Venus retrograde - love’s shadow
Venus moves into retrograde motion once every 1-1/2 years creating an opportunity to reflect upon the aspect of Venus that is not often acknowledged – the shadow of love. In love we can feel complete, seen, supported, understood and desirable. Love can fill us up but it can also be difficult and complex. Love challenges us like nothing else. Love requires compassion, empathy, understanding, compromise and so much more.
To love someone and to allow ourselves to be loved takes courage. Love is an invitation to offer a part of ourselves to another in vulnerability and trust with the expectation that this gift will be received with the grace and the respect it deserves.
The aspect of Venus that governs the shadow side of love encompasses heart-break, betrayal, disappointment, sacrifice and surrender. In Venus’ shadow we can also find the resolve to walk away when we need to and the strength to say no when we have to.
On the 28th of March, Venus’ in retrograde motion moved out of Aries and will be travelling back through Pisces until 13th April. During this time painful memories may surface reminding us of the love wounds we carry. Under the influence of this mutable, watery sign we can give ourselves permission to acknowledge the pain held within our heart, mind and body and try to find a way to heal and take care of our wounded selves. We may want to slow down, take a breath and try to reconnect with the rhythm of our beating heart so we can be reminded of its constancy and ability to keep going despite the scarring and weight held within. We may need to exercise forgiveness for ourselves or another so we can move forward in reverence of all we’ve endured.
Love can impact how we see ourselves, both positively and negatively. During this retrograde period we can spend some time unpacking the love experience. It can be a good time to conduct a little health check to see if our values and self worth are still firmly intact or a little tarnished. We can reaffirm and restabilize the boundaries we put in place to protect ourselves. We can focus on the parts of ourselves that may need a little nourishment and care at this time to bring things back into balance so they can shine once again.