contender. Venus was the one, Aphrodite, you know, was the one going, hey, why don't you take this guy's wife? You know, he doesn't need her. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Um and that I mean that's very topical now because of course these movies come.

SPEAKER_03 9:06

The Odyssey, yeah. Oh, Helen of Troy played by Lupita Nyango. I know. Very controversial. We were just talking about that actually earlier today. And uh, I think it's great. She's a gorgeous woman. What's the problem?

SPEAKER_01 9:16

It's fine. Well, I don't know. I'm hoping to be able to get down there tomorrow and watch the movie, but we'll see how it goes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:22

I mean, it could be a terrible movie. Lots of times these movies are, you know, they start out with an amazing cast, and then it's like, oh but uh they have my hopes for it.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

I think that's I think they go for Oscars with this one, but we'll see. Yes. We've yeah. But anyway, yeah. This is the legacy of Venus. Venus, yeah, there's a lot to Venus. Yes. So what's really going to be happening then is during October 2026, Venus is going to be retrograde. And um it's going to be retrograde over a bit of a bit of a period. It starts its retrograde on the October 3rd, and it it continues being retrograde until November the 14th. So it's going from its stations retrograde at 8 degrees Scorpio, and then it's going to um go back into Libra back all the way to 22 degrees Libra. So it's actually a 16-degree spread of the zodiac between 22 Libra to 8 Scorpio. So if you've got any planets or points between 22 Libra and 8 Scorpio, you're going to get a triple hit from Venus. Wow. Now I know you do have I do. You do, you have a point, I believe.

SPEAKER_03 10:27

I have my ascendant at 2 degrees Scorpio.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

Yeah, so that's going to get a triple hit from Venus. Amazing. So it'll be coming through your 12th house, cross your ascendant, continue on to your first house, station retrograde, go back, cross the ascendant for the second time, go back into your 12th house, and then make a station direct and then come back forward again and move on.

SPEAKER_03 10:49

If it was any planet other than Venus, this would be a cause for apprehension. But I mean it's Venus, so we're like, yeah, bring it on.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

So I'm thinking, you're you're what are you gonna do? You're gonna get your hair done, you're gonna boy, you're gonna we're going for what can I do? Well, I don't know. We'll find out.

SPEAKER_05 11:05

Amazing.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

A style overhaul, a water overhaul, a I don't know, maybe some spray on tan. Who knows what Arwen's gonna be.

SPEAKER_03 11:15

I remember I might need a spray on tan to be.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

Yeah, we'll see. Yeah. The idea is that when Venus is retrograde, it appears to move backward through the zodiac. And it's just because the earth is moving faster. That's why. So we're kind of overtaking it. And um Venus is only it's only retrograde five times in eight years, and we just so happen to have this retrograde during 2026.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:39

And so it's not every single year that Venus will be retrograde.

SPEAKER_03 11:43

And um and if you want to see it, a really cool animation of what that looks like, and to get a bit of a deep dive into the mythology that's associated with this cycle. I recently did a blog post on Ms. Pink.net about Inanna, who is a Sumerian queen of the gods, and she has uh a very famous myth about her descent into the underworld, which has to do with the cycle of the retrogrades of Venus. So if you are interested, uh please check the uh link in the show notes or just go to MsPink.net and look for Inanna. It's spelled I-N-A-N-N-A. And yeah, there's a very cool myth about uh, you know, because the underworld it's it's it's it's ruled by her sister, Erish Kagal, very quickly, uh just to overview that. Um and of course, in every mythology, the underworld isn't a place you can come and go as you please. You you know it's a one-way trip, generally speaking. Generally, yes. But for gods and goddesses, sometimes there's uh, you know, a bit of a leeway. And uh so she kind of uh she bargained her way into the underworld. This is Inanna now, um, who's the queen of the queen of the heavens and the earth, right? She's fertility, she's war, she's she's beauty and she's love and all these, all the you know, all the Venusian things, right? But a very more ancient goddess. She's from like 4,000 BC, Samaria, um, then adopted later by the Akkadians, the Babylonians, the uh Mesopotamians, and later known as Ishtar. So you may have uh more familiarity with that name, but Inanna Ishtar, same goddess, pr pretty much. So she bribes her way into the underworld to visit her sister. There's kind of not really clarity about why, like why maybe it's just a power move, like, hey, I can come visit you. What are you gonna do about it? Yes. But what she had to do was strip down to to nothing. So she gave up a piece of clothing or jewelry at every one of the seven gates to get into the underworld, uh-huh. Enters the underworld naked because you everyone enters the underworld naked. We we we are birthed naked and we we come into the underworld naked. But her sister was not pleased to see her and uh had her her um you know little minion skin her and and hang her on a hook. This is all very unpleasant. And uh eventually Anana was able to escape, but she had to bargain with the life of her husband and his sister. Like she just traded them fully and was like, hey, you know, can y'all come and take my place in the underworld? I'm out. And uh and was able to escape that way. But this what a woman, right? Yeah, not badass, but not like you know, not light and fluffy. So they were forced to spend half the year in the underworld, and this is another metaphor for spring, just like the Persephone myth, right? So um, yeah, and with the Venus cycle, this is very interesting because the time that she is is going down into the underworld, that represents the um the time where Venus is in the western sky for about nine months. This represents the time that she's ruling in the in the heavens, and then when the planet drops to the towards the horizon, this is the descent into the underworld. And then when uh Venus disappears from the sky for about 60 to 90 days in this in the cycle, like literally from the perspective of the Earth, um, it passes between the Earth and the Sun. And this is the part of the myth where she's uh going through the gates to the underworld, disappearing from earthly uh view, right?

SPEAKER_04 15:01

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 15:02

Astronomically, this is when Venus appears to be turning retrograde from our perspective on Earth. Obviously, planets don't go backwards, but we have this, you know, symbolically, yeah. Symbolically, 100%. And astrologically, um, this is you know, the the sun is uh hiding, you know, the from our perspective uh Venus is hiding behind the the glare of the sun. And then when she's reborn into the eastern sky, uh she's uh a symbol of resurrection. And this is the the Venus cycle, and this is like the five out of eight years thing.

unknown 15:29

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 15:30

And it creates this beautiful pattern, which if you go to my website or if you just look up the Venus cycle, and you can see this beautiful floral pattern that's created by the uh Venus retrograde pattern. It's it's really pretty. It's it's quite cool.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

Yeah. And because and again, because it's the five-eight pattern, this hooks into the fibonacci. Fibonacci, yeah, exactly. Yes, very interesting. Venus is um, you know, when Venus is retrograde, it offers an opportunity for a reflection, refinement, and reassessment in the areas of love, money, and values. Yeah. So it yeah, it's it's really kind of um an an interesting uh thing as well. In what I'm let's just go back over it. So what I'm saying is Venus will be retrograde in the two sides of Scorpio and Libra. So it's crossing a sign boundary.

SPEAKER_05 16:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Now Venus rules Libra, so it's super happy in Libra. Yeah. And then it goes into Scorpio where it's in detriment and it's super unhappy in Scorpio. Yeah. So that in itself is um a tricky uh maneuver for Venus. For sure. And if we really look down, um, when Venus is retrograde, there will be slowdowns in matters of the heart, love, and finances. The financial markets generally slow down at this time as well. Interesting. And um other things that can occur when Venus is retrograde is um relationships get revisited, and I'm talking about here the one that got away. Your high school romance, and you you're going back to that, you're harping back to people, or you're thinking, shall I give that old boyfriend another go as Venus is retrograde? And really, mmm, uh-uh. But the the feeling to do so emerges during the Venus retrograde period.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

That makes so much sense.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Yeah. Um, old flames, long-lost friends, or unresolved conflicts may resurface. Use this time to gain closure or clarity rather than reigniting the past on your relationships because you can't move forward on these things. Yeah. And you may find yourself revisiting old relationships or reflecting on how you communicate your desires and values to others. So anticipate moments of nostalgia, especially with friendships and romantic partners that have unfinished business. So you might be thinking, well, maybe Bob wasn't so bad. Maybe I was too harsh there, but you broke up for a reason. Yeah. Yeah, it's Venus retrograde that's doing it.

SPEAKER_03 18:05

Yeah, and you'll just come out of it a few months later and be like, oh, that's why. What was I thinking?

SPEAKER_00 18:09

That's like everyone else is thinking, what were you thinking? Oh, we all knew.

unknown 18:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

Yeah. And then for for tying the knot, so uh avoid tying the knot when Venus is retrograde or within seven days of the station retrograde, because you by progression you don't want Venus turning retrograde to the first year you're married. You just don't want that. If you want to give your marriage a chance, you don't want to get married when Venus is retrograde. Yeah, talk about the honeymoon phase being over like that. Yes, yes, exactly. And um, you know, as the as the marriage progresses, you don't want Venus holding you back either. So that's why I say seven degrees of the of the initial station, because if you can get through the first seven years of marriage, which would be the progressive time when Venus would uh station retrograde, you then probably can survive because clearly people do get married when Venus is retrograde. But a lot of people get divorced too. Well, yes, right. So yeah, that's that's one definite thing.

SPEAKER_03 19:06

And then there's that seven-year-age thing, which has been a trope forever, and nobody knew about this. I mean, I'm guessing that whoever invented that phrase didn't know about the cycles of Venus. It's just like people didn't know about like Saturn, you know, um this the what's the word? Saturn return. Yeah. But yet, you know, everyone knows that like 30 is like a big milestone.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

And that's where the seven comes from. It's from the Saturn because then it's the quarter, the square. It's creating the alley. Yeah. So if you're thinking of getting married, I'm gonna say if you can postpone it, do it later. Um, financial reflection. So if you're in the markets, hold your position. Um, because Venus governs not only love but also money. So re-evaluate your spending habits, investment strategies, and financial goals. I'm not saying move on anything, I'm saying hold. And avoid major purchases and signing financial contracts during this time, as decisions may need revising later when Venus can what if it's retrograde when you're signing a financial deal, as Venus then comes back for the final pass, things will change again. Yeah, interesting. So ideally, you don't want to be signing prenuptial agreements, you don't want to be signing uh really mortgages or any loans you get because you they will want to be redone. And I don't know what other financial contracts one would be go into, but um, or the money lender down the road, you know, or borrowing a hundred dollars from Uncle Bob, rather don't do it.

SPEAKER_03 20:31

Any kind of major purchase is always on credit these days. That's true. That's true, yeah. Buying a house, buying a car, refinancing or whatever, uh uh re remodeling, redecorating. That's a huge expense.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

Yeah, you really want to avoid it, but uh particularly if you're in the stock exchange, you want to hold your position, whatever you've got, just hold um during the six-week period. Yeah. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:53

Yeah, renovations definitely would come under a Venus retrograde thing, right?

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Yes, and how about cosmetic surgery to or get your getting your eyebrows zapped or what do they call it? Uh there's microblading, microblading.

SPEAKER_03 21:07

Permanent tattoo thing. Yeah, it's so popular now. Yeah. Yeah. So you recommend against doing that. I do. Regret. Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:17

Yes. If you don't want to do anything, you'll regret. So how you view beauty in yourself and others in your surroundings may shift. You might feel inspired to reassess your style, redecorate your space, or rethink what brings you joy. These are basic Venus things, right? So it is, it is gonna pass. Yeah. But if you know it's happening, you can you can say, well, I just need to wait for Venus to go to Great.

SPEAKER_03 21:37

It's a good time to rethink, to reassess, but not a good time to act. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Yeah, I would not go in and get my eyebrows down because that you're gonna get some bent eyebrows on a thing like this. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:48

They are supposed to be sisters, not twins. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:51

You don't want them to be cousins. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

At the same point, you wouldn't want to do a boob job either because then you're gonna get some mismatch going on there too, imagine. Already mismatched enough as it is.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

So, how to thrive during the 2026 Venus retrograde position. So, as Venus retrogrades through Scorpion and Libra, pay attention to the signs, houses, and positions as it transits backwards through your natal chart. So, we did say, and if you click through to the blog post, there's a dinky little diagram I did there about what Venus is actually. I love the diagram.

SPEAKER_04 22:24

It's very pink, it's very red, it's very uh very Venus. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:27

So if you've got anything from 22 Libra to eight Scorpio, Venus is going to do a triple hit. And that means it's going to draw attention to the area, such as your ascendant. I've got absolutely nothing at these positions. Do you have nothing else there, just your ascendant? Well, yes, I well, I uh yeah. And um maybe if you have someone with Scorpio who's a Scorpio, they in the first eight degrees.

SPEAKER_03 22:50

Yes, my partner actually has uh his ascendant at 25 uh Libra. Yes. So, and his son is uh is at um I think it's 10 Scorpio.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

It's somewhere in there, it's in the early Scorpio.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

So he's definitely gonna get a couple of them. The hit of 25 Libra. What did you say was at 25 Libra? Uh his ascendant. Okay, so he's getting a triple hit to his ascendant as well.

SPEAKER_00 23:11

Yeah. Oh we're gonna be remodeling. You're going to be tightening up and stop spending your money and selling off your assets and um and thinking about some permanent tattoo on our faces because then we won't get them.

SPEAKER_04 23:30

No, not until it's uh yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

So you don't want to be, you know, ideally what's gonna happen is if you got a planet between um 22 Libra and 8 Scorpio, Venus will make three conjunctions to it. Yeah, it's the opening position when it crosses it the first time, the second time it comes back when it's retrograde. This is where you discover more information that you were unaware of at the time, and only when it does its final third pass going direct is the matter going to be solved at that point. Interesting. So depending what degree your planets are between 22 Libra and 8 Scorpio, that would that's what's gonna happen. And because with you you two guys, you've got your points there, which are your ascendants, there's going to be adjustments in how you look and how you value and what you think is looking good. And yeah. Who knows what I can't wait to see. Who know who knows what's gonna go down? Because normally she's for someone like me, it's not really affecting me at all. Right. Because it's not crossing any of my yeah. Um, but it actually will be in one of it'll be in one of my houses. Let me just have let's just have a quick squiz at that. Yeah. Um, so this is going to be in my woo-hoo-hoo-hoo uh fourth house. The whole the whole thing will go down in my fourth house. So um, yeah. So that'll just be interesting there. And it'll it hopefully I'll be tidying up because I have been um decluttering this apartment since Christmas, and I am st I cannot believe how much stuff I'm digging out, and still, still everywhere we look, there's things.

SPEAKER_04 25:06

But I I see some frames have been emptied out. Yes, some things I enough. Making room for more art, I love it.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

Yeah, we're definitely I'm sorting out, I've got rid of mountains out of my wardrobe. Wow. Mountains and um shoes and junk and clutter and topperware boxes and storage boxes and cat litter boxes. I mean, the cat left seven years ago. Um and finally I'm getting these things out the door. Yeah, on on and on I go. And as Venus will retrograde through my fourth house of home, I anticipate having a further deeper let's get rid of this and let's get rid of that. Oh, I love that. I love that for you. Yeah. That's great. Um, where does it end? Because I, you know, I I wouldn't say I'm a maximalist, but it it it could be the case. But I'm trying to streamline what's going on here, and it's taking a lot.

SPEAKER_03 25:57

Yeah. I don't think either of us have the willpower to be uh Marie Kondo uh minimalist. No, I don't I don't even I mean I admire it when I see pictures of like minimalist uh decor, but I've never been a minimalist ever in my entire life. I I do strive for, you know, uh obviously the Virgo ideal of clean and neat and everything that's placed because I can't concentrate if there's clutter. Yeah. But uh I do like a lot of stuff around me.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Yeah. So far as many I've managed to get my powder room the way I wanted, it's just so. And I'm actually seriously addressing the kitchen because there are cupboards full of you know, I've got a 12th-piece dinner service, and it's just me. I will never be cooking those meals again. So it's a matter of sorting things out. But anyway, so the point being that it will be happening, and for you it's 12th house, first house. Yeah, interesting. Very interesting. So let's just talk about some key dates to watch for. So these are your actual uh dates that we want to pay attention to. So Venus enters the shadow, and the shadow is the retrograde period. Venus enters the shadow on August the 31st. Okay. So Venus is in Scorpio, enters the shadow at 22 Libre, which is the point where it will ultimately station direct later in the year. Any planets that Venus conjoins from now on will get the three-hit transit. Then on September the 10th, Venus enters Scorpio from Libre for the first time going direct. So that's coming up. And then on October the 3rd, Venus stations retrograde, 8 degrees Scorpio. This is the first turning point when Venus turns retrograde. Themes of reflection begin to surface now. Then on October the 21st, Venus will actually make the conjunction to the Sun. That's the one you were talking about, as it's coming between us and the Sun. Right. This marked a moment of insight and clarity if we're paying attention. Yeah. Um, and then on October the 25th, Venus enters Libra going retrograde. So it's back, it's going backwards now into Libra. And then on November the 14th, it stations directly and making forward momentum, uh, forward momentum, then resumes. And at this point, the retrograde section has passed, but it's still in the shadow. Right. Um, then on December the 4th, Venus re-enters Scorpio for the second time, having another go at that. And then finally, on December the 15th, Venus leaves the shadow and the whole retrograde sequence is now finalized. Fascinating.

SPEAKER_04 28:19

That's such a long uh transit. It is.

SPEAKER_01 28:23

Yeah, it's a long period to pay attention to, even though the actual retrograde itself is only from October the 3rd to November the 14th, which is what three weeks, four weeks, five weeks, we call it six weeks. Yeah. The actual presence that it will affect for the three-hit transit, which is what we're looking for as astrologers, is way longer, is from August to the middle of December. Love it. But I'm glad it's all done by Christmas, because those of you who are pretty new to Venus and retrograde and what have you, I do have a few book recommendations that if you click through the website, they're there. The first one is Venus, her cycle, symbols and myths by Anne Massey. Oh, who we were delighted to know whilst she was running the bank. Dynamic Scorpio. Yes, yeah. She's got a massive book on Venus.

SPEAKER_02 29:15

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

I also recommend Venus Star Rising, a new cosmology for the 21st century by Ariel Goodman. That's quite a good Venus book, too. Cool. And then we have Venus Signs, Discover Your Erotic Gifts and Secret Desires by Jessica Shepherd. Amazing. Yes. Love it. And then we do have the, which is an older book, Venus, the Gift of Love by Martin Schulman. That's an older book.

SPEAKER_03 29:39

Oh yeah, he's great. A friend of uh Liz Green. One of the right, yeah, he's very, very in that whole uh mythological astrology uh wheelhouse.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So um I thought it was a good thing too, if you're budding astrology to, you know you're into astrology when you get a planet-specific book. Yeah. Not just a general everything you need to know about astrology in one volume. Right. When you get the book on Venus, then you get the book on Mars, that's how you know you're understood.

SPEAKER_03 30:21

I've got so many outer planet books.

SPEAKER_01 30:23

Outer planet books, the Pluto book, the Neptune book, the Uranus. Exactly. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 30:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 30:27

I've got a couple of Venus books too, though. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:31

Yeah. So I I do recommend them. I don't know if you have any Venus books that you would recommend as well there, um, Arwen or not specifically.

SPEAKER_03 30:38

Um, I I do have one, and it's it's actually not only Venus, but it's it's Venus and Mars. And it's the um it's the book by Stephen Arroyo, who we of course absolutely love. And um the name doesn't uh occur to me at the second. I'm gonna look it up. No problem. But he it was mo it was one of his most recent books that came out, I believe, in 2004-ish. And it's it's uh it's a very in-depth uh exploration of relationship places. Oh yes. Yeah, and I've talked about it a couple of times on this podcast because I I love it. But he did a bunch of research actually with people who have their placements in very different in all the you know, Mars signs and all the Venus signs. And he gives beautiful quotes of all these people and um, you know, what it's like to actually have these placements. And it's just uh he's fantastic. Okay, okay. Yeah, so it's called person-to-person astrology, and it's uh energy factors in love, sex, and compatibility by Stephen Arroyo. Yes. Highly recommend. Yes, it's not it's not specific to Venus, but it is Venus and Mars, and he goes goes, you know, super deep into both of them, and and from his perspective, which is very uh focusing on the elements. So he will go through uh what it's like to have uh Venus in an Earth sign, and and then give a huge long overview and then what it's like to have Venus in Virgo, Venus in Taurus, Venus in Capricorn, and and and very you know numerous quotes and and sort of testimonials from uh all these people who he interviewed with all the different signs. Right. So yeah, super good.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

And um interesting. So um would you want to share what sign your Venus happens to be in? Mine is in Libra. Oh, is it in Libra?

SPEAKER_00 32:14

I thought it was in Virgo.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

So yours is in Virgo?

SPEAKER_03 32:17

My partner's is in Virgo, which uh apparently you you're just you're just missing it then. I am, yeah, because mine's at, I believe, 11 degrees in Libra. So it's uh it's I'm in the clear there. But uh very nice.

SPEAKER_01 32:29

So you will be getting a Venus return as later on the or during this year as we speak, probably. Uh interesting, yeah, yeah. And my Venus is actually in Virgo because that's so that's pass by, which is a very quiet Venus as well, really. Yeah. It's a very interesting, it's a very interesting planet. It's a planet that we all, it's generally good news planet. There's not often a downside to Venus. And um, it's a planet I like to, I mean, it's good to see. You want to know where how's your Venus? How's it going? And on an occasion where Venus does go retrograde, we want to pay attention. Why wouldn't we? Absolutely. Exactly. So just to give a bit of an overview here, so um, Venus retrograde isn't something to fear, it's a chance to slow down and realign. Um, while it may bring challenges or moments of discomfort, it's ultimately a time for deep personal and relationship growth. Embracing this 2026 cosmic pause will allow you to gain clarity, strengthen connections, and rediscover your core values. So you are in control. So be mindful that astrology offers guidance, but you yourself have the power to shape your journey and use this marvellous Venus retrograde period as an opportunity to reflect, reconnect, and focus on what truly matters to you in love and money. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. So I know Arwen, you were mentioning um the goddess Anana, and I'm just wondering why you didn't actually mention the goddess Venus at this point. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:56

I mean, so obviously the goddess Venus is she's part of a great tradition of female deities of numerous ancient cultures who have to do with fertility and love and um and and charm and beauty and all these wonderful feminine qualities. But at the same time, um, Inanna is actually associated with the cycle of Venus. So astrologically, she makes more sense to talk about when we're talking about the Venus, the planet, right, because the ancients actually were incredibly um, you know, astute followers of of the cycles of the planets, and they noted all these things and they they noted what it meant and what seemed to to you know happen in their lives and with the crops and with politics and with cycles of life and and the world around them. And they, you know, jotted all these things down and and you know made meaning out of it, which is where we get the art of astrology. It's the the science of observation that became astronomy when it broke off, you know, in the age of reason, and we now have astronomy as a very you know hard science, whereas astrology is what you know it's an art form, but they have the same root, and it all came from those observers in Mesopotamia, in Babylonia, in ancient Greece and Egypt, watching the stars, watching the planets, and making up, you know, not even just stories, but making making myths and making educated uh observations about what these things meant to them because your crops could live and die based on what was going on in the heavens and when the rains fell and you know the the seasons. So so that's why I I would talk about Inanna. Before I would talk about Venus, Venus, obviously, symbolically, yes, it's you know, she's in general, she's named after the planet and or vice versa. Vice versa, actually, really. Yes. But uh, but I love uh the the myth of Ananna because, first of all, I mean she's one of the most ancient of all the goddesses, Ananna and then became Ishtar, and just the fact that such an ancient culture had such reverence for a female deity. I always find that really fascinating because we tend to think of uh female uh power not really, you know, being all that primary in these ancient days, yeah. You know, these ancient farming cultures, sure, there were there were um women-centric cultures that were, you know, the hunting and gathering, and we have we have evidence of some cultures being more female, you know, pro-feminine. But really, once we started, you know, agriculture, you know, women were kind of relegated to the home and the hearth and and these things. Um so I always find it fascinating that some um some of these ancient cultures had this incredibly fearful and powerful deity who was ruling over the entire heavenly sphere and war and and things that are you know traditionally considered masculine, or even the underworld. I mean Erishkagel, the the sister of Inanna ruling the underworld, like a like a bad boss lady. Yes, yes, yes, yes, hanging her sister on a hook for for coming to visit unannounced, you know. Like this is the essence of uh of the the badass goddesses that I love. But yeah, I I like the fact that uh that even back then they're they're noticing all these things, the retrogrades, the cycles, this beautiful pattern in the sky, the Fibonacci sequence, and they're making up this wonderful the story about myth.

SPEAKER_01 37:14

So you're saying Inana actually came before Venus.

SPEAKER_03 37:17

That's way before. Okay, okay, okay. 4000 BC versus versus like the Greeks. Which is like 500 BC. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:28

Great. Yeah. Okay, so in this episode, we have been talking about the retrograde cycle of Venus in 2026, the fact that it's going um through uh Libra and um Scorpio. Uh the retrograde period will be from October into November, and of course, the full shadow continues from August to December. If you're really interested, you you can you can dig out more information of that. As I say, do click through to the blog post because there is a clear diagram there of exactly what Venus is doing and what you're trying to understand as an astrologer and um to when you're doing interpretations and whatnot. And you want to be looking where is this retrograde happening anyway. So, you know, that's a great thing. And I believe there's no retrograde of Venus in 2027 because this is coming right at the end of the year. Yeah. So um I am subject to correction on that, but um, five times in eight years. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So um, yeah, this is this is a super interesting um planet and retrograde, and we like to talk about it. We did speak about the previous retrograde of Venus because why wouldn't we? And um if you're listening, of course, you're interested in this as well. So if you have found value in this episode, please do consider sharing it with anybody who'd be interested. Make sure to give us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts and a thumbs up on Spotify, and we'd love to see your comments if you if you happen to be listening on YouTube. Make sure you're getting our newsletter, and you can get that at starzology.com forward stroke newsletter. Additionally, make sure you're getting Arwen's newsletter and where she's got a lot more about mythology.

SPEAKER_00 38:55

And you can find Arwen's newsletter at I'm at MsPink.net, M S P I N K.net, and I send out my newsletter every Saturday. Fantastic, and a great newsletter it is too. Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 39:06

Yes. So um thank you so much to everyone who's got this far. We do appreciate you, and um we will see you next time. See you next time.