WEEK OF August 7 - 1 3, 2023
You might need to make a tough call this week: whether to stick to fun summer plans like a beach day or cancel playtime for an unexpected work crisis that comes up on Wednesday, August 9. With your self-confident ruler, the radiant Sun, powering up your sign, your desire to do what YOU want to do could be dialed up to peak levels. But early in the week, it gets into a dustup with provocateur Uranus in your professional zone. You probably couldn’t have predicted this situation at the office, but now that it’s happening, you have to make sure it’s being handled properly—either by you or a qualified colleague. That goes double if your name is on this project. It’s never a good look to blow off job responsibilities, and under this high-profile scuffle, you can bet that actions have consequences. That said, if you have reservations or tickets and others are relying on you to show up, see how much flexibility you’ve got. Maybe you can hop on the phone and walk your coworker through the on-site details. What it boils down to is this: If you make the right choice now, your colleagues and superiors will hopefully do you a solid when you’re the one in a bind.
How do you see yourself, Leo? That’s the kind of question that could spark a lively salon-style discussion this week—and since it’s your birthday season, you have a free pass to be the center of attention! Besides, since value-conscious Venus went retrograde in your sign on July 22, you’ve been asking yourself, “What’s next?” As the Sun inches closer and closer to Venus, this self-inquiry feels more and more pressing. This week, they’ll align exactly, forming an inferior conjunction that happens once every 18 months when Venus goes dark, shifting from an evening star to a morning star. On August 18, she’ll reappear with the dawn.
This moment is especially powerful for you because Venus is retrograde in YOUR sign, a cycle that occurs every eight years. Now you’re called to evaluate everything in your life—from your money habits to your relationships to your romantic M.O. If you cast your gaze back to July and August 2015 (the last time Venus was retrograde in Leo), you might identify a repeating pattern or recurrent theme. But don’t come barreling out of the starting gate just yet! While you might feel ready to blaze a whole new trail, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Challenge yourself to rest in the uncertain liminal space for a few weeks, fiery Lion. You may not believe it, but this is an official part of the process. When you stop going, going, going, the cosmos has a chance to unveil different pathways. With Venus in reverse until September 3, further investigation could allow you to discover some gems.
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The best part of this mashup is you’ll be in rare creative form—fully capable of conjuring up inventive ideas and solutions to problems that hadn’t occurred to anyone! It’s just that with Venus backpedaling, your usual diplomacy could be lacking. You’re thinking on your feet, but during this bewildering conjunction, you might be a little too eager to share your thoughts, and a slip of the tongue could cost you. The last thing you want is to make promises you’d rather not keep. People-pleasing could get you into trouble, especially if your innate generosity is calling the shots. Pause for a cause and ask questions. When you do, you’ll make a startling discovery: People really CAN find their own answers. Phew!
Identical twin sisters Ophira and Tali Edut (a.k.a. The AstroTwins) are ELLE.com’s resident astrologers. They have written several astrology books, including Momstrology and Supercouple, and star as the astrological matchmakers for Prime Video’s Cosmic Love. The Eduts have read charts for celebrities the likes of Beyoncé, Karlie Kloss, and Emma Roberts. For their spot-on predictions, books, and online courses, check out our horoscopes coverage or visit astrostyle.com.