I have been remiss in writing about the 2026 Venus retrograde, as it started on October 3. Life has been very intrusive after returning from Scotland last month. Of course Venus retrograde conjures up the ideas of romance, relationship and mixes it with the mystique of the past but, as my chart resonates with this one, I can tell you that Venus retrograde is broadly partnership and, as we often forget, money, diplomacy, litigation and court battles.
Mars Oppose Pluto – When You Are Going Through Hell Just Keep Going
This Venus retrograde has at its core aspect Leo Mars oppose retrograde Aquarius Pluto by a razor sharp five minutes with the outlet of the Scorpio Mercury or retrograde Aries Neptune. A very close shave. And that lies at the heart of this retrograde period. Many come to the brink and the easy energy takes one to Neptunian dissolution but the hard energy takes you to Scorpio Mercury. Can you work with others and think your way out? Or will it fall apart?
In my case, sharing the writing of a letter that had to be signed by two others appears to have been our release. Scorpio Mercury in the third house. It sounds simple but the tension of the Mars-Pluto opposition caused me to vomit twice before the first of three crucial meetings. I can’t remember stress having this effect on me before. Maybe feeling sick but actually being sick was a first. The closest way to describe that moment is that it is hell. The weight of the world on you. Mars oppose Pluto is blows from a hammer on a anvil. With Leo in the mix as the Ascendant and the sign of Mars, it is forged metal too. You are lying there weak and molten with blows raining down. During this period, I found myself watching a story about someone who faced something worse who used the movie Finding Nemo to inspire them to keep going. Keep swimming. As I drove into work the next morning, I was furiously thinking and came upon an idea that just might work. I rapidly sent an email to ask some questions that hopefully might resolve the matter.
The transit Scorpio Mercury is conjunct my Midheaven and my Sun is conjunct the transit Ceres. For me this was a test of my career and my prior experience, would I be found worthy? Scorpio is the zodiac sign of inner value. While Taurus, which is ruled by Ceres in my opinion, you display outward value and wealth but Scorpio is inward value and wealth. Tests of Scorpio’s ruler Pluto are about finding your mettle. My own Libra Pluto opposed the transit retrograde Aries Saturn. I found myself in the final of the crucial meetings facing a bunch of very young public servants, Aries Saturn, who nevertheless were in charge.
This Venus retrograde’s chart ruler is its 10° Libra Sun. The Sabian symbol is “a canoe approaching safety through dangerous waters”. This is the energy of this Venus retrograde. Returning to the past and undergoing a test of inner values and worth. Are you the pilot of that canoe or a passenger? The Venus retrograde begins on 8° Scorpio which is “a moon shining across a lake” and ends on 22° Libra which is “a child giving birds a drink at a fountain”. Venus retrograde is Inanna or Persephone, who must descend into hell and come through it, starts her journey by the need to cross a dangerous lake at night. That strikes me that my test was also about transmitting my experience to the young. The dangerous waters have now become a fountain. Even I can see that leading the young public servants through the dangerous waters has resulted in new experience for them. Aries Saturn again.
The myth of Inanna, which tells us of the retrograde cycle of Venus, chronicles the descent of a beautiful queen into hell. In myth, hell is the world of the underworld which is the grave of mankind. Inanna is stripped of her clothes and then judged, killed and hung on a meat hook. She is revived and, upon her return to the land of the living, finds she has faithful servants but a faithless husband. Galla demons demand a replacement but she stops them from taking each faithful person but allows them to take her husband. This retrograde period is less about the descent into hell but the aftermath of Inanna’s revival. The 2026 retrograde Venus cazimi is on October 23 at 11:46 pm (eastern time). Cazimi is the moment in the retrograde period when the old karma is cleansed by the rays of the Sun.
The layers of astrological meaning move from the realm of the mundane to the profound. A test of Pluto turns into an educational experience. What follows becomes profound, the cleansing of old karma, rejuvenation albeit, at great loss, and the Scorpionic transformation of the soul. The mundane test turns to the spiritual, are you worthy? What is your worth? Two doors immediately opened for me. Both require experience that can transmit education to the young. Rebirth through the mundane. Anybody can be replaced. Confronting the day when I won’t be there. Who will take my place? Sharing with the young. Scorpio Mercury.
Inanna’s husband was the indolent queen who she had been when she walked into the gates of hell. Due to her romantic advances being rejected by Gilgamesh, she had likely sent her sister’s husband after Gilgamesh to kill him but was instead killed. Inanna descended into hell dressed as a radiant queen to attend Gugalanna’s funeral. Upon returning stripped of her former self, she judged herself by sending her indolent husband to hell in her place. This is a twofold message to those who are experienced and those who are not. When you find yourself in hell just keep going. Pluto will remove what has become dead but he does not rule the living. So long as you are moving you are living.