The stars are aligning for miscommunications, mishaps, and missteps this week—yep, pesky Mercury retrograde is back. And this time, it’s bound to be a doozy. Not only does it stand in opposition to Jupiter retrograde. But it also occurs in the 1st House of Life and the 7th House of Relationships—too deeply personal and intimate areas of life.
Consequently, be on the lookout for potential miscommunications. Now is the time for clear, direct language—save the passive aggressions and subtle hints for another day. Mercury retrograde doesn’t guarantee disaster, but you’d be wise to stay on your toes.
How will your sign fare this week?
Choose Your Sign
Be wary of letting your emotions validate your harmful behavior, Aries. Of course, your feelings are valid. But that’s not necessarily the case for your actions. And the stronger we hold onto these ideals, the harder it is to let them go when necessary.
The stars encourage you to take some time this week to assess your inner values. Is being right worth being lonely? What about being successful? Eventually, you’ll be left with all burned bridges and nowhere to go. Then what?
When you devote your heart and time to something, you give 100 percent. There is no halfway for you. And while this is great in certain situations, it can be downright dangerous in others. Don’t let your emotions blind you to reality, Taurus.
Otherwise, you put yourself at risk of developing codependent bonds. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to help those around you, but you can’t make it your life mission. And you certainly can’t start to synonymize that helpfulness with your self-worth.
You are constantly seeking the good in people, no matter how deeply it might be hidden. Indeed, you would rather wade through the muck of constant confrontation than admit that a relationship has run its course. But run its course it has, Gemini.
You have two options. On the one hand, you can ignore this reality and suffer the consequences. Or you can deal with the temporary discomfort now to enjoy exponential personal growth later. Deep down, you know which path you need to take.
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You’re a highly sensitive person, which means you tend to take almost everything personally—objective universal setbacks included. When life gets hard, you try to get harder. But is throwing a fit over life’s unfairness a productive way to spend your time?
Moreover, how are you affecting those around you with this harshness? It would be far more productive to let these experiences soften and inspire you, Cancer. You’re not being punished; you’re learning a lesson. There is a distinctly important difference.
You’re on the precipice of great change, Leo. But first, you’ll have to let go of what’s been weighing you down. You can’t expect to cross over into new stages of life with mountains of emotional baggage in tow. And what’s the point of keeping them, anyway?
Holding onto these past hurts and failures won’t change what has already happened. Nor will it heal the wounds to your ego. The only thing left to do is to keep moving forward. Your past is not your future.
Think carefully before making any major decisions this week. With your ruling planet, Mercury, in retrograde, things are bound to get a little sideways. Make sure that you’re acting on solid ground, not a fleeting knee-jerk reaction.
While these two states of being can certainly feel the same in the moment, you would be wise to take a moment to pause. The clarity you gain in that brief respite could reveal more than weeks of ruminating ever could. Then, if you’re sure, you can proceed.
You can’t simultaneously stay silent and then get mad when no one listens to you. If you want people to hear you, then you’ll have to get loud—plain and simple. Just because you’re uncomfortable with directness doesn’t mean you can avoid it forever.
Nor should you, Libra—is a life of passive aggression and submission really what you want for yourself? The worst that could happen is you find out who really cares about you and who doesn’t. And in the end, that’s well worth the temporary discomfort.
Your intense loyalty is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it makes you a fierce and devoted friend and partner. But on the other, you can start to develop unrealistic expectations of those around you. Ultimately, this ends in jealousy and resentment.
You can’t blame others when they don’t meet your silent expectations of them. How is someone supposed to meet a standard they don’t even recognize is in place? You’ll either have to start communicating or learn to deal with others’ free will.
Don’t underestimate the ability of our experiences to shape our internal compass. A dilemma early in the week presents new insight into a recurring issue, and it’s important that you pay attention to what it’s teaching you. More importantly, how it makes you feel.
This might mean reassessing your beliefs and values. Perhaps something you thought you could live with has now become non-negotiable. Alternatively, you might be missing a value you didn’t expect to have. Either way, it’s time to start looking.
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Be wary of confusing your sense of duty with a tendency for self-destruction. Your work ethic is admirable, but the way you take care of yourself isn’t. There comes a time when you’re no longer a go-getter; you’re a martyr. Why are you so eager to gain that title?
You deserve a life without constant responsibility and obligation, Cap. Believe it or not, you were not meant to toil all your days. It’s time to start finding small pockets in your schedule for much-needed self-care.
As someone who prides themselves on being open-minded and intelligent, it can be difficult to admit when you’re wrong. Despite your self-proclaimed enlightenment, your ego still takes a considerable hit when you realize you weren’t as sure as you thought.
However, this is an opportunity—not a setback. Being wrong is part of being human; it isn’t a weakness or defect. On the contrary, it’s a chance to prove just how evolved you really are. Learn from this experience, grow, and eventually, you’ll restart the cycle.
Revelations are rarely peaceful, Pisces. Instead, they often manifest as surges of gut-wrenching realization and glaring clarity. Someone as gentle-natured as you can often bend to the power of these findings, but you must resist the urge to do so.
First of all, you’re stronger than you realize. But secondly, and most importantly, there is greater prosperity waiting for you on the other side of this grief. Give yourself some grace to mourn the loss of what you thought once was, but don’t forget to move forward.
