Weekly Horoscope: Friday's Retrograde Is Coming To Shake Up Your Relationship

Are you ready for a romantic revolution—or just a more reliable signal for when you need to tune in to the wisdom of your heart? That chance could come starting this Friday, October 5, as Venus falls into retrograde for six weeks. The love planet's reverse shift begins in intense and possessive Scorpio until October 31, then drifts into fickle, romanticizing Libra until November 16. Both Scorpio and Libra are "the relationship signs" of the zodiac, as their focus lies on how we divvy up, share and merge resources.

Libra is the heavenly heartthrob while Scorpio is the celestial sexpot—and with amorous Venus backing up through their realms, we will all plunge into a deep examination of how we "do" relationships. Are you a pursuer or distancer? Do you avoid attachments or get super anxious and clingy when you feel unsure in love? Or are you a well-balanced soul who could afford to be a bit more passionate? Are you addicted to the thrill of "new relationship energy" only to bolt when things get boring (read: vulnerable and intimate)? How in touch with your erotic desires and power are you, actually?

Questions like these could weigh on our minds as Venus' retrograde pushes us to do all those "re" activities like reviewing, revisiting, reassessing, and reconnecting. And no, it's not gonna be a cakewalk. (Real love seldom is.) But those who are willing to do the work of self-examination and course correction might be rewarded with a fulfilling new chapter in love before 2018 is through.

If you have a wedding planned between October 5 and November 16, don't freak out. Your marriage is not doomed because you walk down the aisle during this cycle. But for extra assurance, plan to renew your vows on your first anniversary. You can be assured that Venus won't be retrograde then since her backspins happen every 18 months. (The next one will be in Gemini from May 13 to June 25, 2020.) Exes may be drawn back together to try again, while missed connections could find their second chance. But don't rush back to familiar territory—especially if that terrain was thorny the last time around. The REAL challenge of this retrograde may be fortifying your willpower and resisting the urge to fall into old patterns.

Speaking of revisiting the past, what was happening in your life eight years ago? Venus' retrograde pattern is fascinatingly predictable; in fact, if you were to trace the path, it would make a five-pointed star. Every eight years, Venus will retreat through the same "star point" on the zodiac wheel (minus 2 degrees), and similar themes will emerge. Scroll back through your timeline and camera app to see what you were doing from October 8 through November 19, 2010—the last time Venus moonwalked through Scorpio and Libra. Who, if anyone, had your heart? What creative projects were emerging? Since Venus also rules our valuables, like our cash money and the things we spend it on, themes may repeat in our financial lives, too.

One more awe-inspiring fact: Each Venus retrograde actually marks the moment when the planet shifts from being an evening star (appearing at night) to a morning star (visible just before sunrise). During this transition, Venus actually "disappears" from view for around eight days, before popping up in the pre-dawn skies. You may have been gazing at Venus for the past couple of weeks, as the planet was bright and dazzling in the west. Get your last glimpses in, because the heavenly hottie will soon be invisible for a couple weeks. On October 26, Venus holds a secret meeting with the Sun at the same degree of Scorpio for her "inferior conjunction." This powerful moment marks the beginning of her 584-day cycle, and, shortly after, she will reappear as a morning star. In many ways, the inferior Sun-Venus conjunction is a lot like a new moon—or a "new Venus" if you will—when she offers us a blank slate upon which to write the next chapter of our personal love stories.