While Gemini asked us to speak and listen, Cancer season begs to be felt and remembered. Ruled by the moon, the marked characteristics of Cancer and the season it governs include intuition that verges on clairvoyance, fearless emotional investigation and radical empathy. On the underbelly of the crab lie the pestering qualities of self-destruction, hermeticism, anxiety, hypersensitivity and spite.
What to expect from this zodiac cycle? Wild swings of emotion. Falling, or drowning as it were, in and out of love. Ugly crying. Wanting to be held, wanting to throw things at the person holding you. It’s a mess, folks, but a blessed one. Our feelings are heightened during this period so we can better understand our own emotional interiority and grow, or sideways-walk, toward bowing to the same striving in others.
Cancer
June 21- July 22
Happy return of the sun, Cancer! Now, let’s talk about what you’ve been keeping in the dark. You tend to conceal parts of your personal history and true desires, fearing they will make you unlovable. Your house of secrets is highlighted in the weeks ahead, a prime time for revelation. If you don’t allow yourself to be known wholly, you will never be loved fully.
Notable Cancer: Jean Cocteau / July 5, 1889
Leo
July 23 to Aug. 22
You tend to operate on the belief that you have everything under control. You don’t. Now is an excellent time to draw upon meditation, talk therapy and intention setting. While no one has dominion over fate, the wise among us practice faith in it.
Notable Leo: David Koresh / Aug. 17, 1959
Virgo
Aug. 23 to Sept. 22
Mars in your eighth house of sex and regeneration has you feeling decidedly vital and ready for human connection, biblical and otherwise. This is a powerful time for Virgos to attract a partner or a partnership. Engage with the unexpected, but be wary of anyone who isn’t as free to accept or reciprocate your newfound tenderness.
Notable Virgo: 2 Chainz / Sept. 12, 1977
Libra
Sept. 23 to Oct. 22
Libra is represented by the tarot card of justice. Fittingly for people of the scales, the card represents karmic balancing and the weighing of intuition and experience. Have you been measuring a choice based on security rather than self-actualization? The time is nigh to set your sights on what truly nourishes you, not what merely sustains you.
Notable Libra: bell hooks / Sept. 25, 1952
Scorpio
Oct. 23 to Nov. 21
Author and fellow Scorpio Maxine Hong Kingston wrote, “There’s something in life that’s a curtain, and I keep trying to raise it.” No sign is more aware of the curtain, nor more driven to look beneath and behind it than you, Scorpio. Perhaps the most challenging curtain to raise is the one that separates you from others. Pull the rope, drop the veil, show yourself.
Notable Scorpio: Frank Ocean / Oct. 28, 1987
Sagittarius
Nov. 22 to Dec. 21
Artist and fellow archer Yoshitomo Nara is famous for his illustrations of always disquieting, sometimes armed, children. Nara maintains these figures are an expression of the warring modalities of his inner child and walking adulthood. I bring him to your attention to see how you, dear Sagittarius, are expressing that same friction between who you are and what you are expected to be.
Notable Sagittarius: Otto Dix / Dec. 2, 1891
Capricorn
Dec. 22 to Jan. 19
Poet and fellow sea goat Wasif Ali Wasif wrote, “The world is ancient, but it has not lost its newness.” I imagine this bit of wisdom will feel increasingly pertinent, Capricorn. You may feel it acutely in your love relationships. The person who has long held your history may soon reveal fresh truths.
Notable Capricorn: Orville Peck / Jan. 6, 1988
Aquarius
Jan. 20 to Feb. 18
You’re used to feeling misunderstood, water bearer, but in the coming weeks you may have to battle back against being misheard, misquoted and misdirected. In this season of mood swings and misses, it is advisable to keep calm and quiet. Your time to be heard, and heralded, is on the horizon.
Notable Aquarius: Michael Jordan / Feb. 17, 1963
Pisces
Feb. 19 to March 20
Literary legend and fellow Pisces John Steinbeck wrote to his son, when the younger fell in love, “Don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens. The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.” As you place your own bets and bide your own time, Pisces, the good will stay.
Notable Pisces: Alexander McQueen / March 17, 1969
Aries
March 21 to April 19
Mars, the ruling planet of Aries, is entering your sign for the first time in two years. If you’ve been feeling as if your personal power has been diminished or your path has been unclear, the planet of blood and fire has arrived to fortify you and burn away the bull****. Mars asks only that you resist the urge to hold onto the ashes of your former self.
Notable Aries: Loretta Lynn / April 14, 1932
Taurus
April 20 to May 20
Poet and fellow Taurus Joy Harjo wrote, “I was born with eyes that can never close.” This admission reflects the mixed blessings of observation and intuition that befall the people of the bull. You have a responsibility to bear witness and remember the truth and the terror that you see. Don’t blink.
Notable Taurus: Charlotte Bronte / April 21, 1816
Gemini
May 21 to June 20
In his final painting, artist and fellow Gemini Nicolas Poussin cast a scene of the god Apollo and the nymph Daphne. Poussin died before the work could be completed and its divisive symbolism has been a source of debate and intrigue in the four centuries since. I offer you this story and challenge you to consider what work of yours could be furthered by being left for others to finish.
Notable Gemini: Muammar al-Gaddafi / June 7, 1942
