Energy Update: Venus retrograde Spring 2025

The Set Up

We are coming up fast on another Venus retrograde cycle. This time, Venus will retrograde from 10° Aries on 3/1 to 24° Pisces on 4/12. This is a complicated retrograde, including the switchover between two signs; in this case, the switchover from Sign 12, Pisces, to Sign 1, Aries. This line between Pisces & Aries represents the ending (Pisces) & the beginning (Aries) on the horoscope wheel. This point between 29° Pisces & 00° Aries is central to the astrology of the entire year, & Venus is our groundbreaking planet.

Venus retrograde is comprised of three stages:

This is the reason many people associate retrogrades with lessons: as Venus changes directions in the sky, it moves over each point it crosses thrice: first in forward motion in the pre-retrograde phase, a second time in backward motion through retrograde, & a third time in forward motion in its post-retrograde phase. It tends to put any planet it aspects (in the skies or in your charts) under a microscope as you get a deep dish serving of how that planet interacts with Venus.

Venus is exalted in the mutable water sign of Pisces & at her fall in the cardinal fire sign of Aries. Pisces, as sign 12, is concerned with the collective - the eternal other; Aries, as sign 1, is concerned with the self. If Pisces is the theoretical dissolving of ego death, Aries is ego birth. They sit side by side with one another - this is one of the great mysteries of our astrological story.

Several other major astrological things are going on around the border between Pisces & Aries that are worth mentioning here. Saturn & Neptune are moving to exit Pisces in the next couple of months. Mercury will be moving through Pisces to then retrograde in Aries at 09° (only 1 degree off from Venus) during Venus's retrograde. Additionally, the North Node has just entered Pisces & is working backward through the sign (it naturally moves retrograde the planets). The Sun will do this, too, on our Spring Equinox. This is putting a huge amount of emphasis (& pressure) on this degree - 00° Aries - which is the first degree of the entire horoscope wheel.

As Venus moves through her retrograde cycle, she will conjunct Saturn twice & Neptune & the North Node thrice. She will also sextile Pluto in Capricorn thrice, trine Mars in Cancer, & conjunct both the Sun & Mercury.

The Crossover

All eyes are on the crossover between 29° Pisces & 00° Aries, which will experience a whopping 25 planetary transits over 2025. The demarcation delineates the end of the horoscope wheel (Pisces, sign #12) from the beginning (Aries, sign #1) & is, at once, both an ending as well as a beginning. This is one of the mysteries of astrology - as it tracks the wheel of life (time & the seasons), everything comes back around again. Normally, planets move across the boundary in a forward direction, going from 29° Pisces (an ending) to 00° Aries (the beginning). This year, though, four planets - Mercury, Venus, Saturn, & Neptune - all retrograde backward across these degrees.

Although planetary retrogrades are "business as usual" (just a different expression of the planetary energy), four retrogrades over the same degrees are not. This is highly unusual &, therefore, highly significant astrologically.

The bulk of this post is going to be about Venus, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that she isn't retrograding in a vacuum. She is merely the vanguard, the forward scout, the first of our planetary grouping to cross the threshold into 00° Aries this year.

The planets will cross over the threshold of 00° Aries (not counting the moon, which does so at least once every month) in the following order: Venus, Mercury, Sun, Venus (retrograde), Mercury (retrograde), Neptune, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Saturn (retrograde), & Neptune (retrograde).

All of our personal planets will be moving through Aries this spring, while Saturn & Neptune will continue to do so throughout this year & into the next.

This shows us that we are in the beginning phases of something but not quite ready to move forward. There will be a lot of missteps & false starts in this process. We will all need to pause & realign, perhaps over & over again throughout this year. This is quite in line with 2025's numerological "9" energy (2+0+2+5=9); 9 is a completion number. It is often called on by repetitions of threes. As mentioned above, there are three phases in every retrograde cycle.

Speaking about every planet involved in this year-long transit is outside of the scope of this article. instead, we focus on our first hit of this lesson through Venus, our planet of pleasure & getting what we want. Venus, along with Mars, is one of our two relationship planets. Traditionally, she is viewed as our receptive planet, although as we continue to revise our ideas of masculinity & femininity, this is beginning to change. She is the Divine Feminine, not in a woo new age way but in the way or in a way that discludes her use to non-femme identifying folks, but in the sense that she rules the archetypes of femininity: beauty, comfort, & love. She is a She because she CHOOSES to be, & she is a fierce defender of anyone's choice to be whatever they wish to be. She is feminity divorced from the yolk of motherhood (generally associated with the moon); she is the divine shapeshifter, & her art is beauty. That said, like all of the signs, She is not confined to one ideal of what is beautiful, as in each sign, she expresses a different face to beauty. She is the reminder that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, & she encourages you to be the beautiful person YOU want to be. Although we associate her with peace & negotiation (she was traditionally known as the Lesser Benefic), she will go to war to defend the right to be the woman (or man, or nonbinary folk) that you really are. That seems important to point out in these times.

In Pisces, Venus carries the sacred heart - she has realized that everyone in the entire world is worthy of love just as they are. She is the ideal - the exalted expression of Venusian energy. In Aries, she is a holy terror, fierce & wild in her need to defend anyone's right to be their whole & completely imperfect selves. Venus is in her exile in the cardinal fire sign, but this retrograde cycle shows us that we need both - the best & the harder-to-handle expressions of Venus during this time. As we move forward & backward between these two signs, we need both - the lover AND the fighter - for the path that lies ahead of us.

It is worth noting here that for the last year & a half, the North Node - the point of forward-facing fate - was pointed towards Aries & the individualized self, but in January 2025, it moved on & into Pisces. We all, as a collective, will be forced to confront the reality of our shared future. Although we walk as one, we all live as a whole far more than modern life likes to acknowledge. Right now, most of us are far more comfortable in Aries energy. Still, we are about to have a distinctly Piscean moment, especially in & around the upcoming eclipse cycle (which coincides with this retrograde).

While Venus entered her pre-retrograde shadow at 24° Pisces on 1/28, she will already be in conjunction with the North Node, & that conjunction won't break until after her post-retrograde shadow ends. This affirms for us what should already be quite obvious: this retrograde cycle matters. It matters quite a lot. It will likely be life-changing for some people.

Many astrologers will talk solely about how Venus retrogrades affect Big "R" Relationships, which is fair as Venus, along with Mars, does rule romantic & sexual attraction, but this is fairly short-sighted. Venus rules pleasure in all forms & most especially, esthetic pleasure. She is the patron of the arts & of all things that make us feel good: good food, good drink, luxurious clothing, objects of beauty, & so much more. She is also one-half of all conflicts – the half that seeks to find common ground & compromise (the other half being Mars, who almost always wants to fight it out). When Venus is poorly aligned in our skies – either by planetary placement, by aspect, or in retrograde – it is harder to do Venusian things. It is harder to make art. It is harder to find patronage or get tips. It is harder to seek out a compromise & avoid conflicts or war. It is harder to find joy or just enjoy your life as a whole.

As one of the personal planets, Venus retrogrades are felt - to a greater or lesser degree - by everybody. Those that will feel this retrograde the strongest are likely to be Libras (Sun, Moon, Ascendant, Mercury, Venus, & Mars), especially first decan Libras, as their sign is ruled by Venus AND they will be impacted by an opposition to retrograde Venus. Followed by that would be anyone with a planet between 24-29 degrees Pisces or Virgo, & 00-10 degrees Aries. Then, the same degrees Gemini/Sag & Cancer/Capricorn, respectively. Luminaries, personal planets, & Jupiter & Saturn only here (unless Venus is crossing over your outer planets in exact conjunction).

Venus retrogrades are break-up weather; that much is unavoidable. This one may be doubly so because it follows so close on the heels of our Mars retrograde, but it could be the opposite, as everyone who needed to break up may already have done so. You don't need to fear that if you are in a healthy relationship where both parties are committed to working things out. This will trigger some Aries & Libra types who are still nursing their wounds from the Aries-Libra lunar node shit that rocked our world throughout 2023-2024.

The big flex with all retrogrades is to pay attention to what is coming up in your own life. Something needs tending. Tend to it.

This will be easier done when Venus is in Aries, who likes to be direct & get to the point, & less so when she is in Pisces, who - in its immature form - would rather hide its head in the sand & pretend that conflict doesn't exist. Watch out for the stories we tell ourselves. Are they true? Are they kind? Are they serving the person that we want to become?

This retrograde cycle is likely to feel extremely uncomfortable at varying times. It also overlaps with Mercury's retrograde cycle. We might not be telling the truth out of a desire to keep the peace, but it's not working as intended.

It's worth noting here that Mercury & Venus will retrograde over almost exactly the same degrees - Mercury from 09° Aries to 25° Pisces & Venus 10° Aries to 24° Pisces, this is going to put a HUGE amount of pressure on these degrees. If you have a personal planet in this zone - pay attention. Both of these retrogrades will conjunct Saturn, Neptune, & the North Node.

I don't think we need to worry about Neptune here; he may muddy the waters a bit, but Piscean energy will do that anyway. Saturn, though...Saturn was traditionally known as the Great Malefic because his energy is so damn intense. He is consequences coming right back around to show you what you did wrong. Or what you did right. We don't talk about that as often. A reward is as much a consequence as a punishment is.

If you are prone to depression, be aware that Saturn almost always makes this worse & take actions now to support yourself through this transit - ESPECIALLY if you are a personal planet or luminary between 24-29 degrees or 00-10 degrees OF ANY SIGN. Saturn is just so heavy. The combination of Saturn + Venus weighs heavily in Saturn's favor; it can feel like all of the light has gone out in the world.

There aren't a lot of ways to remediate this. Any way that you can get or stay in your own heart energy will help here. If you work with crystals, rose quartz or lepidolite could be a girl's best friend (nongendered). Schedule time to do the things that you love. Look for the little glimmers that give you happy brain chemicals wherever you can. Heart-opening yoga poses can be helpful here, as can remembering to get outside in nature & move your body. We're all different: make a list of things that work for you now & refer to it early & often.

People tend to be excessively unkind when Venus is in retrograde, & Saturn will extenuate this - work at remembering that other people's reactions are not a reflection of you. Holding personal boundaries will probably be a must. Make time to see the people who make your heart grow two sizes, & limit time with people who turn you into a Grinch.

In the end, it is what it is. We are all going to have to live through these rough transits, whether we like them or not. But, with so much emphasis on 00° Aries, I can't help but believe that this IS working to our advantage; it may simply take a while before we get there. We ARE starting something. A new beginning IS on the horizon. Maybe it doesn't matter if we're taking two steps back as long as we took three steps forward in the first place.