January goes out with a bang, thanks to the lunar eclipse shining across Leo and Aquarius on the 31st. Nurses and cops love to talk about how nuts A&E gets during ordinary full moons, and a lunar eclipse is like a full moon on steroids. Lunar eclipses happen several times a year. A good way to tell how this one will go is to look back at your life around 7th August 2017 — the last time we had a lunar eclipse in this pair of signs. Some eclipses affect us more than others, so if that one whammed you, expect similar emotions to pop up again. As the moon and sun shine onto one another from across the Zodiac, the people closest to us may be revealed as closet werewolves. We might not be thrilled to see fangs sprouting from their snouts, but if that’s who our loved ones really are, we owe it to the relationship to look.
A lunar eclipse can also trigger conflicts that cause our own true nature to come out. On some level, we’re all werewolves, hiding our ugliest hungers and drives. In Leo and Aquarius, we could be hiding a lust for attention, egomania, or a ferocity to belong at all costs. The longer we hide that self away, the hungrier it gets. Lunar eclipses are about endings; the monster we’re afraid to look at is likely our best escort out of a tired situation.
Aquarius
January 20 to February 18
An ending is headed your way, Aquarius, though you may not know what it is until its lights are shining in your face. An eclipse is a face-off between the sun and the moon, and the sun’s side of this particular tug-of-war is in your sign — a recurring event since 2017. A good way to approach this transit is by taking a look back over the past 13 months to see what areas of your life have been undergoing renovations. (Especially crucial are any changes that happened around last August 7th, since this eclipse will be in that exact same spot.) Aquariuses with birthdays in the first half of February will be most affected, but all of you will be feeling it to some extent. This emo period will likely have you over-idealising the past and convincing yourself things were better than they actually felt at the time.
Mercury enters your sign on the same day as the eclipse, speeding up the pace of day-to-day life and making it as easy to lose yourself in the future’s myriad possibilities as in the past. Mostly, Mercury’s visit should be fun and interesting. Your inclination toward sudden insights gets a boost, and the eclipse may well bring a bolt of understanding. Your subtly stubborn side will likely try to slither out of making a decision, but in this case, ignoring what you don’t like will only make it louder. Whatever wants to go from your life, do yourself a favour and set it free.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Pisces
February 19 to March 20
When the water gets wild, sometimes the best you can do is let your boat drift. The air is zinging with other people's moods, fears, and desires this week, Pisces. No matter what you do, you’re likely to soak in much of that discombobulated collective energy. Let it filter freely through you without feeding it extra attention or fixating on a single part.
However, the eclipse does have a message for you. It may seem lost in the noise at first, but it’s sitting in plain view. An emotion or past action wants you to recognise it as your own. Give yourself time to see what doesn't belong to you and what does. It’s uncomfortable to recognise your selfish side, but compassion and forgiveness are magic ingredients that can turn pain into love.
Toward the end of the week, an exuberant encounter between friendly Venus and your co-ruler, big ideas Jupiter, will have you looking at your relationships (and finances) through rose-coloured glasses. Again, a little drifting may be useful. Make time for happy socialising, but hold off on promises or plans of lasting consequence.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Aries
March 21 to April 19
When the ground shifts beneath our feet, it’s tempting to leap into action. For you, Ram, doing is being and it’s hard to feel in control while standing around waiting. Wednesday’s eclipse could deliver a major insight in one quick blow. Your first assessment is likely to be correct, but that doesn’t mean you know what to do about it yet.
With Mars, your ruling planet, in cart-before-the-horse Sagittarius for the next few months, your impulses are liable to get ahead of themselves. Just because you own a hose doesn’t mean you need to use it to put out a candle. Doing so will only replace a small fire with a large flood. Likewise, telling someone how wrong they are may enlarge a conflict and make it harder to understand. Dodge an oversized response by finding a more constructive use of your fiery energy. Grab onto one of the twenty zillion project ideas you’ve got floating around or go for a run. The wiser course of action will appear once you’ve blown off the excess steam.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Taurus
April 20 to May 20
How nice would it be if the people you depended on always came through, and the ones you trusted were steadfast, real and reliable? In this imperfect world, others’ issues can complicate your life beyond what you want to accommodate. Friendship and love often push you to choose between preserving the relationship and maintaining your peace of mind. When people disappoint you, the easy path is denial, pretending it isn’t happening, or that you’re happiest taking care of your business alone anyway. Unfortunately, this is more of a stalling tactic than a solution, since problems almost always reappear. Wednesday’s eclipse asks you for a challenging dose of self-honesty in your key relationships, including willingness to act on what you see.
On Saturday, Jupiter, the planet of big hopes, squares off with relationship-queen Venus, your planetary ruler. This combination will make it tempting to smooth out the rough edges and continue along as if nothing happened. You can use the same influence to increase your faith in the possibilities of love in your life. What unhelpful beliefs are freezing you in place? Let go of the old and focus on building up the relationships you really can count on.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Gemini
May 21 to June 20
Every so often, the universe passes you a cheat sheet with the answers to every question on the quiz. This Wednesday’s eclipse is one of those times, Double Fine. Crucial information might trickle your way in the form of gossip or a random association triggered by overheard conversation, the news, or your Instagram feed. No one’s going to make you use this cheat sheet to ace the test. You can crumple it up and score a three-pointer on the trashcan. You can, like one of my fourth grade classmates, roll it up with scotch tape, smoke it and spread rumours about how high you got.
With your ruling planet, mental Mercury, entering Aquarius on Wednesday as well, the gift of out-of-the-blue insight is paired with monumental distractibility. The more you understand, the more you’ll want to research and question your findings, in search of an elusive final answer. That’s good, so long as it’s helping you improve your ideas and listen better. It’s a problem if it becomes a form of escaping what you’d rather not have to deal with. So if the universe does whisper the answer in your ear, do yourself a favour and turn that baby in.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Cancer
June 21 to July 22
Embrace your inner boundary queen, Cancer. The week starts off with serious Saturn tamping down your ruler, the emo moon. You can think of this as a cold wall to keep others out, or a secure container, supporting work within. Either way, it’s a good time for checking in with yourself and spending QT with your number one (you). You’ll need that grounded energy when Wednesday’s eclipse rolls in.
Lots of people don’t feel eclipses unless they pass over an important point in their own birth chart. You’re the exception to that rule. As the Zodiac’s resident feelings expert and with the moon as your planetary ruler, you get swept up in every one of the universe’s mood swings. This is partly because other people tend to see you as a shoulder to cry on; whatever drama your loved ones are leaking spills onto you. Your spidey senses are liable to be going haywire the whole week as the collective interpersonal mess bubbles over and soaks everything. Just because you’re sneaker-deep in sticky feelings, doesn’t mean they belong to you, though. Nor are you your best friends’ mummy, tasked with fending off their personal villains. It will be easier than usual to take on other people's anger and hurt. It may also be tempting to project your anger and hurt onto your loved ones, urging them to fight when they’d rather take their crises in stride. It will be hard to find that grounding alone time you need, so keep in mind that every action doesn’t require an instant reaction.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Leo
July 23 to August 22
Welp, Leo, it really is all about you. With the lunar eclipse in your sign, you’re at the centre of the action — the source and recipient of the drama. As per usual, being a superstar comes with its share of good and bad. The bad news first: You've got to let it go. I can’t tell you what it is, but it's probably not wearing a clown suit. A loud costume might make it easy to spot, but fact is, it will be loud and stompy enough that you’re sure to know when you see it. Eclipses bring surprises we could not have seen coming, even if we were sleuthing our hearts out. Lunar eclipse surprises are the kind after which nothing can be the same, which also means that whatever friend, lover, job, or bad habit (or all of the above?) that you’re breaking up with, there is no getting back together. The good news is shorter but also sweeter. Endings make space for new beginnings, and saying ta-ta to lose-lose propositions means making space to find your true winner.
Oh, and before you get paranoid about homicidal clowns jumping from the bushes, check your texts to see what was happening for you last August 7th. (Leos with birthdays in the first two weeks of August will get the strongest hit.)
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Virgo
August 23 to September 22
The worst curse that can strike you, Virgo, may be confusion. It sucks to know something is up and have no clue what it is. The good news is that any information you get this week is likely to be accurate. That said, it may come in forms you wouldn’t take seriously, like overheard conversation or an unexpected connection that sparks in the back of your mind when you’re focused on a task. Treat any clues you receive like a respected visitor, giving them your full attention and taking what they have to say seriously. Fact-checking is commendable, but don’t ignore what you see by overthinking the obvious. You may be required to make a micro-adjustment to your outlook or understanding of a situation or relationship.
It’s possible that the problem is bigger and that one of the moving parts in your life is damaged irreparably. If that’s the case, grease up and get it out before it takes down the whole machine. Removing broken parts is the first step to repair. As much as it sucks to take the piece out, you’ll feel that much better when your life is back to smooth, working order.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Libra
September 23 to October 22
Your happiest memories likely centre around the person who was laughing and smiling along with you. It’s a gift to value relationships, Libra. Love, unlike winning a prize or being voted most popular, really can make you happy. But the people you choose don’t always hold up their end of the bargain — and they might not understand that it takes two to tango.
Wednesday’s eclipse can make you feel extra nostalgic for the past lives of your relationships, those most treasured memories that reinforce your story about what the bond means. It’s not that those stories are wrong per se, but they’re likely incomplete. Later in the week, romantic Venus, your sign’s ruler, bumps into myth-making Jupiter. While these two best friends are getting each other drunk on love, it will be tempting to excuse what you don’t like. Be open to viewing the other side of your favourite memory or person. The two perspectives will balance out, once they get equal attention.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Scorpio
October 23 to November 21
You have a knack for seeing the shadow-selves that others are hiding, Scorpio, and a gift for getting them to shape-shift into truer forms. Sometimes, though, you coax them into changing their behaviour in a way that’s just more comfortable for you. This week, the deck is stacked in favour of your better intentions. With humanity-loving Jupiter whispering in the ear of your planetary ruler, goth girl Pluto, you’re more interested in working magic for the collective good than for your own, black-eyelinered ends. Meanwhile, your co-pilot planet, Mars, is in holy Sagittarius, filling you with the conviction of a seeker on an important quest.
There are plenty of people around you who will be struggling to take in complicated insights, and others who will be pushing their inner monsters back into hiding. With some precautions, you can be a guide across this mini River Styx. First, don’t change someone else to avoid changing yourself. Second, be honest about your intentions. Transformation is like sex: For it to be good for both parties, seek out open, enthusiastic consent.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Sagittarius
November 22 to December 21
Hope is a beautiful thing — and faith is even nicer. We have to believe in a possibility before we can bring it into being. Believing in a kid gets her to grow; believing in a student makes him want to learn; and believing in a lover allows their heart to open. On the other, less popular side of faith, though, is the let-down: Your cute baby grows up into a mean-spirited jerk, your student drops your class, and your lover takes their patched-up heart onto another relationship, leaving you in the dust.
Wednesday’s eclipse will likely stir up fond feelings that put a soft-focus over those historical let-downs, and may have you waxing nostalgic over a past relationship that sucked at the time. By the weekend, a collision between your planetary ruler, high hopes Jupiter, and gentle Venus will make it hard to remember what exactly that suckage was. (This can affect present-tense relationships, too.) Refriending your Facebook frenemy might be useful, if it helps you get more clarity. And hey, maybe you were wrong before. It happens. Keep at least one foot on the ground, though, by not making any promises or big plans until you’ve given yourself enough space to be informatively disappointed.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Capricorn
December 22 to January 19
There’s a line between taking care of business and becoming your work ethic’s lonely captive. On Sunday, rule-setting Saturn, your planetary ruler, faces off with the sensitive moon. The following weekend, those planets collide again. This conflict — work vs. home, feelings vs. self-discipline, nurturing relationships vs. boundaries — is this week’s defining inner dialogue. Getting anywhere over the next few days depends on understanding how these two sides of yourself fit together. Your habit is likely tipping the scale in favour of the tough stuff, like discipline and boundaries, since that’s where you feel most in-charge. If you go too far in that direction, though, your home and inner life will get too noisy and needy to get work done.
Wednesday’s eclipse lands smack-dab in the middle of this kerfuffle, suggesting that your inner monster (or just your feelings) requires productive attention. Noticing what’s off in your life is a good start, but you have to follow through with enough effort that the people around you can see that you’re trying. Open your process up so the people closest to you can participate. It might be scary, but the hard part is just giving up the illusion of control.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.Related Video
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