Angel Olsen, an aquarium.
Photo-Illustration: by Preeti Kinha; Getty of photos
On Thursday, it is a new moon in Aquarius, intensifying all the Aquarian energy that is already in the sky. (There are currently five other celestial bodies in the sign: the sun, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn.) Like any new moon, this will be a powerful time to look forward, to define intentions, to imagine the existence of new worlds. . And since this moon is in an idealistic and collective-minded Aquarius, it is a particularly powerful time to define intentions that are not private, but collective – to imagine together a future free from oppression, inequality and greed, and to imagine exactly how we ‘I I will move together in that direction.
The best days are those when your conscious mind and your unconscious will work together in perfect harmony – when you can speak without thinking and your words come out right, when you can act successfully on instinct alone. But this week, you may feel a little disheveled. This can be maddening, but if you can slow down, the tension between thought and action can be helpful. You can understand your own contradictions. You can strengthen your thinking and clarify your desires.
You may feel strangely distant, this week, from your needs and desires, from your solid and stable life. Intellectually, of course, you know you still have desires, but this week, it’s not your body that guides you, but your tall, active brain. There is nothing wrong with that; it does not mean that you will be disconnected from reality. Imagination is as real as anything else. And this week, your most vital experience in the world can happen in thought, analysis, imagination.
This week may seem imbued with an unpleasant feeling of inevitability – as if we are stuck in a single dead end. As if even a big change, even a revolution, would only bring more of the same. But if you can look away from the big picture and get back to your own life, you will remember that the small beauty on a human scale is practically infinite. There are still streets you have not yet traveled, poems you have not read and people you have never met before, with stories to tell and surprises to share.
Lately, jealousy is lurking around every corner, waiting to catch you in moments of loneliness. It is so easy to imagine that others are accumulating all the pleasure that you have lost, that others have everything that is missing in abundance. Even when you know you’re not rational, even when you know that of all hurting, the feeling is surprisingly persistent. This week, however, you can avoid this easily. It is a week to turn to collective action, or collective anger, or collective joy. These things are much stronger than any kind of jealousy.
Despite how bad the whole world feels right now, there are still some things you want to preserve forever. Despite how much you hate this gray and ugly version of life, there are still little sparkling moments of sweetness, solidarity, care. There is a tension between your desire for everything to change and your desire to cling to everything that is still beautiful. This week, don’t let yourself be playing defense, channeling all your energy to avoid further losses. This is a week to look to the future with courage, to think about the better world that we can build.
If you have felt trapped and lonely recently, this week can offer surprising solutions. You may have unexpected opportunities to connect, or projects that can absorb your energy, or chances to come out of the isolation of your own mind. These opportunities will not be perfect, and you may even wonder if it is wise to take advantage of them. However, this week, wisdom need not be your only consideration. Sometimes an imperfect friendship is all you need to continue. Sometimes all you need is a loving hand to get you out of your isolation – and at least this week can offer that to you.
When you look at all the institutions, structures and people that hold you back, they can seem untouched and immovably secure. It may seem that there is no more use in fighting. But this week, small moments of irritation can prolong your assertiveness; they can get you ready to fight again. This week, small victories can remind you of what joy is like and strengthen you for the road ahead. You don’t need a big plan. You do not need to map the future in detail. The world will offer you small tools and small gifts, and this is a week to use them.
You can feel a twinge in the air this week – as if everyone’s knives are sharp, as if everyone is after you. When things are so intense, it’s easy to get caught up in dramas that are not about you. It is easy to let misunderstandings become painful conflicts. So this week, try to be a little careful with your own sensitivity, your own sensitivity. This is not the time to commit to new grudges or to record your impressions. Everyone says things that don’t entirely mean; this week, try to offer everyone a little free, even yourself.
Sometimes it seems that all you can ask the world for is some measure of security, some measure of comfort. But at the same time, you know that stability alone is not enough for you. This is a week to feel comfortable wanting everything – movement and safety, adventure and the certainty that you have a place to return to. Remember that wanting everything is not really a problem: even if you can’t Tue everything, the desire can be sweet, enlightening and life-giving in itself.
This week can offer you a kind of real and surprising intimacy. You can sometimes forget how much you need this; closeness to others – whether in friendship, in love or in fighting side by side – can bring out the best version of yourself. It can show parts of yourself long forgotten, it can make you braver than you even thought possible. It can be comforting to put relationships in the background, to imagine them secondary to the “real work” of your life. But this week, if you open your heart to others, you will be rewarded for it.
No matter how right you feel in your beliefs, your thinking is still developing and your ideas are still evolving. Even here, even now, advances are still possible. Chaos can become meaning in an instant. This week, you can really unleash all the brilliant power of your mind. It will look like you are at the height of your intellectual powers – but remember, this is not some kind of culmination or the end of a journey. New people and new ideas are still on the way. There is a beautiful new world for us to build together.
Once in a while, when you look at the vast universe, there is a loneliness that arises in your heart. You have a deep awareness of everyone’s shared and interconnected humanity, but sometimes it can make you sadder than accomplished. Sometimes it is difficult to be part of something bigger. Sometimes you need personal attention, to be looked at with a special kind of generosity, care or admiration. This week, when you feel part of the biggest cycles in the world, let yourself be a normal human being too. Try to recognize that you need love, hope and comfort, just like everyone else does.
Read the weekly horoscopes for the week of February 1st. weekly horoscopes for the week of February 15th will be online next Sunday.
Get Claire Comstock-Gay’s book, Madame Clairevoyant’s Star Guide, out now.