This Week's Horoscope Features A Full Moon, Mercury Retrograde & More

There's power in numbers this Monday, August 19, as the year’s only full moon in collaborative, progressive Aquarius stokes camaraderie. And while this may sound implausible given the coincidental timing of the DNC, this actually is a blue moon—a seasonal blue moon, meaning it’s the third in a season that has a rare quartet of full moons.

Whatever matters most to you, this activating lunar lift has a simple message: Get involved and make an impact! Champion a cause you care about. Speak up if you see an injustice.

Teamwork gets a boost, but cosmic sidenote: Playing well with others doesn’t have to come at the cost of your individuality. La Luna will be square trailblazing Uranus and trine energizer Mars, so turn up the dial on your personality.

Let the people who surround you fire up your mission and inspire you to speak out more. Make sure to give them due credit. What goes around comes around.

While the Aquarius full moon encourages us to experiment and innovate, there are a few cosmic forces running interference. Monday, August 19 also marks the opening Jupiter-Saturn square—the first major meeting these planetary titans have had since the Great Conjunction on December 21, 2020.

Jupiter expands, Saturn contracts, and when they put their energies together in Aquarius four years ago, they opened the doors to social change, AI, and all the technological advances we're still trying to parse our way through now.

Their 90-degree squares, which happen once a decade, are a bit more disruptive, since this odd-couple mashup is basically butting heads. Disagreements could break out on Monday as outspoken Jupiter and stubborn Saturn lock horns. And since they’re in the “dual” signs of Gemini and Pisces, making a decision could feel nearly impossible!

Conversations can get deadlocked quickly, as this planetary impasse makes people petty and passive aggressive. Regulate your energy instead of scattering it. Under these stars, it’s best not to spread yourself too thin or launch your ideas without a proper plan.

The one silver lining (if you could call it that) is that diplomatic Venus is running interference. As the peacekeeping planet opposes Saturn and squares Jupiter, she can help cooler heads prevail.

Back to the simpler things! The Sun shifts out of high-wattage Leo and moves into Virgo. Collectively, it’s time to scale back, prioritize and bring efficiency to our lives. Living sustainably feels so much better than dripping in excess (even if the hedonism of the past four weeks was fun).

With el Sol in this nature-loving earth sign, squeeze some al fresco moments into these last four weeks of summer: bike rides to the beach, yoga in the park, lap swims in the saltwater pool. Then, bring some order to your court. From your storage systems to your project-management software, give everything a proper review.

Is a relationship veering off course? Thursday’s challenging dust-up between cosmic lovebirds Venus and Mars could bring a sharp wake-up call. With Venus in pragmatic Virgo, do your best to focus on solutions rather than pointing out your love interest's "mistakes."

That could be a challenge with Mars in Gemini turning the most basic conversations into a mind-boggling debate. If you've been stuck in a holding pattern, the dynamic Venus-Mars square motivates change. And it can be as simple as planning a long weekend trip instead of spending another night watching movies on the couch.

Single? Spark up a conversation with an intriguing stranger. With Venus and Mars in mutable signs, you’d do well to stretch yourself outside what’s comfortable. This cosmic catalyst will get your heart racing again!