Venus is about what we cherish. It rules love, beauty, relationships, money, and the things that we value. Aquarius is about intelligence, uniqueness, nonconformity, the collective, and authenticity. With Venus moving through Aquarius since January 2nd, we have been feeling the Aquarian influences in the Venusian areas of our lives. 

Mercury is also retrograde in Capricorn right now, another Saturn-ruled sign, so one of the major ways that this Venus transit through Aquarius will likely play out will be through detached, unsparing examination of our closest relationships. Internally, you may be reviewing your marriage, or partnership, or close friendships through a critical lens for the next couple weeks and reevaluating whether they work for you and are giving you what you need. 

Then, when Mercury goes direct on January 18th, the conversations can begin if they need to occur. What we have observed may not be bad; we may not find our relationships to be lacking. In fact, Venus is a benefic, so it may be that the analysis we’ve done during the past couple weeks has actually given us a sense that our closest relationships fortify us and provide us with exactly what we need, or that we’ve pinpointed small ways they can be even better. But Aquarius is straightforward, and the plainly honest attitude in the air is made even more so by Venus meeting up with Saturn on January 22nd. 

When both parties in a relationship lay bare their feelings and their needs, it can be cathartic and rewarding. Gimme some truth. (John Lennon had an Aquarius moon.) Just be careful, with Mars still in Gemini, to be sincere and not give in to the urge to be defensive, caustic, and needlessly cutting. Once Venus moves into Pisces later in January, our feelings may be overwhelming and free-flowing, so this period of seeing things just as they are, in the light of day, is invaluable.