As we enter the first full week of 2022, the skies are full of celestial bodies in retrograde. While the new year often encourages change, growth, and risk, retrogrades encourage the opposite.
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Retrogrades call us to pause and turn inward to assess how the stars and planets affect our lives. Retrogrades are a time for introspection, planning, and resting.
As counterintuitive as this might seem for a new year–2022 is a marathon, not a sprint. How are the stars encouraging your sign to start this year?
Aries
March 20 – April 19
Your ability to communicate your feelings is top-notch, Aries. Your listening skills, however, could use some work. You’re a natural leader with an undeniable passion for life. But what looks like a can-do attitude to you can look commandeering to others.
Learning to let others take the lead will be a challenge for you. But doing so will greatly improve your professional life. Your mental health and physical health will also benefit. While you might love your spot on the frontlines, it’s wearing on your spirit.
Try to let go of your need for control this week. You might enjoy relaxing for a change.
Taurus
April 19 – May 20
The Venus retrograde has offered some much-needed clarity to your personal life. For too long, you’ve acted against your own self-interest for the sake of stability. But a home routine doesn’t guarantee comfort, especially when that home doesn’t make you happy.
Ignoring your intuition is a recipe for disaster, Taurus. Not only does this wreak havoc on your self-esteem, but it also threatens your safe space: home. You’re a homebody by nature. As such, you’re hyper-aware of what you do (and don’t) want in your nest.
Now is the time to act on these revelations. So, take out the metaphorical trash, and move on.
Gemini
May 20 – June 21
You’re on fire this week, Gemini. Fire-ruled Mars and Sagittarius are both in your ruling third House of Communications. Consequently, you’re feeling extra empowered. Revel in this energy, but be cautious not to fan the flames into a wild blaze.
Not everyone around you is feeling this same burst of energy. Demanding others to meet you where you are won’t work in your favor. Instead, find ways to channel your emboldened spirit solo. Take yourself out on a date, pick up a new hobby, or try networking.
You’re the only one who can solve your feelings of restlessness. Now it’s time to brainstorm.
Cancer
June 21 – July 22
Take some time early this week to reassess your goals. Namely, focus on your love life and professional life. Whether short- or long-term, writing down a game plan will keep your ideas from becoming too overwhelming.
Venus remains in retrograde in your ruling fourth House of Home and Family. This has shone a bright, unforgiving spotlight on your past life. Moreover, it’s brought broader, intergenerational experiences to your psyche’s surface.
Our past may be permanent, but the future is not. The plans you make at the beginning of the week will carry you forward into the new year.
Leo
July 22 – August 22
With great regality comes great pride, and you are certainly no exception, Leo. Because of your outward confidence, people assume you have thick skin. In reality, you’re a softie. Your intensity knows no emotional bounds: you love as deeply as you hurt.
To err is to be human, but your impossibly high standards would suggest otherwise. The standards to which you hold yourself and others make apologizing and forgiving difficult. But your personal life would stand to benefit from you letting go of guilt and grudges.
Your love is an incredibly powerful thing. Just imagine what it can do when directed back at yourself.
Virgo
August 22 – September 22
Your spirit has been feeling malnourished. And much to your chagrin, diving headfirst into your work hasn’t been helping. Your tunnel vision hasn’t made your problems go away. Rather, it has only pushed your woes to the back of your mind.
Now, those troubles seem to be making their way forward. Your ruling planet, Mercury, is transitioning from Capricorn to Aquarius stars this week. Use this Aquarian influence to your advantage to find new, creative, non-work-related ways to feed your soul.
Neptune, the master of illusion, is in your ruling sixth House of Health. It’s likely tricking you into thinking that business equals happiness. But you know that isn’t true, right?
Libra
September 22 – October 23
Despite your best efforts, your relationships have been feeling lackluster. While there are many ways to feel about it, the true cause and solutions are more limited. Are your relationships really lacking, or have you set yourself up for disaster?
You’re used to putting others’ needs first, which is great for everyone else. But what about you? The resentment we build by not setting boundaries can fester for years. By the time we notice it, it’s often too late. We’re left alienated, unhappy, and yearning for something more.
Are your “best efforts” really your best if your wants and needs are nowhere in the equation?
Scorpio
October 23 – November 22
Your ruling planet, Pluto, is slowly moving away from Venus retrograde after a weeks-long conjunction. The lovesick planet has made you question your relationships and career choices, but that influence is waning now. The sun will further embolden you as it crosses Pluto’s path later in the week.
Use this newfound energy to strengthen your foundation—be it familial, at home, or in business. This might require you to put your faith in others, reconnect with estranged family, or take a leap within your career.
With a slowly growing moon crossing Pluto under Capricorn, the stars are practically begging you to take action. You have the power to make great change, Scorpio. How will you use it?
Sagittarius
November 22 – December 21
Your ruling planet, Jupiter, has been reveling in the fifth House of Pleasure for weeks now. As it transitions into the House of Health, it would be wise to focus your energy on more productive efforts.
Your philosophy has always been to expand mentally, spiritually, and otherwise. Indeed, this can look like adventure and exploration. However, it can also look like tending to our immediate environment.
Introspection and self-improvement might seem like a small undertaking at first. But rest assured, the work you put in now is the only thing that can propel you into your next big adventure.
Capricorn
December 21 – January 20
Guarding your heart can manifest in lots of ways, Capricorn. It doesn’t always look like being unavailable. In your case, it often appears as the opposite: overworking and people-pleasing. Both techniques are different sides of the same coin.
These defense mechanisms close us off to the possibility of pain. However, they also close us off to beautiful—albeit vulnerable—connections. Venus remains in retrograde under your sign, encouraging you to direct your love and attention inward.
Learning to take time to relax, regroup, and restart is a tough lesson for your go-getter personality. Still, it’s a lesson for which you’ve been long overdue.
Aquarius
January 20 – February 18
Ignoring your inner voice won’t change what it’s trying to tell you. Despite what you’re telling yourself, you aren’t struggling to come up with the right decision or solution. Your intuition has already told you what it is. The only challenge now is listening.
More often than not, life doesn’t go according to our plans. And in that same vein, what we want and need are usually two different things. You want to change the world. You need to focus on yourself. The former is impossible without first working on the latter.
Being away from the action might seem insufferable at first, but you’ll come out stronger on the other side.
Pisces
February 18 – March 20
As the only sign in the Zodiac ruled by Neptune, you’re by far the most susceptible to its trickery. Neptune’s nickname is the Master of Illusion. When direct (like it is now under your sign), Neptune can put a rose-colored veil over our eyes.
Consequently, we’re blinded to the realities of our situation. Our problems and anxieties are simply swept under the rug, out of sight and mind. However, Uranus retrograde is pushing you to bring the hidden elements to light.
Needless to say, you’re swimming in a sea of emotions right now. Look for solid ground within your inner circle.