Venus Retrograde in Leo: Rekindling Love & Revisiting Past Lives w/ Christopher Renstrom
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Past Loves or Past Lives?
On this episode, you'll learn…
🌑 About the Venus retrograde and how it often signals the return of a former lover or the resurgence of past feelings.
🌒 About the Korean concept of ‘In-Yeon', which refers to the strings of providence that tie people together through their past lives and various reincarnations.
🌓 Why Venus retrogrades in Leo are more potent when it comes to love, heart and romance.
🌟 Explore the mysteries of the stars with Astrologer Connect, your premier source for quality astrology readings.
You can now access Astrologer Connect to unlock the secrets of the cosmos and gain insight into your life’s journey. Visit astrologyhub.com/astrologerconnect and discover how Astrology can transform your life today.
Transcript
[00:00:00] Retrograde Venus conjunct the sun in Leo begs the great romantic question, are we meant to be together? Or did we find each other, only to go our own separate ways again? Next, on Horoscope Highlights!
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hello. My name is Christopher Renstrom and I'm your horoscope columnist here on astrology hub. [00:01:00] And this week, I want to talk to you about the retrograde Venus sun conjunction in Leo taking place on August 13th, which follows a retrograde Venus Uranus square taking place on August 9th. Now let me go ahead and break this down a little bit for you.
Retrograde planets are the period of time when a planet appears to be moving backwards or reverses its direction in the sky. When a planet turns retrograde, like for instance Mercury can turn retrograde, or Venus, Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn, When they're in their period of retrograde, they are said to act in the reverse way that they would when they are moving forward in the sky.
For instance, Mercury is the planet of sales and transactions. And so, purchases are meant to go off without a second thought or worry when Mercury is moving forward in the sky. However, when Mercury is moving backwards in the sky. Mm, that's when you're in danger of making a very [00:02:00] poor purchase or buying a lemon without really knowing it.
So this is what gives retrogrades a bit of a reputation for check under the covers to make sure you know what you're getting into beforehand. A retrograde also refers to a return, a return to something. Maybe it's a return to a situation that you left in your life or maybe it's returning a piece of merchandise because you found out it is a lemon.
Okay, so there can be this idea of return, returning to something that you've left or something returning into your life. A lot of times during like a mercury retrograde, for instance, we may, bump into people that we haven't seen in years, or we may be contacted by them. This is something that often is associated with a planet when it's retrograde.
A Mars retrograde, for instance, might bring you back into contact with a former rival or an enemy. You know, this person comes back into your life, or the pattern of aggression or rivalry [00:03:00] or fighting is something that repeats during a Mars retrograde, where you have to confront what your feelings are about fighting.
and try to master them. So what can we expect with a Venus retrograde? Well we've spoken quite a bit about Venus retrograde on previous episodes, but another aspect of Venus retrograde that we haven't really talked about is the return of a former lover. A Venus retrograde can often signal or presage the return of a former lover into your life.
Maybe it was someone you had a secret crush on in high school. Maybe it's someone whom you tried to get together with, but circumstances were such that you never could get together before. Or maybe it's someone that, um, All of a sudden comes into your life and professes this great love that they've been, having for you for years and years and years, and you're kind of like left a little bit awestruck, surprised, and perhaps even [00:04:00] intrigued.
Tell me more. Okay, these are things that can happen during a Venus retrograde. In general,
it's going to be more so when Venus is retrograde in Leo. Why? Because Leo is the Zodiac sign of the heart. It's the Zodiac sign of amour. It's the Zodiac sign of love and romance. And moreover than even that, uh, we have an exact conjunction of the Sun and Venus retrograde that's taking place, as I mentioned before, on August 13th.
This is known as Venus Kazemi. In a certain astrological circles where Venus because she makes an exact conjunction to the sun instead of becoming diminished in her light becomes resplendent in her light. And so this this energy of Venus permeates through your life or whatever area of the chart that this sun retrograde Venus conjunction is taking place.
in. So it's the return of this [00:05:00] love, this, a return of someone that you had known before, who may be professing feelings that you knew about, or perhaps didn't know about.
But this is more than just sort of, a romantic twist in a novel. It actually puts me in mind of a certain predicament, which takes place in this wonderful film, which is called Past Lives, which was directed by Celine Song.
Um, it's a wonderful film, and I strongly recommend going out and seeing it. In this film, Past Lives, uh, we're introduced to this concept of inyon, uh, which in Korean, it's, it's, it's, The character Nora says it stands in for the word fate or providence, but um, it's much more subtle and much more intricate to that.
Yn yon refers to the strings of providence that tie people together through, their past lives and through their [00:06:00] various reincarnations. Now, it doesn't necessarily talk about someone you're fated to be with. It really talks about these fated encounters, but it takes place on a variety of different levels.
For instance, um, yin yang could be, um, a simple brush of clothing as two strangers pass each other in the street. Um, and this simple, interaction, this brushing of clothes, attests to the fact that they had shared past lives together, or yin yang may manifest as lovers or people who get married. And so it is said that, you know, if lovers who get married, they must have known each other several times in previous incarnations, and this is what is coming about.
And so it's, I find it to be a beautifully subtle and intricate concept. Here in the West, when we talk about past lives or [00:07:00] soulmates, there's often a lot of sturm und drang involved, okay? There's, there's, you know, we're meant to be together, and so you're maybe trying to convince someone, you know, that you're going on a date with, that you're soulmates, and you're meant to be together, and the other person might not share the same view.
They might be like, I'm just going on a date, and I don't know if we're meant to be together. And so this can cause a great deal of suffering if this doesn't, you know, come about this, this reunion, this recognition of, of us having shared past lives together. What I love about this Korean concept is that past lives is something that's, that's, that's taken for granted.
It's commonplace, but in this description of Inyon, it's also rather pedestrian. Um, you can have a shared past life with someone that you brush clothes with, uh, rub elbows with on the subway, uh, train. And what is really beautiful about that is that it talks about the interweaving threads, uh, Uh, that we all [00:08:00] play in one another's lives, okay?
That it could be something that's very deep and powerful and dramatic and impactful, or it can be something that's casual and, as I said, pedestrian. But what it speaks to, what it speaks to is a shared history, and it speaks to a care about that shared history. Um, you… may have known this person in a past life.
That's why you're encountering this person again. And how do you engage someone that you knew before, that you don't remember, and that you see again? Well, it should be done clearly with courtesy, and it should be done with respect, and it should be done with a deep appreciation. And if you just follow those simple ideas, and expand it out into all your relations in your life, whether they're intimate or whether they're casual.
It talks to a beautiful honoring and respecting that goes in our encounters. And [00:09:00] what I like about that is that it's very Venusian. It's very loving, and it's very honoring to the people who mean the most, but also to the people who may very well mean the least. So in this story of past lives, uh, which is a film that came out this year, we're introduced to two, uh, uh, characters, Na Young and, uh, Hye Sung, um, and, and they're childhood friends and, and they've, Hung out in school and all these sorts of things.
And, and, you know, he's kind of someone she goes to when she's troubled or upset. And he's kind of reassuring in this, you know, childlike way. I mean, childlike, they're both children, you know, and, and one day, um, it's announced that, uh, uh, Nayoung is going to be moving to Canada with her family, and she will be adopting the English name, Nora.
Um, and so the mothers bring the two kids together for a final, you know, uh, say [00:10:00] goodbye, you know, and, and they, and, and the kids go on a walk and they sort of meander and spend time together. Um, and at last it's time for Nora to leave, and Haesung can only tell Nora. Bye. Before, before she goes. And, um, and she goes.
And 12 years pass. Uh, 12 years pass, so maybe they're about maybe 9 or 10 or 11, so they're in their early 20s when they come back into contact with one another again. Um, Nora's talking with her Uh, mother on the phone and her mother mentions, uh, you know, do you remember, uh, uh, Haesung and, and she's like, oh yeah, you know, he was a kid that I kind of like had a crush on actually.
And she's like, well, he made a comment on your father's Facebook page and, you know, would you sort of. you know, be against, uh, or, or be into maybe, uh, meeting him again or something like that. He's been asking about you and she's like, sure. And so, uh, Haesung contacts her and, you know, they're [00:11:00] in their twenties and, uh, you know, there's a friend of her question.
She answers it and they're talking. And as they talk, What's interesting is that he's very much, um, thinking very much of her, uh, uh, yearning for her, asking questions about her. And she's, um, focused on becoming a writer and on setting up, uh, her, her life. Here in the West, and, you know, meanwhile, he's gone to China to, you know, I think it's a language exchange program or something like that, but he asks her why she never came back to Seoul, you know, that now that she's older.
Why did she never really come back to Seoul? And, um, she responds. Instead, we'll go. Maybe one day you'll come and visit me in New York, you know, and he's like, okay, maybe wait, they, maybe I will. And so they continue this talk, but after a while, you know, they're like Skyping or something like that. But after a while, Nora puts an end to it because, well, she doesn't really say why she does, but, but you can tell, or one [00:12:00] speculates that she puts an end to it because it's nostalgic.
gets pulling her back into a life that she no longer identifies with. She lives in New York City right now. She's into being a writer. Um, she's speaking English. She's English identified. Um, he's very sweet. There, there's a pole, but She's not that child anymore. She's, she's a young adult looking to make her way in the world.
And so, and so she puts, you know, a sort of end to it. And, um, basically that's, that's it.
Another, another 12 years passed. This is what I love about Korean dramas. I'm such a fond fan of, of Korean rom coms. It's like years can pass, you know, lots of years often pass in Korean dramas. But it adds to the action, you know, or, or it adds.
To not, the action it adds to the depth, it adds to the profundity of these encounters. And it's just a lovely way of storytelling. Um, another 12 years pass. And, and, [00:13:00] and his song, uh, contacts her again. And this time Nora is married to this writer. Um, I think he's, his name's Arthur. His name's Arthur. She's married to this writer named Arthur, and he's wrote, written this bestselling novel called, He's written this best selling novel called Boner, okay?
It like shows you, you know, where we're going with that one. And she's a playwright, and you know, they've established themselves, they're writers, they're married, and, and they really have a wonderful marriage. And Haesung, um, contacts her again, um, and, and says that he's coming to New York, and he wants to, uh, meet with her, and he's just broken up with his girlfriend and, and he's coming to New York.
And so, uh, Arthur, Nora's husband is clearly a little upset, not anxious. Okay. We'll go with anxious. Uh, he's clearly a little bit anxious. He's not going to deny her seeing this, this, uh, fellow who [00:14:00] was. kind of like her childhood sweetheart, and he comments on how romantic and beautiful that is, and he's like, well, I'm not going to be the bad guy, the evil, callous husband who's like, going to, you know, insist that you don't, of course you, you have to go see him.
And she's like, okay, you know, but he's, he's unsettled. I mean, they have this bond, you know, and, um, the, the, they, they keep sort of.
brushing up their clothes against each other. They keep brushing shoulders, elbows again, uh, over and over. It's, it's Inyon, you know, and she jokes, um, and says, you know, oh, Inyon, you know, because she's told him about the concept of Inyon. She says, Inyon is just what Korean girls, uh, tell a guy when they're trying to sleep with them, you know, or something like that.
And he's like, yeah, you know, but he's not altogether convinced that that's really what Nora. is thinking. And so Nora and [00:15:00] Haesung, they get together and they visit and they see the sites in New York. And at first they're like, Whoa, you know, they can't believe like, you know, here you are, you know, Whoa, like after, after all this time.
You know, and, and they meander, like, like that last day, um, in the park, before they were, uh, before she moved away, they meander through the East Village, they meander onto, um, a boat that goes to the Statue of Liberty, the, uh, they, they meander through New York, which, which is a beautiful city to meander through, um, it's, it's, uh, having lived there for 28 years, it's, it's, That's the best place to just meander and, and, and to comment and to feel one another's souls again.
And they do. And he asks her questions like, you know, what would have happened had you stayed? You [00:16:00] know, would we have fallen in love? Would we have broken up? Would we have gotten married? Would we have had children? You know, and, and so this is the nature of their conversation. And, um, and as this unfolds, I mean, ultimately, it, you know, comes to them, you know, uh, meet having a final meeting and her husband's there and he, you know, kind of feels left out, but he doesn't want to leave his wife alone, you know, with this guy.
And, but what's kind of. fantastic about this final scene where they're talking is that haesung is talking to nora mostly in korean you know and she speaks korean with him and what you get this feeling of is that there's a different there is a past life there is a different identity there is a different nora that she shares with haesung that she doesn't share with [00:17:00] her husband, you know, and it gets you sort of, um, wondering, you know, is that the draw?
But then you're also wondering, how much is she really drawn to him? I mean, or It's the layering of the drawing that she feels towards him. I mean, obviously, uh, you know, it's a childhood sweetheart, and she's seeing him at another time in her life, and so that's going to be nostalgic. But there's also this calling of a culture and a country that she left behind.
Um, and there is this, uh, feeling of inyon, no matter how much she, she jokes about it that exists between the two of them. At the same time, their lives are different. Their circumstances are different. And what I love about this meandering, this meditative conversation, quality encounter that [00:18:00] they have.
is that what it brings up,
and this is how it ties into the Venus retrograde, is what would happen if someone like that came back into your life again, you know? I mean, we all have our fantasy, you know, we would say the things that were never said, feel the things that were never felt, and perhaps this was, you know, the path not taken, you know, and it would have been a different life or something along those lines.
Or the person might get in contact with us and we might be like, whoa, uh, dodged the bullet with that one. Boy, was that person like a mess. Okay, that might be part of the reaction too, but, but when Venus reintroduces someone like this, it's not to tantalize, it's not to seduce, it's not to torture, it's really And retrogrades can do this.
It's really [00:19:00] to reconnect on a deep and a soulful level and reconnect to the notion of love. Now, now haesong is obviously looking for someone that he had lost all those years ago when Nora had moved. And, and, and they enjoy a wonderful rapport and a wonderful familiarity. But you also feel like Haesung has come to put an end to this as well.
This, These old loves can be like ghosts that haunt us. You know, they can haunt us with the possibility, they can haunt us in a reverie. Um, they come back. We don't always say, okay, here's my, uh, reality check and, you know, I'm glad I didn't make this choice. More often than not, they come back and they stir something in the heart, you know, um, and, and, and they remind us of [00:20:00] the choices we made.
Not only do they draw us back into the past, into a nostalgia, but they also remind us of the choices that we made, and they remind us of the heartache that comes with those choices that we make. You know, and this is actually a very, um, beautiful message. It's a very beautiful message that, that the film has because many times, you know, the circumstances are different.
We're, we're the same person, but we're also different than we were before. And so it really asks us to do something loving, you know, very few of us leave our, you know, marriages or our relationships or our single status and throw ourselves into the arms of this person. Um, it actually has happened. I mean, I've read for a number of clients in which someone has come back.
And there was this feeling of being finally reconnected with that [00:21:00] special someone. But that's something that's very rare. More often than not, it's a chance to kind of settle the ghosts that lie between us. You know, maybe someone never found the love and you were, you were the special love. Uh, you're then in a position where you can help them to make peace.
with that. You know, the, the fascinating thing about Venus is that Venus always deals with, , the, uh, person who is the beloved, you know, the object of admiration and adoration. There's the beloved, uh, there's beauty and then there's the beholder, you know, and it's the eye of the beholder that beauty holds.
Okay. So, so, so usually we're one of the two, you know, either we're the beauty or we're the beholder. And it was a question that Plato once asked, which is, who is more powerful, beauty or the beholder? And you got a [00:22:00] feeling like Plato was veering in the direction of beholder. Um, that it's the person who beholds that ultimately defines or, or, or describes what beauty is.
And you see Nora sort of. searching his eyes and his expression to see who is that Nora that he fell in love with, you know, and she's intrigued. She knows that it's not her, or at least not who she is now, but she's intrigued as to that Nora he's carried in her heart. She's intrigued as to that, uh, Nassau, you know, that, um, that he carries in his heart.
And she knows that she cannot be that.
So when, when Venus retegrates and forms its conjunction to the sun in Leo this week. You may, as I've just described, find yourself [00:23:00] in a situation where you are reuniting with a past love, or you may find yourself in a situation where you are meeting someone who is otherwise engaged or unavailable or between airplane flights and came into town for one day, you know, um, something something that is a kind of might have been relationship, you know, something that, um, may be a passing of the shoulders.
So, so it may be the return of, of, of a love, or you may find that someone is projecting, um, their love onto you or, or a need for you. And you may find yourself in a situation where you are making that person's heart right. By not answering it, and by putting that to rest in a loving way, you know, you may find yourself in a position where you're saying, you [00:24:00] know, I'm not that person, you know, and, and, and, and I'm sorry, or, or you may be someone who is the beholder and you want someone to be that and that someone that you want to be that may be telling you, I'm not that person.
These are the things that happen underneath the retrograde. And if it's not happening to you. If it's not happening to you, then you may have an opportunity in the life of a loved one, or a child, or a friend, or, or a co worker, who is suffering, some sort of, uh, very, uh, uh, painful love situation.
You may be in a position to help that person find peace, to help that person find resolution, outside of… bashing, you know, the lover or talking about toxicity or something like that. But, but in being very real and very heart to heart, you know, the more loving that we can be in these [00:25:00] moments of love, especially these moments of love that are melancholic.
Or aren't going to work out the way that we want them to or because of circumstances can't possibly be the more loving, rather than disillusioned, the more caring, rather than skeptical, the more generous. Rather than vengeful, you know, the more we can come from that place, the more that we can come from that Venusian place, the more loving and Venusian we can be.
And Venus, like Jupiter, is a benefic. The more, with Jupiter, it's the good that you get is the good that you give. And with Venus, of course, the love that you get You know, from all the different relationships in your life, from the deep and profound ones to the casual ones, the more love that you get, the more love, the more love that you [00:26:00] can give.