Venus Rx in Aries: The Fire Starter

On March 1st, Venus began her retrograde in the sign of Aries, and we were urged to descend, strip ourselves bare (as the ancient Sumerian goddess Inanna removed her adornments and armor to pass through the 7 gates), and encounter our darkness. When Venus went retrograde in Aries, she didn’t glide into reflection—she erupted like a volcano. Ripping away illusion, setting fire to falsity, igniting buried desires.

Aries is the sign of raw selfhood, of instinct, of the warrior’s path; but retrograde motion turns that fire inward. This Venus Retrograde has been an invitation to reconnect and repair rupture with the unruliest part of ourselves that we’ve kept locked up in chains. The one never allowed to step out into the bright light of day for fear of being misunderstood, judged, rejected, abandoned or exiled.

This is Inanna’s myth woven into our own lives: the journey into the underworld to meet the dark twin, Ereshkigal. In each house of the astrological chart, we’ve been shedding the adornments, facing our shadow, and reclaiming the truth of ourselves we abandoned when we had no other choice.

VENUS RETROGRADE IN ARIES, FOR ME:

I’ve been soul-spelunking through the 9th house of worldview, belief systems, spirituality, god, higher education, expansion, far-away journeys, law, media, broadcast and publishing.

I made an impossible choice and began a legal process which aligns with my truth but will require great courage to live out. I traveled home to California to visit my family, and recovered a lost hard-drive with old journal entries and photos from another life, another self. I re-committed to my autonomy even though it’s going to cost me.

So far, Venus Retrograde in Aries has meant recovering and declaring who the f*ck I am, what I believe in, and what I’m willing to do live in congruence with both.

I’ve confessed that… you know what? I am actually ravenous for more. More sensuality and art and drama and creative expression. More ease, more pleasure, and more aliveness. I need more than just lukewarm. Not the kind of heat that is is dangerous, out of control, and threatens to burn my life to ash; but, something like a flickering hearth-fire beckoning the weary and restless to gather around and be comforted, be seen in the softest, kindest glow, so we feel safe to surrender our secrets, and stretch out into our fullest shapes. 

I’ve owned that I am Every. Thing. I’m a good little girl and the baddest bad boy, a gentle kitten and a ferocious wildcat, a giver and a boss a** b*tch. I’m the obsidian that reflects and divines, but also cuts with surgical precision— and no, there is no having access to one without the other.

I’ve declared that self-silencing and self-denial are over, and so I’m practicing my courage whenever I say the thing, do the thing, and trust people to see me and see themselves in my messy multivalence. But/and, I’m remembering that I don’t need approval. I only need to trust me to keep holding all my selves in unconditional regard no matter what.

I’ve said, “Enough of That,” and “More of This.”
And I mean it, and I’m not sorry, and I won’t go back.

VENUS RETROGRADE IN ARIES, FOR YOU:

So, what does it mean for you? Look to the house in your chart containing the sign of Aries to learn more about what you’ve been summoned to confront and integrate:

1st House: The Shattering of Identity

Who are you beyond attraction, beyond confidence, beyond the bold persona you’ve carefully curated? Venus retrograde in Aries here forces you to strip away the mask. Have you built your identity on being desired, admired, or validated? What would it mean to love myself fiercely, without needing permission? When you drop all the swagger, who is left? The reclamation: Raw, unfiltered selfhood. The courage to be without performance.

2nd House: The Hollow Throne

The underworld strips you of gold, possessions, status. Here, Venus confronts the shadow of self-wort. Have you measured your value by what you own, what you earn, what others give you? Where have you traded your desires for security? The reclamation: Worth that is intrinsic, not transactional. Desire that does not need permission.

3rd House: The Poisoned Tongue

Words are spells, and here Venus forces you to really hear yourself. Where have you silenced yourself? What truth are you most afraid to speak? Where have you spoken from a wound, rather than truth? Are your connections real, or just distractions from loneliness? The reclamation: Authentic expression. Speaking desire without fear. Releasing the need to be understood by everyone.

4th House: The Ghosts of Love

Here, Venus pulls you into the haunted corridors of your past. Love learned and earned in childhood. Ancestral wounds passed down. Where have you mistaken attachment patterns for love and security? Where are you seeking comfort in places that no longer nurture? What emotions have been buried so deep, they’ve become ghosts haunting your relationships? The reclamation: Emotional honesty. Breaking the cycle. Returning home to yourself.

5th House: The Dark Side of Desire

Love, lust, pleasure, creative projects. Venus retrograde here asks: Are you chasing passion or running from emptiness? Have you turned co-creation into a game no one can win? Are you actually just afraid of love that demands depth? This is the reckoning of ego in romance, the wounds we mask with pleasure. The reclamation: Creativity without fear. Love without performance. Passion that isn’t self-destructive.

6th House: The Devotion That Destroys

Service, routine, care. Does being needed mean being loved? Where have your labors of love turned into nothing more than obligation? Where have you poured yourself into others to prove your worth? The body speaks loudly in this house. Venus here forces you to confront the imbalance: Are you tending to yourself as much as you tend to others? The reclamation: Sacred self-care. Work that does not drain. Boundaries that do not waver.

7th House: The Shattered Mirror

Love is a mirror, but the cracks obscure your true reflection. Where do you lose yourself in others? How are you sacrificing your needs for the sake of peace? Where do you chase love outside of you to avoid the hard work of learning to loving yourself? Venus retrograde here will break false harmony, forcing you to face the power imbalances in relationships. The reclamation: Love that does not demand self-abandonment. A relationship with yourself that is unshakable.

8th House: The Fear of True Intimacy

This is the gate of surrender. Venus in Aries does not want to give up control, but here she must. What fears, wounds, or power struggles have kept you from true intimacy? Do you weaponize love? Do you keep parts of yourself hidden out of fear? How can you let love transform rather than consume? The reclamation: Deep, fearless connection. Love that does not need armor. Power that is shared, not hoarded.

9th House: The Burned Bridges of Belief

What have you been taught about love? About beauty? About abundance? Venus here asks you to question the philosophies, the dogma, the belief systems that have shaped all of your desires. Have you been following a script that was never yours? Have you been putting your faith in a hypothetical, bowing to false gods? The reclamation: Love that is free. Beliefs that evolve as you evolve. A life lived by your own fire.

10th House: The Collapse of the Pedestal

Love, success, legacy. Where have you sacrificed one for the other? Are you living a life that aligns with your values or performing? Have you built a life for the sake of admiration and approval, rather than true fulfillment? Venus here will strip away false ambition, forcing you to redefine success on your own terms. The reclamation: A purpose that aligns with your soul. Love that is not a distraction from achievement. Achievement that is not an avoidance of intimacy.

11th House: The Loneliness of the Crowd

Friendships, communities, belonging. Where have you abandoned yourself to fit in? Are your networks and aspirations built on resonance and true connection, or do they serve only as protection from standing alone? Where do you feel like an outsider, and what part of you refuses to belong? Venus here will show you who is real and who is not. (Which are you?) The reclamation: Authentic belonging. Community that empowers, not depletes. Values-aligned dreams. The bravery to go first.

12th House: The Dissolution of Love

This is the final gate. Here, Venus does not ask you to let go— she forces it. The illusions of love, the dreams you’ve clung to, the stories you’ve told yourself? It all dissolves. This is heartbreak and healing. Ego death and soul rebirth. Here, in the house of dreams and endings, you surrender. What fears or wounds have you carried for so long they feel like part of you? The reclamation: Love as letting go. Beauty in the unseen. The knowing that nothing is lost, only transformed.

…

Venus retrograde in Aries is a journey into the underworld of the self. It is a call to confront the raw, untamed parts of our desires, the wounds we have covered in beauty, the truths we have silenced for the sake of love. It is a ripping away of illusion, a reclamation of passion, power, and self-worth.

What has Venus Retrograde in Aries— the archetypal Fire Starter, Warrior, and Creatrix—initiated you into over the past month? Mercury has been retrograding there, too, so the themes have been broadcasting, even if a bit convoluted. And, the Sun has just entered Aries, so the light of conscious awareness is lighting things up to give you a clearer picture now.

If you’re still not sure what your reclamation quest has been about, reflect on the following:

What is the desire you won’t admit in polite company?

What would that feral part of you scream out if you removed the gag?

What are you sensing won’t just go gently back into the basement of your being?

What raw, unpolished truth have you buried beneath love, money, beauty, and validation?