Lesson 6: Design Your Dream Relationship
Venus Returns: Your Yearly Hotspot
Every 225 days we will have a Venus return. That’s the day on which transiting Venus returns to the same zodiac sign and degree as your natal Venus. Much like a romantic birthday, your Venus return indicates fresh starts. New love may blossom, or you may experience a renewed attraction to a mate. This might also be the time to break free from an unfulfilling entanglement, remembering to put yourself first. A Venus return often heralds a significant moment in love or a creative breakthrough. You might start a decorating project or overhaul your wardrobe so it’s more “you.” And hello, life of the party! You’ll be the nucleus of your network, eager to dress up and flirt with anyone cute who looks your way.
Use an ephemeris to find the date of your Venus return. (Here are links for 2017, 2018 and 2019, so you can locate the last time Venus was at the same sign and degree it was at when you were born.)
Note: You may not see the exact degree of your natal Venus listed on the ephemeris, but you can find its window on one particular day. The number listed on the ephemeris for each day notes where the planet will be as the start of the day — 00:00AM.
Also, be sure to look through the ephemeris for the entire year. Did Venus have a retrograde? Venus goes retro every other year, which is indicated by an “R” in the Venus column. (The “D” means direct.) When Venus is retrograde — as it was in 2018 in Scorpio from October 6 to 31, then Libra from October 31 to November 16—you may have multiple Venus returns in one year because it can pass over the same point three times. If you want to know the exact minute that your Venus return will take place, use an app like AstroGold or Solar Fire to determine! Or, just celebrate the loving spirit for the entire day.
EXAMPLE:
To demonstrate using an ephemeris to find your Venus return(s), we'll use our own chart (left, sample Natal + Transits chart from astro.com). We were born with Venus at 9º57" of sizzling Scorpio. Because of the retrograde in 2018, we had three Venus returns—highly unusual, but it happened!
The first Venus return took place while transiting Venus drove forward over 9º57" on September 28.
Then, on October 12, the love planet reversed back to 9º57" while retrograde, heralding return number two.
Then, one final pass in direct motion on December 17, bringing it all home.
Interpretation:
This particular Venus return took place in our 10th house of career and 9th house of travel, publishing and education. By divine timing, we organized a pop-up Facebook group about LOVE near the first Venus pass on September 28. Three days after the second return on October 12 (which was during Venus retrograde), we premiered this course—Design Your Dream Relationship—and took it on its maiden voyage.
Career-wise, these Venus returns have been fulfilling! Not only did we teach our first-ever webinar but we launched our 2019 Horoscope Guide—two projects that are dear to our hearts. But the 9th and 10th house placement of our natal Venus left us feeling married to the job. Tali spent nearly the entire retrograde apart from her husband Cory, working in New York City for almost the entire month of October. In November, she traveled to Miami for a very Venusian (translation: glamorous and gorgeous!) rooftop appearance at the 1 Hotel. Awesome, indeed! But bittersweet, due to the extended separation from her husband.
Thankfully, there's one more return to go! A long-overdue chance at romance arrives with the final (non-retrograde) pass in December. With Venus already out of retrograde, she and Cory are have decided to skip family events and have their own "just the two of us" Thanksgiving together at home.
EXERCISE: Using an ephemeris, find the date of your last (or upcoming) Venus return.
(Here are links for 2017, 2018 and 2019.)
My natal Venus is at _______ degreesº and ______minutes ".
My closest Venus Return took place/will take place on this date: ______________________
THINK IT OVER: Did anything significant happen on or near (within a few days of) this date? If your Venus return is forthcoming, what would you like to plan for this momentous occasion?