Everyone talks about who might come back during Venus Retrograde.

I'm more interested in what part of YOU is coming back.

On October 3, Venus turns retrograde in Scorpio, beginning a six-week journey through desire, intimacy, sexuality, pleasure, beauty, relationships, money and what we truly value.

But I want to look at this Venus Retrograde differently.

Through the body.

Body Astrology is an important part of the Universal Movement Method™. Rather than only looking at what a planet or sign means psychologically, we explore its traditional relationship with the body and use that symbolism as a doorway into embodiment.

And when I look at Venus Retrograde 2026 through the body, I see a fascinating journey:

Generation. Elimination. Transformation. Regeneration. Rebalancing. Receiving.

Perhaps this retrograde isn't simply asking:

What do I value?

Perhaps it's asking:

What needs to be released so I can become available for what I truly desire?

Venus: What Are You Generating?

We usually know Venus as the planet of love, beauty, relationships, pleasure and value.

But through Body Astrology, I also become interested in Venus through the generative and reproductive principle.

Venus becomes not only love, but life-force, sensuality, sexuality, pleasure and creation.

What are you generating?

Where is your creative energy going?

And does what you're creating still reflect the person you are becoming?

Then Venus turns retrograde in Scorpio.

And this is where we go into the deep water.

Scorpio: Go Into the Deep Water

Scorpio is a water sign, but its symbolism isn't the sparkling surface.

Think bogs, marshes, murky water — the places where things settle and accumulate.

Scorpio asks us to go beneath the surface.

In traditional Body Astrology, Scorpio is associated with the reproductive and genital regions and with the body's processes of elimination, excretion and the removal of waste and toxins.

And this is where the retrograde becomes really interesting to me.

Because retrograde asks us to go back, revisit, reprocess and release.

So could the Scorpio part of this Venus Retrograde become a period of detoxification?

Not simply a physical detox — and not because an astrological transit literally removes toxins from the body — but a much bigger detoxification of your life.

What has accumulated that now needs to leave?

Old relationships. Resentment. Sexual shame. Financial patterns. Ideas about beauty and your body that were never really yours. Commitments you've outgrown. Possessions, habits and even identities that belong to an older version of you.

The body knows something we often resist:

Not everything we take in is meant to stay.

We absorb. We process. We take what we need. We transform what we can.

And we eliminate the rest.

Perhaps that's the invitation of Venus retrograde through Scorpio:

Go back through what you've accumulated and decide what you are no longer willing to carry forward.

What Are You Still Carrying From 2018?

Venus last travelled retrograde through this Scorpio–Libra territory in 2018.

So think back.

Who were you then?

What was happening in your relationships, money, body, sexuality, creativity and self-worth?

What did you desire?

What did you believe you deserved?

And what would the person you are today choose differently?

This isn't about assuming 2018 will repeat itself.

It's about noticing what may have travelled with you from then until now.

Something can once have been valuable and still no longer belong in your life.

Perhaps this retrograde gives you an opportunity to finally process it.

To release it. To transform it.

Detoxify Your Life

This is where Body Astrology becomes a practice rather than simply something we read about.

If Scorpio is asking us to look at elimination, what could you consciously clear?

Your home. Your wardrobe. Your diary. A commitment. A habit. A repeating relationship dynamic. A belief you've been carrying about yourself.

This doesn't need to be an extreme physical cleanse.

Instead, bring the symbolism into the way you care for yourself.

Hydrate. Nourish yourself. Move. Rest. Bathe. Spend time in nature. Reduce the excess that leaves you feeling depleted.

Support the body's own natural processes rather than punishing it.

As you clear your life, care for the body carrying you through it.

Venus, Scorpio & Womb Wellness

There is another layer to the Scorpio part of this retrograde that feels important.

Womb wellness.

Venus carries symbolism around generation and creation, while Scorpio traditionally connects us with the reproductive and sexual regions of the body.

For those for whom womb-focused practice is relevant, this can be a beautiful time to bring greater awareness and care to the womb and pelvic space.

Because Venus isn't only asking:

What do you love?

She may also be asking:

What wants to come alive in you again?

Elimination Isn't the End

This is where Scorpio takes us deeper.

Scorpio isn't only associated astrologically with elimination and release.

Its archetype is transformation and regeneration.

Something ends.

Something changes form.

Something else eventually becomes possible.

An experience can become wisdom.

Heartbreak can become discernment.

Shame can become acceptance.

An old relationship can reveal what intimacy means to you now.

A former identity can become the foundation for the next.

Something that has sat in the murky water for years can finally be brought to the surface and transformed.

This isn't rejection. It's regeneration.

Retrograde: What Are You Retrieving?

Because going backwards isn't only about releasing something.

Perhaps you're going back to retrieve something too.

Your sensuality.

Your creativity.

Your pleasure.

Your standards.

Your confidence.

Your relationship with your body.

Your capacity to receive.

A desire you buried.

A part of yourself you made smaller in order to belong.

Maybe you're not supposed to bring the old relationship back.

Maybe you're supposed to bring yourself back.

The Turning Point

On October 24, retrograde Venus meets the Sun in Scorpio — an important turning point within the Venus cycle.

After all that looking backwards and beneath the surface, this becomes a moment to notice what you can see now that you couldn't see before.

What are you finished with?

What have you reclaimed?

What do you actually desire now?

Then, on October 25, the journey changes.

Venus retrogrades back into Libra.

And after all that deep Scorpio water, something completely different enters the story.

Air.

Libra: A Breath of Fresh Air

I love the symbolism of this transition.

We've gone into Scorpio.

Into the murky water.

Into what has accumulated.

Into elimination, sexuality, intimacy, transformation and regeneration.

And then we come back to the surface.

Libra feels like a breath of fresh air.

In traditional Body Astrology, Libra is associated with the kidneys and lower back, while Venus has traditional associations with beauty and the skin.

So our Body Astrology story changes.

Scorpio asks us to clear.

Libra asks us to rebalance.

Drink your water.

Breathe.

Rest.

Care for your skin.

Move your body.

Create beauty around you.

Pay attention to what makes you feel replenished rather than depleted.

Not because Venus Retrograde medically requires these things, but because we're allowing the symbolism of the body to become part of our practice.

And Libra takes that idea of balance beyond the physical body.

Into our relationships.

Into reciprocity.

Into the exchange between giving and receiving.

Where have you been giving too much?

Where have you made yourself smaller to maintain harmony?

Where has the exchange become unequal?

And after releasing what no longer belongs:

What are you now available to receive?

Perhaps we cannot truly rebalance our lives until we're willing to release what no longer belongs in them.

Scorpio clears the water.

Libra lets the air back in.The sky gives us the archetype.
The body gives us the experience.
The practice creates the transformation.

Perhaps Venus Retrograde 2026 isn't simply about reconsidering love or waiting to see who comes back.

Perhaps it's an invitation to go into the deep water.

To see what's been sitting there.

To detoxify your life of what you no longer need.

To reclaim your sensuality, pleasure and creative life-force.

To transform what you've lived through.

And then, as Venus returns to Libra, to come back up for air.

To breathe.
To rebalance.
To make space.
To receive.

So instead of asking:

Who's coming back?

Perhaps the better question is:

Who am I becoming now that I'm no longer carrying who I used to be?

Perhaps the person returning is you.

Venus Retrograde 2026 — Key Dates

October 3 — Venus stations retrograde in Scorpio
October 24 — Venus meets the Sun in Scorpio
October 25 — Venus retrogrades into Libra
November 13/14 — Venus stations direct in Libra, depending on time zone
December 15 — Venus leaves the retrograde shadow

What's On at Universal Movement

These experiences are part of our wider Venus Retrograde journey at Universal Movement.

Retreat in Glastonbury.
Decode your Venus Codex.
Embody Venus through movement.

Explore What's On This Cycle →

 

 

Venus Sanctuary Retreat — Glastonbury

9th–12th October | Glastonbury

Retreat. Release. Restore.

Join us in Glastonbury for a four-day Venus Sanctuary Retreat, created around the Libra New Moon and the opening chapter of Venus Retrograde.

This is your opportunity to step away from everyday life and create the space to release, restore and reconnect with yourself.

Through movement, embodiment, rest, ritual and the rhythms of the Moon and Venus, we'll work with this moment as an opportunity to clear what has become stagnant and reconnect with beauty, pleasure, balance and what you truly value.

A sanctuary for the body.

A reset for your rhythm.

 

Discover the Venus Sanctuary Retreat