Your Back to School Horoscope, From Twitter’s Favorite Astrologers

Whether summer changed you or not, most of us are going back to the cyclical nature of our lives: work, school, the various things we’ve overcommitted to. The Universe doesn’t care much about our routines and illusions of order, but for us, they’re essential. As are guides to help us stay on track, which is why this September we’ve recommended a book to keep each sign motivated at the beginning of autumn. The full moon will be on the 6th of the month and the new moon on the 20th. Remember to set your intentions to a mode of letting go (of people, behaviors, the past…) on full moons, and attaining (jobs, real estate, relationships…) on new moons. In the stars this month there are many forces hiding and planning future collisions, so stay alert.

Yours in the stars and on earth,

The Astro Poets

Aries You’ll try hard not to take anyone’s advice this month about a work project or event, and while this usually checks out for you, go against your old instincts. You’re someone with a vision already in mind, though sometimes you get tired of your own vision halfway through executing it. Air signs (Aquarius, Gemini, Libra) will surprise you this September in how they can help you professionally and even guide you toward the resolution of some inner demons. We know, they’ve disappointed you before, but they’re loyal and quite excitable. In terms of love, you should write a letter to that person you’ve been wanting to give a little piece of your mind (maybe they’re next to you as you read this) and be unafraid of asking for what you want, which is sometimes hard for you because you worry so much about pleasing people (even ones that don’t necessarily look for that from you). Our book recommendation: Nicole Krauss’s latest, Forest Dark, which is a lot about self-realization and change.

Taurus It’s true, you’re not exactly where you thought you would be going into the fall. Your friends may be wondering what’s going on with you, as you’ve been more brooding and keeping to yourself lately—we get it, you’re thinking about your next move. Maybe you’ve been thinking about it for a while now. And whether it’s love, work, or relocating (perhaps relocating for love), keep taking your time and allowing yourself the space to plan and dream. You’re someone who enjoys routine as long as there are those invisible hours where no one knows where you are or how to find you. Of course, to be forgotten about would greatly upset you, so you always come back. But even as the fall piles obligation on top of obligation in your inbox, extend those invisible hours (maybe staying in on a Friday and not telling anyone) and think about the big picture. Near the end of the year you’ll be ready and know what to do as a result of this time to yourself. Our book recommendation: James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain, which is full of courage.

Gemini As usual, you have many ideas about what you want this fall and have perhaps overcommitted your time. Your challenge in September will be getting it back. The great thing about you is that you’re always giving others the impression that you’re present and engaged, but, truly, your many personalities, with their various offshoots, are always somewhere else. This isn’t a bad thing! It keeps you and life moving. But you’re often seen as a mad genius or a bit cold. Don’t pay any attention to that. Many are jealous of your ability to master the juggling act they can barely perceive let alone enact. Even as you’re everywhere, keep an inward gaze always and ask yourself what you can let go off or where you can give less. This will really serve you in October and November when a huge opportunity may be headed your way and it might involve learning a skill you’ve been wanting to learn for some time now. Our book recommendation: To keep you free and dreaming even with your brutal schedule, read the Collected Poems of fellow Gemini Federico García Lorca.

Cancer You’ll find yourself attracted to many intense and overwhelming individuals this month. Likely, they will be fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius). And when we say attracted to, we don’t necessarily mean love (though that’s certainly possible). We mean that a truly strong energy is headed toward you and it may take some work to remember that your choices are made—surprise!—by you. Don’t let others dominate that area of your life, no matter what they’re contributing. It’s a great month for you to do something new and physical with your body. Maybe a new workout routine, maybe learning how to sword fight—who knows. We’re here to encourage your own dominant streak (it’s in there, though you may doubt it) because September may throw you a few curve balls in several important friendships, and you’ll have to step up. You’ll have to really put your head down at work as well and power through some internal doubts that are more macro than micro. Our book recommendation: For inspiration, read Melissa Febos’s memoir, Abandon Me, which is really a show of strength.

Leo This time of year always awakens the less flashy aspect of your personality (we know it’s there). All of your sentimentality rushes in and, well, for once, you sort of show it as opposed to pretending that you’ve built an adequate shield to the outside world. We encourage you to let the soft side of you take center stage this September and let it take you to some dinners, movies, and social events you wouldn’t normally go to. It actually aids your ambition, which you guard so vehemently and which we know is so important to you. And what about love, you ask? Well, the love you should be focusing on now is the one you have for your creative passion, whatever that is. Channel all of that sentiment and feeling into something creative you’ve been working on or are starting to. Our book recommendation: A book called A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall, written by fellow Leo, Will Chancellor, is exactly what you should be reading to keep you feeling all those feelings.

Virgo Is there peace to be found even in conflict? You don’t know because you hardly go there. What we’re trying to say is, you’ve been actively repressing a lot in your friendships or with your romantic partner lately. September may lead to a full on collision. This is actually good news. Because some sort of argument or situation will clear the air between important people around you and let you do what you should be doing: celebrating another trip around the sun. Making fewer plans for this year’s engagement will actually turn out to be more fun. So let that control freak planner in you take a break (we know that’s hard). Try to be a bit more spontaneous for once. Maybe even buy a new fragrance (little things like this do make you feel like you’re being “wild,” let’s get real here). Our book recommendation: In the early mornings or right before bed, try reading June Jordan’s poems and specifically Directed by Desire. It’s definitely the opposite of being directed by control.

Libra Some of your summer may have been spent away from your usual day-to-day life and it’s been good for you. Maybe you’ve been traveling and have slept many nights away from your own bed, or maybe this is true on a spiritual level and the summer for you has been about surprising expectations and results in your daily life. With the return of fall, all of this change will come to an end and you’ll be faced with thinking about whether you want to go back to your old life or keep traveling. We can’t tell you what to choose, but we do know that you get energy from having both: a safe place to come back to and several places to wander. Maybe you should spend a little bit of September pretending to be a character in a novel who is trapped in the rut of their everyday existence, but longs for glamour, excitement, and drama. And if there’s no drama anywhere to speak of, go ahead make a little drama if you have to. We know we won’t have to tell you how. Our book recommendation: For inspiration to create an everyday life that is beyond what it seems, we recommend reading Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.

Scorpio Love? “Well, what’s the use” is what you say quite a bit to that question. And nothing like the sun and sand to cure one of caring about love. One being a mighty Scorpio, that is. And so it is, you’ve spent your summer a bit divorced from your feelings and your deepest ones which speak loudest in the liminal spaces of the year: in the turning of the seasons. You will hear them now. These voices that speak to you and say that despite perhaps being in a relationship right now (or several), you are not truly fulfilled when it comes to love. Perhaps it’s because what you truly seek is a love that spans through all of space and time. So, it might be time to try and find out what that could mean. It won’t be easy. It’s not something you can order online and find at your door an hour later. But saying that you want it, as the leaves begin to yellow is the first step to getting it. Our book recommendation: For a guide on how to find real love read Wind in a Box by Terrance Hayes.

Sagittarius The question for you, in every social encounter, remains: was that worth doing? Sure, you like to be the life of the party and you enjoy those types of people, too. You can be, of course, quite the entertainer, and you get invited to about every party there is for that reason. But underneath your smile is a deep need for meaning and purpose, and as we all know, it’s sometimes hard to find purpose in a party. It’s that dark philosophical edge of your sign that keeps you in a place of existential dread most days of the year. And because the summer can be quite distracting in terms of purpose, maybe you’ve been distracted from thinking about it, but with fall around the corner, you are starting to take stock of your friendships and seeing that it might be time to do a little pruning. Because in this life, time is really all we have and you might as well use yours as you please. So with the time you have, use it wisely and find the people who understand the deep depth of humor and the sorrow of dancing through the night. Our book recommendation: For advice on how to live a full life, read The Notebooks by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Capricorn The start of this month brings new beginnings, especially in terms of work. But work isn’t what this horoscope is about. You had a big change last year and some big traumas that may have brought their own emotional challenges. There were also pressures from the outside this past summer, societal pressures to be a certain kind of person and to behave in a certain way. But this fall is a time of reunion to your self, your true self. Now is time to come back to the old places and obsessions that you used to love. You must ask yourself: What does it mean to come back to them? Perhaps it’s about restarting a conversation with some people who were important to you a few years ago and asking the hard, eternal questions about the point of being alive and what we must do with our time on this earth. Our book recommendation: This month, we think you might like reading your star twin Susan Sontag’s essays, and specifically those in Against Interpretation.

Aquarius With fall, we often think of the future. Not just the immediate one, like the change from warm to cold, but the larger future, like where we see ourselves in the next five or ten years. For the past few months, you’ve been on a path that has left you relatively content, but not fully satisfied, especially in terms of love. Even if you are in a relationship, you’ve felt lonely and not fully understood. Because you are a fixed star, despite your flighty reputation, you tend to be quite dutiful when it comes to commitment and once you commit, it’s for a long time. But this month, you might think about what kind of love life you really want, because this really means what kind of life you want. Can you see yourself with your current partner for a lifetime (or two)? If not, now might be the time to pull the plug and change course. You may find yourself less lonely than you think. Our book recommendation: For a guide on what it means to be human and how best to love, we suggest you read The Word Woman and Other Related Writings by Laura (Riding) Jackson this September.

Pisces The past. That horrible haunted place where your thoughts are apt to go, no matter what the season. We all have a collective past, but we have our individual haunts, too. This month ask yourself if you’re someone who’s so mired in what has been, that you can’t be in line with what will be. Maybe. After all, the past is only helpful as a lesson, a lesson for what has worked well and what hasn’t. And maybe this September you are starting to think about the not so great things you’ve done in the past year. We mean especially in terms of family. Perhaps you may have distanced yourself from those who were important to you as you buckled down to take on another year. Heed the advice of the past and cherish those important people a little extra this month. Our book recommendation: For advice on how to live in the present, while keeping the past in mind, read Across the Mutual Landscape by Christopher Gilbert, and live.

Related: For August, Our Astrologers Have a Vacation Destination for Every Sign

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