Retrogrades Aren’t Ruining Your Life. They’re Auditing It.

What the October–November 2026 retrogrades are really asking you to renegotiate

If you came here expecting me to tell you Mercury retrograde is why your Wi-Fi stopped working and Venus retrograde means your ex is about to text you at 2:14 in the morning… I’m sorry but… We’re going a little deeper than that.

Because lately, I’ve been looking at my own life thinking:

What the fuck is going on?

Everything was actually going relatively well.

I had a good summer! I reached milestones I didn’t necessarily expect to reach this year, I was enjoying myself, my work felt fulfilling, I felt more receptive to life, I had created some financial safety for myself and apparently my response to finally creating stability was to slowly stop doing the exact things that created the stability. Makes perfect sense.

I stopped caring as much about making money despite being self-employed, as if the savings I had built were some kind of infinite fountain. The cosmos will provide. Yes, babe. The cosmos might provide but… You still have to participate.

I started staying awake all night and wasting days. Doomscrolling. Gaming for hours. Retail therapy. Spending money on things I didn't particularly need. Spending real-life money inside a pixelated game, because apparently fake currency needed a slice of the budget too. My eating habits started slipping. Exercise disappeared.

I started browsing cosmetic procedures because apparently five minutes of discovering how unfit I had become meant the obvious solution was not “start moving your body again” but “perhaps somebody should freeze, melt or otherwise professionally attack the fat.”

I even caught myself romanticising relationships I have spent considerable time understanding why I no longer want lol. My patience shortened, so my irritability increased. I started becoming defensive and hyper-independent again…. and with all of that becoming a combustion, I eventually I had to ask myself: Why am I suddenly trying to rebel against my own life? That question (naturally) sent me back to the astrology.

And, well… The sky is currently doing quite a lot.

First: what actually is a retrograde?

Astronomically, planets do not suddenly slam themselves into reverse and start travelling backwards through the solar system.

Retrograde motion is apparent backward movement from our perspective on Earth, caused by the relative speeds and positions of planets as they orbit the Sun. NASA describes it as a perspective effect: planets appear to temporarily reverse direction against the background stars even though they continue along their normal orbit.

I actually love that explanation because the metaphor practically writes itself.

The planet hasn't abandoned its path. Your perspective on its movement has changed.

Astrologically, retrogrades have traditionally been interpreted as periods of review, reconsideration, repetition, internalisation and revision around whatever that planet symbolises… and that distinction matters because somewhere along the way, social-media astrology turned “review this area of your life” into:

DO NOT MOVE. DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING. DO NOT DATE. DO NOT BUY TECHNOLOGY. YOUR EX IS COMING. HIDE. Please be serious.

Your entire life does not need to close for refurbishment because a planet has an Rx next to it. Retrogrades aren't inherently punishments… They're checkpoints. Sometimes they return something, sometimes they reveal something. Sometimes they slow something down enough for you to finally notice what you were bulldozing past.

And sometimes the thing returning isn't supposed to stay. It has simply returned because you need another opportunity to respond differently.

That distinction is everything.

So what is actually retrograde right now?

As of early October 2026, Venus, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Chiron are all retrograde.

Venus stationed retrograde in Scorpio on 3 October and remains retrograde until 13 November, moving backwards into Libra on 25 October. Its pre-retrograde shadow actually began on 31 August, with the full post-shadow lasting until 15 December.

Saturn has been retrograde in Aries since 26 July and remains so until 10 December. Neptune has been retrograde in Aries since 7 July, continuing until 12 December. Uranus stationed retrograde in Gemini on 10 September and remains retrograde until February 2027. Pluto has been retrograde in Aquarius since May and stations direct on 15 October.

Chiron began its retrograde in Taurus on 3 August, moved backwards into Aries on 17 September, and remains retrograde until January 2027.

And Mercury?

Mercury is not retrograde yet.

Mercury entered its Scorpio pre-retrograde shadow on 4 October, stations retrograde on 24 October, turns direct on 13 November, and finally clears its post-retrograde shadow on 30 November.

Interestingly, Venus and Mercury will both station direct on 13 November.

So no, Mercury cannot currently be blamed for everything. Give her another few weeks.

But what are all these retrogrades actually asking us to do?

If I had to reduce this entire period to three words, they would be: Renegotiate. Refine. Release.

Not everything needs repairing. That's another thing we don't talk about enough.

Sometimes reflection tells you how to fix something, other times reflection tells you that you've outgrown it. so… Sometimes you renegotiate the contract, you rewrite it, or - you realise the contract should have expired three years ago and everybody has just been turning up out of habit. Retrogrades can bring us face-to-face with the unconscious agreements running our lives. The relationships we tolerate, the amount of money we spend when we're emotionally uncomfortable, the way we speak to ourselves, the responsibilities we keep postponing, the identities we're still performing, the coping mechanisms we call “self-care“, the fantasies we call intuition, the avoidance we call “waiting for divine timing” and that's where this current retrograde pile-up becomes interesting.

Because these planets aren't reviewing the same thing.

Venus retrograde: What do you actually value?

Venus rules relationships, attraction, pleasure, money, aesthetics, desire, values and our relationship with receiving. She has stationed retrograde in Scorpio. Now, Scorpio does not particularly enjoy surface-level answers. It asks why; why do you want this? Why do you desire them? Why do you spend money when you're sad? Why are you attracted to that dynamic? Why does being wanted by that particular person matter so much? Why does changing your appearance suddenly feel urgent? Why are you calling something love when it's actually validation? Why are you calling something pleasure when it's actually anesthesia? That last question has personally been loud.

Because there's nothing inherently wrong with buying clothes, ordering food, playing games, doing beauty treatments or treating yourself.

I love nice things! (Nobody panic) but - but - there's a difference between enjoying something and using it to avoid experiencing yourself.

I had to catch myself asking: Am I buying this because I genuinely want it? Or: Am I trying to manufacture a small hit of excitement because I've stopped creating fulfilment elsewhere? That's a Venus retrograde question. And when Venus moves backwards into Libra on 25 October, the conversation shifts, That’s when Scorpio asks what lies underneath the desire. Libra asks whether the exchange is actually fair; Am I overgiving?Am I under-receiving? Am I doing all the emotional labour? Is this relationship reciprocal?Does this purchase reflect my actual values? Have I confused peacekeeping with having healthy boundaries? Have I made myself smaller so somebody else remains comfortable?

Venus retrograde is famous for bringing former lovers back into consciousness — sometimes literally, sometimes through memories, dreams or comparison.

But someone resurfacing does not automatically mean they are returning because you're destined to try again. Sometimes you're simply being shown the chapter again because your interpretation of it has changed.

Which brings me to something I think matters enormously during retrograde periods.

Is it a second chance… or a repeated lesson?

Before reopening something from your past, ask what mindset you're approaching it from.

Do I genuinely want this or am I lonely?

Am I hoping they'll save me? Do I want revenge? Am I trying to prove something? Do I want validation? Am I acting out of pity? Do I actually want closure — or am I hoping “closure” becomes another opportunity? Has anything materially changed?

And perhaps most importantly:

Am I approaching this situation differently because I integrated the lesson, or am I trying the same behaviour again while hoping for a different ending?

Sometimes something resurfaces because healing is still in progress. Sometimes you've learned the theory and life gives you the practical exam.

Oh, you said you've learned boundaries? Cool - here's somebody who used to bulldoze through them.

What are you going to do now? That's not punishment.

That's information.

You either discover there's more to refine… or you finally put the lesson to fucking bed.

Mercury in Scorpio: Check the paperwork — and what isn't being said

Mercury's pre-retrograde shadow has already begun in Scorpio, with the actual retrograde beginning 24 October.

Mercury governs communication, information, paperwork, schedules, technology, transportation, transactions and the way we process information. Scorpio takes Mercury underground so conversations may become less about what was said and more about what was meant.

Information that was missing may become relevant, financial administration may require another look, taxes, debts, subscriptions, shared expenses, contracts, passwords, confidential information and unfinished administrative bullshit may suddenly need attention.

I say this as someone who recently had an entire situation involving my car tax become unnecessarily complicated and eventually required legal action to get money back. Very Scorpio-Mercury-coded paperwork drama but here's where I want people to remain grounded: Mercury retrograde doesn't mean “never sign anything.” Life continues.

People buy homes, start jobs, babies are born, businesses operate etc. but - if something needs signing? Read it! Ask all the questions, check dates, save receipts, confirm arrangements, back things up, leave space for amendments. Mercury retrograde isn't necessarily saying don't proceed. Sometimes it's saying:

Stop proceeding on autopilot.

Saturn retrograde in Aries: Can you govern yourself?

This one has personally dragged me by my ankles.

Saturn relates to responsibility, consequences, discipline, boundaries, maturity, authority and structure. Aries relates to individuality, action, instinct, initiative and self-direction.

Put Saturn retrograde in Aries and one uncomfortable question emerges: Who are you when nobody else is enforcing the rules?

Can you govern yourself? Can you keep promises you've made privately? Can you create structure without experiencing structure as punishment? Can you maintain something after the excitement of achieving it disappears?

This has been one of my biggest confrontations recently. I'm naturally resistant to routine because some part of me equates routine with being controlled, so when I finally created some breathing room for myself, my rebellious side essentially went:

Fuck responsibilities. We are free. Except eventually you're not rebelling against authority anymore… You're rebelling against your own goals; your own finances, health, business and future… and at some point you realise: Adulting is unfortunately a subscription service. You don't make one payment and unlock adulthood permanently. Things require maintenance; bodies, homes, money, careers, relationships, businesses, boundaries.

Essentially, Saturn retrograde in Aries asks whether your independence includes self-leadership, or whether independence currently means nobody can tell me what to do, including me.

Hm hmm… Yeah.

Neptune retrograde in Aries: Spirituality without participation is just wishful thinking

Neptune rules dreams, spirituality, imagination, ideals, compassion, fantasy, escapism and illusion.

Aries says: Do something.

This combination creates a fascinating confrontation between vision and action.

You can believe you're supported, you can trust divine timing, you can manifest, pray, pull cards, hell - you can journal underneath seventeen candles while frequencies play in the background. Great! Then what?

Because one of my own ridiculous subconscious narratives recently was essentially:

The cosmos will provide regardless. Bitch, you are self-employed, log into work!

There is a difference between surrendering excessive control and refusing to participate in your own life. Spirituality should not become a sophisticated language for avoidance. Sometimes “I'm trusting the universe” genuinely means trusting and sometimes it means: I do not want to make the uncomfortable decision required of me, so I'm hoping reality rearranges itself.

Neptune retrograde can expose where the dream has become detached from behaviour.

The dream doesn't necessarily need abandoning, it may simply need a plan.

Uranus retrograde in Gemini: What is your brain consuming all day?

Uranus concerns disruption, liberation, innovation, technology and sudden changes. Gemini concerns communication, information, curiosity, learning and mental stimulation.

With that said, I genuinely think this transit deserves much more conversation in the age of algorithmic dopamine, because what exactly are we feeding our minds? How much information do you consume every day that you don't remember twenty minutes later?How often are you reaching for stimulation because silence now feels uncomfortable?

Scroll. Refresh. Notification. Video. Another video. Game. Message. Refresh.Repeat.

I recently realised I could spend hours consuming stimulation while somehow ending the day feeling completely unstimulated. That's worth examining.

Uranus retrograde in Gemini can make us reconsider our relationship with technology, information overload, social media, attention and communication. Sometimes the radical act isn't learning something new… It's closing the fucking app.

Pluto retrograde in Aquarius: Who owns your future?

Pluto has been retrograde in Aquarius since May and stations direct on 15 October. Pluto governs the themes of power, compulsion, control, destruction, regeneration and transformation. Aquarius deals with groups, networks, technology, community, collective systems and our vision of the future.

So as Pluto finishes this retrograde chapter, consider what has changed about your relationship with belonging; do you still fit inside communities you once identified with? Do you outsource your opinions to a collective? How much power do online spaces have over your emotions? Who gets access to you?

What future are you trying to build — and whose definition of progress are you using?

Pluto doesn't particularly care about cosmetic change…It wants the root.

And then there's Chiron…

Chiron isn't a traditional planet, so I don't like lazily throwing it into the same category as every planetary retrograde But it is worth discussing.

Astrologically, Chiron is commonly associated with wounds that become areas of wisdom — especially experiences we may become highly capable of helping others navigate while still feeling tender about them ourselves.

Chiron briefly entered Taurus in June, stationed retrograde in August and moved back into Aries on 17 September, where it remains during this retrograde period.

Aries brings themes of identity, independence, anger, self-assertion and the right to exist unapologetically, which makes the return particularly interesting for people revisiting hyper-independence.

There is a difference between:

I can take care of myself and I must do everything myself because needing anyone makes me unsafe. There's also a difference between healthy anger and carrying years of resentment because you never expressed anger when the boundary was originally crossed.

I've personally found myself looking backwards at former relationships and becoming angry at versions of myself who tolerated things I wouldn't tolerate today. Why didn't you speak up? Why did you make yourself so small? Why weren't you taking your own advice? But please hear me when I say this - beating up the previous version of myself for not knowing how to behave like the current version of myself is hardly healing either.

She hadn't learned it yet. That's why I'm here now.

My own Chiron: Leo in the 12th house

Here's a useful example of how natal Chiron works, because your natal Chiron and the current transiting Chiron are not the same thing. In my birth chart, Chiron is in Leo in my 12th house.

The sign describes the style of the wound; the house tells us where that theme tends to operate.

Leo deals with visibility, recognition, creativity, pride, expression and allowing yourself to take up space.

The 12th house deals with the unconscious, retreat, isolation, hidden patterns, self-undoing and the things we often process privately.

For me, that combination can look like a strange push-pull between wanting to be seen and disappearing when being seen becomes emotionally uncomfortable. Being capable of showing up very publicly for other people while quietly retreating from my own life.

Wanting recognition but feeling exposed when recognition actually arrives. Helping other people find confidence while privately confronting the places where my own confidence has historically depended on being useful, impressive or validated.

And sometimes? Going into a slump, withdrawing, turning inward… Then getting angry at myself for withdrawing. That's why understanding your Chiron placement can be useful.

Not so you can declare yourself permanently wounded but so you can recognise your preferred hiding place when life presses that bruise.

How to actually use a retrograde

You don't need to become afraid of making decisions, you need to become more conscious of why you're making them. That is the difference.

If someone from your past returns, don't immediately declare it destiny. Observe.

If you suddenly hate your appearance and want to drastically alter your body, give yourself enough space to determine whether that desire has been consistent or whether you've recently become unusually critical of yourself. And obviously, medical or cosmetic decisions should ultimately be based on proper professional advice, health considerations, finances and informed consent — not planetary motion.

If your finances suddenly look chaotic, open the banking app. If you've stopped participating in your own routines, ask why. If you're irritable, don't automatically decide everyone around you has become unbearable.

If something keeps repeating, investigate the pattern before declaring yourself cursed.

If an old dream returns, ask whether you abandoned it because it wasn't yours anymore or because pursuing it became uncomfortable. Retrogrades reward curiosity much more than fear.

What I wouldn't do during this period

I wouldn't freeze my entire life because astrology told me the sky looks complicated. I wouldn't use retrogrades to excuse behaviour I already know isn't serving me. I wouldn't romanticise somebody purely because nostalgia has edited out all the scenes that made me leave. I wouldn't spend money I don't have because “abundance mindset.” I wouldn't confuse impulsivity with intuition. I wouldn't confuse avoidance with self-care. I wouldn't confuse resentment with boundaries. I wouldn't confuse hyper-independence with strength… and I definitely wouldn't outsource my accountability to the planets.

The planets didn't forget my responsibilities. I did.

Astrology can show me a symbolic weather report but I still decide whether I'm walking outside without a coat.

Your rising sign: where are the retrogrades auditing your life?

For this section, read for your rising sign if you know it.

I'm using whole-sign houses here because it gives us a clean framework for understanding which areas of life these transits activate. You don't need to understand houses beforehand, I'll tell you what they mean :)

Aries Rising

Scorpio rules your 8th house, which covers shared finances, debt, intimacy, vulnerability, trust, power and emotional entanglements. Venus retrograde — followed by Mercury retrograde — may have you reconsidering who or what you're financially or emotionally intertwined with. Old debts, subscriptions, financial agreements, intimate dynamics or unresolved conversations about trust may resurface.

Meanwhile, Saturn, Neptune and Chiron are moving backwards through your 1st house of identity and selfhood.

This is personal.

Who are you becoming? Where have you mistaken independence for never needing anybody? Where does the person you're becoming require stronger self-leadership?

Uranus retrograde in your 3rd house can also change how you communicate and consume information, while Pluto finishing its retrograde through your 11th may transform friendships, networks and long-term goals.

Your audit: Who am I now, and what am I no longer willing to merge with?

Taurus Rising

Scorpio activates your 7th house of relationships, partnership and one-to-one commitments. Yes, Taurus rising, this is the stereotypical “people from the past” territory but don't stop at romance; business partnerships, clients, contracts, friendships and unresolved relationship dynamics can also return for reassessment.

When Venus returns to Libra, attention moves toward your 6th house of work, health, habits and daily routines. Is your everyday life actually supporting you?

Saturn, Neptune and Chiron are retrograding through your 12th house, bringing unconscious behaviours, exhaustion, avoidance and old emotional material to the surface.

Uranus is retrograde in your 2nd house of money and self-worth. That can provoke questions about income, spending and what security actually means.

Your audit: Which relationships support the life I'm trying to build — and which ones require me to abandon myself to maintain them?

Gemini Rising

Scorpio activates your 6th house of routines, employment, wellbeing, obligations and everyday maintenance. If your schedule has gone completely to shit, congratulations: there is your review.

This isn't necessarily about becoming more productive, but moreso about about examining whether the systems you rely on actually work.

When Venus backs into Libra, your 5th house of creativity, pleasure, romance and play gets another look too; have you forgotten how to enjoy yourself without turning pleasure into escapism?

Saturn, Neptune and Chiron move through your 11th house, reviewing friendships, communities and future ambitions.

Uranus retrograde is happening in your own sign, inside your 1st house. You're renegotiating identity itself.

Your audit: Does my daily life actually match the person I say I'm becoming?

Cancer Rising

Scorpio activates your 5th house — creativity, dating, romance, pleasure, hobbies, children, self-expression and the things you do simply because being alive is supposed to contain joy.

Venus and Mercury reviewing this house can bring former lovers, abandoned creative projects or forgotten hobbies back into awareness… But don't immediately assume resurrection means continuation… Maybe you're remembering what used to make you feel alive.

When Venus returns to Libra, your 4th house of home, family and emotional foundations comes into focus. Meanwhile, Saturn, Neptune and Chiron are retrograding through your 10th house of career, reputation and direction.

You may be reconsidering what success actually means.

Uranus in your 12th can disturb sleep, unconscious patterns and your need for retreat, while Pluto in your 8th continues transforming trust and shared resources.

Your audit: Am I building a life that looks successful, or one that genuinely feels alive?

Leo Rising

Scorpio rules your 4th house of home, family, emotional security and your private inner world.

Venus and Mercury reviewing this area can bring old family dynamics, living situations, memories or conversations back to the surface.

When Venus re-enters Libra, your 3rd house brings communication, siblings, paperwork and your mental environment into the review.

Saturn, Neptune and Chiron are retrograding through your 9th house, which governs belief systems, spirituality, education, philosophy and the way you make meaning from life.

You may be realising that beliefs which once guided you no longer fit.

Uranus in the 11th shakes up friendships and future plans.

Pluto in your 7th continues transforming your understanding of partnership.

Your audit: What do I believe because it's true for me — and what do I believe because I've never challenged it?

Virgo Rising

Scorpio activates your 3rd house of communication, thought patterns, paperwork, learning and your immediate environment. This is one of the signs I'd especially tell to reread the email before hitting send.

Old conversations may require clarification. Paperwork may need correcting. Your internal dialogue may also deserve serious examination.

When Venus backs into Libra, your 2nd house of money, possessions, values and self-worth becomes highlighted. Budget. Review spending. Ask whether your purchases genuinely reflect what matters to you.

Saturn, Neptune and Chiron are retrograding through your 8th house of shared finances, trust and vulnerability, while Uranus reviews career and public direction from your 10th.

Your audit: What story about money, trust or worth am I still repeating because I've never questioned who taught it to me?

Libra Rising

Scorpio activates your 2nd house of money, possessions, self-worth and personal values. This retrograde is speaking your language because Venus is your ruling planet.

Your relationship with spending, earning, beauty, comfort and what you believe you deserve may need reassessment.

Then Venus retrogrades back into your own sign, activating your 1st house… Now the question becomes more personal: Do you like who you're becoming? Are you changing your appearance because it's genuinely expressive or because you suddenly don't feel like enough?

Meanwhile, Saturn, Neptune and Chiron are moving through your 7th house of relationships. Partnership illusions, boundaries and unresolved interpersonal wounds may require attention.

Your audit: What would I still value if nobody else were watching?

Scorpio Rising

Venus and Mercury are doing much of this work in your 1st house of identity, appearance, self-expression and how you move through the world.

People may perceive changes in you before you completely understand them yourself. You may reconsider style, relationships, personal branding, attractiveness or how much of yourself you're willing to reveal.

When Venus moves back into Libra, your 12th house asks you to go quieter. Old feelings, private grief, secret attachments and unconscious coping mechanisms may become louder.

Saturn, Neptune and Chiron are reviewing your 6th house of routines, work and health.

Uranus is reviewing intimacy and shared finances in your 8th.

Pluto continues reshaping your home and emotional foundations from your 4th.

Your audit: Who am I when I stop performing the version of myself everybody already expects?

Sagittarius Rising

Scorpio activates your 12th house, one of the most private areas of the chart.

Dreams, old emotions, avoidance, isolation, escapism and unconscious patterns can become louder. You may need more rest but this is where distinguishing rest from disappearance becomes essential.

When Venus moves back into Libra, your 11th house of friends, communities and goals becomes part of the review.

Saturn, Neptune and Chiron are moving backwards through your 5th house of creativity, romance and pleasure. Something about joy itself may need redefining.

Uranus in your 7th can bring unpredictability to relationships and agreements.

Pluto in the 3rd is transforming the way you think and communicate.

Your audit: Am I actually resting, or have I quietly withdrawn from my own life?

Capricorn Rising

Scorpio activates your 11th house of friendships, community, audiences, social networks and long-term goals. You may reconsider who belongs in your future, certain friendships may feel different, old connections may return and goals you once desperately wanted may suddenly feel irrelevant.

When Venus returns to Libra, your 10th house of career and reputation becomes part of the review. Your relationship with ambition may change.

Meanwhile, Saturn, Neptune and Chiron retrograde through your 4th house of home, family and emotional foundations.

Uranus reviews your 6th house routines.

Pluto retrograde in your 2nd has been digging through money, security and self-worth.

Your audit: Am I building the future I actually want, or simply maintaining the one I once decided I should want?

Aquarius Rising

Scorpio activates your 10th house of career, reputation, visibility and life direction.

Venus and Mercury can trigger serious reassessment around work, public image, ambition and professional relationships so - former opportunities may return, you might rethink your business, role or what you want to be known for.

When Venus returns to Libra, your 9th house invites you to revisit education, travel, belief systems and bigger-picture plans.

Saturn, Neptune and Chiron are reviewing communication through your 3rd house.

Uranus is shaking up creativity, dating and pleasure through your 5th.

And Pluto?

Pluto is retrograde in your sign, reshaping your identity at a much deeper level.

Your audit: Does the version of success I'm pursuing still belong to the person I'm becoming?

Pisces Rising

Scorpio activates your 9th house of beliefs, spirituality, higher learning, travel and your worldview. This is where spiritual beliefs may require renegotiation.

Are your beliefs empowering you? Or have they become a convenient explanation for avoiding practical action?

When Venus returns to Libra, your 8th house asks you to review intimacy, shared finances, trust and emotional attachments.

Saturn, Neptune and Chiron are retrograding through your 2nd house of money and self-worth, which can make financial boundaries particularly important.

Uranus reviews home and family matters through your 4th.

Pluto in your 12th continues excavating unconscious material underneath everything.

Your audit: Where have I confused faith with passivity?

The point isn't to fear retrogrades

The point is to notice.

I don't think retrogrades exist to ruin perfectly functioning areas of our lives. I think they're most useful as mirrors for the places where something was already overdue for review… and sometimes the review is uncomfortable.

You realise you've been overspending, you've stopped maintaining yourself, you've been entertaining somebody because loneliness softened your memory, you've confused exhaustion with laziness, you've confused laziness with exhaustion, you've outgrown something you've spent years building, you've been waiting for somebody else to impose structure because imposing it on yourself feels boring, you've been calling escapism “self-care.”

I've certainly had to confront a few of those but awareness changes what happens next.

I recently realised that if I continued allowing complacency to run my life, eventually I would destroy the safety net I'd worked so hard to create.

Not because the universe had suddenly withdrawn its support, not because Venus went backwards, not because Saturn hates me… Because everything requires maintenance.

And I had temporarily stopped maintaining it.

So perhaps that is the most useful way to approach this retrograde season.

Not:

What horrible thing is about to happen to me?

But:

What is returning to my attention because I finally have enough information to deal with it differently?

Maybe you renegotiate it, refine it, repair it, maybe finally abandon it. Maybe the person returns, the habits return, maybe even the insecurity returns - maybe the opportunity returns. Maybe an old version of you returns.

You don't automatically owe any of them another contract. Sometimes the universe isn't sending something back because you're supposed to keep it. More often than not, its simply asking:

Now that you know better… what are you going to do with it this time?

If you’ve made it this far and you’re thinking, “Okay… but what does all of this actually mean for me?” — that’s where your own chart becomes much more useful than a general horoscope.

Your rising sign gives us the house being activated, but your natal placements, aspects and current transits tell a much more personal story about what is resurfacing, why it may be resurfacing now, and what you’re being asked to renegotiate rather than simply endure.

If you want another pair of eyes on the patterns currently showing up in your life, you’re always welcome to book a reading with me.

We can look at what this retrograde period is highlighting specifically for you — not to tell you what to fear, but to help you understand what deserves your attention, what may need refining, and what you might finally be ready to leave behind.