Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images
Eclipse season returns, starting with the Pisces lunar eclipse on Tuesday night, which means this week could feel a bit chaotic. But that also makes it the perfect time for dreaming. If anything is possible, then why limit your ambitions to what seems practical or what you think you “should” do? Free yourself to imagine the life you really want. Just because it doesn’t exist yet doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
Some of your problems, anxieties, or insecurities have been with you so long that, by now, you’re pretty certain they’ll be with you forever. Mostly you’ve resigned yourself to this: Everyone has their issues. But this week brings new opportunities to release old baggage and create space for new feelings and relationships to enter your life. You don’t have to take any big, dramatic actions — just hold onto your faith that growth is possible and life could change unimaginably for the better.
Lately, you feel too busy to deal with your feelings. It’s not that you don’t care about them, only that fixating on something so intangible doesn’t seem like the wisest use of your time. This week, though, old emotions might become impossible to ignore any longer. You don’t have to process them alone: Ask your friends for support and advice. Find a sounding board and trust that this isn’t a waste of your time or energy. It’ll pay off in other, more practical areas of your life.
For better or worse, you’re likely to be noticed this week. Ideally, you’ll be noticed for your hard work and recognized for your personality and authentic self. But it’s possible that others will see a version of you that you don’t care for, homing in on the qualities you like least in yourself. It might not feel good, but it will at least be clarifying. Lean into the characteristics you’re proudest of, behave like the person you want to be, and, eventually, that’s who others will see, too.
You probably have a nostalgic streak, clinging to past seasons of your life. Even here in the present, you’re hesitant to loosen your grip on friendships and romantic relationships that haven’t been working for a long time. But this week, releasing the connections that have run their course is the bravest thing you can do. By letting go of the past, you create the mental and emotional space to devote yourself to the future. There’s loss in this, but there are new beginnings, too.
No matter how much you want love, the real thing is often terrifying when it arrives. It makes you feel needy, reliant, helplessly exposed. The more you care, the more you have to lose. This week, you might be tempted to close your heart to intimacy, but don’t do it. Truly connecting with another human being is scary, but it’s also a rare gift, and it’s always worth it.
This week could bring a much-needed change in one of your close relationships. All the accumulated moments of unfairness or resentment will come to the surface, demanding to finally be dealt with. This probably won’t feel good in the moment, and part of you would rather ignore the problems altogether. But no matter how much you try to resist change, it’ll happen anyway, so walk into any conflict courageously. A reckoning now could be exactly what you’ve needed.
Sometimes, the only way to get through the day is to grin and bear it. Sure, things aren’t perfect, but you’ve seen worse. Still, there’s only so much you can be expected to endure. This week, stop expecting yourself to tolerate the intolerable, whether in relationships, your work life, or your living situation. You deserve a life you’re proud of, and if that’s not your reality right now, start thinking about what you could change.
You’ve been working hard to heal and plan for the future, to become the person you want to be even in a world that’s on fire. It’s an immensely challenging endeavor, and you should be proud of the progress you’ve made. Just remember that you shouldn’t expect yourself to strive and struggle constantly, without a break. You don’t need to solve all of life’s big puzzles before you’re allowed to enjoy yourself.
You keep people at a distance sometimes — not because you don’t love them, but because you’re fiercely protective of your independence. You worry that relying too much on anybody else — or letting others rely too much on you — will curtail your freedom and make it harder to live on your own terms. But the fact of the matter is that no one is wholly self-sufficient. This week, lean on the people who love you. It doesn’t mean you’re weak, it means you’re human.
Everyone always talks about the importance of community, and you don’t doubt that they’re right — the trouble is that actually finding community is such a challenge. Isolation seems like the norm, and it’s hard to break free of it. But this week, you’ll find new opportunities to connect with the people around you. It won’t always be easy — human relationships bring human drama — but it’ll also be fulfilling in a way you hardly realized you needed.
You often wish you didn’t have to deal with your physical needs. Getting enough food and sleep and affection can all seem like a hassle, a distraction from the projects or questions that truly interest you. But this week, it’s vital that you pay attention to your body. Stop telling yourself that your needs and desires are all secondary. Your physical self matters, and the better care you take of it, the better all the other parts of life will go.
You’re so sensitive to other people’s needs that sometimes you begin to neglect your own. You suppress the louder parts of your personality in order not to bother anyone else; you hide your anger in order to keep the peace; you pretend things are fine when, deep down, you’re miserable. But this week, everything you’ve pushed down will come out — and that’s a good thing. Your needs are no more important than anyone else’s, of course, but it’s time to remember that they’re no less important, either.
Read the weekly horoscopes for the week of September 8th. The weekly horoscopes for the week of September 22nd will be online next Sunday.
Buy Claire Comstock-Gay’s book, Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars, here.