Your Weekly Horoscopes (Jan 1-7)
Happy New Year!
2018 greets us with a bright and juicy Cancer Full Moon that promises to bring emotional balance where it is needed. Cancer the sign of Home, Hearth and Family, governs the taproot that links us back to our ancestors. Classically, Cancer is the deepest part of our chart that we like to protect with the Crab's hard crusty shell. We're highly sensitive under this Full Moon as it illuminates the part of our lives that seeks to be nurtured while also fiercely defending nostalgic familial memories.
Cancer is the opposing and balancing sign to Capricorn, the sign where the Sun, Venus and Saturn have all been working hard together to get you to achieve your ambitions. Let this Cancer Full Moon pull you back to be balanced, nourished, and taken care of so that you'll have the energy to continue climbing your particular Saturn in Capricorn mountain.
Aries
Go home, Aries! That's right, close your laptop, or whatever work project you happened to bring home over the holidays. While you've found yourself mainly focused on your reputation and career ambitions, this Full Moon is bringing the focus back home. Time spent with family, close friends, or alone in your pajamas will recharge your batteries so that you can continue your ambitious mountain climb towards success.
Taurus
You may want to make a few dates to hang out around the neighborhood, Taurus. Your mind has been focused on refining a new world view and seeing the bigger picture, but the Full Moon in Cancer wants to you invest some quality time around the way. Chat with your siblings or close relatives, absorb, and reflect upon new ideas and see what may fit into your burgeoning philosophies. You never know, a seemingly random conversation or encounter may be filled with meaningful wisdom.
Gemini
Check in with your values and assets, Gemini. After spending time over the last weeks becoming more intimate with others, this Full Moon wants to illuminate what you have to put on the table. What's of importance to you, Gemini? What do you need take care of in order to feel emotionally secure and steady on your feet? You may see a fluctuation in money matters, especially concerning areas of shared resources, where you may want to, or be forced to, take a better look at how you've been doing.
Cancer
The Moon is most at home in your sign, and you're usually completely in tune with her highly changeable emotion nature. This Full Moon is a powerful restart for you, illuminating all the ways you can nurture and take care of YOURSELF. When's the last time you had a good cry, cooked a hot meal, or took a long bath. Focusing on your needs first is a good kind of selfish, in doing so it makes it easier to do the relationship work with others without burning out. Pamper yourself Little Crab, let Mother Moon guide you back home to yourself.
Leo
Allow this Full Moon to bring you deep into your inner imaginative world. The best way to balance out all your efforts to create better health and harness your skills is to drift in the unseen world. Devote some energy towards meditation, prayer, visioning, and daydreaming to keep you going on your path towards holistic health and wellbeing. Emotionally connect with the sense of well-being you'd like to experience, then work towards it daily.
Virgo
This Full Moon is highlighting the need for you to go out and socialize with some like-minded friends. Whatever you've been getting up to during your playtime - for example, creative endeavors - is asking to be shared with others so you can feel the emotional fulfillment that comes with sharing your gifts with those who share common interests and visions. Your family and friends can't wait to nurture your talents.
Libra
With so much emphasis happening around your home and private life, you're in a unique position to go out into the world to support others through your work and career. While this is a good time to gain emotional fulfillment through a job well done or new accolades, consider developing your reputation as a powerful protector and nurturer. Use your ability of knowing how to harmonize environments to bring peace to those around you.
Scorpio
You've been so deep in your books and topics that have caught your interest that this Full Moon will have you shifting your attention to the bigger picture. How is your voice and knowledge going to help change the narrative you see around you? There's a philosophy that you hold close to your heart that needs your attention. Should you rely on it, it will feed your endless curiosity on how to make it tangible, practical, and worth sharing with others.
Sagittarius
Although so much of your work since Saturn left you for Capricorn has been about your finances and building a secure material base for yourself, Centaur, the Full Moon is demanding that you nurture what you share with others. It's easy to believe our self-worth is tied to our bank account. However, in reality, material wealth is merely a tool. It's the face to face time spent with loved ones and experiencing all the births, deaths, and all the intense moments in between. Mother your deep bonds and what's shared with others to get the most from this powerful Moon.
Capricorn
You've been doing so much work on refining and improving yourself, Capricorn, and that's a good thing! However, use this Full Moon to take care of some of your relationships. People have been looking for your attention lately, but you've been so busy doing you. The next time you're invited out for one on one time, say yes. Perhaps you'll get to enjoy a few comforting hugs and kisses as well as some feedback on all your personal growth.
Aquarius
Ideally, this Full Moon will help to illuminate the ways you can get out of your own head, Water Bearer. When facing underlying fears and doubts about your dreams, sometimes a daily schedule that pushes you to work past them is in order. Nurture the day-to-day routines, and refine your unutilized skill sets to help you keep your mind on doing rather than stewing.
Pisces
The key to being a great friend or asset to any organization is having a clear sense of what makes you shine so brilliantly. This Full Moon can help illuminate how you can tend to your personal hobbies and creative talents. You may want to spend some time with some children who help remind you to be joyous and what it feels like to take pride in just being you. Take comfort in your self-expression, Pisces. Turn up the music and crack open those old water colors and see what magic comes out!
What does your moonscope have you looking forward to in the new year? Let us know in the comments down below!
Janelle Belgrave L.Ac is a New York City based acupuncturist, astrologer, and clairvoyant intuitive. You can catch her on Twitter chatting about a mixture of Astrology, healing, politics, and her unhealthy love of Game of Thrones.
This Black Woman-Owned Creative Agency Shows Us The Art Of Rebranding
Rebranding is an intricate process and very important to the success of businesses that want to change. However, before a business owner makes this decision, they should determine whether it's a rebrand or an evolution.
That's where people like Lola Adewuya come in. Lola is the founder and CEO of The Brand Doula, a brand development studio with a multidisciplinary approach to branding, social media, marketing, and design.
While an evolution is a natural progression that happens as businesses grow, a rebrand is a total change. Lola tells xoNecole, "A total rebrand is necessary when a business’s current reputation/what it’s known for is at odds with the business’s vision or direction.
"For example, if you’ve fundamentally changed what your product is and does, it’s likely that your brand is out of alignment with the business. Or, if you find your company is developing a reputation that doesn’t serve it, it might be time to pump the brakes and figure out what needs to change.
She continues, "Sometimes you’ll see companies (especially startups) announce a name change that comes with updated messaging, visuals, etc. That usually means their vision has changed or expanded, and their previous branding was too narrow/couldn’t encompass everything they planned to do."
Feature image courtesy
The Brand Doula was born in 2019, and its focus is on putting "the experiences, goals, and needs of women of color founders first," as well as brands with "culture-shifting missions."
According to Lola, culture-shifting is "the act of influencing dominant behavior, beliefs, or experiences in a community or group (ideally, for the better)."
"At The Brand Doula, we work with companies and leaders that set out to challenge the status quo in their industries and communities. They’re here to make an impact that sends ripples across the market," she says.
"We help the problem solvers of the world — the ones who aren't satisfied with 'this is how it's always been' and instead ask 'how could this be better?' Our clients build for impact, reimagining tools, systems, and ways of living to move cultures forward."
The Brand Doula has worked with many brands, including Too Collective, to assist with their collaboration with Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and Balanced Black Girl for a "refresh," aka rebrand. For businesses looking to rebrand, Lola shares four essential steps.
1. Do an audit of your current brand experience — what’s still relevant and what needs to change? Reflect on why you’re doing the rebrand in the first place and what success would look like after relaunching.
2. Tackle the overall strategy first — before you start redesigning logos and websites, align on a new vision for your brand. How do you want your company to be positioned moving forward? Has your audience changed at all? Will your company have a fresh personality and voice?
3. Bring your audience along the journey — there’s no need to move in secret. Inviting your current audience into the journey can actually help them feel more connected to and invested in your story, enough to stick around as changes are being made.
4. Keep business moving — one of my biggest pet peeves is when companies take down their websites as soon as they have the idea to rebrand, then have a Coming Soon page up for months! You lose a lot of momentum and interest by doing that. If you’re still in business and generating income, continue to operate while you work on your rebrand behind the scenes. You don’t want to cut existing customers off out of the blue, and you also don’t want so much downtime that folks forget your business exists or start looking for other solutions.
While determining whether the rebrand was successful may take a few months, Lola says a clear sign that it is unsuccessful is negative feedback from your target audience. "Customers are typically more vocal about what they don’t like more than what they do like," she says.
But some good signs to look out for are improvements in engagement with your marketing, positive reviews, press and increase in retention, and overall feeling aligned with the new branding.
For more information about Lola and The Brand Doula, visit her website, thebranddoula.com.
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What To Know About The Love Compatibility Of A Virgo Woman And A Pisces Man
A Virgo woman and a Pisces man in a relationship is what occurs when opposites attract. It’s often a rarity, but when developed properly, this couple can run off into the sunset together. They both bring a very different energy to the table, but love works in mysterious ways, and this is a connection designed in the stars.
Virgo Woman And Pisces Man Love Compatibility
The Virgo woman lives in reality, and the Pisces man lives in fantasy, but what happens when the Virgo woman wants to indulge in a little romanticism and let her mind take a break for once? She meets a Pisces man.
What attracts a Virgo woman and a Pisces man to each other?
The Virgo woman is instantly attracted to the Pisces man’s sweet, attentive, and stylish character. The Pisces man is instantly attracted to the Virgo woman's confidence, kindness, and intuitive energy. These are two people that get along right away and form an immediate bond, or it’s a slow burn that takes time to develop if it does at all.
The Virgo woman is attracted to the person she knows could benefit from her being in their life. She sees the Pisces man as someone who can learn a lot from her and whom she can learn a lot in return.
The Virgo woman is sophisticated, sure of herself, and grounded, and the Pisces man is more emotional and timid than Virgo. However, their complexities complement each other well because they show each other another perspective and way of being that they both often need to see.
What is the relationship like between a Virgo woman and a Pisces man?
The relationship between a Virgo woman and a Pisces man is either harmonious and compatible or disruptive and incompatible. Because these two signs oppose each other, this is a relationship of extremes. It’s either a great and beautiful relationship or a disharmonious and challenging one for individuals. Virgo is the halfway point of the zodiac and Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, and they both function and need very different things in life.
Virgo wants to plan, and Pisces wants to dream. It can be difficult to even do the everyday mundane things together because they will both want to go about it in very different ways. They almost see the world in two completely different realities.
For the Virgo woman and Pisces man who make this relationship work and don’t experience the discord that some can here, it’s because they have faced their own shadows and reflection in the mirror. The Pisces man will reflect any insecurities the Virgo woman feels within and vice versa.
This is a couple that can trigger each other intentionally and unintentionally, and when this relationship works, it’s because they have both done the work and aren’t projecting onto each other. The compatibility between these two when they are on the same page is similar to best friends and lovers, and they have a fun, loyal, and thoughtful relationship. This is a couple you see spending a lot of time together, laughing, doing creative things, and enjoying their life with one another.
Are a Virgo woman and a Pisces man sexually compatible?
The sexual compatibility between a Virgo woman and a Pisces man is one of the better ones. The miscommunication problems they can have in their relationship don’t necessarily apply to the bedroom, and they understand each other’s language better here. This is also a part of life. Virgo brings out her more fun and wild side, and the Pisces man likes to see the Virgo woman in all her multitudes.
This is an area of life where the Virgo woman doesn’t have to think so much, and the Pisces man appreciates her attentiveness and presence here. The sex between the two is more romantic than anything, and this is a memorable connection for the both of them.
What makes a relationship between a Virgo woman and a Pisces man work?
What makes this relationship work is their respect and love for each other. There is a genuine fondness and admiration that these two have for one another and that connection and respect for each other is often unbreakable. There is a bit of magic that should be noted when these two fall in love. Fairytales can be made based on the Virgo woman and Pisces man love pairing. This is a man who will go out of his way to sweep Virgo off her feet and make her feel special, and she feels seen in this relationship. These two are also both mutable signs, so they can be flexible, communicative, and attentive in the relationship, which will be appreciated.
Another gift for the relationship between a Virgo woman and a Pisces man is that they are both good listeners. They both want to hear what each other has to say, and there is an undeniable compatibility between the two when they get to know each other. They complement each other well and are the type of couple who will always try to uplift and support one another, always. They often put each other, and the relationship on a pedestal and deeply admire the connection they form with one another. They say your opposite sign is your soulmate because this is the sign that resides in your 7th house of love, and this applies to Virgo and Pisces.
What may cause a Virgo woman and a Pisces man to break up?
The Virgo woman and Pisces man pairing can come to a head when they feel like they don’t have anything else to learn or experience together than they already have. A strength in the relationship is that they are both mutable signs, but this can also be their downfall. They both have an energy that fluctuates, and you can never really guess what the other person is going to do, say, or feel next, and that can be disruptive for a relationship in the long term. The Virgo woman will get tired of having to guess where the Pisces man stands, and the Pisces man will get tired of trying to live up to the Virgo woman's expectations.
Challenges also may begin to arise when it comes to daily habits and rituals. The Virgo woman is a doer, and the Pisces is a dreamer. She can become frustrated by the Pisces man's lack of urgency when he needs more time to feel things through and determine his next steps. The Pisces man can also become disheartened with the Virgo woman overanalyzing him when she tries to understand his emotions better and will begin to doubt his own voice or feelings within the relationship.
If they are not hearing each other out and considering each other's perspectives, then this relationship can end as quickly as it began.
Summary: What is a Virgo woman and Pisces man's love compatibility?
This is a relationship of extremes, however, if they can both work on being less critical of one another then this can be a relationship that goes extremely well. They have a lot to learn from each other and this is a more karmic pairing, as they are often destined to meet. The Virgo woman finds a partner in this relationship that she can adore, be inspired by, and build a life with, and the Pisces man finds a partner in this relationship he can appreciate, respect, and enjoy his time with.
Overall, this is a relationship that when it works, it really works, and when it doesn’t, it really doesn't.
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