Venus Retrograde 2025 in Pisces and Aries - Venus’ Cycle and Greatest Elongation, 2017 and now
Venus stations retrograde March 1st in tropical Aries at 10 degrees and stations direct April 12th in Pisces at 24 degrees.
But the themes and stories of Venus retrograde in Pisces and Aries in 2025 are already all around us.
(Note: all dates included are Eastern time. Actual visibility and altitude of Venus depends on location/latitude, time of year, and local conditions.)
As of January 9th, Venus is already in Pisces, reaching her Greatest Elongation as an Evening Star—a moment we have all been slowly rising toward since late July 2024.
Each 584 days—a full cycle of Venus and the Sun (and the Earth)—our Venus retrograde experiences and stories tend to begin showing themselves at this moment of Greatest Elongation, especially when Venus is already in one of the signs she stations in—yes, a couple months before she technically stations retrograde. Considering Venus is already in Pisces this year, even though she hasn’t hit her station degree, some coming themes in our charts and world are being activated.
Part of the reason for this early onset is because Greatest Elongation marks a turning point, of sorts, sometimes literal and visible in the sky but more technically correct when considering zodiacal degree. Venus’ Greatest Elongation from the Sun is between about 45 and 47 degrees. Because Earth’s orbit is relatively close with Venus’, one and a half zodiac signs is as far as she can visibly get from the Sun from our perspective. Actual visible altitude of Venus’ place in the sky depends on the season and your location on Earth, but generally we can say that at the moment of Greatest Elongation, Venus hits this furthest reach as she continues to slow down for the Sun to catch up before their retrograde dance.
Once Venus hits this point of Greatest Elongation as an Evening Star, she starts losing distance from the Sun, setting earlier and earlier after sunset (depending on location) until she stations retrograde, then seeming to move directly toward the Sun until she disappears in its brilliance.
Leading into the next retrograde of 2025, Venus began rising as an Evening Star around mid-July 2024. Venus spends around nine months of her cycle as an Evening Star, making her slow rise further from the Sun each night, and then more quickly falling back to Earth as she prepares to station retrograde. So between mid-July 2024 and early January 2025, Venus has been making her Evening Star Apparition, working her way through the zodiac, meeting with the Crescent Moon once a month. (One of my favourite words I borrow from astronomy is “Apparition” which is the word for these long periods of Venus’ visibility as a Morning Star or Evening Star.)
Her Greatest Elongation on January 9th marks the beginning of Venus’ descent, as her station in Aries on March 1st marks her retrograde journey into the heart of the Sun.
The last Venus retrograde we experienced in Pisces and Aries was in March and April 2017.
Venus’ movements through the zodiac and sky repeat in almost perfect eight year cycles, moving backwards just a couple of degrees each eight years. Her last Evening Star Apparition that culminated in a Greatest Elongation in Pisces was between July 2016 and January 2017. (Before you go getting worried about that time, there were a lot of things going on then that are not happening now and vice versa. One transit repetition in isolation in a natal chart is not enough “testimony,” as we astrologers are known to call it, for repetitions of exact events/intensities.)
That said, if you are having memories, connections, crushes, longings, songs, creative projects, et cetera, surface from that time, you are not alone. It is a common phenomena for when we are heading into a Venus retrograde for these to resurface when we are approaching another in the same part of our chart.
Some considerations for the astro-savvy as you begin to track this cycle:
What houses are held by Pisces and Aries for you?
Do you have important placements in Pisces or Aries?
What houses does Venus rule in your chart (Taurus and Libra)?
Do you have important placements in Taurus or Libra?
Consider January 2017 and January 2024. Consider the Pisces area of your chart. Can you track any similarities between then and this time in feeling, focus, embodiment, relationships, or experience? Bonus nerd points for considering the house topics of your Pisces house and placements as they relate.
There is so much to explore with Venus retrograde as she takes us to the limits of our relational capacities, challenges and tries us, blesses and offers wonders, and generally deepens our ability to be human, to be connected and emplaced in the world around us and those we love.
Some initial dates (in Eastern time) and degrees for thinking with Venus retrograde in Pisces and Aries 2025:
Venus enters Pisces ~ January 2nd
Venus at Greatest Elongation as an Evening Star ~ January 10th ~ 7°21’ Pisces
Venus hits direct station degree ~ January 28th ~ 24°37’ Pisces
Venus enters Aries ~ February 4th
Venus stations retrograde ~ March 1st ~ 10°50’ Aries
Venus sets as an Evening Star ~ around mid-late March
Venus conjunct Sun ~ March 22nd ~ 2°39’ Aries
Venus rises as a Morning Star ~ around late March
Venus re-enters Pisces ~ March 27th
Venus stations direct ~ April 12th ~ 24°37’ Pisces
Venus re-enters Aries ~ April 30th
Venus hits retrograde station degree ~ May 16th ~ 10°50’ Aries
Venus at Greatest Elongation as a Morning Star ~ June 1st ~ 25°03’ Aries
Venus enters Taurus ~ June 6th
To learn more about Venus’ entire cycle, phases, and how to use Astro-Seek’s awesome Venus Cycle Calculator and Calendar (which I use constantly, including to write this piece), visit https://www.nineofwands.com/blog/venus-cycle-calculator
To track the Moon-Venus conjunctions of Venus’ Evening Star Apparition 2024-25, download my free Moon-Venus Cycle Guide at https://pallas.myflodesk.com/
To calculate when Venus is at highest altitude or maximum brightness in your location, visit in-the-sky.org
Some calculations crafted with the assistance of Astro Gold Software and Astro-Seek.com.
