Happy Venus Day, Friday, known as Shukravaar in the Vedic tradition. Today’s colors are white and pastel rainbow colors. Wearing these colors on Fridays will lift your spirits and enhance the positive qualities of Venus which are abundance, ease, comfort, peace, and loving kindness. Venus has been in her apparition as Evening Star since last July 2016, and is now preparing to retrograde into the Underworld and revive herself as the Morning Star.

Venus will station retrograde on March 4, 2017 at 4:09 AM EST. The powerful stationary phase will resonate a few days either side of that (March 2-6). This stationary period is when Venus is very strong and can evoke powerful feelings and events. Venus will remain retrograde until its direct station on April 15, 2017, and so the direct stationary cycle will be in range from April 13-17, 2017.

Approximately every 18 months, Venus retrogrades for about 42 days. The last time Venus was retrograde was late July to early September, 2015. When Venus retrogrades, she is transiting about 29 degrees ahead of the Sun in celestial longitude, and will retrograde back approximately 21-29 degrees behind the Sun before turning direct. Venus will reach Inferior Conjunction on March 25, will be invisible for several days on either side of this conjunction, and will shine at its brightest as the Morning Star in late April.

Venus will retrograde at 19 degrees sidereal Pisces in Revati nakshatra, and will station direct at almost 3 degrees sidereal Pisces in Purvabhadrapada nakshatra. At the direct station, Venus will be exactly conjoined Chiron, indicating (for some) an experience of oneness and divine love coming out of this retrograde cycle. If you have important points or planets in your natal chart within 3 degrees of the Venus stationary points (19 degrees and 3 degrees of sidereal Pisces), a memorable event may occur in the days before or after either the retrograde or direct station.

Any such memorable events may continue to unfold for some time to come as well, even as far ahead as the third week of May when Venus will cross forward over the stationary degree mark of 19 degrees sidereal Pisces. If this is an auspicious 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 Venus retrograde cycle may also be significant for those running Venus dasha or sub-dasha cycles, and for those who are ruled by Venus (Taurus or Libra Lagna or Moon). For instance, for these individuals, people and events from the past or present may trigger an examination of feelings of “worth versus self-worth,” as “worth” and value are important themes for Venus in astrology.

This along with other Venusian themes related to beauty-arts-music, relationships, love, material wealth, comfort, virility, and happiness can be important areas of focus now as Venus retrogrades and takes us inward to examine and heal certain important “matters of the heart.” As the heart is the seat of all actions in life, such matters could cover a wide range of areas. The house in which Venus retrogrades will be where the main focus is. This is a specific matter which I have been discussing with my clients in consultation.

Vedic astrology has many controversial opinions about retrograde planets, known as vakri graha. Jataka Parijata says that Venus is strong when retrograde and exalted (in Pisces, as now) and also when it is ahead of the Sun (which it will be until March 27). Another view is expressed in Saravali, a great 10th-century commentary by Kalyana Varma, which states that a retrograde planet while in exaltation produces no effect (i.e. nothing good will happen). Saravali also states that retrograde planets are seen as powerful for good or bad: retrograde benefics in the natal chart confer kingship, and retrograde malefics cause misery and “aimless wandering.”

Mantresvara (Phaladeepika) says that a planet becomes powerful and auspicious when retrograde, which he said is like being exalted even if the planet is in an enemy sign or debilitated. According to Sri Parasara, a planet’s benefic tendencies are greater when retrograde: the greater the cheshta bala (motional strength), the greater the good of a planet. The cheshta bala is greatest during a planet’s retrograde motion.

In my experience, retrograde planets do become stronger, but often that strength is internalized rather than externalized. A planet’s energy is reversed when retrograde; as it turns inward, its qualities are felt and communicated in a way that is somewhat different from what we would normally expect from the planet.  A transiting or natal retrograde planet generally asks us to look within, reevaluate, and consciously activate it.

In the case of Venus, again this can be about self-worth and values, as well as issues of our vitality, and those related to love, relationship, and material well-being. As Venus retrogrades, she goes into the Underworld, and as above, so below, we have a brilliant opportunity to dive deep within ourselves and renew our own unconditional self-love, and reevaluate what is really important to us, and realign our consciousness along these lines as Venus comes close to the Sun (Self) during its retrograde cycle.

As mentioned above, during Venus retrograde cycles, it is common for people or events from the past to resurface, and to reconnect with us, but often this is happening to help us complete and reconcile something 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.

The retrograde Venus cycle, and especially the day of the direct station (April 15, which is synchronistically tax day in the US), can be a good time to sell used items or 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 used items like antiques might be considered a good purchase if their true value is not known.

Om. With loving reverence, I bow before Lord Venus, who is the diamond of the sky and the lord of delight, who is highly intelligent and ever benevolent, who is the ever-flowing font of wisdom and protection…Homage to Lord Shukra!