Your February 2022 Horoscope Is Cosmic Smooth Sailing

Few astrologers could have predicted that this year’s Venus retrograde in Capricorn would leave behind its own signature relic of cultural decay, but what other transit could contain nearly the entire span of HBO Max’s And Just Like That? Where Venus goes, so should follow a sense of arrival, romance, and success. But from December 19 of last year through January 26, she lurched into a depression. The new decade was suddenly gone, and with it any chance of a merry Christmas or a happy new year. Instead, the retrograde exhumed zombie horrors of yore: old exes, quarantine-era restrictions, and Carrie Bradshaw.

Carrie Bradshaw, once upon a time, was Venus incarnate, the lover of beauty in the city of possibility. But stalled in place, along with Mercury, in the sign of capitalism and tradition, the goddess of love and the great heroine of romance stagnated into bitterness, unoriginality, and boredom. January made us all into the old girls, limping through a dystopian Chelsea Market between Che Diaz “comedy concerts” wishing it had all ended for us long ago. Is this how the future dies?

And yet, or rather, and just like that: Aquarius season has arrived just in the nick of time. Liberation is at hand! With Venus retrograde finished as of January 29, and Mercury’s horror show wrapped up by February 3, it’s an open expanse for the month, the year, the decade, the century! After spending January clearing out the stale remnants — or revenants — of the past, you can finally begin anew in February. Jupiter is in Pisces and for the first time in a long time, no planets are in retrograde. You’ve made it this far. Would it be so wrong to believe in a new beginning?

The month starts off bold, with a new moon in Aquarius on February 1 helping you envision the grand plan. Don’t worry about any false starts or delusions of grandeur; when the sun hits Saturn on February 4, you’ll have to streamline the efficiency and meaning of what you’re doing. Like a spaceship interface, Saturn works with great intelligence (and some dry humor) in Aquarius. Indeed, with Jupiter in Pisces, any dream is attainable, but while the planets are working through the water-bearer’s domain, you’re invited to think tactically, structurally and globally. What is the medium? Who is the audience? What is the point?

By mid-month, all the reviewing will start to yield fruit. On February 14, the asteroid Pallas, known also as Athena, goddess of military strategy, enters Aries for a two-month residency, just as Mercury enters Aquarius. The RPG is well underway; now’s the time to choose your player. The full moon in Leo on February 16th helps you download your macro ideals into your body, and reorient the big thinking to a sense of lived, embodied purpose. With Pisces season launching on February 18, each of us becomes a channel of the great ocean, a door to another door. Download into your body now. We’re going to need your powers soon.

Of course, for a bright new era to begin, another must end. On February 22, Pluto returns to its original position at the signing of the United States’ Declaration of Independence, completing a long saga in the nation’s history. Mr. Big’s America is at an end, and there’s no better time than Aquarius season to kiss it goodbye and look far forward. Where do you want to take us next?

ARIES & ARIES RISING

Capricorn season was supposed to launch your new year into the stratosphere, but with Venus and Mercury retrograding in your capital “C” career house through January, it likely felt like you were lost in orbit. No more! The revival has begun, going into high gear for the second half of the month. On January 14, the asteroid Pallas, named for the warrior goddess Athena, enters your home sign through April 30; you can now plan sharply for the rest of the year to come. Meanwhile, from February 14 through the rest of the month, Mars and Venus will come together in Capricorn in your career arena. Book the photoshoot, roll back the tapes, and terrify your interns: World domination is finally at hand.

TAURUS & TAURUS RISING

In January, you reckoned with the changes the last six months have wrought. Now’s the time to integrate them into your plans for what’s next. Jupiter, planet of light and synthesis, is in Pisces for the year in your eleventh house of audience, community and ethos. This month, as you think big about your career, the focus should not be on what you’re producing but on where it’s going. Who are your people? How do they connect to your values? As Venus and Mars align for the latter half of the month in Capricorn in your ninth house of expanding horizons, you’re invited to travel, hob-knob, and encounter new scenes. Think beyond yourself. Where do you want to have a legacy?

GEMINI & GEMINI RISING

January’s Mercury retrograde went down in Capricorn in your eighth house of ego dissolution. For you, Capricorn represents adulthood and the compromises of freedom necessary for growing up. How can limits, or changes of approach, serve you? What can you approach in your life in season, rather than all at once? On February 11, Mercury passes through the gates of Pluto’s underworld, and then squares, or challenges, the chaos-bringer Uranus on the 25th. You often act without awareness of your shortcomings. These encounters with your shadows, with the unseen, buried and unspoken, will allow you to own your own blind spots and take responsibility for your personal direction.

CANCER & CANCER RISING

The retrogrades went down in your seventh house of relationships, giving you a chance to collect information regarding how you’re seen and how your collaborations work. Now you get to parse through the data stream and make some choices. On February 11, Mercury crosses Pluto’s dark dimension in Capricorn, initiating a purge of dead communication habits. The Leo full moon on February 16 goes down in your second house of self-worth. You know that you’re ready to advocate for yourself now. And with Venus and Mars in union in Capricorn, from February 14 through the end of the month, you’ll feel the immediate rewards of the changes you’ve made. Sensation, embodiment, and experience are yours. Love feels more real than ever, but only because you worked for it.

LEO & LEO RISING

You’ve waited in the wings long enough. Now’s the time to emerge, arrive, and be seen — and to deal with the consequences of coming into the arena. The month begins with a new moon in Aquarius in your seventh house of visibility and relationships. There’s no going back into the cocoon now. On the same day, the asteroid Juno, named for the ever-scorned goddess of matrimony, enters your relationship domain through April. Stop raging about not feeling seen and do something about it. Better yet, say something! On February 4, the sun hits Saturn in Aquarius, reminding you to employ tools and strategies for expressing your needs. The second half of the month doubles the power of the spotlight, with a full moon in your first house of self on February 16. The changes are starting to yield results. Commit to following them through.

VIRGO & VIRGO RISING

How would you define your creative identity? What are the talents you have to offer the world? How do you want to spend your time here? January’s retrogrades went down in your fifth house of creative expression and experience. With the planets now direct in the same house, you have the chance to start bringing that interior self to the forefront. On February 14, Mercury enters Aquarius in your sixth house of work and definition, and four days later Pisces season begins in your seventh house of public visibility and relationships. The big stage is coming in view and with it an opportunity to streamline what you put out into the world and how you want to be appreciated. How do you want to be seen?

LIBRA & LIBRA RISING

What a winter it’s been for you. The Capricorn retrogrades ravished your fourth house of home, roots, and inner stability. As your plans were blown to smithereens, you were forced to find new means of support and inner determination. The worst is over; now you can really begin. On February 14, the asteroid Pallas, or Athena, brings her leadership and cunning to Aries in your seventh house of relationships and public visibility, where she’ll work through April. Prudence and planning are well-rewarded at this time; focus on how and where you want to deploy your talents and gifts this year. From February 14 through the month, Venus and Mars come into a powerful union in Capricorn. Your home is a generator of sexual and creative energy. Invest in fancy sheets and lux candles; from the kingdom begins the next conquest.

SCORPIO & SCORPIO RISING

The new moon in Aquarius on the first of the month and the full moon in Leo on February 16 light up your fourth and tenth houses of home and career. The wheel of fortune is at full spin and will drop you where you’re meant to be in the big picture. No action is required on your part. Instead of contemplating your destiny, invest in daily rituals, creative routines, and the firmament of your home life. Mars and Venus unite for the second half of the month in Capricorn, in your third house of everyday life, while Jupiter gains momentum in your fifth house of romance, talent, and pleasure. Your priorities should be inhabitation, embodiment, and feeling. Have a good time. See what turns you on. From the smallest of daily experiences may emerge your next great era.

SAGITTARIUS & SAGITTARIUS RISING

January’s retrogrades went down in your second house of earning and self-worth. What did you learn about how you keep hold of the plan even when the revenue is crashing? This month offers a financial reboot and a chance to double down on what excites you. Mars and Venus come together beautifully in Capricorn the second half of the month, welcoming investments in style, presentation, and any vehicles of confidence. Wear your highest self at its finest; you’re the living effigy of your work.

CAPRICORN & CAPRICORN RISING

You made it through January and a retrograde season for the books. Enough suffering! With Mercury, Venus, and Mars blasting direct in your home sign, you can bring to fruition all the goals, dreams, and changes you felt were thwarted at the dawn of the new year. On February 11, Mercury hits Pluto, planet of the underworld, forcing you to excavate and communicate anything you’d repressed. Get it out now. For the latter half of the month, Venus and Mars come into unity in your home sign, bringing together the masculine and feminine, the emotional and physical. Take archery lessons, sing in your apartment, revisit your Sniffies rolodex: Do whatever makes you feel hot, powerful and in your body. It’s showtime.

AQUARIUS & AQUARIUS RISING

This year’s Aquarius season helps you locate your fellow DigiDestined, the other chosen ones who will join you in the future. With the new moon in Aquarius on February 1, so enters Juno, the asteroid named for the goddess of marriage, into your sign. Juno, or Hera, was the wife of Zeus, and by birth, his equal. Though he gaslit her (and she tended to fly off the handle), Juno’s highest vibration is towards equanimity and respect. With Mercury, planet of communication, entering your sign on February 14, and a full moon in Leo in your seventh house of relationships on February 16, the focus for your efforts should be on communication and collaboration. This is an opportunity to recruit and reconcile, if you’re brave enough to reach out to another.

PISCES & PISCES RISING

With Mars and Venus in Capricorn in your eleventh house of community and audience, you’re learning about where you belong and where you want your voice to be heard. What is your network, and what value unites you? From February 13–22, Jupiter trines (supports) Uranus, the bringer of change, as it moves through your third house of daily life and rituals. Take ownership of your routines, of who you’re texting, and how you spend your day; even the smallest of actions could contain seeds of holy possibility. It’ll all pay off on February 18, as an especially rich Pisces season begins, and launches your 2022 outright.