August 22nd isn’t just the day of the full moon, it’s also the day that Mars in Virgo makes a trine to Uranus, which has only recently begun its retrograde transit under the ever patient stars of Taurus. There’s definitely something to discern under these stars about willpower and flexibility, about learning to recognise how we need to adapt the methods we brought with us to attend to what’s in front of us.
“The old way wasn’t working. So it’s on us to do what we gotta do to survive,” said Gemini Tupac Shakur in “Changes” decades ago, and our Gemini North Node echoes the call, making a trine to Venus in Libra, a position that values justice, and Saturn in Aquarius, a position that recognises the collective dream. Mercury’s opposition to Neptune on the 24th might have us sweating the small stuff, and it’ll take great spiritual power to remember a fish is born to brave the ocean alone, and yet is also part of a school. Mercury’s trine to Pluto on the 26th can offer up a remedy to all this, a reminder that valuing the power we have takes energy — especially in a world that conditions us to give it away to those more powerful rather than applying it in unison.
When you’re someone who prides themselves on going after what they want but you’ve been holding yourself back, letting go of the reins can feel like an episode of Supermarket Sweep. The key, one learns, isn’t just knowing what you want, it’s accepting what you have time for and what you don’t. Your relationships may want to take centre stage with Venus finally under the stars of Libra, and there’s certainly room for some sweetness. But, unless you prioritise your wellbeing and remain intentional about the kind of time you spend with others, the sweetness you crave might sour quicker than it should. One beautiful way to deepen the connection is a simple rule: Unless your heart is saying an enthusiastic yes, it’s saying no. Or, at the very least, not this time.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
Sure, there are people out there who have a straightforward career path, and you might be one of them. You, too, might have figured out early on what you wanted to spend your energy doing in the world and set upon the journey of not only doing it well but doing it in a way that provided for those who came after you. But, if this wasn’t your story, if you grew disillusioned, if you lost sight of who you were in the process of becoming who you thought you should be, if you’re moving forward by finding your way back — you’re not alone. You are part of a web of people whose work is the work of reimagining the world, of leaving behind something new entirely. It’s something you could have never chosen or predicted, because you’ve had to live it to see it come into being.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
You’re allowed to be optimistic about your future even if the state of the world is anything but encouraging. Nurturing seeds of inspiration and having faith in your ability to create beauty in the wake of great loss is what binds you closer to nature, to a world unbound by human timelines. Empathy is important and accountability too, but neither of those require you to stay small, to spend your energy making everything perfect. Your heart knows that nothing alive can ever be perfect, and life is what you mean to be a part of. If you find yourself pulled between different modes of being, pay attention to the hand that grips tightest. Can you discern what’s anxious fear and what’s anxious excitement? Will you choose the one that feels good?Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
A pattern is a pattern and there’s a reason we get into one. What’s familiar can look a lot like what’s safe even if what’s familiar is ultimately detrimental to us. Even patterns that aren’t particularly harmful can still limit our imagination. Stepping outside of old patterns allows for new joys just as much as it allows for new risks, and it proves that we aren’t as limited as we let ourselves believe. For all these reasons, learning to notice your patterns is an admirable undertaking and attempting to shift them is even more. But, a pattern can take just as long to break as it did to make and it’s not uncommon to get discouraged. Try to remember that no self-work is done in vain, dear Cancer, even if you slip up. Transformation isn’t linear and you are a master at moving side-to-side.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
When Madonna sang, “Starlight, star-bright, first star I see tonight… You must be my lucky star,” perhaps she was singing the song of a Leo looking out across the universe at the stars of Aquarius. Maybe, it was like the morning of August 22nd: a wish-fulfilling moon in Aquarius hanging fat in the sky alongside Jupiter, a planet known for luck. Even if it wasn’t, if it couldn’t have been, it would still be a sweet thing to sing to yourself this week, dear Leo. Or, any song that places you in relationship with the big, beautiful, unknowable universe. You have everything you need to get to where you’re going, after all. And, if it gets too dark along the way, all you have to do is wait for your senses to adjust and your stars to rise as they always have — as they always will.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
What we accept as “true” is subject to change — and it should be. The world, and the life we build inside of it, doesn’t reveal all its inner workings at once, if it ever does at all. The more we learn to suspend our judgements and our assumptions of what comes next, the more the long game and its various hands reveals itself. Whether you’re the kind of Virgo who likes to keep it simple or the kind whose idea of simplicity is a chaotic system, only you know how to maintain “correctly” your overriding principles. But your why is changing, it’s only right that your method and your approach begin to shift too. In the days to come, when you find yourself wondering why your way isn’t working, take a beat to ask yourself if it’s compatible with your present belief system, or if there’s another way.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
What you love in others, you love in yourself. While opposites attract on the surface, a core value often binds us. Metal to metal, after all. But similarity isn’t sameness and shouldn’t be. With this in mind, there’s no better time than Venus’s transit through your first house to get clear on who and what you wish to attract to yourself. Attraction isn’t all about dating, after all. It’s about like to like, about the influence others can have over you, and you can have over them. Be mindful of who gathers around you. Who inspires your growth? Who do you find yourself trying to control? You can love in others what you love in yourself without expecting or needing more from that love. You can celebrate what’s similar and let what’s different teach you who you are.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
Lots of people fall off the horse and get back on. Lots of people get hurt — and get hurt again — and still enjoy the risk. Lots of people aren’t you, Scorpio. It’s true what they say about Scorpio placements, they go deeper because they can discern a false bottom. They like extremes and extremes are much harder to bounce back from. But, that doesn’t mean you don’t come back. It may be less of a bounce and more of a slow amble. It may be that you keep feeling small shoots of life breaking through the burnt areas of your heart and the gentle hopefulness of that feeling scares you. Don’t be afraid to be gentle, not with yourself, not with others. You’ve tried it the hard way, why not give softness its due?Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
Just because the words are new doesn’t mean they’re not powerful. Some words and some ideas vibrate with ancient energy from the moment of their inception, because some ideas take a long time to spring up. And where they come from is not simply the psyche of the one who shares them but the well of knowledge we all fill and drink from, a well that exists across timelines and territories. When you speak, Sagittarius, when you use your word to bridge your inner world to that of another person, try your best to remember the power that word might carry. Whether or not you believe in your own power, whether or not you think what you say matters. The truth is, you only have control over what you bring forth. Once it leaves you, it’s impact and importance is anybody’s guess.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
The full moon in Aquarius shines onto your house of resources and pours a good deal of light into your cup. Aquarius is associated with the Star in the Tarot, with faith and abundance and the interconnectedness of all that is available to us. Stars, we know, are a lovely thing to wish upon and to follow whenever we feel lost. During this lunation, a flowing aspect will be notable between Saturn, the north node, and Venus. For Capricorn Rising, this trine flows from your house of resources, to your house of daily works, to your reputation and legacy. You needn’t be surprised if a long-awaited and worked-for opportunity presents itself. You needn’t act humble when the visions you’ve worked to make a reality surpass your expectation and attract those who once doubted you.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
Are you woozy, dear Aquarius, with all that the light a second full moon in your sign can offer you? Are you rich with new possibilities and full of crystal visions that feel more real than ever? Or, do you find yourself edging toward the end of this month just as you began it? In the human world, where suffering is diluted by suffering and the pitch of beauty gets harder and harder to hear, there can be a lot of pressure to be loud about your own brilliance — to make all moves bold. But, you know as well as any space traveler that sound is not proof of life and big beautiful things rarely need a witness to be valid. You can build your own image on your own terms, you can be passionate even if that passion is private, you can choose what’s sacred to you and have that be enough.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
It’s true the Pisces people have a reputation for perceiving the imperceptible, for seeing the web of connections beneath a singular event or individual. In many cases, this gift of perception is exactly that — a gift — but not always. Sometimes, understanding why people act a certain way and why things occurred as they did can get in the way of accepting how those actions or events affected us. Explaining it away, or compassionately allowing others to, can help you feel strong in the moment, like a person whose heart is powerful enough to accept that humans are gonna human. But, resilience is not the same thing as reciprocity or respect. If communicating your experience and what you need isn’t an empowering part of your conversation, then your perceptiveness isn’t a gift, it’s a trick mirror.
Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
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