Venus retrograde 2023 begins on July 22 at 28° Leo and ends on September 3 at 12° Leo.

Generally, Venus retrograde is a period of introspection about your love life and what you value. Relationship problems may become more apparent, but Venus retrograde offers the chance to heal broken hearts and lighten the karmic load.

Venus retrograde in Leo 2023 is influenced by a star associated with immorality and toxic love. Challenging aspects to Neptune and Pluto can also poison relationships through secrets, lies, affairs, jealousy or manipulation. But an inspiring aspect pattern gives new awareness and the ability to transform your love life.

If you have Venus retrograde in your birth chart, see Natal Venus Retrograde. More detail on Venus retrograde July 2023 follows this general meaning of Venus retrograde:

Venus Retrograde Meaning

Transiting Venus retrograde occurs every 19 months for six weeks (42 days). This means Venus is retrograde only 7% of the time, the least amount of any planet. The next closest is Mars retrograde at 9%, then Mercury retrograde at 19%. Therefore, Venus’s Retrograde is the most strongly felt of all retrograde planets.

Venus retrograde can make giving and receiving love and affection more difficult. It encourages introspection about your love life and the things you value. You may become interested in someone or something of value that would please you.

During this fated period for love, old friends or lovers may reappear, or you may relive past life experiences to sort out karmic issues. Destiny encounters and feelings of inevitability or familiarity are possible. You could even meet your soul mate.

Use Venus retrogrades to improve how you feel about yourself and to love yourself more. Think about what truly pleases you. Discovering reasons for relationship problems can help you clear away the past to make room for new relationships. Even reminiscing about old partners will help to remove your karmic baggage and lighten the load.

Venus retrograde has traditionally been seen as unfortunate for love and not the best time to marry, invest or buy luxury items. But each retrograde phase is different, and much depends on Venus retrograde’s aspects to your chart. See Venus Transits for more detail.

Venus Retrograde 2023

Venus stations retrograde on Saturday, July 22, 2023, at 28°36′ Leo. The star map below shows Venus retrograde in the Leo Constellations and the Leo Sign.

Venus retrograde aligns with three stars in the Lion. Adhafera and Al Jabhah are relatively minor stars in the Mane of the Lion. Regulus in The Heart of the Lion is more powerful. However, Venus pulls up well over one degree short of Regulus. So this leaves Alphard in the Heart of the Water Snake as the most significant stellar influence on Venus Retrograde 2023.

• 27♌35 – Alpha Hydrae, Alphard
• 27♌53 – Zeta Leonis, Adhafera
• 28♌13 – Eta Leonis, Al Jabhah
• 28♌36 – Venus Retrograde 2023
• 00♍09 – Alpha Leonis, Regulus

Poisonous Star

Fixed star Alphard gives wisdom, musical and artistic appreciation, knowledge of human nature, strong passions, lack of self-control, immorality, revolting deeds, and sudden death by drowning, poison or asphyxiation.^[1]

Particularly matters connected with “poison” are accentuated badly, e.g., blood poisoning, murder by poison, attempts of poisoning, poisoned hatred in women, gas poisoning, danger to life by the wrong use of drugs and overindulgence of good living, smoke inhalation and risk of suffocation, snake bite, bites by poisonous insect bites, or bites from dogs with rabies.

A ‘poisoning’ is also possible in a marriage relationship between a man and a woman. This is especially true in a male chart. On the material plane, nearly always unhelpful, though enlightenment is possible if the native can conceive it in the spiritual sphere.^[2]

With Venus: Passionate attachments that are opposed by relatives, handsome and admired by the opposite sex, favorable for gain, sorrow through love affairs if female.^[1]

This position is almost masochistic but very creative. These natives have many creative talents and can create any art form they wish. However, it is so easy for them that they may not develop creativity at all as there is a lack of discipline at this degree. If developed, they can create the most beautiful music as musicians, or they can be great artists, dancers, and actors without any formal training.

The negative side to this degree would be that these persons would let these abilities go to waste, especially if they allow physical indulgences such as drugs and alcohol to get in the way. Using this degree in a positive way, their abilities would be developed through others who would push them to achieve their goals.^[3]

Venus Retrograde in Leo 2023

Venus Retrograde in July 2023 is very complex with many tight aspects. So I have highlighted only the aspect to Venus, the quincunxes to Neptune and Pluto.

Quincunx Insecurity

Venus quincunx Neptune brings imagination, optimism and idealism. You may hope for beautiful things, romance or money. But turning your dreams into reality may be hampered by insecurity, uncertainty, guilt and self-doubt.

Any imbalance in giving and receiving love will become more apparent in relationships. You may feel you have to serve others in some way to earn their love and affection. A tendency to be attracted to needy or deceptive people brings the risk of disappointment.

This aspect also reinforces the toxic love of Venus Retrograde 2023. Like Alphard, it can indicate a poisoning of a relationship, perhaps through secrets, affairs, jealousy, envy or addiction. Avoid over-idealizing people, and ensure you place enough value on yourself and understand you deserve the best.

Venus quincunx Pluto can cause intense longings to experience life more deeply, especially regarding your love life. Obsessions and fascinations are possible, but they bring the risk of disappointment if your imagination gets out of control. An intense desire for love, attention, sex or appreciation and a tendency to push the boundaries of your values could lead to out-of-character behavior.

Flirtation, secret affairs, lies, jealousy, spying, addiction and manipulative or controlling behavior could lead the crises and extreme ups and downs. You may be drawn to people of experiences considered forbidden, dangerous or underground. Increased compassion and empathy also bring the risk of attracting ruthless people who could break your heart or empty your wallet.

Sextile Harmony

Neptune sextile Pluto encourages growth and harmony. It gives a pioneering spirit, making you unafraid to challenge the accepted way of thinking and doing things. You can deconstruct any system or belief, remove bias and reconstruct it in a more advanced and unadulterated state.

This aspect helps you tap into the mass subconscious and gauge the prevailing thoughts of humanity to see where society is heading as a collective in an evolutionary sense. You may show obsessive tendencies in daily life, but your higher thought processes seek order in chaos and simplicity in complexity.

An Evolutionary Leap

A Yod Aspect Pattern is created by the three aspects mentioned above. Venus Retrograde July 2023 is at the apex of the long triangle. This can indicate a karmic mission to complete that relates to your love life, self-worth or finances.

This mission involves a search for meaning and requires flexibility and a need for knowledge. Motivated are love, contact and communication; you can refine your interpersonal skills. The Yod provides inspiration and imagination to make plans and prepare projects. But a tendency to avoid conflict and tension can lead to an evasive or escapist attitude to essential issues.

A Yod gives creativity and is essential for spiritual development.^[4] Neptune sextile Pluto provides transformational skills and talents that can be developed. It also provides energy, motivation, information and awareness to Venus, where you may be forced to make far-reaching decisions.

With less developed awareness, you experience Venus spontaneously in an unconscious process. You would share undealt with psychological issues, think you have no significant problems, and blame others for mistakes. This is transferring guilt. You could also transfer idealized or negative images into your partner, putting them on a pedestal or seeing them as the enemy.

A series of dramas or turning points can trigger an evolutionary leap that broadens your mind. You feel things more emotionally than physically and share your ideas with others. More intellectual thinking then leads to more developed willpower and awareness that helps you gain more control over your life.

Venus Retrograde 2023, as the Yod apex, will give you a higher awareness of love and relationships that continually expands. Eventually, you may see the evolutionary plan in a visionary way and then begin to implement a small piece of it.

Venus Retrograde Dates

• 2021, December 19 to January 29, 2022 – 26° to 11° Capricorn
• 2023, July 22 to September 3 – 28° to 12° Leo
• 2025, March 1 to April 12 – 10° Aries to 24° Pisces

References

1. Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology, Vivian E. Robson, 1923, p.130.
2. Fixed Stars and Their Interpretation, Elsbeth Ebertin, 1928, p.150.
3. The Fixed Star Health and Behavior Imbalance, Ted George and Barbara Parker, 1985, p.62.
4. Aspect Pattern Astrology, Bruno and Louise Huber, 2005, p.187.