Venus Retrograde

For me, Venus is a particularly important planet. It rules my Libra
rising, but I also have it in the sign of Libra along with three other
planets, and my Sun’s in my 2nd house, one naturally associated with it.
Even if you don’t have anything in Libra or Taurus or the 2nd and 7th
houses, you’ve got Venus in your chart somewhere, and therefore life.

In my last mailing to this list, I wrote about relationships. They’re
just one aspect of what Venus represents. Behind them, and behind other
Venusian things like money, skills & resources, are our values and
self-esteem. What we feel to be important, and how we feel about
ourselves. Which is to say that our relationships, money and skills all
point to our values and self-worth. I also wrote that retros are good
for reflection, and an inventory of things Venusian in your life,
whether it’s money, people or skills that need attention, is a great
place to start.

Venus has been retro for about a month as of this writing. The questions
below are obviously useful for humans at any time, but likely more
apparent during Venus retros, as these retros can be when Venus-informed
situations usually come to a head and lead (or beg) us to ask them. It’s
also true that during a retro our capacity to see into things, to
reflect and perceive new layers or aspects of situations, is heightened.
We can see things in lights we normally wouldn’t.

Where is my time and energy going?
Is what I’m doing important to me?
Am I putting my energy where I want it to go?
Do I need to rethink how I prioritize this stuff?
What about my original intention might need editing or upgrading?

Where is my money going?
Does where it’s going reflect what’s important to me?

What is it about my friendships and other relationships that’s important
to me?
What about them do I appreciate/like, and what am I less than pleased
by?
(And what, if I experience it just one more time, will make my head
explode?)
Do I really want to be in the relationships I’m in?
Why did I choose them?
What did I think I was getting myself into, and why did I want that?

Chances are that something related to these questions has come up for
you since early March. The Venus retro is over in about ten days, and
I’m sending this in case it’s less than obvious to you now that anything
in Venusian arenas seeming derailed or chaotic, or slowed down or come
to a halt, is an opportunity to understand more about how you run Venus
in your life. Maybe I’ve written it out also to remind myself that
looking into what’s going on is the way to understand how to take
responsibility for things and learn to work with and improve what seems
not to be working.