MONTH OF August
Inside-out August, anyone? While the rest of the world might be unplugging, you’re chugging—steadily toward your goals, that is. The Sun is in Leo and your tenth house of career and long-term success, a time when you feel most ambitious and on top of your game.
But this year’s Leo season comes with a plot twist. Venus, the planet of attraction, happens to be retrograde from July 22 to September 3. This is a dicey time for relationships, but for you, it will also impact your career goals, since Venus will backspin through Leo and your professional sector. A promising deal could take an unexpected turn or things could go sour with a budding business relationship.
Practice patience, Scorpio, and try not to react if something you were counting on suddenly changes. By not freaking out when THEY freak out, you create an oasis of calm. Maybe a client pulling back or a delayed decision turns out just to be a knee-jerk reaction on their part. But you won’t know if you start scrambling and pretzeling yourself around their demands. Stay in your power. And get curious! Remember, Scorpio, life is a negotiation.
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With three other planets—Saturn, Neptune and your ruler Pluto—also retrograde this month, you could be doing a lot of over-communicating. Prepare for that, Scorpio, especially during Virgo season, which begins on August 23 with Mercury promptly turning retrograde in Virgo, too. This cycle is notorious for breakdowns with communication, technology and travel.
And it won’t help much that Uranus also turns retrograde in Taurus and your partnership house for five months on August 28. With a wayward Mercury in the mix until September 15, consider this a double warning to hold off on signing contracts and officializing anything until the second half of September if you can. If you’re not in a rush, slow things down until November, when most of these planets will have corrected course and you could find more favorable conditions (and people) for getting what you want!
Two bright personal moments will bookend the month, in the form of a rare double header of full moons! Both supermoons, they’ll arrive on August 1 and August 30. The first one is in Aquarius and your domestic fourth house, spotlighting your home, family and personal life. Take a break from the grind to find some comforting time at Chateau Scorpio.
Romance and passion are in tclass="body-el-link standard-body-el-link" he stars this August 30 when the Pisces blue moon beams into your expressive and pleasure-seeking fifth house. Even Venus retrograde may be no match for the vivid love story la luna’s spinning up. Consider it a consolation prize for your troubles, Scorpio.
The Aquarius full moon tunes up your personal life
Pause for a personal cause on August 1 as the Aquarius fullclass="body-el-link standard-body-el-link" moon beams into your fourth house of home, family and emotional foundations. This potent supermoon shines a spotlight on domestic affairs. Are you looking at a possible move, expanding your family or making renovations? Your living situation could undergo a big change over the next four weeks.
Explore your options, from a home purchase to relocation to new ways of letting down your guard. This heart-opening lunar lift could help you connect from a more vulnerable place, especially with your mom, a child or a female relative.
A caring person could also figure into events, perhaps offering their support to your career efforts or holding space while you pour out some bottled-up feelings. Whatever’s coming to the surface now has been brewing since the Aquarius new moon of January 21. You’re due for a good release!
Leo season catalyzes your career until August 23
With the Sun in regal Leo and your tenth house of career efforts and achievements until August 23, your goals will be on fire—with your piercing Scorpio gaze fixed on some lofty outcomes. This is an ambitious window that you don’t want to squander. Even if you’re on vacation, you can expect to field a few calls or bring work along in your beach tote (sorry to say).
Be sure to prioritize only what’s most important and avoid taking on too much. Focus is your forte, Scorpio, so don’t scatter your energy by multitasking. Can you space out a lengthy to-do list for the rest of the year instead of cramming it into an impossible time frame? More importantly, can you nurture the ONE initiative that matters most—and bless it with your undivided attention? Trim the sails, streamline your systems and follow a schedule when possible so you can have time to get out for fresh air and (safe) summer activity.
The August 16 Leo new moon fires up your career
Your ambitious goals gain even more welcomed traction on Thursday, August 16, with the arrival of the Leo new moon, kicking off an upward six-month cycle. Plant the right seeds for success, and watch them grow lucrative branches and leaves by early 2024!
Since this is the year’s only new moon in your professional tenth house, it’s a great time to reflect on your current career status. Is this the path you want to stay on, Scorpio? If you’re ready for new challenges, this lunar lift could point the way over the coming half-year. Reach out to mentors and seasoned vets in your industry. Set concrete intentions and take the first step!
A couple of pro tips: This year’s new moon will be challenged by a 90-degree square to disruptive Uranus in your partnerships zone. A close person may not be supportive of your long-term goals. In fact, class="body-el-link standard-body-el-link" their erratic behavior could feel like an outright sabotage. Complicating matters, this new moon is making close contact with Lilith, the “dark moon” point. Anger, bitterness and frustration that someone’s been suppressing could come churning up.
Of course, it doesn’t have to go that way, Scorpio. If you can be flexible and open to their suggestions too, you might be able to find a solution that works for all. But don’t sideline a dream just because someone has a knee-jerk reaction to it.
Virgo season begins on August 23 and revives your social life
Lightness returns on August 23, when the Sun moves into Virgo and your eleventh house of group activity, friendships and networking for a month. Now that you’ve got your work well launched, untether yourself from those hefty responsibilities and go mingle. You’ll accomplish more AWAY from your desk and out in the world, talking to people and sharing your idealistic visions.
A plum project could attract some well-connected collaborators, and your social life will pick up again. Up until now, August was “work first, play later.” Suddenly work and play commingle! Get involved in a world-changing passion project with inspiring kindred spirits instead of just answering the call of duty. You never know what professional doors this new network can open.
But…Mercury turns retrograde from August 23 to September 15
Private Scorpio, you’re not always a team player, a circumstance that will only be exacerbated once communicator Mercury turns retrograde in Virgo and your group-activity sector on August 23 (until September 15). Take a step back and reflect: Are you being too self-interested or not acknowledging your soul squad? Nip any diva antics in the bud, whether they’re coming from you or someone you work with.
Call for backup at the Sun-Saturn opposition on August 27
Having trouble detaching from those dramatic or doomsday thoughts? On August 27, the annual Sun-Saturn opposition could be a day when everything feels a bit heavy or pessimistic. This loss of perspective should dissipate in a day (whew!), but don’t miss the opportunity to look deeper into what’s really going on.
You may be trying to be a superstar juggling everything solo—but no rewards for martyrs are being handed out today, Scorpio. It’s time to call for backup if you want your star to gleam as brightly as it’s capable of shining!
At work, you may be tackling an outsized goal with lots of moving parts—or at least thinking about diving into an epic project. Before you take that leap, make sure you have the right team to back you up. Already collaborating? Today’s annual Saturn-Sun opposition could reveal a weak link in the chain. Your big-hearted sign loves to lift others up, but underqualified (albeit helpful) people could slow you down. Since you don’t want to be anchored when you’re ready to set sail, run an ultra-tight ship.
Uranus turns retrograde in your partnership house on August 28
As if Venus retrograde wasn’t enough, your relationships could field another curveball this summer. On Augclass="body-el-link standard-body-el-link" ust 28, unpredictable Uranus will kick off a five-month retrograde through Taurus and your dynamic-duos zone, ruffling feathers until January 27, 2024.
Disruptor Uranus is in Taurus for a long, seven-year visit that began on March 6, 2019, and will end in April 2026. Over the past few years, many of your closest relationships have been changing as you’ve both assumed new roles or renegotiated your power dynamics.
Liberator Uranus is all about being authentic, so if you haven’t brought your full self-expression to bear on a certain relationship, things might have gotten a bit chaotic as the side-spinning planet loosened your tongue. You may have found yourself fighting more often or feeling irritated with the people around you, especially anyone who seemed to be holding you back or cramping your freedom.
With Uranus retrograde, you can step back from any combustible emotions and examine this relationship more objectively. Someone from your past could also resurface—perhaps out of the blue and in a way that shakes up all your expectations and agreements. It could be an old flame, a former business associate or a march-to-their-own-beat friend whose presence wakes you up to what YOU truly want.
Hosting individualistic Uranus in your zone of compromise isn’t always easy—or comfortable. During the retrograde, bravely examine what comes up for you instead of resisting it. It’s important that you identify YOUR truth, but also that you figure out how to get your needs met without feeling dominated by others or bulldozing them. This will be a process that gets worked out over time, not overnight. But the sooner you open up honest class="body-el-link standard-body-el-link" dialogue the better!
The Pisces full supermoon on August 30 pumps up the passion
Get a room, Scorpio! This August 30 features a rare bonus full moon, aka a blue moon in Pisces and your passionate fifth house. If there was ever a moment to book a lusty late-summer getaway, this is it. Single? You could meet someone when you least expect it, so make an effort to be present and let yourself flirt with any interesting prospects you meet.
Your creativity will also be at peak levels, so answer the call of the muse. Throwing paint on a canvas, rocking the karaoke mic or dancing like there’s no tomorrow: Whatever unblocks the stuck energy will do! And if it’s pure frustration you need to unload, smacking a pillow or a punching bag could be your perfect full-moon rage-releaser ritual.
Mercury may be retrograde, but you can still drop a teaser about your big news. If you’ve got something to get off your chest or a big idea you’ve been dying to share, you’ll find the words to articulate your vision and get others excited about it!
Couplegoals: interrupted? All month long, love planet Venus is in powered-down retrograde. This cycle, which happens once every 18 months, is notorious for messing with even the most rock-solid relationships. We all need to be extra kind, compassionate and forgiving…and that will take some effort!
For Scorpios, Venus will be retrograde in Leo and your ambitious tenth house of long-term agendas. Do you and your partner still want the same things for your romantic future? Has one of you evolved in a different direction? Changes don’t have to be a dealbreaker—not at all—but they DO need to be acknowledged.
Maybe you started making a ten-year plan or setting a path for your relationship’s trajectory. Screech! Venus retrograde could hit the brakes or throw a curveball into the mix. Adjust the terms of your partnership to accommodate the person you are TODAY.
That could require some soul-searching, and this month gives you a chance to do that. From August 13 to 18, Venus is making its “inferior conjunction” with the Sun, meaning it will disappear from our view. This is THE window of opportunity to finally put old patterns to bed. And if you do, the August 22 Venus-Jupiter square could help you have the difficult but necessary conversations that help you negotiate new, more satisfying terms.
Meantime, focus on your friendships! Your cosmic co-ruler, passionate Mars, is strutting through Virgo until August 27, heating up your eleventh house of networking, innovation and technology. This is a great time for single Scorpios to stretch out socially because you could meet a worthy match in your own circle. Make new friends…and hey, you never know when sparks could fly as the connection develops.
The eleventh house rules technology, so online dating might turn up some winners. But you know what they say: You can’t win if you don’t play! Just take things slow and steady until Venus turns direct on September 3. Even setting up (or freshening up) a dating profile is a start.
For coupled Scorpios, mixing and mingling with mutual friends can ease some of the tension you might be feeling between the two of you. Any opportunity to lighten things up is welcomed. When Mercury turns retrograde from August 23 to September 15, an old friend could surface and well, you might discover there’s a spark between you. Just make sure you don’t ASSUME that there’s something there, which could easily happen during a signal-scrambling Mercury retrograde.
A passionate moment arrives on August 30 at the Pisces full supermoon, which beams into your fifth house of romance and self-expression. Even with Venus (and five other planets) retrograde, you can still enjoy a day of pleasure, flirtation and sizzling chemistry. For Scorpios of the childbearing demographic, the fifth house rules fertility so a pregnancy is possible at this full moon.
Caution: Emotions can run high at this full moon, so stay away from anything that starts to feel like drama. If you sense conflict brewing, that’s your cue to take a time out or call it a night. A lot of bottled-up feelings can come pouring out, surprising even you.
It’s your career high season, Scorpio! The Sun is in Leo and your tenth house of ambition and professional success until August 23. And while it’s inconveniently timed during peak summer vacation season, you can get SO much done while everyone’s out of the office (and your hair) this month.
Of course, magnetic and gracious Venus is retrograde in Leo until September 3, so that coworker whose voice grates on your nerves or who turns in sloppy work will truly irk you. It could take an extra helping of patience not to go off on this person or burn a bridge.
Need to raise some extra funds? Retrogrades rule the past, so reach out to old clients or go back to professional organizations that you once belonged to—opportunities could be a flip through your contact database away.
You’re even more fired up to connect this September because energizer Mars is ALSO in Virgo from August 18 to October 3. The rousing red planet’s once-every-two-years visit can set your networks on fire! Cancel your solo flight, Scorpio. Stock your crew with co-pilots who are as driven and single-minded as you are. Together, you’ll manifest your mission at the speed of sound.
Love Days: 30, 8
Money Days: 16, 24
Luck Days: 12, 22
Off Days: 5, 10, 20
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.