Through Flames and Droplets
Venus Retrograde 2025
A 6 week journey
guiding you through this year’s Venus Retrograde
in Aries and Pisces,
a pilgrimage through the
flames and droplets of your heart.
Who this course is for:
Anyone who wants to
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​reevaluate relationships
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engage with (or find) their inner beauty
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go deeper into their heart
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identify their values as they are today, not yesterday
February 28th — April 13th
Every couple years, Venus stops in the sky, turns around, and travels backwards through the constellations — the Goddess of romance retrogrades (fRx). It’s actually closer to every 19 months, or a little over a year and a half. We often hear that the retrograde itself lasts for “about 40 days and 40 nights,” probably a nod to Jesus in the desert. This one lasts 42 days.
Archetypally, Venus pertains to many things, notably relationships, romance, beauty, conscience and values. When she’s retrograde, we are given the powerful opportunity to bring those topics inward and to reflect, supported energetically by the Goddess herself. It’s a rare chance for us to descend the stair steps of burnt bridges, and enter into the labyrinth of relational reckoning.
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What you get from this course:
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An email from me everyday, with refections, assignments and insights
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Weekly group zoom sessions
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The astrology of Venus retrograde
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An engagement with the astronomy and the perspective science gives to the spirit
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A structured, guided environment in which to engage with your Venus themes
Together, we will cook in the fire, and then hop into the cool waters; or out of the sauna and into the pool. That’s because Venus goes from Aries, a fire sign, to Pisces, a water sign, during this retrograde. Each of us will individually contend with what we find, bridging the hot with the cold, steam with ice. Throughout, I will invite us to mix our findings with other members in our group, to, eventually, collectively emerge from the ocean, more whole and awakened.
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Below is the chart for the moment that Venus goes retro, on March 1st at 7:39 pm (all times used will be Eastern Time).
For ease and consistency, all charts will be drawn with 0Ëš Aries at the cusp of the 1st house, using Whole Sign houses. I will not be adding the ascendant or Midheaven, since those depend on your location. (However, I encourage you to cast each chart for your location, if you desire, to fine-tune your analysis).
What to expect:
This course is a mixture of fun and serious, of curious exploration and sitting with your shadows. It is meant to challenge you, but you decide how deeply you want to engage. As with all things, the more time and effort you put in, the more the potential for growth and transformation. You have the option of quickly perusing the daily writings in a couple of minutes, or of reading them carefully, thinking about how they fit into the context of the previous days’ writings, and sitting in meditation or reflection for an hour. I will encourage you to keep a journal, but your daily entry could be just a sentence, or several pages.
This fRx course is a container for us to struggle through the flames and droplets of our hearts
— the heat, and how that burning gives way to moisture —
how the pain is eventually soothed; or the too-hot-to-handle charge softens into a cool balm. The end result could look like just about anything. We are not looking to accomplish a pre-ordained goal. Rather, we are looking to engage in the moment, to just be with our particular difficulties, as we let the force of nature that is Venus pass through us, re-arranging our cells.
Throughout the 43 days, you will receive daily musings from me. Those might be reflections on a frightened Aphrodite (can a Goddess get scared?); at other times a meditation; sometimes a poem; other times a story of a victorious Venus; and there will be suggestions, or loose assignments, that help us to do the deep work sometimes required to process and to heal.
Our first day will be the day before Venus stations retrograde, and we will end one day after she turns direct. That way we can bookend her entire retrograde period with a forward-moving Venus, which is her usual motion through space, and thus more easily integrate the fRx with the rest of our life.
There will be seven weekly Zoom sessions, beginning on Day 1. I will record them for those unable to attend, or for you to download. They will last about an hour. This will give us a chance to discuss any matter at all under the moon — the astrology of the fRx, the questions of our hearts, the meaning of life…
You will be expected to identify a single Venusian theme most relevant at this time in your life. You do not need to share anything with the group that you don’t want to. (Indeed, you don’t need to share anything at all. You are more than welcome to go through the course with us but keep to yourself.) You will then process your chosen theme, in the particular way that fRx encourages, using the daily emails as inspiration and guidance.
(Familiarity with astrology is not required. The substance of this course is to engage with our psychological strata concerning relationships, rather than to studiously analyze the daily astrological signatures. This is not a course on astrology, though it will be used extensively. We can discuss the relevant or confusing bits during our weekly Zoom sessions.)
Themes (and sometimes charts) covered during the course will include:
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The Shadow
Before she stations retrograde, she enters her retrograde shadow, which introduces us to some potential themes that we will have to directly confront during the retrograde period. This is a way of easing us in. This year, she entered her shadow on January 27th, and she leaves her shadow on May 15th. Although we will be working together for 43 days, this shadow gives each of us, individually, an extended period of time to work with Venus — over 3 ½ months. Below shows how the Shadow is created, along with the particular loop that Venus made in 2023 in Leo.
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Venus passes Neptune
Venus and Neptune represent two very different kinds of love — personal, and impersonal — and both are equally important. They conjoined during the shadow phase, and will join again during the fRx. We’ll also discuss their midpoint, where these two loves may be integrated.
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The aspects Venus makes to other planets
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Every time Venus connects to another planet, asteroid, or chart point, it colors her feelings. She paints her lips a flaming red; wears blue blush. She co-creates after a solo retreat. The nature of these moods shift from week to week, possibly from day to day.
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Venus Combust Sun
What happens when Venus joins the Sun on March 22nd?
This is a big deal, and creates one point of the 5-pointed star
that puts an image to the 8-year Venus cycle. We will look
at the charts associated with this pentacle.
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Venus Through the Constellations
We will explore fRx through the constellations, which differ from the astrological Signs. Paying attention to the stories associated with the asterisms adds complexity to the astrological interpretations.
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The Mythology of Venus
One of the joys of astrology is relating the archetypes to the legends of ancient Greece, Rome and Mesopotamia. There is ample opportunity to delve into these stories as Venus draws into her own underworld, and potentially connects with other planets like Pluto, Mars, Persephone, etc.
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The Astronomy of Venus
Periodically, we will investigate the scientific wonders of Venus,
finding parallels with the various meanings we ascribe to our own
fRx experience. For example, did you know that it’s over 800Ëš on
Venus — talk about fire! To the right you can see how Venus
changes size dramatically as she passes through her phases.
Galileo drew this in 1610.
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Hellenistic Rulerships
In the astrology charts that I share, you’ll notice three rings occupied by various planets. These show various kinds of rulerships which give extra information, such as setting terms of engagement, receiving help from planetary friends, or magical aid.
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Venus Stations Direct
During this particular Rx, she stations direct a full 42 days later, on April 12th at 9:02 pm. Here, at last, we move forward after all the hard work we have done! We get to put into practice the lessons we’ve been learning. Here is that chart:
Here's the Venus Star, an unfolding flower that repeats every 8 years. I programmed this a few years ago when I was programming a lot for my Master Thesis.
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Join us for this 2025 fRx!
I went through the 2021 Venus retrograde in this way, and it had a profound effect. Although I only began working with one broken relationship, in my heart I was able to make amends with three separate people. In my case, I was then able to be better friends with each of them.
I also went through the 2023 fRx in this way, but instead of bridging gaps, I lost my best and oldest friend… Although that’s a very sad thing and one that I wish had gone differently, it was a formative experience that I'm still learning from, and shows the power of a Venus Retrograde.
The cost is $220.
Sliding scale: If you feel drawn to join us, but feel you cannot afford the price, contact me and we can work something out.
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Initial free FB live to introduce the ideas of this journey at https://www.facebook.com/vesta.noahfrere/:
2/26 Wednesday 5:30 pm
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Once you’ve decided to join the journey, you will be able to participate in our weekly Zoom Sessions (Eastern time zone):
2/28 Friday 5 pm
3/9 Sunday 5 pm
3/16 Sunday 5 pm
3/23 Sunday 5 pm
3/30 Sunday 5 pm
4/6 Sunday 5 pm
4/13 Sunday 5 pm
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865-242-4786