Hello friends! Venus is slowing down to station retrograde (appearing to stop and move backward) on Saturday morning, July 25 at ~5:30 AM EDT, at ~6 degrees sidereal Leo near the fixed star Regulus (which is at 5 deg. 58 min. Leo) and Venus is also still conjoined Jupiter at ~2 degrees of sidereal Leo. Venus will remain retrograde until September 6. During this cycle, Venus will exactly conjoin Jupiter near Regulus on August 4, transit back through the sensitive gandanta zone into Cancer from August 11-15, and will disappear as the Evening Star around that time around the inferior conjunction with the Sun, reemerging as the Morning Star in later August.
If you have important points or planets in your natal chart in early sidereal (not tropical/western) Leo, or around 20 degrees of sidereal Cancer (where Venus will station direct in Sept.), a memorable event may occur in the days before or after either of the stations and that event may continue to unfold for some time to come as well, even as far ahead as October 8 when Venus will cross forward over the stationary ~6-degree mark of Leo. If this is a favorable part of your natal chart, it can be a positive event. If it is a less favorable part of the chart, the difficult effects would be minimal.
The mighty Magha nakshatra of Vedic astrology lore spans from 0 to 13. deg. 20 min. of sidereal Leo within which the fixed star Regulus and Venus station occur. Ruled by the Moon’s South Node Ketu, this lunar mansion has the power to bring really important beginnings and endings. Regulus, Leo and Magha are all associated with governance of the Self, whereas Venus is the planet that relates to love and relationship, so many kinds of relationships will be reviewed in this period. Some will be renegotiated and some can end, and this could happen any time during this retrograde cycle and all the way through the shadow of it into the second week of October, but often, the days around the stations will be most intense (July 25 and Sept. 6).
During Venus retrograde cycles, it is common for people from the past to resurface and try to reconnect with us, but often this is happening to help us complete and reconcile anything that was left unresolved from the past rather than starting over again. It is often said that a new relationship forged under Venus retrograde will not have a chance, though I feel this is not always true and will depend on multiple other factors seen in the natal and progressed charts of an individual, mundane or business entity. Retrograde Venus and especially the day of the forward station (September 6) can sometimes be a good time to resolve financial, business and legal matters, like refinancing a loan, hiring a new agent, or finishing a legal matter. It is not considered a great time to buy luxury items like art, jewelry and cars, though some astrologers have conjectured that used items like antiques might be considered a good purchase if their true value is not known.
Venus relates to values, so during this period it can be helpful to review our values and check in to see how we are doing in fulfilling them. Are we living in alignment with our values? As Venus rules the heart chakra (Anahata), in this period we can truly benefit from going within and healing our own hearts. If we feel unloved, dissatisfied, alienated or unacknowledged, now will be a great time to work on that within ourselves, to tap into our own unconditional love and a sense of true compassion that connects us with harmony, beauty and Oneness. How wonderful!
Love and light,
Juliana