Venus retrograde 2026: exact dates, from Scorpio to Libra, and what to review

Venus has been retrograde since October 3, and it will stay that way until November 13, 2026. It happens roughly every year and a half and lasts about six weeks, shorter than any other planet's retrograde except Mercury's. This one has two quirks: it starts in Scorpio and ends in Libra, and for three weeks it overlaps with Mercury retrograde.

The dates

• August 31: Venus enters its shadow, the stretch of the zodiac it will later cover backwards (from 22°51′ Libra).
• October 3: it stations and starts moving backwards, at 8°29′ Scorpio.
• Around October 23–24: inferior conjunction with the Sun, the exact midpoint of the retrograde. Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun.
• October 24: Mercury also turns retrograde, in Scorpio.
• October 25: Venus, moving backwards, leaves Scorpio and returns to Libra.
• November 13: Venus stations again and turns direct, at 22°51′ Libra (already the 14th in Europe). Mercury turns direct the same day.
• December 15: Venus leaves the shadow as it passes 8°29′ Scorpio again, the point where it had stopped.

The dates come from the same calculation ASTRA uses for birth charts, and you can follow them live on the sky today.

What retrograde means

No planet actually moves backwards. Seen from Earth, Venus seems to go back through the zodiac because, on this stretch of their orbits, the Earth and Venus cross paths: it is an effect of perspective, the same one that makes a slower car look like it is going backwards when you overtake it on the highway.

Astrology reads that backward motion as a time to go back over what the planet stands for. Venus speaks of what we value, of how we love others and ourselves, of pleasure, taste and money. A Venus retrograde does not bring those things: it puts them under review.

From Scorpio to Libra

The first part, from October 3 to 25, unfolds in Scorpio, the sign of intensity, jealousy, what is shared and what goes unsaid. The review starts deep down: bonds with something unresolved, shared money, desires that were kept quiet.

From October 25 to November 13 Venus is back in Libra, one of its two home signs. There the review turns more to agreements than passions: what is fair in a relationship, what gets negotiated, what balance was lost. It starts in deep water and ends on home ground.

With Mercury retrograde at the same time

From October 24 to November 13 both are retrograde. Mercury is words, messages and agreements; Venus, affection and values. When they overlap, what tends to show up are conversations that come back, messages from someone in the past, and decisions about relationships or money that are better left to ripen before signing.

The usual advice, and why

Astrological tradition advises against starting relationships or making expensive aesthetic purchases —surgery, a drastic change of look, jewellery— while Venus is retrograde, and suggests revisiting, repairing and rethinking instead. It is not a law: it is the logic of a review period. If something cannot wait, it does not wait.

Where it falls in your chart

What this retrograde stirs up in each person depends on the house of their birth chart it moves through: between 22° Libra and 8° Scorpio. If it falls in the 7th house, the theme is partners and partnerships; in the 2nd, your own money; in the 10th, career and public image. To know which, you need your birth time, because the houses come from it.

Calculate your birth chart with your date, time and place, and check which house holds those degrees.