Venus Retrograde
Venus will begin retrograde motion on July 22nd.
That is also the day that the Sun enters the sign of Leo, and one of the first things I couldn’t help but notice is that it is my ex’s birthday. That is something that Venus retrograde can encourage us to do: reflect on previous loves and creations to let go of judgement and worry in relationships, and that means we may be visited by our past in some instances. Don’t be afraid, the thing about retrograde is that we already know how to navigate the experience. We may even have an opportunity to rework the ending or create a completely new one, but the wisdom is intuition here. Sometimes it isn’t so easy to see what the sacred is saying in normal order, so that’s when I turn to divination.
Some of my favorite tools are Astrological timing and the correlating hexagrams of the I-Ching (which inspired the Gene Keys system). Each hexagram (or Gene Key) is associated with a few degrees of the zodiacal signs. With 64 hexagrams and 12 zodiacal signs, it works out to be about 5–6 hexagrams (or Gene Keys) per sign. I’m using Gene Keys and Hexagrams interchangeably here, but there will be some that prefer one system of thought over the other. My pattern-recognition-machinery is well-attuned to holding multiple truths at once so I find it easier to understand the through-line between the systems than some. Its all a matter of the deepness of my relationship with the stars. I digress, the point I am trying to stress is that this is not easy. It requires contemplation and alot of that looks like doing nothing, so its also a thankless job in some ways but the way people light up when they finally feel seen is enough magic to keep me going.
For this contemplation and to simplify things, I am going to walk through the path Venus will be taking through this retrograde, as it is informed by the hexagrams of the I-Ching. Because it is ancient wisdom (as is Astrology), I think we have an internal system that can recognize the true meaning in the words from the Book of Changes. This introduction of a parable or an excerpt that doesn’t make sense will send our minds into chaos, disrupting normal operation. You find patterns where there was once nothing. You will find answers where you were once lost. I also love that they inspired the Gene Keys.
So we start with Hexagram 29, where Venus is now and has been since the 7th of July. She stays here for an entire month because this is the pivot point where she turns to go the opposite direction from whence she came. Think about a ball rolling up a hill and slowing at the top to turn around. It appears to stay in the same place for a brief moment at the peak of the pivot and then it takes a moment to pick up speed going the other direction. This means we have a lot of time to reflect on this Hexagram.
This Hexagram feels like the intense calm before the storm. It's a deep silence that has something lurking in it. An old foe, a previous sparring partner, or your worst nightmare. Its about keeping that awareness. An entire month of living on edge? No, we have to surrender to the discomfort and make it a friend. We have to commit ourselves to that which fear tries to block.
Here are other dates to be aware:
6 August 23: Venus enters Hexagram 4 during retrograde
16 August 23: Venus enters Hexagram 7 during retrograde
28 August 23: Venus enters Hexagram 33, where she will station to go direct.
11 September 23: Venus re-enters Hexagram 7 in direct motion
24 September 23: Venus re-enters Hexagram 4 in direct motion
2 October 23: Venus re-enters Hexagram 29 in direct motion and completes the Retrograde Shadow on the 7th of October.
The day Venus leaves shadow is my dad’s birthday. It feels like a call for me to be visible in my contemplations as this feels personal for me but not in a combative way, almost in a way where I feel well-prepared to move through this retrograde with grace.
