Venus Direct + Mercury Retrograde

Today is some big astrological magic:

Venus, which has been moving retrograde since October 5, will station direct at 25 degrees Libra. This is significant in several ways: first, after over a month of retracing its own path, Venus will finally begin its forward motion. This is an opportunity to begin to integrate and active the lessons we’ve been learning about love, relationships, connection, what we attract to ourselves, and how we serve the things and people we value most. Venus is also in its domicile in Libra, meaning that it is stationing direct in a sign that it rules. Venus is at home in Libra; in this sign, it has access to its resources and power. Libra is an air sign associated with harmony, cooperation, collaboration, and holding different perspectives and points of view in balance. Venus—the planet of love and relationships—thrives in Libra, asking us to begin to consider: what new perspectives have you encountered over the last seven weeks? How might you begin to reconcile points of view that seem to be divergent or even in contradiction to one another? How might your understanding of love or what it means to be in right-relationship with others be transforming as you’ve encountered hidden motivations or needs and desires that were not previously in view? These are questions we can ask on a personal and interpersonal scale, but we can also ask these questions in relation to our social relations and our connections to community. Whose voices and perspectives have not yet been included? How do we center love and care in our movements? These are questions that we can begin to ask, knowing that the process of integrating the learning from the retrograde will take time, especially as Venus again moves through the degrees of Libra then Scorpio that were covered during this period.

It’s also significant that Venus is stationing direct in its domicile on a Friday: in branches of traditional western astrology, Jyotish (Vedic) astrology, and ceremonial magic traditions, each day of the week is ruled by a different celestial body, and Friday is ruled by Venus. This could be a powerful time to do a ritual or magic around love, especially as the Moon is waxing. This could be as simple as setting aside time and space to sit with these kinds of questions about love, journaling through your own reflections and realizations. You might also consider how you might show extra care for the loved ones in your life as a ritual practice of devotion, finding ways to actively contribute to the wellbeing and flourishing of their lives. This could also be a good time to conjure more love in your life—and no, I don’t mean casting a spell to make someone love you. Rather, ask yourself: what does it feel like to be fully loved in stable, supportive connections, and then stay with that felt sensation within your body, recognizing that you already hold the capacity to experience the love that you need.

Tonight Mercury also stations retrograde in Sagittarius while square Neptune Rx in Pisces. Mercury will move from 13 degrees Sagittarius to 27 degrees Scorpio, and will station direct on December 6. Mercury is in its detriment in Sagittarius, meaning that it is not a sign in which Mercury feels at home. Mercury—the planet of communication, sharing ideas, sending and receiving messages, and travel—struggles in a sign that encourages big, expansive ideas, making details difficult to hold onto when Sagittarius is always pushing beyond the horizon. Square Neptune which is retrograde in Pisces, clarity and precision become even more diffuse, and the blurring of boundaries can make communication more challenging. Mercury retrograde invites a lot of reflection, review, and patience in how we communicate. It’s a time to think carefully before we speak, re-read the emails and text messages and manuscripts before we press send, and practice deep and open listening. This could be a period where we aren’t feeling heard, or perhaps we’re feeling misunderstood. Perhaps we’re struggling to communicate ideas that feel really important to us. As Mercury stations retrograde on the same day that Venus stations direct, the process of integrating Venus’ lessons around love and connection could involve careful and loving practices of listening. If you aren’t feeling heard, who might you not be hearing? If you’re feeling misunderstood, can you put patient energy into trying to understand others more? This retrograde only lasts for a few weeks, but it’s a time to examine our patterns of communication, to listen deeply to what other people are saying, and to tune in to our own needs around expression and being heard.
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As always, how each of us experience or understand these planetary movements will vary according to the particular details of our own charts, but with the big shifts in how Venus and Mercury are moving, the next few weeks are putting a lot of emphasis on connection, communication, integration, and care.