The last days of Aquarius season are upon us. But the Aquarian influence on our collective is far from over, heralded by Mercury’s ingress into Aquarius on the 14th — just in time to add something eclectic and unexpected to our Valentine’s Day plans. Of course, with Pluto making a trine to the true node in Taurus within the same hour, what’s unsaid is just as likely to make itself known as what’s proclaimed. As is the case with many a difficult climb to a desired destination, finding sure footing often requires uncovering compromised ground. The Sun squares the true node in Taurus on the 15th, lighting the difficult way with a renewed sense of inquiry. There’s a sense here that each step is part of a larger discovery, that guarantees are hard to come by precisely because any guarantee made on compromised terms is compromised from the start. That to move forward is to relinquish certainty in exchange for something like faith. Even if it’s the simple recognition that if everything is connected, and if we change everything we touch, then some kind of change is always afoot. Venus touches Mars in Capricorn on the 16th, just hours before the full moon in Leo, adding will and devotion to whatever faith we mean to cultivate in ourselves, our role, our province. In many ways, a Leo moon is a time of gathering: gathering your people and your strength, gathering yourself in your own arms, gathering around a fire that’s meant to keep the whole house warm. Meanwhile, the next day, Jupiter in Pisces makes a sextile to Uranus, a tricky aspect that facilitates a shift, whether one is prepared for it or not. Perhaps the theme of expecting the unexpected is rightly reiterated here. Especially as we prepared for Pisces season, which arrives on our shores on the 18th with its own set of surprises.
Aries Sun & Aries Rising
If there’s anyone that can make the day last a little longer, it’s you, Aries. There’s an air of determination to your step in the week ahead, a driving force that knows what it wants and aims to get it. Mars, your ruling planet, shows off under the stars of Capricorn, and it’s likely that underneath those stars, you’re feeling yourself, too. When Mars makes a conjunction to Venus in Capricorn on the 16th, their combined power will be palpable. From here on out, strategy and charm can carry you a long way toward your goals. Making the distance, however, will depend on your ability to recognise your limits for what they are: an opportunity to build across networks and build intimacy through mutual support.
Taurus Sun & Taurus Rising
In a perfect world, rest would be easy to take whenever we felt needful of it. But most of us (if not all) have never known a world like this and have no certainty that we ever will. In an economy that relies on labour, rest is a stolen thing, an indulgence. But, rest is also where we get to separate who we are from what we do; it is a place of return and reclamation. When you feel far from yourself, Taurus, consider the possibility that the distance you feel is by design – that an economy that relies on labour relies on your belief that what you do defines you and sustains you. Although you might not be able to change your patterns financially – yet – you can change the conversations you have with yourself and your body about pushing through “at any cost.”
Gemini Sun & Gemini Rising
Mercury, your ruling Planet, enters Aquarius on the 14th, and there’s a sweetness to it. While Mercury may not reside on the stars of Aquarius, it’s a location that offers you a new and better understanding of what’s afoot — a clarity of mind. Perhaps that’s the best kind of Valentine for an air sign that spends so much time trying to figure out how to do right, looking for all the answers when the answers aren’t exactly set in stone. Whatever insights this ingress ushers in, the full moon in Leo on the 16th helps you work them into your communications going forward. A full moon in the 3rd house for Gemini Risings is a ritual moon, although full moon is rarely the time to cast. Imagine then, what an unbinding can do, stripping the constraints of your past words, clearing the way for charmed agreements.
Cancer Sun & Cancer Rising
There’s always talk of the moon when Cancer babes are involved, but what of lunar nodes? The story of the moon’s orbit. A full moon in Leo is its own beast: a longing to feel secure, to feel as resourceful as you are venturesome. A full moon that squares the north node adds complexity. Challenging your sense of belonging, the full moon invites you to reflect on the ways your spirit has suffered by way of over-identification, intellectualising away your own emotional experience for the sake of the other. The lunar nodes pull at the moon; they pull apart the story you are always telling. What sowed the seeds of the transformative journey you found yourself on? What grew, painfully and miraculously, from that place? What would it take to believe that what you nurtured is viable, that the way forward doesn’t look like the way back?
Leo Sun & Leo Rising
People talk a great deal about Leos’ need for attention but many Leos and Leo-risings shy away from a direct spotlight. Isn’t that the logic of being a luminary? One hardly needs a torch when they are themselves the light. Perhaps, then, recognition is a cleaner verb: to be appreciated as singular, to be lovingly set apart. Like all luminaries, Leos know in their heart that there’s more than one way to shine, more than one way to appreciate and be appreciated. Whose night do you make brighter by way of companionship? Who accepts your absence and never loses faith in your return? In the last days of Aquarius season, the Leo full moon invites you to remember what sustains your light, especially in relationship to others, and especially in relationship to darkness.
Virgo Sun & Virgo Rising
Full moons have suffused our collective imagination with mystery for as long as people have looked at them. Lots of things get blamed on a full moon: internal chaos, vivid dreams, a tryst to end all other trysts. The brighter it is, the more untouchable it seems and the more powerful it feels. In a Virgo rising’s shadowy 12th house of undoing, a full moon in passionate and luminous Leo is all the more mysterious. The full moon in Leo demands recognition, invites you to look. But perception is different at night. It requires an adjustment that begins in the personal body and radiates out to the collective. Mercury in Aquarius understands this adjustment, informs it. The messages you receive from the moon, from a lover, are of great value to you. Trust the knowings that arrive as if by a paper aeroplane. Let them ride the wind and look closely where they land.
Libra Sun & Libra Rising
Libras are known for making and maintaining relationships. For Libra risings, this kind of focus on relationships can feel especially passionate, with a fire sign stationed over each house where consort and collaboration is likely. These days, the relationship between these signs is a challenging circuit. Your ability to relate, to communicate your ideas, is growing. But the wounds from past communications still throb and limit you. Your intense desire for fruitful connection builds toward the full moon in Leo — a desire to feel part of a greater whole, to experience mutuality as a remedy for isolation. The dance that begins between Venus and Mars in Capricorn on the 16th is as intense as it is productive. Let it lead you towards those who have shown themselves to be dependable, towards building something lasting on solid ground.
Scorpio Sun & Scorpio Rising
Of all the animals in the Zodiac, you’re the most likely to sniff out an “uh oh” situation. But, even the detective of the Zodiac can’t perceive everything. The cosmic world has so many veils, after all — so many alternate possibilities. Still, the Sun’s last stretch in Aquarius shines a light on the fortress of your comfort zone, tugging you toward disorder by way of small incidents and issues — as if to prove that life is uncontainable. And, if life is uncontainable, if being alive is a constant state of creative expansion, then keeping still is an impossible and stultifying effort — even if what you have at any moment is enough. The full moon in Leo on the 16th shows you a way out of the tower, reminding you that safety is a veil too, but you have the courage to part it.
Sagittarius Sun & Sagittarius Rising
Jupiter is at home in Pisces, but having your ruling planet set up shop in a square aspect to you isn’t exactly a gravy train. Or, if it is, it’s a gravy train that’s pouring somewhere you’ve got to get comfortable with before you can enjoy it. Generally, having it all sounds a lot better than it feels – especially since having it all often looks like everyday acts of temperance: a commitment to showing up, a refusal to look away from the scary things. Like loving a person or a place or a job or anything that succumbs to the Earthly nature of death. The full moon in Leo on the 16th invites you to sit with what you fear to lose, to observe what all your connections have taught you about the human condition and the gifts of perception those lessons have left you with. When Jupiter makes a sextile to Uranus the next day, that invitation might look more like a test – but the challenge brings its own rewards.
Capricorn Sun & Capricorn Rising
Of course it hasn’t been easy, how could it be? The world is a mutilated place and you are a steward of the world. The land changes, the Earth responds, and you respond to the Earth. There’s work to be done and you know it — a constant ever since Pluto began to play the long game under your stars, like a harrow digging up roots and casting shadows. But the work of the steward doesn’t preclude pleasure, it informs it. Deep in the dirt, you know what it takes to breathe life into a dying thing, to generate heat. Your will marries your desire as Mars makes a conjunction to Venus in Capricorn on the 16th, right before the full moon in Leo – a Capricorn rising’s house of transformation. Come on with it then, and resurrect what longs to live again.
Aquarius Sun & Aquarius Rising
While other signs relish the Sun’s rays, Aquarians tend to side-step the attention, wondering why their names keep getting called when they never signed up to play. There are many kinds of games in life, of course, and not all of them are optional. Games of chance, of strategy, games that require compromise. Mercury saunters into your sign on the 14th, offering new insights and information – a different playbook. So many planets remain in Capricorn this week, but don’t let that cardinal energy fool you. It’s a great time to receive messages, to pay attention to signs, to watch for other people’s tells — but, it’s not yet time to act. The full moon invites you to spend time with the other players involved before you play your hand.
Pisces Sun & Pisces Rising
The last days of Aquarius season wash over you like so many waves, developments and setbacks. You’re used to the ebb and flow of the Earthly world, and you know that the state of a project reflects the people who work on it. You’ve learned that no matter how tenacious the labour, results are never guaranteed. While these realisations cause some people to become dispassionate, they fill your heart with a steady, even grace. You have the strength to see the magic that sustains a destabilised world, the mycelium sending messages between blighted trees. And you know, too, that while failure is a teacher few people want to study under, learning how to fail is the trade-off for being here — for being alive. If the chance arises, Pisces, fail proudly.
