Taurus

April 19 - May 19

Taureans have been experiencing upheaval in their personal lives and careers for several years, due to the effect of Uranus moving through your sign. For some, this influence has shattered relationships or caused disruption in your home. For others, more responsibilities have been dumped on you in your job. This became very intense and almost unbearable during 2021, due to the adverse angle between Saturn and Uranus.

You have risen to the challenge. But you feel that you’ve had to adopt a harsher, more authoritarian persona than what is truly you. This deeply troubles you. During the Venus retrograde of 2021-22, you will feel misunderstood by others. You can’t seem to please all parties. This may cause you to lash out bitterly, or you may withdraw even more into your domestic sphere. You feel as if you’ve lost yourself in the course of defending yourself, and this makes you very unhappy. 

There has to be change in the responsibilities that define a large portion of your life, which for most people is their career. It is the only way to reconcile this feeling of having lost control. You could continue to twist yourself into a new shape with each whock-a-mole swipe from another, but Venus retrograde presents revelations about yourself and others, and you realize how you can’t stomach their apparent power over you anymore. It’s one thing for them to show you a lack of respect, but you feel as if you are losing respect for yourself, as if you are settling. You know you possess deep reserves of creativity and you want to use them.

You are fed up with restrictions on yourself, especially with regard to your career and the power struggles you must navigate, whether such conflicts are between you and a peer, or you and an authority figure. This Venus retrograde period may make you feel like “here we go again” with someone’s tactics. Expect some especially appalling shenanigans from October 7 to December 7, when the Sun and Mars conjoin in Libra, just as Venus goes out of bounds, bringing out her “shameless hussy” persona.

You have been quietly putting out feelers about another position. To make sure that you don’t land in a new position with the same old dynamics, it is not a good idea to officially change your job or accept new responsibilities between September 23, 2021 and February 4, 2022. Mercury goes retrograde on January 14, 2022, and negotiations with a prospective employer may become bogged down over administrative paperwork. And besides, it is never a good idea to begin a new job under Mercury retrograde – or Venus retrograde, for that matter! Use the Mercury retrograde period to do some investigation of your own, checking into prospective employers and partners. You can move forward after February 4, when Mercury goes direct again. 

You may receive an offer, a very good offer, due to the influence of the Full Moon in mid-February. A new position that puts you in charge of a creative project, or that involves global communications, advertising, marketing, the legal profession, or higher education is featured. Such a position could be offered between the Full Moon of February 16 and the New Moon in Pisces of March 2, 2022. 

There may be some risk involved in taking this position, so try to not react emotionally under the Full Moon (this Full Moon forms right angles with the Moon’s Nodes, putting you under pressure). But this is an exciting time for you. You feel free and excited about life again. 

You will probably keep this offer a secret for a short while, in order to consolidate your position and clear some issues before moving on.

You may attract a new romantic partner under this Venus retrograde, as the retrograde period is quickly followed by a triple conjunction of Venus, Mars and Pluto. This may be a very intense and intimate partnership. You find each other irresistible, and you are inseparable. You feel you have finally found the person who understands you. After feeling lonely for some time, you may jump in with both feet – especially if you meet them during the buildup to Venus retrograde, when Venus is out of bounds from October 11 to December 7. The presence of Mars and Pluto with Venus, the ruler of your sign, points to a person with a very strong personality. In some ways you like this, as they seem to take the pressure off of you and take the lead. They indulge your desires, and you find this comforting. You feel as if the door to paradise has opened for you. As long as they have your best interests at heart, this is great. Try to observe their behavior closely before jumping into a relationship, to be sure that they won’t end up as domineering. This especially applies to those Taureans whose birthday falls between May 13-20.

Overall, Venus retrograde presents you with the chance to purge your life of some very heavy restrictions. Doing some soul searching (possibly even therapy) is necessary to making these changes. You may feel that all of this could have been cleared away earlier, but you were under heavy demands with your work and responsibilities during 2021, which consumed your focus and energy. But the achievements of that time – and they were more dramatic than you realized at the time – will enable you to move into a new creative opportunity.