july horoscopes

by Taylor Mikiska

And we’re back for our July review of the sky, flufmates! The Sun has settled into nurturing Cancer and we’re looking to take it real easy. July is certain to bring A LOT of feelings but by the end, we’ll have a lot of clarity about what we actually want versus what we thought we did. July is bringing us the dog days of summer. Low, slow heat where we’re letting everything simmer. This July will teach us to apply what we’ve learned from past experiences, both positive and negative. It is a time not of planting seeds, but of tending to those we’ve already planted and taking extra care in everything we do.

We kick off the month with Mars making a move from Cancer to Leo, bringing a welcome feeling of readiness to take back our ground in disagreements. We move immediately into a New Moon in Cancer on July second and this moon is all about making observations. This is a great time to check in with any intentions or goals you set at the start of 2019. If there’s anything you’re noticing that needs extra attention from that list, now’s the time to give it.

Venus transitions from exuberant Gemini to calm Cancer on the third, and we get a chance to find some softness in our attitudes towards romance. We greet a Mercury Retrograde on July 7 and we’ll be met head on with correcting habits and patterns that don’t serve us, especially when it comes to our finances. We can really use this retrograde to get it things back on track and create a solid plan that we can stick to. This retrograde begins in Leo, then makes it way into Cancer, giving us time to evaluate what works, what doesn’t, and how we can adjust. Mid-month we’re invited to lay low, especially with the Full Moon on July 16. This Full Moon holds a partial lunar eclipse in Capricorn, and would be best spent staying safely within the comforts of our homes (with the door bolted for extra safe keeping!). Full Moons are wonderful for release but this one will also be full of moments to find gratitude in what we already have.

Post Full Moon, the glow really starts to spread, especially when the Sun enters Leo on July 22. Leo Season invites us to step into the spotlight and find our inner leader. On the 27th, Venus joins the Sun in Leo and we can all feel free to inject a little drama (the good kind!) into our romances. The closes out with a New Moon in Leo on July 31 and Mercury ends its retrograde as well! On the last day of the month, get ready to rev those engines because after this loooonnnggg period of examination, we’re ready to show off everything we’ve been building.

I’ve pulled Tarot cards for each sign to help guide us through these lengthy summer days. Read on to see the kind of energy each sign has in store…

ARIES

The Tower

We’re still moving through the cycle of release that began last month, Aries. It’s necessary that you cut these ties that hold you back before they cut you. Letting go doesn’t always feel good. In fact, it’s rarely the cathartic release we make it out to be after the fact. But it’s going to be necessary before you make your next big move. It’s a good time to be truthful about the areas within yourself that could use some improvement. Check in with your physical self and invest some time in the things that make you feel the most you.

You’re an Aries!!! Remind yourself that you know how to do you best and no external force can sway that. You don’t always have to fight. Sometimes you can simply walk away, and especially during this Mercury retrograde, feel no pressure to explain yourself or your choices. Use the energy of the Full Moon on the 16th to jump ship and leave behind the things that aren’t aligned with the true you. You’ve always been a strong swimmer so there’s nothing to fear.

Taurus

Five of Pentacles

Perhaps we’ve been a little loose with our purse strings lately, Taurus? This month you’re gonna have to rein it in a bit. This goes for getting your health and wellness regimen back on track too. Yes, you’re only eating organic locally grown produce and using the finest imported bath salts in your evening soaks—but is that the extent of your self care? July is calling you to return to the basics. Are the products you’re “investing” in really changing your quality of life? Or are they just draining your bank account?

Self care comes in many many forms. It shows itself often in moments of finding peace within yourself when everything else is stripped away. You don’t need to struggle by any means, Taurus! And those fancy face masks don’t make your current self-care routine any less worthy. But pay extra attention this month to where you’re putting your money and your time and why you’re spending what with whom. Since this month is mostly about observation, don’t feel pressured to make any changes overnight. Let them happen gradually and do your best to not resist what’s revealed to you.

Gemini

Justice

Cause and Effect is a game you play often, Gemini—“What happens if ‘x’ does ‘y’?” This month though, you’re the subject, not the querent. It may benefit you greatly to get as neutral as you possibly can. Have you ever found neutrality with co-workers, lovers, or friends? Ask yourself what someone looks like through eyes that are not your own. Can you remove someone’s past actions from their current circumstance? Do you expect others to do the same for you? Identify the last time you truly saw all sides and weren’t just playing Devil’s advocate. When the tables are turned and others are playing Devil’s advocate questioning your choices and actions, are you still where you want to be?

This Mercury retrograde is digging up all the things we’ve said, all the promises we’ve made, and even the “white lies” we’ve told. It’s a good thing to look back and see how you’ve grown. It’s even better when you allow others space to do the same. By the time we enter Leo season, everything’s out on the table. Before the complicated discourse of Mercury settles in, get ahead of the game by being honest up front. You don’t need to apologize if you don’t mean it but it won’t hurt to acknowledge if you haven’t been fully upfront with someone.

Cancer

The Star

A restful reprieve at last, sweet Cancer! This month, you won’t have to fight anything (and that’s just the way you like it). When situations don’t turn out like you thought they would, by the Leo New Moon at the end of the month, you’ll realize they’ve turned out for the better. The month begins with the Sun in your sign and everyone will be on your watery wavelength. Forgiveness is in the air. Friends, loved ones, and laughter surround you. You are ready to make peace with the demons of your past and step into a brand new space of trust and abundance with the New Moon in Cancer on July 2.

Even though this first New Moon comes with an eclipse, you’ve always been at home with the Moon, and are more aware than perhaps any sign that moments of absolute gloom can lead us into our brightest days. You know too that everything cycles, as the Moon does, so to enjoy each moment of peace and tranquility we’re granted. Use the first New Moon to lay out stepping stones for where you’d like to be by the next one. No need for extreme actions, just float along, let things be, and enjoy the trip.

Leo

Death

You are ready to Let. It. Go. Leo. That thing that’s been nagging at you that you can’t seem to stop thinking about? Deal with it. A complicated ex, a long term project, a job you’re unsure of—whatever it is that’s keeping you from 10,000% joy, it’s gotta go. For good. You either make peace it with it, or you kill it (mentally, of course). It’s really that simple. On the other side of the Death card is absolute paradise. Once you get through the muck and the mud of cutting cords, you will feel a peace that carries you through to dreamland.

Mars moving into Leo on the first will have you ready to stand up for yourself, so now is the BEST time to have this fight, before Mercury retrogrades on the seventh! After the dust has settled, take time to re-charge. Fill back up with you. Surround yourself with an ultra nurturing crew that doesn’t need to be babied or taken care of. You are always silently the leader of the pack, Leo, and leaders need the most rest since they do the most work. By the time the Full Moon arrives, and then Leo season begins, there will be nothing that can dim your shine. Do whatever prep you need before you step into the spotlight. You do it better than anyone else, so don’t leave anything left unchecked before you hit the stage.

Virgo

Knight of Cups

You are stumbling through uncharted territory, Virgo. Really and truly facing your feelings; it’s absolutely beautiful to experience. You know how to work through them, how to shut them off, and how to distract yourself. You can reason and preserve through anything. But what happens when you just feel? When you don’t have a plan or an end goal in mind? You’re having fun, Virgo, and you’re totally allowed to!

Coloring outside the lines, making a mess, creating something that’s never been created before. You are stepping into a new relationship with your intuition and, if you’re open to listening, it will guide you on your greatest adventure yet. One in which you trust the process, fuck the outcome, and settle into just being. This month is not about hard boundaries, though they are always there when you need them, and when Mercury retrograde hits, you’ll feel inspired by your past, not defined by it. Don’t tell yourself no this month, just let yourself play.

Libra

Wheel of Fortune

Wherever you are on this wheel right now, Libra, just know it keeps turning. After great lows come great highs and on and on and on. In this moment though, you’re on the upswing! Something is beginning and though the wheel is sure to keep turning, when we reach a destination, it’s by choice, not chance. The more you speak something into the universe, the easier it will come to you. Identify the things in your life that are fixed and stable. Then see that you are the one turning the wheel. You decide where it starts and stops. Before you push, be certain of the kind of momentum you want to create. Because things are really about to get rolling when the New Moon in Leo rolls around on July 31!

Keep in mind that the end of one journey is just the beginning of another. This month is not about pushing against anything. When you’re searching for answers, it’s okay to just ask the question out loud. Though this retrograde may bring some hiccups in communication, it will show you the kind of discourse you want to be having with the people around you. You’ll be able to clearly identify your boundaries and keep the doors to communication open for those you wish to communicate with. The bottom line though is that you are in charge. The wheel isn’t spinning you, you’re steering it.

Scorpio

King of Pentacles

For the next minute, Scorpio, take stock of every single thing in your life that you are grateful for. Your brain, your books, the breath you’re taking right now. When you come back from that, say to yourself, “I did that.” Look around your space and soak it all in. You manifest abundance and it is all around you. If you keep taking stock of what you already have, that abundance will only continue to grow. The thing about abundance is that it’s mostly not physical. It’s a state of mind. A state of being. We have become abundant in our gratitude, our spirituality, our capacity for accepting responsibility and our capability to love.

We’re on the brink of great change, Scorpio. We’re beginning to understand the difference more and more every day between “want” and “need” and we’re realizing that showing up to our space can and will make a difference in the world around us. Whatever makes its way into our consciousness at this time is meant to be observed. We will spend July deciding how we want to put this new information into action. Scorpios are known detectives and this retrograde is the spiciest trail of breadcrumbs we’ve had in quite some time. Use this eclipse season and this retrograde period to quietly lay the groundwork for what you’re manifesting next.

Sagittarius

King of Wands

You are absolutely magnetic to everyone you encounter this month, Sagittarius. You’re carrying the torch everywhere you go and anyone you pass will become a moth drawn to the flame. Your admirers are coming out in droves. Everyone’s intrigued and everyone wants to follow. You are oozing charm and everything you’re touching is turning to gold. Whatever long-term plans you’ve been carefully crafting are starting to make their appearances into the outside world bit by bit. Whatever mystery you’ve created around your goings on behind closed doors has got everyone waiting, watching, wondering what you’ll do next.

Of course, this does not come without some major props to you. What others are beginning to see is what you’ve known all along. It’s what you’ve put the work into. By the time Leo season hits, you’ll be on fire. As a fellow fire sign and magician in your own right, you won’t be second guessing yourself when the opportunities you’ve worked so hard for start to take off like wildfire. The only warning here is don’t burn yourself out too quickly trying to keep up with success. It will come and it will keep coming if you take it all day by day.

Capricorn

Five of Cups

If you’re only ever thinking about what you’ve lost, how will you ever find what you deserve? If lovers have wronged you in the past, that doesn’t mean the next one will. Capricorn, you have a tendency to spill the beans about what you think a person will be before they get a chance show you who they are, or decide for themselves how they’d like to be seen. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. This retrograde may bring up a lot of people, places, and heartbreak from the past. It’s here to remind you that that’s exactly where it should stay too. In the past.

The past can be a tricky thing. Nostalgia can sometimes fool us into thinking we want something that wasn’t meant to work out. In every bit of hurt, there’s a lesson. There is no time to continue to dwell on what hasn’t worked the way you wanted it too. The whole world is waiting for you to embrace it and begin again. Whatever rush there is to find “the one”—the one job, relationship, home—it won’t bring you any closer to a true sense of peace. Burying yourself in work doesn’t make anything go away either. At some point, you’ve got to step into the Sun and start to reclaim your space simply for what it is. Reclaim your time and reclaim your love. You are worth every bit of it.

Pisces

Ten of Cups

Family life abounds, Pisces! You’re either seeing family at every turn this month or starting to work at putting the pieces together for the kind of family you’d like to create for yourself one day. This month, you’ll be fully surrounded by comfort and security, and if you find yourself in moments that don’t feel particularly fuzzy, take yourself on a nice long walk down memory lane and remember all the times your loved ones have been there for you. Let yourself show up in the way that feels most natural to you.

The best thing about family, especially our chosen families, is the kind of unconditional love we get to share with each other. Unconditional love does not mean love without boundaries, in fact it’s quite the opposite. It’s the kind of love that allows us to have difficult conversations. That says it’s okay to take a step back when feelings are hurt. Navigating family dynamics is not always easy breezy. It is an ongoing process that teaches us everything about the families we want to have around us. You’re not one to overreact, Pisces, so you can often be relied on as a clear voice of reason and empathy when disagreements arise. You’re allowed to say what you do and don’t want to be involved with in family matters. Take all the space you need and trust that a happy home is yours for the making.

Aquarius

Two of Swords

There are choices to be made, Aquarius, and they will require your intellect and intuition equally. The good news is: this is the perfect time to strengthen an alliance with someone whose opinions you trust and respect. Perhaps a new friend who keeps you honest or has an easy way to bring you down to earth when you seem to have floated out of orbit. Perhaps an old friend who knows the real you deep down and never judges when you need to air shit out.

As an Aquarius, you want to make things bigger than you. You’re much more comfortable when you get to take an issue to a larger scale and make it about “society” instead of your immediate environment. This eclipse season and retrograde are about exactly what is happening around you though, and as much as you want to deflect, or make it about something else, you can’t. It’s scary to look into the eyes of just one person. To hold just one hand. But you can do it. You’re constantly searching for something “outside the box.” But this month, you’re going to have to face what’s in the box first. You’ve got the whole retrograde to sort how you want to tackle it. By the time we reach the New Moon at the end of the month, you’ll have a new sense of clarity and will have gained a friend you can hold on to forever.

 July is certain to teach us many lessons. We’ve got to feel and then heal. But by the end of this month, we’ll be well equipped with the tools to do so. Whatever happens this month, remember your free will above all else. Retrogrades and eclipses can’t ruin your life. They may slow your roll, but it’s totally up to you to decide how you want to react. Find your ground, root down deep, and stand tall in everything you are. I’ll be here, rooting you on from the interwebs! Keep me posted on all the transformations you’re sure to encounter this July, and I’ll do that same.

xx

T