Venus retrograde: dates and meaning
See whether Venus is retrograde today, and every Venus retrograde from 2026 to 2033 with its dates and the shadow on either side. Then read what classical Vedic astrology makes of it: a planet counted strong, and no reason to worry.
Nothing to enter. The dates are the same for everyone, shown in your own time zone.
TaurusLibra
Friday · ŚukravāraThe planet of desire and beauty.What you want, and what you’ll bend to keep it.
Ritual · The Finishing TrayWorking it out…
Every Venus retrograde, 2026 to 2033
| Turns retrograde | Turns direct | Sign | Shadow |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Oct 2026 | 14 Nov 2026 | Libra to VirgoWestern: Scorpio to Libra | 31 Aug 2026 to 15 Dec 2026 |
| 10 May 2028 | 22 Jun 2028 | TaurusWestern: Gemini | 7 Apr 2028 to 26 Jul 2028 |
| 16 Dec 2029 | 26 Jan 2030 | SagittariusWestern: Capricorn | 15 Nov 2029 to 27 Feb 2030 |
| 20 Jul 2031 | 1 Sep 2031 | Leo to CancerWestern: Leo | 16 Jun 2031 to 5 Oct 2031 |
| 27 Feb 2033 | 10 Apr 2033 | Pisces to AquariusWestern: Aries to Pisces | 26 Jan 2033 to 13 May 2033 |
Dates in UTC; a station close to midnight can fall on the neighbouring date where you are. The status box above uses your own time zone.
What Venus retrograde is
Every 19 months or so, Venus appears to stop, move backward through the zodiac for about six weeks, stop again and then move forward. It does not really reverse: Venus, on the inside track, is overtaking the Earth, and from where we stand it seems to slide back against the stars.
You can watch it happen. In the weeks before, Venus is the evening star, the bright light low in the west after sunset. Halfway through, it is too close to the Sun to see. It comes back as the morning star, low in the east before sunrise.
Around each retrograde is a shadow: the weeks before, when Venus first crosses the degrees it will later go back over, and the weeks after, when it crosses them a third time. For Venus each side runs to about a month. The shadow is an idea from modern Western astrology, and the list below gives its dates.
What classical Vedic astrology says
Most horoscopes read these six weeks as a time when love, money and looks tend to go sideways. The classical texts read a retrograde planet the other way: as strong. They give a planet moving backward the highest motional strength it can have, and hold its strength equal to that of a planet in its best sign.
Venus is classical astrology's name for desire, and its list runs to marriage, the partner, good clothes, flowers, music, income and the vehicle. So in this reading, all of them carry more weight in these six weeks.
The texts measure a planet's strength in several separate ways, and sign and motion are two of them. By sign, Venus is at its best in Pisces and at its weakest in Virgo. By motion, moving backward gives it the most strength it can have, whatever the sign. When a retrograde reaches Pisces or Virgo, the box at the top says so.
Sensible habits for the six weeks
Popular astrology's advice for these weeks is to slow down on big changes to your looks, your spending and your relationships. It comes from popular astrology, not the classical texts, and it is good sense on any day.
We suggest using the weeks the other way round. Venus is going back over its own ground, so go back over the things on its classical list. Mend the coat you stopped wearing. Clean the car, or the bag you carry every day. Put on an album you used to love, on purpose, one evening. And tell your partner, or a friend, one specific thing you like about them.
Vedic and Western signs
The dates are the same in both zodiacs. Venus stops and turns on the same day whichever count you use, so the periods on this page match any other calendar. Only the sign names differ.
Vedic astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, counted against the fixed stars. Most horoscope apps use the tropical zodiac, tied to the seasons. The two sit about 24 degrees apart, so a retrograde in Western Scorpio often falls in Vedic Libra. The Vedic · Western switch shows the signs either way, and the two rulers at the top show why they differ.
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Open the sample readingIs Venus retrograde right now?
Venus is retrograde for about six weeks every 19 months or so. The box at the top shows whether today is one of them, with the dates of the current or next retrograde. With the shadow on either side, about a month each, the whole stretch runs to three and a half months.
Is Venus retrograde bad?
Classical Vedic astrology counts it as strong. Most horoscopes read these weeks as a rough patch for love and money. The advice that comes with it, slowing down on big changes, is sensible on any day. Nothing here predicts that anything will go wrong.
What not to do during Venus retrograde?
The popular list says no dramatic change to your looks, no rushed relationship decision and no big impulse purchase of something beautiful. The classical texts give no such list, and count a retrograde Venus as strong. We would keep the list anyway, as good sense, and add one thing to do: look after something on Venus's list, such as the clothes you wear most.
Which signs does Venus retrograde affect?
Popular astrology points to the signs Venus moves backward through, shown in the table, and to the two it rules, Taurus and Libra. In a Vedic reading, what matters is where those signs fall in your own chart, and your rising sign decides that. Our free Vedic birth chart shows which part of your life each sign holds for you.
Do exes come back during Venus retrograde?
In popular astrology, they tend to: the planet of love goes back over old ground, so old loves come back to mind, or to the inbox. The classical texts don't say who returns. It does read these weeks as desire at full strength, so if someone gets in touch, give it a day before you answer.
Is it bad to start a relationship during Venus retrograde?
The classical texts count a retrograde Venus as strong and give no warning about starting a relationship then. Its one caution is narrower: some ceremonies were not held while Venus sat close to the Sun, as it does in the middle of every retrograde. A relationship rests on the two people in it far more than on the week it began.
I was born with Venus retrograde. What does that mean?
In classical astrology, a planet retrograde at your birth is counted as strong. Venus is the tradition's name for desire, so the reading leans toward love, beauty and pleasure carrying extra weight in your life. How that tends to show depends on the rest of your chart: Venus's sign, its house, and what else touches it. Our free Vedic birth chart shows whether your Venus was retrograde.
Do other planets go retrograde?
Yes. Every planet except the Sun and the Moon appears to move backward at times. Mercury does it about three times a year, which is why it has its own page here. Mars goes retrograde every two years or so, and Jupiter and Saturn for four to five months every year. Venus spends less of its time moving backward than any of them.
Venus is one planet. What you want to fix may rest on another.
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