Venus retrograde 2026
Venus retrograde 2026 is Oct 3 to Nov 14. About that text.
The planet of love, money and looks backs up through Scorpio and Libra, and old names start lighting up phones. Here are the exact dates, computed, and what to do with the feelings.
Photo: Rahul Pandit / Burst
At a glance
Venus is retrograde Oct 3 to Nov 14, 2026. Retrograde now.
- Retrograde
- Oct 3 to Nov 14about 42 days, 8°29′ Scorpio back to 22°52′ Libra
- Whole cycle with shadows
- Aug 31 to Dec 15106 days
- Venus meets the Sun
- Oct 24, 20260°45′ Scorpio
- Back into Libra
- Oct 25, 2026returns to Scorpio Dec 4
- Mercury retrograde too
- Oct 24 to Nov 1320 days with both backing up
See where 22°52′ Libra to 8°29′ Scorpio falls in your chartFree birth chart, computed from the same ephemeris.
The dates
Venus retrograde 2026, start to finish
Try this today
- Put Nov 14, 2026 in your calendar as "Venus turns". It helps to know there is an end date.
- Look west about half an hour after sunset in the days before Oct 3, 2026. Venus is the brightest point there.
- Keep one note on your phone for the whole retrograde: what you are tempted by, what you miss, what you would buy. Read it back when Venus turns.
If you took the trash out after sunset in September, you may have seen it: one steady, bright point low in the west, brighter than anything else in the dusk. That was Venus, the evening star. As it drops toward the Sun it slows, stops, and seems to back up. That is the retrograde.
Here is the whole cycle. On Aug 31, 2026 Venus reaches 22°52′ Libra, which starts the pre-shadow: it is crossing ground it will later retrace. On Oct 3, 2026 · 07:15 UTC it stations retrograde at 8°29′ Scorpio. It backs up for about 42 days, slips into Libra on Oct 25, 2026, and stations direct on Nov 14, 2026 · 00:27 UTC at 22°52′ Libra.
Then comes the slow walk back. Venus passes 8°29′ Scorpio again on Dec 15, 2026, and the post-shadow ends. Along the way it re-enters Scorpio on Dec 4, 2026. Counting both shadows, the whole thing lasts 106 days. That is a full season, so there is no need to hold your breath.
The sky behind it
Times are UTC from the JPL DE442 ephemeris, geocentric, tropical zodiac. A station is the moment Venus's longitude stops changing before its direction reverses. The shadow runs between the two station degrees, 22°52′ Libra and 8°29′ Scorpio, a span of about 16°.
Love
The old flame and the 1 a.m. text
Try this today
- Write the text you want to send in your notes app, not in the chat. Phone face down. Reread it tomorrow.
- Ask what you actually miss: the person, or who you were then.
- If you do reconnect, keep it light until Nov 14, 2026 and see how it feels once Venus turns.
You know the scene. It is late, the house is quiet, and a name you have not said out loud in a year turns up on your screen. Or you are the one scrolling back through an old thread, thumb hovering.
This is the image most people have of Venus retrograde, and the tradition does support it. In Western astrology Venus stands for love, attraction, friendship and pleasure. When it moves backward, astrologers read those themes as turning back too: old feelings, old partners, old questions about what you want from love. It is treated as a season to review rather than to start.
That framing is useful even if you never read a chart. A memory coming back is information. It can tell you what you still miss, and also what you are glad you left. Nothing has to be decided tonight. Venus is in Scorpio at the start, a sign astrologers tie to depth, trust and the things we keep private, and it ends in Libra, which the tradition links with fairness, harmony and partnership. Read as a story, that is a move from "what did that really mean?" toward "what would be fair to both of us?"
Money and looks
The closet clean-out and the price tag you keep checking
Try this today
- Pull out three things you own and stopped wearing. Keep one, fix one, give one away.
- Leave the big purchase in the cart until Nov 14, 2026, when both Venus and Mercury are direct again. If you still want it, you have your answer.
- Save the haircut photo in a folder called "after Venus". See if you still love it in two weeks.
There is a jacket in a browser tab you have opened eleven times. There is a bag of clothes by the door you meant to donate in spring. And there is a haircut on your camera roll that would change everything, or so it feels at 11 p.m.
Venus also rules money, beauty and the things you value, so this retrograde is read as a time to look at all three again. In the traditional scheme Venus rules Taurus and Libra, and it sits in its detriment in the opposite signs, Aries and Scorpio. So this retrograde starts in a sign where Venus is considered less at home and finishes in one of its own.
Astrologers often suggest giving big changes to your look, or large treats for yourself, a little more thought than usual right now. The kind version of that advice: retrograde is great for the closet clean-out, the mending pile, the old favorites you forgot you owned. Rediscovering what you already love costs nothing. None of this is financial advice; your budget and needs come first.
Venus and Mercury
Venus and Mercury retrograde together for 20 days
Try this today
- Write the letter you never sent. You do not have to send it.
- Before signing anything with money in it, read it once more on a different day.
- Mark Nov 13, 2026 as the day the double retrograde ends.
Here is the part that makes astrologers sit up. Mercury stations retrograde on Oct 24, 2026 · 07:12 UTC at 20°59′ Scorpio, the same day Venus meets the Sun. It turns direct on Nov 13, 2026 at 5°02′ Scorpio. So for about 20 days, from Oct 24, 2026 to Nov 13, 2026, both planets are retrograde together.
Mercury covers talk, plans, messages and paperwork. Venus covers feelings and money. Put them together and the traditional reading is simple: re-read before you sign, and listen before you decide. It is a fine time for the long, honest conversation and a poor time for the hasty one. The overlap also covers Samhain and Halloween night, which is a nice excuse for candles, old photos and a call to someone you have been meaning to reach.
The sky
Why Venus seems to walk backward
Try this today
- Set an alarm for about an hour before sunrise a couple of weeks after Oct 24, 2026 and look east. That bright point is Venus, back as the morning star.
- Think of something in your life that looks like it is going backward but is really just being overtaken. Give it a little patience.
Venus never really reverses. It orbits the Sun inside Earth's orbit and moves faster than we do. About every 19 months it catches up with Earth and passes between us and the Sun. While it overtakes us, its position against the stars seems to slide backward. That is the retrograde, a trick of perspective, like a faster car seeming to drift backward as you pass it.
The middle of the retrograde is the inferior conjunction, when Venus lines up with the Sun: Oct 24, 2026 · 03:44 UTC at 0°45′ Scorpio. Before it, Venus is the evening star. After a short spell lost in the Sun's glare, it returns as the morning star before dawn. Astrologers call this meeting a Venus star point, and it has its own page. The next one comes 586 days later, on Jun 1, 2028.
These meetings repeat in a rhythm of about 8 years. The 2018 meeting fell at 3°06′ Scorpio, and the 2034 one falls at 28°23′ Libra, both close to this year's 0°45′ Scorpio. In those 8 years Venus meets the Sun 5 times, and joining the meeting points draws a five-pointed figure, the shape behind what is called the pentagram of Venus. People were tracking this long before telescopes: the Babylonian Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa records when the planet appeared and vanished on the horizon. Its exact dating is still debated.
The sky behind it
Wikipedia's article on apparent retrograde motion gives Venus a synodic period of about 584 days with roughly 41 days of retrograde motion. From our ephemeris list, the gap between this inferior conjunction and the next is 586 days, and the previous one was Mar 23, 2025 at 2°39′ Aries.
Love check-in
The Venus retrograde love check-in
No judgment, we have all hovered over that send button. Tap what you are tempted by and get a sensible read from the tradition, plus the date the coast is clear. All dates come from the ephemeris; the advice is tradition and common sense, not a forecast.
Be honest. What are you tempted by right now?
Tap one. You get a friendly, honest read from the tradition and the date the coast is clear, computed from the ephemeris. Venus is retrograde Oct 3, 2026 to Nov 14, 2026.
More to read
Shorter reads. Each opens in place.
Signs and houses
Signs affected by Venus retrograde 2026
Your best friend is a Scorpio, your sister is a Libra, and the group chat wants to know who gets it worst. The honest answer: the degrees matter more than the Sun sign. The retrograde works over one stretch of the zodiac, 22°52′ Libra to 8°29′ Scorpio. If you have a planet or an angle there, astrologers say you will notice it most. Next come the facing degrees: 22°52′ Aries to 8°29′ Taurus (opposite), and 22°52′ Capricorn to 8°29′ Aquarius and 22°52′ Cancer to 8°29′ Leo (square).
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The house of your chart holding those degrees is the part of life that gets the review. In the 7th it points to partners, in the 2nd to money and possessions, in the 10th to work and reputation. Calculate your free birth chart to see where it falls for you.
Plans
Weddings, first dates and other big plans
Venue deposit due in November? Breathe. Nothing in the sky cancels a booking. Some astrologers who choose wedding dates prefer to avoid Oct 3 to Nov 14, 2026, and some skip the shadow to Dec 15, 2026 too. That is a preference within the tradition, not a rule. Your people, your venue and your circumstances matter far more than any planet.
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Afterward
What the post-shadow is for
Think of it as the morning after a long talk: you know more than you did, and now you get to decide. From Nov 14, 2026 to Dec 15, 2026 Venus walks forward over the same ground again. Astrologers read this as the time to act on what the retrograde showed you: send the honest message, book the haircut you still want, buy the thing you are still thinking about.
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Venus retrograde 2026, to the minute
Every key moment of the cycle, then the Venus-Sun meetings on either side of this one.
| Date & time (UTC) | What happens | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 31, 2026 · 14:45 UTC | Pre-shadow begins | Venus reaches 22°52′ Libra |
| Oct 3, 2026 · 07:15 UTC | Venus stations retrograde | 8°29′ Scorpio |
| Oct 24, 2026 · 03:44 UTC | Venus meets the Sun (inferior conjunction) | 0°45′ Scorpio |
| Oct 24, 2026 · 07:12 UTC | Mercury stations retrograde | 20°59′ Scorpio |
| Oct 25, 2026 · 09:09 UTC | Venus slips back into Libra | Crosses 0° Scorpio backward |
| Nov 13, 2026 · 15:53 UTC | Mercury stations direct | 5°02′ Scorpio |
| Nov 14, 2026 · 00:27 UTC | Venus stations direct | 22°52′ Libra |
| Dec 4, 2026 · 08:12 UTC | Venus re-enters Scorpio | 0° Scorpio |
| Dec 15, 2026 · 18:43 UTC | Post-shadow ends | Venus passes 8°29′ Scorpio |
| Date (UTC) | Position | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 25, 2017 | 4°57′ Aries | |
| Oct 26, 2018 | 3°06′ Scorpio | Eight-year echo of this one |
| Jun 3, 2020 | 13°36′ Gemini | |
| Jan 9, 2022 | 18°43′ Capricorn | |
| Aug 13, 2023 | 20°28′ Leo | |
| Mar 23, 2025 | 2°39′ Aries | |
| Oct 24, 2026 | 0°45′ Scorpio | This retrograde |
| Jun 1, 2028 | 11°26′ Gemini | |
| Jan 6, 2030 | 16°16′ Capricorn | |
| Aug 11, 2031 | 18°17′ Leo | |
| Mar 20, 2033 | 0°22′ Aries | |
| Oct 21, 2034 | 28°23′ Libra | Eight-year echo of this one |
All times are UTC. In the Americas the local date can be a day earlier; in Asia and Australia a day later.
Quick answers
When is Venus retrograde 2026?
Venus is retrograde from Oct 3, 2026 to Nov 14, 2026, about 42 days. It stations retrograde at 8°29′ Scorpio and direct at 22°52′ Libra. It moves back into Libra on Oct 25, 2026. All dates are UTC.
Is Venus retrograde over? When does it end in 2026?
Not yet. Venus stays retrograde until Nov 14, 2026, when it turns direct at 22°52′ Libra. The post-shadow then runs to Dec 15, 2026.
When is the Venus retrograde 2026 shadow period?
The pre-shadow starts on Aug 31, 2026, when Venus first reaches 22°52′ Libra. The post-shadow ends on Dec 15, 2026, when Venus passes 8°29′ Scorpio again. Shadows included, the cycle lasts 106 days.
Is Venus retrograde good or bad for relationships?
Neither, in any fixed way. Astrologers read it as a time to review relationships rather than rush them, and link it with old feelings, old partners and old questions about what you value. It is usually framed as a time to talk honestly, not to end things on impulse. In 2026 Mercury is retrograde alongside it for 20 days, Oct 24 to Nov 13, so the tradition adds: listen twice, reply once.
Should I text my ex during Venus retrograde?
The tradition reads this season as one when old feelings resurface for review. A sensible middle path: write the message, wait a day, and if you still mean it, send it or save it for after Nov 14, 2026, when Venus turns direct. Your own judgment counts for more than the sky.
Can I get married or cut my hair during Venus retrograde?
Yes. Some astrologers prefer to avoid Oct 3, 2026 to Nov 14, 2026 for weddings and big beauty changes, and some avoid the shadow to Dec 15, 2026 too. That is a preference in the tradition, not a rule.
What signs are affected by Venus retrograde 2026?
Scorpio and Libra, because Venus moves back and forth over 22°52′ Libra to 8°29′ Scorpio. Next come 22°52′ Aries to 8°29′ Taurus (opposite) and 22°52′ Capricorn to 8°29′ Aquarius and 22°52′ Cancer to 8°29′ Leo (square). Anyone with planets or an angle in those degrees will notice it most, astrologers say.
When is Venus retrograde in 2027?
2027 has none. Venus turns retrograde about once every 19 months. The next one centers on its meeting with the Sun on Jun 1, 2028 at 11°26′ Gemini, in 2028.
