Who is actually positioned to enact the change that you want to see?

I think that February will be a good study of how debilitated planets act when they are in a position of having to help each other. In astrology, a debilitated planet is a planet that doesn’t have the self knowledge to act. However, debilitated planets have a very special feature. They are often in positions where they must help each other.

Mars will go direct in Cancer. Mars is in fall in Cancer. This means that we feel most aggressive about the areas of life where we feel most vulnerable. This is considered to be difficult transit. However, Venus goes into Aries in February. Venus in Aries is also considered to be a difficult transit because Venus in Aries is trying to figure out what trust means as an outsider. The two transits together? Venus has triplicity in Cancer while Mars can resource itself in Aries—that means that the planets help each other.

This exchange is about intimacy. It’s about letting fear teach you about trust. Fear softens sorrow because fear teaches us how to be precious with life after we have lost and experienced sorrow. Trust deprives hatred of its power because trust reminds us that no relationship is black or white. Every relationship requires constant discernment.

I’m not saying that February isn’t difficult—it is. But there is hidden help. Fear is a hard teacher but it is still a real part of you. The fearful part of you is smart. The fearful part of you is loving. The fearful part of you starts to feel less fearful and more like something else when you thank it for all that it has done for you.

The other mutual reception that we get between debilitated planets in February is the interplay between Mercury in Pisces and Jupiter in Gemini. Jupiter also goes direct in February. It does so in the sign of its detriment. A week and a half later, Mercury enters the sign of its fall. However, Mercury resources Jupiter and vice versa because they are in each other’s homes.

Mercury is the planet of organizing and Jupiter is the planet of belief. Jupiter in Gemini is about not knowing what to believe. Mercury in Pisces struggles to organize a day. Together, both planets are sincerely rebellious. Jupiter in Gemini rebels against faith—why should I believe anything that I am taught? Mercury in Pisces rebels against time—why should I obey any schedule?

We have to read both of these mutual receptions together. Both mutual receptions are between planets that are squared. February is going to be about trust and rebellion.

I think that the boundaries between who we trust and who we rebel against are blurry. Sometimes, I confuse my social anxiety for my antiauthoritarian streak! I confuse my peers with authority figures and I hear other people’s opinions uttered with far more authority than their speakers used. I say things to my friend that I want to say to my mom. I get angry at my roommate when I’m really angry at the government. That act of displacing righteous anger is called scapegoating.

Debilitated planets have a peculiar wisdom. They know how to come together when no one knows what the hell they are doing. The Full Moon in Leo is also a Full Moon that is guided by a detriment Sun.

In February, I want you to do one thing—I want you to pay attention to the question of who has the power to change the situation that you are dealing with. The answer might surprise you. The answer might reveal our own complicities and startling possibilities.

If ICE is trying to enter your community to fuck with your people, then whose actions might render your community more or less legible to border cops? If the military industrial complex has a part of your community at war with the other part, then whose actions might actually make a difference and how does that change where people lay blame at? If you are feeling unseen or unheard by anyone, then can that situation be changed by you changing how you communicate or does something else need to happen before the person who you want to talk to is willing to hear you?

Who is actually positioned to enact the change that you want to see? Who needs more support before they are able to take on more responsibility? I think that this question has helped me read the difference between rebellious doubt and mistrustful doubt. You have responsibility if you have control over the situation or if you can invent a strategy that gives you control. If you can’t, then no amount of blame will make you more creative. You need more support first.

Aquarius

In February, I want you to remember that no one can really tell you what to do. You are responsible for your own actions. This includes the actions that you take when you are responding to someone else.

I think that Aquarius is a really funny sign because it is one of the only signs that feel excited about responsibility. Why not? Responsibility means more control and more control means more creativity. You can change things if you have control. That possibility is there. That’s why Aquarius gets so excited about responsibility. That’s why Aquarius tends to have such a strong sense of responsibility, because responsibility can generate inventiveness.

What supports you in your sense of responsibility? What helps make responsibility, which is not always joyful or inspiring, accessible?

You are responsible for saying no to things when they are not for you. Saying no can be very frustrating. You might experience pushback. All of those things can be true and, yet, none of them take away from the power of your responsibility. You are responsible for inventing ways to do things that are for you. You might not know where to start. That’s the exciting part. If you are tired at this question, then that’s a sign that you need a bit more. What support will actually make responsibility feel energizing for you?

You have more control than most people will tell you about. If you don’t, then invent it.

Questions for Aquarius for February 2025:
When was the last time that taking responsibility felt energizing to you?
When was the last time that taking responsibility felt tiring to you?
What supports you in your sense of responsibility?

Pisces

I think that it’s really important to refrain from becoming ideologically defeated. There’s no point in arguing over what people believe unless ideological change can cause some kind of material impact. Everyone around you is going to believe something different. Some people are going to believe in ghosts. Some, in aliens. Some people are going to believe in revolution and some are going to believe in predestination.

Our beliefs will not save us—our actions will change us.

Who cares what people believe? We care about whether people take action to create better circumstances. We care that people, including ourselves, build an environment that allows us to take the actions that we need to take. We care that we give ourselves enough room and time to figure it out.

Any action will take you further than just sitting and thinking about whether you are right or wrong, even the wrong actions. In February, try doing things. If you want to make new friends, then try doing random shit to make new friends. If you want to start a new project, then just try even if you don’t know what you’re doing right away. Let your mistakes inform you about what is right or wrong. Find people who allow you to make mistakes in front of them.

February is about experimentation. You’re looking for ideologically free spaces that give you room for action.

Questions for Pisces for February 2025:
What is one action that you would like to take in February?
What is one action that you would like to ask someone else to take in February?
How would you describe your politics if you had to describe them based on actions that you and the people around you can do?

Aries

The thing that I think most of us struggle with, myself included, is the impersonal nature of trust. Trust feels so, so personal. And, yet, people tend to distrust each other for completely impersonal reasons. We might feel unsure about deepening a domestic partnership because we aren’t sure about keeping a job. We might resist talking to someone because they remind us of someone else.

February is a good time for thinking less about whether you are trustworthy or not and more about whether trust can be built in the situation at hand. Trust isn’t given or earned. Trust is built when people try to build it together. It’s never going to be one way or another—trust is a constant exchange that is always fluctuating. The exchange of trust isn’t just between two people. It’s happening between everyone involved and the environment.

What is happening around you and how are those happenings impacting the trust that you are building with your loved ones? What about the trust that you are building in yourself over whether you will do the things that you want to do?

It’s really hard to trust the environment right now. The soil has been torn up, invasive forests planted, and the rivers have been all clogged up. But that environment still impacts your willingness to trust. Find one habit that you want to stick to, to the best of your ability, and choose a habit that helps you trust.

Questions for Aries for February 2025:
What do you trust about your environment?
How does your environment impact your ability to trust yourself?
What is one habit that you want to build in the environment that you live in?

Taurus

For some reason, when we talk about political expression, I find that more of us talk about disruption rather than repair. We often talk more about how speaking your truth is disruptive and how you will cause breakages in old alliances. However, political expression isn’t just disruptive. Political expression is also mending.

Who have you gotten closer with because of your activism? Who have you repaired your relationships with because of your political education? What relationships have become easier because of political necessity?

In February, I want you to increase your confidence around repair. Did you know that, for most of us, forgiveness is much more ample than we think it is? Did you know that accepting forgiveness feels like accepting love and that both are just as sorrowful as they are joyful? You know how to repair your relationships. If there are things that you don’t know how to do, you will learn because someone will teach you.

You will live your life knowing that you will be forgiven sometimes. That doesn’t mean that you will suddenly do whatever you want without considering other people. It just means that there is a particular looseness available for you in this life. That looseness is sometimes called grace. You have it.

Questions for Taurus for February 2025:
What relationships has your politics taught you to repair?
What languages has your politics taught you to repair?
What systems has your politics taught you to repair?

Gemini

I think that Geminis possess a really strange talent that comes in handy during the most surprising of times. What is that special talent? I’m talking about that weird Gemini thing where you are somehow able to find a path of startling optimism in the face of great tragedy.

Geminis are contrarian people. You like to think differently from everyone else. Whenever people feel more pessimistic, your mind suddenly strikes like lightning and you find the most random and unexpected source of optimism.

I understand that this trait of yours isn’t just magic. It has to do with your attachment to uniqueness and the way your mind works. You think, you research, and you put a lot of effort into strategy. That’s why you are able to surprise people so brilliantly. It’s like those random old grasses that pop up in the corners of cornfields and other mono crop fields. Those grasses were able to survive so much destruction. They look like they came out of nowhere but they were already here, etched into the land through centuries and centuries of history.

I’m not sure what to put in your horoscope for February because I think that there is an element of surprise in February for you. As in, you’re here to surprise yourself about something. If you do surprise yourself about something, then remember that surprise has been brewing for quite some time. Trust your own eccentricity.

Questions for Gemini for February 2025:
What kinds of freshness are you most ready for?
Where do you look for surprises in life?
What do you want to surprise other people about?

Cancer

This February, consider the value of your teachings. Teaching isn’t just that thing we do when we get up in front of a classroom and talk. Teaching happens all the time. If you are around young people, then you are teaching all the time. You teach when you cook. You teach when you bring two friends who disagree together and talk. You teach when you parse through information and give your own context.

February is about figuring out where your teachings have the most value. Your teachings have value when they are understood, when they are taken seriously, and when they are absorbed by people who don’t necessarily agree with you but will take what you have to share to invent their own thing.

In what worlds do your teachings inflict the most reinvention? In what worlds do people reinvent your teachings to do things that you couldn’t think of on your own?

No one can save you from your own ideology. People who think that they can are usually pretty annoying. Teaching is that thing we do when we want someone to show us how we might think differently using this thing that has been on our mind. We teach when we are prepared for change. Our teachings have value when they are prepared for reinterpretation.

As you teach, you might feel called to find teachers who you trust. If you are a student, then it’s your job to disagree with your teachers. When does disagreement lead to trust?

Questions for Cancer for February 2025:
When was the last time you changed your mind while you were teaching something?
When was the last time a teacher allowed you to change their mind?
When does disagreement lead to trust?

Leo

February is going to be about differentiating between other people’s stuff and your own stuff.

You’re a kind and helpful friend. That means that, when a friend shares about something that has been troubling them, you really listen. You listen and you help them problem solve. You put yourself in their shoes. However, there is a difference between supporting a friend and taking responsibility for that friend. Your friends need to take their own responsibility for facing their own challenges. That’s the only way they will find their own creativity.

As a Leo, you’re endlessly creative. That’s why you want to help your friends so badly, because you can see ways out that not everyone can see. That’s also why you might take on their stuff. You can usually find cool new uses for things and cool new ways around problems and might not belong to you.

If it’s not yours, then practice saying, “I’m going to let you figure that one out.” A friend might present a problem to you like a kid presenting another kid with a toy. That friend is letting you tinker with their problem for a bit. But ask that friend if they intend to give their problem over to collective ownership before you take it apart. If so, then cool. If not, then let other people play with their own problems.

Watching other people take responsibility for themselves is beautiful. It’s literally so cool because you get to see someone figure things out that you would have never thought of. That’s February for you. You get to watch people play—that frees you to find your own style of play.

Questions for Leo for February 2025:
When was the last time a friend had a problem that you got to see them figure out on their own?
What impressed you about how your friend dealt with their problem?
What did that teach you about the differences that you value between that friend and yourself?

Virgo

In February, I want you to think about people who are interesting to you. There’s always going to be things going on around you. Mabe your sister has an opinion about your aunt. Maybe two friends have completely different readings about a cultural space and both want to share those opinions with you. Maybe two friends are starting to date or taking a break.

You don’t have to be interested in everything that everyone is doing. Focus on what actually interests you. If nothing interests you right now, then let your mind wander.

Interest can’t be faked but it can be nurtured. We usually find things interesting because thinking those things over gives us some kind of energy. We find things boring when we feel like we can’t make improvements or when we feel like thinking won’t solve any problems. We feel curious when it’s time to think. It’s not always time to think.

Not everyone needs your focus. You don’t need to be an active participant in every conversation—feel free to let your mind wander away when it isn’t needed. Let people figure things out around you and allow yourself to socially rest when it’s time. Give yourself permission to not have to take care of everyone, to hear everyone out, or to know everything that is happening. Let your mind rest. Sometimes, you too are a space cadet.

Questions for Virgo for February 2025:
What tells you that it’s time for social rest?
How do you know when you are socially rested?
Who do you become interested in again after you are socially rested?

Libra

February is about the educational value of your work. The thing is, you’re really smart. You’re really, really smart. That means that you are going to rebel if you keep choosing tasks that bore you. It also means that you don’t need to know how to do everything perfectly just to start. You have the ability to learn as you go. Everything is a process.

What types of tasks or routines help you explore the vitality of your own intelligence? Your habits are your own responsibility, meaning that there is potential for invention there. You get to choose tasks that interest you. If something is boring, then there’s no reason to do it.

I think that, for younger adults, we tend to get overly attached to boring things because we think that’s what responsibility needs to be like. The younger we are, the more likely we expect our education to come from other people. That’s why youth creates so much perfectionism. But for you, Libra, Saturn has been teaching you to mature in your management of time, in the habits and routines that make up your life.

What teaches you about life the more you do it? What makes learning into a practice, not a program or a doctrine but a practice with challenges and ease that you meet with patience? Give yourself some patience. You are learning every single day. Never forget how smart you are. The older you get, the less people will tell you.

Questions for Libra for February 2025:
What teaches you about life the more you do it?
What makes learning a practice?
When was the last time you remembered how smart you are?

Scorpio

You tend to do your best work when you are having fun. I’m serious. Now, fun isn’t always fun and games. Fun is serious. If you walk into a room and expect fun to just come to you out of the blue without any effort, then you probably won’t have very much fun at all. No—you have the most fun when you take responsibility for your ability to change your surroundings.

When you were younger, you might have had a more morbid or prankster type of humor. You just wanted to troll people a bit, to get a rise out of everyone to test the waters. Now, you have a sharper sense of what you are willing to put at stake. You understand that there is no creativity without at least some risk.

Responsibility carries risk. You know that now. It makes you less cautious, less precious, and much more serious.

Your actions have power. That’s the responsibility piece. Your actions have the power to change your current circumstances. That’s the risk piece. Your actions have the power to change your circumstances and expand the limits of your imagination because taking action proves your potential. That’s the fun part.

February is about making time for action. Make time for real action, not just the mindless habits and the tasks that you feel you must do but real, creative action. You know what I’m talking about.

Questions for Scorpio for February 2025:
What actions do you want to be responsible for?
What is at stake?
What do you hope to release?

Sagittarius

February is actually a private moment for you. It’s a time of tucking yourself into your own space, spending time with yourself in your own head, and structuring your life using some of your oldest habits.

If you are in the northern hemisphere, then sleep more. Winter is for sleeping more. If you are in the southern hemisphere, then get up earlier and do some activity alone before you really get started. Summer is for waking up earlier. If you are somewhere between seasons, then find your own between.

This February is about finding your own way, your own direction. You’re like a shooting star. A shooting star doesn’t have to follow the path of the Sun. It doesn’t have to go with Mars or rise with Venus. A shooting star simply moves in its own way. It lives its own life because it is a celestial object making an unusual motion.

Since you are like a shooting star, you are a person who is making an unusual motion. You’re looking for your own cycle and for your own pace. There’s a type of eccentricity that only privacy can give us—when we are around too many people, we know too much about what is going on to chart our own path. Clear some events from your social calendar. Turn up unexpected. Give yourself permission to try the untried.

Questions for Sagittarius for February 2025:
What could going home look like for you?
What could spending time with yourself look like?
What could returning to old habits look like?

Capricorn

This is a good time for changing something about your immediate environment. In feng shui, there’s a concept that has to do with stagnant pools of energy. Basically, you want everything around you to be in a state of flow because change is life. If something is trapped or can’t change, then it becomes stagnant or dead.

Are there any pools of stagnancy inside of your psyche right now? Any sacred cows about what you believe and what you cannot or will not change? What about in your environment? Our psyches are actually our environments. They are not inside of us. We are inside of them.

Find the sacred cows around you. Find the things that seem so fixed and stubborn that you think that changing them is impossible. Then, see what letting them go might look or feel like. Just do a little thought experiment. Even just a thought experiment can help us relieve enormous amounts of mental pressure.

You never have to change everything all the time. However, giving your permission to make changes can help you figure out how you are already changing. You don’t have to do anything in any particular way—what is the first thing that you think of when you read that in your head?

Questions for Capricorn for February 2025:
What do you assume will never change?
What do you feel most reluctant to change?
Why?