Aries Sun & Aries Rising
Full moons often bring our relationships into stark relief, and the week that follows one can be intense for just about anyone. But, with the full moon in Libra opposite the Sun in Aries and making a square to Pluto, it could prove particularly intense for Aries placements. While you may be well known for being direct — even confrontational — you’re far from insensitive. If the world keeps hurting your feelings, if circumstances keep gripping your joy in a headlock, try to remember it’s temporary. Things do turn around. Until then, give your big brilliant heart a rest this week, Aries, even if rest seems like the last thing you have time for, even if you feel a little guilty about it. ILLUSTRATION BY BARBARIANFLOWER
Taurus Sun & Taurus Rising
This week marks the end of Aries season and the beginning of the Sun’s sojourn under the stars of Aries. Like Mercury before him, the Sun gathers his confidence and determination in Aries, but it’s Taurus that provides the followthrough. You have a lot of work ahead of you, Taurus, a lot of checks that Aries season wrote knowing Taurus season would be the time to hustle up that cash. And, if the recent full moon has brought anything to your attention, it’s the fact that all your commitments, services, and agreements add up. They add up to a sum that might prove much greater than you can — or want — to anticipate. Of course, a Taurus’ word is a thing of beauty —some might say engraved in stone — but even engravings can be polished and redone. Don’t hold yourself to expectations you wouldn’t hold a loved one to. ILLUSTRATION BY BARBARIANFLOWER
Gemini Sun & Gemini Rising
It’s true that healing is not linear, that we often take two steps forward and one step back. It can be painful and full of grief and uncertainty about the future. In some ways, this makes pain and longing a familiar territory and familiarity can be reassuring: You’ve felt this way before and know how to live with it. Consequently, one of the most difficult parts of healing is when the veil of the past lifts to make way for the life you’ve been building for yourself. It’s learning to let yourself enjoy it, to let pleasure be the thing that transforms you. Like everything else, big leaps are fabulous but small steps will get you there surely. Create space within you for small joys this week, give them your presence and your respect.ILLUSTRATION BY BARBARIANFLOWER
Cancer Sun & Cancer Rising
There’s nothing like a cardinal full moon to shake things up for Cancer babes, especially one that might have formed a square to your Sun or your ascendant while also forming a square to Pluto in Capricorn. The tensions that have risen to the surface are only signs of a crossroads you have been approaching for a long time, a crossroads between the familiar and the unknown. It might be tempting, dear Cancer, to focus on the fear you feel and seek small solutions to that fear — old coping strategies, like keeping yourself busy and overcommitted. But what if the fear you feel — the tightness in your spirit — is just the tension of a bow strung and pulled back? Everything is within you, waiting for you to focus on your intention, to let that arrow fly.
ILLUSTRATION BY BARBARIANFLOWER
Leo Sun & Leo Rising
A lot is said about full moons and their influence on Cancerians but one would be remiss to skip over the impact that they have on the other luminaries involved. Leos, associated with the Sun, are not immune to the intensity of a lunar event that holds their ruler in opposition, especially when the Sun makes a square to Pluto concurrently. While full moons, and this one in particular, signify a completion of a cycle, the feeling in the air this week might feel more like a difficult goodbye than a cleansing closure. If you spent the full moon in ritual, especially around letting something go, then find a prayer or mantra that evokes that ritual and keep it at the tip of your tongue. If not, then let the words come to you now and usher you through the days ahead. ILLUSTRATION BY BARBARIANFLOWER
Virgo Sun & Virgo Rising
While Virgos have a reputation for being organised, the truth is that the form that organisation takes varies from Virgo to Virgo. What’s often consistent between Virgo natives is not necessarily cleanliness or tidiness and could more accurately be described as methodology. To the methodical Virgo, systems provide a feeling of security and assuredness, especially when it comes to special projects, trips, or home maintenance. But sometimes the systems fail you. Try to remember that systems need maintenance, too, and they need updating — or phasing out. Give yourself time this week to observe what is and isn’t working without rushing for a quick fix. Study the system, take notes, and don’t underestimate the (unpredictable) human element.ILLUSTRATION BY BARBARIANFLOWER
Libra Sun & Libra Rising
What if, whatever *it* is, it doesn’t get easier? What if the dark cloud never goes away or unburdens itself? It’s a good thing that you’re not so susceptible to what some people recognise as toxic positivity: the belief that a positive attitude is appropriate even when there’s a world of hurt built around you. Of course, no matter how worldly you are, you’re still a human being who enjoys a story with a beginning and an end. When a hard emotion or an illness or a difficult circumstance starts to feel endless, even the most temperate babes get worn down. The pressure to stay positive only wears you down further. Don’t bottle that negatively for anyone, spill it out when it feels good to do so. Spill it like you and the dark cloud are just two heavy friends — acting natural, making rain.ILLUSTRATION BY BARBARIANFLOWER
Scorpio Sun & Scorpio Rising
Scorpio babes might seem otherworldly, comfortable with the unknown and the unpredictable. In many ways, they are. But, while Scorpio people relish and respect the mystery of being alive (or being dead!) they sure do appreciate when their lives make sense. Sense, of course, is subjective but some keywords include logical progression, discernable reasons, conclusions based on evidence and experience. Scorpios are a fixed sign, after all, and fixed signs rely heavily on those keywords. It can be tough for Scorpio people to admit that shit doesn’t have to make sense and people — no matter how well you think you perceive them — rarely make sense either. You can have your logic when it comes to cracking codes and discerning omens, Scorpio, but the less you expect it when it comes to human behavior, the better your week will go.ILLUSTRATION BY BARBARIANFLOWER
Sagittarius Sun & Sagittarius Rising
It would be pretty difficult to miss the waves the Jupiter conjunct is making in the universe and in relationship to you. Jupiter, your ruling planet, made a conjunction to Neptune last week for the first time in 13 years, a planetary event whose effects will last for quite some time. The fact that Jupiter is in Pisces, a place where it feels powerful and a co-present with the likes of Venus, Mars and — soon — Juno only seasons whatever the universe has been cooking up. When big things are afoot, the sensible among us may choose to buckle down and wait for all the shoes to drop. But for Sagittarians who know that sometimes intuition and chutzpah go a lot further than pragmatic measures, matching the big energy around you with some big moves of your own might be the most rewarding bet.ILLUSTRATION BY BARBARIANFLOWER
Capricorn Sun & Capricorn Rising
Did you read The Velveteen Rabbit when you were growing up? Were you raised with this season embedded into your understanding of being alive and being loved: “It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” It’s taken you a long time, Capricorn, and a lot of work, yes, arduous work full of grief. Grief for a version of yourself that did not know what becoming would cost you. Now that you have reached your limit, it is time to be careful: of the amount of becoming any one person can bear, of confirming that becoming has to mean sacrifice. Capricorn, the love you survived made you who you are. Now it’s time for you to be the lover. ILLUSTRATION BY BARBARIANFLOWER
Aquarius Sun & Aquarius Rising
Did the recent full moon have you bathing in revelations, starry-eyed one? Have you washed up on the windy shores, more sure than ever of the strength of your sails and the substance of your ship? If these past couple of years have taught you anything, it’s that it doesn’t hurt to be prepared — even if your preparations ultimately fall short. Falling short has proven to be a much better outcome than folding completely, even though folding has its own dramatic gravitas. The trouble is knowing when you’ve prepared enough, when preparation must give way to partaking and pleasure, too. Would it surprise you to hear that it is time for you to add play to your developed sense of discipline? It’s time to find out how much deeper play can be. ILLUSTRATION BY BARBARIANFLOWER
Pisces Sun & Pisces Rising
Can you feel it, Pisces? Mars’ willful presence under your stars? Can you feel the driving energy this planet brings into your house — already brimming with the likes of Venus, Neptune, and Jupiter? You are on the other side of a great transformation, you have dived down in the ocean of love and resurfaced knowing what it is to find yourself after giving yourself away. And, if you didn’t know before, then you know now — the part of you that can never be given away is precious and worth protecting. Herein, on the precipice of a new chapter, you begin again with a heart that’s only gotten stronger and more sure of what it will and will not accept. Let it lead you forward, hand in hand with your intuition, let it set the pace. ILLUSTRATION BY BARBARIANFLOWER
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