What this period actually is
Between December 16, 2029 and January 26, 2030 Venus moves back through 15.4 degrees of the zodiac, from 24°02' Capricorn to 8°38' Capricorn, without changing its own direction at any point. Venus is an inner planet, so this happens as it swings between Earth and the Sun; the loop it appears to trace from 24°02' Capricorn back to 8°38' Capricorn is Earth's own motion showing up in the line of sight.
The mechanism behind the Venus station of December 16, 2029 is the same one described in what retrograde motion is. Read astrologically, the convention is that Venus — affection, taste, money and what you judge something to be worth — turns inward between December 16, 2029 and January 26, 2030, which is a habit of reading rather than a claim about the sky.
The dates in full
Station retrograde: December 16, 2029 at 24°02' Capricorn, 23:47 UTC. Station direct: January 26, 2030 at 8°38' Capricorn, 21:33 UTC. The whole retrograde stays inside Capricorn: the band from 24°02' Capricorn back to 8°38' Capricorn is the stretch Venus crosses three times.
Venus first reaches 8°38' Capricorn — the degree it will retrograde back to — on November 15, 2029, and does not clear 24°02' Capricorn, the degree it stationed at, until February 27, 2030, so counting both shadows the passage runs 104 days rather than 41.
What the period is good for
For the 41 days between December 16, 2029 and January 26, 2030 the workable version of the advice is narrow: revisit what you value rather than acquire more of it, and treat a returning name as information rather than fate.
If one thing is worth timing around the stretch that ends January 26, 2030, it is cosmetic surgery, a new hairstyle you cannot undo, or a first date you have been putting off for a year — not because the sky forbids it, but because a marked period is a reasonable prompt to check work you would otherwise wave through. Treating the whole of December 16, 2029 to January 26, 2030 as a general curse is the version worth ignoring.
Which house it falls in for your sign
Counted from each sign as the first house, this Venus retrograde, stationing at 24°02' Capricorn falls here:
| Sign | House | What that house covers |
|---|---|---|
| Aries | 10th house | career, public standing and what you are known for |
| Taurus | 9th house | distance, study, belief, travel and the long view |
| Gemini | 8th house | shared money, debt, intimacy and what is not said out loud |
| Cancer | 7th house | partners, opponents and anyone you deal with one to one |
| Leo | 6th house | work, routine, health and the small maintenance of a life |
| Virgo | 5th house | play, romance, children and anything you make for its own sake |
| Libra | 4th house | home, family, roots and private ground |
| Scorpio | 3rd house | conversation, short trips, siblings and daily information |
| Sagittarius | 2nd house | money, possessions and what you consider yours |
| Capricorn | 1st house | your own bearing, appearance and the first move |
| Aquarius | 12th house | rest, solitude, what is behind you and what runs unattended |
| Pisces | 11th house | friends, groups, networks and what you are aiming at |
The cycle either side of this one
The previous Venus retrograde ended 542 days before this one began, and the next station comes 540 days after January 26, 2030.
- Previous: May 10, 2028 to June 22, 2028
- Next: July 20, 2031 to September 1, 2031
- All Venus retrograde periods: the full list
Questions people ask about this
When does Venus go retrograde in 2029?
On December 16, 2029 at 23:47 UTC, at 24°02' Capricorn.
When does it end?
The direct station falls on January 26, 2030 at 8°38' Capricorn, 41 days after the turn.
What is the shadow period?
For this passage it runs November 15, 2029 to February 27, 2030: the stretch in which Venus crosses the same degrees it covers three times in all.
Does Venus retrograde break things?
No. Between December 16, 2029 and January 26, 2030 the planet only appears to reverse, and the tradition reads that as a stretch better suited to review than to launch.