Your Queer Weekly Horoscope: August 5-11

The Moon’s current friendships with the representatives of reinvention, energy, expansion, and self-expression could help offset dire emotional outcomes this week. On the other hand, you might take all of that power and actively use it to level damage upon your relationships. Try to move carefully!

What the stars are up to:

• Your sign ruler Pluto is retrograde in Aquarius.
• The waxing crescent Moon in your sign squares off against Pluto and forms sextiles with Mercury and Venus.

What it means:

Oh no. Your Moon this week — which is on its way to First Quarter phase, but not quite there yet — is fighting with your own retrograde sign ruler, Pluto, but making friends with the disaster duo of retrograde Mercury and Venus. Near the end of the week, you’re likely to be tempted to double down on commitment to restrictive life circumstances you don’t even want. You’ll also be apt to initiate hurtful fights with the people you love best. Watch out.

What the stars are up to:

• Your sign ruler Jupiter is in Gemini.
• The Sun forms a sextile with Jupiter.

What it means:

Your signature Sagittarian luck rides to the rescue once again! While most of the zodiac is melting down all around you, it’s unlikely that you’ll escape entirely unscathed from the pain of secondhand consequences, but mid-week brings you a boon. You’re primed to experience a surge of self-understanding that will explain a lot of stuff about yourself, to yourself. You probably won’t be able to successfully share the news with anyone else until Mercury returns to direct orbit, but still! Knowing is half the battle!

What the stars are up to:

• Your sign ruler Saturn is retrograde in Pisces.

What it means:

Your sign ruler Saturn is retrograde and you simply do not have the patience for Mercury’s retrograde shenanigans. But here you stand, nonetheless! Your week is all about the attempt to maintain a semblance of normalcy while everyone else is flying off the handle. If you have any opportunity to take a staycation and just hide out at home — preferably pre-stocked with groceries so you don’t have to deal with other people at all — you should seriously consider a brief period of avoidance.

What the stars are up to:

• Pluto is retrograde in your sign.
• Your sign ruler Uranus is in Taurus.

What it means:

Your sign ruler Uranus, eccentric patron of innovation, is currently uncomfortably aligned with your own slice of the zodiac wheel. In your space, the wreck-it-all-and-start-again dwarf planet Pluto is chilling out in retrograde. You’re not in an ideal headspace to handle Mercury’s latest retrograde rampage, but here it comes anyway! Be mindful that others are likely to misunderstand your meanings, and remember that you, too, are capable of misinterpreting others’ words.

What the stars are up to:

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

What it means:

You’re just a little buoy of empathy, tossed about on the surface of a chaotic ocean of emotion. Your powers of organization and intuition are muted at the moment, so you’re not ideally prepared to handle huge waves of miscommunication and frustration. Try your best to protect your heart this week. Remember that other people’s unpleasant behavior often has nothing to do with you personally, and resist the urge to try to hang onto friends who are currently committed to bad choices. Just wait it out; you can give them a hand later, when they eventually decide on their own that they’re ready to get back up.

What the stars are up to:

• Chiron and the North Node are retrograde in your sign. (The North Node is always generally retrograde.)
• Your sign ruler Mars is in Gemini.

What it means:

You are still trying to climb onward and upward, progressing up the mountain of life. Unfortunately, nothing and no one else is cooperating with your goals at the moment. Keep moving — it’s not like you’re gonna stop and wait for better weather — but be aware that you’re operating in disadvantaged conditions, and don’t force yourself to the point of injury.

What the stars are up to:

• Uranus is in your sign.
• Your sign ruler Venus is in Virgo.
• Retrograde Mercury passes through conjunction with Venus.

What it means:

Your sign ruler Venus is blessed by a visit from Mercury! Or, it would be blessed if Mercury were behaving normally instead of insisting on a three-week stretch of Opposite Day. Venus is definitely still going to be visited by Mercury, but the experience may be more akin to a curse. Weirdness levels remain high with Uranus in your sign, and important conversations are likely to turn out poorly for you.

What the stars are up to:

• Mars and Jupiter are in your sign.
• Your sign ruler Mercury is in Virgo.
• In the earliest moments of the week, Mercury turns retrograde.
• The Sun forms a sextile with Jupiter.
• Orbiting perspectively retrograde, Mercury passes through conjunction with Venus.

What it means:

You’re in for some ups and downs — or more of a down-up-down pattern, rather. What else is new? Your ruler Mercury is back on its backwards bullshit. You know the drill. But this time around, you might learn something! When the Sun buddies up to Jupiter in your sign, you’re offered a valuable opportunity for personal expansion. Try not to lose this advantage when Mercury urges you to open a conversation that nobody else — hell, even yourself — is actually ready to have yet.

What the stars are up to:

• Your sign ruler the Moon travels through Leo, Virgo, Libra, and Scorpio.
• The Moon reaches the farthest point of its orbit from Earth in Libra.

What it means:

Your sign ruler the Moon is in a waxing crescent phase all week. Due to the dangers of Mercury’s retrograde influence, you’ll experience a period of progressively building emotional energy that you could easily channel into conflict if you so choose. Adding to the problem, the shadowy whispers of Lilith become extra strong when the Moon reaches the farthest point of its orbit in Libra. Do your best to float through the treacherous waters without splashing around in panic and accidentally creating extra waves.

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