Your weekly horoscope from our expert astrologist Jessica Adams
ARIES
As you saw last week, taking charge of your own success, on your own terms - yet somehow, accommodating all others’ needs and sense of entitlement - can be a demanding business. The situation will come to a head around Wednesday 15th July, when there must be a new arrangement. A great many Aries people will accept the consequences of a reshuffle, demotion, promotion or other restructure near this time. Once Diana enters Leo on Friday 17th July, you must again turn to the one, steady constant in your life lately, which is the growth and improvement you have been experiencing with babies, children or young adults in your life. A door is opening to more of the same, yet you only have until 11th August to go through it and explore your options. The New Moon on Thursday 16th July in Cancer confirms the direction you were taking in June, with your family, house, local area, flat, household and/or country. You will be set on a new path from that point.
TAURUS
Pluto always points to a tremendous transformation, as roles, rights and responsibilities are reshuffled. You are now experiencing this in connection with a foreign region or culture, or perhaps a regional difference which feels foreign to you. In some cases, publishing, the internet or education are involved. In others it will be a straightforward question of travel, export or import. What you decide to do near Wednesday 15th July necessitates a new, long-term arrangement so make sure it’s practical enough to last the distance. Diana in Leo from Friday 17th July adds to the growing feeling that your own place in the world - home, family, local area, country, household - is still your go-to option for everything that matters. This is correct and between now and 11th August you must use the people, and the timing, now coming your way. The New Moon in Cancer on Thursday 16th July lowers the flag on a key project, course, plan or idea. Time to begin, or perhaps to begin again.
GEMINI
Your ruler Mercury is opposed by Pluto on Wednesday 15th July, on the same day as a Mars-Pluto opposition. No doubt various astrologers on the internet will be muttering dire warnings about that one, but just remember history repeats, and this is nothing new. Basically, you never really feel your own power until it is tested, either with a corporation, a government department, your partner or a family member. That’s what the money, business interests, house, apartment or charity is doing in this picture; it is there as a tool, to be used in constructing a new world for yourself, where you feel far more in control of things. Of course, you will have to enter into division sums, or careful subtraction and addition, but it is nothing you haven’t done before, Gemini. The New Moon on Thursday 16th July suggests a fresh start, and about time too. Spare time for your other interests, outside numbers - these revolve around words and images, no matter if you are high-tech or low-tech. Please chase this idea, website or project hard now.
CANCER
Pluto in your opposite sign of Capricorn is certainly showing you where things really stand with your partner, at the moment. This also applies to former or potential partners - and even outright enemies. The clashes with Mercury and Mars on Wednesday 15th July will give you an opportunity to reconstruct the chemistry between you (at the very least) and to utterly change one arrangement, if necessary. Try to leave this in a good place, as both or all of you concerned must be able to stick to the new agreement. After Friday 17th July you must also look at pricing freedom and independence. Someone or something very new in your life will allow you to put a value on ‘space’ (that priceless commodity) and you must act while you are still in the luckiest and most protected cycle in 12 years for money, business, charity, possessions and property. A New Moon in your sign on Thursday 16th July suggests the rebirth of your name, face, reputation, body or image. Fair enough. You’ve spent a long time spinning your wheels now.
LEO
July is showing you why it’s all or nothing, in terms of the way you allocate eight hours each a day to sleep, work and looking after yourself. Pluto’s opposition to Mercury on Wednesday 15th July (on the same day as the Mars-Pluto opposition) challenges you to take control and run your lifestyle. This is also very much the ‘Me’ season for you, and once Diana enters Leo on Friday 17th July, you will be shown new possibilities for your reputation or appearance. The emphasis in the second half of July is on freedom, space and spontaneity and in some cases, a woman will make all the difference. There is obviously a lot of talking, writing or thinking to be done about your secret, or about the role you play behind the scenes. The New Moon on Thursday 16th July suggests a new beginning. What happens over the next 12 months owes a great deal to this week so take your time with a fresh start.
VIRGO
Your young relative, son, daughter or godchild is teaching you about power, and how to share it. Control, and how to regain it. No matter how intense things feel near Wednesday 15th July, you must aim for a new arrangement which will work for everybody. This also applies to lovers who may bring children, stepchildren or younger in-laws into your life one day - and of course to any large-scale undertaking involving young people. Diana’s change of sign on Friday 17th July encourages you to persist with a phase of hibernation, a tremendous secret or an uncredited, unacknowledged role. This is where the growth is. This is where a lasting achievement can be made. The New Moon on Thursday 16th July presents you with a whole new ball-game involving your team, club, society, association or other network. Perhaps this is a trade union or political party? Set sail for a new course and navigate all the way to Christmas, when you will be able to look at it again.
LIBRA
July really is the month to accept the inevitable, where your home, family, property interests, household or local area is concerned. Perhaps your country, too, if you are a patriot. This will not be the first time a new order falls into place since 2008, but at least you can ensure you have learned from prior experience. The fact is, you need to feel in control. However, with a number of stakeholders in the situation, a new arrangement must be nutted out, which suits everyone, near Wednesday 15th July. A couple of days later, Diana changes signs, and it is to your association, club, team or other tight circle of people that you must turn. Is this about a distinctly feminist atmosphere? In any case, when you are being shown what freedom and independence can achieve by a friend, take a hint. People power is still working so perfectly for you, all the way to 11th August. The New Moon on Thursday 16th July confirms what you have known for weeks - a new role, new project, or new approach to an old task, job or course.
SCORPIO
Your ruling planet Pluto takes you to an inevitable new arrangement, suspected for a long time, where your correspondence, telephone calls, multimedia involvements, web use, writing or public voice is concerned. This is not about who (or what) has the upper hand, as you know from long experience. It is about coming to a completely new arrangement which will actually work, long-term. The main thing is, you must still feel the reins in your hand (or the computer mouse in your hand, if you prefer). Diana in Leo also reminds you to get your priorities right with your ambitions for the future as well as your current performance. You have until 11th August to claim what is yours, in terms of any protection, favours or advantages the universe wishes to pass on. A New Moon in Cancer on Thursday 16th July may tally with this, it may not - it depends if your position involves export, import, travel, foreign relations, publishing, education or academia. Even if you work, volunteer or study far away from these areas, what occurs near Thursday makes travel, or alternatively, travel in the mind, your top priority.
SAGITTARIUS
It really is game on with your highest aspirations now, as from next week you will be offered agreements or meetings which turn your high hopes about the internet, travel, foreigners, publishing or education into a reality. Much depends on the work you put in now, as Diana is changing signs on Friday 17th July and this means freedom, and uncompromising independence, will swiftly become a priority. A New Moon in Cancer on Thursday 16th July reminds you that you cannot separate the money from all this. Or are you chiefly concerned with your business interests, charity, house, flat or possessions? In any case, around Thursday, a new beginning can be made. This is a relief and a release after the intensity near Wednesday 15th July, when Pluto is at large. There really is a new order to be established here, and it must be something everyone feels they can stick to, without any hidden resentment or concealed agenda. The outcome is actually empowering for all the players, and if you had a time machine and could travel to Christmas 2015, you would see why. It will work. It will.
CAPRICORN
It’s remarkable how much your face, body, hair, wardrobe, photographs, name (online) and image has come to mean, since 2008. That is the year that Pluto entered Capricorn. Of course, being a woman means it’s always an issue anyway, but the way you look and appear to the world has become more than just a way of keeping hairdressers or fashion houses in business. It is through your identity and look, that you measure how powerful you are, and how in control you feel. All this comes to a head near Wednesday 15th July, and you must make a new deal with yourself. Of course others are involved, but it’s the score you even with the mirror that matters. A New Moon in Cancer from Thursday 16th July confirms a new beginning with your former, current or potential partner. You have spent weeks balancing the scales with this person, in your mind. Now put it in motion. Diana in Leo from Friday 17th July also urges you to use every solution and opportunity involving your money, possessions, property, charity or business.
AQUARIUS
The New Moon in Cancer from Thursday 16th July confirms a brand new direction with your lifestyle, body and/or daily workload. You have thought about this long and hard, and this fresh pathway should see you through to December, at least, when you can put it to the test. This week is also very much about what you cover up from other people or hide. Perhaps this is about hibernation or a period of withdrawal. Maybe you genuinely have a secret of Bletchley Park proportions. Sometimes the rather shadowy feeling of this cycle is down to your determination to remain in the background while others are the name or face. In all cases, you absolutely must accept change and pursue a new arrangement, even if it is just with yourself. What happens near Wednesday 15th July makes it crucial. Diana in Leo is something I should have mentioned first, because it concerns your former, current or potential partner! Here is a new equation in the mix. How about space, freedom and independence as realities, not just concepts, when applied to the way you two operate with each other? Want it? Take it.
PISCES
You must now pursue a different direction with your children, godchildren or young relatives. Also, perhaps, with a lover who could one day make you a mother, aunt or stepmother. If you have large-scale involvements with younger people, then this will be the story instead. Wish on the New Moon in the nurturing sign of Cancer on Thursday 16th July and see where your new path takes you. Pluto at large near Wednesday 15th July also suggests there is no going back with your group - the one involving a friend. You were already well on the way to a major change last week, and now you must undertake to share the power between you. Of course there is power in this - scratch the surface of any club, team, band, society or social media network and you will find it. The trick is being honest about it and finding a way to honour your need for control, along with the rest of the group. Diana in Leo, from Friday 17th July, is a good reminder that whatever keeps your mind, soul and heart busy at the moment - you only have one body. A rather free-spirited woman, or essentially feminist organisation - will have fascinating and tempting possibilities for you in terms of food, drugs, drink, fitness, doctors, hospitals, homeopathy, healing and so on - for weeks.