Sunday, December 22, 2024

Madame Clairevoyant: Horoscopes for the Week of July 7–13

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Frances McDormand, a Cancer.
Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images

On Thursday, love planet Venus enters Leo, the proudest sign in the zodiac. For the next month, everyone (including you) is likely to be craving some extra praise, validation, or simple attention. There’s no point in playing it cool right now — people will respond to warmth and generosity more than coyness and mystery. The more effusive you are with the people you care about, the happier your relationships will be. In the meantime, find the weekly horoscope for each zodiac sign, below.

You’ve struggled with decision-making lately because every choice feels vitally important. You’re worried about wasting your limited time on earth, or fearful of disappointing the people you care about, stressed over the possible consequences of even the most minor action. But while it’s important to treat your life and your choices like they matter (because they do!), at a certain point, enough is enough. Try to take yourself a little less seriously. Let your sense of humor and your inner playfulness have a say in your decisions this week. The world is scary right now, but you’re allowed to have fun, too.

It’s easy to idealize the past when the present seems grim and ugly and the future looms, terrifying. You begin to imagine that former versions of your life were special and magical, that old relationships were perfect, that your best moments are behind you. Remind yourself that isn’t actually true. Living might be hard right now, but that doesn’t mean it’s only suffering and loneliness from here on out. Look forward with courage. There’s love up ahead. There’s meaningful work for you to do. There’s beauty you haven’t begun to imagine.

Lately, you’ve felt overlooked and underestimated by those who hold power in your life. None of the people in a position to give you opportunities seem to recognize your energy, your ideas, your creativity — so this week, forget about the bosses and authorities. You don’t need anybody else’s permission to start doing exciting things with your life; it’s possible to start right now. Sure, institutional support would be nice, but it’s not necessary. You have ideas of your own, friends ready to collaborate with you, and inspiration to be found in your own backyard. You have freedom to do whatever you want.

You’ve known people who never seem to be satisfied. No matter how much love or acclaim or money they have, they always need more. You don’t want to be like that, constantly hungering for the next great thing. You’d rather learn to appreciate what you have, to live happily in the world as it actually exists. Just remember that you don’t have to accept everything the universe throws at you. If your life is making you unhappy, for whatever reason, you don’t have to take it on the chin. You have other options. You’re allowed to make a change.

As outwardly confident as you are, you’re more self-critical than anybody realizes. You have high standards for yourself and can be needlessly harsh when you believe you’ve failed to live up to them. But beating yourself up doesn’t help, so this week, your challenge is to stop any of that. If you can’t quiet the judgmental voice in your head, practice ignoring it. You don’t need to become perfect before you’re allowed to like yourself. Other people think you’re amazing; they enjoy your company and want to spend time with you. Why shouldn’t you feel the same?

There are plenty of situations where it makes perfect sense to keep your thoughts and feelings to yourself. Maybe you’re around people you don’t wholly trust; maybe you need some time to work through your emotions before you’re ready to share them. But don’t get mad at the people you love when they can’t intuit your emotional state or read your mind. You don’t owe anyone a window into your inner life — you get to choose who you let in — but when you do want others to understand how you’re feeling, it’s up to you to make it known.

When it feels like the future is already written, it’s hard to muster up the energy to make much of an effort. If nothing you do will make a difference anyway, then why bother trying? This week, though, you’ll be reminded that anything could still happen. The universe is strange and surprising. Nothing is set in stone. Your job is to live as though another future is possible and trust that your actions — small as they are — keep bringing you one step closer. Don’t count yourself out yet. You have much more power than you realize.

You’re not someone to blast all your feelings to anyone who will listen. You tend to hold back a bit — maybe out of self-preservation, maybe because you like to maintain an air of mystery. But when you keep people guessing, you also make it harder for them to really know you, too. Though it can feel safer to keep people at arm’s length, it gets lonely after a while. Practice sharing more of yourself than you normally do. Sometimes it’s stressful to stand in the spotlight, but this week, allow yourself to bask in the warm glow of your friends’ attention.

If there’s one thing you can’t abide, it’s being pushed around. If someone tells you what to do, you’ll probably do the opposite; if a friend tells you how you’re “supposed” to think or feel, you’ll plug your ears and walk away. Even so, you’ve been wishing for guidance lately. You wish there was somebody who could show you how to find the meaningful life you’ve been dreaming of. Stay strong this week: Don’t look for someone else to tell you how to live. Your job is to keep searching. It might not feel easy at the moment, but you’ll find your way.

It seems like everyone — including you — is fighting over limited resources and opportunities. People are all battling to climb to the top of the heap, to have the most. But even if you succeed, it won’t be a satisfying victory. The only real way to win right now is to refuse to fight. When ego clashes start to develop, resolve to walk away. Collaboration and connection will be so much more rewarding than beating out anyone else. Think creatively. Open your heart. It genuinely is possible for everyone to get what they need.

It’s hard for you to be motivated in your work when you can’t envision success down the line, difficult to get excited about a relationship when you aren’t sure where it’s leading. You can tolerate uncertainty, as long as you feel confident that it’s all leading somewhere better. For now, though, try to take your eyes off the future. Deep connection with other people is possible, and it doesn’t need to serve some grander purpose, or pay off in a tangible way later on, or even last forever, to be worthwhile.

You’ve been longing for more thrills in your daily life; there might be plenty of drama going on in the wider world, but your own days feel boring. There are so few chances for you to act, to be part of something, to show others (and yourself) what you’re really made of. If you wait for a big, shining opportunity to present itself this week, you’re likely to be disappointed, but if you watch for smaller, more ordinary opportunities, you’ll find them in abundance. And every time you do something brave, every time you take a risk (no matter how tiny), your heart will open up. You’ll remember how good it is to be alive.

Read the weekly horoscopes for the week of June 30. The weekly horoscopes for the week of July 14 will be online next Sunday.

Buy Claire Comstock-Gay’s book, Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars, here.

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