What do you value? What counts in your relationships? What do you find beautiful? Where do you find balance? Harmony? Over the next weeks you will revisit these questions. Venus Retrograde wants to know.

How are you getting along with important partners? Expect people from the past to pop up. Do they bring up unresolved conflict? You have new eyes now. What counts now? Has that changed?

Venus turned retrograde on October 5th and doesn’t reverse direction until Halloween. Venus, like all planets except the Sun and Moon retrograde. That is, when viewed from Earth, they appear to slow down and reverse direction for a time. That reversed direction is called retrograde and it mirrors a change in the planet’s energy. Venus has moved inward, its processes are more internal now. And, consistent with its reversed direction, brings up past habits, memories, people and all things Venusian.

Use this period to re-discover your love of painting, drawing. Visit an art museum from your childhood. Re-acquaint yourself with the paintings—old friends from another time. Re-discover your human friends–the ones you’ve been meaning to call and the ones you haven’t heard from in awhile. Beauty is all around you. All you have to do is look.

Money is always an issue when Venus travels through Scorpio. Now is a good time to take an accounting of your resources. Particularly now as we get closer to year-end. You can still make changes that will affect this tax-year. For freelancers and business owners, Venus Retrograde can bring a temporary cash flow delay. But it also opens the door for you to take a second look at contracts and partnerships. Do they still suit you? Is there unfinished business?

Venus describes who and what we attract. Scorpio deals with death and rebirth. It strips away facade so you see what’s underneath. Its passages are marked with sexual intensity and power struggle. Mars and Pluto call the shots in the intense realm of Scorpio. So Venus is not on comfortable ground here. Struggles over the Brett Kavanaugh nomination and the outcome are consistent with the planetary energy at play. 30 years ago Dr. Blasey-Ford struggled to survive as a hand was placed over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. And just days ago, Brett Kavanaugh screamed his claims of innocence after Dr. Ford relived her horror under the glare of national scrutiny. But male Mars and powerful Pluto call the shots in Scorpio and Kavanaugh prevailed.

Venus wants you to honor your values. And retrograde Venus wants you to look at the values you honor, or say you honor. Do they serve you still? Are they consistent with your core? Or have you changed?

And what about our country’s values? Have they changed? Or have we? Or have we just stripped away a pretense of civility?