Venus, goddess of Love and Beauty, goes retrograde in our skies about every year and a half. When she does, she takes us into a six-week journey into the past to uncover what may be the hidden or forgotten places in our relationships.
How 2012’s Venus Retrograde period feels and what it means:
Venus in Gemini . . . is like a butterfly, fluttering around a field, sampling all the flowers.
Admittedly, Venus and Gemini are an odd mix—Venus is about creating relationship while Gemini is sporadic, intellectual and can be quite emotionally distant. One thing they agree on is that communication is key for good relationships, but Venus likes to keep it warm while Gemini likes to keep it cool.
Venus in Gemini reminds me of this quote from the musical The King and I. Anna the royal governess and the King of Siam are having an argument about whether men can be monogamous. The King maintains that women are monogamous and men are not, and that it’s unseemly for a woman to behave like a man:
“A girl is like a blossom
With honey for just one man.
A man must be like honey bee
and gather all he can.
To fly from blossom to blossom
A honey bee must be free,
But blossom must not ever fly
From bee to bee to bee!”
Venus in Gemini would heartily disagree with this point of view. Venus in Gemini doesn’t have to be nonmonogamous, but while occupying the extremely distractible sign of Gemini, it’s true that Venus would prefer to sample as many of life’s and love’s pleasures as possible, before settling down with just one bee.
Naturally, this approach has its upside and its downside. Getting to sample partners and relationships will leave one with experience, self-knowledge and a rich relationship history. However, it may also leave one with a tendency to be perennially seeking and dissatisfied with relationship continuity, always looking over the shoulder of today’s partner in anticipation of tomorrow’s. This can be a challenge for men and women both.
This year’s Venus retrograde in Gemini provides you with an opportunity to explore fidelity and change, perhaps bringing answers to the vital question, “How do I keep my relationship intact and interesting?” As to whether those answers come the easy way or the hard way—well, that’s up to you, isn’t it?
The technical details:
This year Venus does her retrograde journey in the sign of Gemini, from May 15 to June 27, 2012. This may bring up relationship issues which do not fully resolve until Venus has again turned direct (on June 27) and passed the degree of Gemini where she turned retrograde (on July 31). On that day (July 31) she will be done retracing old relationship ground and her mission to teach us about relationships will be over for the year. If you have anything at all in your chart between 7 and 23 degrees of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius or Pisces, this will likely affect you.
For more about the Venus Retrograde period and how it feels, look here: This Year’s Venus Retrograde
