Roles: your romantic nature; your aesthetic tastes; your charm; your beauty

Designation: Benefic

Speed Through a Sign: 23-60 days

Speed Through the Zodiac: 1-1½ years

Dignity: Taurus and Libra (Second and Seventh Houses)

Exaltation: Pisces (Twelfth House)

Detriment: Scorpio and Aries (Eighth and First Houses)

Fall: Virgo (Sixth House)

Retrograde: about once per year

There is no single person on this Earth who doesn’t like something. We each have our own personal tastes and preferences; romantically, aesthetically, and socially. Venus rules what (and whom) we love, what makes us comfortable, and what people find attractive about us. Your Venus sign tells a lot about your personal fashion, what colors you like, what kind of décor you’d like for your dream home. It also shows how your amiable side comes out and what people find charming about you.

Venus is a benefic, meaning it’s a planet that generally has positive effects. Even in tense aspects¹, Venus’s influence is a nice one. It never travels more than forty-eight degrees away from the sun, so it’s never more than two signs before or after the sun. So if you’re a Sagittarius, you can’t have a Taurus Venus. It’s just not possible. I know, life’s just not fair sometimes. Well, I think it’s time for another example of how Venus can give some dimension to your Sun sign. Let’s say you are this Sagittarius. Your pride comes from being free, taking risks, and having a good time. Your ego gets a kick out of expanding your knowledge through philosophy and foreign cultures. You really like to party, and you don’t mind doing a little flirting here and there without really making a commitment. Right? Yes and no. It’s true that you feel confident when it comes to letting loose and going all out. But Venus is the real romance queen here, and for you, she’s in Capricorn.² You’re more committal and much less flirtatious than many other people with Sagittarius Sun. You’ll be guarded, discerning, and serious when it comes to dating. You’re more likely to be married to your career and go for people who are older, or at least mature. Even if you are adventurous and wild, you’ll be more attracted to people who are stable, responsible, and ambitious. You may dress more conservatively, too.

Like Mercury, Venus rules two signs, so it has three “good” and three “bad” placements. Venus conveys its loving and social nature best when it’s in Taurus, Libra, or Pisces. These signs are comfortable relating to others and they enjoy love, so Venus is very happy in them. On the other hand, it feels lost in Scorpio, Aries, and Virgo, all of which are less social signs, either because they’re discriminating, or because they’re self-focused. They have a hard time trusting others or tend to put themselves above other people (which can be a good thing). When Venus is placed in one of those signs, she doesn’t get to love or build relationships as much as she wants to. That doesn’t mean you’ll be alone forever if your Venus is in one of those signs. People just have to pass your tests or allow you freedom before you decide that they’re dating material. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Venus does best in the Second, Seventh, and Twelfth Houses, where it helps with love on personal, romantic, and universal scales, respectively. Meanwhile, it’s most restricted in the First, Eighth, and Sixth Houses, areas where love takes a backseat to other matters.

When you utilize your Venus well, you easily love and are easily loved. You embrace your own style of cordiality and are a welcome guest. You know what you want and don’t want romantically, and you’re content with your love life, or lack of one. When you utilize your Venus poorly, you fall back on its negative sides. Even if you have Venus in dignity or exaltation, you can be too materialistic (Taurus), too peace-loving (Libra), or spread yourself too thin (Pisces). Your style of charm can become a turn-off, and your love life can be troublesome, regardless of whether or not you have one.

Venus goes retrograde once per year, though some years it doesn’t go retrograde at all.³ It stays retrograde for about one week at a time. When this happens, everything associated with Venus goes a little haywire. It’s advised that you don’t make any major purchases, start a new relationship, or marry during Venus retrograde, as things can get sour after Venus goes back into direct motion. It’s also not uncommon for ex-lovers and old friends to step back into the scene. Any changes to your physical features are best saved for after Venus goes direct again. Things like new hairstyles, new clothes, and elective surgeries can go wrong, or you may not like how they turn out. Funny thing, I checked back to the day of my senior prom, when I had my hair dyed for the first time. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I had it done during Venus retrograde. I was sick of it a month later, after Venus went direct again.

If you were born during Venus retrograde, the qualities of Venus are placed inward rather than outward. You come across as shy and may have a problem holding light conversation. You can feel awkward in social situations, and while you can love just as much as anyone else, you’re very private about it. You can have the tendency to either take Venusian qualities (love, money, luxuries, food, etc.) to the extreme, or avoid love all together. It really depends on the rest of your chart.

Next Article: “Mars: What’s Your Battle Cry?”

¹Relationships between planets based on mathematical angles they make to each other. More on this in a later article.

²This happens to be my Venus placement…

³For example, Venus retrograde didn’t occur this year, 2016.