Admission: When I wrote the above sentence, I accidentally mistyped “soul-exploration” as “soil-exploration.” I’m not sure if that’s my subconscious being punny about your sign ruler Uranus’s present occupancy of fixed earth sign Taurus, or a cosmic clue that you need to re-pot your houseplants. Could be worth checking in on your ficus.

Anyway! Pay attention to messages from your own hindbrain during this week’s solar eclipse. It will let you know if you need to keep walking at this point, or if it’s time to take a pause, dig into your current location, and get your hands a bit dirty.

What the stars are up to:

• Saturn and your ruler Neptune are both retrograde in your sign.

What it means:

You’ve got big responsibilities and big feelings on your hands. While your ruler Neptune is retrograde, your famous powers of intuition feel a little flimsier than usual, and you may feel somewhat adrift in the current of life. Consider slightly loosening your grasp on your burdens. You don’t want to cast your obligations away to float off without you, but important responsibilities are capable of waiting while you navigate the river without you needing to clutch them desperately in a fearful death grip.

What the stars are up to:

• Chiron and the North Node are retrograde in your sign. (The North Node is always generally retrograde, that’s normal.)
• Your sign ruler Mars is in Cancer.
• Mars creates a trine with Saturn.
• Mercury squares off against Mars.

What it means:

You’re strong enough to feel your feelings. You’re prepared to do something about your feelings. But you’re not prepared to talk about these feelings — at least not yet! Stick to action for the moment and let the emotions marinate in the back of your mind. Don’t try to force any words out before they’re ready. Eventually your swirling thoughts will settle into a coherent structure — maybe by sometime next week — and then you’ll be able to articulate yourself to others.

What the stars are up to:

• Uranus is retrograde in your sign.
• Your sign ruler Venus is in Scorpio.
• Venus creates a trine with Saturn.

What it means:

Your weekend is for organization and order. Maybe that means rearranging your living space, but it could also refer to your Baldur’s Gate 3 Traveller’s Chest, your bookshelf, or your mind itself. You’re definitely tidying up something after the solar eclipse! If you feel a strange compulsion to arrange your underwear drawer by color and style, give in and do it. Otherwise you’ll suffer the pain of a thwarted desire, a longing like unto unrequited love, and for what purpose? Just ride the unexpected urge to clean as far as it takes you, and be at peace.

What the stars are up to:

• Jupiter is in your sign.
• Your sign ruler Mercury is in Libra.
• The Sun passes through conjunction with Mercury.
• Mercury passes through conjunction with Lilith and squares off against Mars.

What it means:

You’re set to walk deep into the darkest part of your soul and sit there for a while. You need to spend some time talking to the void and seeing what it says back to you. Social plans are canceled and action is off the table until you’re finished communing with the shadows. Try to arrive at an understanding with the parts of your heart you usually don’t look at, and then you’ll feel whole enough to safely step back out into the light.

What the stars are up to:

• Mars is in your sign.
• Mars creates a trine with Saturn.
• Your sign ruler the Moon travels through Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius.
• The New Moon in Libra passes through conjunction with the Sun and Lilith, blocking the Sun from Earth in an annular solar eclipse.

What it means:

Assertive Mars creates a cooperative trine with responsible Saturn, and you’re ready to head into battle — just in time for the annular solar eclipse! Your ruler the Moon is way out at the farthest point of its path around the Earth and headed down south to the lower half of its orbit when the New Moon aligns with the Sun to create the eclipse. You are more powerful than anyone else in the zodiac this week when your sign ruler bodily blocks the Sun in a temporary triumph of emotions over ego. Pay close attention to the message of the eclipse! You’re on the verge of entering a major new era.

What the stars are up to:

• Your sign ruler the Sun is in Libra.
• The Sun passes through conjunction with Mercury and Lilith.
• The New Moon in Libra passes through conjunction with the Sun and Lilith, blocking the Sun from Earth in an annular solar eclipse.

What it means:

You, meanwhile, are in for a dark night of the soul. (Really more like a temporarily dimmed afternoon of the soul, but you get the idea.) But it’s not so bad! Mercury and Lilith support your sign ruler, the Sun, to talk and walk you through the New Moon and annular solar eclipse. During the eclipse, your sense of self isn’t completely subsumed by emotion. You still remain fiery, bright, and self-possessed around the edges. When the shadow passes, you’ll be prepared to start on a brand-new stage of life.

What the stars are up to:

• Your sign ruler Mercury is in Libra.
• The Sun passes through conjunction with Mercury.
• The waning crescent Moon in your sign opposes Saturn and Neptune, forms a sextile with Mars, squares off against Jupiter, and creates trines with Uranus and Pluto.
• Mercury passes through conjunction with Lilith and squares off against Mars.

What it means:

Your sign ruler Mercury is tight with the Sun, New Moon, and shadow ruler Lilith this week. This ain’t the time to talk about action. Instead, your week is all about introspection! Before the annular solar eclipse in Libra, the Moon in your sign preps you for a massive emotional shift. Flawless timing! You’ll experience epiphany during the day of shadow, then emerge from the other side as the freshest new version of yourself.

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