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A little care can go a long way.
By Kate Rose — Written on Feb 02, 2023
In the first few days of a brand-new month setting a completely different tone for the year ahead, asteroid Ceres in Libra shifts into retrograde today, reminding you it is not just kindness that matters but care as well.
Ceres is considered a dwarf planet or asteroid that rules aspects related to self-care, feminine energy (regardless of gender) and family relationships.
While right now is being touted as a time when all planets are direct, meaning the forward movement of any kind is favored, it is because Ceres retrograde does not affect your choices but how you care for yourself.
Ceres has lunar energy mixed with just a dash of Venus. This means many emotions are present in Ceres's effects, but also feelings of love and romance.
When Ceres becomes more of a focus, it creates the desire to care for and nurture yourself and those you are in a relationship with.
Ceres can positively benefit romantic relationships because you will be more apt to be mindful and present for your partner’s needs. It can also help any relationship within your life.
More importantly, Ceres is also known for bringing greater peace and harmony.
Ceres is the loving energy connected to the home that only wants to care for others and enjoy a simple, beautiful life together.
In Libra, some themes regarding balance may arise, but not in a way that steals your peace instead of only adding to it.
Ceres' retrograde in Libra is short because it is an asteroid.
By the end of March, it will retrograde back into Virgo before ending its retrograde on May 6th and then reentering Libra at the end of June.
Ceres' retrograde in Libra during a time when all major planets are direct is a message about what the focus should be for these next few months.
While change is imminent, and some decisions will be harder than others, a desire for greater peace is fueling it all.
Ceres makes you realize where in your life you have been allowing things and people to steal your peace so that you can begin to take it back and create more of it.
It is a gentle retrograde compared with other planets and is part of the softness that is arriving this month, along with the lesson of being able to receive peace.
Ceres in Libra helps you to understand that effort does not need to be exhausting and that change is not always excruciating.
Sometimes, it is a gentle unfolding process. In a year where there is no forcing anything, today offers you a chance to dial back into yourself and what you are craving for self-care so that you can show up for others in an equivalent way.
Whether it is you or those you love, a little care goes a long way.
The three zodiac signs with the best horoscopes for Friday, February 3, 2023:
1. Aries
(March 21 - April 19)
Libra is your polarizing sign, and because of that, it governs your romantic relationship sector. Libra often brings to the table everything you are not and vice versa; this allows you to see things from a more comprehensive perspective for greater balance.
Today the shift of the asteroid Ceres into retrograde within this zodiac sign draws your focus to the romantic relationship within your life. You may have been neglecting your and your partner's emotional needs recently, either because something was happening or you were just busy.
But it also may play into the feminine energy in your relationship, in either partner or whether there needs to be a greater balance present so that you both can feel peace.
In its toxic state, feminine energy is avoidant and passive but healthy it faces everything head-on, not to fight it, but to deal with it. Please take this in and allow yourself to see that peace is never found in not dealing with it but finally decided to face it.
2. Libra
(September 23 - October 22)
Within your zodiac sign, Ceres points to your needs. With so many planets soon moving into Aries, it is set to be an expansive year ahead for you romantically.
But to embrace all the changes in store for you, you also need to be in a healthy space emotionally and mentally. By taking advantage of Ceres' energy, you will be able to reflect more on your own needs and how to better nurture and care for yourself.
This opens the space to feel greater safety and peace in moving forward in all other areas of your life because you are first giving to yourself.
You cannot rely on others to make you feel safe or bring you peace; instead, it is something you first must do for yourself, and by doing so, you set the standard for all others. This is also a chance to learn to be present in the stillness more deeply. Lean into self-care, and all enjoy the quiet chapters of life, knowing they will become busier when they are meant to.
3. Cancer
(June 21 - July 22)
Libra energy rules your house and home life, one of the key areas for you as a Cancer. Because of this, you will focus more on this area of your life, but in a quite different way than you have before. This is the beginning of what priorities and boundaries look like within your life. You can care for others but still practice your no as you choose what you need for yourself.
Ceres retrograde asks you also to slow down and enjoy the process a bit more, to see that self-care and taking time for yourself does not need to become an argument but a silent smile that you will never betray yourself again. You may feel quieter during this time and prefer to stay with those you love.
It is still a wonderful time to practice all you have learned recently, but you can also decide to enjoy all you have created. Softness will always be able to receive more than harshness ever will.
Kate Rose is a writer, spiritual astrologist, relationship and life coach, and motivational speaker. For more of her work, visit her website.