Horoscopes | Week of January 30-February 5, 2006

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Awaiting your discovery are breakthrough solutions and ideas way outside the confines of the box, Aries. They're on the brink of your awareness and the tip of your tongue, keen on quietly and subtly leaking into conscious being—not at all like a house falling from the sky, dramatic-like, with the magic answer staring you in the face. The magic is there, but if you're not quiet or relaxed or receptive enough… or if you're more concerned with which ideas belong to whom, who must concede what to whom, or who'll get the credit… you'll liable to completely miss the main meat of the matter. The creative developments which will pour from you, should you adopt a less insistent and more open-minded mindset, promote progressive ripples far beyond your personal stake. We can all benefit from the real truths you bring forth, so long as you don't allow interpersonal issues (whether of the offensive or defensive type) to speak louder and overpower the message. (And here's a little secret: You're likely to end up getting the credit after all… just don't demand it.)

 

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Hard as this advice may be to follow, Taurus, try your darnedest to not worry too much about all that you think you know about what you need to do. Your physical drives and bodily-based bulletins are far more reliable than any sense you try to make through independent intellectual processing… especially considering this sustained stretch of recent time you've been stuck in your head, without a compass or a map. And besides, you're finally about to tread new ground, as Mars at last makes it past the shadow of its Oct-Dec 05 retrograde this week. Feel your way in this new direction, rather than overthinking it. Neither should you worry too much about what any other specific individual thinks he or she knows about what you're doing, flattering and critical opinions alike. The reality is larger than you, him/her, and the both of you. For a passing glimpse of it (and for now, that's all you're going to get), place yourself in the position of a benevolent parent-figure, who looks proudly and lovingly at all you've accomplished thus far. That gaze (admittedly not your most instinctive or obvious one) reveals a lot of good stuff about you that, for whatever reason, you haven't wanted to see.

 

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): It's a week during which to let your mind wander far from its usual resting places, to consciously and deliberately ponder doings, destinations and destinies that'd draw you significantly closer to a life fully worth all your efforts. Which exotic lands would you most love to visit? Which topics of peculiar interest would you explore in much greater depth, if only you had the necessary resources? I'm not saying you should forego your existing work responsibilities to disappear into daydream, nor can you ignore the current physical or financial limitations. But keeping an immense vision, beyond even what you could imagine ever being possible, is key to growth. If you can walk away from such a spiritually creative week as this with one or two dreams distilled down to their core, you'll have them to hold as seeds in your heart. Keep them there, precious and untainted, as you continue to move through your days… doing your work, fostering your connections to others and to the whole world, bravely offering your future up to the unknown… and slowly, invisibly, magically, the images of your dreams' unfolding will show signs of literal birth.

 

CANCER (June 21-July 22): What a tremendous opportunity your week affords, Cancer, for achieving truly sympathetic understandings with others on the most intense levels of connection. And I use the term 'sympathy' not necessarily to indicate feeling sorry for one another, or going past a healthy interest level into energetically draining territory. Instead, I mean to rouse you toward sympathetically sharing a mutually-agreed-upon interpretation of the emotions flowing back and forth between you… which requires speaking aloud the radical truth about what you've been sensing, without regard for possibly injuring your sensitive ego. (Indeed, you two could turn out to be on different pages, as perhaps you fear.) To link up what you quietly perceive with how you intelligibly make sense of it—and to do so in sincere conversation with the other stakeholder—comprises a powerful form of testimony, going on record on your own highest behalf. All the more so if, once the pieces are laid out, you take a stand for only that which is consistent with what you want in your life. Reaching a common ground is a good starting point… as long as you're ready to listen to whatever comes up, including stuff you might not want to hear. Trust that the no-holds-barred truth is what's best for all parties.

 

LEO (July 23-August 22): Disclaimer: Please read this entire horoscope through before jumping to any conclusions. Your mind-reading abilities are operating at full blast, Leo. You intuitively know what act will play best to which crowd, what they want to hear and say… even how they may be feeling about any given situation. But (and this is a helluva big 'but') that doesn't mean you should actually try to apply these abilities, nor that folks particularly want to have their minds read. They might be in an altogether different state of emotional awareness, less able to perceive the truth, or to hear it or act on it… and not especially eager to let someone else in on it. Please be considerate with your wandering psychic consciousness, and if you feel moved to use whatever knowledge you become privy to, be gentle. Insinuate your insight, rather than declaring it. Or better yet, save the observation for future reference. Remember, though—people change their minds. What you're reading may indeed be true now, but its shelf-life is brief.

 

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Be on the lookout for a number of seemingly minor activities, obligations and acquaintanceships to begin adding up more quickly and voluminously than you'd initially noticed… and then, pow! everything's piled up way high, and weighs heavier on you than you were prepared for. This is not your only option, Virgo—to simply play along, overextended and overwhelmed. Listen to your straining body, if and when it tells you to let up on certain commitments, to say no to certain people and tasks, and to reduce the abundance of disparate and potentially conflicting pulls on your attention. Even minor adjustments can go far in heading off possible illness or injury, which would otherwise signify you've disregarded your natural physical limits. (Sorry, Charlie… we've all got limits.) Heed the subtle signs, and prioritize your health and sanity over any pathological need to exemplify the 'superman' or 'superwoman' archetype. Even superheroes deserve their due breaks.

 

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): With your ruler Venus returning to direct motion in your 4th after six weeks of retrogradation, you should feel a delicate shift toward settlement of any emotional issues you've recently revisited. Specifically, check in with yourself to see if any personal life-stories have gotten rewritten, so that fewer loose strings are left dangling and you can feel more at peace with the results. If all's gone well over these weeks, past resentments or hostilities may find themselves melted away, with little more than a scant stain on the floor where a swampy puddle once sat. But if what I'm saying doesn't immediately ring true, then concentrate on the most obvious example of where you've been holding onto the past… and let it go. Before you stress too unnecessarily about what's entailed in 'letting it go', simply find a comfortable setting in which you can speak (or write) from your heart, and start doing it. The more you think about it, the harder it gets. Just release, with as much ease as you'd exhale a breath. I'm confident you'll soon experience a sense of movement… and from there, resolution is just around the corner.

 

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): It's not all as 'obvious' as it seems. Beneath the details of this current reality run deep roots, Scorpio. Narratives and histories much more extensive and interlocking than you can fairly expect to own single-handed responsibility for. Patterns of emotional sensitivity and reaction, not neatly attributable to experiences you've actually lived. Before you and anybody else in your imminent scope faced each other in the here and now, there were mothers and fathers, grandparents and great-grandparents… lineages of incidents and episodes… repetitions that tie you all together. Odd or esoteric as it sounds, these recurrences and replays go further in explaining the present dynamics than merely considering recent events in isolation from this long, long colorful past. Take the time to step outside this moment's fragmented glimpse of the time-space continuum, and center your psychological intuition on those feelings that your family members carried with them into your incarnation. The continuity you'll discover adds that extra piece to your understanding, and eerily puts you at ease.

 

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): Your horoscope for the week is both participatory and quite a bit of fun, if I do say so myself. The divinatory power is in your hands, Sagittarius, so begin by choosing the question or topic that's most sharply on your mind. Then, visit the Google home page with the intent of unearthing additional insight on this matter. Have you ever noticed the 'I'm Feeling Lucky' button on Google? When you click on this button (instead of the 'Google Search' one), you're automatically taken to the website Google decides is the best fit for your search terms. What a miraculous oracular tool for you to use, as proof that, though the world is crammed to supersaturation point with seemingly inconsequential ephemera, there's an inescapable prophetic significance coasting along the top, permeating everything. Go on, type your query or statement into the search field, and hit the 'I'm Feeling Lucky' button. You should, after all, feel lucky. Then, find your horoscopic truth in whatever content pops up on the page. Your message is there somewhere, I swear. One warning, though: You only get one chance to make this exercise work. It becomes immediately null and void if you try for a do-over because you don't like your first result. Magic has no patience for do-overs.

 

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): The scene is set for a gradual transition, Capricorn, beginning this week and building over the next two to three, as Venus returns to direct motion in your sign and Mars finally pounds some fresh pavement in your 5th. All the good-karma points you've banked since the beginning of '06—reaped by treating others with a kind but genuinely honest approach, letting them know how you feel (or don't feel) about them—are available for your spending. You must believe you've earned the right to some easy pleasure and fortune, and you'll get just what you deserve. Whatever's recently been subject to a rather conservative outlook now starts to open into more ambitious, venturesome expenditures of energy. Go on, increasing the factor of risk you're willing to take (even the slightest bit) invites more excitement and enjoyment. It's a good time for it, too. The current-moment you is better stabilized and set to tackle the world on your own terms than in recent history. If nothing else, you (hopefully) know yourself better than you did two months ago… in a mode to define yourself against your own measures of success, not according to anybody else's. This self-granted freedom is nothing short of fantastic. And everyone else seems to adore it in you.

 

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): To be frank, I don't always know where I get this stuff. For instance, I'm not exactly sure what the phrase 'transparent mouthpiece' means—only that it's an apt description of your subject-position this week, Aquarius. I'm thinking the Mercury-Neptune conjunction in your 1st has something to do with it, bestowing upon your lips on-the-spot access to an eternal fount of thoughts and ideas and evocations far vaster than your ability to fit them together into any model of intelligibility. In other words, you're just serving as a channel for them… but they're not necessarily yours. The 'transparency' comes in because others are able to see right into your motives (so don't even think about trying to sneakily pull one over on anyone!)… but also because, if all goes well and you dispense with attempts to control the content of your message, your ego concerns (generally powered by insecurity or worry) will disappear into the background. The crux of a fruitful week lies in confidently refusing to bow to self-censorship, believing your optimistic intent for the world will protect you from any backlash your words (which aren't completely yours anyway) might unleash. If speaking sincerely, you can't make a mistake.

 

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Be forewarned that it's one of those extra-Piscean weeks for you. You know the ones… full of transpiring events that seem to quickly cascade way out of your control, which don't always make much sense (often to the point of absurdity) and end up exposing you to circumstances you otherwise wouldn't have wound up in. Other possible outcomes include nights filled with bizarre dreamscape adventures, instances when one cocktail turns into several before you know it, and disclosures slithering out when you'd have preferred them not to (or even without knowing they lurked just behind the veil of your conscious recognition). Whatever happens, don't insist on declaring you know for sure what's going on, what you feel or what your stance is—like last week, it's all about expanding the mind. The harder you grasp for it, the more elusive any hope of clarity becomes. Instead, raise your hands in cheerfully content resignation (why waste energy on exasperation?), and wait to see what happens next.