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Horoscopes | Week of September 18-24, 2006

ARIES (March 21-April 19): This Friday (Sep 22) brings another solar eclipse… and in turn, we flip the page to another chapter of our lives, wrapping up old business from the last and embracing the newness of inevitable change that accompanies the next. For you, Aries, the eclipse falls on the cusp of your solar 6th and 7th houses, signaling a call to reevaluate the strictures and habits that govern the way you participate in your one-on-one relationships—especially with regards to how neatly (or inadequately, as the case may be) your ingrained interpersonal behaviors line up with what you truly-and-ultimately believe to be right. Are your responses and reactions automatic? Are your hard, fast rules for what's 'acceptable' and 'unacceptable' too hard and fast for your partner to calmly stomach… and are they, at the same time, casting you in an unfair light, obscuring your considerate nature behind a quick trigger finger? Consider the commitments you might make toward establishing fresh habits in your relationships (or revised commitments to particular individuals), such that all parties can feel the unnecessarily imposed restrictions lift… while you consciously construct new boundaries in their place, based purely on mutually-agreed-upon criteria rather than arbitrary (and likely inherited) guidelines. For the next six months, everything about the manner in which you partner up—in friendship or business or romance—should be up for debate, discussion and development.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): This Friday (Sep 22) brings another solar eclipse… and in turn, we flip the page to another chapter of our lives, wrapping up old business from the last and embracing the newness of inevitable change that accompanies the next. For you, Taurus, the eclipse falls on the cusp of your solar 5th and 6th houses, asking you to become more consistent and conscientious in your outward attitudes… to reinterpret the drive to enjoy life as more than mere self-serving indulgence of 'fluff', but as a significant part of your duty to the world. Truth be told, you're less solidly supportive or pragmatically useful to the rest of us if you perpetually put your own vital pleasures second. (But in case you misunderstand my terminology, 'vital' means something that makes you feel more lively… so overeating, overdrinking and oversleeping don't count.) You still hold inhibitions left over from the past, inner perfectionist voices that urge you to 'keep it under wraps' or risk appearing too pushy, presumptuous or peculiar—and the way out is to go all the way in, around and through. Don't assume to know how others will respond to you or judge you. Instead, lean on those who'll tell you the truth… and then test out a more freely expressive vibe with them. Rather than automatically turning down a request or invitation that triggers an anxious self-consciousness, confess how you're feeling. Chances are excellent that your friend or partner would be more than happy to walk you through it, holding your hand and watching your back every step of the way. For the next six months, you must approach this challenge—of breaking out of your shell, risking looking stupid—methodically, recognizing it as part of your responsibility to those you care about, not just a 'personal issue' irrelevant to everybody else.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): This Friday (Sep 22) brings another solar eclipse… and in turn, we flip the page to another chapter of our lives, wrapping up old business from the last and embracing the newness of inevitable change that accompanies the next. For you, Gemini, the eclipse falls on the cusp of your solar 4th and 5th houses, encouraging you to more deliberately infuse your broadcasts and brainchildren with tangible emotion, so your friends, flames and fans can more easily discover how you feel, rather than just what you think. The danger in being as clever and conversationally quick as you are often comes down to others' reductive penchant for taking you at your word—when, as you and I both well know, there's more to your story than what's explicitly voiced at any given moment. And no, I'm not criticizing that fact (who does say everything he's feeling all the time?), nor urging you to suppress your sharp wit and adept handle of language (not likely). Just be aware that, when you produce a perfectly smooth statement or glib retort right on command, folks who aren't as communicatively skilled might get the wrong idea. Will they mistakenly assume 'you've got it all figured out', just because you had an impromptu answer to offer? Will they underestimate your complexity, which churns silently beneath? The always-dynamically-evolving depth in your primary relationship(s) depends on how sloppily and self-consciously conflicted you sound when more fully expressing your feelings, which are sloppy and conflicting by their very nature. For the next six months, it wouldn't hurt to explore ways of allowing your usually-kept-private internal dialogues to leak through the crystalline surfaces of your self-expression… to the highest benefit of every relationship you possess.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): This Friday (Sep 22) brings another solar eclipse… and in turn, we flip the page to another chapter of our lives, wrapping up old business from the last and embracing the newness of inevitable change that accompanies the next. For you, Cancer, the eclipse falls on the cusp of your solar 3rd and 4th houses, insinuating that you can find concrete improvements in how you allow your unceasing spate of emotions to affect you—without shutting them down or pretending they don't exist. Without a few guiding boundary markers, your sensitivities can easily drown you in undifferentiated sensation, knocking you off your feet and interrupting your daily workflow routine. And once you've been waterlogged, you often require a chunk of 'drying-out' time before you return to fully functioning capability. But with wisdom comes greater stability, along with a reasonable response plan to heed once the familiar signs appear, so every emotional crest doesn't threaten your physical productivity and health. The key is to insert your analytic mind into the equation, just as soon as you detect the latest wave of feeling beginning to wash over you. Calmly, compassionately interrogate yourself. What initially triggered the feeling? When have you felt similarly in the past? How did these previous similar feelings eventually get resolved? And please note whether there's a direct connection of relevance between the feeling and what you're in the process of trying to get done. If there is, then obviously you must slow your progress down to attend to the emotional issues… but if there isn't, then you shouldn't let it stop you in your tracks. This is a simple matter of placing your feelings in the appropriate category, instead of letting them run wayward over your whole life. For the next six months, work on your ability to properly label and organize your feelings.

LEO (July 23-August 22): This Friday (Sep 22) brings another solar eclipse… and in turn, we flip the page to another chapter of our lives, wrapping up old business from the last and embracing the newness of inevitable change that accompanies the next. For you, Leo, the eclipse falls on the cusp of your solar 2nd and 3rd houses, marking this upcoming phase as an ideal one for further experimentation and social circulation… to see what else you might get yourself into, through a bit of careful question-asking and above-board networking. These aren't unfamiliar activities for you, but they call for your renewed attention, now that you've grown clearer about which special attributes you bring to the table—and which qualities, despite your ego's highest hopes, aren't your strongest suits. Working with a tighter, more concise conception of what you've got, you'll necessarily relate to others differently, emanating a more authentic vibe and, accordingly, attracting more personally befitting types of acquaintances and opportunities. Your options for potentially fruitful collaborations will also expand, as folks will be more willing to throw their names in the hat once they hear your no-frills account of your end of the bargain. (Remember: As long as Saturn remains in your sign, you're granted no wiggle room for exaggeration.) People want (and need) to meet the true blue you. They want (and need) to hear your ideas, and they're ready to toss their suggestions into the mix. For the next six months, it's on you to introduce yourself and make legitimately meaningful chit-chat.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): This Friday (Sep 22) brings another solar eclipse… and in turn, we flip the page to another chapter of our lives, wrapping up old business from the last and embracing the newness of inevitable change that accompanies the next. The eclipse falls in your sign, Virgo, on the cusp of your solar 1st and 2nd houses, deeming this a momentous occasion for making your mark, shifting away from self-imposed personality restraint and toward a confident deployment of your many unrivalled skills. The time to be shy is over (if you haven't already caught that drift from myriad recent horoscopes), not because modesty isn't still an admirable trait, but because it holds you back from doing and making more, bigger and better versions of what you've already done and made. (I admit it, it's a surefire ploy of mine to appeal to your painstaking meticulousness.) Let me clarify, though. This is not one of those pathological pushes for achievement upon further achievement. That's not the point at all. Rather, it's all about you and that internal motivation you find in challenging yourself to work harder, smarter and cleaner throughout the different arenas of your life. I merely want you to be able to look back and feel, deep in your heart, that you took risks and tried your best and didn't allow a modicum of self-conscious meekness to deprive you of exciting prospects. You are your greatest asset; are you spending yourself wisely? For the next six months, make sure the answer is yes.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): This Friday (Sep 22) brings another solar eclipse… and in turn, we flip the page to another chapter of our lives, wrapping up old business from the last and embracing the newness of inevitable change that accompanies the next. The eclipse falls in your solar 12th house, hovering quite close to the cusp of your 1st (in fact, the Moon moves into Libra barely more than an hour after eclipsing the Sun, while the Sun follows suit later that day)… which tells me that a budding sense of 'something about to' is swirling around you, daring you to unbolt the back door and tempt it to enter the premises. All you've got to do is turn the key in the lock, sit back with a cup of tea and a cracker, and watch the genie materialize from its vaporous hiding-place into being. He will grant your wishes all right—only you may not know what you're wishing for, in the mysterious reaches of your unconscious. I would be very surprised, however, if the magic doesn't involve your primary relationship… or, more specifically, your potential to lose the inhibitions you typically duck behind in partner-like relationships. Why keep the guard up? Are you really protecting yourself, or just creating an anxious underworld of secrets hidden beneath an outward desire to please? Screw the outward image. The right person will be pleased by your least self-conscious, as-spontaneous-as-possible personality just as it is, complications and inconsistencies and all. And meanwhile, who ever said the impending 'something' will politely pass you by if you keep the door bolted and refuse to extend it warm hospitality? It'll want to come in, regardless. Are you prepared to fight to maintain your current state of affairs? For the next six months, permit yourself total in-the-moment freedom to follow your heart's fancy… to become more wholly yourself, under the influence of relationships that spur you to do just that—and nothing more.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): This Friday (Sep 22) brings another solar eclipse… and in turn, we flip the page to another chapter of our lives, wrapping up old business from the last and embracing the newness of inevitable change that accompanies the next. For you, Scorpio, the eclipse falls on the cusp of your solar 11th and 12th houses, triggering the need to respect everybody their due individuality, with the recognition that it takes all kinds to make the world go round—and quite a few who simply won't jibe with you and your notoriously powerful personality. What a veritable smorgasbord of peopled options for friendship, teamwork, ideological alliance or subcultural allegiance exist for each of us to choose from. And just like everyone else, you've got your own big empty white buffet plate to fill with heartier or humbler helpings of only those dishes that appeal to your palate… with the freedom to leave the rest alone. Naturally, you'll want to make sure you haven't inherited any affiliations, from friends of friends of friends or from an outdated version of yourself, which no longer suit your tastes. The folks you associate with make a statement that partly defines you. Once you hop in the proverbial bed with them, you give up a certain control over the fashion in which you're perceived, since you're also liable to be judged by how your comrades, peeps or homies behave. But you simply cannot get anywhere without bonding together with some group of like-minded individuals. For the next six months, take every measure possible to confirm you're aligned with the appropriate allies… people you can trust enough to carry you into uncharted territory, knowing they'd never leave you up a creek without a paddle.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): This Friday (Sep 22) brings another solar eclipse… and in turn, we flip the page to another chapter of our lives, wrapping up old business from the last and embracing the newness of inevitable change that accompanies the next. For you, Sagittarius, the eclipse falls on the cusp of your solar 10th and 11th houses, which impels you to share the authority you've earned with others who you consider peers or colleagues in your chosen milieu. Thanks to Pluto holding protracted court in your sign, your long-term challenge is to own your personal power. But how can you exercise this power to its fullest without lording it over anybody or developing formidable opponents along the way? By using it to motivate others to work together more cooperatively, to build a synergy even more potent and progressive than anything any of you could create on your own. When you assume a leadership position that empowers every participant to do her best, then nobody feel 'lorded over'—and the overall level of power across the board is increased, rather than merely redistributed. Meanwhile, the best 'formidable opponents' to fight against are the abstract philosophical ones: inequity, injustice, discrimination and the like. That way, it only becomes personal when somebody tries to defend a value that you and your teammates unambiguously oppose. If you cannot (or refuse to) refigure your relation to power so it fits this model, however, then you can expect serious challengers to pop up (unabashedly in your face or slyly from behind) and battle you for dominance, in a struggle more about the two of you than about any consequential matter. For the next six months, use your power to inspire more of it among your group, so together you can carry out a unified effort that improves everyone's quality of life—or else expect to be tied up in personality issues.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): This Friday (Sep 22) brings another solar eclipse… and in turn, we flip the page to another chapter of our lives, wrapping up old business from the last and embracing the newness of inevitable change that accompanies the next. For you, Capricorn, the eclipse falls on the cusp of your solar 9th and 10th houses, calling on you to put your professional (or otherwise public) reputation where your most authentic life-values lie… and do something meaningful with the esteem and aptitude you've earned. Leave behind the myth that you can contain all your outer-world efforts within a crate stamped 'Only Doing it for the Money', keeping what you do all day safely separate from the explicit moral stance you take in your 'personal' life. This separation is impossible to keep—unless, that is, you literally shut one part of yourself off from the other, which isn't something most psychologists recommend as a healthful practice. If you ever experience an elusive nag at the back of your conscience, leaving you uncertain and on edge, it may be your psychic hint that you're deeply uncomfortable with some tradeoff you felt forced to accept. That's not to say I'm totally unsympathetic to the many real-world compromises we all must make, in order to support ourselves financially and stay afloat in an increasingly competitive society. I don't expect you to abruptly quit every commitment that ruffles your ethical feathers or symbolizes nothing of any significance to you. (Get real.) But you should at least be able to align these concessions with a bigger-picture perspective, so that your ultimate ends will justify your current means in a way you can proudly stand behind. Perhaps you'll need the money, the experience, the exposure and/or the contacts to meet further-down-the-line goals that mean something to you. For the next six months, do your best to remove all hindrances to your ability to pursue a career or public contribution that upholds your integrity… or at least identify where such hindrances exist, understand why you're temporarily allowing them to stand, and ensure they really are temporary.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): This Friday (Sep 22) brings another solar eclipse… and in turn, we flip the page to another chapter of our lives, wrapping up old business from the last and embracing the newness of inevitable change that accompanies the next. For you, Aquarius, the eclipse falls on the cusp of your 8th and 9th houses, to determine how well your behaviors in your most intimate, messiest and/or complex interpersonal dealings concur with what you might say you believe about such things. In other words, does your walk match your talk? It's much easier to declare yourself a defender of fairness and equanimity than to live it out in your most charged-up moments, as fury or lust or greed or hurt course through your bloodstream, undiluted. And yet, that's just when it's most important to stay true to your ideals, even when intense barrages of emotion threaten to send you over your own moral edge. You bear the real potential of serving as a model for how to handle difficult situations honestly and forthrightly, without losing control, crossing your own boundaries, and/or possibly harming someone in the process. If the relationship itself doesn't fit your overarching philosophy of life, then you owe yourself the attempt to raise it up to your standards (through direct discussion and confrontation)—otherwise, you've got to let it go, or else continue leading a disingenuous double-life. There is no 'special' type of connection between folks that exempts you from your ethical commitments once you're behind closed doors, naked in bed, sharing a bank account or a family, or facing each other's mortality together. For the next six months, batten down your interpersonal hatches to affirm that you're not trying to take such liberties… or, if it's too late and they've already been taken, that you right those wrongs as soon as possible.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): This Friday (Sep 22) brings another solar eclipse… and in turn, we flip the page to another chapter of our lives, wrapping up old business from the last and embracing the newness of inevitable change that accompanies the next. For you, Pisces, the eclipse falls on the cusp of your 7th and 8th houses, at the very spot in your solar chart that symbolizes the point at which a basic 'meeting-of-two-equal-partners' relationship evolves into something infinitely more complicated, confusing, imprecisely inequitable and undeniably intense. This points the way to an impending movement in your major relationship(s) along the trajectories of simple to complex, polite to down-and-dirty, and pleasantly light to profoundly dense. In other words, the stakes are being upped, and you're being called on to push for 'the whole shebang' (i.e., everything you've wanted but been afraid of rocking the boat to ask for) or to initiate the necessary proceedings for extricating yourself from the lifeless status quo. Please, oh please, don't settle for more of the same—not because it's been so bad, but rather because you've gotten all you can from it in its current form. Of course, you're more than welcome to ignore my plea and hold on tightly to things as they are. Whether that'll merely subject you to the same energetic influence of relationship-related intensification, imposed on you from an outside force (e.g., the other person), remains to be seen. Why risk it? As I recently told you, your professional success is intricately tied to how firmly you can assert your needs in your personal pairings. For the next six months, show the world (and the person you're sharing it with) that you mean business with this one life you've got to lead and you really want to make it count—by going for the whole damn grand prize, no matter how bumpy the ride to the winners' circle might get.