Happy full moon!

Today the sun and the moon gaze across at one another from opposite sides of the Capricorn/Cancer axis. This axis is one that speaks to elements of stability, home and nurturance which create a base for stamina, commitment and ambition to go far in life. The sun in Cancer is conjunct with the planet Mars. This is a sun that wants to nurture and feel satisfied but is feeling pressed to take action. Mars in Cancer is a warrior wearing an apron- unsure of how, when or why to act. The Capricorn moon glows with subjective desire to come out on top- to know and embody one's truth, to achieve. There are feelings of confusion and push/pull in this moon that might have something to do with taking risks- with the feeling that one has to leave the comfort zone. To be in this tension can be quite emotional so don't be surprised if you ride an internal roller coaster for the next few days! Luckily, the two benefics- Venus and Jupiter- are sitting together in Leo today as well. Their presence is a joyful offering of courage, heartfulness, childlike enthusiasm, and effusive beauty. For whatever mental blocks or external challenges that are being presented right now, there is an equal amount of force that wants to open doors and grant wishes. Tomorrow the moon will arrive conjunct with Pluto, bringing a dose of serious power to whatever is being illuminated right now. If you feel that you are in a vortex of some sort, just breathe, this moment is arising to serve your growth.

Your July horoscopes are here. Please enjoy and share with friends.

Much love, Renée

 

“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” ― Nelson Mandela

CANCER Your sign is one that is known for its ability to comfort, console, and create feelings of belonging, safety and nurturance for others. Your tendencies towards security and comfort are part of what is making this moment feel so odd. Your chart is being energized by some big power; power that might accept conflict if not outright invite it; power that is interested in the personal strength that evolves from a struggle; power that is fed by its own tenacity rather than external validation. You have a wide open door to revolutionize your values and to invite an abundance of what you love, how you love, and who you love into your work and ways in the world. Whether or not you walk through the door depends highly on your conflict resolution skills right now. This is not just about conflict with your significant others. Really, it is the conflict you have within yourself. When do you give up your own power in order to make others comfortable and is it worth it anymore? Do you have to harden your shell in order to assert yourself or can you nurture others by actually taking care of your own needs? This is a month to actively rewrite the contracts you’ve made with yourself and with your important others. You want to make sure that not only do you feel supported in your needs for stability, but that you are fully supported in your needs for freedom. WEAR IT THIS MONTH: BDSM strap/rope contraptions, too tight constrictive clothing, or pebbles in your shoes. Practice breathing through sensation, allowing it to change, getting over your aversions, and maybe even getting turned on by them.

LEO There’s a certain, special kind of clarity that can only come through excess. It’s the knowing of balance and the priority that arises in the wake of gluttony and overwhelm. With the sun as your ruler, one of the most challenging things for you in life is how to take on only the tasks you know you can do well and allow the rest to pass on by without feeling some kind of personal failure for not being able to do it all. This past year has brought excess into your life, probably in a few areas. You have had to juggle, balance, and hold many moving pieces. You probably dropped some balls, a few of which have probably been significant. As July progresses you are entering into a much more contemplative space- one in which questions of value, heartfulness, and life purpose are figuring big. You don’t need to do it all, but you do need to choose wisely. You know that what you choose to put stock in now can grow and that you have the strength to attend to it. You are also entering into a space of soberness around how much you can actually commit to. Whatever you move towards means that something else will be moved away from. Whatever you leave will give you more room to move towards something else. How do you make those choices? Consider what makes your heart feel the most full, what brings you the most optimism, and what feels like it gives you the most ability to be generous. The quote at the beginning of these horoscopes is especially for you friend. Move towards hope that aligns with your highest values and you will make the right choices. Trust. WEAR IT THIS MONTH: This is a good month to actually consider what you won’t wear. If you don’t love it, get rid of it. You can take on a few new items ONLY if they are a 100% yes, and only after you pair down at least 5 other items. I mean it. Two words. Capsule wardrobe

VIRGO Compassion is something to practice and work towards, not a constant state of being, at least not for most of us. I have been practicing redefining words lately and for now my working definition of compassion is “the willingness to be uncomfortable together.” Since compassion inherently is not oppressive and is not about imposing our answers on others’ questions, to be truly compassionate means, I think, to be willing to not have an answer for someone… Or to be willing to sit in the discomfort of not knowing rather than reaching for an idea of solidity that is premature or prescriptive simply because it quells the uneasiness of being present with the fact that, in fact, we really don’t know... The ways in which you assert and express yourself, the impact you have on others, the questions you have about roles: what they have meant, what they will mean, and what it means to have roles in life that are fluid- all of these questions are in need of your compassion. There is not an easy answer that is going to make the not knowing easier to bear. The long-standing implications of personal choices won’t be revealed until a significant amount of time has passed. Can you offer yourself an abundance of tenderness in this time of unknown? Can you open to guidance that arises in mystery and trust that your steps will be ones made with grace? You don’t have to know right now. You can’t. But what is wanting to come through and into you is the gift that arises in the presence of compassion which is an unchained, unconditional heart that will not be muted by fear. WEAR IT THIS MONTH: A blindfold. Especially if you have a good friend who can guide you on a walk through the neighborhood.

LIBRA What is the difference between self-love and self-respect? What are the practical considerations you need to make so that you can abide in your integrity during the times when you are feeling the most insecure and self-doubting? There’s a question right now that’s arising in the space between how you feel yourself in your solidity, security and home, and how the outer world sees you or wants to see you. I’m going to go out on the optimistic limb and say that what is happening is real exciting. Hopefully you’re experiencing openings and opportunities that feel inspired by your biggest and most far-out there notions of what could be if… And hopefully you are also experiencing surges of personal power that can not only hold these opportunities with savviness and sauciness, but are also 100% onboard with believing in the fact that you have earned and deserve the goodness that is coming to you. This might be a month in which you need to go head-to-head with some inner demons and fight the biggest baddest battle of a courageous heart, the essence of which is the decision to be on your own side. Notice the inner critic who wants to tell you that you don’t deserve the appreciation of others. Notice the inner naysayer who’s trying to tell you lies about your ability and/or worthiness. If you’re getting praise Libra, you deserve it. If you’re getting criticism, take it with some salt and remember that you can’t take anyone else’s subjective experiences/preferences personally. Either way- commit to a solid practice of self-respect and remember that often self-respect comes far in advance of self-love. You have to prove your own accountability to yourself. You have to let yourself know that you will be there for yourself day in and day out. You have to make the choices that serve the highest possibility of who you are, not a fleeting need for comfort. Remember that true love abides. Self-love is not a passing fancy. You have to work for it, and believe that you’re worth the work. Do it. WEAR IT THIS MONTH: This

SCORPIO What do you believe in? Is there a force that is greater than what you know? Do you have a name for it? If an alien had just landed on Earth and was asking you, “What are you?” how would you answer? Can you feel the connectivity between yourself and the food you eat? Can you trace the emotional baggage you carry through the history of your family (blood family, chosen family, cultural family?) What are you? Who are you? How have you come to be what/who you are? This month is one in which to ponder the possibility of redefining perspective. Are there places in your life that feel stuck, boring, or somehow inaccessible? Seek to understand your own biases and preferences. Why do you like what you like? What is the moment between perceiving and preference? Where did your preferences come from? How do your preferences dictate your actions, which then become the base from which others perceive you? The power of thought is before the thought. The power of perception is in the verb, in the in-between space between you as you know yourself (and wherever and whatever you’ve come from) and the thing you’re perceiving. Can you be in the verb? Can you be in the question of what it means to perceive? One clue of how to get that quality of immediacy and presence is to embrace each moment with tenderness. If you believe in a higher power than call on its compassion. If you believe in nature then feel yourself as the nurturing force which feeds life. Attend to each moment as if it were a precious gem. Don’t take your preferences or habitual responses too seriously. There is something waiting for you that has a lot to do with how you live your life and where your life is going, but that something is only available in the NOW. It wants you to drop the story and open to a new possibility. WEAR IT THIS MONTH: Clothing that you have researched and know where it comes from. Make sure it’s ethically sourced, fairly traded, and responsibly sold. When you wear it feel yourself connected to the many hands who made it and brought it to you.

SAGITTARIUS The interesting thing about value is that its meaning changes depending upon whether or not others agree. To hold something of personal value is no guarantee that anyone else will share your concern. Often, the things which are culturally valuable are personally meaningless. The spaces in which your personal ideals and values intersect with the values of others is a potent space right now. Try to be aware of your inner dictator- the one who says she knows what is valuable and what is not. The one who would assert his own ideas before nurturing something that felt opposing. I’m not saying to stand down from what you believe, but I am offering an invitation to stretch your beliefs a bit. The intimate space that exists in your relationships can be a beautifully caring, compassionate and kind space if you let it. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to get your way or the things you think you want. Let your inner vision get a bit blurry like when you let your eyes soften and expand to perceive the periphery. No hard focus. The values that you’re focusing on right now aren’t unimportant, they’re just not the full story. Can you allow your edges to be a bit softer, your pores to be a bit more porous, your listening to be a bit more spacious. The chorus line is coming in faint and slow. You’ll hear it and understand it as soon you stop focusing on the lyrics. WEAR IT THIS MONTH: Exquisite costume jewelry that makes you feel like royalty.

CAPRICORN First of all, please read the Cancer horoscope too. As your opposite sign and an important part of your axis of understanding- the Cancer ‘scope illuminates some of the core issues that are up right now. One of the most highlighted issues currently is who you are in relationship and why you have agreed to be that way. Yes it takes two to tango, yes of course there are always the missteps and fuck-ups that you didn’t ask for but got caught up in anyway. That’s not the point. The point currently is how your relationships are reflecting yourself to you. What have you dismissed in yourself that your partners present in abundance? What traits are you irresistibly attracted to? What traits are you repulsed by? Take a look at your strongest responses to others and see if you can imagine owning the qualities you attribute to them. If someone is attractive to you, can you own their attractiveness and the feeling of being attracted in yourself? Can you claim the qualities of their attractiveness for yourself? If someone infuriates you, can you ask how they might exemplify something you know about yourself but don’t admit to? The space and place of who you are is rapidly expanding and redefining itself Capricorn, and the shifts you feel and so desperately want are coming. And… Before you get there you have to let yourself go. You’re holding on to some outdated versions of who you are and what you want. These beliefs have not only limited you but they’ve limited those you’ve loved. Consider how radical it is to actually let yourself love without conditions. Do not hold tightly. Feel the grasp of your heart like an open palm. Trust that you will hold and delight in what presents itself to you only as much you can hold and delight in the changing, impermanent mystery of what it is. WEAR IT THIS MONTH: That thing you saw on someone else, loved and thought “That wouldn’t look good on me” but that you really want to try wearing anyway and maybe just don’t have the guts.

AQUARIUS This would be a good month to reread some of your favorite fairy tales. Take note especially of the mysterious and mischievous characters who appear in all sorts of guises, with all sorts of tricks up their sleeves… These characters often present as untimely distractions, pests, or someone asking for help. They usually have a couple of ‘tests’ they present to the hero(ine) that require tenacity, kindness, goodwill, and courage. At some point these characters are revealed as guides- the wise ones who teach not with their words, not with their actions, but with the space they facilitate around the protagonist’s experience. Heros teach themselves their own lesson, but only because circumstances have arisen in which the lessons can be learned. Your life is something akin to this right now Aquarius. The mystery of deeper meaning, purpose, and the ineffable presence of something bigger than you has been beckoning. You don’t know where it’s going or quite how to proceed. Don’t worry. Attend to your daily tasks. Attend to your life and those in it as if everyone has a key that can unlock your mystery. Remember that the keys can’t be asked for, bought or bribed, but they are earned with sincerity and commitment. Be lovely to others. Let go of any agenda that NEEDS something from anyone. The right messages, the right paths, the right guides, and the right steps are all here and will present themselves as you are ready. Make your guides feel generous by being grateful to them now, already. WEAR IT THIS MONTH: A change purse or extra pocket with gifts for strangers. Consider some gifts that could fill it: some loose change, maybe a crystal, or a really delicious piece of chocolate.

PISCES Dear Pisces, Have you ever thought about investing? I’m here to remind you that just one small investment now can yield immeasurable benefit in the future. Pisces did you know that your very beingness could be your investment? Yes it’s true, flaws and all, the work you have (or have not) put into your own awakening is the most valuable asset you currently have, or will ever have. This might not be the most high-yield moment to invest your currency or take risky chances with money, in fact these days might be a bit of a roller coaster on the financial front, but it is an auspicious moment to invest in social capital. It is a great moment to make daily deposits of gratitude and appreciation to your wider networks and extended friends. It is an incredibly opportune moment to diversify your holdings and embrace others whom you admire, feel inspired by, feel challenged by, and feel the need to transform, grow and be more awesome when you’re around them. Investing in the relationships that spark the hunger of your soul, being fearless in pursuing your dreams of community and collectivity, and ruthlessly embracing and transforming your fears of judgment and othered-ness will be the keys to an abundance of your creativity and true essence. The “What am I here to express?” that your heart is yearning for has something big to do with how you do or do not invest in the communities that will support it. Who are the people you want to be like and be around? Offer them your sincere friendship, loyalty and equality. They have something to teach you about the power of your own voice and the richness you already have. WEAR IT THIS MONTH: Friendship bracelets. Keep extra string with you to make new bracelets with new (and old) friends as often as you can. Here’s how

ARIES You love life and creative life come from the same place. The place that wants to explore, have fun, express, get turned on, desire and pursue desire… In both your romantic ventures and your creative life pay attention to what you’re learning about your desires, fantasies, and what turns you on and inspires you. How is that space affected by the rules you agree to play by with others? An agreement to renegotiate terms, or a sunset clause, is a wise element to include in most contracts, especially those involving growing, changing, evolving human beings. It might feel like there’s some kind of restriction in intimacy right now, or a tension between what you want and what you’re getting. It’s ok to be in that tension for a bit, we learn about ourselves a lot when we don’t get what we want, and part of a healthy maturation process is to learn how to ask for what we want, and respectfully decline our involvement if we’re not receiving what we need. It might be time for some radical self-love, it might be time for a renegotiation of what you are or are not willing to live without, for now. One of the greatest gifts you can give someone is the willingness to let them change and not expect them to always stay the same. Consider that you can give that gift to yourself and to the others in your life right now. Don’t be scared to ask the hard questions, and don’t let yourself get fooled into thinking that the answer you get today will be the same tomorrow. It’s scary to ask for what you want. Scarier still to stand for it if you get refused. But ultimately the payoff will be worth it. WEAR IT THIS MONTH: Self-affirmations. If you can stand them on your clothing then get some t-shirts, or undies. If not then write yourself notes and keep them in your pockets.

 

TAURUS It is not easy to have a crisis of faith. When the ideals that have held us up begin to feel shaky and quaky nothing else makes sense. A crisis of faith is no joke, and the ‘dark night of the soul’ is a rite-of-passage that no one ever really wants to go through. To question the beliefs that we offer austerities towards or aspire to, means that the efforts we made in the past can suddenly become meaningless and the future ambivalent. Your spirit is bigger and broader than anything you can define. If ideas, teachings, or teachers that have previously held meaning for you are now seeming two-dimensional, just know that this too shall pass. There’s a radical restructuring in your relationship to spirit, belief and purpose that is transpiring now. The biggest clue for you is to move towards what makes you feel ‘at home’. Not the things that are habitual and familiar, but the things that are deeply comforting and that nourish the best versions of who you are. On the same note, you may find that life is presenting you with new teachers, new insight, new faith. Does it make you feel good? Follow it. Does it make you feel confused or imposed upon? It’s not for you. It’s ok to feel uncomfortable and pressed for a bit- it takes time to build new neuropathways. Listen deeply to the space inside of you. The faith you find there is your home. Anything else is just a stopping point. Listen, listen, listen. Everything you think you need you have already. WEAR IT THIS MONTH: Powerful pendants and medicine pouches of sacred plants and stones

GEMINI Don’t wonder how you should be. Just be it. Your natural abilities to connect, to care about others, to nurture your curiosity, and to offer enthusiasm to others are gems. Most of us have a hard time thinking that our talents are anything special because we’ve been trained to think that working harder is better. And sometimes this is true, the challenges we face usually do make us stronger… But it’s also important to appreciate and spend time with the things that come easily, and to enjoy the fact that we have talents that are unique. You don’t really need to do anything else other than what you already do with joy and ease. That’s not true… You need to live ethically, and you need to make choices to encourage and refine your talents while also making choices to lean into what challenges you. But other than that all you need to do is actively acknowledge what you already do well and give yourself mad props for it. Everyone grows up better with positive encouragement, and the more you let yourself receive it the more the circumstances in your life will align to bring you more of what you love. WEAR IT THIS MONTH: Conversation pieces