Venus Retrograde Series: Part One

Venus in Scorpio: The Power of Love

Sainte Marie-Madeleine, Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Rennes-le-Château

A painted statue of Saint Mary Magdalene stands beneath an ornate stained-glass window inside the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene in Rennes-le-Château, France. Dressed in richly patterned gold and rose-colored robes, she holds a dark cross and a vessel traditionally associated with the anointing of Jesus. A skull rests at her feet as a symbol of mortality, contemplation, and spiritual transformation. The statue is framed by two intricately painted Stations of the Cross.

Photo Credit: Ally Ayala

As I contemplate the upcoming Venus retrograde cycle, I find myself returning to my recent pilgrimage through the South of France and the sacred sites of Mary Magdalene. The journey was deep and transformative, resonating profoundly with the Venus in Scorpio terrain through which we are currently moving.

Over the coming weeks, I will offer a series of blogs exploring the unfolding Venus retrograde cycle through an astrological lens, woven together with stories and images from my pilgrimage.

Venus in Scorpio

Venus is a planet of love, desire, beauty, femininity, and relationship. It teaches us so much about how to honor beauty and cultivate relationships with the people, places, and things that we value most.

Venus in Scorpio speaks directly to the transformative power of love. This Venus possesses a relational magnetism and intensity of focus. She desires deeply loyal connections, values trust and promises emotional honesty.

Traditional Hellenistic astrology describes this Venus as being in detriment, a placement in which Venus is said to have more difficulty expressing her nature. Some even described her energy and power as diminished or weakened because Scorpio is traditionally ruled by Mars. I would like to challenge that sentiment with a certain ferocity I feel deep inside because I do not experience her that way.

When I hear Venus in Scorpio described as diminished, weakened, or unable to express her essential nature, I can’t help but question who decided what a healthy expression of the feminine should look like. I find it hard to separate this language from the cultures in which many of these astrological traditions developed. These were cultures organized around kings, patriarchy, conquest, hierarchy, and the suppression of women’s voices, sexuality, and spiritual authority. Mary Magdalene is a powerful example of this suppression of the feminine within the Christian faith.

A Venus who remains pleasing, accommodating, beautiful, and undemanding was, and still is, preferred by men in power because she does not threaten the existing structures. But a Venus who sees beneath surface appearances and directly confronts shadows does.

Ruled by Mars and Pluto

With Scorpio being a sign that is ruled by both Mars traditionally and Pluto in modern astrology, this Venus is not content with a performative relationship that appears peaceful while something unspoken is moving beneath the surface. Venus in Scorpio dives into emotional truth. She names the shadows within relationships. She recognizes the hidden exchanges of power, desire, loyalty, fear, and dependency that shape how people love one another.

This Venus loves fiercely. She protects the people she loves with tremendous loyalty and courage. She is willing to accompany another person into grief, loss, crisis, shame, and transformation. She doesn’t require love to remain easy or comfortable, but she does require it to be real.

There is, of course, a shadow side to every astrological placement, and Venus in Scorpio is no exception. Venus in Scorpio can become jealous, possessive, secretive, and controlling. Her tendency to control may become heightened the more deeply she cares. Control and trust can be blind spots for the Scorpio archetype.

But these potentials do not make Venus in Scorpio defective in any way. They reveal what can happen when the vulnerability beneath love has not found a safe place to rest. Of all of the signs, Scorpio may be the most likely to name these shadows within themselves once they become aware of them and feel safe enough to entrust another person with this knowledge. They may then begin the deep inner work of loosening their grip on fear and the need for control, opening themselves to deeper trust and intimacy. For this sensitive sign, this is a process.

At her most empowered, Venus in Scorpio teaches us that intimacy is not found by avoiding darkness. She enters the darkness and finds beauty and love there. She transforms the shadows into love. Intimacy grows when we are willing to enter the darkness together and tell the truth about what we find there.

Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene carries this Venusian power. Although Christian institutions have often denied her authority and pushed her into the shadows, she was the beloved companion and disciple of Yeshua. She was revered among the apostles and often referred to as the apostle of the apostles.

Within the Magdalene traditions that informed my pilgrimage, she is understood as the woman who anointed Christ in preparation for his descent into death. This act could not be more resonant with the Venus in Scorpio archetype. The precious oils and their beautiful scents are deeply Venusian, while preparing a beloved for the journey into death belongs to the Plutonian realm of Scorpio.

She also remained present at the crucifixion. She went to the tomb, a gesture of intimate devotion traditionally associated with the closest members of a person’s family, a role that some understand as consistent with that of the wife.

The archetype of the resurrection is Plutonian in nature, aligning with Pluto’s gift of transformation: one version of life ceases to exist and a new version of life emerges from what has been surrendered. Mary Magdalene did not turn away from grief, death, or the mysteries that others feared to face. Her devotion led her directly into the place of loss, and from this place of deep emotion, she became the first to witness the risen Christ.

This is not a diminished Venus.

This Venus is initiated into the mysteries of death and rebirth.

This is a deeply powerful, transformative Venus, and perhaps it was this spiritual authority and emotional depth that those in power feared. They could not control a love that strong.