Venus Retrograde Update: No new relationships?

The original post.

A reader’s comment:

I’ve been reading a lot of articles online about the Venus Retrograde. Majority of them had said to not start any new relationships during this time. Then a few others said the opposite, that it is possible that you can meet someone during this time that would be like a “karmic” or “past life connection” and that not all relationships formed during this time are “doomed.” I’ve been reading up on all of this, because I am single right now. So what I’m taking from this is if by chance I would meet someone during this retrograde, keep my options open before I make any kind of commitment to one person?

I think of back when I was job searching a few years ago, and it was during a Mercury retrograde, a friend told me I could apply for jobs during that retrograde, but not to start or commit to any new jobs during that time. Wait until after the Retrograde.

So with any possible new relationships and Venus Retrograde, would it be safe to say to “date” & look around during this time and then after this the retrograde is over–that is when it is safe to make any exclusive commitments to someone specific? (If it were to happen of course).

It’s a great question because Venus retros happen every couple of years. We’re used to the warnings re Mercury retros, which happen 3 times per year. But to get into what Venus really is about is important.

My response sans capital letters because that’s how i roll:

i would say that your relationship radar and reasons/methods for relating are up for review during the retro, so your venus self might not be thinking with a full deck.

the warnings not to do things during retros i think is sourced in fear of making mistakes and the wrong commitments. but retros prime us to learn things – new things about ourselves. to learn about old patterns we were never yet able to see into.

so if you meet someone now, let it be what it is. could develop into something, could not. look at any relationship possibility as able to to show you something you need to see now about your expectations, boundaries, etc. – relationship things – because you need to see it.

if there’s some pattern in place about fairness or communication in your life, for example, and someone new comes along who dashes your habit against the rocks, that can be amazing. so if a new relationship starts now, it’s to introduce a new perspective that may or may not be useful for the long term.

pretty much everyone tells you not to start new things during a retro. but that’s a bias of mind that holds that mistakes are wastes of time and wastes of time are unacceptable. but the truth of it is that we need diversions and experiments in order to learn – learning something new about ourselves isn’t a waste of time. it’s the mind’s bias of progress looks like, which is in fact very limited.

so date and see what happens! you never know what’s waiting for you to learn and experience now that might change you. especially because venus is retroing in gemini, the sign of newness, freshness, and curiosity.

The same is true when it comes to how you use your resources. Time, money, energy, skills, and connections are all your resources. Where your attention goes – what I call “What gets in [to your brain/field/consciousness]” counts, too. And you might now be finding yourself rethinking where those resources go within relationship.

If new avenues of using resources of any kind are opening up now, treat them the same way I advise the commenter re relationships: maybe the new thing that is shiny and exciting will serve you over the long term and maybe it won’t. You can’t possibly know that now so let Venus retroing in Gemini bring you possibilities to teach you new things about you.

A note I think is important here specifically because Venus is in Gemini is that for some people these new things – re resources/skills and relationship – will be explored only to find that the shiny things don’t really work for them. Venus reserves the right to choose in what is invested and what will be fed. After exploring the new Gemini things one’s opinion and position can sometimes be seen clearly because the person has gone through a process of finding out what he or she doesn’t like. This is fine but we need Venus in Gemini – and its distractedness by shiny things – and Venus retros – with their invitation to revisit our notions of what is most important – in order to get our heads straight about Venus stuff in our lives.

Tom Jacobs is an Evolutionary Astrologer, Medium, and Channel helping you understand and do what your soul came here to do. Eleven books, two original natal reports, and numerous astrology and channeled MP3s are available through tdjacobs.com. Join Tom Jacobs when he channels Ascended Master Djehuty for a Full Moon Grounding & Release call for the Sagittarius Full Moon to release beliefs you no longer need so you can be more fully present and in compassionate charge of your life.