Are you thinking of cosmetic surgery, becoming engaged, or buying a luxury car?

If so—think again! You could be doing these things at the wrong time because Venus is retrograde.

We are all familiar with the frustration of Mercury retrograde, when the world goes “haywire,” three to four times a year. But Venus retrograde can also provide us with a special set of problems we may not know about. Venus only goes retrograde every 18 months (for 40—43 days), as it will from December 21, 2013 through January 31, 2014.

This important event may have a huge effect on your life.

In your horoscope, the planet Venus rules beauty, art, social relationships, partnerships, romance, love, values, money, and financial security. Whenever a planet is retrograde it’s not a favorable time for initiating activities in the area that a planet rules because your perception is off kilter. In the case of Venus retrograde, you should slow down and reassess what—and—who you value.

If you have plans to beautify yourself, make a change in your love life, or implement a financial investment: stop and re-consider them.

Read these seven tips before you to take any action in these areas.

1.  This is not the time to get beautiful.

Venus rules beauty and esthetics. During the retrograde, there is a lack of clarity around your efforts to make yourself more beautiful. Your emotional state-of-mind causes you to be less objective, and make unwise decisions about how to enhance your attractiveness. Therefore, the retrograde period is not an ideal time to change one’s appearance. So, don’t begin any procedures or surgeries to enhance beauty such as plastic surgery on the face, lip implants; or breast or liposuction. This is the wrong time to change your hairstyle, hair color, do a makeover or purchase a new wardrobe.

Wait until Venus goes direct to make any of these decisions. You’ll have thoughtfully reflected, thoroughly research, and objectively arrived at the best way for you to become more physically attractive.

2.  Avoid getting married or making wedding plans.

Normally, you may be clear-headed and realistic about relationship, its problems and limitations. But this is not the case during Venus retrograde because perception is altered. You’re not able to see the obvious, causing you to misread signals that would otherwise be red flags.

Before you make wedding plans or run away to Las Vegas to get married, wait until Venus turns direct to get a more balanced perspective on whether your relationship really satisfies your needs and what you want in a marriage. You’ll be able to more realistically assess if it will satisfy you in the long-term.

3.  Don’t start a new relationship or break-up from a current one.

Venus rules love, relationships and partnerships of all kinds. The retrograde is not a time for “moving forward,” new beginnings or changing the status quo. You’re not operating from a practical place of objectivity about your needs. Your heart is plugged into love, romance and sensuality. You may be so attracted to someone that you cannot see how they can do any wrong.

If you’ve just met someone, just enjoy them without feeling a need to tell all your relatives and friends, “this is the one.” If you’ve been dating someone for a while, take a breath before you escalate your romantic commitment. If you’ve been in a serious relationship for some time, hold off a little longer to propose.

If you’re unsure about a new or old relationship, avoid making any emotional based, hasty decisions to commit to it or end it during this period. Normally existing relationships aren’t adversely affected by the retrograde (as long as you don’t decide to get engaged or married). When Venus goes direct, you’ll retain the love and romance that was there, but you’ll have a greater sense of realism as to whether it’s truly a fulfilling relationship for you.

4.  Evaluate your relationship now.

One of the problems we all face during Venus retrograde is not being in touch with exactly what and who we value. The person you’re dating now may appear more fabulous than they turn out to be. Consequently, starting a relationship during the retrograde may cause you to look back and ask yourself, “What was I thinking?”

It’s easy to have a change of heart no matter how infatuated you were with this person during the retrograde period.

Use this time to get in touch with your own feelings about a relationship and whether it really satisfies your needs. If you’ve been in a long-term relationship, you’ll find yourself becoming more aware of relationship problems. If you’re in the early stages of a relationship, it’s important to realize that whatever dissatisfaction you’re experiencing will only get worse with time. Take stock of the basic differences between you and the other person, so that you can determine if you can live with them. Ask yourself if you can compromise or make an adjustment so that your relationship can work more cohesively. Relationships that have been especially challenging or problematic may come to an end during the retrograde.

Remember, perceptions may be skewed at this time. So don’t make any final evaluations about your relationship just yet! Wait until Venus goes direct, when you’re less likely to make a decision from an emotional perspective.

5.  Expect old relationships to return.

Old friends and past love relationships will often re-enter your life during the Venus retrograde. The return of a former love may complicate a current relationship. It’s as if a sense of romantic nostalgia and longing seep into your consciousness, bringing an old relationship back into your world.

Unfortunately, love may not be better the second time around. So, if an old flame comes back into your life, be warned that it may not work out in the long run. However, it’s a good time to deal with any unfinished business such as a former partner that cheated on you, now returning to fess up to his/her infidelity. Perhaps, you may enjoy them one last time, or have a chance to finally complete your relationship and let go of it.

6.  Do not initiate investments.

The natural ruler of the 2^nd House is Venus. Venus has dominion over fiscal affairs and financial activities. So, when Venus is retrograde, be very cautious about making investments and spending money. Our perception is off, causing most of us to make financial decisions from an emotional place rather than a more objective one.

Often investments are inflated or over-valued at this time and will eventually lose their value when Venus goes direct. To make matters worse, Venus retrograde often produces an unpredictable environment when financial markets unexpectedly change directions, causing major reversals. This makes it especially tricky to prudently invest.

Make good use of this period by reviewing all your investments, and re-thinking all your financial plans for your future.

7.  Be careful of buying things, especially luxury items.

It’s not a good time to purchase luxury items because you’re so enamored of beauty that you become extravagant. You’ll totally forget about that budget you planned to live by. Avoid buying any big-ticket items such as a house, car or boat because you’re likely to over-spend and find that your purchase backfires on you in some way. Either they become money pits or such headaches that you’ll regret your purchase. (Remember the old adage: “The two best days in the life of a boat owner are the day he bought his boat and the day he sold it.”)

You’ll become unexplainably attracted to beauty and luxury. Even if you don’t know the difference between Van Gough and Van Halen, your aesthetic sense is on steroids. So, whatever you do—don’t buy art. You’ll find it impossible to objectively judge the value or price of what you’re buying. Once Venus goes direct, you run the risk of discovering that the art that seemed so appealing six weeks ago—isn’t.

This advice goes for any beautiful clothes you’re tempted to buy. What looks gorgeous during Venus retrograde can turn into the ugliest outfit you ever bought. A lack of practicality causes you to purchase items that you’ll end up not liking (and that you can’t return). If you ignore this advice prepare to open and close your closet repeatedly as you slap your head and ask, “What was I thinking when I bought that?”

To make the most of this period, have a garage sale! Unload all the items: clothes, gadgets, artifacts, and art you’ve purchased during previous Venus retrogrades—that normally no one on the planet would want to buy except when Venus is retrograde.

Keep these seven tips in mind as you make plans for your future. Be willing to wait the 43 days until Venus retrograde is over to help insure that decisions are successful in the important matters of beauty, love life and finances.

If you want to know where your personal transits are—to see if they are affecting you, go to the Free Transit Calculator and enter your birth date. You may find that they are bringing major events to your life right now.

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Editor: Bryonie Wise