The last days of January are not without their impact, marked by a tense square between the Sun in Aquarius and Uranus in Taurus. There’s something particularly willful about this aspect, especially since the Sun will be applying a conjunction to Saturn that gets stronger by the day, bolstered by a new moon in Aquarius on 1st February. The asteroid Juno enters Aquarius on the same day, echoing themes around power and how we negotiate it. While these themes might loom large over the collective, especially when it comes to ideas around personal freedom vs. responsibility to the greater whole, they show up in our lives in all kinds of meaningful ways. It’s a time to ask more questions, draw firmer boundaries, and reckon with your own authority — where you could stand to claim more and where you could admit having less. Mercury stations direct in Capricorn on 3rd February, forming a sextile to the moon in Pisces with Neptune only a few degrees away. While the shadow period continues, the release is palpable and the river of communication flows gently forward, inviting insightful exchanges and valuable interactions with Venus in the mix. A Mars sextile to Jupiter the next day deepens this flow and expands its reach, providing small steps forward. The Sun’s conjunction to Saturn on the same day recalls some of the tensions brought up earlier in the week, but by then our discernment is sharpened by intuition and insight and we’re as ready as we’ll ever be.

Aries Sun & Aries Rising

The week ahead has a lot of sweetness to offer you, if you’re ready to receive it. The new moon in Aquarius that introduces the week is optimistic and friendly, open to new collaborations in realms both professional and personal. Part of the new moon’s power, and her favour to you, is her recognition of the hard work you have put into building and maintaining boundaries, especially with people you take care of. The lines you have drawn around your needs have allowed you to better ascertain your desires, what you are and aren’t willing to compromise on to get what you want. While Mercury will still be in her shadow throughout the week, her direct station on the 3rd and a sextile to the moon supports the adventures that you are dreaming up. Just take your time before putting your resources in the mix — the price is sure to fluctuate.ILLUSTRATION BY barbarianflower

Taurus Sun & Taurus Rising

Aquarius season isn’t generally a relaxing time for Taurus placements, especially placements that find themselves on the receiving end of a square from the Sun and the new moon. That said, just because things aren’t relaxing doesn’t mean that they’re not going well. Especially now that Venus, your ruling planet, is taking care of business directly in Capricorn. Sometimes, all one needs is a sense of the bigger picture. Sometimes a little pressure is just what it takes to open things up. It’s important that as you prepare to hold the energy of the new moon this week, you take time to sit with old patterns you have around stress and avoidance. What if the tension you feel is a sign that something new is getting ready to burst forth in your world, or from you?
How can you transmute the tension you feel if what you’re holding is an eggshell ready to crack?ILLUSTRATION BY barbarianflower

Gemini Sun & Gemini Rising

With the new moon in Aquarius on Monday evening, it’s a great week to change your seat and seek a different perspective. Changing your seat can be as figurative or literal as you want it to be: put in a request to switch roles, seek the company of a worthy opponent, or spend a day looking out over an unfamiliar landscape. A funny thing about life as we have known it is that the changes we make are not proportional to their results. Small shifts can make a big difference, even if it takes a long time to notice what’s altered. Mercury in Capricorn stations direct on the 3rd and makes a helpful sextile to the moon in Pisces just a couple of degrees from Neptune. Your intuition is your trusty guide in the days ahead, Gemini. It knows exactly where you want to be and with whom. It will help you make the kind energetic connections you need to get you there.ILLUSTRATION BY barbarianflower

Cancer Sun & Cancer Rising

Never a dull moment for Cancer babes who bow to the moon: The week ahead ushers in a new moon in Aquarius and the beginning of the Lunar New Year. It can be a relief to recognise that while certain calendars mark time one way, they are hardly the arbiters of time. The Aquarius new moon is irreverent, bolstered by the authority of Saturn and well-versed in the upheavals Uranus brings forth. Here, lunar wisdom reigns supreme, reminding us of a dual reality that Cancers in their crab shells know all too well: all cycles end, all cycles are connected. So what if you imagined you would begin again a month ago? So what if your new year began in September of last year? Time is an illusion, calendars man-made. The moon is an Earthling’s closest light — go ahead and start again.ILLUSTRATION BY barbarianflower

Leo Sun & Leo Rising

Life depends on the Sun and life is sustained by it, a responsibility every Leo feels in their big bright hearts even if they can’t always claim it. But, while the Sun gives way to the moon as luminary of the night, Leos rarely get to hand their role in the cosmos over to someone else. Of course, the truth is that few of us do. It’s just that Leos have a tendency to put a lot of pressure on themselves, to feel charged with the well-being of all their relations. While one can’t exactly lay down the role one plays in their own life or their community, one can release the reins. Here, the new moon in Aquarius arrives just in time in your house of relationships and the other. Here she reminds you that care for yourself is care for others, that when you release the obligations which drag you forward, what remains is a heart that knows exactly where to go and how fast.ILLUSTRATION BY barbarianflower

Virgo Sun & Virgo Rising

Emphasis falls on Mercury, your ruling planet, as it stations direct this week. But, Mercury’s direct station is not the only sign that things are about to turn around. Mercury’s co-presence with recently direct Venus and ardent Mars under the stars of Capricorn indicates broken ground and new developments in your house of pleasure and creativity. And, at the time of his direct station, Mercury makes a sextile to moon in Pisces in your house of relationships, bringing eros to the forefront of your most significant connections. There’s no need to prepare for these cosmic machinations. The planets, in their own ways, have already been preparing you. What’s worth noting is the Aquarius new moon just days before Mercury’s direct station, which has the ability to bring forth some major shifts in your routine. Try your best to accept these shifts with whatever grace is accessible; good things are coming.ILLUSTRATION BY barbarianflower

Libra Sun & Libra Rising

There’s plenty of good news in the sky for you, Libra, but not all good news arrives in a way that feels legible to us. It’s true that your ruling planet, Venus, stationed direct last week and joined efforts with Mars under the sign of Capricorn and Mercury stations direct this week in the same sign. While both Venus and Mercury still grapple with the shadows of what transpired this past month, you should feel more grounded and secure moving forward. What’s more, these planets are in a supportive relationship with different cosmic events happening in your house of health and work, especially following Mercury’s direct station. To recognise good news, it’s important to stay open to the many forms it comes in, to clear space for it, and invite it in. Let the new moon in Aquarius on 1st February initiate you into that process and light your way through it.ILLUSTRATION BY barbarianflower

Scorpio Sun & Scorpio Rising

Unlearning can sound like an incredible burden. It’s taken you as long as your life to know what you know now, after all. How long will it take to wind the tape back until it’s time to record again? But, like the moment when you gently erase the pencil lines and lay down the watercolours, what you clear away is what guides you forward and transforms the entire image.
Your memories stay with you and they change too, as you change, reshaping how you relate to people from the past, reshaping the way you relate to people now. Unlearning is work, yes, but it is meaningful work. It opens the way for new skill sets, new ventures, new connections, and a new way to define yourself. Even with the old pencil lines gone, each colour creates a richer layer, and a different understanding of the light you work with and the shadow too.ILLUSTRATION BY barbarianflower

Sagittarius Sun & Sagittarius Rising

In astrology we say that the moon is your sense of security, where you feel familiar, where you can rest. But, the moon is also charged with your emotions — and charges you in turn. Perhaps there’s a loop here, a circle. You come to a rest and, in the clearing, your feelings have time to catch up with you. With this new moon in Aquarius, the feelings that arrive are larger than just one life. They are a collection of understandings, exchanges between friends, collective hopes and collective disappointments. When these feelings come, they come in all kinds of ways, in all kinds of forms, but they are all messengers. They are charged by the Sun and fortified by Saturn and they do not mean for you to retreat. The information these feelings give you, about what has transpired and what comes next, are like a spell. The more you trust them, the more it works.ILLUSTRATION BY barbarianflower

Capricorn Sun & Capricorn Rising

It might be Aquarius season, but by the looks of the planets, the cosmos is your corner. Venus continues under your stars, putting her discerning shoulder to the wheel as you whisper goodbye to an old story in the rearview. And while shadow periods are not exactly ideal for making big bold moves, Mercury’s direct station on the 3rd is going to make sure that you receive the sign you’ve been anticipating. Of course, while the sign can *ahem* open up your mind, it’s gonna be on you to drag yourself into the light where you belong. Good thing that Mars is making headway in Capricorn, then, while the Sun connects with Saturn in your house of resources. The moon in Aquarius is in the mix, and she’s all about wish fulfillment. Here, in the world of the living, you’ve got what you need to move forward, and what you don’t have yet is on its way.ILLUSTRATION BY barbarianflower

Aquarius Sun & Aquarius Rising

It’s good to have the Sun in your corner, even if it doesn’t always feel good. It’s a vital force that invigorates your relationship to yourself. But relating to yourself isn’t as easy as all that, is it? Fixed signs like Aquarius make it look easy, but underneath that cool and consistent surface is an Earthling that is deeply affected by every living thing they form a connection with; an Earthling that carries and tends to the feelings of the world as if they are a precious resource. This week’s new moon in Aquarius is an invitation to reconnect with the power of the wave as separate from the water; to trace the energy that you use to carry the emotions of the world back to its source. Let Saturn’s presence under your stars charge you. You are the authority of yourself, of your strength. Or, as Team Dresch once sang, “Make up who you are, it makes up who you are.”ILLUSTRATION BY barbarianflower

Pisces Sun & Pisces Rising

It’s true that as we continue facing an international health crisis, making social plans, whether big or small, can feel like a game of Whac-a-mole. But Pisces are mutable signs, and while they are very good at entertaining themselves and spending time alone, they flourish in company. This week’s new moon in Aquarius helps you clarify your relationship to your alone time, how it enriches you and how it prepares you to be your most mindful self around others. More of a recharge than a reflection, the new moon fuels your most optimistic ambitions. With Mercury in Capricorn stationing direct a day later and forming a helpful sextile to the moon in Pisces, chances are good that the plans you make are more likely to stick. And, once the ball gets rolling, the good times can get rolling too.ILLUSTRATION BY barbarianflower

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