Astrologer and Cut columnist Claire Comstock-Gay reads the stars as Madame Clairevoyant.
Rachel McAdams, a Scorpio.
Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photo: Getty Images
Tonight, Mercury retrograde moves back into Scorpio, where it’ll stay for the next three weeks. With the planet of communication in the most probing and provocative of the signs, don’t be surprised if you end up having some unexpectedly intense conversations. Your friends will be able to tell if you’re keeping something hidden, and they’ll probably keep prying until they get to the bottom of things. Also tonight, the Scorpio moon aligns with Venus, creating a lovely environment for relaxing, socializing, and letting your best qualities shine through.
You try not to jump to conclusions about other people’s actions, coming up with your own elaborate narratives to explain something they said or did. Instead, if there’s something you want to know, you try to simply ask. Your directness is admirable — today, just make sure that after you’ve asked, you actually listen to the answer. Not everybody communicates as straightforwardly as you do; some people need time and space to let their thoughts develop. And right now especially, the more generous and patient you can be, the more you’ll learn.
You aren’t normally wishy-washy; once you’ve made up your mind, you’re almost impossible to sway. Today, though, you might be hyper-aware of how much you still don’t know, how many factors you haven’t even considered yet — and that could make it difficult for you to feel certain about your decisions. It might be tempting to feign confidence anyway, but that’ll probably stress you out more. If you’re feeling indecisive, there’s nothing wrong with saying so, particularly with friends you trust. Try to remember that the only person who expects you to be 100% sure of yourself all the time is you.
You might be energized to take action, today — rather than sweeping problems under the rug, you’re ready to actually fix things. Just make sure that you’re not taking on more than you can handle: If you commit to more than you’re able to do, or set unlikely goals, you won’t have much to show for yourself, and you’ll only feel guilty for wasting today’s burst of energy. While it might not be quite as thrilling to set more modest goals for yourself, you’re more likely to make a real difference that way.
Today, give yourself permission to brainstorm without self-doubt or self-censorship — to let your mind wander, to think freely, to come up with plans that are wild and unrealistic. This sounds simple, but it can be challenging in practice: Even in the privacy of your own mind, you don’t like having foolish or impractical ideas. Just try to remember that the bad ideas are part of the point: It’s only by getting all your thoughts out there — the good and the bad, the smart and the outlandish — that you’ll eventually find the best ones.
Learning to take feedback, without letting ego or insecurity get in the way, is a useful skill. But it’s equally important to learn when to ignore feedback. If the person offering it has fundamentally misunderstood you or your goals, their comments will probably miss the mark; if they’re more focused on what they want for you than what you want for yourself, they’re unlikely to offer sensible advice. Don’t close your ears to all criticism, just be discerning about whose words you’ll take to heart.
Usually, you’re good at buckling down and getting things done, even if the tasks on your plate aren’t particularly interesting. Maybe you’d prefer to be working on projects that genuinely inspire you — who wouldn’t? — but you understand that some things simply need to get done. But today, it’ll probably be a bit harder than usual to stay focused on what you’re “supposed to” be working on. Trying to force yourself to concentrate is unlikely to work, so if at all possible, decide that you’ll just let your mind wander for now — it might lead to a surprising breakthrough.
There are times when all you really need is a bit of emotional reassurance: You need to hear that your friends think you’re a good person, that they love you, that they’re ready to step in with a bit of extra care, whenever you need it. You can be hesitant to ask for this, though — it feels embarrassing, like you “should” be self-sufficient enough to need this much affirmation and support. Today, though, remember that it’s normal to need love, and there’s nothing wrong with letting the people in your life know that you could do with some extra kindness.
While some people tend to speak without thinking, you generally try not to be reckless with your words. You worry that if you aren’t careful, you’ll say something you don’t really mean, or you’ll accidentally hurt someone you care about, or you’ll unintentionally reveal the emotions you hoped to keep private. Just remember that while there’s a risk to speaking too rashly, bottling everything up has its own risks, too. So today, make a point of speaking up — do it thoughtfully, but don’t hold back.
Sometimes, you feel a responsibility to be totally transparent, open about every thought that passes through your head, however fleeting. But while honesty is always valuable, that doesn’t mean you need to share every detail or your life, that you need to offer the people in your life a comprehensive account of every emotion you’ve ever had. You deserve space to process your feelings on your own, without having to deal with everyone else’s input (and potential judgment). It’s reasonable to want some privacy; it doesn’t mean you’re being dishonest.
There are times when the best thing you can do is accept that life is complicated. Rather than trying to force your feelings into neat little boxes, or trying to make logical sense of relationships that are multi-layered and in a constant state of flux, it helps to just accept that things might never be simple. This doesn’t mean there’s no point in searching for clarity, or that you shouldn’t ask questions — but today, especially, don’t be too disappointed if the answers you get only seem to lead to more questions.
If you’ve felt frustrated in your ambitions lately, it might start to seem like the people around you are actively trying to stand in your way. You could easily convince yourself that everyone you encounter is unhelpful at best, and manipulative at worst — and if you want to get ahead, you’ll need to outmaneuver them, to play the game better than anybody else. But making things unnecessarily complicated — or viewing others through a hostile lens — will only cause further problems for you. For now, keep doing what you’ve been doing, and trust that your efforts will pay off in the long run.
While it’s always nice to be complimented, praise doesn’t count for much if you don’t believe that it’s genuine. You want people to tell you nice things because they actually mean them, not because they think it’s what you want to hear. Today, remember that it works both ways, and make sure that you are also being authentic in the way you speak to others. What you need most is trust, and you won’t ever build it if you’re not willing to be honest. Right now, it’s better to speak sincerely but inelegantly, than it is to say all the “right” things without ever expressing anything real.
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