The dance continues both when our last quarter moon in Cancer applies a square to the Sun in Libra, as well as on the 29th when the Sun in Libra makes a trine to Saturn in Aquarius. There’s a sense here that in order to collaborate — to work things out and to keep building together — we’re going to have to give each other emotional respect. Of course, honoring the emotional experience of others shouldn't preclude our ability to advocate for ourselves and for what we believe in. If we’re going to move forward, we have to take a few steps back and do maintenance on the foundation. Trust is integral here, but — no matter how much some Libra and Cancerian babes might wish it otherwise — trust is not a tacit exchange based on implied expectations. It’s a contextual dialogue and a dialectic, too, an emotional contract that changes shape with each new endeavor.
But, like any dialectic, what we feel and what we believe to be true and what we expect from others is informed by our larger cultural experience, by systemic privilege and systemic violence. When our retrograde Mercury squares off with Pluto in Capricorn on October 1, we’re reminded that there’s room in every relationship for those conversations too, and there’s a palpable shadow when that room feels locked or inaccessible, like a weighted silence, like a ghost. Venus in Scorpio makes a sextile to Pluto in Capricorn the next day, in mutual reception with Libra, reminding us that even when we feel like we can’t move forward, we can, at least, go deeper.
Ask not what Libra season can do for you, Aries, but what you can do for Libra season. With your ruling planet, Mars, in Libra and Venus languishing in Scorpio (who is also ruled by Mars) you’re primed to witness a little thing called mutual reception. Straight-shooting Mars practices restraint under the stars of Libra, called to consider the experience of the other before moving ahead. Venus’s harmonic nature catches on the barbed wire fence that surrounds Scorpio, a reminder that what we’re attracted to isn’t always easily accessible. That pain is a part of beauty too. Alone, these transits are stultifying and discouraging. But, when you tune into both, when you allow the depth of your desire to guide you through collaboration and conflict, you touch a secret link between heavenly bodies — between planets, yes, but also between yourself and other people.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
In this economy, doing the kin-work and the money-work, the emotional labor and the self-maintenance, really adds up. To get it right, we’re encouraged to commit ourselves to all of it. And, while there may be some truth to the holistic approach, it’s also true that the modern work-week was not designed with our mental health and relational wealth in mind. In this economy, resisting comparison can be a challenge. Comparing yourself to others who seem to have it all in balance, comparing your own strides to the lack of effort that others you care about seem to be making — why don’t they care more, why don’t I care less? Much of what feels known is decidedly not. Instead of using what you feel against yourself or against others, focus on the space created by this period of unknowing. Questions create an intimacy that statements rarely do.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
It’s true that Mercury retrograde has a big reputation for causing trouble but not everyone is affected the same way. Of course, Geminis are ruled by Mercury, so it’s often the case that they find themselves especially sensitive to this transit and all its repercussions. Yet sensitivity isn’t inherently a bad thing. The state of being sensitive, of being receptive to stimuli and aware of others, makes for a heightened reality, one that provides for much of the beauty created in this world. To create art, after all, one must be sensitive. To revolt, one must be sensitive. This week, try to tune in to the ways your sensitivity informs your relationship to the world. Try to step to the side of the pressure to produce meaning, or to produce in general. The beauty is in the work of creating, the joy and difficulty of giving public form to a private world.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
When heavy moods linger for too long, it’s time to get curious about their origin and their meaning.There’s something to be said for tuning into the world, for accepting the malaise that arises whenever we stick our heads out of our crab shells and witness the wreck. It’s your right to grieve, not just for what’s transpired but the futures that seem increasingly foreclosed. It’s your right to grieve, but grief is not a place to live, nor is it a destination. It’s only natural that we hold tightest to old patterns, to what we imagine as “knowns,” when everything around us appears to be changing rapidly. Try to remember that resisting change is a heck of a lot harder than surrendering to it. Our Sun’s transit through Libra invites you to look at the places where you can stand to loosen your grip and still feel secure. Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
When Mercury stations retrograde, we’re advised to delay negotiations and stay wary of miscommunications. While that advice might work generally, it certainly doesn’t apply to everyone. A little nuance, for the folks in the back. Yes, it’s in your best interest to practice a little bit of discernment when it comes to setting things in stone but it’s also in your best interest to renegotiate old agreements and clarify the terms of your relationships. Try to remember that when it comes to the important conversations, a few blunders are bound to occur, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait on the “right words” or the “right time.” Coming to an understanding is a collaborative work and collaboration is rarely smooth at first. It takes time to get into the groove of a shared rhythm, to dance together.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
Just because Virgo season is over doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun. In fact, there’s a good chance that the less attention is on you, the more fun you’re likely to let yourself have. For Virgo risings this can be especially true, what with Venus transiting your secretive, Scorpionic, house of communication and flirtations, too. But, with Mercury stationing retrograde come the 27th and a square to Pluto in effect, be mindful of writing checks you can’t cash, whether that applies to your spending or your dance card. If you’re in the mood to go big, double down on what provides you with returns. Don't simply ask, “How long will this last?” But rather: “Will this add to my well-being exponentially? Or just temporarily?”Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
No matter how even-handed you try to be, there’s always something that arrives to remind you that the true nature of the world is far from fair. Take, for instance, Mercury in Libra stationing retrograde just a week after the Sun shifts beneath your stars. The Sun in Libra applies a trine to Saturn in Aquarius, and you’re more passionate than ever about what you’re creating. But, Mercury’s square to Pluto in Capricorn has a way of getting you hung up on past mistakes, applying old reasoning to new opportunities. “Opportunities” is a key word here, and aside from your own doubts, there's no amount of red tape that can stand in the way of your drive. Don’t waste your time preparing for the unknown. Instead, imagine balance as a physical practice. Focus on what’s certain and move forward one sure step at a time.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
Another week, another chance to tune into Venus in Scorpio tuning into Mars in Libra. So, pray to whatever it is you pray to, and make it happen. What is “it,” exactly? Good question. Venus in Scorpio isn’t exactly the best at disclosing her intentions, and neither is Mars in Libra for that matter. It’s true that Venus in Scorpio is rarely satisfied; there’s a gravitational force to this transit, a pulling inward like quicksand, a suck. With Mercury in both Libra and retrograde, what’s unsaid and underneath can start to take on a power all its own. Like a lie that runs away from us or a dream that we confuse for a memory, the line between realities is a thin one and open to interpretation. Perhaps then, the issue of making things known can be set aside for a later date. Focus on protecting your energy and your psychic space: Sleep more.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
What if alienation is a precursor to community-building? What if all those months of floating around untethered, unsure of what you had to offer to the collectives you were once a part of, unclear on whether you were open to receiving from the sources you once trusted, was part of a cycle? You spin the wheel, you find your place, you contribute as you are able until what was once novel becomes routine and then the wheel spins again. It can be difficult to admit that no matter how independent you might be, no matter how good you are at being alone, routines are habit-forming. To go from seeing someone(s) all the time to not at all is not only painful, it is disorienting. But, trying to avoid that feeling by resisting association is unrealistic. Alone, you fortified your boundaries, but putting yourself out there is the best way to put them to use. Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
They say that sometimes you choose a path and sometimes that path chooses you. Bu thent, this saying sorta cedes responsibility to a greater power like, “hey, this career happened upon me.” Of course, most of what we spend our lives doing is a combination of intention and happenstance. While you might spend years making yourself a valid applicant, the hands that application falls on has very little to do with free will (and this includes the privileges one is born with and doesn’t earn). Which is all to say that while we spend a lot of time, effort, and resources getting to where we are, there’s no guarantee that we’ll like where we end up, that we won’t be changed by the journey. Time is revelatory, but so is getting what you want. Sometimes, all it teaches you is what you don’t and maybe that was the big plan all along.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
Could it really be true that the more faith you have in yourself, the more proof you receive that you have everything you need to build the life you want? Could it be true that traveling, reading more, changing your seat to change your perspective, offers you a greater sense of what’s possible? Yeah, it really could. If that’s the case, if you’ve had to learn these lessons over and over, then why does it feel so hard to move through the world as if your lessons are done? There’s the structural inequity issue, yes, the many ways human beings are taught to relinquish power, the many violences beyond our control. But, there’s also the fact that fear is its own god, and serving it creates worlds just like faith does. It’s the old lesson wearing a new face, asking you whether what’s familiar is secure like a home — or secure like a cage.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
It only makes sense that as we change, so do our relationships to others. And, while we’re inundated with the idea that successful relationships keep expanding to take more and more space in our lives, there are other natural ways for our relationships to change. It’s natural to be drawn to people who work on us and leave us transformed, even if the only lasting part of that intimacy is the transformation. It’s natural to feel unmoored when collaborations and partnerships we were once a part of seem to get on well without us, to use the adaptability of others as proof of our own inconsequence. You can feel longing — and even loss — when you recognize that the story you wrote can’t be the story you live. But, you can pick up wherever the story left off, knowing what you know now about the beauty of an ending.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
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