Venus Enters Leo for an Extended Stay

5 June 2023 ~ Venus enters Leo for an extended stay until 8 October.🦁 We will experience Venus transiting through the majority of the sign before turning retrograde on 23 July and retracing her steps until stationing direct again on 4 September.

Venus in Leo is near and dear to my heart as it is the sign of my natal Venus. In the sign ruled by the Sun, Venus loves bright colours and show tunes and seeks light-hearted laughter and good times. Leo leads with its heart (lion-hearted, anyone?) and Venus in Leo will spare no expense to shower its nearest and dearest with gifts and affection. It loves loudly and proudly, but expects the same in return and will not hesitate to turn off its warmth if it feels a relationship is not reciprocal.

Venus's ingress into Leo is complicated by an almost immediate opposition to Pluto which is slowly moving retrograde at 0 degrees of Aquarius. Oppositions, where planets are found at opposite sides of the chart, have a pendulum-like energy where we can feel pulled strongly in one direction and then snapped back in the other. Aquarius is strongly concerned with social justice and equality, and Pluto, the planet of power struggles, is encouraging us to shine a light on all the ways society is failing some of its members — be it through growing income inequality, rollback of LBGTQ+ rights, populist movements built on exclusionary rhetoric, etc. Venus in Leo doesn't want to get sucked into a political miasma, and during this time period we might see more people aggressively checking out and choosing to focus their energies closer to home, where they can bring joy to their friends and relish life's pleasures even if the future is uncertain.

All oppositions seek to find the middle – to embody 'both/and' — and in this one we can reflect on how to recognise uncomfortable truths and still maintain a sense of optimism; how to proudly share our stories while being mindful that they may not reflect everyone's experiences; and how grasp the good in life with both hands without tipping over into mindless gluttony.

A world without sweetness and comedy is not a world worth fighting for. Let's not be afraid to embrace the sunshine. 🌻