the stars are aligning

Hi friends,

If you’ve spent any time on astrology Instagram the last few weeks, you’ve probably heard: This week contains some of the most anticipated and interesting astrology of the year, peaking from July 19 to 21.

The astrology in question is known as “Barbault’s Basket,” referring to a prediction made by the late French astrologer André Barbault, who zeroed in on the alignment of four of the slow-moving outer planets coming this week, with Jupiter at 4 degrees of Leo, Uranus at 4 degrees of Gemini, Neptune at 4 degrees of Aries and Pluto at 4 degrees of Aquarius. (It’s called the basket because of the way the angles these planets make to each other look on the zodiacal wheel, like a bowl with a handle.)

The outer planets take a long time to move through the signs, and when they line up they can speak to major energetic shifts in our culture. Barbault has zeroed in on this before: He is often credited with predicting the fall of the USSR and the COVID-19 pandemic, after he published a paper in 2011 called “A Survey of Pandemics.”

“We may well be at serious risk of a new pandemic around 2020-2021,” he wrote at the time, noting that a Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto conjunction was “particularly, even specifically, amenable to the ‘fabric’ of this imbalance.”

He was, obviously, exactly right, which has made everyone really interested in a prediction he made about the alignment of these outer planets coming up this week. It will be, he said, “a splendid relaunch of civilization” that will lead to “a promotion of the lower strata of the world population, a significant rise in the standard of living of the poor, a victory over misery won in unprecedented solidarity.” Tea!

Barbault — like all astrologers — dealt in cycles, and he saw July 2026 a turning point, but what exactly that means has been the subject of much debate. (I’ve seen several astrologers imply it will = d***h of T***p, but there’s a whole astrological ecosystem around that that has yet, obviously, to come true.) But I want to be clear: I don’t think July 19 will be the day everything changes, but I do think it could be a moment we look back at and see as vital. (This, for what it’s worth, is often my experience with major astrological transits.)

What I do think is that it’s more valuable to think about this alignment as a seeding point, a moment when the question of our collective power and collective care becomes really important, amplified by the fact that today, Tuesday July 14, is the new moon in Cancer.

This new moon, similarly, also asks us to consider how we care for our communities and ourselves, our relationships to women and mothers and babies and families and bodies and feelings, and gives us an opportunity to sit down and think about our intentions for the coming weeks and months, which will be particularly important as this major planetary alignment comes together late in the week.

We are also, obviously, in the midst of Mercury retrograde, with about ten days left. I have had the most Merc retro time the last few weeks with flight delays and scheduling issues and sickness and communication mishaps. I can feel how deeply I need a moment to reset, and I’m so thankful for this moon for that.

I’m going to be doing this tarot spread, writing out some clear intentions and manifestations and putting them under my platter of crystals, stretching, taking a bath, kissing my boyfriend, seeing family and going to bed as early as I can, because when civilization relaunches this week, I want to be well resourced and well rested.

I wish the same for all of you. Stay patient. Stay in touch, and reach out if you’re interested in a chart reading. (After several weeks hiatus for book stuff, I’m finally ready to tap back into reading for people. <3)

Love you.

XO,
A