By With spring on the horizon, it’s natural to feel like the coming warmer, brighter days should fuel your ability to hit the ground on your most ambitious goals. But with March 2025 hosting not one but two planetary retrogrades, you may be more inclined to slow down and look backward in order to clarify where you want to go from here. And chances are you’re already in this headspace, especially when it comes to romance, beauty and earning, because Venus retrograde is now in full swing.
From Saturday, March 1 to Saturday, April 12, Venus — which oversees relationships, art, money, beauty, values, and pleasure — will move backward through the cardinal fire sign Aries and mutable water sign Pisces. In turn, you’ll be nudged to pump the brakes and take stock of Venusian pursuits — from who you’re giving your energy to in your relationships to the ways in which you’re bringing your creativity to the table or bringing in cash. You could also encounter frustrations and setbacks tied to relating to others, expressing yourself artistically or infusing your life with more pleasure and romance. But the positive spin on this astrological event (which, like every retrograde, inspires a lot of fearmongering) is that Venus retrograde is also a chance to zero in on weak spots and challenges so that you can ultimately boost self-awareness and pinpoint solutions. And because Venus retrogrades only occur every 18 months, you can think of each one as a special opportunity to reflect on your bonds, earning strategy, approach to beauty and more. Here’s what to know to make the most of this unique astrological event.
What happens when Venus goes retrograde?
In astrology, Venus affects how you relate to others, your values, your perception of beauty and romance style. It’s the planet that fuels how you date or connect with a significant other, how you nurture your friendships, your personal aesthetic, the activities you find pleasurable and how you navigate harmony and conflict within your relationships. When Venus is moving forward, aka direct, you can tackle all of these aspects of life with more energy and focus, pursuing related goals ahead without too many bumps in the road. But every 18 months, for about 40 days, the planet of love moves at a slower pace than usual before appearing to move backward from our vantage point on Earth. When this happens, aspects of life that fall under Venus’ oversight are slowed, delayed and take on a more introspective tone. You’ll be compelled to go back to the drawing board on Venusian matters. For instance, you may want to reassess a friendship based on a lack of reciprocity or opt to review your household budget. And like Mercury retrograde, which tends to make past, unfinished business a focus of your present, you may need to tie up loose ends on a creative project that was previously put on the back burner, an emotional issue with a loved one or to do serious self-work tied to self-love and self-image.
What is Venus retrograde in Aries and Pisces?
In 2025, Venus moves backward through Aries, the impulsive, go-getter and at times playful and innocent cardinal fire sign, and Pisces, the heartfelt, empathic and often psychic mutable water sign.
When Venus moves forward in Aries, which is ruled by dynamic Mars, the planet of action, you may approach Venusian matters in a more direct, fiery and action-oriented way, preferring to act first and think later. The Ram can also have a short fuse, but as speedily as they may lose their cool, they’re just as quickly onto the next thing. The fire sign is also a trailblazer, so Venus’ time in Aries could lead to a bold makeover. But when Venus moves backward in Aries, the driven, “all systems go” tone of the fire sign conflicts with the retrograde’s message to slow down, reflect and revise, potentially leading to missteps or confusion stemming from impulsivity or hotheadedness. The silver lining of this transit is that you can take a step back and better understand how you’re experiencing your own independence, confidence and drive within your bonds.
When Venus moves forward in Pisces, co-ruled by spiritual Neptune and lucky Jupiter, it’s actually in one of its most powerful positions known as “exaltation,” which means the planet is able to function at its highest power in the sign of the Fish. You can be more tuned into other people’s needs, committed to healing yourself emotionally and helping others to do the same, and it’s easy to wear rose-colored glasses and tune into your most romantic dreams and fantasies. When Venus is retrograde in Pisces, this idealism can lead to confusion, haziness or distortion tied to how you’re thinking about and showing up within your bonds, but it can also motivate you to identify areas in which you or others could use a heftier dose of compassion and imagination in your relationship.
How Venus Retrograde 2025 affects each zodiac sign
2025’s Venus retrograde in Aries and Pisces requires several steps backward to ultimately launch your next era
Venus retrograde overlaps with Mercury retrograde this year, with the planet of communication moving through its own backspin from Saturday, March 15 to Monday, April 7, so the call to go back to the drawing board, to tie up loose ends and to prioritize self-reflection will be amplified. Crossed wires could lead to out-of-the-blue head-butting or feeling blue, so you’ll do well to remind yourself that frustrating setbacks often serve the greater purpose of catapulting you into the future.
2025’s Venus retrograde serves as the backdrop for stunning shifts
The first eclipse season of 2025 happens to fall during this Venus retrograde, which means you could be on the precipice of shocking change that’s meant to push you into the next chapter of a certain area of your life. Around March 13-14 (depending on your time zone), the lunar eclipse in Virgo could bring up themes of health and wellness, empathy and self-care and around March 29, the solar eclipse in Aries will encourage you to connect with your inner trailblazer and to stand even more strongly in your sense of self.
Here, how Venus’ retrograde in Aries and Pisces will affect you based on your sign. (Be sure to read both your sun and your rising sign if you know it. If you don’t, you can find it in your birth chart or by using this CafeAstrology calculator.)
Aries
Falling initially in your self-image zone, Venus’ retrograde encourages you to take a step back and reflect on how you’re pursuing goals close to your heart and showing up in the world. How are you being perceived by others for what you bring to the table, and is it in line with how you see yourself? To that end, you could also be inspired to revise or zhush your personal brand (think about what you’re sharing on your website, social media or even your beauty style or wardrobe). As Venus moves back into your spirituality sector, you could find you’re compelled to hone your skills related to a previously back-burnered mind-body practice like journaling, meditation or yoga. You’re working on nurturing your intuition now.
Taurus
Your ruling planet Venus moves backward through your spirituality zone to start, which could feel rather sleepy. You’ll be picky about the social commitments you want to make, preferring to conserve your energy as wintry hibernation vibes persist. At the same time, you may find that this period lends itself to reconnecting with your inner voice and trusting yourself more. As Venus retrogrades back into your networking and friendships zone, you could catch up with old colleagues or friends you haven’t been in touch with recently, finding new paths for collaboration that will be best pursued in mid-April. This is also a time for reexamining your long-term wishes.
Gemini
Venus retrograde initially activates your networking and friendship sector, so you’ll likely be reconnecting with friends or coworkers you haven’t seen in some time or diving back into a group endeavor that was postponed. You could be driven to think about which platonic and collegial bonds are worthy of your time and energy and which might be lacking reciprocity and require extra work — or walking away. And as Venus shifts back into your career sector, you could be aggravated if your professional aspirations aren’t moving forward at the pace you’d ideally like but also find you have a chance to get creative about how you’re defining success. Self-reflection around your big-picture goals may motivate you to reframe how you want to make your mark.
Cancer
While Venus moves back through your career zone to start, it might be tougher to get on the same page with higher-ups or to see your loftiest professional goals come to fruition. Instead, it may almost feel like you’re trying to run against the tide at times. Instead of continuing to push, stick to tried-and-true old business and take advantage of this period as a time for clarifying where you’ve been and where you want to go from here. As Venus moves back into your adventure and higher learning sector, a surge of restlessness can take hold, nudging you to break out of your usual routine and soak up new knowledge, and yet, it might be tougher to make either happen right now. If that’s the case, work on tuning into your gut and prepping to shake things up once Venus is direct.
Leo
Venus’s retrograde begins in your higher learning and adventure zone, encouraging you to do self-work that leads to self-awareness around how you’re taking in knowledge and stepping out of your comfort zone. You could realize that you are holding yourself back from having fulfilling, personal growth-spurring experiences as a result of wanting to stick to what you know and feel as though you can control. Thankfully, noting this can help you change course sooner versus later. Then, Venus moves back through your intimacy and joint resources sector, and you can finesse game plans you share with a loved one or significant other to either nurture your emotional bond and/or step up your financial health.
Virgo
As Venus moves back through your intimacy and joint resources zone, you could feel like it’s tougher to get on the same page when it comes to financial and/or romantic goals you share with a significant other or loved one. The purpose of this setback is to rethink how you’re working to get in sync. You could find deep, heartfelt conversations or mediations that prove truly eye-opening. Then, Venus will be retrograde in your partnership sector, and your aspirations within your one-on-one relationships will become even more of a focus. Consider how you’re showing up for one another and what might need to change for you to both feel more seen, appreciated and heard.
Libra
Venus happens to be your ruling planet, which means you’ll feel its backspins more than most signs, and this time, it kicks off in your partnership zone (which also happens to be associated with your sign) so this is a major transit for you this year. The good news is that you’re intimately familiar with and invested in doing the work of partnership. The question is whether those you’re pairing up with are fully onboard, too, so you may be spending this period reflecting on what you’re willing to give — and possibly give up — within these bonds. As Venus shifts back into your wellness and daily routine sector, you’ll be tending to your self-care routine, perhaps pinpointing ways you can boost balance and harmony in your everyday life.
Scorpio
Because Venus is retrograde in your daily routine and health zone to start, you’ll be considering how your relationships, experience of pleasure, moneymaking plans and values are all contributing to — or detracting from — your wellness. It might be time to streamline your everyday to-dos or find a new approach to your hectic hustle that is more restorative than draining. Then, Venus moves back into your romance and self-expression sector, offering you a chance to revise how you’re bringing lighthearted fun and creativity into your life. You could reconnect with an old flame or find that taking walks down memory lane with your significant other sends sparks flying. And picking up an artistic project you previously hit pause on might also feel gratifying.
Sagittarius
You can reflect on how you’re owning your voice and channeling your emotions, thoughts and experiences into creative outlets while Venus’ retrograde activates your romance and self-expression zone to start. At the same time, this transit could inspire you to revisit your romantic past and think about the moves that led you to your romantic present. You could be relearning lessons from back then or simply thinking about how you can apply what you learned to your current situation. Then, Venus moves back into your home zone, slowing projects you’ve been tending to alongside loved ones but also offering you a chance to dive into inner work to heal old emotional wounds and nurture your familial bonds. You might also be inspired to reflect on your physical address and imagine what a move or home renovation project might look like.
Capricorn
Whether you’re investing in self-work to care for your inner, emotional well-being, tending to your bonds with loved ones or taking on an ambitious spring cleaning project, Venus’ retrograde starts in your home zone, asking you to revise, reflect and reimagine your domestic world. It might be tougher to find harmony with loved ones now, but when this happens, you can zoom out and identify problematic patterns that might require addressing. As Venus shifts back into your communication sector, self-expression, learning and connecting with others will be even more of a focus. You can take stock of how you’re pursuing all of these aspects of life and gain clarity around how you most want to be satiating your curiosity out in the world and applying your mental energy within your relationships.
Aquarius
With Venus retrograde in your communication zone to start, it might be tougher than usual to connect with friends or colleagues. Delays, miscommunications and crossed wires could prove frustrating, to be sure, especially once Mercury is retrograde here, as well, but it’s also a sign that you’ll do well to stick to already-established business as much as you can and to get a little more innovative with how you’re learning new skills and trading notes with others. Then, Venus shifts back into your money zone, and you’ll be called to take a magnifying glass to how you’re bringing your skills to the table to boost your bottom line. Is your current moneymaking plan in line with your values, and are you able to express yourself creatively in any way? You could find that answering “yes” to these questions is more important than you previously thought.
Pisces
Because Venus’ retrograde begins in your money zone, you’ll be reflecting on how you’re bringing in cash as well as your values and self-worth and how they’re all intertwined. If you find that you’re simply not satisfied with how you’ve been rewarded for how you’ve been putting your nose to the grindstone, it may be time to have a diplomatic conversation about expectations and goals. You’ll also do well to wear your heart on your sleeve and perhaps lean on friends or loved ones to talk through your financial aspirations now. Then, Venus moves back into your sign, spotlighting how you’re caring for your self-image, nurturing your confidence and magnetizing your most passionate desires. Now’s your chance to edit your approach to self-love and self-care. In turn, you could find others can’t help but pick up on how you’re glowing from the inside out.
