posted April 17, 2007 07:43 PM            

Venus is retrograde for 41 days out of its 584-day cycle (less than any other planet). There are two distinct phases of retrograding Venus; the Morning Star, and the Evening Star. Approximately 1 out of 15 people has a retrograde Venus, and only 1 out of 30 people has the morning star venus in retrograde, or the evening star venus in retrograde.

If your Venus is Retrograde, it is a Morning Star if it is clockwise from the Sun (moving away from the Sun), and an Evening Star if it is Counter-Clockwise (and moving toward the Sun). Briefly, the Morning Star indicates a lifetime when we are constantly questioning our value systems, while the Evening Star is a lifetime when we are challenged to integrate our (already) different value systems into our lives.

((Mine is an Evening Star.))

here's the link:
http://www.khaldea.com/planets/venus_lx.shtml

here are the two parts of the article
which apply to the retrograde phases:

Lucifer, The Morning Star

The cycle of Venus begins during its retrograde period, signifying a phase of renewal and reorientation of feelings, emotions and values. It is a time when the future attempts to free itself from the past, clearing the way for the development of a new set of values and a new emotional sense. But attempts to fight or rebel against the past and its values and morality can bind us to the very things from which we seek to free ourselves.
During its 584-day cycle, Venus spends only about forty-one days retrograde, which is proportionately less than any other planet, and only about one in 30 people are born while Venus is both Morning Star and retrograde. If you are one of them, your feeling nature and sense of values may go "against the grain," and you may deeply question traditional values and morality. This means you may find it difficult to get emotionally insynch with others, or others may have difficulty connecting with you or understanding your value-system. Yet your emotional natural is very strong and you are guided by a very definite set of values and ideals.

Venus Lucifer retrograde people often find themselves involved in the arts, especially as exemplars dedicating their life and work to new ideals. Such truly avant-garde individuals may be so far ahead of their time that their true stature is recognized only after the close of an often tragic life. In other instances, a struggle against the past and its biological and social imperatives, combined with a search for higher values and ideals, may lead to ascetic practices or to a life of devotion and renunciation. But ironically, such practices and their associated forms of devotion and renunciation, and the values and ideals driving them, are likely to be rooted in a past tradition.
Examples of the denunciatory type include Meher Baba, the once famous "silent mystic", and the female Christian mystic Teresa de Avila. The birth chart of Meher Baba features Venus in the first house Aquarius, with no planets between it and the Sun. Uranus is on the Midheaven, with Scorpio Moon and Saturn retrograde nearby. In the instance of Teresa de Avila, Venus is on the Ascendant and Mercury rises between it and the Sun. Pluto retrograde is on the Midheaven.

In a man’s chart, Venus Morning Star retrograde suggest a high degree of self-discipline and dedication to one’s ideals and goals, to one’s art and self-image. Dedication of this sort should not be confused with pure ambition or a drive to "get ahead" or to dominate – drives connected with Mars and Jupiter – and which may factor in according to how these two planets tie in with natal Venus. The tragic artist Amadeo Modigliani (who was born with Venus straddling a very close conjunction the Sun and Mercury) is an example of this type, and so is, in his own way, actor Jack Nicholson.

Women leading pioneering, often difficult, lives figure largely as examples of Venus Lucifer retrograde. Chrissie Hynde, the first woman to become the creative and musical principal of a successful rock band, is an outstanding example. Chrissie went where no woman had gone before. She was never merely a "chick" in a rock band, and she never played traditional female roles. Chrissie is the heart, soul and guts of The Pretenders, and she made it as "one of the guys," on her own merit. And when she wanted a child fathered by a musical genius, she chose and won her long-time influence, Ray Davies of the Kinks.
Another example is provided by the birth-chart of Mimi Farina, sister of Joan Baez and widow of writer Richard Farina. Until a tragic motorcycle accident took her husband’s life 30 April 1966, Richard and Mimi Farina were among the most successful and influential folk musicians of the mid-1960s, and probably the first to create the folk-rock-blues fusion that saw fuller development and success in the work of Bob Dylan, Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds, Country Joe and the Fish and many others. In the 1970s Mimi founded the Bread and Roses Foundation, which brings live music concerts to prison inmates.
Courtney Love exemplifies the full range of Venus Lucifer retrograde womanhood. Born when Venus was conjunction Mars in the eight house, and at the very end of the Venus retrograde period, just a day before its station, Courtney had to rise out of a background of early abandonment and abuse to find her own place in a world which never seems able to understand her, a world in which she often felt emotionally displaced. In 1994 her husband, the legendary Kurt Cobain, took his own life, leaving her with a young child. Fan’s of Kurt’s band, Nirvana, and the press tried to blame her for her husband’s suicide, and she was even vilified by her publicity-seeking journalist father. Yet Courtney continually goes on, and the world continues to misunderstand her.

When considering a birth-chart with Venus Lucifer, it is important to determine whether or not Venus is also the Planet of Oriental Appearance – that is, if it is the planet rising immediately before the Sun, with no other planet between Venus and the Sun. Additionally, planets situation between Venus and the Sun should figured into the interpretation the Venus types, as the functions and drives they symbolize inevitably play into the picture. In the instance of the remarkable birth-chart of figure skater Tonya Harding, Jupiter (expansion, compensation and the need to succeed) is situated between Venus Lucifier retrograde and the Sun, and the three are involved in a triple conjunction, which opposes a tight conjunction of Moon and Saturn retrograde.

Hesperus, The Evening Star

The retrograde station of Venus commences the concluding phase of the 584-day cycle of Venus. Lasting only 21 days, during the Evening Star retrograde period of Venus and the Sun toward each other in zodiac - from opposite directions.
In astrological symbolism, the final phase of the cyclic relationship between Venus and the Sun - as seen and experienced from our geocentric perspective - represents the essentialization and internalization of the experiential contents of the entire cycle. The new set of values, ideals, goals and incentives released at the beginning of the cycle are now integrated into a large tradition, and formulated as enduring new forms which, while new, remain faithful to fundamental values - artistic, religious, metaphysical, scientific or national.
If you are one of the very few born during Venus' Evening Star retrograde phase, self-expression for its own sake is not enough. For you, your work and your creative outlets must have an enduring social value. Though you tend to be outwardly reserved in your social relationships, you are passionate about your ideals and goals . . . and in your intimate relationships.
Venus Hesperus retrograde types are often diligent workers, especially in creative fields, and they often find themselves intensely involved with, and often icons of, the avant-garde and social movements of their time. Highly dedicated, they possess a large capacity for self-sacrifice. Yet their true natures are often misunderstood by others who are unable to see the breadth and depth of their emotions, ideals, motives and goals.

"How glorious it is, but how painful it is also, to be exceptional in this world!" So wrote poet, writer and dramatist Alfred de Musset in his 1842 work La Merle Blanc. A leading figure in the Romantic Movement of the early-nineteenth century, Alfred de Musset was born two days after the retrograde station of Venus, with Venus situated in mid-Capricorn in the twelfth house. Significantly, there was a Sun-Saturn conjunction and a superior conjunction of the Sun and Mercury less than two days before his birth.
In de Musset's natal horoscope, the Sun, Saturn and Mercury are in Sagittarius and seen in the eleventh house of associations, friendship and aspiration, with Saturn rising a degree before the Sun (it is therefore the planet of oriental appearance), and Mercury rises a degree after the Sun. The triple conjunction is opposite a fifth house Gemini Moon, while also forming bi-septiles to Jupiter retrograde on the third house cusp, squares to a first house Pluto, and sextiles to Mars in the seventh house of relationship. Neptune is elevated in the tenth house Sagittarius, near the Midheaven, an appropriate symbol for a poet and dramatist. Alfred de Musset was the first modern dramatist of the French language. He was a talented creator of multidimensional female characters, he wrote of love from the depths of experience and integrated classical clarity and purity of form with the passionate subjectivity characteristic of Romanticism. Alfred de Musset was at the center of the Romantic Movement and was an early lover of novelist and liberated woman, George Sand.
Vocalist Nancy Sinatra was also born a few days after the retrograde station of Venus. Her birthchart features five planets in the twelfth house, including a conjunction of Venus stationary retrograde with Mars and the Moon. Other than the conjunction, the only aspect to Venus is a septile to Uranus in the eleventh house. Neptune stands alone, below the horizon near the third house cusp.

In the birth chart of a man, Venus Evening Star retrograde often indicates a high degree of artistry, and a tempered and disciplined approach to work. de Musset showed a careful appoach in his creative work, though not particularly so in his personal life. Other careful and successful male artists born during the Venus Evening Star retrograde phase include abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky and musician/artist Graham Nash.
The premier abstract artist of the twentieth century, Wassily Kandinsky, was born midway though the Venus Evening Star retrograde phase. Venus rises twelve degrees after the Sun, and it is conjunct Mercury retrograde, which rises three degrees earlier. The three bodies are in the first house Sagittarius. Saturn in Scorpio is on the Ascendant, opposite Pluto. Kandinsky's art, though thoroughly revolutionary, entirely abstract and non-representational, was the product of an utterly systemic approach which grew, in part, out of Kandinsky's study of Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine. In Kandinsky's work, every primitive - point, line, curve - every color, every geometric form has a place and meaning according to they system of his devise. A highly Saturnian approach, but also an approach which aimed at integrating new forms with traditional values, creating a new approach of lasting value - particularly in view that both Venus and Mercury were approaching the conclusion of their cycles of relationship with the Sun at his birth.
Graham Nash, member of the super-group Crosby, Stills and Nash, was born at the very close of a Venus cycle, less than a day before an inferior conjunction. In his birthchart the Sun-Venus conjunction is situated in the third house Aquarius, near the Nadir. Mercury, retrograde in the forth house Aquarius, rises about thirteen degrees behind the conjunction, and the three oppose a Leo Moon in the tenth house very near the Midheaven. Neptune is in the eleventh house and there is a stellium of four planets in the seventh house - including Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Jupiter, the latter two being retrograde. The Moon-Mercury opposition forms a T-square with Saturn and Uranus at the apex. Nash brought to the group he formed with Stephen Stills and David Crosby a disciplined professionalism, an attention to traditional musical values, and a vocal polish needed to leverage the group to super-stardom. In addition to being a musician and talented songwriter, Nash is a photographer, artist and social activist.

posted April 17, 2007 08:36 PM            

Yours is a Morning Star.

posted April 17, 2007 08:38 PM              

I took the above from the website link provided....

posted April 17, 2007 08:48 PM              

I identify more with the evening star interpretation, I am NOT a pioneer in anything....... : (

posted April 17, 2007 09:02 PM            

Are you sure your birthtime is accurate?
If you were born just ten minutes earlier,
or something, it might be in front of the Sun.

posted April 17, 2007 09:31 PM              

Sun in Virgo 3°45’43"
Venus in Virgo 3°34’27"

HSC-

I would love to be a leader....but find that I am comfortable being a shape shifter, I guess it's my scorp rising.....

It's odd, I can't for the life of me remember how I started studying astrology......but I really like the way you think!!

posted April 17, 2007 09:58 PM            

I never heard that.

posted April 17, 2007 10:42 PM            

From what i did read, this really stood out.

"Although Venus Evening Star people may not show emotions are largely and as easily as Venus Morning Star types, they often experience emotions more intensely because they tend to become more privately and internally involved with their emotions and their emotional life. Feeling after the fact, so to say, Venus Hesperus people may take a long time to recover from emotional trauma, thinking about and anguishing over a lost love or a bitter disappointment for years."

I could really relate to the "after the fact".. It mostly creeps up and overwhelms me...

thanks again... I don't feel so quite alone...

Virgo Venus rx 8.50'
Virgo Sun 1.03'
Virgo Mercury 1.20'

posted April 17, 2007 11:01 PM              

and shape shifting, well, i kind of "change" my personality depending on the situation. It's not something I am proud of....but it happens...

posted April 17, 2007 11:10 PM            

yeah, i can relate to that part, too.
doesnt help that my venus is in scorpio.

The creeping up is part of it too -
retrograde planets have to do with time distortion.
I often remember a past love as if it were present.
And sometimes when a lover is present,
I have difficulty remembering my love for them.
Very messy stuff.

You are not alone.

posted April 18, 2007 03:52 AM            

I seem to have the evening star. Born at 7:51am. Less than 1 degree conjunction between my Venus and Sun.

posted April 18, 2007 07:59 AM              

When i went reading this topic i already knew also my venus was retrograde when i was born...
but dont know how to see the rest,anyone could help me?
My sun is 6º24º27 and venus in 28º17º39º both on 11 house, and are conjunct.

I was born on 30th august 1983 at 9:30 am in Oporto portugal

posted April 18, 2007 09:14 AM            

I guess you could look at the two signs of Venus - Taurus and Libra.. Taurus signifies love of self.. and Libra signifies love of others.. Both are harder to understand, feel and then display for the Venus retro.

I don't have it myself, but this is what I've noticed. Being close 'romantically' and otherwise, was like witnessing a tug of war.. between exaggerated selflessness and exaggerated selfishness.. along with another between displaying no emotion at all and exaggerated displays of emotion.