Screech! The cosmos is throwing on the brakes and all signs say to slow way down. Grand plans may need to be set aside this week and high bars are begging to be lowered. Pisces season has begun, marking the season of rest and imagination. It's time for a check-in with that quiet voice within.
The sun enters Pisces on Sunday morning, joining leisurely Venus and mental Mercury. The three buddies are off to meet the wizard — played in this version of the movie by Neptune, planet of dreams. Like the Wizard of Oz, Neptune is a master of illusions, presenting our wildest fantasies to us as if they are real. That dreamy crush, the ideal job, and countless fantasies of rescuing someone, going viral, or regaining a lost love — all seem close enough to grab onto as the week wears on. Neptune rules addiction, and like addicts, we’ll want to fight to reach that elusive escape from our real and difficult lives.
Neptunian illusions thrive on the internet, where it’s easy to pretend we’re prettier and happier than we are — or that our sadness is poetic and cool. Likewise, the people we admire online are not what they seem. The urge to pursue "likes" and applause will intensify on Friday and Saturday, when the goody-two-shoes Virgo moon makes us obsessed with getting the social performance right.
All that said, Neptune does have an awesome side. Peace, spirituality, imagination, compassion, and art are all his terrain. When we get on Neptune’s good side, we feel music as much as listen to it; we’re overjoyed for our friends’ success; and we have a sense that what we need will come to us at the right time. To be that monk-like this week means unplugging. Switch off the devices. Open the blinds. Put on your chillest playlist and go visit the plants and trees.
Pisces
February 19 to March 20
Your inner child is coming out to play, Pisces. The world is a little more magical this week, infusing every new experience, bus ride, date, and meeting with a sense of possibility. Neptune, your ruling planet, is stirring up the collective unconscious and awakening feelings in people that they didn't know they had. Basically, everyone else is getting a taste of your normal reality. And that means you have a world full of playmates.
With all the fantasy swirling in the air and perfect strangers ready to fall in love at the drop of a hat, you could definitely go overboard, Pisces. If you decide to, let’s say, gift your life savings to a travelling salesman in exchange for magic beans, no sensible adult will be around to stop you. The regular, ordinary parts of life are so fun right now, though, you might as well enjoy yourself right where you are.
What creative or spiritual experience have you wanted to have but haven’t known how to start? This week, invite your partner-in-crime to join you in writing a song, doing morning meditation, discussing your current favourite binge-watch indulgence, kissing, or practising telepathic communication.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Aries
March 21 to April 19
Take a chill pill, Ram. The only thing in your way this week is you. With four planets in your 12th house of retreat, the last thing you should be doing is trying to force a way forward. Yet, that’s what you’ll be up to if you carelessly react to what’s going on around you. Everyone is super spacey right now, forgetting their commitments and dragging their feet on giving you what you want. Give ‘em a break, Aries. It’s not personal, it’s the planets. Your ruling planet, active Mars, is fighting his way out from under a fog cloud, which can make you want to do the same.
A better use of your energy than fighting the inevitable (and temporary) influence of sleepy Neptune is throwing your get-up-and-go behind Neptune’s interests. You’ve got a big heart, but you don’t always know what to do with your compassion besides going into battle. This week, explore a new tactic. How can your fight restore your energy reserves instead of draining them? What would love look like if it was relaxing? How is excitement different from stress?
On Friday and Saturday, when the moon butts heads with Mars, you’re ready for an emotional breakthrough. The feelings are real, but relationships are in flux. Go with the flow and see what happens.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Taurus
April 20 to May 20
Be slow, but open your heart, Taurus.
Love doesn’t obey rules and it can’t be owned. If you try to hang on too hard, it slides between your fingers. Like anything that refuses to be controlled or contained, love can feel dangerous. A lot of people shut out close relationships because they think it will keep them safe. But cutting out love is like cutting off your own circulation. Gradually, it numbs you, making life feel dull and heavy.
The strong Neptune influence this week is softening the walls you’ve set up to protect yourself. Compassion and care for others wants to get in. If you resist by filling your time with work or pulling away from those who give you powerful feelings, you’re likely to end up (temporarily) depressed and even sick. Friday, especially, brings a dose of self-pity, along with a temptation to passive-aggressive conflict.
You’re made of tough stuff, Taurus, and you can handle all the feels. Letting go of (a teensy amount of) control will open the door to connection. You can you grow your heart, get braver, and still go at a speed that feels good in your body. No matter what happens, these experiences are yours to keep.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Gemini
May 21 to June 20
One of Harry Houdini’s most famous tricks was untying his hands while submerged, blindfolded, underwater. He was probably wearing handcuffs and locked in a shark tank, too. Think how much more impressive it would have been, though, if he hadn’t tried to escape. He would have had to float, disoriented and in darkness, and just be okay with it. That’s what I’m suggesting you do (minus the actual drowning).
You’re the scab-picker of the Zodiac, Gemini: you’re generally not that hot at just waiting for stuff to happen. You’re fundamentally interested in whatever’s going on around you, and you want to be a part of it. That attitude can be totally cool — it just doesn’t click right now. As of Saturday night, your planetary ruler, multitasking Mercury, is running around in foggy Pisces. It’s a bit like when Mercury is retrograde, except more sluggish and confusing. Friday and Saturday, the moon in your sign will make you especially eager to do something, but chances are you don’t really know what you want. The more activities you stuff into your week, the more words you throw at a conflict, the more people you juggle, the more anxious and discombobulated you’ll get.
The issue is that you’re mixing up what appears to be happening with what actually is. Two can play that game. The best way to be involved in life right now is by appearing to float blindfolded underwater while you’re actually listening very closely to the burbling of the water and the gossip of fishes.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Cancer
June 21 to July 22
What are you missing, Cancer?
Pisces is your fellow water sign and you may feel a connection to it. Its watery, emo, creative season is, in some ways, awesome for you. Your natal sun is stabilised by the sun in Pisces, letting you express your authentic self with the support and approval of your family and friends. But Pisces is the sign of longing, and its ruling planet, Neptune, is being emphasised in a way that kicks up that longing to a brutal ache.
Any lack in your life will be highlighted and double-underlined this week, Cancer. You’ll probably want to go looking for that missing piece in an important woman (or feminine person) in your life, especially a partner, crush, sister, or bestie. You can make yourself a doormat to please her, or wallow in angry self-pity over whatever she’s not giving you. It's a free country, Cancer. It’s totally your right to sulk if you want to. But you know from experience that sulking is never quite as satisfying as you think it’s going to be.
The urge to be by yourself, though, is a good one. As talented as you are at sulking, you’re even better (when you want to be) at self-nurturing. This week, connect with yourself in order to understand your needs. Draw a bath, visit a day spa, cuddle up in blankets or go for a long walk, and let your intuition speak.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Leo
July 23 to August 22
You did it, Leo! Now how can you keep the energy up over the long haul? With the sun finally out of Aquarius, your opposite sign, you’re past the halfway point of your year. Goals you set around your birthday have either been set aside or have reached a milestone of success. Success brings its own challenges, though. At the top of a mountain, there’s a long way to fall, and the more visible you are, the more others expect of you.
This week’s sleepy energy is like your phone’s low battery notification. You’ve still got some juice, but you won’t forever. As of Sunday morning, the Sun is in your eighth house of obsession, giving you the tenacity to push through even this heavy, foggy Neptunian week and do what you need to do. That kind of drive is impressive, but it will run you dry and suck the fun out of your daily life. Fortunately, you’re an awesome leader, talented at gathering groups around you and delegating tasks.
Starting Wednesday and continuing into the weekend, your ruler, the sun, is getting a boost from focused Saturn and a shot of inspiration from Neptune. Use this influence to define where, exactly, you want to go. What’s your big vision? Besides just entertaining yourself and your audience, what do you desire? Once you’re clear where you’re headed, give others a role.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Virgo
August 23 to September 22
Don’t be the architect of your own unhappiness, Virgo. If you’re caught in a chronic cycle of worry, dissatisfaction, and seeking out faults in your life, it’s a sign that you’re struggling for control. (And losing.) Life is not supposed to be perfectly managed. You love solving problems; think how bored you’d be if everything went right all the time.
The beginning of Pisces season marks the halfway point of your year. Because Pisces is your opposite sign, this time of year is like a month-long backwards day. What should be logical, according to you, is emotional and unpredictable. What should go in a straight line dissolves into particles instead. But being out of your comfort zone is really healthy for you, Virgo. It forces you to problem-solve creatively instead of by the manual and to tune in with your feelings. You’re far more sensitive than you let on, and trying to hide it only makes you a grouch. Make space for your feelings by temporarily tuning out the background noise of others’ anxieties, dysfunctions, needs, and demands. Be patient with your energy levels and meditate on your feelings while working toward an achievable goal.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Libra
September 23 to October 22
Let the world know how you feel, Libra. You like to keep it even-keeled and try not to overwhelm others with your perspective. It’s a way of making sure you’re being fair and not taking up too much space. The people around you want to hear more from you, and this week they’re extra receptive.
With the pile of planets in sensitive Pisces, emotions are near the surface, making it a wonderful time to just chill with your close friends, lovers, and siblings. Important women (and all feminine people) in your life may be struggling and feeling weaker than they actually are. Because others tend to idealise you, sharing the ways you don’t feel 100% (without fishing for pity or props) helps others feel like their difficulties are normal. Relationships can feel almost magical this week and you deserve to enjoy them. Since a lot of people around you may be a little sad, do take care to not let anyone guilt you into doing more emotional work than you want. The best way to handle this kind of manipulation is, again, to share from your feelings. “I love you, but I’ve got my own shit to take care of,” will be way more effective than a fake excuse and will make your relationships healthier and better.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Scorpio
October 23 to November 21
You’re spinning your wheels in the mud, Scorpio. Through no fault of your own (probably), you’ve gotten mired in a problem without a solution. Driven Mars, your co-ruler, has had its road washed out by oceanic Neptune. You may have had a brilliant strategy to get what you deeply desire, but it doesn’t mean a whole lot at the moment.
Being a creative and emo water sign like Pisces, you should be down with Neptune’s dreamy ways. But, unlike Pisces, you prefer to be in the driver’s seat, hands firmly on the wheel of your decisions. Neptune is going to force you to get out of the car and step straight into the muck of the unknown. Either that, or you’ll have to contend with frustration and end up spraying mud in your own face. The astrological influences are here to remind you that your experience is more interesting and deeper when you’re neck-deep in mystery, moving through the dark. Obsessively pursuing control, on the other hand, only isolates you. That’s not what you need right now. Dare to get dirty, Scorpio. Gratification is out there, but you’ll have to take an emotional risk first.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Sagittarius
November 22 to December 21
Embrace change, Archer. Since January, single-minded Mars has been energising you and filling you with (more than the usual) conviction that you’re 100% right. It’s also given you a desire to do things your way, naysayers be damned. At best, it’s stoked your fire, focused your sometimes scattered interests and kept you adventuring toward your goals. At worst, it may have won you a few enemies.
With Mars’ fire dampened, this is a great time to rebuild bridges and look at your relationships from a new perspective. Your own way of doing things seems like the best because it’s what you’re used to. But since when do you choose the well-travelled road over a path into the unknown? Foggy Neptune is reminding you to tune in to your intuition, which requires slowing down and shutting up. What isn’t working right now? There’s no reason to push against the tide. Go with the flow and see where it carries you. Love is infinitely more valuable than being right. Let go of your certainties and pronouncements (for a week or two) and give others more space to love you.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Capricorn
December 22 to January 19
Warm up that cold shoulder, Cappy. Treating people like obstacles and burdens hurts you on a good day. Under this Neptune weather, it will leave you resentful, depressed, and deeply lonely. With so many planets in sympathetic Pisces and Venus cuddling up to compassionate Neptune, it’s a love or be left out week.
Your reasons for (sometimes) holding others at arm’s length make sense, at least rationally. You have strong empathy and an even stronger need to control your experiences. That potent brew of feeling and anxiety makes messy conflicts overwhelming; it’s just easier to respond with hard rules and uncrossable boundaries. That might work, if you were flighty or got over people quickly. Instead, you’re loyal and can cart around the baggage of old hurts forever.
The ups and downs of Piscean emotion could easily make you curl around those wounds and push people away further. But that would be a serious missed opportunity. Wherever you feel injured, it’s more than likely the other party hurts just as much. This week’s heightened sensitivity will be making everyone long for connection, which means good intentions are likely to be well received. When you want to retreat, try reaching out. It might be messy, but that’s a challenge you can handle.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Aquarius
January 20 to February 18
How good are your ethics right now, Aquarius? If you were looking at your recent actions from the outside, would they live up to your standards?
Your natural detachment keeps you amazingly objective, but when there’s a blind spot, it’s you. You respect people's right to swing their own way, and want them to do the same for you. The problem is, sometimes you interpret people’s sticky humanity — their moods and overly intense desires — as a rude violation of your independence. In these moments, you’ll sometimes ghost rather than make a situation stickier. And that’s not cool.
You probably don’t mean to hurt anyone. It’s just that you aren’t fully checking in with your feelings, which makes it hard to empathise. This week, everything is sticky. Your friends and romantic partners will cry, get sick, and give you mixed messages. You might get swept up in a self-serving idealism that justifies any action, or you might just want to split. This can be a really beautiful period for you, Aquarius, full of swooning for cute people and enrapturing ideas. To enjoy the highs without negative fallout, you have to stay present with the feelings. If you did something recently you feel weird about, apologise and make it right.
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