Values & the Art of Alignment – Venus Style

My own soul craves a deep alignment with sacred beauty, Venus is always on my mind. Except it is not just her beauty, it is that she asks us what we value and guides the art of alignment.

Truth be told, Venus rules my own chart. (Anyone else a Libra or Taurus rising?!?) My own Venus is dressed in Gemini attire and lives in the 8th house. She is currently having a rendezvous with transiting Uranus which seems to be stirring something awake around getting a little more vocal. That voice seems to be focused around what we value, desire and choose. But if you have worked with me at all – you know sharing significance and encouraging agency is just something that I love!

Another reason for writing this is that I spend a lot of time utilizing or clarifying values in my work. All this has me thinking more deeply about the role our values play in creating a life that actually feels like our own. You know an authentically aligned life.

I recently created a Values Audit for my clients as a way to help people reflect on what matters to them now. Now being where they are at this current juncture. Not exploring what should matter, not even what once mattered, and not necessarily what they, all of us really, have been conditioned to prioritize.

What matters now? This phrase is probably the one I ask the most of myself and have my clients check in with. And it isn’t the quick fix. What matters it is the deep under current of what matters long term.

Values are more than ideals we hold. Our values orient us.

Values Orient

Being able to recognize what belongs in our lives and what no longer serves us certainly requires awareness. Awareness and being in connection with our values helps this process. Values (more so than goals) influence our choices, shape our relationships and become the foundation from which meaningful boundaries can emerge. Yes boundaries!

A boundary, after all, does not have to begin with no. It can legit begin with what you care about. Though let me tell you, saying no can crush a pleaser and a natural care taker to her core. Except this feeling shifts when you know what you are saying yes to and interestingly, you find yourself craving boundaries – for real!!!

Venus as a Compass

Astrologically, Venus is often reduced to love, beauty, relationships and figuring out money. She certainly speaks to all of these things and Venus also describes value. She helps us understand….

What do I appreciate?

What am I drawn toward?

What feels worthy of my time, attention and resources?

What brings pleasure, beauty or harmony into my life?

What do I desire?

What matters enough to me that I am willing to live accordingly – saying yes to my truth and showing up for that in an aligned and supportive way?

This inquiry is where and why Venus becomes such an important, major, and significant part of the work of authentic alignment. The cool thing is that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has evidence around values clarification as well – so it isn’t just this woo woo idea here. There is depth and proof that values matter! It is just those of us that allow our lives to be supported by the universe know to connect this to the symbolism of Venus.

Now your Venus placement does not dictate what you should or are supposed to value. For me, it really is another point of inquiry within one’s natal chart. The natal chart reflection is a way of becoming curious about your natural orientation toward pleasure, connection, worth, reciprocity and desire.

By knowing our own natal Venus, we have somewhere to begin listening. Listening to our heart, soul and body for guidance.

Venus Comes Home to Libra

As I write this sitting in the beauty of the summer season, Venus is moving into Libra, one of the signs she rules. The sign that reminds us of trusting our inner self and bringing her beauty forward into the world – that post will be released in October!

When Venus moves through the energy of Libra she is deeply comfortable. She spent her time in Virgo getting organized, tending to the details and being hard at work, so now she can settle into the beautiful environment she has created and enjoy the healthy relationship with those that matter to her. Creating a space that is suitable and inviting to those she trusts, values and with those that do the same for her.

Libra understands that our individual lives exist within relationship. My desires matter, and so do yours. These values guide us, but no one lives in isolation. Even when I sit quietly in nature, her beauty surrounds me and holds me. In our lives we are continually negotiating the space between self and other, autonomy and belonging, desire and reciprocity.

What is cool right now (summer of 2026) is that Venus is entering Libra beneath an extraordinary sky.

As she moves through the sign’s energy, she begins engaging the larger planetary energies already reshaping our collective landscape—Neptune, Uranus, Pluto and Saturn, followed by Mars and Jupiter.

Please do not feel like you need to know exactly what any of this is going to do. (But if you want to know a little more check out Astrology Hub as Amanda has gathered together some amazing voices to guide us!)

Personally, I am much more interested in what the sky’s arrangement might be inviting us to notice. Then, once we notice, we can feel nourished by the celestial support.

Neptune asks us to listen for the dream.

Uranus awakens something we had not previously allowed ourselves to imagine.

Pluto reveals the deeper desire underneath what we thought we wanted.

Saturn asks what we are willing to commit to and give form.

Mars brings desire into action.

Jupiter reminds us that our lives are allowed to grow.

Venus moves among all of them carrying one essential question: What is valuable to you now?

Desire Is Not Frivolous

Oh yes, there can be something surprisingly vulnerable about admitting what we actually want. To give voice to our needs and inner truth – yikes! But this is key to having agency in our life.

A lot of us have learned to accommodate. We learn we must achieve and preform. That performance teaches us to care for the people around us. Plus this expectation is practical, responsible wait – no! This over accommodation has us continuously dismissing our own self, erasing our needs because we are prioritizing others.

Somewhere within all of this, our own desires can become difficult to hear. When we get in a pattern of prioritizing others we deplete ourselves and the neuro patterns shift depleting the healthy chemicals that keep us motivated! Crazy right.

Venus Gives Direction

Because desire can carry information. It can show us where life wants greater beauty, connection, creativity, pleasure, meaning or possibility.

Just because this information provides data, it certainly does not mean every desire must be pursued. It means our desires deserve our attention. You see, when we take tiny action in alignment with what matters, we start to shift our chemistry in a positive and supportive manner.

When we understand what we value, we can begin making choices that support those values.

Creating boundaries that grow out of our values (versus fear, obligation or resentment) start to become less about pushing things away and more about creating conditions where we feel good. Let’s face it, when we feel good it is much easier to genuinely participate in this life we are given.

Beauty That Belongs to the World

Another dimension of Venus in Libra that feels especially important right now and asks for clarification…

Harmony is not sameness. A harmonious world does not require us to become less ourselves so everyone can comfortably fit together. You know even, balanced, fair – dare I say perfect! What if that desired perfection actually sits in the imperfection!

When we know what matters to us we recognize what we authentically have to offer (even when it is messy). Then we expand our willingness to inhabit our own lives, or as pop culture encourages – take up space. This allows us to bring something distinctively beneficial into relationship with the world around us – a genuine contribution.

Authentic alignment is deeply personal, yet her influence goes well beyond our personal selves.

Reciprocity = Venus + Libra

The life each of us create ultimately affects the relationships all of us participate in. The relationships we participate in directly affect our communities. And our communities shape the larger world we inhabit together.

The Italian renaissance loved this Venusian energy because this was a time of creating beauty more than self-sacrifice, it wasn’t about being self-centered it was about bringing beauty into life for one another.

Imagine being able to create a life that feels true to you while remaining in meaningful relationship with the world around you.

Knowing Your Natal Venus

This is one of the reasons, I have a ton by the way, that I love working with astrology as a reflective tool. A creative process to create a sense of self through inner belonging.

For me, I do not look to a natal chart to be told who to become (though there are some pretty freaking cool people out there that can predict) because this is not what matters most to me. The chart to me is a confirmation tool. You see, I feel like you already know exactly who you are, you just need the confirmation or cosmic nudge to be true to you!

Soul Promise

Our natal chart (aka soul promise) offers another way of remembering who we already are. Yes, a highly personalized map that affirms and confirms who you know yourself to be at your core. Maybe this is because our natal chart witnessed the moment we came into this world and celebrates the truth of our soul!

In an Astrological Orientation Session, we begin with the foundational landscape of your chart. Because there is so much depth, we want to start with what is seen and most relatable – your Sun and Moon. This gives us insight to the way your energy naturally organizes herself, and the patterns that help us understand where you may feel nourished, depleted or called toward greater awareness.

Once we have this understanding we can look to Venus as she gives us another beautiful doorway.

When we look where Venus lives in our personal charts we can ask some questions that help us focus our energy.

What does she value?

What attracts her attention?

How does she receive?

What does she desire?

How might those qualities help you recognize what feels genuinely valuable to you now?

In no way is this a practice of astrology to telling you your truth. This is more about seeing yourself reflected through the symbolism of your chart to help confirm what it is you already know.

Having this kind of recognition makes it easier to choose feeling more deeply aligned. Boundaries come more easily. We can trust the way we tend to relate with one another. All of these factors are some key ingredients to building life accordingly. Or in my words – authentically aligned!

A Venusian Invitation

Venus entering Libra is a beautiful invitation to remember that alignment is not about separating ourselves from the world. It is not even about renouncing the material beauty. Venus is home in Libra, and she is asking us to know ourselves well enough that we can meet the world from somewhere true. Comfortable in our own skin and bones so we can be real with ourselves and true to the life we desire.

The Relationship We Carry Everywhere

Here is where it get’s personal. A significant part of my work has grown from a desire to help people move from pain toward greater peace.

Not peace that asks us to bypass what hurts or make everything beautiful before it is ready. But the kind of peace that becomes possible when we learn how to remain in a healthy and compassionate relationship with ourselves through all the complexity of being human.

I believe with all of my heart that the relationship we have with ourselves is one of the most sacred relationships we will ever tend.

It is the relationship we carry into every room. We carry her into our partnerships and friendships. Into our families, our work and creativity. She accompanies us in the choices we make, the boundaries we hold, the ways we care for others and the ways we allow ourselves to receive care in return.

Reconnection

When that inner relationship with ourselves becomes disconnected, we begin to organize our lives around expectations, obligations and versions of ourselves we have outgrown. 

When we return to ourselves—to what we value, what we need, what we desire and what feels deeply true—we have another place from which to orient. I like to think this is part of the invitation Venus offers us.

She is not asking us to simply pursue what is pleasurable or beautiful. She wants us to consider the quality of relationship we are creating with our own lives.

What would it mean to treat your relationship with yourself as something worthy of your attention and care?

What do you value enough to protect?

What brings you closer to yourself?

Where are you creating harmony, and where are you maintaining peace at the expense of your own?

What beauty are you longing to welcome into your life?

And what might become clearer if you gave yourself permission to listen?

A Lifetime Relationship

There is no way you will have, nor do you need to have all the answers. Sometimes all we need is somewhere to begin a conversation or inquiry. This is one of the major ways I work with the astrological chart.

I try to shelf the chart as an authority telling us who we are or what we should do, but more so as a reflective landscape we can sit beside together and explore the symbolism in dialogue. The symbolism of the chart provides the language and your lived experience brings meaning to that language. The relationship you have with yourself is one that lasts a lifetime!

A Compassionate Guide

Having a compassionate guide (like myself) alongside you it becomes easier to notice what might have been difficult to see on your own. When you are standing inside your own life things appear to be normal and ordinary. We forget how sacred our true self really is. An Astrological Orientation Session is an invitation into that conversation, the conversation with your sacred essence – your authentic self.

This conversation is about becoming more curious about your inner landscape, recognizing what is already true, and perhaps seeing yourself—and the life you are creating—with a little more clarity.

Alignment is in no way about having everything figured out. It is simply knowing yourself well enough to recognize what feels true, beautiful and worthy of choosing. Then it becomes easier to begin there with Venus – and me (wink wink)!

Life Happens

Now the therapist in me needs to acknowledge that sometimes the disconnection runs much deeper. Life holds a ton of earth school lessons where we experience loss. Changes in relationships. Roles and responsibilities come to an end. Our identities shift, sometimes without seeing any of it coming (even if you know you are in a Uranus transit – ha ha).

When change like this happens, we become overwhelmed by what we have been carrying. We find ourselves in a situation where the strategies that once helped us feel safe no longer support the life we are trying to live. And let me tell you I first hand know how coping skills that at one time were untouchable can quickly blind sight us. Blind sight us because all the sudden they no longer works..like at all!

Finding Our Way Back

It is in these moments that finding our way back to ourselves requires more than reflection. These moments require a place where the emotional climate needs to be felt, witnessed and processed. Where pain can be held without needing to immediately transform it. Where we can begin reclaiming our inner landscape, reestablishing a sense of inner safety and finding our way back into meaningful participation with life.

This is where my work as a therapist and my relationship with astrology can meet but I tend to pause the chart reflection until we are at a point where the symbolic language can help us understand ourselves. But I will prioritize therapy through more grounded evidence based modalities to help explore what is needed to realign and return. 

Not But – Just Both, And

The natal chart can offer a symbolic landscape for understanding ourselves, while therapy provides the space and relationship to explore what is actually happening within that landscape.

When life happens we does not need to be in a place where we explain away our experiences nor be told who we are. The chart might very well demonstrate indicators – like that time Uranus was on my south node, or when the world shut down when some of the heavy hitters were all in Capricorn. 

There are times though that the chart can offer another language for inquiry or even remind us how important it is to take care of ourselves, hold strong boundaries, and give ourselves our own retrograde season. The chart can be a way of becoming curious about our needs, patterns, values, relationships and ways of moving through the world while leaving plenty of room for the complexity of our lived experience.

Therapy allows us more space to stay with what emerges. Whether we come together to process grief, navigate transition, understand patterns, rebuild self-trust and establish the inner safety necessary to return more fully to life.

Beginning to Re-Align

Interestingly, both astrology and psychotherapy can begin from a similar place: Where am I now, and what is true for me here?

From that inquiry we begin listening. We get clear in our intention – what matters to me? We ask ourselves – what do I need? There is a moment of curiosity – what am I longing for? We also examine – what am I protecting? Then we establish – what am I ready to reclaim? And then refine – what would allow me to feel more at home within my own life?

All of this, whether an orientation session or good ole psychotherapy, this is what Venus represents to me.

Values + desire = beauty, pleasure, relationship and reciprocity.

Beneath all of this is relationship, including the one we cultivate with ourselves.

Living in greater alignment is not about constructing some perfect version of our lives. That creates so many maladaptive expressions that impede our ability to be in our lives. Alignment is about becoming increasingly able to inhabit the life that is our own.

Inhabiting with greater clarity, greater self-trust, boundaries that protect what we value, relationships that allow for reciprocity. With enough inner safety to experience pleasure, connection and possibility again and again. Ultimately, with more room for peace, love, beauty and contentment.

Venus in Libra – A Gentle Nudge

Whether you begin through an Astrological Orientation Session or through the deeper container of therapy, my role is not to tell you who you are. My role is to walk beside you as you listen more closely to yourself.

The astrological chart helps us orient. The therapeutic relationship helps us stay with what is needed.

Regardless, you remain the authority on the life you are here to live!