Venus Retrograde in Scorpio (October 3 – November 13, 2026): What It Changes for Every Sign
Every eighteen months or so, ♀ Venus slows, stalls, and then appears to move backwards through the sky for roughly forty days. In 2026 that reversal happens in Scorpio, the sign of intimacy, of bonds that actually cost something, and of everything left unsaid — and from October 24 it is doubled by a Mercury retrograde in the same sign. Two personal planets running backwards over the same stretch of zodiac, in the thick of autumn: that is what we call the autumn double retrograde, and it is the real subject of this article.
Below you'll find the exact dates in US Eastern Time, with UTC alongside, an explanation of what is at stake first in Scorpio and then in Libra, a realistic account of what to go ahead with and what to put off, and then a detailed reading sign by sign — plus, because this is where astrology gets genuinely precise, a method for reading the transit from your rising sign rather than from your Sun sign alone.
Venus is retrograde from October 3, 2026 (3:10 a.m. ET / 07:10 UTC, at 8°29′ Scorpio) to November 13, 2026 (7:20 p.m. ET / 00:20 UTC on November 14, at 22°52′ Libra). It backs out of Scorpio and into Libra on October 25. Mercury is retrograde in Scorpio from October 24 (3:15 a.m. ET / 07:15 UTC) to November 13 (10:52 a.m. ET / 15:52 UTC). Both planets turn direct less than nine hours apart, across Friday November 13 — the small hours of the 14th in London. Venus's shadow period runs from August 31 to December 15, 2026.
Venus retrograde 2026: every key date (Eastern Time, with UTC)
A transit is read with a calendar, not with impressions. Here is the full timeline of this retrograde, given in US Eastern Time (EDT until November 1, EST after that), with UTC alongside at each exact moment. The degrees listed will matter further down, when you check whether a point in your own chart is directly involved.
| Date (Eastern Time) | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|
| August 31 | Venus enters its shadow period (pre-shadow) | 22°52′ Libra |
| September 10 | Venus enters Scorpio | 0° Scorpio |
| September 30 | Mercury enters Scorpio | 0° Scorpio |
| October 3, 3:10 a.m. (07:10 UTC) | Venus turns retrograde | 8°29′ Scorpio |
| October 4 | Mercury enters its shadow period | 5°02′ Scorpio |
| October 6 (October 7 UTC) | Mercury conjunct retrograde Venus | 8°13′ Scorpio |
| October 10 | New Moon in Libra | 17°22′ Libra |
| October 10 | Mars (in Leo) square retrograde Venus | 7°21′ Leo / Scorpio |
| October 20 | Retrograde Venus square Pluto | 3°04′ Scorpio / Aquarius |
| October 23 | The Sun enters Scorpio | 0° Scorpio |
| October 23, 11:39 p.m. (October 24, 03:39 UTC) | Sun–Venus inferior conjunction (heart of the retrograde, the “new Venus”) | 0°46′ Scorpio |
| October 24, 3:15 a.m. (07:15 UTC) | Mercury turns retrograde — the double retrograde begins | 20°59′ Scorpio |
| October 25, 4:56 a.m. (08:56 UTC) | Retrograde Venus backs into Libra | 29°59′ Libra |
| October 26 | Full Moon in Taurus, opposite retrograde Venus | 2°46′ Taurus |
| November 4 | Sun–Mercury inferior conjunction | 12°12′ Scorpio |
| November 9 | New Moon in Scorpio | 16°54′ Scorpio |
| November 13, 10:52 a.m. (15:52 UTC) | Mercury turns direct | 5°02′ Scorpio |
| November 13, 7:20 p.m. (November 14, 00:20 UTC) | Venus turns direct | 22°52′ Libra |
| November 30 | Mercury leaves its shadow period | 20°59′ Scorpio |
| December 4 | Venus returns to Scorpio | 0° Scorpio |
| December 15 | Venus leaves its shadow period: the cycle is fully over | 8°29′ Scorpio |
Plenty of sites give November 14 as the end of Venus retrograde. They're right… in European time. The station direct falls on November 13 at 7:20 p.m. ET, which is 00:20 UTC on November 14 — the small hours of the 14th in London, Paris and Berlin, Friday evening of the 13th in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Mercury turns direct earlier the same day, at 10:52 a.m. ET (15:52 UTC, 3:52 p.m. in London): the two stations direct are eight and a half hours apart.
What Venus retrograde actually is
A retrograde planet doesn't reverse. Seen from Earth, Venus — which orbits closer to the Sun than we do — overtakes us on the inside roughly every 584 days. As it passes between the Earth and the Sun, its apparent position against the zodiac seems to run backwards for forty to forty-three days, exactly the way a car you overtake on the highway appears to slide backwards in your mirror. It is a perfectly predictable effect of perspective, and we unpack it on the page devoted to Venus retrograde.
What astrology does with it is symbolic: when the planet of bonds, pleasure, values and money slows down and retraces her steps, the reading is that we retrace ours. The words that describe the period best all start with "re": review, reassess, reconnect, repair, renegotiate, readjust. This is not a cursed six weeks, and nobody loses a relationship because a bright point in the sky changes direction. It is a stretch of time when whatever was left hanging in a relationship, a desire or a budget comes back to the table to be looked at squarely. At ZodiacNova we would rather understand than predict: this guide gives you the dates and the themes, not orders.
Two things make Venus retrograde different from Mercury retrograde, its more famous cousin. First, rarity: Mercury goes retrograde three times a year, Venus once every eighteen months, which gives her a weight of her own. Second, the eight-year cycle: Venus turns retrograde at almost the same point of the zodiac every eight years, shifted by two or three degrees. So the 2026 retrograde in Scorpio and Libra rhymes with those of October 5 to November 16, 2018 (10° Scorpio → 25° Libra) and October 8 to November 18, 2010 (13° Scorpio → 27° Libra). If you can remember what was going on in your love life or your finances in the autumn of 2018, you are holding a valuable clue to the themes coming back around this year — not the same events, but often the same question.
Why this retrograde in Scorpio (then Libra) is unusual
The sign Venus retrogrades through colors the whole period. In 2026 she crosses two of them, and the order matters.
From October 3 to 25, Venus moves backwards through Scorpio. Scorpio is the sign where Venus is traditionally said to be in detriment: the planet of harmony and lightness lands in the sign of intensity, fusion, jealousy, shared money and secrets. A Venus in Scorpio does not love by halves; retrograde, she brings hidden loyalties to the surface — the sexual things never said, emotional and financial debts, the balance of power inside a couple. This is the most intense stretch of the period, the one where you find out what you were actually feeling. On October 23, at 0°46′ Scorpio, Venus passes exactly between the Earth and the Sun: this inferior conjunction, which tradition calls the heart of the retrograde, marks a symbolic “new Venus” — the point where an old way of loving or valuing ends so that another can begin. There is more on the planet herself on the page devoted to Venus.
From October 25 to November 13, Venus moves backwards through Libra. Complete change of atmosphere: Libra is Venus's own sign, the sign of partnership, contracts, fairness and the need to be chosen. Having stirred the depths in Scorpio, Venus comes home to renegotiate the surface — the terms of a relationship, an agreement, a partnership, a question of fairness ("am I getting as much as I give?"). This second phase is usually when exes, old friendships and long-ago conversations come back, and it is also where the genuinely new agreements get signed, once Venus is direct. Read our portrait of Libra to get the feel of that register.
So: a retrograde in two acts — first the truth (Scorpio), then the contract (Libra). The fixed signs — Scorpio, Taurus, Leo, Aquarius — feel the first act most; the cardinal signs — Libra, Aries, Cancer, Capricorn — the second. The detail is in the sign-by-sign sections.
The autumn double retrograde: Mercury joins in from October 24 to November 13
What makes autumn 2026 unusual is not Venus on her own. On October 24 at 3:15 a.m. ET (07:15 UTC), three and a half hours after the Sun–Venus inferior conjunction, ☿ Mercury turns retrograde at 20°59′ Scorpio. For twenty days, the two personal planets that govern our bonds (Venus) and our exchanges (Mercury) move backwards at the same time, and Mercury does it in the sign Venus has just left. On November 4 he even passes back over the exact point of his own inferior conjunction with the Sun, at 12°12′ Scorpio.
In practice this stacks two registers. Venus reopens the file on feelings and agreements; Mercury reopens the one on words. Across this window, expect conversations that come back — the message from an ex, the clearing of the air you kept postponing, the explanation you never got — along with misunderstandings about what someone "meant", and contracts read twice over. Mercury retrograde in Scorpio does not chat: he investigates, digs and double-checks. This is not the moment to sign a final emotional or financial pact; it is an excellent moment to finally say the true thing.
Then it all unwinds inside nine hours: Mercury turns direct on November 13 at 10:52 a.m. ET (15:52 UTC), Venus the same evening at 7:20 p.m. ET (00:20 UTC on November 14). You can treat that Friday the 13th, and the weekend of November 14–15 that follows it, as autumn's way out of the tunnel — with the usual caveat: both planets still need a few weeks to clear their shadow zones (November 30 for Mercury, December 15 for Venus). The mechanics of Mercury retrograde in general, its three annual periods and its famous "shadows", are on the Mercury retrograde page; the planet's portrait is on the Mercury page.
October 23–24: the heart of Venus retrograde just before midnight on the 23rd, and Mercury turning retrograde three and a half hours later, before dawn on the 24th — a hinge night, worth keeping light. October 25–26: Venus backs into Libra and the Full Moon in Taurus (Venus's own sign) lights up whatever the first phase stirred. November 13: both stations direct, hours apart — the decisions you postponed can finally be made.
What to do (and not do) during Venus retrograde 2026
The lists of prohibitions that circulate every time Venus turns retrograde — don't get married, don't cut your hair, don't buy anything — deserve to be put back in proportion. Nothing is forbidden. What the period genuinely makes more likely is the change of mind: what looks beautiful, fair or desirable in October can look different in December. Hence one simple rule: anything reversible is welcome, anything irreversible is better off waiting for mid-November — or, if that is impossible, being decided for reasons that already existed before October 3.
What the period favors: reconnecting with someone you have lost touch with (friendships included), having the conversation you have been dodging for months, going back over a budget, renegotiating an existing contract, repairing an object or a relationship, rediscovering an old pleasure (an art, a sport, a city), taking stock of what you own and what you owe. In Scorpio, add: looking squarely at a jealousy, a power struggle, a question of shared money. In Libra, add: reassessing whether an arrangement is fair, and asking yourself what you actually want from a partner.
What it is wise to postpone, when you have the choice: the radical overhaul of your appearance (color, cut, tattoo, cosmetic surgery), luxury buys and big treat purchases, signing a partnership agreement or entering a new business association, launching a brand, an image or a collection, the definitive declaration to someone you have known for three weeks. If a wedding falls on these dates, there is no reason at all to cancel: the date was chosen long in advance, and that is precisely the kind of older decision Venus retrograde does not call into question.
And the ex who comes back? It is the question asked most often at every Venus retrograde, and it deserves an honest answer. Yes, returns are more frequent: they follow from the logic of the period itself, which reopens unfinished files. But someone coming back is not a sign that you should pick it up again. It is a chance to finish what was never finished — sometimes by starting over, far more often by finally understanding why it stopped. The right question is not "is this a sign?", it's "what hadn't I said?". You might also revisit our article on what your Venus sign reveals about your love life to place your own way of loving.
Venus retrograde 2026 sign by sign
The readings that follow use the solar houses method: your Sun sign goes in the 1st house, and you then look at which houses Scorpio (phase 1, October 3 to 25) and Libra (phase 2, October 25 to November 13) fall into. It is a reliable, simple reading, but an approximate one: if you know your rising sign, read the text for that sign as well — it will usually be closer to the mark. The section "And by rising sign?" explains why. For each sign you'll find the two houses involved, what changes, the classic trap of the period and the useful reflex.
Aries: what Venus retrograde 2026 changes for you
For you, Venus first moves backwards through the 8th house, the house of what you share with someone else: joint money, a loan taken out together, inheritance, sex, trust. Between October 3 and 25, a question of debt — financial or emotional — resurfaces: who owes what to whom, who controls what, what you give without ever saying so. Your ruler, Mars, is in Leo and makes an exact square to Venus on October 10: impatience rises, and so does the urge to force an answer. That is precisely what not to do.
From October 25, Venus moves into your 7th house — partnership, business associates, contracts. That's where the period gets concrete: a commitment to renegotiate, an ex who reappears, a professional partnership whose terms no longer suit you. Mercury retrograde in the 8th house from October 24 adds statements to re-read and money conversations to start again from scratch.
Cutting through fast so you don't have to keep feeling. Breaking up, signing or paying everything back in one go in October, just to close off a discomfort the period is actually asking you to examine.
Do the accounting — literally — with the person concerned, then wait until November 13 for the decision that commits you. What you understand in the 8th house will make the 7th-house negotiation far fairer.
Taurus: what Venus retrograde 2026 changes for you
Venus rules your sign: along with Libra, you are the sign most directly concerned by her retrograde. And she starts in Scorpio, your opposite sign, in your 7th house — the couple, marriage, the business partner, "the other person" in general. Between October 3 and 25, the most committed relationship in your life goes under the developing light: what you accepted out of comfort, what you swallowed so as not to make waves, what you actually want from someone. Returns from former partners are, for you, the most likely in the zodiac this autumn.
The Full Moon of October 26 falls in your sign, opposite the Sun and Venus: that's your personal moment of truth, arriving just after Venus crosses back into Libra. The second phase, in the 6th house, moves the subject to daily life — work, colleagues, health, the routines you share with someone. An arrangement that never really suited you gets renegotiated; a collaboration gets reopened.
Holding on to what exists purely because it exists. Taurus hates losing things, including the ones that no longer do you any good.
Write down, before October 24, what you want from a partner today — not five years ago. Then compare, calmly, after November 13.
Gemini: what Venus retrograde 2026 changes for you
Venus first moves backwards through your 6th house: day-to-day work, colleagues, health, organization. Between October 3 and 25, a working relationship gets reopened — a partnership that isn't functioning, a task you've been doing out of kindness for far too long, an imbalance between what you give back and what gets given back to you. It's also a period when the body asks for attention: pleasure comes through regularity, not through the exception.
On October 24, your ruler Mercury turns retrograde in that same 6th house: along with Virgo, you are the sign that feels the "double retrograde" most. Expect schedules that shift, emails to re-read twice, files to pick up again. Then, from October 25 to November 13, Venus moves into your 5th house: love, pleasure, creativity, children. An old romance makes itself felt again, an abandoned creative project becomes tempting once more, a flirtation from two years ago writes back. On November 4, Mercury at the heart of the Sun hands you a clarity you haven't had in weeks.
Answering too fast. To the ex's message as to the colleague's proposal, your instinct is the quick comeback; the period is asking for the pause.
Pick up something you once loved doing and let drop — an instrument, writing, a sport. Venus retrograde in the 5th house makes that particular reunion more fertile than any other.
Cancer: what Venus retrograde 2026 changes for you
Venus retrograde begins in your 5th house, the house of the beating heart: romance, desire, creativity, children. Between October 3 and 25, it's a "great love" that comes back — the person, or simply the memory of what you were once capable of feeling. In Scorpio, a water sign like yours, this phase can be very tender or very intense, rarely lukewarm. If you're a parent, the relationship with a child also goes through a reassessment: what you passed on, and what you expect in return.
On October 25, Venus moves into your 4th house, your home ground: the house, the family, roots, "my place". The question becomes: where do I live, who with, and does this place still look like me? A move, renovations or a return to the family home are better thought through than decided. Mercury retrograde in the 5th house reopens conversations with a love or a child in parallel. The New Moon in Scorpio on November 9, in your 5th house, offers you the real emotional fresh start of the autumn — four days before the retrograde ends.
Mistaking nostalgia for a return. Cancer loves what has been; the period asks you to check whether what has been can still be.
Make room again for pleasure with no purpose — creating, playing, cooking for someone — without waiting for a relationship to justify it. That's the best way to get through a retrograde 5th house.
Leo: what Venus retrograde 2026 changes for you
Venus retrograde in Scorpio makes a square to your sign, and Mars — crossing Leo all autumn — brings that square exact on October 10: the first phase, October 3 to 25, is the rougher one for you. It plays out in the 4th house: family, parents, where you live, the story you came from. An old domestic disagreement resurfaces, a question about a house or family property comes back, a parent asks for a place you don't know how to give them. With Jupiter in your sign you are highly visible this autumn; but the real work is done in private, indoors.
From October 25 to November 13, Venus moves into your 3rd house: speech, messages, siblings, the neighborhood, short trips. With Mercury retrograde from October 24, this is the phase of words coming back: a sentence said months ago, an exchange with a brother or sister, a negotiation to reopen. Re-read before you send; and don't read between the lines things that aren't there.
Settling a family matter with a show of force on October 10. The Mars–Venus square gives Leo an urge to cut through that doesn't survive the following week.
Open the real subject with someone close — the inheritance, the house, an old resentment — without trying to close it. The Leo who listens in October is the one people listen to in December.
Virgo: what Venus retrograde 2026 changes for you
Like Gemini, your sign is ruled by Mercury: you'll live the double retrograde in full. Venus first moves backwards through your 3rd house: communication, everyday exchanges, siblings, learning. Between October 3 and 25, a conversation that went wrong comes back — the one where you were too precise or not precise enough, the one a brother, a sister or a neighbor never digested. Venus is asking you to say things with more warmth and less accuracy.
From October 25, Venus moves into your 2nd house: the money you earn, what you own, the value you grant yourself. This is the moment to go over a budget, reconsider a rate, ask yourself whether the price you put on your work is the right one — and Mercury retrograde, in the 3rd house from October 24, will have you re-reading every line. Prepare the salary negotiation; hold it after November 13. On November 4, Mercury at the heart of the Sun is your day of clear sight.
Measuring your worth by other people's reactions. In a retrograde 2nd house, the compliment that never came weighs more than usual — and says nothing about what you're worth.
Take stock of what you already have — skills, possessions, security — before trying to acquire anything. The Virgo who counts what she has gets through this period better than the one who counts what's missing.
Libra: what Venus retrograde 2026 changes for you
Venus rules you and she is coming back into your sign in reverse: this retrograde is yours. It starts somewhere else, though, in your 2nd house — money, resources, self-esteem. Between October 3 and 25, the question isn't romantic but very concrete: what am I worth, what do I own, what am I spending in order to be liked? A treat purchase gets regretted, an old bill resurfaces, an income gets renegotiated. The New Moon of October 10 in your sign gives you the impulse, but Venus retrograde advises saving it for later.
On October 25, Venus enters your 1st house — you. Your image, your body, your way of being in a relationship, the version of you other people meet. This is the phase when you want to change everything: the haircut, the style, the way you love. Wait for November 13: Venus turns direct at 22°52′ of your sign, which particularly touches Libras born between October 14 and 22. What comes back then — an ex, a conviction, a desire — will be more reliable than whatever passes through in late October.
Redefining yourself around whoever comes back. A retrograde Libra looks for herself in someone else's eyes — especially the eyes of the one from before.
Go back to what you love with no audience: a place, a piece of music, an old friendship. What you love with no witness is the one thing Venus retrograde cannot make you question.
Scorpio: what Venus retrograde 2026 changes for you
This time it's happening at your place. Venus turns retrograde at 8°29′ of your sign on October 3, in the 1st house: your identity, your body, your desire, the way you enter a relationship. If you were born between October 23 and November 1st, your Sun is directly involved: this period is about you first. Between October 3 and 25, you revise your way of loving — what you demand, what you withhold, what you call loyalty and which is sometimes control. Mercury joins Venus on October 6, then turns retrograde in your sign on the 24th: words and feelings get rewritten together.
The Sun–Venus inferior conjunction of October 23, at 0°46′ Scorpio, comes barely eighteen hours after the Sun crosses into your sign the same day: your new astrological year opens on a "new Venus". Then, from October 25 to November 13, Venus moves into your 12th house, the house of secrets, withdrawal and endings: a feeling you won't admit to, a relationship kept off-camera, a tiredness that's asking for silence. The New Moon of November 9, in your sign, marks the point you'll set out from again — four days before Mercury and Venus both turn direct.
Testing the other person instead of talking to them. Scorpio under Venus retrograde wants to verify loyalty by trial; that is exactly what the period is inviting you to unlearn.
Choose one person and tell them one true thing you had never said. A Venus retrograde in the 1st house is crossed by admission, not by strategy.
Sagittarius: what Venus retrograde 2026 changes for you
Venus first moves backwards through your 12th house, the most discreet part of the chart: the unconscious, secrets, what you won't admit to yourself, the retreats you need. Between October 3 and 25, the period is oddly quiet on the surface for such an outgoing sign — and very busy underneath. A feeling you had filed away comes back in a dream or a passing thought, a discreet (or past) relationship asks to be understood, tiredness asks you to slow down before your own season starts. Mercury goes retrograde in that same house from October 24: keep to yourself whatever isn't clear yet.
On October 25, Venus moves into your 11th house: friends, the network, groups, collective projects. This is the phase of friendly reunions — a friend you'd lost touch with writing again, an old crowd, a club or a team whose rules need rediscussing. A friendship that had turned into something else (or the reverse) may ask to be renamed. It's also the moment to review what you want from a group: freedom, or belonging?
Escaping the 12th house by leaving — physically, or into a new project. What you don't look at in October will catch up with you in the 11th house, in front of witnesses.
Give yourself time alone, without justifying it, before October 25. The Sagittarius who let himself be sad or tired in October finds his friends again in November with a sincerity they'd stopped expecting.
Capricorn: what Venus retrograde 2026 changes for you
You're already in review mode: Saturn, your ruler, has been retrograde in Aries until December 10 and has been asking you since the summer to go back over the foundations. Venus adds herself to that in the 11th house from October 3 to 25: friendships, the network, allies, collective projects. The question is simple and a little harsh: who is actually there? An old friendship comes back, another turns out to be more self-interested than you thought, a team redistributes its roles. Capricorn learns this autumn that loyalty is measured in time, not in promises.
Then, from October 25 to November 13, Venus moves into your 10th house, your natural house: career, reputation, public image. An old professional file resurfaces, a relationship with a boss or a client gets renegotiated, an ambition you'd set aside becomes desirable again. This is not the moment to launch a new image, a brand or a very visible application; it's the moment to repair the one that exists. Mercury retrograde in the 11th house from October 24 will bring old professional contacts back — reply, but don't sign yet.
Choosing your relationships by how useful they are. In a retrograde 11th house, the sorting that matters is the heart's, not the address book's.
Get back in touch with the person who helped you at a decisive moment and whom you never really thanked. Under Venus retrograde, that gesture builds more career than an application does.
Aquarius: what Venus retrograde 2026 changes for you
Venus retrograde in Scorpio makes a square to your sign and, on October 20, an exact square to Pluto, which has been transiting Aquarius since 2024: the first phase is intense for you, and it plays out in the 10th house — career, status, visibility, your relationship to authority figures. Between October 3 and 25, a professional relationship turns out to be more loaded than it looked; a post, a role or a recognition you thought was yours gets reopened; your ambition itself changes shape. What you actually want to be in public may no longer be what you're showing.
From October 25 to November 13, Venus moves into your 9th house: travel, study, elsewhere, meaning. A postponed trip becomes possible again, an abandoned course gets picked up, a connection with someone from another culture or another city resurfaces. Above all, this is a phase for revising your convictions — what you believed about love, freedom, commitment. Mercury retrograde in the 10th house from October 24: check everything touching your professional image, and re-read before you publish.
Theorizing in order not to feel. The Venus–Pluto square of October 20 touches something very personal; Aquarius will prefer to make an analysis of it rather than an emotion.
Ask someone who has watched you work what they really think of the place you occupy. In a retrograde 10th house, their answer is worth more than your own account of yourself.
Pisces: what Venus retrograde 2026 changes for you
Venus is exalted in Pisces: of all the signs, you're the one who feels her movements most finely. She first moves backwards through your 9th house — travel, elsewhere, study, publishing, faith. Between October 3 and 25, a story that began far from home comes back (someone met on a trip, a long-distance relationship, someone who speaks another language), a course you started asks to be resumed, or a conviction about love quietly cracks. In Scorpio, a water sign, this phase runs deep and is rather fertile for you: it feeds more than it shakes.
On October 25, Venus enters your 8th house: intimacy, shared money, debts, inheritance, whatever transforms. This is the concrete phase — a joint account to re-examine, a question of succession, a sexuality that finally gets talked about, a merged bond whose limits need redrawing. Mercury retrograde in the 9th house from October 24 blurs communication at a distance: a ticket to double-check, a contract in a foreign language to re-read, a message that arrives three weeks late.
Idealizing what's far away and neglecting what's close. A retrograde Pisces falls in love with an image again; the 8th house asks you to look at the reality of the accounts and the bodies.
Put in writing, with the person concerned, what you actually share — money, time, commitment — before November 13. For a Pisces, naming what is shared is the sturdiest form of love.
And by rising sign? The reading that really counts
Everything above rests on a useful approximation: putting your Sun sign in the 1st house. But the astrological houses — the areas of life where a transit actually shows up — depend on your rising sign, the sign that was coming up over the eastern horizon at the exact moment you were born. Two people with the same Sun sign born twelve hours apart live Venus retrograde in two different houses, and therefore in two different areas of life.
Take an example. You're a Leo with Scorpio rising. Read by Sun sign, Venus retrograde falls in your 4th house (family, home). Read by rising sign, it falls in your 1st house: your identity, your image and your way of loving are what's under review, exactly as for a Scorpio. The second reading will nearly always be the truer one, because the rising sign sets the real structure of the chart. So the practical rule is: read your Sun sign's text for the weather, then your rising sign's for the concrete area of life. If you don't know your rising sign, our rising sign calculator gives it to you in seconds from your birth time and place; to understand what it says about you, read understanding your rising sign and Sun sign vs rising sign.
A second refinement, for anyone with their chart to hand: the retrograde zone runs from 22°52′ Libra to 8°29′ Scorpio. If you have an important point in that band — Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars, Ascendant or Descendant — Venus will cross it three times (going forward, between late August and early October; going backwards, from October 3 to November 13; then going forward again, between mid-November and mid-December), and the transit becomes very personal indeed. By Sun, that means anyone born between October 15 and November 1st, in any year. The natal chart calculator shows you at a glance what you have between those two degrees.
Children born between October 3 and November 13, 2026 will have a natal Venus retrograde, like roughly 7% of the population. It is neither a curse nor an emotional handicap: it's a Venus who loves in her own way, often more slowly and more deeply than average. We'll devote a full article to it in the coming weeks.
Recap: Venus retrograde 2026 for all 12 signs
| Sign | October 3 → 25 (Scorpio) | October 25 → November 13 (Libra) | Date to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| ♈ Aries | 8th house: shared money, intimacy, trust | 7th house: partnership, contracts, returning exes | October 10 (Mars square Venus) |
| ♉ Taurus | 7th house: the couple under the developing light | 6th house: work, routines, health | October 26 (Full Moon in Taurus) |
| ♊ Gemini | 6th house: colleagues, organization, the body | 5th house: romance and creativity coming back | November 4 (Mercury cazimi) |
| ♋ Cancer | 5th house: a great love, children, creativity | 4th house: home, family, "my place" | November 9 (New Moon in Scorpio) |
| ♌ Leo | 4th house: family, home, roots | 3rd house: words, siblings, negotiations | October 10 (Mars square Venus) |
| ♍ Virgo | 3rd house: conversations to reopen | 2nd house: money, rates, self-worth | November 4 (Mercury cazimi) |
| ♎ Libra | 2nd house: spending, resources, self-esteem | 1st house: image, identity, way of loving | November 13 (Venus direct in your sign) |
| ♏ Scorpio | 1st house: your way of loving under review | 12th house: secrets, withdrawal, endings | October 23 ("new Venus" in your sign) |
| ♐ Sagittarius | 12th house: hidden feelings, rest | 11th house: friends, networks, collective projects | October 25 (Venus backs into Libra) |
| ♑ Capricorn | 11th house: friendships sorted, allies | 10th house: career, reputation | October 25 (Venus backs into Libra) |
| ♒ Aquarius | 10th house: career, visibility, authority | 9th house: travel, study, convictions | October 20 (Venus square Pluto) |
| ♓ Pisces | 9th house: love at a distance, study, faith | 8th house: intimacy, shared money | November 13 (Venus direct) |
The signs that feel the Scorpio phase most are the fixed signs: Scorpio (conjunction), Taurus (opposition), Leo and Aquarius (squares). Those that feel the Libra phase most are the cardinal signs: Libra (conjunction), Aries (opposition), Cancer and Capricorn (squares). Taurus and Libra, ruled by Venus, and Gemini and Virgo, ruled by Mercury, live the double retrograde more sharply than the rest.
Frequently asked questions about Venus retrograde 2026
When is Venus retrograde in 2026?
Venus is retrograde from October 3, 2026 at 3:10 a.m. ET (07:10 UTC), at 8°29′ Scorpio, to November 13, 2026 at 7:20 p.m. ET (00:20 UTC on November 14), at 22°52′ Libra. She moves backwards through Scorpio from October 3 to 25, then through Libra from October 25 to November 13. The shadow period that frames the retrograde runs from August 31 to December 15, 2026.
Does Venus retrograde 2026 end on November 13 or November 14?
Both dates are correct, depending on the time zone. Venus turns direct on November 13 at 7:20 p.m. ET — 6:20 p.m. Central, 4:20 p.m. Pacific — which is 00:20 UTC on November 14, and therefore the small hours of the 14th in London, Paris and Berlin. In the United States the retrograde ends on the evening of Friday, November 13, 2026; in the UK and continental Europe it ends overnight between the 13th and the 14th.
Which signs are most affected by Venus retrograde in Scorpio?
The fixed signs feel the Scorpio phase most (October 3 to 25): Scorpio, which hosts the retrograde in its own sign, Taurus, which faces it, and Leo and Aquarius, in square. The cardinal signs — Libra, Aries, Cancer, Capricorn — feel the Libra phase most (October 25 to November 13). Taurus and Libra, both ruled by Venus, are involved throughout the whole period.
Venus and Mercury retrograde at the same time: what does that change?
From October 24 to November 13, 2026, Mercury is retrograde in Scorpio while Venus already is. Venus reopens the file on feelings and agreements, Mercury the one on words and exchanges: conversations that come back, misunderstandings about what was said, contracts to re-read. It's a good period for finally saying the true thing and a poor one for signing a final commitment. The two planets turn direct within nine hours of each other on November 13 — Mercury at 10:52 a.m. ET (15:52 UTC) and Venus at 7:20 p.m. ET (00:20 UTC on November 14).
Why do exes come back during Venus retrograde?
Because the period symbolically reopens the emotional files left hanging: an ex, a friendship you lost touch with or a conversation you never had come back to be finished, not necessarily resumed. Someone coming back is not a sign that you should start again; it's an opportunity to understand what was never said. The Libra phase, from October 25 to November 13, is when these returns are most frequent.
Can you get married or start a relationship during Venus retrograde?
Yes. Nothing is forbidden during Venus retrograde; the period simply makes changes of mind more likely. A wedding whose date was set long in advance rests on an older decision that the retrograde doesn't call into question. A relationship that begins between October 3 and November 13 is worth letting ripen: what's still standing in mid-December, once the shadow period is over, is generally solid.
Should you avoid cutting your hair or changing your look during Venus retrograde?
It's a caution, not a ban. Venus governs taste and appearance: during her retrograde, what we find beautiful shifts faster than usual, and a radical transformation decided on impulse — color, a very short cut, a tattoo, cosmetic surgery — is likelier to be regretted. Touch-ups and upkeep are no problem at all; the big overhauls sit far more comfortably after November 13.
What is the shadow period of Venus retrograde 2026?
The shadow period covers the degrees of the zodiac Venus travels three times: going forward, going backwards, then going forward again. In 2026 it runs from 22°52′ Libra to 8°29′ Scorpio. The pre-shadow begins on August 31, when Venus first reaches the degree at which she will later turn direct; the post-shadow ends on December 15, when she returns to the degree at which she turned retrograde. The themes of the retrograde announce themselves during the pre-shadow and get settled during the post-shadow.
When is the next Venus retrograde after 2026?
The next Venus retrograde runs from May 11 to June 23, 2028, in Gemini. Venus turns retrograde roughly every eighteen months and comes back to almost the same part of the zodiac every eight years: the 2026 retrograde in Scorpio and Libra echoes those of autumn 2018 and autumn 2010, and the next one in this zone will fall in autumn 2034.
Going further
This article will be updated on October 24, when Mercury turns retrograde, and again in mid-November. Until then you can dig into the mechanics and the symbolism of the phenomenon on our Venus retrograde and Mercury retrograde pages, revisit the portraits of Venus and Scorpio, and above all calculate your rising sign so you can read this transit where it's actually happening. Venus retrograde decides nothing on your behalf; she gives you forty-two days to look at what you love with rested eyes.
