The thing about retrogrades is that people love to complain about them.
They’re the cosmic scapegoat for every lost text, email, or conversation that goes sideways. And I get it – I used to blame them regularly, too, for unfinished projects or the clutter that {always} managed to pile up when I wasn’t looking.
But the more I paid attention, the more I realized that retrogrades don’t actually cause chaos – they just reveal the chaos that was already there.
So, I don’t fight them anymore.
Not because I enjoy them – they’re still frustrating, messy and full of delays and unanswered questions. I’ve just learned the hard way that resistance doesn’t stop the cycle from happening, it only makes it harder to move through.
It’s like trying to force the seasons to change before they’re ready.
I can glare at the bare tree branches all I like, but that won’t make them bud any faster… I can throw seeds into cold soil, but they won’t grow just because I’m impatient and want them to.
Some things need to go dormant before they can return.
And as much as I want to push forward, make decisions and do all the things at once, I know that’s not what this time is for.
My awareness of retrogrades, before I even check the astrology, has gotten much better over time… It starts as a shift in energy, subtle at first, but then I can’t get shake it off.
Lingering feelings resurface.
Familiar names pop up unexpectedly.
I catch myself staring out the window, lost in a memory, wondering, “Why am I thinking about this again?“
That’s when I know.
And this March, the planets aren’t going to be subtle about it.
Venus and Mercury will both be retrograding at the same time – the heart and mind, retracing their steps together?! Yikes.
Venus retrograde begins in Aries on March 1.
Relationships, creativity, pleasure, and self-worth will all come under review… It’ll be like unearthing a garden bed in Spring and realizing that last season’s roots never fully broke down over the Winter.
Things we thought we were done with will resurface.
Desires we ignored will start tapping on the windows, again.
And because Aries isn’t a delicate sign – his energy is impulsive, raw, and direct –
all of the above will feel louder, bolder, and harder for us to ignore. He doesn’t really care about patience or subtlety.
Venus much prefers harmony, but will make this retrograde an emotional tug-of-war between what we want right now and what we actually need.
After months of Winter stillness, she’s prepared to make us fight the natural instinct to emerge full force to make up for resting.
But not all new growth survives…
Some seeds start strong, only to wither and fade into nourishment, while some don’t even make it through the last frost.
That doesn’t make the stirring meaningless.
It makes discernment necessary.
Some desires return because they are real, while others return to show us what
was never sustainable… Venus retrograde in Aries will challenge us to know the difference.
Mercury retrograde also begins in Aries on March 15, before drifting back into Pisces on to April 7 – and that shift is very important.
Aries is all go-go-go, full of fire, impulse, and impatience.
By contrast, Pisces is slow water.
She’s intuition, etherealness, and the deep undercurrents of things. Mercury retrograde will be a masterclass in knowing when to move and when to pause, when to speak and when to listen.
I see that same sense of impatience in the land, too, sometimes; Early Spring can be a deceptive little thing, how she teases us with that first warm day and gives us the itch to get outside, feel the Sun tingling on our skin.
It’s not even a want – it’s the need – to get outdoors and do something, anything, after all those months of cold and stillness.
But Winter doesn’t let go all at once…
He gives us late frosts, unexpected freezes and days where the wind shifts and, without warning, it feels like January again. This retrograde is going to feel a lot
like that – the last cold snap before real Spring.
So, I won’t be rushing into anything new, right now.
Instead, I’ll be planning my garden renovation, going through old letters for tidbits of missed wisdom, and finishing artwork I started, but never completed. I’ll also be taking stock of where I’ve been moving too fast and avoiding movement entirely.
Mercury retrogrades are good for that – not forcing stillness, but inviting it.
Instead of misfortune, these celestial events aim to give us a moment to pause, and take a deep breath before moving forward again.
We can only trust that what’s meant to take root will, in its own time.