February Horoscopes from Galactic Rabbit

by Gala Mukomolova

Winter bunnies,

Here is your batch of February star potion. I have done my best to speak to each of you with tenderness in my own heart. I hope there are truths you find here and if not truth then at least beauty.

More Love than Moons on Jupiter,
Galactic Rabbit

Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 18): Aquarius, I have been thinking about you for a long time. And, as long as I am writing to you, I will want to invoke Virginia Woolf. She was an Aquarius, you see, a magician of the mind — like you. Oh and did you know that the world, as we know it, has been in the age of Aquarius? For basically ever. It’s not just a song about long hair and changing tides. It’s you. There’s an (ethical) diamond in your mind meant to illuminate everything around you. Don’t abuse this power and don’t forget it. Instead, think of this month as a low-key party with your name on the banner. Make pleasure a daily practice. “How much better is silence; the coffee cup, the table,” Virginia writes. “How much better to sit by myself like the solitary sea-bird that opens its wings on the stake. Let me sit here for ever with bare things, this coffee cup, this knife, this fork, things in themselves, myself being myself.”

Pisces (Feb 19-Mar 20): Pisces, here we go again. Guess what’s gonna retrograde in a hot minute? Mercury! And, guess whose house it wants to move backwards in? Yours! Duh. Let’s talk about what it means to be a good host during a cosmic party. A planet knocks on your door and you’re obligated to let him in. He seems distracted. He’s asking you for something. Something you already have but forgot you have. You search for it, offering him all these precious things (cue that Tori Amos, who wasn’t a Pisces but often a Pisces feeling), things you can’t help but offer. Mercury, meanwhile, has begun to dance in a counterclockwise circle. He is without delicacy. Pisces, sometimes all we have control over is our intentions. How do you intend to be kind in the face of fear? How will you create a path for Mercury so that everything you’ve offered remains un-shattered?

Aries (Mar 21-Apr 19): I am thinking of that one where Selena sings “Ohhhh (bidi bidi bom bom) Me canta así, me canta así/ Cada vez que lo veo pasar, whoa.” There is so much to behold in this world, isn’t there? The morning light breaking through your blinds, that cutie at the coffee shop, the songs you create when you touch others. Whoa. Aries, your love is like whoa, but what do you want your life to be? It can’t be these bouts of isolation, these small handfuls of desire without bloom. I have always loved the way you started your own fire, your easy gait as you braved the unknown time and time again. What has been holding you back so long, Aries? Fire-heart, you were made to create beautiful things. Welcome the New Year, the wood horse, and pony up.

Taurus (Apr 20-May 20): You’re one of the good ones. So few truly know the extent to which you will extend your hand. Your fortitude and support act as a foundation for those you love. Taurus, if you haven’t already, you better ask: what have you done for me lately? Invoke Janet now and forever, a Taurus who knows what she deserves. I know that you count your luck. I know that there are times when the universe will build her bower around you: a temporal place to sleep and a thing of beauty. You crave more, don’t you Taurus? Something beyond décor and decorum — something constant and full of reciprocity. Venus (your home planet) is turning back toward you, Taurus you deserve the love you give three-fold. Now do yourself a favor and blast this masterpiece.

Gemini (May 21-Jun 20): Gemini, did you know that this is the Chinese Zodiac year of the horse? Well, it is, and I’m pleased to tell you that the sign of Gemini reflects the horse in the Zodiac Wheel. What can that mean for you? This is the year you gallop out from behind the fog and into the wide-open field. Take this month to assess your gifts. How can you enjoy yourself and make yourself of use? What makes you proud? Twin star, you carry a mirror wherever you go. Hold it up to the world around you. There is more than one town, more than one person, more than one dream ready and open to you. You are yourself and your reflection, dear heart, so look twice and look deep. Think about Stevie Nicks whirling up her Gemini-witch: Here I go again, she is you, I see the crystal visions, I keep those visions to myself. It’s time that seeing becomes doing. Devote yourself to the journey.

Cancer (Jun 21-Jul 22): Cancer, have you read that Octavia E. Butler? She was a Cancer who practiced true moon magic. “You don’t start out writing good stuff,” she explained. “You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.” All year you’ve practiced persistence. You got out of bed, you waited at the bus stop, you re-filed that form, and you came back to that project with another wind and another. Well, it’s about to pay off. This month Jupiter is in your court and Jupiter’s blessing is a celestial wink for every endeavor. Things are going to go your way. Doors will open toward you, and you will be beckoned through. Enjoy it, Soft-heart, and don’t take it for granted.

Leo (Jul 23-Aug 22): Leo, I wanted to give you an inspirational figure. Someone to bounce back all the light you give me. Yet here, at the candle-burning hour, I have come to a conclusion: I realize that your power is so singular to me, so full circle, that all you need to do is look at yourself. You are fine as hell and twice as hot. Leo if you were true to your lion’s heart last month then you took the lion’s share. You burned rubber, you burned bridges, you did whatever was necessary to feed the true fire of your life. So where are you now? Oh, ashes to ashes: what tore open the sky at midnight barely flickers in the morning light. I wrote you a cheesy poem, Leo. It’s my Valentine. Girl, I think you have more spark in your pinky then a box of matches. You better be out there collecting new kindling to burn.

Virgo (Aug 23-Sep 22): Two days ago, Virgo, I tried to dig my car out of the snow. My friend was with me. We worked tirelessly but could not move. A young man came to our rescue on his own accord. He leaned his whole body down into the snow and pushed the car as the wheels whirled. He looked up smiling and his beard was dipped in snow. Yesterday, my dog sprained her leg running around a small park. We were stranded. A young woman who was also there offered to run home and bring her car, which was, funny enough, covered in snow. When I said I did not want to bother her, she offered to stand with me a while and wait until the circumstances changed. What I am telling you, beloved, Virgo of my heart, is that there are people out there whose goodness is without measure. Do not dishonor them by assuming otherwise. Why suffer fools when you could bask in the love of menschen?

Libra (Sep 23-Oct 22): Dear Libra, I need to connect. I want you to know that your presence gives me great pleasure. That I love your company, not because you are fair or perfect or balanced or any of those other generic things people say about you. They’re not usually true. You are deeply flawed, my love, and so am I. You would know that because you can spot bullshit from a mile away. I love your nearness, you could charm my pants off with one witty remark, one casual glance. No one is doomed to love anyone, Libra, but couldn’t we be bold together? I heard your night is wide with possibility. Why, then, do you pull back when you want to come closer?

Scorpio (Oct 23-Nov 21): Anne Sexton was a Scorpio. Here is the beginning of her poem “Black Art”:

A woman who writes feels too much,
those trances and portents!
As if cycles and children and islands
weren’t enough; as if mourners and gossips
and vegetables were never enough.
She thinks she can warn the stars.
A writer is essentially a spy.
Dear love, I am that girl.

Scorpio, Saturn sits heavy in your stomach, a cake baked with the milk of melancholy. My sister, my witch, I forgive you for everything. Get up. This month, strip your inertia off like a ripped stocking. It isn’t protecting you from the cold and it sure doesn’t look good. Isn’t there a woman you forgot to be? Isn’t there an animal in you purring?

Sagittarius (Nov 22-Dec 21): Write me a letter during your flight. Tell me how each stewardess alters her uniform just so. Sneak a look at the first line of your seat-mate’s book. Tell me, what is it? Is there meaning in these things? Is the universe telling you something you refuse to see? Have you found yourself waiting for some sort of clue, an answer to the question: What do I want and when is the best time to get it? Stop. Inside of you is the Ace of Wands, a genie in a bottle baby, you gotta rub her the right way (as your fellow Sag once said). Sagittarius, you better love what you do and do it well. Instead of under-estimating your intuition, revel in your un-failing ability to build your life up from scratch.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 19): Venus has gone direct and strung her bow with you. Her arrows fly in the air, full of earth magic but you are down on the ground vibrating up with the earth’s constant rotation. Look up, Capricorn. Believe in something you can’t touch. The world is about to give you everything you’ve been asking for but a little a faith is required. Which means maybe it’s time you started seeing faith in a new way. Not as a challenge or a tradition, but rather as a daily ritual, an offering you make back to your own heart. The great Capricorn Sandra Cisneros writes: “Tell me a story, even if it’s a lie. Cuéntame algo, aunque sea una mentira,” in her book Caramelo. Isn’t there a story you can believe in so hard it becomes true?

Gala Mukomolova is a poet ruled by Pluto, a planet in our hearts.

Photo via MJmerry/Flickr