Summer 2019 Horoscopes for Writers

This summer brings birthdays for Cancer, Leo, and Virgo, but the big story that we’re going to focus on are two major eclipses hitting in early July. Eclipses are catalysts, slingshots, that help us focus energy, encouraging us to either move into or let go of things that are coming into or moving out of our lives.

The first eclipse is a total solar eclipse at 10 degrees of Cancer, conjunct the North Node. This eclipse is about new beginnings, about increasing our desires, appetites, and attachments. This is about wanting more, in whatever zone of our chart Cancer governs. It’s the second of four Cancer eclipses between July 2018 and June 2020; this part of our life is getting major attention.

The second eclipse is a partial lunar eclipse at 24 degrees of Capricorn, conjunct the South Node. This eclipse is also conjunct Pluto, the planet of transformation: it’s big and cathartic, encouraging us to release the structures that aren’t working for us.

Creatively, this is a big summer. Projects and creative relationships are going to develop rapidly; on the flip side, we are also in for a lot of changes and personal and professional shakeups.

Find out what’s in store for you this summer with the horoscopes for your sun and rising signs.

ARIES

This summer turns on the axis of the public and the private, home and the office, family and career: or, to put it simply, work/life balance. How have you been managing – or not managing – your relationship between the two?

The first eclipse of the summer, on July 2, occurs in your zone of home and family, a Cancer eclipse during Cancer season activating your deepest roots. Your focus on your home and family (or those you’ve chosen as family) is increasing. What do you need from your home base, from the most important people in your life? How are you internally reconciling your fierce sense of independence with this desire for emotional security, Aries?

Then, on July 16, the second eclipse of the summer hits, lighting up your zone of career and public image with veritable fireworks. The partial lunar eclipse is all Capricorn energy, but while Capricorn usually wants to build an empire, this particular brand of Capricorn is about completing. This eclipse is occurring on the south node, which is releasing psychic debris; it’s also next to Pluto, the planet of breakdown and radical transformation. Something you began in January 2019 is coming to fruition; some goals you once held dear may no longer resonate. Celebrate what you’ve accomplished, and give yourself permission to release what no longer feels true to who you are. Give yourself time to recuperate, too.

Writing Prompt: What do you most value about your home? What do you most want to change?

TAURUS

For you, Taurus, this summer is about journeys. Short journeys, long journeys; journeys of the mind, journeys of rediscovery, and perhaps, even, the elucidation of a new life path.

The first eclipse of the summer, on July 2, lights up your zone of communication and short-term plans. This zone is particularly relevant for writers, as it’s all about the inspiration and subsequent scheduling that happens in our immediate environments, and for you, Cancer season is raking over your writing life, asking you to consider what’s working—and what’s not working. But the eclipse is something more: the eclipse is a big idea. The eclipse is initiation. Some big new project is getting off the ground—or perhaps, a project that was waylaid gets new wings.

Just as you begin something new and exciting, you also are letting go of something major. The Capricorn eclipse on July 16 occurs in your zone of (you guessed it) long-term journeys, but also education, faith, religion, philosophy: you know, easy stuff. Stuff that can take a lifetime to work through; stuff that can transform at a moment’s notice. This eclipse is about release. Perhaps the release of a long-cherished dream made irrelevant by where your life (and new plans) are taking you, perhaps the release of old psychic debris related to some of that Big (totally easy) Stuff you didn’t know was still lingering, but that has still been impacting your work.

The work of an eclipse is not done in a day, or a week, or a month. Give yourself time to sift.  

Writing Prompt: What project(s) have you been meaning to get to, but kept putting off? Make a list of three ideas (or five, or ten) things—stories to write, essays to pitch. Things that are purely career-pushing—not administrative!

GEMINI

Time to get your money right, Gemini. This summer’s eclipses are all over your money zones—which are really about value, intimacy, and how you see yourself and your work.

The first eclipse of the summer, on July 2, hits your zone of money and value, which is Cancer. Cancer season is deeply uncomfortable for you for a lot of reasons—it’s water that wants to go one direction whereas you’re the kind of air that wants to fly everywhere – but it’s also hard because, for you, it brings up all the uncomfortable history and baggage tied to your bank account. But this summer is for starting fresh. This Cancer season has been clearing out your money house, with tons of planets traveling through it, encouraging you to get your head on straight about what you’re worth (ask for more!), and this eclipse is all about initiating a huge new change in your life. Whether it’s an influx of money or the creation of a life-altering new structure around how you deal with money (like, say, getting an accountant or setting up quarterly freelance taxes), this is a big opportunity for you to alter some ingrained habits.

Meanwhile, the next eclipse asks you to shed some old baggage around how you’ve related to money and shared resources when it comes to other people. The Capricorn eclipse on July 16 hits your most intimate zone, which can be about sex and death but is also about other sexy things like taxes and inheritance. For writers, shared resources are obvious: the percentage cut that an agent gets from a book deal, for example, or restrictive contract language where you may have signed away your work in perpetuity, in the past. In this society, sharing with others is sort of a necessity, so you’re reexamining your relationship to how you share with others, with boundaries, and what old patterns can be released.

Writing Prompt: How does money make you feel?

CANCER

Happy Birthday, Cancer! You’ve got so many planets taking a trip through your sign, bringing you an extra jolt of creativity, abundance, and energy. You’ve also got some powerful eclipses to reckon with: some major growing, and major releasing.

The first eclipse, on July 2, is in your sign and heralds a new source of energy and abundance in your life. What new aspect of yourself are you growing right now? What person do you want to become, to grow into? Certainly, this will impact your work, but remember that life isn’t all work: you have to have experiences and live a life in all its richness and strangeness in order to have anything to write about in the first place. Don’t worry if this season perhaps takes you outside of your typical creative orbit.

The second eclipse, on July 16, is in your opposite sign of Capricorn. Whereas the first eclipse is about hunger, about growth, this second eclipse, in your zone of partnerships, is about release. Some heavyweights (Saturn, Pluto) have been slowly traversing your partnership zone, teaching you about how you partner in life, not only romantically but also when it comes to business—those long-term relationships with editors and agents come to mind. What do you need in these relationships? What do you crave? How do you work best with others? What is, and isn’t, working for you right now: what are you ready to let go of? This eclipse highlights the psychic debris that you are ready to release, the patterns you are ready to step away from, so that you can work toward building healthier, stronger relationships that support your creative and personal growth.

Writing Prompts: How do you feel about the person you are? About the writer you are? What kind of person do you want to grow into, or do you feel like you’re growing into? How does this dovetail (or not) with the kind of writer you’re growing into?

LEO

Even though your birthday season promises an energetic high, Leo, this summer is all about introspection.

The first eclipse of the summer, on July 2, is in Cancer and your most subconscious, spiritual zone. This eclipse is interesting: even though this zone can be quiet, all the energy we aren’t necessarily aware of, this eclipse is about hunger, about increase, about our appetites awakening. You’re suddenly hungry for more: more awareness of the self, of the patterns that have led you thus far, of how your past and all that is seen and unseen informs your creative process, your relationships: the varied tangled threads of your life that make you you. Cancer season is about getting real with yourself, about really sitting with yourself, about maybe owning that you don’t have all the answers. It’s not comfortable work, Leo. Are you ready for it?

A few weeks later, an eclipse rocks your zone of work and health: some habits that have held you, or perhaps that you have held dear, in your daily routines are getting a cleanse. Some psychic debris needs to be released. This is a Capricorn eclipse; these are structures around your work and health routines that you’ve built, that have served for a time, but that need to be renewed, or redone entirely. Don’t be afraid of what’s on the horizon.

Writing Prompt: What subconscious patterns have you been realizing lately? How do these impact your creative life?

VIRGO

What’s happening with your community, Virgo? Where are you investing in people, and where are you pulling back? This summer is all about boundaries. Boundaries are, after all, an indication that you want to continue a relationship.

The first eclipse of the summer, on July 2, is all about increase, appetite, hunger: what communities are you growing and truly investing in? Where do you have the energy to plug in and really nurture others, and allow yourself to be nurtured? A new writing group, a new class of students, or something else entirely. This particular zone is where the personal and the professional can blend together, the energy fusing in a way that helps you continue to pursue the ideals that are most important to you in this life. What kind of literary citizenship are you creating and holding space for in your life?

This is followed by a weeding out, an editing, if you will, of other kinds of relationships—romantic, erotic, creative. Or, perhaps, it is simply a revising of your relationship to your process in how you form these particular attachments. What needs to change, structurally? What psychic debris needs to be released? Think abundance, not scarcity.

Writing Prompt: What kind of writing and/or creative community do you have, or not have? What do you want to nurture?

LIBRA

Your career is on fire, Libra, and this summer, your visibility is set to 100. But are you personally ready for that?

The first eclipse of the summer on July 2 lights up your zone of career and public image, putting you in the public eye. This is the start of something bold, new, and exciting—either a brand new initiative, or a major turning point in an already-existing project. You start attracting attention; your social media is poised to blow up, in the best way. It feels like everything you’ve been working for might finally start paying off. You’re hungry, and that’s healthy! You’ve just got to keep putting in the work, and listening to your own inner voice—and not the voice of the crowd. Trust yourself. You’re on the right path.

Increase in your professional life might require some readjustments at home. On July 16, there’s another eclipse, this one hitting your zone of home and family—chosen, natal, or otherwise. You’re releasing something major: could be an apartment or living situation, or even a person who is close to you. There’s psychic debris related to the roots of you that is flying around, that you’ve been dealing with for a long time, and finally, finally, you’re ready to move through, and move on.

Writing Prompt: Not a prompt, but an audit—before the eclipse, do a sweep of your social media. What do you like about your social, and what do you not like? Where could you stand to tighten things up, whether that means posting more or less? Are there things you talk about that feel boundary pushing, that you could post about less? Are there aspects of your creative life that you want to talk about more, or people who you’ve been meaning to connect with?

SCORPIO

Planning a trip, Scorpio? Cancer season always gives you the itch, but this summer, you’re feeling the wanderlust in a particularly deep-seated way: like you’re ready to shed this skin and grow a new one.

The first eclipse of the summer inspires you to grow in a massive way, a way that might feel so big as to be untenable, but sit with yourself a minute: that kind of growth isn’t too frightening to a Scorpio, is it? This eclipse lights up your zone of philosophy, religion, faith, education, and long journeys on July 2, inspiring you to do some big thinking and imaginative work. You’re hungry for something new. Something you haven’t done before. Some place you haven’t journeyed before, even if it’s just somewhere in your mind. A way of thinking about life that is brand new territory. Are you tentative because it threatens to upend other parts of your life? Lean into the creative process of making all things new.

The second eclipse of the summer is about release: about letting go of things that are unworthy of your attention. Daily schedules, forms of communication, muss and fuss that is just clutter. Debris that needs to go in the trash. There’s a way of life that isn’t serving you, that you need to shed like an old skin. July 16, Scorpio. Mark your calendar, and get ready to embrace a new way of doing things.

Writing Prompt: If you were going to shed a skin and start something totally new right now, what would it be?

SAGITTARIUS

Your relationship to money and resources is under review this summer, Sagittarius. It might not seem sexy, but money makes the world go round: it’s what fuels all those journeys you love, those new experiences that fire up your creativity. You may not like to think about money, but it’s time to give it some attention.

Not giving money its due may have got you in some sticky situations with other people. On July 2, the first eclipse of the summer sails through your zone of collaborations and joint ventures: a new opportunity may be coming your way, but you have to look for it in order to take advantage of it. These things don’t often just fall in our lap. Think of Oprah’s definition of “luck”: preparation meeting the moment of opportunity. In order for outside resources to find their way to you, you have to be ready—you have to look like an attractive person to partner with, professionally speaking.

But this isn’t just about other people coming to you: this eclipse is about hunger, about you seeking opportunity. Summer is a time for applying to residencies, and for grants—this is a time to not count yourself out prematurely, and to apply for things that may previously have seemed out of reach. Use that eclipse energy!

On July 16, the second eclipse sweeps through your zone of money and value, encouraging you to take a look at your budget and really get your day-to-day finances in order. You are releasing a major pattern in your life around money; you may also be experiencing a transformational lesson around how you interact with money. Remember that money isn’t the enemy, and that changing how we think about it can alter how we interact with it.

Writing Prompt: Who, or what, would you be comfortable partnering with in your life right now? If there isn’t anyone, or anything, is there a reason for that?

CAPRICORN

You can climb any mountain solo, Capricorn—but the whole point of this summer is, you don’t have to.

Lesson the first: you can let other people in for the long haul. Trust your gut; boundaries are healthy. On July 2, the Cancer eclipse lights up your partnership zone. This isn’t just about romance, although of course it could relate to a new relationship, or to the rejuvenation of an existing one. It also relates to those long-term business partnerships that can certainly feel like a marriage: say, with editors we spend years working with, and most especially with literary agents, those folks whose contracts can be more binding than a prenup. This eclipse is about growing a relationship, nurturing a relationship and, specifically, about what you are growing together.

Are you in the market for someone new, or do you need to have a conversation with an existing person? Mercury will retrograde through this part of your chart later in July, encouraging you to review your conversations and contracts, so bear that in mind, as well.

Lesson the second: sometimes, what you’ve built for yourself doesn’t work anymore. It worked for a time, but it’s time to let it go. The second eclipse of the summer hits your zone of self and identity on July 16. It sits with Pluto, the planet of transformation; this one is big, Capricorn. You’ve been getting raked over the coals, with heavyweights Pluto and Saturn constantly delivering ego checks, but if you work with them (not against them), you’ll emerge stronger than ever, with a renewed sense of self—and with less of that psychic debris you’ve been carrying. Whatever structures have helped get you this far—it’s time to reexamine those. You don’t need all of them. You probably don’t need most of them. You’ve been doing some tremendous growth. Time to let go of the security blankets.  

Writing Prompt: What security blankets are you holding on to? What partnerships are you nurturing?

AQUARIUS

Work, work, work, work, work, work. For you, summer is all about an exciting new project—and letting go of some major old emotional stuff that probably relates to it. Easier said than done.

The first eclipse of the summer, on July 2, lights up your zone of work, daily routines, and health. This zone has been getting a lot of attention lately: Mars, the planet of action, just took a spin through here, inspiring you to pay extra attention to what was working (or, perhaps more notably, what wasn’t), and Venus, the planet of value, is hanging out here, too, adding some encouragement and grace to your work relationships. For you, this eclipse is about starting a new work-related project, or, alternately, about something that’s been baking for a while really getting lift-off this month. This eclipse is a power-boost: Cancer energy isn’t your favorite—it’s about being powered by your emotional center—but, like it or not, all of your career and money zones are governed by water energy. To succeed with your work and career endeavors, you’ve got to get comfortable with centering your feels and your spirit. No time like the present.

Speaking of spirit: the next eclipse, on the 16th, might be in earthy Capricorn, but it hits your most spiritual, unconscious zone—and the eclipse is on the super-karmic south node, hanging out right next to transformational Pluto. You’ve been doing a lot of work in this part of your chart (maybe therapy, maybe some other deep-digging emotional work) over the last few years, and this eclipse is going to feel like emotionally taking out the trash: letting go of lots of psychic debris… probably that relates, in some capacity, to freeing up some creative space for that new project to grow and thrive.

Writing Prompt: What project are you starting? Nurturing?

PISCES

Your summer is all about where you draw the line, Pisces. What relationships do you want to invest in? Who and what is worth your creative energy?

The first eclipse of the summer, on July 2, is in your most creative, romantic, erotic zone. You’re beginning an exciting new creative project, or perhaps you’ve suddenly got a ton of inspiration for an old thing you put down ages ago that you’re seeing in a new light. Cancer season is good to you that way: all those waters refreshing and nurturing the deepest, most sensitive parts of your psyche. This eclipse is about growth, about investment, about taking the time to really put roots down so that this one sticks.

Meanwhile, the second eclipse, which hits the Capricorn zone of your chart on July 16, is all about releasing your involvement in communities and groups that are taking up too much of your time. You’ve got this precious new creative project, which means you don’t have as much time for other obligations and commitments. Bow out gracefully; you already know which ones I’m talking about. Don’t ghost; don’t be that person. You also don’t have to justify your exit. A simple this has been great, but I have to step away will suffice. Think Marie Kondo: thank them for their place in your life, and move on.

Writing Prompt: What communities are you releasing attachment to? How can you gracefully back away?