When a planet "goes retrograde" it gives the appearance of moving backward through the Zodiac. Naturally this is an optical illusion, but it has an effect nonetheless.

As we devour our learning of astrology, our appetites tend to demand that everything we observe and measure must mean something, have analytical substance.

As all the planets are moving at different speeds, there will be times when a particular planet will appear from Earth that it is not moving at all, and at times that a planet is actually moving backwards when viewed against the backdrop of a fixed star

A planet that is retrograde means that the planet was making an apparent backward motion at the time of birth. If a planet was retrograde at the time of birth, then that planet is notated in the natal horoscope with an Rx by the astrologer.

When I began to prepare this talk, I felt that I had to get a grip on the astronomy of Venus retrograde. Astronomy and I have never been good friends, but of late, we've begun to form an uneasy alliance.