How You Make Friends, According to Your Zodiac Sign

Making new friends as an adult can be difficult, to say the least. With no welcome weeks, field trips or parents forcing kids to invite everyone to their birthday party, it’s easy to find your social circle growing smaller by the day. Everyone faces their own unique challenges when it comes to making new friends, whether it be a painful shyness that keeps people at a distance or an overwhelming gregariousness that prevents more intimate connections. But don’t despair! Everyone is capable of overcoming the hurdles and making new friends; it’s just a matter of playing to your strengths and mitigating your weaknesses.

That’s where astrology comes in! By focusing on the things that make your sign an amazing friend, you can forge connections that will last a lifetime, and shed the ones that were only ever going to be surface level at best. New, long-lasting friendships? Who doesn’t want that? 

Making new friends is never a problem for fearless Aries, who seeks out new and diverse friends wherever they go. The issue for rams is maintaining those friendships and not scaring people away by being too demanding, especially early in the relationship. Make sure you’re not asking too much too soon or overwhelming them with hang-out suggestions every night of the week. Most importantly, focus on being a good listener and be wary of monopolizing the conversation. Do that, and Aries can be one of the fiercest friends in the game!

Taurus can bring a lot of stability and grounding to a friendship, and who doesn’t want that? A Taurus loves nothing more than providing their friends with a soft place to land, but this can sometimes lead to getting taken advantage of or feeling like you’re giving more than you get. For this reason, Taurus can sometimes be too judgmental in evaluating new potential friends, sizing up whether or not they’re worth the effort before even getting to know them. Table these judgements when meeting new people and release any preconceived notions you may get about a person based on their clothes/wealth/status/whatever else. Once you open up and introduce yourself rather than just texting in the corner, the whole world will be clamoring to get on your contacts list! 

Geminis are accustomed to being social butterflies, but fluttering from person to person can sometimes make it hard for them to form a lasting connection. You tend to let others come to you (and they do), but that limits your potential friendship pool to other outgoing folks like yourself. You’re an amazing conversationalist but be sure to let others shine, and you’ll find yourself forming more lasting relationships. Actively nurture the connections that arise instead of just letting them run their natural course, and you’ll find your social circle expanding!

Cancers are a great judge of character, so the first thing you need to do when trying to make new friends is to trust your gut. Does someone seem cool even though they were a little standoffish when you first met? Give them a second chance. Was someone really nice at first glance but gives you bad vibes? Don’t invest in that relationship. You’re exceptionally good at reading other people’s energies, so you need to be careful not to pursue relationships with people who can deplete you by demanding too much. Just make sure trusting your gut doesn’t lead to holding grudges or unnecessarily harsh judgements. You could miss out on some amazing new friendships if you let pettiness cloud your razor-sharp intuition.

Leos are naturally outgoing and never shy away from social interactions—but beware of intimidating people with your gung-ho energy. Not every brunch needs you at your most extra, and it’s important to recognize when it’s time to scale it back so that other people can feel comfortable. By taking it down a notch when the situation calls for it, you’ll be able to show off other parts of your personality that sometimes get lost, like your love of philosophy, art and creative inspiration. These deeper desires can lead to deeper connections as people realize you’re not just the fun friend who’s good at parties. You’re the fun friend who’s good at parties and chilling on the couch chatting about life. Let people see it!

As a Virgo, you’re a great communicator, but you can feel shy and nervous around strangers, which impedes your ability to express yourself and build relationships. Worse yet, sometimes you try to hide your shyness behind a wall of judgement in order to protect yourself from getting hurt. When you feel yourself building that wall, counteract it by forcing yourself to think one kind thing about the person in front of you. And remember, everyone feels a little bit nervous when meeting new people (even Leos), but if you push through those first few awkward moments instead of isolating yourself, there could be lifelong friendships on the other side.

Libras have absolutely no problem making friends, given that they’re the friendliest sign in the zodiac. You’re able to move from group to group without a problem and place a high value on companionship. This can lead to you getting a major case of the sads when a new relationship doesn’t pan out and leaves you seriously susceptible to FOMO if you have to miss an event or notice anyone is hanging out without you. Your task, Libra, is not learning to make friends, it’s learning to be OK with certain friends cycling in and out of your life, letting go of old relationships so that you can make way for new ones. Drifting apart is a natural part of life, and if you’re constantly focused on the friends you’ve lost, you’ll never notice the new friends that are right in front of you.

Scorpios can suffer from feeling generally misunderstood and place a high value on privacy, meaning they can struggle when forging new relationships. You appreciate a small, close-knit circle over a loud boisterous friend group, so stop fighting that and plan more intimate gatherings yourself! Instead of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole by forcing yourself to large group parties, keep your social circle small and intimate, inviting potential new friends over for one-on-one hangs over meeting up with them at a crowded bar or party. Making a new buddy can be a challenge due to your fear of opening up, but keep in mind that you don’t have to open up right away! Take the pressure off yourself and allow some pleasant surface-level conversations before you give them the full Scorpio treatment and go deep on the meaning of life. Once you get to a place where you’re comfortable, Scorpios can be some of the best friends anyone could ask for.

Sagittarius never turns down an adventure, and that goes double for social situations. Naturally friendly Sags are happy to put themselves out there and love building a friend group full of diverse individuals. In order to make yourself the happiest, seek out places and situations where you're most likely to meet different types of people. Sure, that may mean going out of your comfort zone, but lucky for you getting out of your comfort zone is a is a Sagittarius’s bread and butter! Once you do meet someone you’d like to try to be friends with, don’t let a fear of intimacy get in the way of letting a new relationship bloom.

Capricorns tend to be reserved in social situations, and it can be tough for others to break through that hard exterior. Once they do, they’ll see that Capricorns have a lot to offer as friends. Grounded, chill Capricorns bring their earthy energy to any social situation that they’re a part of and are extremely trustworthy and loyal. When it comes to making new friends, let those qualities shine rather than hiding them in an attempt to protect yourself. Every friend group can benefit from a Capricorn, especially since they tend to make excellent group moms (somebody has to make sure that you’ve actually booked the Airbnb for your beach weekend), and they’ll never let you down in a crisis. Let people see that side of you and they’ll be dying to be someone you call a friend.

Aquarius is one of the least judgmental signs in the zodiac (Virgo, take notes), and who doesn’t want that in a friend? You tend to gravitate toward people who can match you in terms of intellectual curiosity, so when seeking out new friends look for places or groups that make you feel stimulated. An Aquarius is always up for long philosophical discussions but beware of shutting down as soon as the conversation switches from the intellectual to the emotional. Aquarians can suffer from seeming aloof and distant, especially in the face of other people’s emotions, but being able to be there for someone is an important part of being a friend. Lend some of that intellectual curiosity to your friends’ interior lives, and you can be that person everyone goes to for amazing advice. Everyone needs one of those!

Compassionate and intuitive Pisces can make amazing friends, but your tendency to take on others’ emotions means you need to be selective when letting people into your life. If you find that someone is emotionally demanding and drains your energy, that’s not a relationship you need to pursue. Instead, pursue relationships with people who build you up and leave you with good vibes. Once you’ve found them, don’t let a tendency toward flakiness or your ability to hold a grudge get in the way of a lasting friendship. Canceling plans is cool, but following through with them and forging a deeper connection with a new friend is even cooler.