Venus Retrograde, Rethinking Relationships, Money and Time

Venus is making the turn from retrograde to direct this Friday—so we’re in the last few days of rethinking, re-feeling, reviewing, repairing, and refreshing all things Venusian. Yes, all those words beginning with “re” apply for Venus retrograde as well as Mercury retrograde. Venus doesn’t turn retrograde again till the autumn of 2010, and what we are primarily called to review now is our attitude towards relationships and beauty and money.

These are the things that fall into Venus’ realm. (Interesting too that money falls there, and one could say we use money to bring more beauty and fullness into our lives…but it’s also related to priorities and power. That’s when Venus prefers to hand over the reins to Mars, as she turns back to her relationship mode and turns to her friend and asks: so, how are you doing?!)

So, how are you doing? Do we ask that enough of each other and then wait to hear the truth? Or are we hiding our true Self, and not really wanting to tell our truth or hear the other person’s stories? There’s such a stress towards thinking positively about the “art of possibilities” and re-imagining oneself in one’s life (coupled with the desire to feel only good feelings because we feel that less than nice feelings are wrong, bad or don’t measure up) that we unwittingly turn away from our “compassion” and the ability “to suffer with another” which relates to the root meaning of compassion.


Relationships are deepened when we can allow ourselves to hear the call for help even if it’s not asked for specifically, or even if it’s hidden beneath “everything’s fine.” Chances are its not.


When we are afraid to hear and feel each other’s pain—or when we don’t take that extra few minutes to really listen and respond to others, we lose the chance to deepen our friendships. Venus retrograde is about rethinking who, when and where we can be really honest with…who can we trust? Unfortunately, some people are so busy trying to survive and live in this climate of fear and scarcity that they don’t feel they can give another person the time to hear their joy or their sadness.

Venus is asking us to rethink this now. Maybe someone reached out to you these past few months when Venus was retrograde, and perhaps you were too busy to respond with compassion or engagement. Or maybe it was reversed, and you actually need to move towards—or away--away from those people who don’t respond from a place of compassion and intimacy; “in-to-me-see.”


Do you ever think of your Nodes as being a relationship axis---thinking of them as two people inside yourself who have different agendas and life styles? Can they begin to relate better? Can you reach for your North Node highest qualities and retrieve the gold in the shadow of your South Node? There are no good/bad guys here; it’s more about clearer and deeper ways of relating….Venus’s realm. Something to consider.
~elizabeth spring www.elizabethspring.com