Do you remember the movie version of Where the Wild Things Are, where the monsters, in a rare moment of harmony, decide to sleep in a pile together? It’s the sweetest part of an otherwise difficult fable about how mean we can be to each other when we feel insecure. A pile of gigantic, fiery-hearted monsters sleeping sweetly together is a good metaphor for this month. Even the gruffest, most cynical, and most wounded amongst us should be able to find some kind of sweet solace this month. But that doesn’t mean all our problems will disappear. There is no happily-ever-after that doesn’t involve constant adjustment and growth.

Luckily for us, the biggest story of the month is that Jupiter, planet of growth and joy, has moved into Libra, the sign that is most interested in loving and harmonious connections. Libra energy wants us to all get along. Libra is invested in justice, fairness, balance, and beauty. Jupiter shows us where we’re ready and eager to grow into our next phase of life. This can mean some hella sweet and romantic times for all our relationships. For the next twelve months (until October of 2017), we’ll be exploring what it means to love with more trust, more open hearts, and more of a sense of balanced give and take. But this sweetest of omens for all our tender hearts coincides, this month, with some heavier emotional weather. Remember the monsters sleeping in a real pile? They’ve still got wounded hearts, and claws to defend themselves.

We can see these undertones in the Scorpionic energy present throughout the month. Venus moving through Scorpio (until the 15th) means we’re more likely to be aware of the depths in our relationships. Old wounds may throb. We may be more tuned into how we’ve hurt and been hurt. We may need to have cathartic experiences to release this old pain. Meanwhile, Mars will be crossing paths with Pluto (ruler of Scorpio, planet radical transformation) on the 19th. As Mars has just moved from Sagittarius to Capricorn, we’re getting more focused on what matters. When Mars and Pluto combine, we’re offered a chance to get to the core of our own deepest desires and drives. The situations that bring this up can be explosive, or deeply healing—or both.

To make the most of these tricky energies this month, spend some time setting intentions on the 1st. On that day the New Moon in Libra (technically on the night of the 30th for some time zones) joins with Jupiter to kick off a year of opening up to more loving and respectful connections. On the same day Venus forms a harmonious aspect to Neptune, planet of compassion and transcendent love. Neptune can also blind us to reality: don’t be lulled into accepting any abusive or toxic energy back into your life. You can forgive without re-engaging. Keep your senses sharp and your common sense in your back pocket. Let your intentions for this month call in the sweetness of these influences without ignoring the real work we need to do to heal. Let your work with the Libra New Moon help us balance the dark and the light.

For help navigating all your connections this month, I’m available for readings to help you strategize, harmonize, and heal. As always, take only what resonates from these horoscopes! The astro-literate are advised to read their Venus and Moon signs first, followed by Ascendant and Sun signs.

Aries

This month is all about the slow burn. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to connect—some straightforward and others more mysterious—but your best bet right now is to treat the flames of your passion as the fire powering a steam engine that you’d like to ride across the whole damn country. When it comes to the relationships you’re most excited about—and especially sexual connections—ask yourself how you can balance your own need for freedom and independence with your desire to make this last. Better yet, talk it out with your sweethearts.

Make a commitment to: Relationships that help you focus your priorities, where you can step into your full sense of strength and power.
Let yourself heal from: Sexual experiences that made you feel disconnected and shut down. Seek out support if you need it to do this work.

Taurus

You could easily spend this month comfortably at home, playing cards with your housemates or redecorating your bedroom, but then you’d be wasting a rare opportunity. Yes, love can be scary. Rejection is real, and even worse, people can disappoint you or betray you or highlight the ways you’re still learning how to be good for someone else (and sometimes failing). Even so, you’re not ready to give up yet. The more you can risk your heart this month, the richer and more fulfilling it will be. If you’re looking for a new connection, don’t just browse through endless photos on some social media app. Talk to the cutie you see everyday and are afraid to approach. If you’re in a relationship that’s feeling strained or shallow, risk an honest conversation about what you really want. Be vulnerable. Remember what you’re worth. Risk your pride if it means finding happiness.

Make a commitment to: Love as a perpetual adventure, and an opportunity for growth.
Let yourself heal from: Partnerships that have demanded too much from you emotionally and kept you in a state of high alert.

Gemini

Damn, girl, get it! The planets are aligning to remind you that you are hot as hell and deserve some recognition. Mars and Pluto are teaming up this month in your house of sex and intimacy, and you can tap into that powerful energy to make all kinds of magic. Be careful if you’re channeling this force in with lovers and partners, as you may want to go deeper and harder than usual right now (physically or emotionally)—or your partners may be the ones calling this in. Make space for all the feelings that might come up around this, and be grateful for the chance to experience release, however that looks. Above all, play fair with your heart and body, and don’t lie to yourself or anyone else about what you really want.

Make a commitment to: Your own dirty mind and powerful body.
Let yourself heal from: Feeling less important than the people you love; playing a support role more than a starring role. Staying a bottom when you’d rather be a top.

Cancer

Love can help you understand who you are and what you want. Now’s the time to make room in your life for love that takes you out of your comfort zone, but in doing so helps you become more yourself. This doesn’t mean going along with a dynamic that doesn’t work for you, or trying to be more accommodating because your emotional intelligence is a little higher than your partner’s. This doesn’t mean making excuses or putting up with feeling hurt and let down, or scared and on edge. What you’re looking for this month is the kind of connection that will help you feel thrilled, and terrified about your own potential power and strength, but trusting enough to explore.

Make a commitment to: Becoming your own best self through relationship, without letting anyone pull you off course.
Let yourself heal from: Fear of being seen and taking up space; feeling that you don’t deserve attention and adoration.

Leo

We always have to balance our dreams with reality, our fantasies of how love could look with the actuality of our relationships that sometimes fail us, disappoint us, and confuse us. We can get obsessed with the idea of finding the one right person (the monogamous dream), or with achieving some kind of complete set (the poly dream)—as though the problem is that you haven’t yet met the people you need to help you feel whole and complete. This month offers you the time and energy to make important decisions about what is and isn’t working in the reality of your relationships. Are your fantasies of ideal love possible? Are the people around you falling far short of what you really need to feel recognized and loved? Or is what’s beautiful in your connections good enough to see you through the hard spots? How can you let your imagination guide you closer to the heart of your own desires and needs, rather than keeping love out by insisting that it’s not enough?

Make a commitment to: Love as a process of continually reworking and improving.
Let yourself heal from: However your family of origin failed you, and however your chosen family repeats those patterns.

Virgo

Whatever is going on your relationships right now, you don’t actually need to stress about it. If things are good, they can just be good: there’s nothing you need to be tracking to make them better or prevent disaster. If there are problems, you don’t need to step forward to solve them. In fact, the more you focus on love as a series of problems to solve, the less you’ll be able to relax into the real nourishment it can offer you right now. Try to banish all your anxieties and trust that you have the power to get what you need. Make it your job this month to take it easy. Get hedonistic, get nonchalant—trust that you’ve got this.

Make a commitment to: Letting your relationships be playful and fun. Taking a break from seeing everything as a problem to solve.
Let yourself heal from: Anxious thought patterns about relationships, especially the tendency to over-analyze intimacies.

Libra

With Jupiter newly arrived in your sign, this month begins a year of new opportunities. This is traditionally seen as an exceptionally lucky time, as it helps us draw out and nurture the parts of ourselves that we’re ready to share with the larger world. Your faith in yourself is growing, which means you’re more likely to succeed. What are you ready to do in a big way? What do you want to push to the next level? Be aware that sometimes under this influence you may outpace some of the people you’re closest to—don’t be afraid of losing closeness by nurturing your own growth. This is an important month to nurture your connection to home and family, especially. Remember that the people who love you most want you to grow and learn. They won’t hold you back—don’t hold yourself back on their account.

Make a commitment to: Establishing a strong foundation. Rooting down and creating a place where you can recover from your dazzling efforts.
Let yourself heal from: Lingering doubts about your own self-worth and what you do and don’t deserve.

Scorpio

As Venus moves through Scorpio for the first half of the month, you’ll be able to tap into some deep self-love. Send it to your troubled mind and your bad dreams. Remember that the highest goal of any Scorpio planet is to help us release stagnant and trapped energy. With Venus in Scorpio, you’re getting some welcome assistance in moving through the hardest parts of love with courage and good faith, and learning how to receive the love that’s available. Other people might be feeling you a lot more, too! As Mars and Pluto, the co-rulers of your sign, meet up on the week of the 19th, make a commitment to letting go of any relationship dynamic that has you feeling stuck in the past, and find a way to speak out about what matters most to you.

Make a commitment to: Your own voice, and sharing what you care about with your intimate circle.
Let yourself heal from: Self-doubt, self-criticism, and self-blame. Let go of all the ways you can be your worst critic.

Sagittarius

This month can rev up your social activities while leaving you strangely out of touch with the people that matter most. Are your dearest loves far away, or busy with their own agendas? Or are you the one that’s retreating and needing to reconnect with your inner world? Either way, make sure you balance your extroverted and introverted needs, and don’t give up on a relationship just because it feels a little distant right now. You’re processing a lot of experiences related to the last year of your relationships, and as Venus moves into Sagittarius on the 15th you’ll be more ready to move forward. Do so with confidence that you can balance your private life and public self.

Make a commitment to: Having the resources you need to feel safe and strong. Knowing what you need to thrive, and giving yourself permission to seek it.
Let yourself heal from: Anxieties about the past or future. Focus on the present, and find your agency!

Capricorn

With Mars in your sign it’s time to take your desires seriously, and find some physical outlet for them. You may have a lot more energy for problem solving and long-term strategizing, and far more stamina for hot encounters. Watch out for becoming too goal-oriented, however, or feeling the need to prove yourself. Love isn’t just about doing all the right things in the right ways. This is especially true the week of the 19th, when Mars joins up with Pluto. It’s a time when you can truly step into your own power, so make sure you use that power wisely. Interrogate your own motives: are you being controlling or defensive? Are you leading with fear? Be brave. You have the chance to become far stronger, more resilient, and more trustworthy this month.

Make a commitment to: Loving yourself fiercely and bravely.
Let yourself heal from: Dreams that didn’t materialize. Groups of friends that let you down.

Aquarius

There’s something that you know but can’t admit to yourself yet. What’s getting in your way? Are you making enough room in your life right now for irrational impulses and impractical daydreams? Take a step back from being the rock star who can handle it all and perform impressively. Take a few steps back from being sure you know where your life is headed. Cultivate some time alone or with a sweetheart who lets you be silent and doesn’t demand answers and attention. This month offers you a kind of communion with your inner life that will help you reconnect to your core. Make sure you don’t spend it stressing about what’s going on at the surface!

Make a commitment to: Your rich inner world of imagination, intuition, and dreams.
Let yourself heal from: Attachment to status; harsh judgments about how you present.

Pisces

This is the kind of month when you’re much more likely to fall in love with a whole sweaty queer dance party, or a commune of 19th century lesbian artists, than just one person. Your ability to love broadly and deeply has gotten you in trouble before, but this month you’ll be happiest in connections that allow you that freedom. We’re in the midst of some intense cultural changes, and your ability to hold the larger collective in your heart is crucial right now. If you have to make any decisions, choose the community that helps you feel most inspired. But don’t let anyone force decisions on you that you’re not ready to make.

Make a commitment to: Letting yourself dream big and be inspired by the people you love. Finding a larger community, however imperfect.
Let yourself heal from: Needing to know what’s right; needing to have all the answers.

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!