On the Erotic Ecliptic August 2023 (delayed)
Venus Retrograde/Full Moon in Aquarius vibes as I finish my book
Friends and lovers!
I am writing you to say how outrageously, over the top sorry I am (in dramatic Leo season style, throwing myself at your feet) to be late with your horoscopes, both free and paid, this month. I am balancing a lot as I finish my book, it’s been a rough couple of months of chronic migraines, and I don’t want to send you something crappy just so I can send you something.
But here are a few quick thoughts on today’s Full Moon in Aquarius (happening in two minutes as I write this). This is the “wave your freak flag high” Full Moon. The next three days might give you opportunities to gather with your “right tribe,” find ways to connect to community, and celebrate all the parts of you that refuse to conform.
This lunation puts into stark relief the Leo/Aquarius polarity, the space between the affection we crave and the freedom we need. If you feel an overwhelming need to be SEEN and adored, that’s Venus Retrograde pulling on you your heartstrings.
We’re in the second week of the retrograde now, 11 days in, with 29 of our 40 days and nights left to go. Where are you in your journey? Have you been observing your longings, tracing the shape of your desires as they tilt and whirl? I highly recommend journaling through this, listening with equally rapt attention to your soul, your genitals, and yes, your heart. These various parts of you may seem at odds with one another and at odds with who you once were, echoing past versions of you (perhaps the you of the summer of 2015 or the you of the summer of 2007).
Let it ebb and flow and take its course, waiting until after September 4th, when Venus stations direct, to make any major decisions about relationships, sex, and finances. Even better — wait until Venus has passed the retroshade period and left Leo, holding hands with Lilith on the way out. That would be October 8th. That’s the true safe spot.
August 6th to the 9th may be one of the most intense, raw periods of this VR, as Venus conjuncts her fierce feminist sister Lilith and squares Uranus in Taurus. Twists, turns, jagged edges, sexy surprises, affairs (yes, there will be affairs), and deep self-realizations are likely through this time. With Uranus, this is the moment you’re most likely to take a sudden risk, but nearing the midpoint of the retrograde, it’s also the time you’re most likely to find yourself wearing a silk blindfold, thinking you’re having a hot, great time, only to find out that you lacked an important piece of information a few weeks down the line.
MAJOR NOTE: Mercury copycats Venus and stations retrograde on August 23rd, the same day that the Sun enters Virgo. The shadow opens on the 4th, however, so things are likely to get wonky tech and communication-wise pretty much right away. This is especially pointed because Mercury is in Virgo, a sign in which it holds domicile, so we’ll notice derangement in the details. You may be in vacay-mode now and planning to be in back-to-work or back-to-school mode the last week of August or early September, but it may be a shit show, so get as many ducks in a row as you can right tf now.
One more note before I get back to my manuscript: if I were freer this month, I would have most certainly embarked on a new version of my 30 Days of Orgasm program, because it’s one of the most potent and powerful times of the year to go deep with an intentional and meditative masturbation practice. If you are interested in the archives of this program to do a self-styled version of it, I’ve written about it here and here. If you scroll back to my Instagram starting in August of 2022, I led a #30DaysofOrgasm challenge and posted about it each day. Here is the first of 30 posts from that program.
I am so grateful for your patience on this, and if I can’t get the sign-by-sign horoscopes written by the end of the week (the process usually takes about three days) I will do a podcast so you have something to work with here.
Full Moon in Aquarius blessings!
- Stefanie