THE ASTROLOGY FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 21–27, 2025
Theme: The Season Turns
Lion and Python Watercolor by Antoine-Louis Barye ca. 1863
The week ahead carries importance and weight. We are stepping into a new season of warmth and generosity as the Sun enters Leo on Tuesday. The New Moon in Leo on Thursday invites commitment to what lights us up from within. Look to the house that holds Leo in your natal chart for understanding and confirmation. Friday confronts us with the Sun’s opposition to Pluto, a configuration that demands our attention. This is where the image of the Lion and the Python above is relevant.
From an astrological lens, the Lion represents Leo, ruled by the Sun and is associated with will, heart, generosity, and life force. The snake doesn’t correspond to a zodiac sign, but in symbolic language, it has an affinity with transformation, death, and rebirth. These are all Pluto themes. Their visual pairing echoes the kind of polarity we see this week with the Sun in Leo opposing Pluto. Power above meets power below. Pay attention and lean into the question of who is leading, who is following, who is questioning, and what kind of strength endures?
If this pairing is calling your attention now, it may be worth asking: where in your own life is strength trying to make peace with a darker layer of mystery? Where are you being invited to hold both fire and shadow without forcing one to dominate the other?
All of this unfolds with the Moon moving from airy Gemini through Cancer, Leo, and into grounded Virgo by week’s end. We are not meant to stay in one place, emotionally or psychologically. The deeper rhythm of this week demands honesty with ourselves and the courage to respond accordingly.
SUBTLE SIGNALS: Monday, July 21, 2025
The Moon moves through Gemini today and joins Venus in the afternoon. This pairing often brings a stronger interest in conversation or connection, but not always in a direct way. Venus in Gemini tends to approach feelings through the mind. It may speak through suggestion, humor, or casual observation rather than straightforward emotion. When Venus and the Moon align here, it can be challenging to tell what someone really means. You might find yourself guessing or sensing that there’s more going on beneath a friendly exchange.
If you’re the one doing the talking, notice where you’re softening your message to keep things light. That’s not always a mistake, but it is worth asking if something important is being left unsaid. Not every circumstance calls for deep disclosure, but some do. Take your time. Let the rhythm of the day guide you, but don’t miss what matters just because it asks for more depth than you would prefer today.
- If I listen closely, what emotions do I discover underneath my words?
- How can I stay mentally engaged and emotionally available?
- What do I hope to find through interactions with others today?
THE HEART OF THE SEASON – SUN ENTERS LEO: Tuesday, July 22, 2025
At 9:29 a.m. EDT, the Sun enters Leo. This is the second sign of summer, and it brings us into the season’s center: steady, radiant, and unmistakably charismatic. During the Sun’s time in Cancer, we drew inward to tend and protect what is most precious to us. Now, the Sun’s time in Leo turns us outward to share what we’ve cultivated.
Leo is a fixed fire sign that holds steady rather than consumes. It warms, draws people close, and lights the way with steadfast consistency. It’s no surprise this is the time of year when those of us who are able step away from our routines. We travel, gather, play, and celebrate. Is it any wonder our beaches fill with colorful blankets, umbrellas, and swimsuits? In whatever way we can, we express ourselves with warmth, generosity, playfulness, and dignity.
Leo can be expressed as flashy or dramatic, but its deepest strength and expression lie in generosity and open-hearted presence. It asks us to clearly express our most heroic side. Where is Leo in your natal chart? This is an area of your life where you can express yourself most wholeheartedly and a place where you are the hero in your own life.
At 8:27 a.m. EDT, the Moon entered Cancer. That may bring a bit of hesitation before stepping forward into the full view of Leo. We don’t have to rush toward visibility. The Leo Sun will shine on us until August 22.
- Where in my life am I ready to stop waiting and start showing up more fully?
- What does generosity look like when it comes from an open heart?
- Where do I want to shine more warmth into the world, and how can I do so without apology?
THE GIFT OF PARADOX: Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Several conflicting energies move through the day, and you may feel caught between inspiration and frustration. Very early this morning, the Sun forms a sextile with Uranus. We can expect innovative perspectives and insights; it is best to remain open to what comes your way. Look for unexpected insights.
At nearly the same time, Venus squares Mars. This is a configuration that suggests interpersonal friction. You might feel tension within a relationship or between your own needs and desires in relationship dynamics. You may find yourself wanting freedom and autonomy at the very same time that you want connection and closeness. Curiosity and criticism do not mesh well, but you may need to hold them within your mind and heart, side by side today. Holding paradox is a great skill and a practice that is useful today.
In any case, don’t waste your time looking for a solution, which will come in time. For now, understand that the situation is still unfolding. This is a time of necessary realignment, rest in that understanding.
- What part of this situation can I observe without needing to control?
- Where am I feeling two things at once, and can I make room for both?
- Where might my discomfort be a shift in perspective rather than a problem?
PLANT A SEED OF GENEROSITY – LEO NEW MOON: Thursday, July 24, 2025
This afternoon at 3:11 pm EDT, we arrive at the Leo New Moon at 2 degrees of this fixed fire sign. Each New Moon marks a conjunction between the Sun and the Moon, marking the beginning of a new cycle between the two Lights. Being in Leo, this cycle carries themes of the importance of self, courage, personal vision, and creative will.
Look to the house in your natal chart that holds Leo. That is the area of life to plant a metaphorical seed for the growth of personal warmth, creativity, and generosity. In Leo’s best state, this sign has nothing to prove and simply expresses what it can not contain. That’s what this Moon cycle asks of us: to express all that is within.
Earlier in the day, the Sun forms a trine with Neptune. You may find yourself drawn to music, water, prayer, meditation, dreaming, or silence. These activities will allow you to experience a sense of transcendence, lifting you above the ordinary or mundane.
- What part of myself have I been hesitating to express?
- What helps me feel connected to something larger than myself?
- What seed can I plant that will support the generosity I’m ready to grow?
POWER IN PLAIN SIGHT: Friday, July 25, 2025
The Moon continues through Leo today, holding our attention on matters of generosity and open-hearted warmth. The most significant influence of the day is the opposition between the Sun and Pluto, which occurs in the wee hours of the morning. In astrology, oppositions always illuminate something, bringing it into view. They don’t create new problems, but they do show us what we may have avoided seeing until now. The view now may be uncomfortable, but we can not look away, and seeing it allows us to respond with awareness rather than reaction.
This opposition marks the midpoint of a cycle that began on January 21, 2025, when the Sun and Pluto met in a conjunction at 1° Aquarius. That meeting occurred the day after a new presidential administration took office in the United States. The timing is symbolically powerful. A new government begins, and the Sun meets Pluto in the early degrees of a sign associated with social systems, collective ideals, and technological advancement. It was the first Sun–Pluto conjunction in Aquarius in over two centuries, and it carried a signature of concentrated and potentially transformative leadership energy. Now, six months later, we can see the shape of what was set in motion collectively. Ugh. Power is clearly on display.
In your personal life, look to the house in your natal chart that holds Aquarius. That is where the story began. Now, with the Sun in Leo casting its light across the polarity between the house that holds Aquarius and the house that holds Leo, you may see clearly how the dynamics of power have grown, shifted, and/ or revealed themselves.
From a symbolic lens, the lion and the snake often appear together. The lion, associated with Leo and the Sun, represents will, strength, and visible leadership. The snake, connected with Pluto, speaks to what is hidden and to power that functions beneath the surface. When these forces meet, we must pay attention. Who is leading, who is following, who is paying attention, and what kind of strength will endure?
- What began in late January that I now see more clearly?
- How are power and awareness issues showing up across the polarity of houses that hold Leo and Aquarius in my natal chart?
- What kind of strength do I choose to lead with now?
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SETTLE DOWN: Saturday, July 26, 2025
The Moon spends most of the day in Leo before moving into Virgo at 4:56 p.m. EDT. After the emotional and psychological intensity of the past few days, you may feel a lingering sense of exhaustion or depletion.
The Leo Moon keeps us overstimulated or simply tired, and the entrance of the Moon into Virgo is a gentle relief. The late afternoon brings our focus back to the practical, toward what can be put in order. You may feel the need to clean, sort, or repair things in your environment. You want to help others in familiar, manageable, and practical ways. You will find relief in simple, practical routines. Let today be practical. This is a good afternoon to take care of what’s right in front of you.
- What has taken more out of me this week than I had noticed?
- What small task for others can help stabilize my body or mind?
- What needs my practical attention this afternoon?
SMALL THINGS MATTER: Sunday, July 27, 2025
The Moon moves through Virgo today. This offers a day to return to what is useful and manageable. The Moon in Virgo carries a quality of care that is often misunderstood. Virgo may look as though it is finding fault, wanting to fix others, and constantly improving things. Virgo simply wants us to make things more practical and to be of help and service to others. It’s about noticing what matters and tending to useful improvements.
Something simple in your life or environment may become undeniable today. You may feel drawn toward cleaning or organizing, and although this drive may seem small, don’t doubt its importance. There is satisfaction in making order out of what has been overlooked or cluttered. There is also meaning in offering quiet, practical help to others. Look for the potential in what’s around you, and make something of it with purposeful kindness.
- What can I improve today that might support someone else?
- Where do I see potential that I had missed before?
- What simple effort can bring more clarity or care to my surroundings?
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