Toni Morrison, an Aquarian.
Photo-Illustration: by Preeti Kinha; Getty of photos
On Thursday, the planet of love Venus enters unconventional Aquarius. This is an opportunity to reevaluate what you need from your intimate relationships: if conventional expressions of love are not working, then you can say that. If traditional views of love leave you indifferent, you can look for something new, something brighter, more just and more free.
Venus entering Aquarius also means that in the next two weeks, there will be a total of five planets in Aquarius (and next week, the moon will come together for a few days too). Although the sign of Aquarius is so dense in activity, expect the Aquarian themes of idealism and independence to assert themselves in your life. Expect your attention to move away from the limitations of the past and to the wild possibilities of the future.
It is very easy to put all your focus on the gap between the world as it exists and the world as it should be, the gap between what you have received and what you deserve. It is maddening to have that kind of clarity, maddening to feel chased by an unfulfilled vision. But you stick to that clarity, if you dream bigger than you are entitled to, that’s where the magic begins. That’s when the world begins to change around you – to shine with true and honest possibilities.
Lately, you’ve been asked to adapt to many changes and to do so too quickly. You have been asked to reinvent your entire worldview again and again. Although sometimes surprises bring sweetness, sometimes they only bring work. So this week, instead of continuing to build new structures all the time, it’s okay to use the ones that already exist. You don’t have to start over from scratch to get going – you can just leave where you are.
This week, you may feel tired of all that weight, seriousness and pain. Eventually, things will become light again – the world will be joyful, sweet, even fun – but lately, it has been difficult to see beyond the present. This week, however, you can see the world as it should be, the world you are working for. This week, right on the horizon, you can see all the goodness you’ve always dreamed of. It is happening very slowly, but that does not mean that it is not happening.
This week, you may feel dissatisfied – frustrated by the slow progress you’ve made on your projects, or the state of your relationships, or the irregular shape of your life. But feelings of dissatisfaction can actually be very useful. Dissatisfaction is not necessarily a sign that you must hurry to change your life. At the moment, it can act as a guide, a clue, a map: it can show you what you really want, in which direction you should go. Just pay attention to your desires – for yourself and the world – and let them guide you.
This week, you may be surprisingly reluctant to come under the spotlight, surprisingly eager to be watched too closely or too closely. Fortunately, this does not mean that you have to resign yourself to isolation or boredom to give up your need for human connection. All of this means that you can free yourself, at least for now, of your obligation to represent to others, to be a hero, a model, a star. This week, there is greater satisfaction in being one person among many, part of a joyful collective.
There’s magic waiting for you ahead, there’s sweetness on the way, and this week, your job is to make sure your frustration and resentment don’t eat you alive before the good stuff gets here. Although it is possible, in emergencies, to run only with fury, eventually that anger will burn you. So this week, offer yourself softness and rest when you can. Protecting your heart is no small task – the world is full of deprivation, isolation, anger – but in the end, you will not have done it for anything.
This week you can feel your powers tested, your strength challenged. This is a good thing, although it may not seem. It is a chance to stretch your legs, to use your muscles, to be reminded that you are capable and wise. If you face this week’s challenges, you will be rewarded for it. Any energy you release will come back to you twice. You can trust your own magic; you have enough. And in case you forgot, if you start to doubt yourself, this week will reassure you.
This week, you may feel a strong desire to reassert yourself – to prove that you are still strange, you are still brilliant, you are still here. It is not that you are hungry for recognition, just that, in this long season of losses, you need confirmation that you have at least not been lost. So this week it might be useful to make some noise, to remember that your throat still works. It can be useful to visit your friends, to remember that they can still see you. Invisibility has its uses, but sometimes it is better to be tall, undeniably present.
You have been feeling so much anxiety lately that you are not doing enough – not enough for the world, not enough for the people you love and not enough to stay afloat in your own life. In times of large-scale change, it is hard not to fear that you should have lived better. It is difficult not to worry about the fact that, when choosing skills and experiences, you chose wrong. But this week I can assure you that you did well after all, that you went your own way. You don’t have to know everything; the wisdom and tools you have collected are sufficient to carry you forward.
This week, the simple truth is that there is no way to provide real care if you are also unwilling to receive it. There is no way to protect those you love if you are not willing to allow them to protect you, too. Sometimes it is tempting to believe that you can keep yourself apart from everything – that you can retreat behind walls, retreat into the mountains, retreat to a tower where no one can find you. But this week, love asks you to let yourself be seen. He asks you to leave your isolation, if only for a moment, and seek reciprocity.
This week will remind you that your possibilities have not dried up after all, that your energy has not left you, that the future you dream of has not been discarded. The challenge is that the real possibility calls for it A lot of from you. Hopelessness is, if not easy, at least predictable. The possibility, however, requires that you show up, that you get involved, that you open your life to other people. It requires conflict and decisions. He asks you not to save your ideas, but to use them. This week, as much as you can, choose action over stasis; you will be rewarded for doing so.
Normally, you are not someone who needs to know exactly what the future holds: you are comfortable with the changing and moving world. But lately, you are in need of some small certainty, very much in need of assurances that at least there is go be a future for you. This week, while you may not feel the full clarity you’re looking for, there are a few things you can do be assured: that your heart is good and that the world needs you very much. It is not much, but it is true.
Read the weekly horoscopes for the week of January 25th. weekly horoscopes for the week of February 8 will be online next Sunday.
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