The week begins on a slow and indecisive note, thanks to Sunday’s meetup between the sensitive, Pisces sun and Neptune, planet of dreams. Unless your job requires you to be compassionate and imaginative, like a social worker or artist, Sunday and Monday won’t be great times to get work done. Instead, use your energy to connect with others, appreciate art (like reading, listening to music, or going to a movie), and find a larger reason for what you do. What do you hope your work can give to your fellow human beings? Which of your creative efforts and leadership activities do you think you’ll be most proud of a year from now? Is that project your focus right now? Intuition is sharpened during these days, so listen to your feelings and, when in doubt, wait until you’re sure of the right course of action.
On Tuesday, thoughtful Mercury enters Aries, delivering a burst of clarity in your decisions. By Thursday, we’ll start to feel the messy confusion of Mercury retrograde, so take advantage of your mental speed now. Make any major decisions you can on Wednesday, buy plane tickets, sign contracts and have any important conversations you’ve been delaying.
On Thursday, Mercury begins to slow to its eventual retrograde (on the 22nd) and expansive Jupiter turns retrograde, too. Even when it's in retrograde, Jupiter is a benevolent force, bringing opportunities to learn more and restore our faith in other humans. Because Jupiter spends nearly half the year appearing to move backwards, its retrograde period will be most noticeable this month when the planet seems to be standing still. Jupiter’s message? We often overlook the good stuff in our lives. Pay attention to what’s going well for you — where in your life does success come easily and joy flow freely? The more effort, generosity, and gratitude you put into these areas, the more abundance you’ll create.
Pisces
February 19 to March 20
When the sun meets up with your ruling planet, Neptune, on Sunday, all your personal magic (and bad habits) will come out to play. Neptune is like a beckoning hand descending from the clouds; like a cartoon character, you’ll be inclined to follow it with your eyes closed wherever it leads.
For most people, Neptune makes us want to escape. Booze and our smartphone screens are even more appealing during these foggy days. Problem is, Neptune is already confusing and emotional enough on its own. Checking out completely during these days will either bum you out or get you into avoidable trouble.
You can float away on the Neptune currents without waking up to a brutal hangover, though. Neptune loves art, volunteer work, and meditation. With artistic Venus and skilful Mercury hanging out together, this is an especially excellent time to be writing, building lovely objects, or learning a musical instrument. Romance also thrives under this energy. Go out of your way to bring joy to someone you love, giving them the gift of poetic words, your beautiful self, and a temporary escape into the world of love.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Aries
March 21 to April 19
Spacey Pisces season can be a real Debbie Downer for your action-focused sign, Ram. Lucky for you, this week will feel as if Aries season, the annual period of new beginnings, has arrived early this year.
Mercury and Venus burst into Aries on Tuesday, bringing with them the confidence to make your ideas and relationships real. If you’re tired of meeting the same old group of coworkers at a bar, the next month is a great period for making a connection with a new friend or potential romance. Not sure where to start? Actually show up to one (or six) of those Facebook events you keep responding to as “Interested." Whether or not an acquaintanceship leads you to stay out all night and make trouble in the streets with a new best friend, it will wake you up and entertain you in the short-term.
This week is the best time of the month for making decisions. However, Ram, you do have a tendency to jump in feet first without checking that your swimming pool’s full of water. Mercury speeds up your thinking, but Venus improves your listening skills and your interest in weighing your options. Do a few minutes of research and ask for (and listen to) a friend’s opinion before committing to a course of action.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Taurus
April 20 to May 20
How do you keep calm and carry on when everyone around you is losing their minds, Taurus? Your homework this week is to determine a solid plan to avoid others' stress.
Sunday and Monday are the perfect mellow time to meditate on what is worthy of your attention. What activities increase your happiness and sense of peace? Which ones leave you feeling frazzled or empty? Treat yourself to some sweet downtime at the beginning of the week, because once mental Mercury and your ruling planet, pleasure-seeking Venus, enter Aries, life speeds up by about 1,000%.
New beginnings are called for, but that doesn’t mean you need to leave the old behind. Think of this as a period of renewal and birth. Which of your projects or pastimes have gone dormant over the winter? What parts of your life are ready for a new phase? On Tuesday and Wednesday, commit to a simple goal to begin working toward in a few weeks when the sun enters Aries.
This coming weekend has a sober vibe. Skip the parties and group get-togethers in favour of QT with an old friend or serious partner.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Gemini
May 21 to June 20
Rub off the sleep dust and frustrations of the last month, Gemini. This week brings an escape from your vicious mental cycles of anxiety, distraction, and procrastination. Your ruling planet, talkative Mercury, enters action-seeking Aries on Tuesday, breaking the stalemate of too many options.
Any decisions you’ve been going back and forth over get a whole lot clearer. Aries is a little like a roulette wheel: wherever the ball of your attention lands is what you’ll end up choosing. Since you can get interested in just about anything, it matters less which course of action you decide on and more that you just make a forward move.
Beauty-loving Venus is right on top of Mercury this week (and will stay there for most of March). This is an awesome influence for learning a new artistic skill (like how to play more than two chords on your guitar) and it'll lend a certain poetry to your already influential way of speaking. Writer Geminis will find yourselves more creative during this time; all Geminis will have enhanced superpowers of persuasion, so if you’ve been wanting to ask for a raise or convince your landlord to let you have a cat, carpe your diem.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Cancer
June 21 to July 22
When you're crabby (excuse the pun) or just overwhelmed, listen to your gut, Cancer. By tuning into your intuition, you clear away the muck and frustration and can be certain what really matters.
The sun’s meetup with hazy Neptune at the beginning of the week can make the whole human species feel trapped in a fog of our own moods and vague desires. Most people’s preferred outlet for a Neptune funk is to hide away with their vice of choice. You’ve got more emotional skills than the average bear, so hang tight to what you know helps and pay attention to your inner knowing.
Your Cancerian creativity thrives under this transit, getting a boost of focus from lovely Venus’ collision with mental Mercury in Aries on Tuesday. Ignore the lure of hiding under your bed and make a cut-off time for messaging with your needy brother or sis. Set aside at least one evening to be productive and creative. Writing, music, filmmaking, photography, and any new aesthetic skill you’re learning will be satisfying, especially as you get more practice and begin to see improvement.
End the week by instituting a schedule around your creative endeavours, so you can continue nurturing your art babies.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Leo
July 23 to August 22
Do your choices produce long-lasting, sustainable fun, Leo? Your ruling planet, the confident sun, spends the week under dreamy Neptune's rays of longing. If you’re on point and doing what you love, you’ll experience this influence as an influx of peace and imagination. If you keep going after others’ applause and attention at the expense of your truth, you’ll find yourself mired in self-pity and a certainty that there must be more to life than this.
Neptune causes us to lose any junk that reinforces our egos — the online likes from our friends’ friends’ friends, for example — in order to see what we care about deep down. This week, check your assumptions about what makes you happy. Sometimes leadership just makes you self-conscious and stressed. What would you let go of if you didn’t care what people thought? You have a gift of authenticity; when you let yourself shine, the right friends and admirers gravitate toward you to join your games. Anything that’s not serving your sense of play and wonder is only getting in your way.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Virgo
August 23 to September 22
Solutions rain from the sky this week, Virgo, as your ruling planet, nimble Mercury, enters Aries on Tuesday. Murky, annoying problems at home and work seem to suddenly figure themselves out, though it’s more likely that your subconscious did the work for you. Don’t spend a lot of time analysing why things went down the way they did — save that for later in the month. Make immediate use of the headway, before Mercury begins to slow toward retrograde.
This week is the best time you’ll have for a while to map out detailed plans and draw up to-do lists. On Tuesday and Wednesday, you have the advantage of clarity and can most easily balance your opinions with those of your friends and partners. Conflicts can be worked out this week, too — you and the other person are likely to be solution-focused and more willing to see one another’s side.
Mercury is travelling hand-in-hand with graceful Venus for most of this month, bringing out your natural love of learning and helping you balance form with function. Sign up for a class or workshop in a new skill, crack the spine on a diary, practise your tuba, or give your website a spiffy redesign.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Libra
September 23 to October 22
You’re a master of enjoying the moment, Libra. This week’s sun-Neptune meetup brings out your beauty-loving side. Any stress, conflict, or even your average workload feels gross and exhausting under Neptune’s influence and will leave you feeling sorry for yourself or guilty — or an unfair stew of both.
Obviously, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do; bosses and professors will roll their eyes at taking a sick day because the planets dared to orbit to the wrong region of the sky. It’s natural to treat Neptune-triggered stress with a preferred substance, but will end up making you more foggy. What you need is a dose of Neptunian magic and love.
Fill your week with art dates, book club meetups, and movie nights with your gentlest, most creative friends and sweeties. Neptune is also the planet of compassion. When feeling self-pity, the best remedy is to be there for someone else. Instead of smiling and passing by, stop for a conversation with the homeless woman who lives on your corner, or buy a stranger a cup of coffee. You can access a rare, inspired peace this week with these small acts of kindness.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Scorpio
October 23 to November 21
Your intuition is buzzing, thanks to the sun’s meetup with Neptune. Your heart wants more than you’ve been giving it; use that planetary mojo to figure out what that might be.
Neptune triggers stress and a painful longing, but only when we’re fighting to maintain control or keep up an image. You tend to hold your world tightly, but you know the relief that comes with giving in. If it’s a daily struggle to keep up an act or present yourself in a certain way, drop it, Scorpio. That shit isn’t serving you.
On Tuesday, Mercury and Venus move into powerhouse Aries, gifting you with the power of persuasion. You’d rather be direct than keep a secret, and honesty will be a great technique for winning others to your cause. It’s easy to find win-win solutions this week; the people in your life want to be on your side, so be straightforward and stay focused on the results.
This coming weekend, your co-ruler, passionate Mars, is active in the sky, forming an alliance with exciting Uranus. Take a daring, solo risk and try an activity you’ve never done before. Skydiving counts, but so does making yourself a webpage. The fun is in exciting yourself with your own ballsy move.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Sagittarius
November 22 to December 21
Your ruling planet, adventurous Jupiter, stations retrograde this Thursday, meaning that, from our perspective on Earth, it appears to stand still. In fact, you’ve been feeling the planet's gradual slow-down for the last few weeks, as it loiters near the same dark corner of Scorpio. Unlike Mercury retrograde (which also happens this month), Jupiter’s reverse course helps us receive the Jupiterian gifts of abundance, freedom, education, and meaning.
For the next few weeks, make extra time for the activities that restore your faith in your fellow humans and make your brain tingle with new understanding. This is a good time to get away, especially before Mercury’s retrograde officially begins on the 22nd.
Starting Tuesday, beautiful Venus and talkative Mercury are hanging out in Aries, bringing out your inner poet-cum-philosopher. Any time you open your mouth or put your pen to paper (fingers to the keyboard just doesn’t sound as good, does it?), the words come out tinged in gold, flowing and persuasive. Devote this week to any writing, selling, or speech-giving you’ve been wanting to do. If you have a plan and want others to get on board, make your case midweek.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Capricorn
December 22 to January 19
Out of bleary, bad-boundary-having Pisces season comes, finally, clarity. But: It will require a hard look at what you really want.
Sunday’s sun-Neptune meetup bleeds out into the rest of the week, bringing short-term losses in the name of long-term gains. Spiritual, ego-denying Neptune, Pisces’ ruling planet, directly opposes your sign’s pragmatic focus on outward success. The more aligned you are with Capricorn’s shallow side (eg. earning professional status and saving money), the more confusing and difficult this transit will feel.
Neptune makes materialistic goals feel meaningless, and for you, Cappy, that’s a good thing. Creating a secure life where you’re always the boss can lead to isolation and unnecessary hardship. Respect Neptune as a wise visitor, the kind of spiritual leader who whacks her apprentice over the head with a walking stick.
Your tough exterior conceals tremendous empathy and a creativity born of overcoming obstacles. Neptune asks how you can bring these qualities to the forefront of your personal and work life, so that this time next year, when the sun passes over Neptune again, your spiritual life and outward goals are one and the same.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Aquarius
January 20 to February 18
Don’t be coy, Aquarius. You’ve got brilliant ideas and your community wants to hear them.
The sun-Neptune meetup at the beginning of the week has insights boiling over from your subconscious. Keep your brain clear in order to pick up on the important information floating in the air. Immersing yourself in music, books, movies and art will help you make the connection between your heart and your head.
Starting on Tuesday, mental Mercury and poetic Venus move into Aries, bringing with them a strong need to say what you think. Thanks to Venus’ influence, you can be simultaneously direct and tactful. And thanks to the Aries filter over your brain, you will be able to listen to others without being swayed from your own clear perspective.
Over the weekend, Mars, planet of action, forms a trine with your ruling planet, independent Uranus, supporting solo projects and DIY adventures. Go backpacking or running, take a weekend bike trip, or develop a radical business plan and enjoy knowing that you’ve still got plenty of secret wildness in you.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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