Venus is retrograde in Libra until November 13 and I am having the most textbook Venus retrograde experience that I can remember. I’m guilty of not following astrology as much as I used to since I’ve become busy with work and this new business — but the past few weeks have hit me over the head with evidence about how helpful it is in understanding my experiences, and responding accordingly.

Venus is the planet of love, money, beauty, and what we value. About every 18 months, it appears to move backward in the sky for around six weeks. Like all planetary retrogrades, that stretch serves as a review period. Old patterns in Venus-ruled areas resurface, and it’s best used as a time to reconsider rather than commit.

While this retrograde began in Scorpio, Venus dipped back into Libra on October 25th, which is where it will stay for the rest of this retrograde cycle. Libra is the sign of partnership, fairness, and harmony, so the themes that are coming up for us now are around relationships, reciprocity, approval, and being valued.

Here’s how it’s showing up for me:

It’s best to hold off on big commitments during Venus retrograde, especially ones around love and partnership, and yet, Drew and I have started looking at wedding venues. At first, I felt incredibly overwhelmed. The prices were a shock, and I found myself starting to stress over wedding planning, when part of the reason we’re planning a wedding two years out is so that it can be FUN, and not stressful like it might be with a 12-month-or-less countdown.

Remembering Venus is in retrograde has been such a relief - because not only do I understand why the timing hasn’t felt quite “right”, but also because I know we’re not meant to actually commit to anything right now. And knowing that has allowed me to look without getting emotionally attached to any of them yet and let go of the pressure to make a decision (at least for another few weeks).

Venus also rules appearance and style, so it makes sense that I’ve been putting a lot of focus into my wardrobe lately. Specifically, my work wardrobe. I have a presentation coming up this week where I have to make some pretty direct and bold statements to our executive leadership team, and I’ve been hunting for the right outfit that says “cool, calm, and professional” without looking like I’m trying too hard.

I made a lot of purchases over the past couple of weeks, and almost just as many returns. What I ended up keeping were things from brands I’d bought from before. All the new brands I tried ended up getting sent back. This is such a textbook Venus retrograde theme that I have to laugh at it — it tends to send us back to what’s already proven itself instead of something new.

Even my house is up for review — we got a letter from the HOA and had to re-paint our door and shutters to the original color. I cannot make this shit up.

Venus rules money (specifically, what we value) as well as self-worth — and this retrograde is stirring up money wounds that are wildly disproportionate to the numbers I’m looking at. When I initiated this conversation with my therapist, I just kept saying, “I KNOW this is not about money, but I don’t know what it IS about!”

After some reflection and time spent meditating with my birth chart, I realized these sticky feelings are really about what money represents for me (duh), and so I’ll be using the rest of this retrograde period to really dig deep and start to loosen those tightly wound and outdated beliefs that money seems to be triggering for me.

Libra wants harmony. During this retrograde, that has translated into worrying about how I, and what I think/feel, will be received. In the first post of my new blog, Practical Mysticism, I describe three ways this might be showing up. Right now I feel a little bit stuck as the Approval Negotiator. At work and at home, I’m spending a lot of energy worrying that I won’t find the exact right way to communicate what I need to say, and I’ve spent a lot of time navigating that.

You can read the full blog post here.

You’ve witnessed me waffle on this for the past year. But this Venus retrograde has made it painfully obvious that I just cannot let it go. Which leads me to my next point…

I first organized Mutamento’s flagship collection around seasons of change, and while that felt right when I started it, launching it during a retrograde season has helped me to realize that it isn’t what I actually want. Astrology is what I’ve always loved talking about, and it’s how I organize my own life. So that’s how I’m organizing the shop now: around astrological seasons. In retrospect, it seems silly that I even attempted to do it any other way.

So now, you’ll notice there’s a new collection in the shop: Venus Retrograde

It consists of pieces that will help you slow down, rituals that will help you take care of yourself, and small, easy-yes objects that don’t require a huge commitment. I may even pull some additional products that weren’t originally part of this launch but I think would be the perfect companions for this season.

Special offer through November 13th: If a piece $50 or more is calling to you but you'd rather hit buy once Venus is direct, reply to this email and we'll hold it for you until December 1st. It's important to me that I practice what I preach, so I'd rather you make your purchase with a clear head (and heart).

Organizing the store this way feels sooo much better to me. You’re in the lab with me on this, so hit reply and tell me what you think.