If you’ve spent any time in astrology spaces, you’ve probably already heard the usual warnings surrounding Venus retrograde:

Exes might come back! Don’t get bangs! Don’t get married! Your relationships are under review!

But Venus retrograde is so much richer than that.

In fact, there’s an entire astronomical and mythological story unfolding in the sky during these 40 days. When Venus makes a metaphorical U-turn in the sky, the brightest planet in the solar system (aka Venus) temporarily disappears from view, enters the heart of the Sun, and then emerges again as a changed woman.

She quite literally disappears into the Underworld and comes back transformed and renewed…and so do we.

Before we dive into the jaw-dropping, mystical underpinnings of this phenomenon though, let’s cover a few important Venus retrograde basics.

What is Venus retrograde?

When a planet stations retrograde, it appears from the vantage point of Earth to make a U-turn and then move backwards in the sky. Notice I say that it appears to move backwards; no planet actually reverses their direction, but our eyes can play tricks on us and whether literal or illusory, retrogrades are still extremely important and palpably felt!

When a planet is retrograde, everything that planet signifies is up for review. Since Venus represents our values, desires, relationships, aesthetics, taste, pleasure, and all that we are attracted to, Venus retrogrades offer us an opportunity to reassess them, review them, and ultimately, to renew them.

This is also true for the houses in your birth chart that are ruled by or exalted by Venus. Since Taurus and Libra are ruled by Venus and Pisces is exalted by Venus, these three houses of your birth chart are up for review during Venus retrogrades, even if the Venus retrograde is occurring across other signs. Maybe Taurus is your 2nd house and you’re reviewing your finances, material possessions, and all of the ways you resource yourself materially and immaterially. Maybe Libra is your 6th house and you’re reviewing your work routines, daily habits, physical health, and all of the other obligations required of us humans.

Additionally, we always want to look at the signs/houses where the retrograde is taking place. We will be reviewing all of those aforementioned Venusian principles (our values, desires, pleasure, etc.) within the context of these signs and houses. Take note of the essential dignity that Venus holds within the sign(s) she is retrograding through. If Venus is retrograding through Libra, Taurus, or Pisces, for example, she has ample resources to help her feel more comfortable even as she reassesses things. In lived experience, this would help us feel a little less out of sorts as Venusian things shift beneath our feet. If Venus is moving through signs like Scorpio, Aries, or Virgo though, she will be less comfortable and in fact may feel a little awkward. The same would apply to how we feel during the retrograde, such as over-analyzing every detail, obsessing over whatever arises, or feeling impatience and urgency in figuring it all out before things have settled.

Lastly, it’s important to understand a few basics of Venus’ synodic cycle (aka her orbit around the Sun). Venus stations retrograde every ~18 months for about 6 weeks at a time. So every other year, we are offered yet another opportunity to review Venus in our own lives. Coincidentally, Venus retrogrades return back to the same sign every 8 years, so whenever Venus reverses her direction, we can think back 8 years prior to that year’s Venus retrograde to better understand what was going on in our lives, what we were attracted to then, and how Venusian principles shifted for us at that point in time.

Alright, that covers some of the most important Venus retrograde basics. Now, let’s explore the 5 things you probably haven’t heard about Venus retrograde yet!

1. Venus retrograde is NOT just about your relationships.

The most common Venus retrograde narrative is that ex-lovers may crawl back into your life or you’ll become interested again in someone from your past.

Venus certainly speaks to love and relationships, but she also represents our values, desires, pleasures, tastes, attractions, and the things we find beautiful or worthwhile.

So when Venus turns retrograde, all of this becomes subject to reassessment, not just our relationships.

Do you still want what you thought you wanted?

Are you living in alignment with your actual values and desires?

Is there enough enjoyment and pleasure in your life?

Sometimes, Venus retrograde brings an old lover back into the picture, but sometimes, it makes you look around your house and realize that you actually hate your decor.

Sometimes, your style changes, your creative tastes change, the things you spend money on no longer feel worthwhile, or a dream you’ve chased for years suddenly loses its sparkle.

Venus retrograde asks us to reconsider a deceptively simple question:

What do I actually like?

And perhaps more importantly: Is the life I’ve created reflective of that?

2. Venus literally disappears into the “Underworld.”

Venus is the brightest planet in our sky, other than the Sun and Moon.

But during every Venus retrograde cycle, something extraordinary happens.

She disappears completely.

As Venus moves closer and closer to the Sun, she becomes swallowed by its blinding light and is temporarily invisible from Earth.

Ancient astrologers paid tremendous attention to a planet’s relationship with the Sun. As a planet approaches the Sun, its ordinary expression becomes obscured, overwhelmed, and ultimately purified. You can think of it as a planet being burned up by the Sun’s rays, where anything superfluous, unnecessary, or untrue gets destroyed.

Symbolically, Venus enters the Underworld.

And if Venus governs our values, desires, relationships, pleasures, aesthetics, and attractions, those are the parts of our lives being taken underground with her.

We may temporarily feel disconnected from what we want, something we once enjoyed may no longer satisfy us, our relationships may feel confusing, or our tastes may shift.

We may even wonder, Wait…do I want this anymore?

That uncertainty isn’t a problem though. It’s part of the process.

Venus must disappear before she can be renewed, and we may feel like we are along for that same journey.

3. Venus spends approximately 40 days and 40 nights retrograde.

And 40 is a fascinating number.

Across mythology, religion, history, and culture, 40 repeatedly appears as a period of trial, isolation, purification, and eventual renewal.

Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness.

The rains of Noah’s flood lasted 40 days and 40 nights.

Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai fasting before receiving the Torah.

Even the word quarantine traces back to the Italian quaranta giorni: 40 days, referring to the period ships were isolated during plague outbreaks.

These are all different traditions and different stories, yet the same archetypal rhythm appears again and again:

Separation → trial → transformation → return.

And Venus follows a remarkably similar journey.

For roughly 40 days, she retreats from her ordinary path, disappears from view, encounters the Sun, and eventually returns to visibility transformed.

4. Renewal requires leaving the familiar world behind.

There’s another thread running through those 40-day stories that fascinates me:

Transformation rarely happens while everything continues exactly as usual.

The wilderness, the ark, the mountain, and the quarantined ship are all liminal places removed from ordinary life.

Which is why I think there’s an invitation hidden inside Venus retrograde:

You don’t literally need to disappear into a cave for 40 days, but you may need to interrupt some of the noise that keeps you attached to an outdated version of yourself.

I recommend taking space from the stories you continually tell yourself and the expectations you’ve inherited.

The same goes for the assumptions you’ve made about who you are supposed to be, what you should value, what your relationships should look like, or what you’re supposed to want.

If you spend the entire retrograde scrolling, comparing, consuming, and living on autopilot, it becomes very difficult to hear what Venus is trying to show you.

Renewal requires enough space to discover that what once felt true may no longer be true.

5. Venus goes into the Underworld as one version of herself…and emerges as another.

THIS is my favorite part of the entire Venus retrograde cycle.

Venus begins a retrograde cycle as an evening star, visible after sunset.

Because Venus is traditionally a nocturnal planet, this is considered more aligned with her nature. Evening Star Venus tends toward a softer, more receptive expression: relational, conciliatory, compromising, experienced.

There’s wisdom here, but taken too far, there can also be a willingness to preserve harmony at the expense of personal desire or self-alignment.

Then, Venus disappears.

She enters the Underworld and travels toward her conjunction with the Sun, called a cazimi.

This is the heart of the retrograde when there is often some sort of revelation.

What do I actually want?

And then something incredible happens.

Venus eventually emerges from the Sun’s rays on the other side. She is no longer an evening star setting after the Sun. She becomes a morning star rising before it!

Morning Star Venus has traditionally been understood as a fiercer expression of Venus: more assertive, passionate, independent, audacious, and willing to pursue what she desires.

Think about the symbolism of that.

A Venus who may have learned to accommodate, reconcile, compromise, or maintain harmony descends into the Underworld.

There, what she thought she wanted is stripped away, she meets the Sun, and she discovers what remains.

And after that?

She rises before the Sun itself. (Bold choice, girl!)

There’s something so powerful about viewing the entire retrograde through this cycle:

Evening Star Venus: What have my experiences taught me about my values? Does my life align with what I want or what I’ve been taught to want?

Underworld Venus: What desires, relationships, pleasures, aesthetics, and values are no longer true for me?

Venus Cazimi: What am I realizing I actually want?

Morning Star Venus: Am I willing to go after it?

THAT is Venus retrograde.

It is a 40-day reconsideration of what you value enough to choose.

So this is a beautiful invitation into the Underworld, a place where what is no longer true is stripped away to reveal something so much more real.

The question is…will you accept the invitation?

What Does Venus Retrograde Mean in Your Birth Chart?

The ways in which a Venus retrograde activates your birth chart tells us so much more about where this story may unfold in your own life. If you’d ever like help interpreting what that story says and how to navigate it with grace and confidence, come see me for an astrology reading HERE!

Follow me on IG @itsdevonrochelle for even more helpful astrology tips, tricks, and updates! If you love deepening your astrology understanding in ways that actually improve your life, you’ve come to the right place! Follow along and please say hello!