Your Venus : Love & Money Astrology Workshop with Dena DeCastro


A special astrology workshop with recurring guest, astrologer Dena DeCastro.

We're taking a deep dive into Venus placement in your natal chart. Venus affects not only your love life but also other partnerships — including your relationship with money.

Learn about the strengths and challenges associated with your Venus sign.

*Each and every sign is explained.


88 - Your Venus : Love & Money Astrology Workshop with Dena DeCastro


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Let’s set you up for this astrology workshop as well as any others we do in the future ... If you know a lot about your natal chart, you may know some of these planets and signs without having to look them up.

Feel free to go ahead and listen along right now.

How to Cast Your Birth Chart

For those of you who are beginners or who want to reference your chart and take notes — we are going to explore additional areas of your chart on future episodes, so you may want to start a document or a notebook — the site I most use and recommend is:

There’s quite a bit you can do with a free account. There are a lot of places where you can cast your natal chart online—and I don’t get any kind of kickback for referring —the reason I prefer Astro is you can store up to 100 profiles with a free account.

That’s helpful if you have clients you’re casting charts for, BUT even more importantly, you may want to store the charts of people you’re in relationships with. There’s a partner report in astro you may want to explore for spouses, people you’re dating, family members, coworkers, people you’re in business with … that person you’re about to marry!

After you sign up for a user name and password, you’ll be asked to enter your exact birth information.

Under the Free horoscopes tab, you’ll find a daily personal horoscope that’s pretty good for computer generated, but for the purposes of our workshops here, you’ll want to look under the Free Horoscopes tab, in the Short Horoscopes list is Personal Portrait.

The personal portrait is what astro calls the Natal chart or the birth chart.

Now, on that Personal Portrait page, they will offer some highlights from your chart, but that is nowhere close to everything. They may or may not interpret your Venus placement, I’m not sure how their algorithm works.

But if you scroll down to the bottom, you will find a list called planetary positions of every planet in your chart and what sign it is in.

For this episode, you’ll want to know what sign your Venus is in.

You may also want to find the Venus placement of your significant others

Of course, if you have an astrology site you like, or a natal chart that was professionally prepared for you, by all means use those.

Find your Venus, we’ll jump right in to this conversation and let Dena tell you what it means and what you can do with this information in terms of Love and Money.


So evolutionary astrology is a branch of astrology that focuses on past life and karmic patterns as part of the reading of the natal chart. We look at that through something in the chart called the nodes, the south node representing that past life or karmic pattern situation and then the north node representing what it is in this life that we're here to learn, that we have not experienced in past lives, that we've not mastered.

And so we're here learning about that thing which is foreign to us.

So it's much more... it's less predictive than some other branches of astrology. In fact, it's not predictive at all. It is more of a personal development kind of astrology, where in the reading, I'm offering people a way to look at themselves differently, not only from this life's perspective but from a soul level perspective.

With that knowledge, I'm giving them suggestions about how to best live in alignment with their soul's plan coming into this life. And how ultimately, to live a more fulfilling, content and happy life.

So that's the aim of it.

So it's not meant for prediction. It is more meant for personal development and for growth.


I actually really like that, because it's a little bit more woo woo and yet, also the personal development aspect of it really brings it down to earth. So, of course I'll link to the show that we did earlier so everyone can listen to that and find out about their node astrology, but what you told me on that show about my own south node in Virgo, has been really impactful going forward from that moment.

It explained a lot of things about the way that I operate. It also explained a lot of my relationships with Virgos.


Oh totally. I'm with you on that one.


So anyway, I really love that piece of information.

And one of the things that I noticed, talking to you the very first time that we ever spoke, which is that conversation by the way, and the reason why I wanted you back on the show is, well, first I'd love any excuse to talk to you, but...

One of the things I found myself recommending to my friends and my clients about your readings is, astrology I've often noticed can have this really, really old, like old testament doom and gloom kind of quality to it sometimes...




Especially if you're looking at things that are computer-generated sometimes, I often tell people, Okay, you need to dial back the negative a little bit.


Dial that back!


And you have a way of speaking about astrology that feels kind of more hopeful and more positive and enthusiastic to me. And I was wondering if you are aware of what I'm talking about and if you get a sense of that as well.


Yeah, you know, I think that in the astrological community, one of the viewpoints is that evolutionary astrologers are too much Pollyanna perhaps, or positive, compared to some others, which will tell you more of the doom and gloom aspects, like if you have an afflicted Venus, that your love life is going to be challenged for your whole life.

Some branches of astrology are more deterministic, I will say that. And I am not coming from an, evolutionary astrology is not coming from a deterministic perspective. We embrace the idea of free will as being the prime mover and that once we have self-knowledge, we can make better choices.

That's the whole point.

We can, the reading itself changes what you can do with your future. It's not telling you that this is the future that's laid out for you. That this is what's going to happen because Saturn squared your Venus and it's gonna suck.




That it's a... it's saying, here are some choices. I will say though, that it is not all love and light. Anybody whose gotten a reading from me will tell you that we go into the shadow stuff. We go into what is, what are the lower possibilities for you? What are the things that can trip you up or the places where you can get tangled up in old patterns and get stuck.

But in knowing that, then you can more likely avoid those places, right?


Yeah, like, to explain what I meant by how that information for me impacted me going forward, what it did was, it just identified a certain thought process or where something's coming from in the way that I think and react to things.

And knowing to look for that and to be aware when it popped it's head, I'd be like, Ooo... that's totally my south node in Virgo! And then having a polar companion opposite of like, Okay well so in order to balance out that energy that idea is to move towards this more Piscean way of looking at things.

So when I say it's impactful to me, you're right. It's not like, Oh, it's just going to be this way and I'm just screwed to be that way.




What it does is it allows me to say, Oh, there's my tendency to do THAT, now I'm going to make a willful conscious decision to lean this other way in order to kind of balance that out, or to move away from it.

So yeah, I'd like that. I definitely don't want to... I don't want information that I can't change or manipulate in some way.


Right. And I said this on another podcast recently, that I'm always thinking, as I do a reading, how can I empower the client, not how can I disempower the client. Or to be careful not to say things that are going to disempower the client.

That's super important to me. It really guides everything that I say as I go through a reading.


Mmm... Well you're doing a good job of it.


Thank you.


So there is some great astrology content obviously online, on social media...




A lot of astrologers do time sensitive current posts about what's going on in the skies and you do a little of that as well. But when you and I were brainstorming astrological topics that we could explore on the show, I talked about how much I try to create evergreen content, meaning, whenever someone comes along and they find this show, even if it's two years from now, I want the information to still be relevant to them.

Aspects of the natal chart, or birth chart, are those items that aren't as time sensitive, so I'd love for you to explain to us the difference between transits and our natal or birth chart elements.


Yeah, so the natal chart is the birth chart that you're born with. It is the permanent chart. It's not going to change. However, how you respond to that chart can change. YOU can grow and change. But that chart doesn't change.

So when I do a reading that's focused mainly on the natal chart, we're really looking at those lifelong themes and patterns, not the things that are happening now.

The transits and progressions and solar arcs, those are three things, three tools that astrologers use. And there are more tools, but those are the three common ones. They tell us what is happening right now in this person's chart. What are the things moving through, that transits from the outside, the cosmic weather.

For example, let's say Neptune is currently in Pisces and it may be connecting with something in your chart. It may be trining your moon or, I think it is trining your moon, I'm not sure... Maybe soon..

That is its own set of meaning about what's happening now or in this coming year, or maybe for the next two years. A Neptune transit is two years long, for example. So that's time and that's forecasting. That's not prediction. That's like saying, "Here is the cosmic weather that is around you. How can you best navigate it?"

Progressions and solar arcs are a little bit different. They're something that unfolds from the chart itself and I won't get into a technical discussion of those, but they're just other tools that we use to look at this moment in time, but also what's coming down the road, maybe the next year, two years for somebody.

To say, what are the lessons that are on your plate right now, what are the themes that are up in your life?

And it can be really helpful, particularly if you're going through a challenging time, to understand that there are forces at play that may be affecting you, that are causing this to be a challenging time and there is something you can do about it. There are things that you can do to better work with those energies than if you didn't know about it.


I like your weather metaphor because it's kind of like, if you know a hurricane's coming, then you can close the shutters and go underground. You can respond to those conditions in a different way.

Another thing that I do think that astrological transits are good for, and I was just talking to a friend of mine who is going through a really rough life transition, and I said, "One of the things I like about astrology is, it's not a psychic reading. It's actually external, you know? It's like, here's a spreadsheet about stuff in your life."

It has a little bit of a disconnect from being so much in our own heads a little bit. It's something that also can give you a sense of... Like if you are really going through something, and you're thinking, gawd, when is this ever gonna end?? I find it really helpful for someone to say, "Well, you know, April something is totally gonna shift."

And just having a sense of, oh, okay. I may feel like I'm smack in the middle of it, and then I get a reading with you and you talk about some transits, and you're like, "Oh actually, it's been going on for a long time but you're almost done."

That can be the difference between being in a really dark hole in the ground and having a little sense of, okay, I can go for two more months or whatever.




I love the emphasis on it not being so much about prediction as about conditions, like weather conditions and sort of windows of time as opposed to specific moments.




Well just to get back to the birth chart stuff. So we decided we wanted to do some shows where we focus on some of the bigger elements in birth charts. I feel like for people who are new to astrology, it makes sense for them to study their birth chart or their natal chart first, as a way of learning about this vocabulary and these concepts and how it relates to what they're working with in this lifetime.




So one of those big elements in our birth chart is our Venus. So teach us about Venus.



So Venus is a planet that most people correlate to love because it's the goddess of love. It is a planet that has to do with connection and relationship. It is also, though, a planet that has to do with money and finances.

And so a lightbulb went on for me recently when I was listening to your episode with Morgana Rae about love and money, and I was like, Oh! [unintelligible] Venus. That's the Venus energy coming through in those two things together. She's a very Venutian kind of person. And it just clicked in for me that so many people don't make THAT connection. The connection to money and resources, as well as love and romance associated with Venus.

So I'll talk about both aspects, or both faces of Venus.

So to begin with, Venus is the ruler of Libra, the sign of Libra, and Taurus. So it's the ruler of two signs. And Libra is a relationship sign. It's about connection and want to connect and wanting to come into balance with a significant other or a significant friend or a significant client. It's about the relationship of the one to the one. And about balance and harmony between those two things.

On another level, Venus too is about our aesthetic sensibilities, our creativity, as Libra holds the archetype of the Artist, that which makes beauty. And as we think of Venus also of the goddess of beauty, and Aphrodite.

So it's the part of us that wants to make beauty in the world, to bring beauty into our surroundings. The part of us that wants to experience beauty. That can come through creating, through artistry, and it can also come through being in love and through romance and connecting that way.

That's all an experience of beauty. And it all brings us that sense of sigh, that sigh of the romantic quality of life.

So that's Venus as it's the ruler of Libra.

But Venus is also the ruler of Taurus. And Taurus is a sign that is connected to stability, resources, and a feeling of security, and that comes often through having enough resources, you know, that sense of stability and security. So hence Venus' connection to money.

And so the Venus in our chart can tell us many things more than just what kind of people are we attracted to and what kind of people we tend to attract. I mean, that's all true and that's something I'll talk more about. But also it tells us, what is our relationship to resources, how do we create more resources for ourselves, how do we find our sense of security, how do we find a sense of stability and a foothold in the world.

So really, there's those two dimensions of Venus, particularly love and money, that I want to focus on.


Let me say something really quick about Morgana Rae. Of course I'll link to Morgana's interview when she was on the show as well. Some people know her. I reference her in The Money Shift. She was very influential in my relationship with abundance as an archetype.

I just have to say, it's really interesting because if you hear Morgana talk about her story, she started working with abundance and money and financial programming and all those relationships that we have with resources. She discovered this while being a relationship coach. What she found was that people have the same issues with money that they have in their romantic partnerships and that was the connection she made.

So anyway, I hope she gets to hear this and discover that there's an astrological basis for her observing that connection.


Yeah. I would love that and I really enjoyed what she had to say in that episode. And I found so much personal value and had some really individual revelations about my own relationship to love and money through that episode.

So it connected for me directly back to astrology and what I know there.

So I think what I'll do is, I'll walk through some of the sign placements and maybe we will get through all 12.




I'll do a little bit on each one if I can.


Let's try, yeah.


Yeah we'll try.

So if you know your Venus placement, you can listen to each one and you might be able to find the Venus placements of your friends and family members and partner and be able to also get some pieces out of this.

Venus in Aries

So Venus in Aries. Venus, again, as being correlated to who we are attracted to, what kinds of people we're attracted to and who we attract in. But also the relationship style. So Aries is a spontaneous fiery energy, right? And that's how Venus in Aries people tend to like it in a relationship. They tend to like things spicy and need them a little spicy and spontaneous and passionate, right?

And so there needs to be that excitement.

This is where we get into differences and preferences. As you know, some people like things more calm and easygoing in relationship, while you see others that's like, oh, they've always got so much relationship drama going on.

But that's how some people actually like it. If you need it, right?

So Venus in Aries is that energy. And as it relates to money and resources, Venus in Aries is really connected to needing to take on challenges in terms of one's work and financial goals, and being able to do things that feel fresh and new all the time. So there can be a... The shadow aspect of that the tendency to get bored quickly, like have a passionate attachment to an idea or project and then it can kind of fizzle.

So that's the challenge for Venus in Aries.

In both relationship and money, things can start off real hot and heavy, then go tzzzzz (fizzling down).

So that's something to think about with all these Venus placements. It's always the positive and the shadow expression of each, things to be careful of.

Venus in Taurus

Venus in the sign that it rules really craves stability, sensual or physical, tactile connection in relationship. A feeling of security and has an intensely loyal component and requires loyalty from the other. So that kind of slow and easy and comfortable style to a relationship is more what suits the Venus in Taurus type.

Venus in Taurus regarding money. Again, you know, security and having a sense of stability is primary. So this type of person would more benefit from a job where they feel like, okay I know where my paycheck is coming from, it's pretty predictable. They're not as likely to be your freelancer unless there's a steady stream of abundance that they can count on coming from that.

Venus in Taurus types really need that sense of I know I have all my ducks in a row financially all the time.

The shadow side of that placement is getting too stuck in routines. Like getting too stuck in things always needing to be nice and comfortable, both in love and money. That we can get in routines as partners or we get kind of bored with each other. Try to keep things too nice, too easy, can be its own downfall. And the same with the approach to money. It's like you can keep yourself a little too small because you're afraid to take the risk of stepping out and doing something bigger.

So that's Venus in Taurus.

Venus in Gemini

Venus in Gemini, which I think we both have.


Yeeeees. This is me. I'm taking notes.


Okay. Get your pen out.

Venus in Gemini. Gemini's an air sign and it's about curiosity and wanting to learn new things all the time.


Uh oh.


There needs to be a huge amount of intellectual engagement with one's partner and/or friends. They have to be someone that you can talk to and have that mental connection with. Mental connection is primary. It's like you have to be on that level with the person where it's like, we can talk easily and I think, my husband, he's a Gemini rising, and so am I. So we're just non-stop chatterboxes with each other.


Oh that's cool.


Which is cool. And we like that. For some people it might drive them a little nuts.

But as a Venus in Gemini person, I really like to be able to just chatter chatter with him. I need my quiet time too.

But I think that Venus in Gemini also needs to be constantly, have something to be curious about. So that goes for love and for money. And the money aspect, we can easily make money through the word, through teaching, through writing, through speaking and also through learning new things and then repackaging what we learn and giving it back out through teaching.

That's part of the Gemini archetype. Teaching and talking.


That's us!


That's you and me! I guess we're doing our Venus.




So the shadow stuff of Venus in Gemini is going from thing to thing without settling on one thing. With having trouble committing to one thing. That can come up in love or money, and I have to say, I had more trouble with the love part of that when I was much younger and not anymore, but I see that in myself for Venus in Gemini, of the next shiny object that comes by. I'm gonna follow that.

And that can happen with money as well. That oh, maybe I should make money doing this! No, wait. I could be that! I'm gonna be a writer this week and then teacher next week and a, this or that. So there could be a difficulty in settling.

I do think that abates with age. With Venus in Gemini as we grow up and kind of get our big boy, big girl pants on. And yet some people might not grow out of it as quickly.


Well, and I have to say for myself, the way that that came down is, once I found the right context in which to work, I have a job that allows me to be a lot of different things, from, one day I'm an accountant, another day I'm doing web design, another day I'm interviewing people on a podcast. That variety I think is the reason why the entrepreneurial stuff works for me so well, is because I have it built in to this one thing I do is like a cluster of a whole lot of things.


So true and same with me as well. I never get bored because every reading you do is a different deal. There are no two readings that are alike. So that keeps me constantly engaged. That's super important for those Venus in Gemini people out there to think about is, what will keep you constantly engaged with your mind? What will keep you constantly curious?

Because you can get bored really easily with anything that's just even a little bit repetitive or redundant.

So alright. With that, we're going on to

Venus in Cancer

Venus in Cancer has some similarities to Venus in Taurus. There is a need for commitment and a feeling of emotional safety in relationship and as relates to money. So Venus in Cancer types really need to feel safe in order to connect emotionally with their significant other, with friends.

So they're attracted to people who can provide that sense of comfort and safety and a feeling of they're not going anywhere. That significant other is there for the long haul. And so they're drawn to relationships that can provide that.

As far as Venus in Cancer money-wise, there's a need for emotional safety in terms of how they make and bring in money. And that again, similarly to Taurus, requires a structure and a certain comfort level with their job or what they're doing to bring in money. I don't mean to make that sound at all boring.

It's just that those two signs, Taurus and Cancer in particular, as we go on we'll get to Capricorn as well I see in this way, that they really do need a little more regularity of routine and comfort level in their relationship and work/money-wise. And that is okay.

Part of what I like to always get across is we're all wired differently and part of what I like to bring to people is that accepting and validating that wiring is really important. And you can push a little bit against the edges of that, knowing that that is your want, you know? Sometimes you can get a little too comfortable.

So here we have Venus in Cancer, the shadow element of it can be going too much into caregiving and nurturing of the other, too much into worrying about, I've got to show up for my work at the expense of myself, you know, sometimes forgetting to take care of oneself because the job or the money coming in means more than taking care of oneself. It's that over-focus on caregiving to the other that can go awry.

So that's something for Venus in Cancer to watch.

Then we have

Venus in Leo

Colourful fire sign. The second fire sign we've come across.

Leo is a creative, spontaneous energy. It craves adoration. It craves being appreciated. So own it, if you've got some Leo in your chart, which I know you do. That there is that need for being appreciated, particularly in partnership if you have Venus in Leo, to have the other person do the kind of traditional hearts and flowers aspects of romance with you, and to treat you a little bit like a god or goddess sometimes, you know?

It's not something to be shy about. There is that need. And that you can do that for the other person as well. You may have a very romantic quality in the way that you approach relationship and with money.

I will say that there's often a creative streak that wants to come through in how you make money. You could easily be an artist or creator of some type that brings in money through your creative drive. So that's something to look at.

If you're not doing that and you're a Venus in Leo and you're thinking, Where is my creative career?? You can be doing that as a side line or a hobby. But there is some creative outlet is extremely important for you to have to get that Venus need met. You know, to have that sense of pleasure in life that we get from our Venus placement.

And then the shadow side is that, what I mentioned in the beginning and be turned up to a little too high and Venus in Leo people can get too demanding of other people's attention, like, Look at me! It's that I need to be the centre of your universe attitude.

And so we have to watch that with Venus in Leo. And know that, okay, it needs to be balanced. That there's two people in a relationship and that there's two people that need equal amounts of attention. So it's just that awareness can be helpful.

Venus in Virgo

Another earth sign. It's similar to Taurus but Virgo is about having very high standards and being able to look at a relationship and at how we bring in money as practice, as constant work.

Again, that doesn't sound glamourous, but we need Venus in Virgo people. We need people who understand that a relationship IS work. A relationship IS something that takes constant tending. And it's also sometimes about compromise and helping another person as much as it is helping ourselves.

So Venus in Virgo people do have high standards for relationships in that they want the other person to work on it as hard as they are working on it. That's important for Venus in Virgo to consider when they're pairing up with someone is, is the partner someone who is able to do this work with me? And to look at it as a constant practice, the conscious practice of relationship because Venus in Virgo is interested in doing that work.

As far as it relates to money, is service-oriented profession when you feel you're making a tangible difference in people's lives, where you can see the results. See, touch, feel the results of your work and how it's affecting people. That's going to be extremely important for Venus in Virgo.

The shadow of Venus in Virgo is that perfectionism, you know, as we've talked about with south node in Virgo, can be applied to relationship and to one's work, so that it can be paralyzing. In relationship, it could be having too high of standards with the other person, to the point where nothing they do is right. Or I can't find the right person because I'm just too damn picky.

That Venus in Virgo as it relates to money is about the, sometimes the Virgo Paralysis, I call it, needing to have things SO neat and tidy and perfect that no risks are taken. You'll notice that theme popping up from the earth signs, that the Taurus and Virgo and as we get to Capricorn, there's a tendency to, in the shadow, be risk-averse to the point where life becomes very confined. So that's a danger to watch for there.

Venus in Libra

Venus in Libra, in the second sign that it rules, is definitely interested in having harmony and calm and peace in relationship. This is the opposite sign of Aries, the sign that we started with, and it's, I talked about the theme of Aries needing things kind of hot and drama, a little bit of drama is okay. Not Venus in Libra. Venus in Libra is opposite of that. There's a need for just a sweetness, a romantic peaceful tone in the relationships.

As it relates to money, again, a creative career, an artistic career can be fulfilling for Venus in Libra, but also careers in which you are required to really work closely one on one with people. So with Venus in Libra, there can be some natural counseling abilities, the ability to mentor or work closely with a person on a daily basis, one on one, to have clients, for example. And that that could bring in resources.

There's an ability that Venus in Libra people have to pick up on the needs of others and to connect with them very immediately and closely. To be sensitive to the needs of others. And that can be a gift.

It can also be the shadow, in that Venus in Libra can get over-concerned with other's needs at the expense of oneself so it's that theme of getting lost in the relationship at the expense of one's own needs, and that can be the classic codependent kind of expression of that. And that can happen when Venus is triggered there. That's the Venus shadow to watch out for.

Venus in Scorpio

Another water sign like Cancer. Scorpios are a very different sign from Cancer interestingly, being a water sign too. Venus in Scorpio really craves intensity, passion, Scorpio's ruled by Mars, just as Aries is ruled by Mars, and so there is this need for close, deep connection with the other. It could be 'I wanna be in every aspect of your life and I want you in every aspect of mine'. There can be almost that possessive quality to the relationship and that can make it sound a little unhealthy, and it could certainly go there in its shadow.

But Venus in Scorpio really does need someone who can show up as an authentic person and handle going into the deep and difficult areas of relationship. They thrive on that. They thrive on having the hard discussions, the going for the raw truth in the relationship, and talking about what's going on underneath the surface.

And so that's something to consider for Venus in Scorpio as they think about partnerships, like, can the other person match me there? Are they gonna be able to go deep? Are they going to be able to go really deep and to handle the intensity of what I want to do in relationship.

And then Venus in Scorpio money-wise, again there needs to be that passionate engagement with one's career and often the career can involve confronting or looking at things other people don't want to look at.

For example, I have a friend with Venus in Scorpio who is a hospice worker. She deals with people passing regularly. And so that actually something some people might go, Ooo gawd, I don't know if I could handle that, a Venus in Scorpio person can handle that, as far as this is what we're doing to bring in an income, and this is also what they feel drawn to do because they can. They can handle it.

So that Scorpio element is really strong there and the shadow of it, again, is that possessiveness that can creep in, the jealousy, the lack of objectivity, being way too subjective and getting even a little paranoid in relationship.

That can happen and so it behooves Venus in Scorpio to be aware of that tendency and to watch your thoughts and how they might be going that direction. And to say, okay, maybe I need to take a step back here and get some objectivity or talk to a friend about this or get another viewpoint before I go down that road in my head.

Venus in Sagittarius

It's another fire sign. It's the last of our fire signs. The word spontaneity creeps in to every fire sign that I talk about. I think that having spontaneity in relationship is probably the most important for Venus in Sagittarius. There needs to be a huge amount of freedom and space for Venus in Sag people.

This doesn't necessarily mean they can't be in a committed relationship. Not at all. Of course many Venus in Sag people are married, right? And you'll hear similar things about Venus in Gemini, like, oh, we can't commit, but I think of course they can and it depends on the whole chart.

But within that relationship for Venus in Sag, they need to have a sense that they have a great amount of independence and space within the partnership. And to have room to breathe. Fire signs need room to breathe. Mark that down in your notes, people. Fire needs room to breathe just like the element.

So it doesn't mean no commitment. It just means being able to have that dance with somebody where it's like, Oh, you're gonna go out tonight? Okay well I'm going to stay home and do my thing. And KNOW that it doesn't have to mean the relationship's going south. You know, that Venus in Sag person might need to go out more than a person who's got Venus in Taurus, right? Doesn't mean they can't have a relationship. It means they have to understand each other's needs.

Venus in Sag also needs to feel like things are always an adventure, like they're on a quest. This is an adventure and there's that sense of looking toward the future with Venus. And so having plans for travel and adventures together as a partnership, that's gonna help them in any of their close relationships.

Venus in Sag as relates to money really does need, again, that sense of, almost like Gemini, enlists challenge, excitement, curiosity, being fulfilled. So variety is hugely important for Venus in Sag people. They need to have variety in their work. They could be a freelancer, but they could also have a job that provides that kind of constant challenge and constant variety served up.

And then the shadow, of course, is being noncommittal to the point of, they run away from every commitment. That could be the shadow Venus in Sag type is, I'm so averse to getting cornered that then I forget to have a relationship. That can definitely happen with Venus in Sag.

Venus in Sag may be perfectly content out there in the wilderness on their own for awhile. They could also end up feeling very lonely later on if they realize, wow, I just really haven't made those close connections because I've been so protective of my freedom.

So that's the shadow road for Venus in Sag.

Venus in Capricorn

Venus in Capricorn is a sign that, again, the last earth sign. It has to do with creating things that last a long time and doing the hard work of creating them. And so in relationship, a Venus in Capricorn appreciates commitment, appreciates structure and stability, just like Taurus. Also takes pride in the accomplishments of having a long term relationship.

And this applies to close friendships as well. You know, having those long term close relationships. That's an extremely important priority for Venus in Capricorn.

There can also be the high standards element that we talked about with Virgo. There's that willingness to work on relationship and to be committed, that Venus in Capricorn has that is there too with the other earth signs.

And then in work and money, Venus in Capricorn is the willingness to do the long haul with things, to be committed, to be enduring in one's work, in one's approach to work. And the desire to create something lasting. The desire to create something that took a long time to make and take pride in that creation.

So the shadow road for Venus in Capricorn is too much work and no play. It's over-work. It's workaholism. It's the abdication of pleasure at the expense of relationships sometimes and at the expense of money. It's like I'm just gonna work til I drop kind of attitude, or I'm just gonna treat this relationship like it's a job and business-like.

And it can get too business-like, and so that's one of the shadows of all three of the earth sign Venus is a tendency to make relationship into kind of a business, or too business-like. To the point where it gets boring and all the life gets sucked out of it. And that's something, if you're aware of, can avoid by injecting some of the positive qualities into it, and also tap into other areas of your chart to bring in more spontaneity and breath of air.

Venus in Aquarius

So then Venus in Aquarius really delights in relationship. In having, again, space, freedom, those are two key words that are common with Aquarius and with Sag. And then also having a sense of, perhaps more distance in their romantic relationships and they often can have quite a lot of friends and have, again, not necessarily just the close besties, but have a broad spectrum of friends of all different walks of life.

In relationship, romantic relationship, they need things to be changed up quite a lot. They can also get bored very easily. So the partner would need to be someone who challenges the mind and the intellect. That's the air sign quality. And then also provides a lot of variety and ability for room to breathe.

And then Venus in Aquarius as it relates to money is needing to making money through something that they feel is affecting the world for the better in some way. That can sound a little grandiose, but it's that humanitarian urge that Aquarius has to make things better for the next generation, or the next group of people coming up. And so when they turn their attention toward humanitarian things, they're more able to bring in the resources that they need.

The shadow road for Venus in Aquarius is aloofness or disconnection. Getting too much in the head, forgetting to connect to the heart. So that's what they have to watch in relationships and in work. It's like they don't feel, they can get disconnected from what they're doing. That can be to the detriment, to both money and to love.

Venus in Pisces

And then finally, Pisces. Venus in Pisces, the last water sign.

Pisces is an empathic sensitive and very compassionate sign. In relationship, they thrive with someone who is also sensitive because they could pick up on the other person's feelings quite easily, and always be aware of the other person's feelings. So it's important that they be with someone who does not take advantage of that. Who doesn't tap too much into their empathy and sensitivity and use it for the worst. That can be the shadow road.

Venus in Pisces is, as a partner, someone who thrives on emotional connection and being able to have a deep spiritual connection with a partner. There needs to be that soul connection, that spark there that feels like we've known each other for lifetimes. That kind of connection.

And then with work, Pisces is another sign, because of it's compassion and sensitivity, that works well with being able to do something that helps others. Working on behalf of the underdog, working on behalf of those who need help, that draws Venus in Pisces tyoes and that can be a way to bring in finances.

And then the shadow side of Venus in Pisces again is that over-developed sensitivity that can then be taken advantage of. You know, if they're in a relationship with someone who is toxic or not healthy, that they can get too influenced by that and be taken down a dark road themselves.

And how they can pull themselves out of that, though, is to, again, remember my needs to have to come first, actually. You know, that I can't lose myself in this. And that comes into play in their work as well.

So that is Venus through all the signs. Of course, that was a really brief description of each but I encourage people, if you know your Venus sign, don't just go by the Venus sign. Also think about, if you know a little about astrology, other things in your chart as they might relate to that Venus.

Because we don't just have a Venus. We have all the other planets as well and they can help to balance out certain things with the Venus that we might need to.


Yeah! I was gonna point out that, like say for instance you have a Venus in a particular sign. I'll use mine as an example, Gemini. What I might look for in a potential partner, they could have a significant Gemini placement anywhere in their chart and be a little more likely to provide some of those elements, say someone with a sun or a moon or rising sign in Gemini, would still be able to sort of provide some of that energy, right? Like they don't have to have a perfectly matched Venus to Venus kind of situation.


Right, right.

So that's another thing that I'll point to here with compatibility and, you know, I often get the question, can you do a compatibility chart for me and my partner? And I don't think of it that way. I don't think that it is a situation where you're either compatible or you're not. You know? Via astrology, for one thing, and that there are so many things involved in each person's chart that you can't do it based on sun sign, or just Venus signs, any of that. It's the whole picture versus the whole picture.

So a couple's reading is very complex in that we do consider all of the elements of each person's chart plus the composite chart, which is where you bring two charts together, so it's not just about Venus, for sure. Venus, like any of the planets that you take in isolation, can point you in a certain direction or help you understand a huge amount about yourself but it's not the whole picture.

I want people to definitely be aware of that.


Yes, and also knowing that, in keeping with your theory that understanding what you have in your chart then allows you to respond or balance those elements or bring them in, or understand why someone else might need certain things that are different from yours.

You could have "Venuses that are not in the same realm as one another" and just by understanding that, well, I have this certain situation in my chart, and my partner has a different requirement, what that can do is then allow you to maybe make more conscious decisions to provide that in the relationship.

Or to remember, it's not that this person doesn't want to spend time with me, but they like to go out and do things with their friends and have an independent kind of social life. And just knowing that and being aware of, that that's one of the ingredients you're working with, can allow you to, like you said, use your free will to modify how that's impacting you.



And it is about self-understanding and it's about understanding the other and that's where a couple's reading can be helpful is understanding each other's Venus style can be hugely helpful but then understanding the whole chart as well, and saying, Okay, we just have these certain differences. We have these things that are more in harmony, and how can we maximize the things that work well together and how can we work on the things that are really quite different.

And in almost any couple's reading I've ever done, nobody's perfectly lined up and the same. I mean that's just not the way it works. We're attracted to people who tend to make us work on ourselves.


Mmm... Interesting point.


That's why I think we're attracted to them, is like, Ooo, there's a challenge here and something I need to learn and that's why we're drawn to each other at a particular moment.


Or they may have something that you're trying to bring in into your own life, so it's an opportunity for you to study or model that dynamic.




And how can I be more like this?




I have to ask you, I hope it's not too much off topic, but it comes up so much in relationship-oriented readings, like with clients that I do and it probably comes up for you when you do relationship astrological readings.

Soulmates. Twin flames. Talk to me about... Is there an astrological basis for these concepts? How do you describe and define those concepts?


And I am probably gonna tick some people off with my answer to this.


Do it!


I'm gonna do it! Because it's what I think.

I don't believe that we have one soulmate. And I don't... I just don't have enough knowledge about the concept of twin flames to understand it, really. It's not something that resonates with me particularly. There isn't an astrological basis for those terms as far as I know. But we do... Meaning it isn't, astrology doesn't prove that we have soulmates or twin flames. One way or the other. It doesn't disprove either.

We do use the term "soulmate" in astrology at times, particularly as relating to the 8th House, in evolutionary astrology, that is a term associated with the 8th House, that it's the house of soulmates where we do the deep soul work. I emphasize soulmates plural. It's not The One. It's not the one in the sky that's gonna come down and like, we're gonna be happy together forever and walk off into the sunset.

It's the one who I am going to do deep soul work with. And there may be, and will likely be, many in a lifetime, including friends that are like soulmate friends. I don't confine it to romantic quality.

So my perception of soulmates, and as I have seen it play out in people's lives and in their charts, is that soulmates are people we're here to do deep work with. That the sign and planets in the 8th House can tell us more about what kinds of people that we can do that deep soul work with.

That is another topic. It might be fun for another time to go deeper into THAT. But knowing your 8th House and 8th House planets can help understand like, this is the kind of person with whom I can do that deep soul work.

So I'm not saying there's no soulmates. I'm saying my perspective on them is that it's not the happy ever after one. It is, okay we have people that come and go in our lives that we have unfinished business with perhaps, from past lives, and so there's that charge when we meet them. Like, okay, this is someone I need to do some work with and we have stuff from before. Maybe it needs to be finished up.

But the thing that's challenging I think for a lot of people in considering soulmates and twin flames in the way that I do is, you know, nothing lasts forever. And even if you stay together 'til death, it's not gonna last forever. Relationships do come and go and particularly as we're evolving as a species, it seems like relationships have sometimes a faster burn rate than they used to.




In terms of friendships and partnerships that, well, the whole phenomenon of serial monogamy, you know, is a good example of this. Just like we are growing and developing very quickly, and sometimes we outgrow people. And then we go on to the next person. And that used to be considered a failure. Oh, you can't settle down. You just can't be with one...

I just see it as, in different phases of our lives we may be with different people and have different needs for growth and that's just what may happen.

Now at the same time, I'm married and I intend to be married for the rest of my life. So there's that. It's hard for people to understand how those two things can coexist. How can one believe in marriage at all and still hold the beliefs that we have different soulmates and different needs at different points of our lives.

I think it is a choice. We can choose to be with someone as long as we're doing good growth together. And as long as we're both consciously working on the relationship and becoming new to each other. Because we're always changing. As soon as we try to put ourselves in a box and say, Okay, you're my soulmate. This is going to last forever, you're the One, then its doomed pretty much.


Well it's like the concept of a company or an entity that exists over long periods of time. Maybe there is the need for renovation or rebranding or you know, like, it seems like couples who have been together for long, long periods of time have phases within their relationship that they can point to.

So, I mean, and I'm saying this to you as someone who is not married, so my opinion about how to be married is very limited, but I would hope that what that means is an ability to recognize that there are phases and changes and different acts in life. Or like movie franchises, there's gonna be a sequel, and then there'll be a part 3.

My whole feeling or hope is that, well if I go into it with that expectation, maybe that will allow me the fluidity and the creativity to remake it or to change it as necessary.




Because the commitment is to the person. It's not necessarily to the time period that you met in, or whatever.


Right. Yeah, I like that.

And, just recalling, I was listening to an interview with Michelle Obama on Oprah's podcast recently and she was talking about their marriage and how there were some really hard times, which you don't think about when you see Barack and Michelle Obama. You just see, Oh, they're just total soulmates and they just belong together and they have this perfect relationship.

She's like, No. There were some very hard years and she's like, If you've been married for 50 years and you have 20 years that are bad, you're doing pretty good, is what she said.

And people are like, What??

Yeah! There's gonna be some hard times and some years that really suck and where you're going through either individual things that are tough or as a couple, and any long term relationship that lasts is going to have those different phases.

And I think, who knows what the success of a marriage depends on. I don't have the answer but I suspect that a lot of it has to do with what you're saying is that flexibility and fluidity to go through these different phases together and the acceptance of that's going to happen.


it's interesting that you mention the fact that our culture seems to be moving to a place where we're more accepting of the idea that there are different relationships for different time periods in your life because we also see that happening in career, the concept that people have multiple careers in their lifetime has become much more of an acceptable, intentional way of thinking about it.

Gone are the days when you picked your major at 19 and you picked a job and you work there from 25 to 65, end of story. There are some professions that do allow for that but the expectation that you're failing if you don't do that is pretty gone from popular belief now. I mean, it still haunts us. But there is at least in the culture a recognition that, you know what, it's an admirable thing to decide, I'm going back to school at 40 and I'm changing my career!

We applaud people who do that and so I think that may exist in parallel with... I don't know what it is. Maybe it's a fundamentalist thing. It's a fear-based thing that we're gonna lock everything down and it's just going to be this way forever.




We're moving as a species into a place where we recognize that things are evolving and changing. We are learning how to be more that way, right?


Yeah. I would agree. I would say those two things are very connected.


Oh, Dena, I could talk to you all day long. There are so many aspects of astrology that we can explore like this. Thank you so much for doing this deep dive and going through, at least speaking to everyone out there a little bit, giving them a taste of what they're working with. I will absolutely invite you back for other chats and we will do some other focused topic areas in this way.

Tell everyone where they can go to find you online if they want to follow you or get a reading with you.


Yeah! So you can find me at and there you can sign up for my list there. I do have a really cool free gift of the nodes in your chart, if you didn't hear about it from the last episode. It's still there for you if you do sign up for my list.

I also will more regularly be posting things on Facebook as we go forward, and I have a Facebook, it's DeCastroAstrology. I say that because I just started back on Facebook after nine years away, so it's like getting back up to snuff on that has been interesting.

But yeah I'm enjoying getting back into that community and also being part of the Shift Your Spirits community as well. And you can find me there too. I pop in if you have questions about this episode and what have you.


Absolutely. We'll have a comment discussion in the group available for anyone who wants to ask you some good follow up questions.

That was great, Dena. Thank you for coming back on the show again.


Thank you. It's always my pleasure.