Venus Retrograde in Leo .. cautious spotlights, delayed appreciation

So now the planet Venus is slowed in the sign of the lion .. the 5th zodiac sign in fixed fire .. until early September.  She has followed Mars in his transit through Leo from late May to the second week of July. She herself entered Leo in early June after Mars exerted his yang-like presence on matters needing strong representation or braver movement .. or more prominent exposure. Now, in her feminine wisdom, she signals the time to stand and wait, or to hide and take notes .. Venus retrograde in Leo does not push or shout to make herself obvious. She moves carefully and possibly stealthily, like the lioness, and this time through the territory already opened by Mars.

Many of us while this transit is occurring will feel the need to stand back, or take a break .. or to think twice about venturing further into fields we felt we knew and were confident of between May and the 22nd of July. It is not that we were necessarily wrong in our estimates or intentions, more that we need to see now what can only be seen by more cautious observation or subtler approach ... or by just waiting for those circumstances which are out of our control to yield to us what we know (or think) we should receive. Venus (the goddess of love and grace, the bringer of quiet benefit) is forever making known our desires. 

In June and most of July she brought us confidence or greater self-esteem and followed Mars as he ploughed ever steadily forward. Now she is content to take a back seat, to wait. And it may feel to some like a drop in tempo, a plummeting of morale .. or a sudden burst of reticence or shyness. In reality it is the sound of the silence following the clamour of a noisier journey. Mars is now in Virgo, testing the endurance or the stability of what has been laid or built, and awaits the thoroughness of Mercury retrograde slowing in the last week of August to assess the lesser known facts out until mid September. By which time Venus herself is moving direct again and is encouraging a more open approach or a fuller spotlight (Venus in Leo is about the spotlight, and also the wings) and finally, where appropriate, she brings the applause.  

image courtesy of Etsy