Venus Retrograde 2026: Going Into the Underworld

Sometimes we have to return to the roots before we can grow into something new.

There is something fascinating about the way Venus moves through this particular retrograde.

She begins in Libra, travels into Scorpio, turns around, and eventually returns to Libra again.

Almost as though she has gone somewhere, discovered something important, and come back seeing the same landscape differently.

And perhaps that is the real invitation of Venus retrograde.

Not to lose ourselves.

To go deep enough to find the parts of ourselves we may have left behind.

Venus enters her pre-retrograde shadow at 22°52′ Libra on 31 August, moves into Scorpio in September, and stations retrograde at 8°30′ Scorpio on 3 October. She then retraces her steps back into Libra on 25 October, before stationing direct at 22°52′ Libra on 13 November. The post-retrograde shadow finally ends on 15 December.

That's a long journey for a planet associated with love, relationships, pleasure, beauty, money, values and self-worth.

And I think there is something worth paying attention to in that journey.

Before we grow, we have to put down roots

We spend an enormous amount of time thinking about growth.

What we want to become.

What we want to achieve.

Where we're going next.

But trees don't grow tall by ignoring what is happening underneath them.

Before there is height, there are roots.

Before there is visible growth, there is an enormous amount happening in the dark.

Venus retrograde in Scorpio feels a little like that.

It asks us to look beneath the surface of the things we value and the relationships we have built around them.

What are you actually attached to?

What are you afraid to lose?

Where are you giving your power away?

What do you really want?

And perhaps the most uncomfortable question of all:

Do you still value this, or have you simply become accustomed to it?

Venus enters the underworld

Scorpio has a way of taking us somewhere deeper.

It isn't particularly interested in the polished version of the story.

It wants to know what is underneath it.

This can bring our attention towards intimacy, trust, vulnerability, desire, loyalty, shared resources and the complicated places where love and power can become tangled together.

Sometimes that means looking honestly at a relationship.

Sometimes it means looking at our relationship with money.

Sometimes it means recognising that something we thought we wanted no longer feels right.

And sometimes, rather inconveniently, it means admitting that we have been holding onto something simply because letting go would require us to change.

There is a difference between something being familiar and something being nourishing.

Venus retrograde gives us an opportunity to notice it.

I keep thinking about Persephone

The mythology of Persephone has been sitting in the back of my mind whilst thinking about this Venus retrograde.

Not because I think Venus retrograde is literally a journey into the underworld.

But because the story gives us such a beautiful language for transformation.

Persephone goes down as one version of herself and returns changed.

She doesn't simply come back and carry on as though nothing happened.

She knows something now that she didn't know when she left.

And I think there is something deeply human in that.

Sometimes we have to enter the uncomfortable places within ourselves before we understand what we actually need.

There are things we can only see once we stop looking away.

There are truths we can only hear when everything else becomes quiet.

And there are parts of ourselves that don't need fixing at all.

They simply need to be acknowledged.

The Venus-Sun conjunction

Around 24 October, Venus meets the Sun in an inferior conjunction at the beginning of Scorpio.

This is an important moment within the Venus retrograde cycle. Venus passes between Earth and the Sun, marking a transition in her cycle and, symbolically, a turning point in the retrograde journey.

I love the symbolism of this.

Venus disappears from view and begins the transition from evening star to morning star.

Something ends.

Something begins.

And perhaps what emerges isn't a completely different woman.

Perhaps it's simply a woman who understands herself a little better.

That distinction matters.

We don't always need to reinvent ourselves.

Sometimes we simply need to become more honest about who we already are.

What are you willing to see?

There is a particular kind of self-awareness that comes from looking at something you would rather not look at.

Perhaps you realise you have been over-giving in a relationship.

Perhaps you've been accepting less than you actually want because asking for more feels uncomfortable.

Perhaps you're staying because leaving would mean admitting that something didn't turn out the way you hoped.

Perhaps you have been telling yourself that you don't care when, actually, you care enormously.

Venus retrograde doesn't create these truths.

It can simply make them harder to avoid.

And whilst that might not always feel particularly comfortable, I don't think discomfort is necessarily a sign that something is wrong.

Sometimes discomfort is simply what honesty feels like when we're not used to it.

Then Venus returns to Libra

On 25 October, Venus retrograde moves back into Libra.

And suddenly, the questions change.

We've been down into Scorpio.

We've looked at intimacy, attachment, desire, trust, power and the things we don't always like admitting to ourselves.

Now we return to relationship.

How do I want to be loved?

What does reciprocity actually look like?

Where have I confused keeping the peace with being at peace?

What relationships allow me to remain fully myself?

Libra reminds us that relationships matter.

But healthy relationship doesn't require us to disappear inside it.

There is a difference between compromise and self-abandonment.

There is a difference between being considerate and constantly putting yourself last.

There is a difference between peace and simply avoiding difficult conversations.

Perhaps this is what Venus brings back from the underworld.

Not a demand to choose yourself over everyone else.

A deeper understanding of how to remain yourself whilst being in relationship with other people.

What Venus retrograde might ask you to reconsider

This isn't necessarily a period for making dramatic decisions.

In fact, I think the internet has made Venus retrograde rather unnecessarily frightening.

There is always a list of things we're apparently not supposed to do.

Don't get married.

Don't start a relationship.

Don't change your hair.

Don't buy anything expensive.

Don't make any financial decisions.

At this point, I'm surprised we're still allowed to leave the house.

I prefer to think about it differently.

Venus retrograde is an invitation to slow down long enough to notice what you're actually choosing.

You might reconsider a relationship.

You might revisit an old one.

You might rethink what you value.

You might change your relationship with money.

You might notice that your definition of beauty has changed.

You might realise that something you once desperately wanted no longer feels important.

Or you might discover that something you thought you'd outgrown is still deeply meaningful to you.

None of these things need to be forced.

They're simply worth noticing.

Your roots are allowed to change

There is something else I keep coming back to when I think about being rooted.

Being rooted doesn't mean staying exactly where you are.

Trees grow.

Roots grow too.

They spread.

They adapt.

They find their way around stones and obstacles.

They reach towards what nourishes them.

Sometimes they have to let go of what is no longer sustaining them.

I think we can do the same.

Being grounded doesn't mean becoming fixed.

It means knowing yourself well enough to grow without completely losing yourself in the process.

And perhaps that is one of the gifts of a Venus retrograde.

It gives us time to ask:

What am I building my life around?

Does it still feel true?

Does it nourish me?

Does it allow me to grow?

Venus through Scorpio: the descent

From the beginning of October until Venus returns to Libra on 25 October, the emphasis is deeply Scorpionic.

This is the part of the journey where we may find ourselves asking harder questions about intimacy, trust, attachment, desire and power.

What happens when you stop performing being okay?

What happens when you admit what you actually want?

What happens when you stop trying to control the outcome and become honest about what you feel?

You don't necessarily have to act on the answers.

Some things need to be understood before they can be changed.

Venus through Libra: the return

When Venus returns to Libra, we begin to bring those deeper realisations back into the world of relationship.

This is where the question becomes less What do I feel? and more How do I want to live this truth?

Perhaps you need a boundary.

Perhaps you need a conversation.

Perhaps you need to ask for more.

Perhaps you need to offer more.

Perhaps you need to walk away.

Perhaps you simply need to stop pretending that something feels fine when it doesn't.

The point isn't to create conflict.

It is to create greater honesty.

And then we emerge

Venus stations direct in Libra on 13 November.

I don't think we necessarily emerge from a retrograde with everything neatly resolved.

Life rarely works like that.

But perhaps we emerge knowing ourselves a little better.

Knowing what matters.

Knowing what doesn't.

Knowing which relationships feel reciprocal.

Knowing where we've been giving too much.

Knowing what we want to protect.

Knowing what we are ready to release.

And perhaps that's enough.

Because growth doesn't always begin with reaching upwards.

Sometimes it begins by going down.

Into the roots.

Into the parts of ourselves we don't usually look at.

Into the quiet places where our values live before we turn them into decisions.

And when we eventually begin to grow again, perhaps we're not becoming someone new.

We're simply growing from stronger ground.

Venus Retrograde through your Rising Sign

If you're not sure of your Rising Sign, you can find it on your birth chart. If you don't know your birth chart, this guide will be able to help you make sense of it. The house Venus is travelling through can show you where this process of reassessment may be particularly noticeable.

Aries Rising

Venus moves through your 7th and 8th Houses, bringing relationships, intimacy and shared resources into focus. You may be reconsidering what you need from partnership and where deeper trust is required.

Taurus Rising

Venus moves through your 6th and 7th Houses, asking you to look at the relationship between your daily life and your closest relationships. Where are you giving too much, and where do you need greater reciprocity?

Gemini Rising

Venus moves through your 5th and 6th Houses, bringing attention to pleasure, creativity, work and everyday routines. You may be remembering what makes life feel enjoyable rather than simply productive.

Cancer Rising

Venus moves through your 4th and 5th Houses, turning your attention towards home, emotional foundations, creativity and joy. What makes you feel truly at home in yourself?

Leo Rising

Venus moves through your 3rd and 4th Houses, inviting reflection around communication, family and your emotional foundations. Some old stories may be ready to be understood differently.

Virgo Rising

Venus moves through your 2nd and 3rd Houses, bringing questions around self-worth, money, values and communication. What do you genuinely value, and are your choices reflecting it?

Libra Rising

Venus moves through your 1st and 12th Houses, making this a particularly personal cycle of self-reflection. You may be reconsidering how you see yourself and which parts of yourself you are ready to bring back into the light.

Scorpio Rising

Venus moves through your 12th and 11th Houses, bringing attention to what happens beneath the surface and the communities you belong to. You may be quietly reconsidering where you feel safe enough to be fully yourself.

Sagittarius Rising

Venus moves through your 11th and 10th Houses, bringing friendships, community, career and public identity into focus. You may be questioning whether the future you're building actually reflects what you value now.

Capricorn Rising

Venus moves through your 10th and 9th Houses, asking you to reconsider ambitions, beliefs and the wider direction of your life. Success may be starting to mean something different to you.

Aquarius Rising

Venus moves through your 9th and 8th Houses, inviting deeper reflection around beliefs, intimacy, trust and vulnerability. Something you once believed about yourself may be ready to transform.

Pisces Rising

Venus moves through your 8th and 7th Houses, bringing intimacy and partnership into focus. You may be learning that deeper connection requires both vulnerability and boundaries.

A question to carry with you

"What am I ready to understand differently?"

You don't need to know the answer straight away.

Let yourself go a little deeper.

Look at the roots.

Notice what is nourishing you.

Notice what isn't.

And trust that you don't have to grow all at once.

Sometimes the most important work is happening where nobody else can see it.

Underneath the surface.

In the dark.

Where roots are quietly finding their way.