This Venus retrograde has been intense so far! I don’t know about you, but I have been revisited by crowds of past versions of myself and past traumas, and she hasn’t even retrograded back into Libra yet.
Venus in Scorpio is in detriment, meaning she is far away from her home palace of Taurus. She living in the palace ruled by Mars in traditional astrology and Pluto in modern astrology. Either way you look at it, she’s in the palace of the assassin, rather than the palace of the empress, where she’s comfortable.
Her retrograde through the Scorpio section of the sky is associated with serious injustices and attempts to right those injustices, serious toxins and poisons and attempts to find their cure.
As we approach the Full Moon this week, I anticipate Venus will illuminate more poisons and toxins in our own lives, whether it is our personal habits or the behaviors we tolerate from other people. This week we are asked to look at these poisons and acknowledge them, so that we can then find cures. Then, the Full Moon intensifies all of this, with a t-square to Pluto. When we can acknowledge the secrets we’ve kept from ourselves, we can start to heal the wounds we’ve hidden. Be safe out there!
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Transits
For horoscope principles this week, I am primarily looking at the following celestial events:
Monday, October 19, 2026:
The Sun in Libra moves from human design Gate 32 (embracing failure as a path toward wise investment) to Gate 50 (resolving internal programming errors to contribute to community equilibrium). In Gate 32, the energies invite us to acknowledge the actions we’ve taken that got something other than the results we wanted. In Gate 50, we have the opportunity to look at corruption in society and notice ways that our own thinking errors show similar corruption (think of it as corrupted data codes that have infected the cultural programming). When we resolve our internal programming, we contribute to collective healing.
Venus in Scorpio squares Pluto in Aquarius at 11:56pm Pacific. This is the second square in this retrograde cycle. In these signs, especially, this aspect is associated with intense, even obsessive, relationship connections. If your exes are coming back into your life through this retrograde, this aspect intensifies whatever those relationships represent and their karmic patterns.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026:
The Sun in Libra opposes Chiron in Aries at 3:26pm Pacific. This is a good moment to care for yourself and contemplate the lessons of Gate 50. The wounding and dishonesty that triggers you in the outside world has a relationship to ways you compromise who you truly are.
Friday, October 23, 2026:
The Sun goes into Scorpio at 2:37am Pacific. Scorpio brings an intensity, depth, and transformative energy to our overall experience. In Scorpio season, the leaves fall from the trees, revealing naked and exposed branches and coating the earth in a protective layer so that the soil can regenerate. In a similar way, we are asked to acknowledge what needs to decay to regenerate the garden beds of our lives.
The Sun in Scorpio conjoins Venus at 8:44pm Pacific. This is called a Venus cazimi, which means Venus is in the heart of the Sun, amplifying the experience of the retrograde. This invites us to revisit and reconsider how we relate to other people, community connection, and beauty. The ways we see our communities and personal relationships corrupted mirrors to us the work we all individually need to do to decondition from toxic cultural messages.
Saturday, October 24, 2026:
Mercury stations retrograde in Scorpio at 12:12am Pacific. Mercury stays in Scorpio throughout this retrograde. Mercury in Scorpio brings a fixed and intense thinking and communication. As with any Mercury retrograde, things go wrong, errors happen, flights get messed up, and other snafus happen. Double and triple check what you create and allow the process to attune you to your intuition. Because Mercury in Scorpio brings intense and fixed thinking and communication, we can be inclined to take mistakes more seriously than we normally would, so be aware of that and look for the magick behind the mistake instead.
Sunday, October 24, 2026:
Venus retrogrades into Libra at 2:09am Pacific. This brings a lighter energy to the retrograde that has been pretty intense so far. While Venus retrograding in Scorpio offers us the chance to look at how we take relationships seriously and personally, in Libra Venus retrograde offers us the chance to re-experience and revisit how we value others over ourselves. When we can allow ourselves to be genuinely present, with sensitivity, in the midst of our connection to others, we can better achieve equilibrium.
The Sun in Scorpio goes from human design Gate 50 (resolving internal programming errors to contribute to community equilibrium) to Gate 28 (finding purpose through accepting the reality of death). What can I say? Scorpio energy is intense whether you look at the astrology or the human design. Gate 28 offers us the chance to acknowledge the icy self-protection that Scorpio energy can bring, while we remember that we only live once in this body. Now is the chance to be truly yourself.
The Full Moon in Taurus happens at 9:11pm Pacific. This applies to a t-square, which is activating energy, with Pluto in Aquarius. The Sun in Scorpio in Gate 28 opposes the Moon in Gate 27 (nourishing what thrives in our communities, knowing it nourishes us too). This Full Moon is intense and offers us the chance to consider how we live in our true purpose, which allows us to contribute to the thriving of those around us. The Moon in Taurus wants to be cozy and nourished, while the Sun in Scorpio wants to cut to the truth of who we are. We’re asked to allow space for both.
The Moon travels through Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, and into Taurus this week; Mars and Jupiter continue in Leo; Saturn and Neptune continue in Aries; Uranus continues in Gemini.
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Horoscopes
These are the principles to consider for the week of October 19, 2026. It is worth taking a look at both your rising and sun sign horoscopes (visit astro.com to find your rising sign):
Aries: A valid debate has existed, probably since the beginning of human expression, about whether there is room for ugliness in art. Many think art should comfort their sensibilities, but many believe art should inspire emotion of all kinds, including disgust. This week, make ugly art. When you have difficult moments with friends and partners, consider that ugly art as well. The more you are willing to allow expression to be ugly, the more you will understand yourself.
Taurus: Before anyone else has a chance to betray us, there is usually a moment where we betray ourselves. This can happen when we force ourselves to stay in situations that are misaligned, when we over-give, when we have expectations of other people we don’t acknowledge, or in hundreds of other ways. This week, if and when your partners don’t treat you how you want to be treated, use it as a clue to notice how you partner with yourself. Rather than trying to change the outside world, allow the intensity of the moment to reveal the loyal partner you are able to be for yourself.
Gemini: Our brains are biological organisms like our other organs. Our brains have significant control over our other organs, though, and in this way, they can seem distinct or more “us” than our livers, for example. But, ultimately, they are not “us” any more than our pinky nail is “us,” and also both are part of us. This week, revisit how you care for your brain as a biological organ, in addition to how you care for your mental health. Pay attention to giving it regular food, water, and other physical care.
Cancer: Cauldrons are a symbol of witchcraft, but they are also a symbol of nourishment, community resources, and healing. In order to heal from poisons or toxicity, we have to first understand what the poisons are that we are treating. In order to nourish the community, we have to invite them to the table. This week, think about what you have learned about the toxins and poisons your friends and social groups are facing and where they feel undernourished. Consider how these needs align with your purpose and how your creativity is evolving. Create something that shares healing and invite your community to share it with you.
Leo: Acknowledging personal betrayals is an important part of healing from them, but first it feels terrible. This week, you may start to experience obsession with the transformation your partners are experiencing in a positive way or a way that triggers personal betrayals. As we approach the Full Moon, you have an opportunity to look at your experience of personal betrayals and allow the discomfort to offer healing or to calcify into resentment. Rather than casting blame, I recommend acknowledging the betrayals you’ve experienced in the past, sitting with the discomfort of the feelings, and allowing them to process into deeper understanding and self-compassion.
Virgo: The expert advice we get is only as good as the information we offer. This week, if you need to seek medical or other expert advice, double or even triple check the information you are giving, not just to make sure it’s clear but to make sure it’s complete. You may have a tendency to unconsciously withhold information, even from yourself. Alternatively, if you have the inclination to share secrets, just make sure you’re sharing consensually rather than vengefully. Exposing secrets out of revenge might feel good in the moment, but create results you don’t want later.
Libra: Just because we are obsessed with something or someone does not mean we deeply value them, no matter how intense the feelings. A more reliable measurement for whether we value something is how we spend our time and energy, and why. For example, if we spend 10 hours scrolling on social media, it could mean we value community, connection, social validation, games, beauty, or any number of things, depending on our reasons for doing it. It may be dissociation, yes, but it also could be a clue to values we are repressing. This week, consider who you spend your time with most, in addition to what you do, and let that guide you toward understanding of values you may have hidden from yourself.
Scorpio: When we think about purpose, we often talk about it as though it is a monolith and each human has one purpose, like a meal with one flavor. Also, most of us never question our cultural conditioning and assume our purpose is found within cultural belonging. This week invites you to revisit and rethink how you share yourself with the world as well as your purpose in the larger context of your life. Think about who you thought you were when you were very young and what you have learned since then, which shapes who you are now. When an acorn becomes an oak tree, it does not diminish the value of the acorn. So, too, as you expand who you are, it is not a betrayal of who you were.
Sagittarius: Our most deeply held beliefs control our entire lives, but usually they are more simple than we think. They usually sound like, “I shouldn’t have to,” or “I’ll do the dishes later,” rather than the lofty and intellectual pronouncements many of us describe as our belief systems. This week, listen to what you say out loud in order to discover what your belief systems are. For extra credit, ask friends to tell you what they hear you say most often. You can always revise these beliefs if you are aware of them, but if they are hidden, they control your life without your consent.
Capricorn: When we are misunderstood or exposed, it can motivate us to create simple personas or versions of ourselves that we can easily explain to people. The problem with this is that no one has the opportunity to know the complexities of who we truly are. We essentially reject our complex selves before other people can. This week, if old friendships are coming back into your life, listen with curiosity to how people who used to know you describe you, even if they get you wrong. Consider that they might be describing one part of you if not the whole. Try to meet that part of yourself with compassion.
Aquarius: Discomfort is not necessarily a sign that something has gone wrong, but it is always an alert that is worth considering. You are undergoing a process of deep transformation around how you show up in the world, and this week brings all of that to the surface. The question is whether the discomfort signals misalignment or whether it signals that your cultural conditioning is sabotaging you. You are the only one who knows the answer, but whenever you catch yourself thinking something at your job or in your community should be different, consider it a sign post pointing you toward your personal transformation.
Pisces: One of the primary ways we fall prey to predatory narcissism is by assuming that other people’s motivations are the same as ours. When we are motivated to connect to other people, we assume everyone is. This can also leave us vulnerable to our own cultural conditioning, motivating us to over-give with the silent expectation that others do the same for us. Your belief systems and basic understandings of how life works can be fixed and even rigid, despite your flexible overall attitude. Let this week’s energies challenge any place where you are giving or connecting out of expectation that others do the same, rather than out of a personal sense of purpose.
To find out specifically how these transits apply to your chart, get your natal chart reading here. We go through your human design and astrological natal charts as well as the impacts of any major transits happening. It’s the best!