Weekly Horoscope: June 30 - July 6

This week’s biggest cosmic event is far and away Saturn’s shift into retrograde, where it will remain until mid-November. 

When direct, this faraway planet governs areas of our lives that require discipline and perseverance. Saturn dictates our boundaries, challenges, and tough love—consider it our celestial “disciplinarian” parent. When Saturn shifts into retrograde, the stars call us to review our commitments, goals, and ambitions. 

This months-long period is the perfect time to dive into dirty work, not necessarily because you want to do it but because you need to. Taking on new responsibilities or jobs can be particularly difficult during this time. 

What should your sign expect in the months of Saturn retrograde to come?

All things considered, things could look worse for your cosmic alignment at the cusp of this year’s Saturn retrograde. Your ruling planet, Mars, forms a beneficial sextile with Saturn at the start of its backward shift, indicating fairly positive results from an otherwise notoriously challenging cosmic phenomenon. Kudos to you, Aries! 

Although this sextile won’t last forever (your ruling planet is a fast-moving one, so you can expect your interactions with this year’s retrograde to shift rapidly as Saturn stays relatively static in the same general area of the sky), you might as well capitalize on it while you can. Use this much-needed motivational energy to do some deep cleaning in your innermost environment—whether physical, mental, emotional, or a healthy mix of all three. 

Sometimes, we have to get rather un-comfortable before we can truly enjoy ourselves. As disheartening as this process might seem right now, take solace in the fact that you’ve been through this before. Virtually every experience you’ve ever had in life was, at one time, novel and foreign. Look how you acclimated to those situations. Who says you can’t do it again? 

This week, your ruling planet, Venus, forms an auspicious trine with Saturn under Cancer and Pisces, respectively. The two water-ruled signs are liable to make things a bit emotional, dare we say dramatic, but the fortuitous trine suggests this discomfort won’t last forever. In the end, you won’t find the prosperity you seek within the confines of your comfort zone, Taurus.

Knowing when to let something rest is just as important as knowing when to act, and the stars indicate you’re overdue for the former. A waning crescent Moon passes through your sign in conjunction with Jupiter just before Saturn turns retrograde toward the end of the week, which is a great time to find some reprieve from the hustle and bustle of daily life. 

Just because it doesn’t feel like you’re accomplishing anything doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the case. Music, art, science, life itself—all these things require space, breath, and pauses between moments to form something genuinely cohesive and beautiful. Your life path isn’t a mad dash sprint. Take a rest when the universe offers one to you, Gemini. 

Your ruling celestial body, the Moon, begins this year’s period of Saturn retrograde in its darkest phase. Even without a planetary retrograde to worry about, new Moons symbolize necessary periods of rest, reflection, and introspection. Paired with Saturn’s disciplinarian attitude, it will become all the more crucial to take time off to reassess your progress thus far. 

Take stock of how far you’ve come in relation to your professional and personal goals. In the skeptical light of Saturn retrograde, now is the perfect time to determine if you should keep going down this path or switch gears to something else. There’s no shame in the latter, so don’t let your insecurities or stubborn nature convince you otherwise. 

Remember that everyone is the main character of their own story, Leo. Your perception of yourself sitting at the center of the narrative doesn’t translate to those around you, just like those around you don’t reside at the center of your story, either. Keep this in mind as your ruling planet, the Sun flies through hyper-emotional and sensitive Cancer this week. 

Paired with the effects of Saturn retrograde, the stars indicate it’s high time for you to start taking responsibility for how your emotions affect other people. You’ve glided by on apologies and makeup attempts up until now, but you can’t keep up this cycle forever. Learning how to take accountability will strengthen your relationship with yourself and with others—a win-win.  

As Saturn goes retrograde by the week’s end, your ruling planet, Mercury, flies under Leo, forming a productive sextile with dwarf planet Makemake. First, consider the difference between your sign and your Zodiac neighbor, Leo: whereas you’re ruled by earth, they’re ruled by fire. Leo is a fixed sign; you’re a mutable one. Simply put, don’t get too comfortable this week. 

Indeed, the opposing elemental forces influencing your ruling planet indicate the potential for drama, emotional outbursts, and a shorter patience than usual. Luckily, your alignment with Makemake is promising. As Saturn retrograde begins, Makemake encourages you to consider the ways in which you can advocate for yourself, for others, and your community. 

Get ready for the good, bad, and ugly of emotional revelations, Libra. Your cosmic alignment this week seems tempestuous, yes, but there are signs that point to tremendous personal growth if you can weather these storms. By the time the weekend rolls around, your ruling planet, Venus will form a tense square with Chiron, which governs our vulnerable sides.

This not-so-great aspect indicates trouble in the love or finance department. Full disclosure: it will be hard not to take some of the upcoming trials personally. However, Venus is also forming an auspicious trine with Saturn retrograde, which paints a far more promising picture. Having to get rid of habits or people that don’t serve us is hard, but it’s incredibly rewarding in the end.

The standoff between Pluto retrograde (your governing celestial body) and Haumea retrograde riding between your sign and Libra continues this week. As frustrating as this holding pattern might feel, don’t let your insecurities convince you you could’ve found a quicker workaround. Emotional, mental, and even professional transformations take time, Scorpio. 

These vexing feelings will likely come to a head early in the week as Pluto squares off with a waning crescent Moon, encouraging us to let go of things that are no longer working for us even if—perhaps especially if—we don’t want to do so. Saturn retrograde promises to be a time of great evolution for you, and evolution is rarely a painless process. 

An introspective sliver of a waning crescent Moon conjoins with your ruling planet, Jupiter, in the middle of the week, just in time for Saturn retrograde to amplify the self-reflection to the nth degree. Even before Saturn goes completely retrograde, we feel its effects in the form of the retrograde shadow period. And indeed, all of your signs point to some serious self-analysis. 

You’re a natural go-getter, so it can be difficult to resist the urge to keep moving forward constantly with no rest in sight. But you’re a human, not a robot, Sag. Eventually, your mind, body, and spirit will find a way to get its reprieve, whether you like it or not. Wouldn’t you prefer to have a handle on the situation by starting this recharging introspection on your own terms? 

Saturn is your ruling planet, which means Saturn retrograde affects you doubly hard. Your greatest challenge during this period will likely be resisting the temptation to add more and more to your already overflowing plate. With your ruling planet flying retrograde under Pisces, a notoriously glass-half-full, hopeless romantic sign, this danger becomes even more tangible. 

Although it might feel like you’re avoiding letting anyone down by taking on extra jobs, duties, or general responsibilities, this really isn’t the case, Cap. By hoisting these extra burdens onto your shoulders, you’re actually letting down the most important person in your life: yourself. Sometimes, the greatest form of self-care we can give ourselves is the act of saying no. 

Your ruling planet, Uranus, will spend most of Saturn retrograde forming a friendly sextile with the nearby ringed planet. Considering all the negative aspects associated with either planet, from unpredictability to strife to utter chaos, this sextile is an optimistic silver lining in an otherwise challenging celestial season. Make sure to use this positive energy while it’s here.

As Uranus flies through Taurus, the rebel in you will likely feel more inclined to push against the status quo and the expectations of those around you. Saturn retrograde offers a more pragmatic perspective, encouraging you to weigh all your options carefully before throwing out ones that ruffle your feathers at first glance. Keeping an open mind is vital in the coming weeks.

Saturn will be spending its retrograde period under your sign, Pisces, which means that even though you’re not ruled by this planet, you should prepare to feel its effects more closely. Next week, your ruling planet, Neptune, goes retrograde, which further magnifies the stars’ call to look inward, analyze, and redirect your life path wherever necessary. 

You can jump-start this reflective period by taking time this week to contemplate your goals and dreams. Putting logistical daily problems aside, where do you want to see yourself in a year, five years, ten years? What are you doing right now to facilitate that process? Perhaps most importantly, what are you doing right now that’s hindering it?