The Astrology of this week marks a quiet but meaningful turning point. A rare outer-planet configuration reaches exactness, Leo Season begins, Mercury completes its retrograde, and the Sun forms a dynamic square with Chiron.
Some shifts are immediate, others unfold over months or even years. This week reminds us that transformation doesn’t always arrive through dramatic events. Sometimes it begins as an almost imperceptible movement within – a change in orientation, a softening toward possibility, a renewed willingness to trust what is beginning to emerge.
July 19, 2026: Barbault Basket
Between July 19 and July 22, 2026, our skies hold one of the most unusual planetary configurations of the decade, known as the Barbault Basket.
Named after French astrologer André Barbault, this formation occurs as Jupiter in Leo, Uranus in Gemini, Neptune in Aries, and Pluto in Aquarius all align at four degrees of their respective signs. Linked through harmonious sextiles and trines alongside balancing oppositions, they create a symbolic basket pattern stretching across the zodiac.
Unlike the faster-moving planets, these outer bodies describe collective evolution. They speak less to passing moods or daily experiences and more to the long currents of history, consciousness, and cultural change. They move slowly, introducing entirely new eras rather than isolated moments.
As these four planets come together, we are reminded that humanity is standing within a much larger cycle of becoming. The world is reorganising itself in ways both visible and unseen, and we are each participating in that unfolding simply through living our lives.
Rather than expecting dramatic events or obvious turning points, this alignment asks us to notice the quieter shifts occurring beneath the surface. What vision is beginning to call you forward? What chapter feels naturally complete? What future is gently asking for your participation?
The Barbault Basket invites trust in gradual evolution. It reminds us that before outer reality transforms, something often changes within us first. New timelines begin long before they become visible.
Read more about the Barbault Basket alignment here.
July 22, 2026: Leo Season
On July 22, the Sun leaves Cancer and enters Leo, beginning a month dedicated to vitality, creativity, courage, and heartfelt self-expression.
Leo reminds us that being alive is more than surviving. It is participating. Creating. Loving. Playing. It is allowing the unique spark within each of us to take up space in the world.
This season gently asks us to reconnect with the places where our spirit naturally brightens. Which experiences leave you feeling energised? Where do you feel most like yourself? What awakens genuine enthusiasm rather than obligation?
Joy becomes an important guide throughout Leo Season. Rather than something earned after productivity or achievement, joy becomes information. It reveals where our life force naturally flows and where our hearts long to move.
As you notice what inspires you, you may also become aware of the habits that suppress your own radiance. The moments you seek approval before expressing yourself. The places you shrink your creativity or hesitate to be fully seen.
Leo offers an invitation to soften those patterns.
Over the coming month, allow your heart to become your compass. Create simply because it feels good. Follow what inspires curiosity. Let your own aliveness become something worthy of listening to.
Read more about Leo Season 2026 here.
Mercury Direct
The day after the Sun enters Leo, Mercury stations direct in Cancer, bringing its recent retrograde journey toward completion.
For the past several weeks, Mercury has invited review rather than certainty. Reflection rather than immediate answers. We have been revisiting memories, conversations, beliefs, and emotional narratives, gathering understanding beneath conscious awareness.
Ancient astrologers often described retrograde planets as descending into hidden waters, disappearing beneath the visible surface to retrieve something valuable before returning again. As Mercury turns direct, that descent comes to an end. The insights collected during the retrograde now begin rising into awareness, allowing us to organise, integrate, and make sense of what has quietly been changing within.
Although Mercury begins moving forward, it remains in Cancer until August 9, continuing to emphasise emotional intelligence, intuitive understanding, memory, and compassionate communication.
This is not a moment to rush ahead.
Instead, allow clarity to unfold naturally. Trust the wisdom that has emerged through reflection. Honour the deeper awareness you’ve gained about your emotional patterns, your needs, and the stories you’ve been carrying.
Mercury now helps translate those discoveries into conscious understanding.
Sun Square Chiron
Also on July 23, the Sun in Leo forms a square with Chiron in Taurus.
Squares create movement through tension. Rather than obstacles, they function as points of activation, revealing where growth is asking to occur.
The Sun travelling through Leo encourages wholehearted living. It calls us toward creativity, confidence, joy, and authentic self-expression. Chiron in Taurus, however, asks a quieter question.
Do we truly feel safe embodying those qualities?
Do we trust ourselves enough to be seen?
Do we believe we are worthy of taking up space, receiving appreciation, experiencing pleasure, and expressing our gifts?
As these two archetypes meet, old stories surrounding self-worth may become more visible. Patterns that minimise ourselves, dismiss compliments, hide our creativity, or hesitate before stepping fully into life can gently surface for awareness.
This aspect isn’t exposing these patterns to shame them. It is revealing them so they may receive something different.
Squares ask us to participate in our own evolution. Through conscious engagement, old narratives begin loosening their grip. By meeting discomfort with presence rather than avoidance, entirely new pathways become available.
This week’s invitation is to let your heart remain open even as vulnerability appears. To offer compassion to the parts of yourself still learning that joy, visibility, and self-expression are safe.
Weekly Astrology July 19 – July 26, 2025
This week carries both movement and integration.
The collective sky shifts through the Barbault Basket while your own inner landscape begins reorganising through Leo’s warmth, Mercury’s renewed clarity, and Chiron’s invitation toward healing.
There is a gentle transition taking place—from reflection toward expression. From reviewing the past toward participating in what wants to emerge next.
Allow yourself to notice what feels increasingly alive. Notice what no longer requires your energy. Notice the subtle ways your body already knows which direction it wishes to move.
You don’t need to force the next chapter into existence.
Simply create enough space for it to arrive.
As the collective enters a new rhythm, perhaps your greatest practice this week is trusting that your own becoming follows natural rhythms too. Your heart knows when it is ready to open. Your nervous system knows how to integrate. Your life knows how to evolve when met with presence, patience, and love.
Weekly Horoscopes for Your Zodiac Sign
As the planets shift in our cosmos, they simultaneously shift through our astrological chart, highlighting different areas of our human experience. By looking to your zodiac sign – in particular your rising sign for your horoscope forecast, we can begin to discern those shifts and invitations.
Read on for your weekly horoscope for the week of July 19 to July 25 2026. For a greater in depth reading based on your astrology chart, explore our Transits Astrology Reading.
Aries Rising
This week calls your heart back to itself, Aries Rising. Leo Season illuminates creativity, play, romance, and the simple joy of expressing who you are without needing permission. Yet as your light naturally expands, deeper questions around worthiness and safety may also arise. Notice where old stories still hesitate before being seen or celebrated. Mercury moving direct brings greater emotional understanding around these patterns, helping you translate recent reflections into lasting wisdom. Let joy become your medicine this week, allowing courage and tenderness to walk together.
Taurus Rising
There is a quiet return happening within you this week, Taurus Rising. Leo Season turns your attention toward belonging, home, emotional foundations, and the places where your heart truly rests. Mercury moving direct offers clarity within conversations, your inner dialogue, and the stories you’ve been revisiting. At the same time, Chiron in your sign invites compassion toward the parts of yourself still learning confidence and self-worth. Rather than pushing yourself forward, allow safety to become the soil from which your next chapter naturally grows.
Gemini Rising
Movement begins returning to your mind this week, Gemini Rising. As Mercury stations direct, thoughts that have been circling begin organising themselves into greater clarity, helping you make sense of recent emotional insights. Leo Season brings renewed vitality through learning, writing, speaking, conversation, and creative ideas. Allow yourself to become curious again. As your voice strengthens, notice where old beliefs about value or deserving still linger beneath the surface. Your words carry more life when they arise from the quiet certainty that you already belong.
Cancer Rising
This week gently shifts your attention toward your own value, Cancer Rising. After Mercury’s retrograde through your sign, you begin seeing yourself with greater clarity, understanding more about your emotional needs and the stories that have shaped your identity. Leo Season invites you to embody your gifts rather than simply recognise them. As questions around self-worth arise, allow them to become invitations rather than obstacles. You are learning that confidence isn’t something you achieve—it grows naturally when you honour the truth already living within you.
Leo Rising
Welcome to your season, Leo Rising. The Sun returns to your sign, illuminating your identity, vitality, creativity, and the person you are becoming. This is an opportunity to reconnect with your own life force and remember what genuinely brings you alive. Yet alongside this expansion, Chiron gently reveals the fears that may still question your visibility or purpose. Mercury moving direct also restores trust in your inner voice. Let this week be about becoming more fully yourself rather than becoming someone new.
Virgo Rising
This week begins a quieter chapter, Virgo Rising. Leo Season invites you inward, creating space for reflection, integration, and gentle closure before your own birthday season arrives. Mercury moving direct helps untangle emotional threads that have been weaving beneath the surface, allowing hidden understanding to slowly emerge. Rather than rushing toward the future, trust the wisdom of stillness. Chiron also reminds you to soften old beliefs about what you must do to deserve belonging. Sometimes your greatest growth comes through allowing yourself simply to be.
Libra Rising
Your vision for the future begins brightening this week, Libra Rising. Leo Season draws your attention toward dreams, community, friendships, and the life your heart genuinely longs to create. Mercury turning direct helps clarify recent emotional reflections, making it easier to understand where you are truly being called. At the same time, Chiron gently reveals fears around trust, vulnerability, or receiving support. Allow yourself to dream anyway. Every meaningful future begins with the courage to believe your desires deserve space within your life.
Scorpio Rising
There is a renewed sense of direction emerging this week, Scorpio Rising. Leo Season illuminates your purpose, visibility, and the contribution you are here to make within the world. As opportunities for greater expression arise, Chiron invites awareness around relationship patterns or fears that surface alongside success and recognition. Mercury moving direct also helps untangle recent uncertainty, offering greater confidence in decisions you’ve been quietly considering. Trust that your path becomes clearer not through forcing answers, but through continuing to honour what feels deeply true.
Sagittarius Rising
This week opens your heart toward possibility once again, Sagittarius Rising. Leo Season expands your relationship with meaning, learning, inspiration, and the bigger vision calling you forward. Your natural optimism begins returning as Mercury moves direct, helping recent reflections settle into wisdom rather than confusion. Chiron simultaneously highlights the everyday habits or beliefs that either support or diminish your vitality. Allow inspiration to become practical this week. The future isn’t built through grand moments alone, but through the daily choices that honour your spirit.
Capricorn Rising
Transformation continues gently unfolding this week, Capricorn Rising. Leo Season encourages deeper intimacy with yourself, inviting honesty around what is ready to be released and what longs to come alive. Mercury moving direct restores emotional clarity within important relationships and conversations, helping deeper truths become easier to articulate. Chiron asks you to meet your creativity and joy with greater compassion rather than judgement. Your light doesn’t diminish your depth. In many ways, allowing yourself to experience more joy becomes part of your healing journey.
Aquarius Rising
Relationships become a beautiful mirror this week, Aquarius Rising. Leo Season highlights partnership, inviting greater openness, presence, and heartfelt connection with those who matter most. Mercury moving direct supports honest conversations and a clearer understanding of both your own needs and those of others. Meanwhile, Chiron gently reveals the emotional foundations that continue shaping how safe you feel receiving love, support, and appreciation. Healing doesn’t require perfection. It begins by allowing yourself to remain open even when vulnerability feels unfamiliar.
Pisces Rising
This week invites your everyday life into greater harmony, Pisces Rising. Leo Season shines through your routines, wellbeing, work, and the small rituals that support your vitality. Mercury moving direct helps untangle recent uncertainty, allowing greater emotional clarity around how you care for yourself and where your energy naturally wishes to flow. Chiron encourages gentleness with the stories you tell yourself each day, especially through your inner dialogue. As your thoughts soften, your body often follows. Let simple acts of self-care become profound expressions of self-love.
