Venus retrograde in leo - the 40-day makeover montage
Actual footage of Venus getting her cosmic hands on you.
The Sun has joined Venus in the sign of the performer, hero, and star - and whatever your sign may be, we all have this archetype somewhere in our chart and our life.
This is a time to reflect on the way that you want to “shine” in that arena. (More on that in your horoscope below.)
Venus goes retrograde every 18 months for 40 days. This year it lasts from July 22 to September 3, with her post-retrograde shadow lasting through October 7.
Since this social butterfly of a planet usually only spends 3 weeks in a sign, her retrograde is a rare opportunity to bring healing and beauty to an area of your life that needs a little tender loving care.
You might call it a makeover…
All retrogrades ask us to reflect inward - they remind us, “As above, so below. As within, so without.”
Venus will conjunct bad-bitch Lilith and square offbeat Uranus throughout the retrograde, so there’s a rebellious energy to it, a yearning to be liberated.
Old, more socially acceptable masks and mechanisms could dissolve to reveal the forbidden, fruitful knowledge you’ve been avoiding to be “nice.”
Ferocious, loving Leo reminds you that being good and being nice are very different things - sometimes the most loving thing you can do is roar. If you’re not feeling valued, you’ll have the urge to change things up entirely.
It’s an ideal time to pour your energy into yourself, as Venus will also trine Chiron, the wounded healer, opening up opportunities to synthesize an antidote from the venom of our past pain.
Translation: This Leo retrograde teaches us that embracing our wholehearted individuality is healing. Blending in and blurring out are overrated.
Not everyone will like you when you embody your whole self - but the ones who do, will LOVE you for exactly who you are.
If you’d like me to take a look at your chart and give you my personal insights about your relationships, art, magnetism, or self-love, you can order a Venus Rx Video Reading here or book a face-to-face Venus Deep Dive here.
Retrogrades remind us that energy is neither created nor destroyed - but it can be changed with a shift in consciousness.
Used wisely, this period can help us heal our relationship with receptivity, finally allowing in the kind of love, opportunities, or money that we yearn for openly.
What area or event of your life could be transformed if you brought fierce, leonine love to it? Let’s get into it in your Sun and Rising horoscopes.
ARIES
How are those creative juices flowing, Aries? If you’re feeling a little dried up, fried, or mystified - don’t fret. Venus is rearranging your House of Creativity and Personal Expression for the next 40 days, and reminding you that the key is always to do what lights you up!
This is an ideal time to give up on perfection and focus on having fun with what you “make of yourself.” An old project could come to new life over the course of this retrograde if you let your inner child take the lead. Experiment! You’re a pioneer!
Play with a new medium to free yourself from the tyranny of your inner perfectionist - it will likely give you new insight on an old blockage. Take expectation out of your process, and add generous amounts of compassion and curiosity. That’s a direct - if backward - path to creativity.
TAURUS
What makes you feel at home, Taurus, in both the physical and emotional senses? As your planetary ruler takes an extended staycation in your House of Home, Family, and Roots, you’re getting an opportunity to heal and beautify your foundation in all its forms.
This is an ideal time to notice what supports your growth and what inhibits it. If you looked at your current environment as the soil from which you draw your nutrients - does it enrich you or confine you?
This retrograde is facilitating your ability to remove, reduce, or rearrange what forces you to perform for others rather than allows you to flourish as yourself. For the next 40 days, look on your past with loving eyes, and allow yourself to reconnect with a part of yourself you may have left behind.
GEMINI
Your time becomes even more precious to you when Venus twirls backward through the House of Daily Tasks and Talks, Gemini. You may find yourself questioning whether some of the people you spend time with, or some of the to-dos you do every day, are worthwhile.
Are they enriching you or bringing you joy? If not, this is a good time to consider which social engagements or everyday drudgeries can be pruned from your schedule so you can inject more fresh air and integration time.
This is a time to detox your to-do list and focus on deliberately incorporating more pleasure into your everyday life - from spending less time with boors and more time with buddies, to savoring some sweet alone time so you can really understand, and then articulate, your value(s) and desires. The better to get them met once Venus goes direct!
CANCER
Venus is moonwalking through your House of Net Worth and Self Worth, Cancer - and she wants you to reevaluate your capacity to receive! Have you been giving more than you get? Or vice versa? (Unlikely for my moonchildren, but not impossible.)
This 40-day review invites you to consider whether you’re truly investing (energetically/ emotionally/ financially) in what matters to you, and where you may need some loving boundaries to help protect your precious resources.
So take this opportunity to slow down and spend some time healing your relationship to money and receiving by getting more intimate with your value(s), needs and desires.
LEO
It’s time to look inward, Leo, and ask yourself what makes you feel uniquely fulfilled and actualized. How can you be even more of yourself? Venus is checking out her reflection in your House of Self, Looks, and Identity, and she wants to bless yours with some of her magic.
This is an ideal period to set aside some quality time for self-reflection - as opposed to taking feedback from others. Those we think of as superstars stand out because they don’t spend their precious energy trying to be like everyone else. They’re invested in being who they are as skillfully and wholeheartedly as they can.
This applies your personal perspective as much as it does to your personal style. If you take this time to (re)discover and (re)connect with what charges up and shows off your inner light, it will pay off in a level-up in radiance that summons incredible opportunities once Venus goes direct.
VIRGO
This is an excellent period to set about making peace with your past, Virgo, as Venus is taking a nostalgic stroll through your House of The Past, Loose Ends, and Letting Go. The final House of the zodiac relates to loss - but loss is not always a bad thing. We can ‘lose’ a bad habit, thought pattern, or dead-end job and be better for it.
When Venus cruises through the House of Endings, parting can actually be sweet sorrow. She blesses your ability to “let go, let god” as they say, and move through life with more grace - which is directly connected to dropping dead weight that does not belong on your capable but delicate shoulders.This could be a very healing period if you’re willing to look back on your past self gently, with kind eyes.
Allow these questions to float gently through your consciousness: Do I still have hurt places in my psyche, or dark corners of my past that need a little tenderness? Where are they in my body? How am I prepared now to hold them differently than I did back then? If you use this retrograde with your usual care, you can emerge with a much clearer idea of what you want and how to get it.
LIBRA
It’s time to re-orient to the compass of your heart to ensure you reach your real dreams, Libra! Venus is traipsing backward through your House of Allies, Organizations, and Long Term Goals, encouraging you to reevaluate how well your progress is supported by your social circle.
This is the House of Goals that Can Only Be Achieved with a Team, Network, or Audience - do the people you associate with amp up your light, or do you feel like you have to dim it to keep them comfortable? Do you leave interactions with friends feeling open and excited, or drained and doubtful?
Give yourself space and time to check in with yourself about what you want your future to look like, long term, as well as how you want to show up in community. What role empowers you and the people around you in a way that lights you up? Seek the answers to those questions within yourself - the more truly you answer and embody them, the quicker and more powerfully your supporters will assemble.
SCORPIO
It can be annoying for you, huh Scorpio, that more power tends to come with more visibility? Are you down to heal that schism? Venus is hosting a healing retreat in your House of Reputation, Career, and Destiny, giving you the opportunity to redefine and gently realign with your relationship to being seen on the world stage.
This is an ideal time to heal self-doubt and issues around being perceived that stunt your career growth. Venus is reminding you that when you show up and create from the heart, you’ll turn some on and turn others off, and both of those outcomes can actually be incredibly satisfying! You’re not for everybody. You’re a cult classic! That’s part of your magnetism.
Over the course of this retrograde, you may ultimately decide to redesign your public persona or “brand” in order to better align with who you are now. (Best to save any firm changes until after Venus goes direct, but trust your heart above all!) If you seize this astrological portal, you’ll be inviting a lot more of exactly the kind of attention, opportunity, and authority that you desire.
SAGITTARIUS
This could come as a shock, Sagittarius - you’re likely feeling a little restless, a little bit like a plant that’s about to outgrow its pot. As Venus takes a pause and then saunters backward in your House of Journeys, Philosophy, and Expanding Horizons, it can feel like things are burning a little too low and slow for your fiery spirit.
But there’s a lot of wisdom available along this 40-day pilgrimage if you’re willing to look closely at things you’ve seen before, and notice the new wisdom they offer from this vantage point. Particularly for those of you who have a big idea that you want to spread throughout the world via publishing, whether that be a book, podcast, or video.
World-renowned astrologer Caroline Casey describes retrogrades as an arrow being drawn backward before its launch. You’re the archer of the zodiac, Sag, so take a step back, set your eyes on your target (which is always truth, faith, liberation), and practice aiming your arrow. That way, when Venus goes direct, you’ll only have to let go.
CAPRICORN
Are you getting as good as you give, Capricorn? You can apply that question to every scenario that comes to mind as Venus is reviewing her ledger in your House of Intimacy, Surrender, and Mergers - less politely known as the House of Sex, Death, and Other People’s Money.
This is an ideal time to review your investments and debts - energetic and financial - and ask yourself which ones are paying off and which are just draining your resources. What do you want in exchange for your unique contribution? If you’re not clear on what mutual thriving looks like for you, this retrograde is a perfect opportunity to explore, “What do I want and need, to bring out the best in me?”
Venus is a blessing to have in this House, as she attracts generosity and surprise windfalls through partners and institutions - this is a good chance to turn your dial away from austerity and necessity, and toward ease and pleasure. You can transform old patterns around believing “if you want something done you have to do it yourself” and “good things come from hard work.” Those things can be true, Capricorn - but under this energy, old truths are transforming for the sweeter.
AQUARIUS
You’ve got some nice upgrades coming your way, Aquarius. Venus is strolling backward through your House of Partnerships, bringing some sweetness and healing to your one on one relationships. It’s a cliche of Venus retrograde that old flames tend to pop up during this time, whether in life or in our thoughts and dreams. But if that’s the case for you, this is not the universe saying you should get back together with this person.
This is a cosmic invitation to understanding and loving yourself better by asking questions like, “Did that partnership help me feel like more or less of myself?” “What did I learn from this connection?” “Am I the same person I was when I was with them? And did I like that person?”
This is also a great time to heal or reinvigorate all of your current one on one dynamics - whether in romance, business, with a counselor, mentor, or coach, etc. - so that everyone’s needs are being met in a way that’s mutually pleasurable. Focus on knowing and expressing your needs - this makes it safe for your counterparts to do the same. When Venus is holding court, everybody wins.
PISCES
Is your daily routine pleasurable, Pisces? Is it working for you? Is self-care scheduled into it, or do you treat escapism as your form of emotional maintenance? I’m not judging you, and certainly neither is Venus, who’s retracing her steps in your House of Health, Habits, and Daily Routines, encouraging you to get a little creative with your practices.
You might be feeling a little drained as the retrograde begins, or like you have overindulged - and this is a sign that your habits need a reworking to support you in designing the beautiful life you want. Long baths and naps are essential to your life and aesthetic, but they’re not the kind of self-care that’s being emphasized here.
Think along the lines of, “My mental health is my highest priority, so I’m going to make time for a 30-minute walk outside every day.” Or, “I really want to dissociate on my days off, but I’m really craving creative satisfaction, so I’m going to spend twenty minutes of each morning practicing my craft.” Take this time to explore what supportive, sustainable habits help you show up as the work of art that you are.
