Free People Horoscopes by Tracy Allen, Week of June 16–22

Follow @astrotherapist on Twitter and email tallennyc@gmail.com to schedule a reading over phone or Skype. Available in-person in NYC! $125 for 60 minutes, $150 for 90 minutes.

GEMINI

May 21–June 20

With your ruling planet Mercury backtracking into Gemini this week, your brain becomes more active. Although you may feel extra talkative, expressing yourself won’t be easy. Mercury retrograde puts you on a different wavelength, so self-reflection is more natural and useful than self-expression now. You’ll be able to examine aspects of your identity from a fresh perspective if you quiet your mind and go inward. Don’t let the tidbits of information that inhabit your everyday thinking capture your attention. Rather, dig deeper into personal insights and revelations. Weed out the false parts of your persona, and mull over how you can give your most authentic qualities more of a voice. Play around with rewriting your life story.

CANCER

June 21–July 22

Mental Mercury slips back into your subliminal sector this week, suggesting that you’re not quite through wrapping something up in your head. You’ll probably want some time to yourself in order to process emotions. Spirituality, the subconscious, intuition, dreams, imagination and rest are all accentuated by Mercury’s position in the last house of your chart. Relax your mind, release your intellectual grip, surrender to not knowing. With friendly Venus in your group zone gelling with positive Jupiter in Cancer, some socializing will also do you good—and you could make a favorable contact now. Despite your introspective mood, other people are apt to be conduits for a growth opportunity. The sun’s entry into your sign at week’s end provides a needed energy boost.

LEO

July 23–August 22

Misunderstandings, gossip, mixed signals, snags with social plans, friendship trouble, technology mishaps—these are the things that are likely to irk you when Mercury retrogrades back into your group house this week. Don’t get sidetracked by drama, because the point isn’t who said what to whom or why a get-together fell through or anything like that. Mercury is luring you to think about something from a different angle. Ponder newly formed goals, a philanthropic project, a friendship, professional networking, public speaking, your affiliation with a group and the way you view your role among others. You might also reconnect with an old friend now. As the sun dips into your subconscious sector, your energy will downshift, compelling you to recharge your battery.

VIRGO

August 23–September 22

Mercury backpedals into your ambition angle this week, calling for you to rethink a specific goal, your career path or the mark you want to make in the world. Postpone discussing weighty matters with your superiors at work and your parents, as your words are likely to be misconstrued by authority figures while Mercury is retrograde. You want to shine, but let your actions speak for themselves. You may need to gather more information to complete a work project or do some research to fill in the blanks of a career plan. Instead of dwelling in the frustration of not being able to forge ahead, sink your teeth into the very Virgo activity of crossing your t’s and dotting your i’s.

LIBRA

September 23–October 22

Retrograde Mercury backs into your exploration house this week, increasing the chances that you’ll have to deal with glitches and delays with travel or education. This is a good time to reexamine a belief, revisit a place you’ve been before, get back in touch with someone far away, brush up on knowledge that will help you to succeed, polish rusty foreign-language skills, rethink a prejudice, judgment or opinion and revise your vision of the future. Venus in your sharing sector is clicking with aspirational Jupiter at the top of your chart, so confiding in someone you trust, sharing intimacy with a person you care about or experiencing love and closeness will boost your confidence, inspiring you to keep reaching for the stars.

SCORPIO

October 23–November 21

Mercury backtracks into your depth zone this week, prodding you to delve deeper into something. Research and psychological insights are favored, as you go back over an issue in your head, diving down to a level that holds hidden riches. Look into things that haven’t been obvious before. Patiently and fearlessly peel the onion, and shine a light on matters that have lain in darkness until now. Contemplate, but don’t try to communicate just yet—especially about sticky issues like sex, money, jealousy or trust. On a more mundane note, expect delays with outside financial resources such as loans, grants, taxes, investments and inheritance. Use this time to reorganize your debt, holding off on any major decisions or paperwork until July.

SAGITTARIUS

November 22–December 21

After Mercury retrogrades back into your one-on-one angle this week, you have a chance to review specific close relationships and how you relate to others in general. You might experience communication problems with your significant other or revisit such problems from the past. An ex could get back in touch now, which would likely lead to some confusion. But don’t brace yourself for that to happen. Focus on the dynamics in your one-on-one connections and whether or not there is harmony, respect, understanding and a spirit of fair play between you and the people closest to you. With Venus and Jupiter clicking now, partnering with someone can help you improve your job, health, fitness or discipline.

CAPRICORN

December 22–January 19

When Mercury backpedals into your routine sector this week, communication with colleagues could get tricky, and you’ll need to be patient with scheduling glitches, work delays and confusion over how something is going to get done. Mercury’s placement here could make you hypercritical, but you’re better off not pointing fingers. More productive uses of this time: double-check your work, reorganize your routine; refresh your skills; review your health, nutrition and fitness and figure out how to improve them; rethink your solution to a problem, your usual way of doing things or your job responsibilities; reform bad habits. Thankfully, lovely Venus is syncing with positive Jupiter in your pleasure and relationship houses, hinting that fun or romance is yours for the taking.

AQUARIUS

January 20–February 18

Mercury backs into your joy sector this week, bringing a past romance or previous source of pleasure to mind. Communication with children and love interests is complicated, so no matter how much thinking you’re doing, resist the urge to share all those thoughts now. Be patient with dating mix-ups. Revise an artistic project. Reminisce about a lost love and either reconnect or journal about your feelings, depending on which course of action seems wiser. Play around with some form of creative writing, focusing on whatever is in your heart now. Resist the urge to take a gamble. Turn a present-day love affair over in your mind. Using your intuition, try to bring head and heart together regarding your happiness and personal fulfillment.

PISCES

February 19–March 20

Retrograde Mercury is crossing back into your foundation angle this week, stirring up potentially confusing emotions and memories. Miscommunication with family is a strong possibility, so minimize the chances of trouble by not saying too much and not taking anything personally. Hold off on making decisions about family matters and your living situation. If you come up with ideas about redecorating or relocating, don’t act on them now. Review the patterns that you’ve carried over from childhood. Contemplate what makes you feel comfortable, safe and secure. What are the pillars of your personal foundation? You may not understand some of the feelings that are coming up for you now, but whatever you do, don’t judge them. Never judge feelings.

ARIES

March 21–April 19

With Mercury backing into its natural house this week, you’re likely to experience some of the typical nuisances of Merc Retro. These include travel delays, miscommunication, technology difficulties, paperwork glitches and bad timing, among other frustrations. But Mercury isn’t simply trying to annoy you. The trickster planet wants to shake up your habitual mindset and get you thinking on a different wavelength. When things don’t run smoothly, your brain is nudged out of its usual grooves. Ask yourself what your awareness is being drawn to. Rethink your thinking—pay closer attention to your assumptions, your typical trains of thought and the messages you constantly send yourself in your head. Bring your cognitive patterns into the light and see what you learn.

TAURUS

April 20–May 20

Keep an eye on spending after Mercury backtracks into your worth zone this week, impairing your financial judgment. This is a good time to review how you make, spend and save money. If your budget doesn’t reflect your values and priorities, consider ways to align them. What changes can you make to your financial strategy that will help you feel more secure and self-sufficient? Examine the relationship between your self-image and your attitude about money. If it’s unhealthy, how might you repair it going forward? Don’t make any big decisions now; stick to mulling over these matters. However, Venus in Taurus is hooking up with Jupiter in your mentality house, reminding you that love, pleasure, positive thinking and valuing yourself are all important too.

Follow @astrotherapist on Twitter and email tallennyc@gmail.com to schedule a reading over phone or Skype. Available in-person in NYC! $125 for 60 minutes, $150 for 90 minutes.