What do you love enough to defend? Sunday’s passionate meeting between Mars and Venus sets a tone for the week. Venus, planet of beauty, is always in search of perfect balance. As she journeys through Pisces, that search takes on spiritual overtones, making us humans yearn for soulmate connections and pure escape from the ugly parts of life. Meanwhile, Mars is on a heroic quest in Sagittarius, bringing out our gallant — and cocky — sides, and instigating even more than the usual number of moral and political fights.
When these two planets square off Sunday morning, it’s as exciting and tumultuous as any great romance. We’ll all be getting a surge of energy to focus on bringing more beauty into our daily lives. The air will be heavy with sexual chemistry, waiting to be ignited by true connection. Artists and craftspeople can get a ton of work done under this influence. Any household beautification, like painting the walls a calming shade of green or deep-cleaning your carpets, will be a cinch to complete and extra satisfying, too. You may find that you’re finally mad enough to turn off your notifications in the evenings or that you aren't quite ready to join a grassroots movement. Venus squaring Mars isn’t a great influence for starting a new relationship — it makes us attracted to people who make us mad. But for the partnered, it will help you have a good, clean argument that clears the air (and it'll make you want to bone).
On Thursday, the full moon in Virgo will pull emotions up to the surface whether or not we feel ready. A critical, nitpicky frustration is a sure sign someone is feeling angry or sad. The influence of Neptune opposite the moon means feelings (and communication) will be confusing at first but worth the trouble. Expressing yourself might even be healing.
Pisces
February 19 to March 20
No matter how real a dream feels, you have to wake up in the end.
The cosmic weather this week is a swoony mix of romance and action, like a sequel to Black Panther where Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan make out. Several of the outcomes you’re pinning your hopes to are about as likely as that gay Marvel fantasy. I’m not saying your fantasies are doomed, just that you need a dose of reality — and some more time, communication, observation, and effort before you can count on success.
Thursday’s full moon falls in your seventh house of partnership (and enemies!), bringing the possibility of conflict with either someone you’re tight with, like a spouse or close colleague, or someone who rubs you the wrong way. That’s a good thing. Getting the feelings out into the open will help you and your partner figure out what’s really going on. One of your bubbles might get burst in the process, but stay open to what you learn. You’re in a process of discovery, so hold off making a decision.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Aries
March 21 to April 19
See that, Ram? That’s a firework show the universe is throwing just for you. It’s a big, fat congratulations for manifesting your dreams into solid reality.
With Mars activating a pile-up of planets in your 12th house of the subconscious, you may not feel you’ve been getting much done. The last few weeks have forced you to slow down and maybe even give up on a battle you planned to win. But the 12th house represents the part of the brain that works when you’re zoning out and solves problems when you’ve given up. By letting go a little, you’ve made space for what you truly care about to succeed.
For the next couple of weeks, you’re at peak power. Strut your stuff, babe, because you are all that. You know what you want to focus on, so go for it. Messing around with unfulfilling distractions, on the other hand, will make you pissed off. If you find yourself in a pointless fight, there’s a good chance the culprit is pent-up sexual energy. Resolve conflict by asking your sweetie on a super-date and spend a few days shacked up, communicating with your bodies.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Taurus
April 20 to May 20
How does it feel to be living your best life, Taurus? With Mars powering up your planetary ruler, Venus, the obstacles between you and what you want have fallen away. The friends who surround you and the joy of your daily life may look to others like a stroke of luck. As with everything you value, though, you’ve worked hard to create your abundance.
Wherever you aren’t seeing abundance, this Venus-Mars meetup gives you the passion to build it. With Mars in your eighth house of shared resources and Venus in your 11th house of friendship, you’ll be successful at increasing (or starting) a nest egg and at throwing a get-together to thank your favorite humans for being so high-quality. Being willing to go a teensy bit faster than your usual pace will help you make way more headway than you’re expecting, leaving you free time to relax once your goal has been reached.
Whatever you do, make sure your energy has an outlet and focus, and that you don’t spend that surge of inspiration lying around. Thursday’s full moon falling in your fifth house of romance, children, and art means that any frustrated energy will splatter onto those you love. Act decisively (like the immovable force you are) and express your true feelings to your sweetie, kids, or BFF.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Gemini
May 21 to June 20
You’re strong, you know where you’re headed (for once), and — gosh darn it — people like you.
With a huge cluster of planets in your 10th house of career and reputation, people are talking about your work — and chances are what they’re saying is good. You could lie around and bask in your amazing street cred, but where would be the fun in that? This week is fiercely focused, which helps you tune out the usual pings, tweets, and texts in order to beam your brainy energy onto your biggest and best goal.
Despite some bumps in the road, you really are rocking it right now, Gem. It’s partly you and partly the people you’ve teamed up, too. Trust, your people support you and push you to go for what you want. When Mars collides with your ruling planet, busy Mercury, on Wednesday, diffuse tensions by starting conversations with your companions, collaborators, and colleagues about any problems you’re running into.
From Wednesday to Friday, you’ll be feeling the effect of the full moon as it touches off the sun in your natal chart, releasing a dose of creativity and passion. Because the full moon is in your fourth house of home, you may be irritated with family members and flatmates. Your irritation is pointing to a solvable problem. Address it now while you’re feeling strongly, so it doesn’t bug you all month.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Cancer
June 21 to July 22
Feeling scrambled or angry, Cancer? This week’s cosmic weather report predicts lightning-speed passion and extreme actions — enough to zap your sensitive antennae. It’s been a heavy month and you may be overcompensating for lost time.
As Mars activates Venus, you’ll want to pour your heart out to a crush, hook up with someone else’s sweetie, fight it out in a frustrating relationship, mop up a friend’s messy love life, or overwork yourself making your home feel perfect. The urge to wreak havoc on your intimate life does, actually, come from a good place: You want more love, happiness, and connection. No problems there. The issue is that your feelings seem exaggerated and stretched out of shape. Your ruling planet, the moon, isn’t helping matters much. From Monday evening to Wednesday, it’s in Leo, the sign of romantic drama and tantrums. On Wednesday night, it moves into Virgo, making you notice every little problem and annoyance. One way or another, Thursday’s full moon releases those feelings, showing you why you’ve been overdoing it and helping repair any damaged connections. A sexy date (with a person who won’t turn your life upside down) will loosen the knots.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Leo
July 23 to August 22
Are you playing the benevolent queen or a wicked one, Leo?
Attention and event invites naturally gravitate toward you, Leo. Thank your confidence, passion, charm, or the fact that you bring the party — regardless, you draw others into your orbit. That’s a power a lot of us would kill for, and how you wield it says a lot about whether your confidence runs deep or if it's just insecurity holding a megaphone.
Hopefully, you have a realistic sense of your talents and have gotten good at treating your people with kindness and generosity. If so, this week’s Mars-Venus collision can produce bold art-making, spontaneous connections, and the kind of sex where your soul kind of melts into the other person’s. If, on the other hand, you’re obsessing over what others think of you, watch out for your mean and manipulative streak.
Avoid any romance that requires violating your principles. True love won’t ask you to lie or hide, and it won’t force you to compete for affection. Remember, others can only love if they know who you really are.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Virgo
August 23 to September 22
Find the still point in the chaos, Virgo. With turbulent Mars squaring off with your ruling planet, busy Mercury, the pace of life may be too fast to keep up with, full of frustrating miscommunications and mistakes.
Mars is currently in your fourth house of home and family, which has been keeping your so-called down time hectic since late January. Add that to the mix of annoying squabbles, slammed doors, and unpredictable conflicts, and you have a recipe for stress. The full moon in your sign on Thursday throws gas on the fire, bringing out your desire to have everything be perfect for once (is that too much to ask?).
Events feel chaotic, but it’s just because you can’t see the pattern yet. Your natural reaction to stress is to try to exert more control. You analyse the problem, try to figure it out, and when you’re not sure what to do, you often do too much, thus keeping yourself in a cycle of anxiety and frustration. Yet many things in life — like your friends and family — do best with less control. Let go of the reins this week, Virgo. It might be scary, but you’ll feel better in the long run.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Libra
September 23 to October 22
What’s getting in the way of what you want, Libra? It might be a small, less-than-awesome task you’ve been putting off.
With four planets in your sixth house getting activated by fiery Mars, this week is busy. The sixth house represents all the details that keep your life running: to-do lists, doctors’ appointments, exercise, what you eat, walking your dog, feeding your cat, and, in case you weren’t already scrambling enough, there’s the work you get paid for.
On a good day, you wish there was an app that did these chores automatically and you could get away with half-assing them more than you probably should. That’s a pretty sweet deal. The one downside, though, is that you end up feeling like you can’t take care of yourself, which makes you overly dependent on others, which leads to unbalanced relationships. Yuck!
This week’s square between Mars and your ruling planet, Venus, makes you determined to increase your pleasure in the day-to-day stuff. A great place to start is that to-do list. Why? For one thing, you’ll be able to organise the seemingly tedious tasks in a way that makes them fun. But the best part is you’ll remove an obstacle that’s been making you unhappy for way too long.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Scorpio
October 23 to November 21
Don’t you love being the centre of attention, Scorpio? Just kidding!
With Mars activating the four planets traveling through your fifth house of talent, love, children, and being seen, you’d be forgiven for wanting to crawl back into your ultra-goth pit of doom. You enjoy subtly influencing events, but it’s damn hard to do that when everyone is staring at you. From an objective standpoint, your own self-consciousness is the source of that spotlight you feel, making you hyper-aware (even more so than usual) of how others are reacting to you.
To complicate the situation, Mars, your co-ruler, squares off with Venus on Sunday and then with Mercury on Wednesday. Conflict and passion are the signature moods. Ordinarily, you’d be down with that, but the confusion of Pisces season is dampening your fire. Despite your best attempts, events have slithered out of your grasp. It’s not you, Scorpio, it’s just life, which is full of twists and sudden left turns.
The loss of control likely feels worse than the actual situation. The only way to get back that sense of control? Let go. By choosing to let go, you’ll have power over how you react. (Pro-tip: Thursday’s full moon is primo for a good cry.)
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Sagittarius
November 22 to December 21
Do you know what you want, Sag? Can you hold a picture of it in your imagination for at least 30 seconds?
You will achieve whatever you put your mind to this week, Archer. That’s why this second question is so important: What do you want enough that you'll shrug off any distractions? Anything worth your Sagittarian fire has got to be meaningful and something you can put your own spin on. Chances are, you have a good idea of where to direct your efforts. If you’re not sure, tune in to that quiet, inner voice.
This week’s energy is unpredictable and will bring out your impulsive side, making random romances, travel destinations, philosophies, and projects seem like sudden destiny. Your true passion, though, has been with you for a while, and you keep circling back to it. Use this week’s burst of energy to make a bright, strong start.
Thursday’s full moon in Virgo (and the days around it) could trigger a disappointing realisation about the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Don’t let a more ideal alternative derail you. You’re pure power right now: Use it.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Capricorn
December 22 to January 19
Where’s your heart right now, Cappy?
With Mars setting off the four planets in your third house of thought, you might feel like all the voices in your head are yammering at once. (Funny how that never results in good communication.) Mars wants to enlist those voices to get out and do something, but the squabblers can’t agree on a unified direction.
A meet-up between Mars and Venus encourages you to work hard on what you love. Given that you’re happiest when pursuing a goal, an action-packed week like this one ought to be up your alley. The problem is that you often expend the most effort on goals chosen with your pragmatic head instead of with your tender heart. Mars wants passion and Venus wants your most personal pleasures in the game.
Without a worthy outlet, Mars provokes anger and frustration. In your case, Cappy, you will be inclined to turn that frustration on yourself in the form of harsh self-criticism. Beating up on yourself will make you want to curl up in a ball, but that Martian energy still needs to get exercised. A really positive way to use Mars’ bold influence is by taking the risk of letting someone else in. Your friends and family want to support you and cheer you on; you just need to invite them.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Aquarius
January 20 to February 18
Break out that diary and your basket-weaving kit, because the universe has scheduled you for a double period of arts and crafts.
Creativity is one of the weirdest and coolest parts of being human. Whether you’re writing an essay or making ingredients into a meal, turning an idea into a concrete object is kind of miraculous. As an Aquarius, you might be living too much in your head to pay attention to what you create. That’s too bad. When you make the effort to express your ideas in a tangible form, you end up producing wholly original and interesting creations. Hopefully, this week’s meet-up of Mars and Venus will get you to do more of that.
With the four planets in your second house of sensory pleasure being activated by Mars, you’re perfectly positioned to love up your meatsuit and all it can do. Express your creative side by cooking, decorating your space, writing a sonnet, planting vegetable seeds, or producing a series of brilliant-yet-disposable 30-second Snapchats. If that sounds like hell to you, an equally rewarding use of this energy is to eat, make out, soak in the tub, dance, do yoga, visit some friends, or bike at top speed through your favourite park.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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