The theme for July is Conflict Resolution.

July begins in the sign of Cancer, and a symbol of all Moonchildren is the pearl. The oyster takes an irritant and creates beauty. Conflict is one of the themes of this year, and this theme is heightened this month. Conflict does not have to be “bad”—it shows us what we actually want, and where we get caught in pride, defense, or ego. Unwanted interactions can go all sorts of ways when adaptation and capacity are present. Conflict can lead to innovation. It encourages us to imagine other options, behaviors, and dynamics. Because of our society's carceral and punitive influence, most people are afraid of conflict, so scared that they create threats everywhere that they either try to avoid or preemptively defend. Most people use conflict as an excuse for attack, or binary thinking, or villain/victim setups. When conflict is approached with loving and generous motivations, it can be a place of repair, respect, and enhanced intimacy.  

— Excerpt is from the 2023 Many Moons Lunar Planner. To read more and get Sarah Faith Gottesdiener's exclusive Conflict Resolution Tarot Spread, order your digital copy of Many Moons here! Order your copy of the second, benefit-edition of Many Moons from LULU.com. 

This month's Tarotscopes were channeled and written by meditating on each archetype and pulling a Tarot card for them. Read for whatever sign you feel called to: your Sun, rising, Moon, or a placement that is particularly loud right now.*

 July 2023 Tarotscopes

Aries
Page of Cups

Clarity hasn’t exactly been easy to find lately. It has been easier to focus on how much you don’t know and succumb to overwhelm, and then get reactionary. In some ways, that loop serves as a defense mechanism. That pattern stops you from remembering you actually are ready to do things differently, that you know more than you realize. This summer requires another version of yourself — a version that is proactive and self-compassionate. Who trusts themselves and the flow of the stream of their life. A version that possesses a magical ability to change your tune through play and ritual; through listening; through letting help in via the unseen realms.

There are many mystical messages around you. Helpers hover like lightning bugs, waiting for you to acknowledge them. Animals, dreams, repeating patterns, and other synchronicities may be surfacing for you at this time: pay attention. Or, make your own: journal, and see what comes up. Sing: listen to the truths that tumble out in improvised lyrics.

All you want right now is a shred of control, sweet Aries. That want, however, is a distraction. Spend as much time surrendering as you do focusing on your heart. Spend as much time refining your energy as you do being as inventive as possible in your solution-seeking. Look for the beginnings in all of the forms they appear.

Suggested spell ingredients: Peach moonstone, lotus root, water, bibliomancy through poetry (either from the poems you write or the ones that offer the most inspiration), and a good Feelings session.

Taurus
Knight of Pentacles, Reversed

You move at the pace you want: sometimes, it’s faster than a hummingbird. Other times, it’s slower than a sloth. Taurus is nature itself; we don’t scream at roses to bloom, and we don’t get impatient with the time it takes for an apple to ripen. Taurus, it’s time to move, before all the ripeness sours to rot.

Yes, this is about time management: your life (and the world) is quite different than it was a few years ago. Focus on what you can control: your sphere of influence. Your sphere of influence exists in your every day: it’s where you waste time, and it’s where you waste energy. Pay attention to both. Start cleaning it all up: literally, energetically, and spiritually.

Stop playing it safe. In order to do this, you’ve got to think about what gives you security and implement it. If you need a plan B, C, D, or E—and many of you Taurus aspects do—then make them. Write it all out. Get the spreadsheets, emergency contacts, and caveats on lock. But please, for the love of Goddess, make what you MOST want to do a priority. And if you don’t know what that is, choose joy. Choose what interests you. Bonus points if it feels cringe-y, edge-y, or not like “you.” The point is to be less like the old you, born of obligation and loyalty, and more like the present you: radical, bold, and truly ignited.

Suggested spell ingredients: Day trips, investment in financial education, energy drain inventories, at least 2 new outfits, selenite, and time spent Feeling Your Feelings.

Gemini
Strength

A myth of healing is that it is the destination. That one day there’s nothing left to heal, and then nothing hurts and nothing goes wrong, and you never ever get triggered. That’s simply not true, and this is the month to clarify what healing and being healed looks like for you, now. Healing is exhausting. Healing requires dedication. Remember this as you stay with yourself in this current heart excavation process or this heart retrieval period. Rest, take breaks. Do what feels fun, now. Measure your healing by how deep you can feel, and by how compassionate you can be, by how hopeful you still remain.

Let this July be a balm for any and all parts of you that are run ragged. Even in making the commitment to heal some aspect of your life, you are opening up beautiful rose-colored portals into a vibrant future you can’t yet see, but can sense is on the horizon. Give yourself reminders of your resilience. Remember how far you’ve come, and how strong you are.

Suggested spell ingredients: Yarrow, naps, compassionately advocating for your needs, praying to your wisest future self, amethyst, and Feelings.

Cancer
Knight of Cups

The Knight of Cups always signifies a move toward re-enchantment. A trip to the grocery store can be a hilarious adventure, with the right energy. A run-in with an annoying person can be a chance to practice compassion — and gratitude that you aren’t trapped inside their brain! Anything can be infused with anything you’d like, isn’t that beautiful? Being conscious of glimmers helps us begin to enchant our worlds. Implementing our energetic and emotional signatures toward amusement and devotion signals to the Universe that we are ready for more.

For many moons, you’ve dreamed about what you’d most like to create. Now, it’s time to move forward with consistency. Knights are about movement and as you begin, consider how you’ll be moving differently this time. Think about postures, energetic waves, and the qualities of care you’ll use to infuse your creations. This time, don’t do anything because you think you are “supposed to.” Don’t do anything out of fear. Make it in co-creation with your muses, daimons, and Source herself.

It’s not that this month will be a breeze: emotions will try to distort perception and reception. Remember that emotions can change in an instant, and can recede like the tides. At the start of the month, get into your clearest state. Proclaim what it is you most want to feel and practice it every day. Love: you’ve got it flowing through you. Begin building and all of the support, abundance, and enchantment will come.

Suggested spell ingredients: Integrations of the ethereal with the material, a daily gratitude practice, dialogues with your inner child for inspiration, an ode to your inner spark, and embracing your Feelings.

Leo
The World, Reversed

One of the many ways that we live in a backward society is what we are taught about staying the same. While it’s generally accepted to advance linearly in one’s field, quantum leaps or hard off-roading is often met with derision or skepticism. But, that is what you are preparing for, and by autumn, you’ll be well on your way toward a different trajectory, a different path. You’ve wanted things to feel different and look different for so long. You’ve done so much work, inner and outer, to get there. Keep the faith: a whole new world is almost here.

This month is about resolving inner conflict. Conflict happens when we aren’t living out our values, conflict happens when there is a dissonance between who you are and what you do, most of the time. Any guilt or trepidation you feel about ending a chapter will be transformed through action. If you find yourself in limbo, not sure exactly where you are going next, get really clear about what it is you no longer want to do. And then stop doing it, or figure out a way to greatly decrease the time doing it. Cross one scary thing off your list each week of July.

You want to be intentional, but not have expectations. You want to be structured enough to play and flow. Name the bigger stage you are ready to play on, without becoming too attached to exact outcomes. This is how you will solve your inner conflict.

Suggested spell ingredients: Protection Magic, a forgiveness practice, the smell of fresh cut grass, time off, and a commitment to your feelings.

Virgo
The Sun

Somewhere, you’re blocked. Not because you are wrong, not because someone or something is punishing you. The same melody has played on repeat, the same habits have dimmed your spark. This month, you’ve got to mix it up. Whatever rules have been created—and that means habits, routines, and subconscious patterns—can be broken. In excellent news, you have friends, guides, and the support of the Sun.

One of the biggest hits that the band The Talking Heads ever enjoyed was when they all switched instruments, playing on what was foreign to them. That unfamiliar play experiment birthed the song “Naive Melody”. The internal conflict that has you in a chokehold will be solved through play and curiosity, not through punishment or force. Most likely, there will also be some breakthroughs through your networks, comrades, and friends. Suggest a meet-up at an unfamiliar place. Make an art date where you finish one another’s pieces.

An artist doesn’t always necessarily make art all the time, but they do live creatively all the time. The Sun is generous by merit of its authentic nature. It can feel terrifying to tell your managerial parts to step back, that it’s time to try things that feel creative, generous, and undefined. Ultimately, how you are going to move forward is more important than the exact outcome. Lean into what feels good, and let that lead. It’s ok to let go. It’s ok to go.

Suggested spell ingredients: Rise Magic Oil on your wrists, David Byrne’s books, carnelian, playdates, and time spent investing in How To Feel Your Feelings.

Libra
The High Priestess

In the last few years most Libras have been in more solitude than ever before. Yes, of course, a pandemic will do that, but this is a kind of inner, deeper place of quiet and solitude that goes far beyond social distancing or quarantine. Some call it the void. For some, it’s shedding.

You’ve shed aspects of your personality, where you get hooked, and many relationships. Some of you have shed entire careers, addictions, identities, and/or places that at some point were called home. It’s been both excruciating and exquisite. What you’ve been through, and how you’ve emerged so much clearer from it, have added an additional level of a-lone-ness that sometimes still smothers you like a thick cloak. Grief has walked alongside you, like a shadowy dog with a slow gait.

This month is one of the last months this year that the grief and isolation will crash like cold walls around you. The shadow dogs have been properly fed, and have laid down to rest. Cultivate the clarity that has returned, the intuition that has always been your superpower. Your entire orientation has shifted away from trying to be everything to everyone else. Now, you have become everything to yourself. Spend this time staying in your interiority, tethered to trust. The losses have been gains. Your self-understanding will always be the greatest victory.

Suggested spell ingredients: Cobalt blue, mugwort, midnight meditations, blank pages, and time spent investing in How To Feel Your Feelings.  

Scorpio
Death, Reversed

This summer is one of resurrection for you, but first, you’ve got to completely let something die. Where are you going through the motions? If you stopped reaching out to someone, would they still reach out to you? July is likely to be a month where you are still deeply resisting an ending, a surrender, writing on the wall. That’s ok. If you need more time to process, acknowledge that. Just be clear that you aren’t locked into avoidance.

This death can also extend to unsustainable ventures or efforts. All of us have internalized capitalism and ableism inside of us: some of us bring it into all areas of our life, and that’s usually a recipe for exhaustion and lack of intimacy. Instead of wanting to be the best parent/roommate/friend/meditator/organizer/spell crafter for appearances’ sake, focus on being the most present, available, and alive version of yourself. You aren’t doing things to “get” them. You are existing in order to be, and be with.

The mystical and the out-of-control are both sexy, but they aren’t the same thing. Don’t confuse the unknown with carelessness. Don’t use altered states as a way to numb out. Go toward what makes you feel alive. That includes letting things die.

Suggested spell ingredients: Compost, this Moonbeaming episode on death, rest, The Things That Die podcast, and time spent investing in How To Feel Your Feelings.

Sagittarius
6 of Swords

You are the queen of “making it work.” Backbends, duct tape, forgiveness, and other flexible feats litter your past relationships, work, creative projects, and more. You really can make something out of nothing. Now, you must prioritize the spirit of your first choice. What do you want? You are resourced now, in a way you haven’t been before. These resources include your wisdom, your inspiration, your support network, and your intimate knowledge of what is best for you. This is a summer of new directions.

This month highlights movement. Endings and beginnings are on full blast. Goodbyes will eventually turn into different invitations. Don’t trip over what is meant to be left in the past. And if you aren’t quite yet there, emotionally… decide to move on anyway. Make conscious choices to vote wholeheartedly for your needs. The energy swirling around you is about action and adaptability.

Whatever sacrifices you are making to get there—whatever grief this could entail—will eventually provide fuel to help get you where you need to go. Your arrival will be better than anything before because it will be infused with all you’ve learned. It will come from your heart and will be buoyed along by your growing belief. Flow toward safer spaces for your dreams to root down into.

Suggested spell ingredients: Polite no thank you’s, this episode of Moonbeaming, birdsong, and time spent investing in How To Feel Your Feelings.

Capricorn
9 of Wands

Many Moons tells us that the theme of this month is conflict resolution. For you, this means taking a look at where you’ve hardened around past hurts. Creating shields and walls works, but only for a limited time. Soon enough, it becomes too exhausting to flinch first, close down at the smallest cue of threats, or stay in the fringe of the crowd because it seems safer. Soon enough, avoiding your True Self’s needs becomes too costly. You’re a pro at efficiency, so you understand that addressing the ramifications of this particular energetic drain is important.

The 9 of Wands is an indicator that you know all of this. On and off for the last decade you’ve been engaged in uncovering where you close yourself off to enjoying the fruits of your labors, where you confuse rigidity for safety. Already, you’ve been making beautiful strides to tend to the garden within, not the brick wall around it. Already, you’ve begun to soften.

Knowing is not the same as integrating. You’ve gone deep: now it’s time to go even deeper, become even wilder. Let your body make the decisions this month. Let your open heart choose to overlook a jab, or to leave without a wordy explanation. Go far beyond what the world is telling you to do, into an instinctual world that is completely your own.

Suggested spell ingredients: Somatic therapy, star rose quartz, deep listening to your soft animal body, salt water floats, and actually Feeling Your Feelings.

Aquarius
The Lovers

This is the time to choose your emotional, physical, and mental well-being over anything else. This is hard work, it is layered work, and it is work that will pay off handsomely, handsome. The choices you make in service of staying present, staying resourced, and staying engaged with your needs are key to your creative expression.

Start the month off by writing down all of the subtle ways you engage in self-harming behavior. These are habits: too much phone, too much brushing off of compliments or other gestures of love, too little sleep, too many times spent saying “yes” instead of “no.” The good news about habits is that we can change them. As you decide to make different choices, be careful about succumbing to guilt or other self-punishing thoughts. 

July will also have you integrating different aspects of your life or identifying ways that will enhance your love for yourself. Come out of a particular closet. Share your beliefs in public ways, and have your actions be an extension of your values. Combine two previously disparate practices or interests you have. Take the shame out of pleasure. Take the procrastination out of self-actualization. Revel in the release that flows in when you breathe in deep and scream out your prayers to an endless sky.  

Suggested spell ingredients: Ocean jasper, one new-to-you recipe, creative voice notes to friends, time spent vigorously sloughing off dead skin cells in the shower, and our How To Feel Your Feelings Online Workshop.  

Pisces
4 of Wands

In many ways, July feels like a homecoming of sorts. Whatever conflict you’ve been feeling about being seen, you’re solving it by showing up. Showing up in your entirety looks like sharing your brilliance, all you’ve achieved, all you are proud of. If there's resistance, there could be different reasons for it. Does your current work—what you’re immersed in and sharing about—light you up? Remember that the work (projects, investments, energy, time, relationships) inherently has to support your creative spark, and has to give your life meaning.

If there’s a disconnect, figure out why you are doing what you are doing. It’s ok to change course, pivot, and begin to do something else. You are so incredibly supported right now, even if you don’t feel it.

If being perceived is a hurdle, this is the summer to furiously dissolve that block. If play is a challenge, construct places of safety first. For those of us with past trauma, being yourself takes practice. So practice without shame.

This is a time of getting invited, and welcomed, into vitality and new friendships. Into deeper and more magnetic relationships. It’s time to invite in all of the mothers that support your innovations and inventions: the beloved ancestors, the new seeds, the supportive, encouraging yeses that swirl around, guiding you more deeply in, and more joyously out.

Suggested spell ingredients: Bonfires, at least two new creative projects or hobbies, this episode of Moonbeaming, the color orange, and attunement to excitement.
 

*Please note: If you don’t know if you are allergic to a specific herb or plant, use caution or consult with your herbalist or doctor before ingesting.

Never leave a lit candle or flame of any kind unattended.


These Tarotscopes are not intended as an alternative to medical or psychiatric health services and should not be interpreted or used as such.


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