How often the two meet
A conjunction is the same ecliptic longitude, with an orb of about eight degrees for this pair. Venus and Mars conjoin roughly every two years, which is set by the difference in their orbital periods rather than by anything either does alone.
Both bodies move at variable speeds, so the width of the window changes from one conjunction to the next. When Mars is slow near a station and Venus is moving quickly, the pair can clear the orb in a matter of days. When their speeds are close, the conjunction can hold for weeks and produce a noticeable cluster of birth charts carrying it.
Unlike Mercury or Venus with the Sun, there is no distance limit here. Venus and Mars can take any angle to each other, so all five major aspects are available and none of them is astronomically forced.
What the tradition makes of the pairing
Venus is read as attraction, taste and what you find worth having. Mars is read as assertion, appetite and the willingness to act on it. Older texts describe them as a complementary pair, one drawing in and one pushing out, and most charts keep them at some working distance.
A conjunction removes the distance. Whatever the shared sign is, it gets both functions at once, so preference and pursuit arrive together. The classic description is a person whose likes are immediately visible in their behaviour, and who finds ambivalence genuinely difficult, because the mechanism that would ordinarily slow a want down is the same mechanism that is producing it.
The reading is usually applied to relationships and creative work in equal measure. In creative terms it is read as an eye and a hand that agree. In relational terms it is read as directness, which is an asset in some settings and a liability in others, and the tradition is careful not to say which.
Sign changes the character completely
This aspect is highly sign dependent because both bodies have strong opinions about where they sit. In Aries or Scorpio, Mars is on its own ground and tends to set the tone, so the conjunction reads as appetite with taste attached. In Taurus or Libra, Venus has the home advantage and the same conjunction reads as taste with force behind it.
Water signs slow it and make it private. Air signs turn it verbal, so the wanting gets talked about as much as acted on. In Capricorn the pair tends to get organised, and in Pisces it tends to get diffuse. Two people with the same aspect and different signs will not recognise each other's description of it.
Orb, retrogrades and the house
Inside three degrees this is a defining feature of a chart. Between three and eight it is present and usually secondary. A conjunction that straddles a sign boundary is the awkward case, since the two bodies are technically joined but working from different rulerships, and that version is worth reading as a partial contact rather than a full one.
Mars retrograde matters here. Mars turns retrograde roughly every two years for about two months, and a conjunction formed while it is retrograde or close to a station is read as slower and more internal, with the assertive half of the pair less directly expressed. Venus retrograde, which happens around every eighteen months, is read similarly for the attraction half.
House placement tells you what the conjunction is aimed at. In the fifth it is one thing, in the sixth it is another entirely. The widget above reports both bodies, their signs, their houses and the exact orb between them, along with whether either is retrograde.
Questions people ask about this
How often does Venus conjunct Mars happen?
About every two years in the sky, though the length of each window varies with how fast the two bodies are moving at the time. A conjunction near a Mars station can stay within orb far longer than one formed when both are moving quickly.
Does Venus conjunct Mars mean a strong sex drive?
That is the popular reading and it overstates the case. The aspect describes attraction and assertion working as one function. How that appears depends heavily on sign, house and the rest of the chart, and it is as often creative as it is sexual.
Are Venus and Mars always in the same sign?
Usually, but not always. An eight degree conjunction can straddle a sign boundary, leaving Venus at the end of one sign and Mars at the start of the next. That version splits the rulerships and reads less cleanly.
What if Mars is retrograde?
The conjunction is read as more inward. Mars retrograde is traditionally associated with assertion that turns back on itself rather than going straight out, so the pursuit half of the pairing tends to be less obvious to other people.
Is this aspect good for relationships?
The tradition does not read it as good or bad. It describes a person who is direct about what they want, which suits some situations and complicates others. Saturn or Neptune contacts to the pair change the picture considerably.
How much does the orb matter?
A great deal. Inside three degrees the description above applies plainly. At seven or eight it is a mild note, and it is easily outweighed by tighter aspects elsewhere. The exact figure for your chart is in the check above.