We have a Venus retrograde coming up in Capricorn. The last time Venus was retrograde in Capricorn, was in December 2013 to January 2014, from 13 degrees to 28 degrees of Capricorn. While, of course, the retrograde events will not duplicate themselves, it might be useful to think about what was going on then as you reflect on the upcoming retrograde passage.

The last time Venus was retrograde at all was in May to June 2020 from 5-21 Gemini, and in October-November 2018 in Scorpio and Libra. There may be patterns of experience that can be tracked by reflecting on what happened during these time periods of recent Venus retrogrades.

Venus Retrograde in Capricorn Dates and Degrees: 

December 19, 2021, to January 29, 2022

Retrograde degrees: 11-26 Capricorn

Venus in Capricorn is in a Saturn ruled sign. It’s in a physical and material earthy sign. That Saturn influence adds that planet’s tones to  the topics of love, beauty, pleasure, enjoyment, connection, creative expression, and the arts.. 

In romantic relationships as well as friendships, Venus in Capricorn love and affection is concerned with duty, loyalty, commitment, the long-term, sacrificing today for a better tomorrow.  Love looks like discipline, duty, responsibility, actually being there, tangibly showing love through physical touch or through thoughtful gestures that show you thought through something and performed an act of service that materially improves the other person’s life. Venus in Capricorn is about love being mature, stable, real and secure in all senses. 

While Venus is typically discussed in terms of relationships, it has to do with much more than that, and Venus retrograde will extend to embrace all the experiences of life that are within Venus’ realm. 

Stand out feature of this retrograde:

Venus will be conjunct Pluto for a long time.  Before it stations at 26 degrees Capricorn (while Pluto is at 25) it is inching along very slowly across the sky. That means the Venus-Pluto themes are building and intensified for quite a long time, thrumming in the background (or forefront!) of consciousness, and impacting all Venus topics. These certainly include love and relationships, but as stated above, extend to many other areas of life as well. 

Venus Pluto topics include: 

• A woman going through a transformation
• Intense focus on the feminine and feminine topics
• A psychological bubbling of up of memories of past relationships, and the emotional trail that leads to
• A challenging invitation to re-examine and morph  a relationship or friendship dynamic 
• Examining a relationship or a form of creative expression from the past that was challenging and seeing if we want to go there again, seeing how it might invite us to re-examine some aspects of ourselves or other people that  we’d rather not, or that move us into the realm of “un-pleasant”. Unpleasant and challenging are not Venus words. These are very often Pluto words, Mars words, Saturn words.  These are concepts and experiences that accompany an activated Pluto.  However, Pluto and Venus are dancing together for this Venus Retrograde. And this retrograde is about honestly, clarity, digestion or processing (choose your word), and tangible or material change as a result of this processing. 
• Transformation of love and relationships, or through love and relationships
• Power struggles in the context of a relationship, or this energy being funneled through a relationship
• Potential for paranoia and control themes
• Artists and others who express themselves creatively may revisit former themes in their work or find that they are pulled into exploring their work more deeply, challenging (and/or fertile/rich) topics or explorations may arise..

The Opportunity of this Astrology

• This astrology is a great opportunity to process any previous relationship experiences – if they come up – and remove them from the energetic and psycho-somatic-spiritual system, or consciously re-relate to them.

• It is a great opportunity to really examine where the heart energy flows into in our lives and what are all the thought forms related to that that might be heavy, that we don’t want or need anymore, that are just serving as weights that we accept but that have outlived their function in our lives

• It is a great opportunity to dig into the art or cultures  of the past
• It’s a great opportunity to deepen existing relational dynamics in that honest, clear, substantial way.  This energy almost demands clarity about commitment, clarity about “where we stand”, etc. 

Dynamics may shift behind the scenes first before they are apparent outwardly. First a seed of change has to be planted inside a person before it becomes an action, thought or awareness that is then expressed outwardly. LIkewise, people may need time to sort through a change that is happening inside them before they can articulate it externally. 

So by the end of the Venus retrograde there is the possibility that totally new creative/pleasurable/artistic/relational dynamics are established.  Venus processes happen on a timescale that our brains are used to relating to — weeks and months. But with any Pluto experience, it may take some time to integrate the changes that Pluto invites us to contemplate, enact, or experience.  

The astrology can show up in many ways. These are some possible ways it can show up, and some themes to help you see how it can show up in your life. 

The power and medicine here is knowing that this dynamic is playing out. In situations that challenge us, we can know that this energetic dynamic is playing out, and it has its own timeline and its own requests that it is making of us. Knowing this we can recognize the energy, and work with it more harmoniously rather  than resist it and create disharmony in ourselves or externally. 

How will this show up in your life? 

If you have planets where Venus is retrograding.

If you are in a Venus ruled profection year. 

If you are in a Capricorn rising profection year. 

If you have points (AC, Dsc, MH, IC) where Venus is retrograding

If you are in a relationship situation that is tenuous 

If you are an artist or creative person experiencing a transition or a shift right now

If someone you love qualifies under any of the above

Venus Retrograde Transit Highlights:

Venus retrograde in Capricorn degrees: 11 to 26 Capricorn

Venus enters the degrees she will retrograde on November 18

Venus is stationary at 26 degrees beginning Dcember 15

Venus stations retrograde at 26 degrees on December 19

Venus is stationary whale retrograde at 11 degrees on January 23

Venus stations direct on January 29 at 11 degrees Capricorn and remains at 11 degrees through February 5