Venus retrograde in Scorpio and Libra · 2026
Will my ex come back? Here's what the sky actually says.
Venus is retrograde Oct 3 to Nov 14, the season astrologers tie to old flames. An honest guide, plus a check that finds the exact days it touches your chart.
Photo: Shopify Photos / Burst
At a glance
No chart can promise a reunion, but the ex theme is loud now: Venus is retrograde Oct 3 to Nov 14, 2026, and loudest for you if it crosses your Venus, Mars or 7th house.
- Venus retrograde
- Oct 3 to Nov 148°29′ Scorpio back to 22°52′ Libra
- Full shadow
- Aug 31 to Dec 15106 days
- Double retrograde
- Oct 24 to Nov 13Venus and Mercury both retrograde
- Reset point
- Oct 24Sun-Venus conjunction, 0°45′ Scorpio
Run my ex checkFree, in your browser. Your exact contact dates.
The honest answer
Will my ex come back? What astrology can and can't tell you
Try this today
- Before you check anything, write one line: what would you want if they came back? Closure, a second chance, an apology?
- Run the check below and note your dates. Most of the action sits between Aug 31 and Dec 15.
- Have one specific question? Horary astrology is built for it: one question, one chart, cast for the moment you ask.
Ask one question with horaryVenus retrograde 2026, the full calendar
It's 12:40 a.m. You've opened their profile, closed it, opened it again. You've reread the last message so many times the words have stopped meaning anything. And somewhere in your feed a stranger is promising that "your ex is coming back this week."
Here's the honest version. No chart can tell you what another person will decide. Astrology is a tradition of reading timing and themes, not a remote control for someone else's heart. Anyone who sells you a guaranteed reunion is selling you something.
What the tradition can do is show when the theme of the past is loud for you. And right now it is loud for a lot of people: Venus, the planet astrologers give to love, is retrograde from Oct 3 to Nov 14, 2026, moving backward through Scorpio into Libra. Of all the sky's cycles, this is the one astrologers tie most closely to exes, old flames and unfinished love stories.
So this page does two things. It explains what Venus retrograde 2026 actually is, with every date computed from NASA's ephemeris. And it gives you a real check: put in your birth data and see whether this retrograde touches your Venus, your Mars or your 7th house, and on which days.
The sky behind it
Status when this page was built: Venus is retrograde right now: day 24 of 42, direct on Nov 14. All dates are UTC; Venus turns direct at 00:27 UTC on Nov 14, which is still the evening of the day before across the Americas.
Venus retrograde 2026
Why exes resurface during Venus retrograde
Try this today
- Notice who you think about this month without trying. That's useful information about you, whatever they do.
- Around Oct 24, journal one page: what did that relationship teach you about what you want?
- Getting a "hey stranger"? You don't have to answer the same night.
Venus doesn't really reverse. Every 19 months or so it passes between the Earth and the Sun, and from where we stand it seems to slide backward against the stars for about six weeks. This time it stations retrograde at 8°29′ Scorpio on Oct 3 and turns direct at 22°52′ Libra on Nov 14: 42 days in reverse.
Astrologers read the retrograde as Venus going back over old ground, so its theme is review. Old feelings come back for another look. People from your past cross your mind, your feed, sometimes your inbox. Values get rethought: what you want from love, what you'll put up with, what you actually miss.
This one has a particular flavor. It starts in Scorpio, the sign of intensity, secrets and things left unsaid, and backs into Libra on Oct 25, the sign of partnership and fairness, which Venus rules. Read plainly: the deep, unresolved stuff first, then the question of whether the partnership itself was fair.
The heart of it comes on Oct 24, when Venus lines up with the Sun at 0°45′ Scorpio. Astronomers call it inferior conjunction: Venus leaves the evening sky and reappears as the morning star. Astrologers read it as a reset point, the moment one chapter of the Venus story ends and the next begins.
The sky behind it
The full loop is longer than the retrograde. Venus first crosses 22°52′ Libra on Aug 31 (the pre-shadow), walks back over the stretch while retrograde, and leaves it for good on Dec 15 (the post-shadow): 106 days across 15.63° of sky. It entered Scorpio on Sep 10, re-enters Scorpio direct on Dec 4, and moves on into Sagittarius on Jan 7, 2027.
Your dates
The three passes: when your chart gets the message
Try this today
- Run the check, then put your three dates in your calendar with a kind note to yourself.
- On the middle date, don't make big decisions after midnight. Sleep on them.
- On the last date, ask: if they came back, what would actually be different?
Here's the part most ex horoscopes skip, and it's the part that makes this personal. Venus covers the stretch from 22°52′ Libra to 8°29′ Scorpio three times: forward, backward, forward again. Any planet or point in your chart inside that stretch gets touched three times.
Astrologers read the three passes as a story in three acts. The first pass (in the pre-shadow) brings a hint: a memory, a song, a dream. The second pass (retrograde) is the replay, the stretch when the past feels closest and contact is most likely in the tradition's read. The third pass (after Venus turns direct) is the final word, where you decide what the story means now.
For example, 23°00′ Libra is crossed on Aug 31, Nov 11, Nov 16. At the other end, 8°00′ Scorpio gets its passes on Sep 28, Oct 8, Dec 15. The full table is further down.
What counts as a love point? Your natal Venus (how you love), your Mars (desire), your Moon (what you need) and your Descendant, the cusp of your 7th house, the house of partners and, yes, exes. If one of those sits between 22°52′ Libra and 8°29′ Scorpio, this is your retrograde. The check below finds out for you.
The 8-year echo
Think back to autumn 2018
Try this today
- Scroll your photos back to October 2018. Who's there? What were you feeling?
- Write the 2018 version of you a short note. What would you tell them about love?
- If the same pattern is showing up now, name it out loud. That's how it loses its grip.
Venus has a famous rhythm: five of its cycles fit almost exactly into eight Earth years, so its retrogrades come back to nearly the same part of the zodiac every eight years. The last time Venus went retrograde in Scorpio and Libra was Oct 5, 2018 to Nov 16, 2018, from 10°50′ Scorpio back to 25°15′ Libra.
The 2026 loop sits just 2.3° earlier than 2018's, so it covers almost the same ground in your chart. Many astrologers suggest looking back: who was in your life in October and November 2018? What were you working out about love then? The tradition reads the echo as the same lesson coming back, with eight years of growing up on your side.
This is not a rule that the same person returns. Sometimes the echo is a theme, not a name: the same kind of relationship, the same boundary you didn't hold, the same thing you finally stopped settling for. Spotting it is half the point.
The sky behind it
Both loops computed with the same method from JPL DE442. 2018: retrograde 41.7 days, arc 15.6°, Sun-Venus conjunction Oct 26, 2018 at 3°06′ Scorpio. 2026: retrograde 41.7 days, arc 15.63°, conjunction Oct 24, 2026 at 0°45′ Scorpio.
The decision
Should you take them back? A gentle checklist
Try this today
- Write down the real reason it ended, in one sentence. Is that reason still true?
- Ask for one concrete change, not a promise. Watch what happens over a few weeks.
- If you're unsure, let the date pass: Dec 15 is when this loop fully closes.
Say they do text. Astrology's traditional advice during any Venus retrograde is to review before you recommit: big new love decisions are usually suggested for after Venus turns direct on Nov 14, or after the shadow ends on Dec 15 if you can wait. That's the tradition, not a rule, and you know your situation better than any planet.
What helps more than any transit is being honest with yourself. Why did it end? Has the reason changed, or just the loneliness? Is this a person coming back, or a feeling? Are they offering an apology, a plan, or just a "wyd"?
A retrograde reunion can be beautiful when something really has changed: two people who grew up, a timing problem that solved itself. It can also be a rerun with the same ending. Neither outcome is written in your chart. And if anything about the relationship made you feel unsafe, no transit is a reason to go back; please talk to someone you trust.
Try it
Does this retrograde touch your love life?
Enter your birth details and we find every day between Aug 31, 2026 and Dec 15, 2026 when Venus, or retrograde Mercury, makes an exact contact to your Venus, Mars, Sun, Moon or Descendant, plus the houses it walks through. Add their birthday to see whether the retrograde touches them too.
Your return-of-the-past check
Your birth date, time and town. No time? Tick the box and we skip the Moon and Descendant and use your Sun sign for houses. Their birthday is optional and stays in your browser.
More to read
Shorter reads. Each opens in place.
Double retrograde
Mercury joins in: 20 days of two retrogrades
Mercury, the planet of messages, turns retrograde at 20°59′ Scorpio on Oct 24 and direct on Nov 13. So from Oct 24 to Nov 13 both Venus and Mercury are retrograde at once.
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Love planet backward, message planet backward: call it, half-joking, peak "u up?" season. If a text from the past arrives then, the tradition says read it twice and reply slowly. Mercury retrograde dos and don'ts.
One question
Ask "will my ex come back?" as horary
Horary is the old branch of astrology made for a single sincere question. You ask it once, and the chart is cast for the moment and place you ask. Traditional horary has long handled questions about love and absent partners: the 7th house is the other person, and the Moon's next aspects show where things are heading.
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It works best for a question you truly care about, asked once, not again every hour. Ask your horary question.
By sign
Which signs feel it most?
By rising sign (or Sun sign, as a rougher guide), Libra and Scorpio fall in a romance, partner or intimacy house (5th, 7th or 8th) for Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Pisces. Libra and Scorpio placements themselves, especially between 22°52′ Libra and 8°29′ Scorpio, get the full three passes.
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The table below lists every sign's houses for this retrograde.
The dates and degrees
The retrograde step by step, the degrees that get three passes, where it lands by rising sign, and the eight-year pattern.
| Moment | When (UTC) | Venus at | What astrologers read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-shadow begins | Aug 31, 2026 · 14:45 UTC | 22°52′ Libra | First hints: memories, old songs, a name in your head. |
| Enters Scorpio | Sep 10, 2026 · 08:06 UTC | Crosses the Libra-Scorpio line | Feelings go deep and private. |
| Station retrograde | Oct 3, 2026 · 07:15 UTC | 8°29′ Scorpio | The review begins. The past gets louder. |
| Mercury stations retrograde | Oct 24, 2026 · 07:12 UTC | Mercury 20°59′ Scorpio | Double retrograde: messages from the past. |
| Sun-Venus conjunction | Oct 24, 2026 · 03:44 UTC | 0°45′ Scorpio | The reset point; Venus becomes the morning star. |
| Back into Libra | Oct 25, 2026 · 09:09 UTC | Crosses back over the Scorpio-Libra line | The partnership itself is under review. |
| Mercury stations direct | Nov 13, 2026 · 15:53 UTC | Mercury 5°02′ Scorpio | Messages clear up. |
| Station direct | Nov 14, 2026 · 00:27 UTC | 22°52′ Libra | Forward again. Decisions feel clearer. |
| Re-enters Scorpio | Dec 4, 2026 · 08:12 UTC | Crosses the Libra-Scorpio line | Back over the deep stuff, wiser. |
| Shadow ends | Dec 15, 2026 · 18:43 UTC | 8°29′ Scorpio | The loop closes. Fresh starts fit the tradition. |
| Your point at | 1st pass (direct) | 2nd pass (retrograde) | 3rd pass (direct) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23°00′ Libra | Aug 31 | Nov 11 | Nov 16 |
| 24°00′ Libra | Sep 2 | Nov 6 | Nov 21 |
| 25°00′ Libra | Sep 3 | Nov 3 | Nov 24 |
| 26°00′ Libra | Sep 4 | Nov 1 | Nov 27 |
| 27°00′ Libra | Sep 6 | Oct 30 | Nov 29 |
| 28°00′ Libra | Sep 7 | Oct 28 | Dec 1 |
| 29°00′ Libra | Sep 8 | Oct 27 | Dec 2 |
| 0°00′ Scorpio | Sep 10 | Oct 25 | Dec 4 |
| 1°00′ Scorpio | Sep 11 | Oct 23 | Dec 5 |
| 2°00′ Scorpio | Sep 13 | Oct 22 | Dec 7 |
| 3°00′ Scorpio | Sep 15 | Oct 20 | Dec 8 |
| 4°00′ Scorpio | Sep 17 | Oct 18 | Dec 10 |
| 5°00′ Scorpio | Sep 19 | Oct 16 | Dec 11 |
| 6°00′ Scorpio | Sep 21 | Oct 14 | Dec 12 |
| 7°00′ Scorpio | Sep 24 | Oct 12 | Dec 13 |
| 8°00′ Scorpio | Sep 28 | Oct 8 | Dec 15 |
| Rising (or Sun) | Scorpio stretch: house | Libra stretch: house |
|---|---|---|
| Aries | 8th (intimacy, unfinished business) | 7th (partners and exes) |
| Taurus | 7th (partners and exes) | 6th (routines, work crushes) |
| Gemini | 6th (routines, work crushes) | 5th (romance, flings, fun) |
| Cancer | 5th (romance, flings, fun) | 4th (home, family, old places) |
| Leo | 4th (home, family, old places) | 3rd (texts, messages, DMs) |
| Virgo | 3rd (texts, messages, DMs) | 2nd (money, self-worth, keepsakes) |
| Libra | 2nd (money, self-worth, keepsakes) | 1st (you, your image) |
| Scorpio | 1st (you, your image) | 12th (endings, dreams, closure) |
| Sagittarius | 12th (endings, dreams, closure) | 11th (friends, mutuals, the group chat) |
| Capricorn | 11th (friends, mutuals, the group chat) | 10th (reputation, public news) |
| Aquarius | 10th (reputation, public news) | 9th (long distance, big rethinks) |
| Pisces | 9th (long distance, big rethinks) | 8th (intimacy, unfinished business) |
| Turns retrograde | Turns direct | From | Back to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 5, 2018 | Nov 16, 2018 | 10°50′ Scorpio | 25°15′ Libra |
| May 13, 2020 | Jun 25, 2020 | 21°50′ Gemini | 5°20′ Gemini |
| Dec 19, 2021 | Jan 29, 2022 | 26°29′ Capricorn | 11°05′ Capricorn |
| Jul 23, 2023 | Sep 4, 2023 | 28°36′ Leo | 12°12′ Leo |
| Mar 2, 2025 | Apr 13, 2025 | 10°50′ Aries | 24°37′ Pisces |
| Oct 3, 2026 | Nov 14, 2026 | 8°29′ Scorpio | 22°52′ Libra |
| May 10, 2028 | Jun 22, 2028 | 19°41′ Gemini | 3°11′ Gemini |
All times are UTC. In the Americas the local date can be a day earlier; in Asia and Australia a day later.
Quick answers
Will my ex come back during Venus retrograde 2026?
Astrology can't decide what another person does. Venus retrograde (Oct 3 to Nov 14, 2026) is the time astrologers link most with exes resurfacing, and the theme is strongest for you if it touches your natal Venus, Mars, Moon or Descendant. The free check on this page shows whether it does and on which dates.
Do exes really come back during Venus retrograde?
It's one of the best-known beliefs in modern astrology, and many people notice old flames on their mind or in their inbox. There's no study showing exes return more often. Read it as a season of reflection on past love, Aug 31 to Dec 15 including the shadow, not as a forecast.
When does Venus retrograde 2026 end?
Venus turns direct on Nov 14, 2026 at 00:27 UTC, at 22°52′ Libra, which is the evening of Nov 13, 2026 in the Americas. It leaves its shadow on Dec 15, 2026.
Is it bad to get back with an ex during Venus retrograde?
Not bad, just a time the tradition sees for reviewing rather than recommitting. If you can, let the big decision wait until after Nov 14, or Dec 15 when the loop ends. If something has truly changed, the sky doesn't cancel it.
Can astrology tell if my ex will come back?
Not with certainty. Natal and transit astrology show timing and themes. Horary astrology answers one specific question with a chart cast for the moment you ask, and has a long tradition of questions about lovers returning. Treat any answer as reflection, not a guarantee.
Which zodiac signs are most affected by Venus retrograde 2026?
Anyone with Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars or rising between 22°52′ Libra and 8°29′ Scorpio gets three passes from Venus. By rising sign, Libra and Scorpio fall in a 5th, 7th or 8th house for Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Pisces.
Should I text my ex during Mercury retrograde 2026?
Mercury is retrograde Oct 24 to Nov 13, overlapping Venus retrograde for 20 days. The traditional advice: write it, sleep on it, reread it in daylight. Closure or an apology are good reasons; 1 a.m. loneliness is a weaker one.
When is the next Venus retrograde after 2026?
Venus next turns retrograde on May 10, 2028 at 19°41′ Gemini and direct on Jun 22, 2028 at 3°11′ Gemini. There's no Venus retrograde in 2027.
