Your August 2023 horoscope reflects a journey through this summer’s Venus Retrograde. Venus essentially making a remix—this is the time to notice how the goal posts of your values and desires have shifted. Maybe you revisit an old love or artistic muse. If you’re on the road this month, you might find yourself physically, or emotionally, back in a familiar setting where your heart was once on fire. The question to ask this time is: What lights you up now?
The urge to try new flavors and spend a little too lavishly will be heightened as Venus squares Uranus (on the 9th) and Jupiter (on the 22nd). It’s an indulgent summer, for better or for worse, but at least you won’t be bored at the gelato stand.
On August 23, the Sun enters Virgo, and Mercury stations retrograde in the same sign. Virgo Season is perfect for visiting wine country or taking any slightly nerdy, educational trips you’ve had on the back burner, so consider this your permission (not that you needed it…). Mercury will be up to Mercury’s tricks, though, so budget in extra time to get to your destination, and avoid booking future travel until mid-September if possible. Otherwise, it might not hurt to spend a little extra for a refundable ticket.
Below, find the complete August 2023 horoscope for every sign. A quick note: We refer to your signs as “rising” signs, also known as your ascendant sign. Horoscopes are more accurate when read this way—using your birth time and location, you can quickly find your rising sign online (it takes less than 30 seconds).
Aries Rising
There are months to put your nose to the grindstone, and months to give yourself over to play. This August, the work is to follow your impulses to wherever life feels most creative, invigorating, and juicy. For parents, try taking your kids somewhere that will allow you to reconnect with your own inner child. Revisiting a destination where you were once wildly in love might also help you recover a sense of eros and aliveness that has potentially gotten lost in the shuffle of obligations. With Jupiter squaring Venus from your second house of resources, you’ll probably be tempted to overspend on lavish meals and other treats, so try and stay attuned to what feels like a resonant “yes” and what feels like mindless consumption.
Taurus Rising
With your ruling planet, Venus, deep in the throes of her retrograde season, no one will fault you if you cool your jets for a bit this month. With the retrograde taking place in your fourth house of home, family, and ancestry, it’s very possible you’ll literally be spending more time at home, or potentially going back to your hometown to mend some ties or resolve an important matter of the heart. Family reunions are worth traveling for this month, and visits to ancestral lands may prove instrumental in helping you locate yourself. A large dose of this heart-opening arrives on August 13. You may surprise yourself with how freely you receive this bid for better connection to your past.
Gemini Rising
This month’s opening act is a Full Moon in Aquarius on August 1, which escalates any of your existing storylines involving international travel, learning, and spirituality. If you’re on the go while this is happening, a fairly run-of-the-mill trip can quickly turn into a peak experience or an eye-opening adventure. That said, your ruling planet, Mercury, opposes Saturn on the same day. This might feel like a literal or metaphorical case of getting stopped by passport control. Prepare for things to feel a little less seamless than you’d like on this day, but be open to the swirling gestalt of what your experience is showing you. Mercury is getting ready to station retrograde on the August 23, so your focus will soon be diverted to troubleshooting things at home.
Cancer Rising
Venus spends the month retrograde in your second house, encouraging deep reflection around your finances, values, and spending habits. Are you spending your disposable income in a way that feeds your joy? Are you shopping for souvenirs in a way that reflects your ethics? You might also be deep in the midst of a closet purge, or giving your travel gear a much-needed refresh. So no, a cute suitcase is not a frivolous pursuit.
On August 30, the Full Moon in Pisces has you confronting limitations in your ninth house of long journeys and travel. There’s never enough time to see everything you want to see in the world, but hopefully that helps you get clear on your priorities.
Leo Rising
Venus is retrograde in Leo all month, which means you’re in the process of coming back to yourself, and it makes sense to center your self-discovery and affirmation in all that you’re doing. There are layers to this journey, including seemingly superficial ones that may amount to a makeover or rebrand of your personal style. But to adorn yourself is to adore yourself, and it’s time for the world to see your self-love shine (it'll also teach others how to respond to you). If you’re traveling, you might feel freer to embody a different version of yourself abroad, so consider this your personal soft launch. Mid-month offers plenty of opportunity for renewal (or a hard reset) with a Venus cazimi on the 13th and a New Moon in Leo on the 16th.
Virgo Rising
Leo Season is your sleepy season, but all the more reason to unplug from your usual routines and take a legitimate respite from the world. This year in particular, though, Venus spends the month retrograde in Leo, and this may affect your ability to travel, or to afford the vacation you really need. Though you may feel like you’re being held in a limbo state, you will also be supported in reassessing what feels worth the spend to you these days.
When the Sun enters Virgo on August 23, you, too, emerge out of hiding. However, Mercury stations retrograde in Virgo on the same day, so consider yourself a draft that’s still in revision mode, and give yourself lots of time to catch that train or layover.
Libra Rising
This month’s Venus Retrograde is directly tied to the South Node transit that just began in your first house of self. For the next year and a half, you’ll be shedding a skin (or two) and fiercely guarding your precious energy. Step one? Deciding whether the people you’re surrounded by match your spirit, or see you for who you really are. Though this can kick up drama among your friends (and might potentially sour any group trips you’ve got planned this month), this is also an important opportunity to either reconnect over shared values or break up the band. Your connections are up for review, and that applies to your online solo travel communities and digital nomad Discord servers, too.
Scorpio Rising
This month, you’ll be largely preoccupied with a professional rebrand of sorts, but that could mean redoing your website as much as it may entail navigating an internal crisis around whether your work in the world really reflects your values. Venus’ retrograde in your tenth house of career will see to it that you get your messaging right, and that it comes from the heart. Your business partners and higher-ups might also be hitting pause on a project to work out some disagreements, but be patient with them—your significant others are a meaningful source of support right now. Travel-wise, plan to slow your roll a bit after Mars enters Libra on August 27. You’ll have less energy, and you might feel less confident in your footing these next six weeks.
Sagittarius Rising
This month’s Venus Retrograde is redirecting you—potentially on your travels, but almost definitely in your spiritual or philosophical orientation to the things that light you up most. Your heart is searching for a missed connection with the universe, and your work in August is to reclaim a piece of it by revisiting the destinations, texts, and conceptual frameworks that make you feel most connected to yourself. If work is getting in the way of your adventures, you’ll be more supported this month in potentially rearranging things to your liking. This could be a perfect time for a spiritual pilgrimage of some kind. If physically traveling is not in your plans, foreign films and art will satiate that bug, and could serve as an important muse.
Capricorn Rising
You’re always prepared, but it wouldn’t hurt to re-read the fine print on your reservations and travel insurance policy this month. Mercury is getting ready to station retrograde in your ninth house on August 23, which means the messenger planet may be going full trickster mode when it comes to your flight itineraries. However, things could start glitching as early as August 4, which is when Mercury enters its pre-shadow. The standard Mercury Retrograde advice applies: double check before you sign or hit send, give yourself ample time to get to the train station, and try to avoid booking future travel this month if you can help it. If you maintain a sense of humor about Mercury Retrograde, there could be a sense of divine timing at work in the chaos. You’re not delayed, you’re just being redirected.
Aquarius Rising
The Aquarius Full Moon on August 1 begins the month on a climactic note for you. Not only are things popping off in your own personal corner of the universe (like, say, an important milestone being reached), but this full moon also accentuates the interpersonal drama Venus Retrograde is stirring up for you. Ex lovers and collaborators could be returning for a cameo in August, and your significant others and travel partners will potentially pump the brakes on your plans. It’s entirely possible that all your jet-setting is getting in the way of forming lasting connections, or maybe your other half is feeling a bit attention-starved. The revealing light of the full moon will at least illuminate how you’re contributing to that dynamic.
Pisces Rising
With Venus backtracking through your sixth house this month, a big part of August will be spent re-infusing your routines with aesthetic glamor and joy. Not to be all “romanticize your life,” but it’s probably not sustainable for you to chase the high of being on vacation all the time. Instead, what if you brought the vacation to where you are, right now, meeting a deadline with a flat white on your desk? If you are spending a lot of time on the road, this is the perfect opportunity to reconnect with the routines and wellness practices that keep you centered when you travel, and most importantly, the ones that make your heart sing.