Venus is retrograde from July 25th until September 5th. It has been building up since June 21st when Venus entered what is called the “pre-shadow” period. When a planet goes Retrograde it appears to be going backwards in the sky due to our perspective here on Earth. Unlike Mercury Retrograde, this one is less common and only happens once every 1.5 years roughly, though it lasts about twice as long.

Venus: Love, Money, Beauty, and Pleasure

Venus is classified as a female planet and is accordingly associated with the feminine. It rules love, romance, beauty, appearance, values, self-worth, pleasure, and creativity. Whenever Venus goes retrograde, these themes come up very strongly, but in a way where they are being reassessed and/or revisited.

It is typical for love relationship issues to arise during Venus retrograde, or even in the month leading up to it during the “shadow phase.” Many couples experience a period of re-evaluation and/or begin to look at things in a new light. There could be new realizations that either end or strengthen a relationship. In some cases, couples may break up and then get back together in what will become a stronger union. For others, they may reconnect with a lover or a friend from the past where they may explore their relationship in a new way.

“. . . It is the mind which wants to make the experience which it calls truth continuous, and such a mind shall not know truth. Truth is always new: it is to see the same smile and see that smile newly, to see the same person and see that person anew, to see the waving palms anew, to meet life anew. . .” ~ J. Krishnamurti

What creates a mind that can see things anew? Not the stale, crusty, crumbs of ‘truth’ that have mold around the edges, causing us to see reality in a fractured, disintegrating, purely entropic way, but a truth that shines with life and newness like a spring bud bursting from its yellow-green casing?

What allows a radical new theory – like a black hole devouring stars from the inside to create dark matter – to take hold of a scientist’s mind to help explain the origins of gamma-ray bursts, or the study of something as simple as a string of RNA blossom in a curious head so that the boundaries between biology and chemistry start to dissolve? Or even a mind simple and new enough to see the world as it is and not how we wish it could be?

It takes an open mind – a mind willing to see things in a brand new way – in order for these discoveries to take place.

It’s easy, it’s effective, and it’s harmless – at least, that’s what they tell us. But do we really understand what popping those small white pills day after day is doing to our body, behaviour, and self-confidence? I know I didn’t. I had to reach the brink of depression before digging into ‘The Pill’ and finding out some surprising facts, and stories from other women brave enough to tell me about their experiences, which made me realize I wasn’t crazy for wanting to come off it.

Here are 8 things you might not have heard about The Pill:

1. It’s The Most Commonly Used Drug In The World

There are currently well over 100 million women on the Pill, and it has been used at some time by 300 million. Tens of millions more use injectables, patches, and implants which contain similar levels of hormones. Girls as young as 12 are prescribed the Pill, not only for contraception, but also for heavy periods, acne, or ‘hormone imbalances.’

Stacey’s story:

“I got put on the Pill at 16 for heavy periods. It helped make them more manageable, but my emotions became a roller coaster. I was up and down so much I started to think I was losing the plot. I came off a couple of years later and felt like myself again.”

Almost everybody likes chocolate. It is usually thought of as a sinful decadence, something we eat when we are choosing to indulge. Chocolate is also synonymous with happiness; do you ever notice people who are eating chocolate always seem happy to be doing so? There’s a good reason for that! Chocolate has been shown to actually raise serotonin levels (the happiness hormone) within the brain. I should clarify here though, there is a huge difference between regular old, overly processed milk chocolate, and dark chocolate that has little or no milk added and significantly less sugar. The best quality dark chocolate has cocoa percentages ranging from 70 to 99%.

Here are the top five benefits of dark chocolate.

1. High Levels Of Antioxidants And Minerals

Did you know that chocolate has one of the highest levels of antioxidants of any other food in the world? Yes, it is definitely a superfood. Antioxidants help to protect the body from free radicals that can cause cancer. Dark chocolate is also loaded with minerals such as: iron, magnesium, copper, manganese, fibre, phosphorous, zinc, and selenium.