astrobarry.com the web

Horoscopes | Week of June 4-10, 2007

ARIES (March 21-April 19): 'My week… my time… me, me, ME!' Well, you're wasting your time if you're doing even that much gloating about it, when you could be out getting what you want. Whether it's the eye of some hottie at the Dairy Queen or your busy boss's undivided attention, this is your moment to go in for the kill. Please take the extra effort to spell out your thinking to those from whom you want something—don't fool yourself into believing a few sharp words will say it all. It's far wiser to risk going overboard than to assume all your bases are covered without double-checking. Why be sloppy during such an exceptional window for productive progress? That said, if you come across minor details that the other party might not understand or accept, let go of your grip on 'em. You'll need to be ready to change tactics or make small (and relatively insignificant) tradeoffs, in order to win the whole thing, game-set-and-match. I could go on and on here, but I'll keep it short and sweet, so you don't spend more time than necessary in front of this horoscope. If you need extra encouragement, reread last week's hail to your chiefdom, which, as I told you, applies throughout this week, too.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): How're those boundaries holdin' up, Taurus? I sincerely hope they are serving you well. Lord knows, in this astro-environment, you'll need 'em. You currently possess an intensely keen sense of what's happening just beneath the surfaces of interactions… though, judging by the fact that nobody's saying much about what you detect, you're probably apt to question yourself. 'Am I just being crazy, and creating situations that aren't actually there?' No, my dear, there really is something a-brew—but you should forget about trying to raise it as a topic in open conversation. For the time being, the right words to encapsulate all you're picking up simply don't exist. And were you to start pushing on the pregnant pauses and awkward silences, hunting for confirmation, you'd likely bear no fruit but blank stares and suspicious accusations. The real challenge is to use the emotional wisdom you're attuned to (but which others seem to be missing, though it may be right in front of their faces) for bringing yourself to inner emotional resolution… rather than attempting to effect real outside-world results. Let your own knowledge of what motivates others' actions, what makes them tick or ticks them off, grow and expand—without the need for external validation that what you suspect is indeed correct. Observe, but don't discuss. Store this formless data for later, when it may come in handy for navigating the treacherous landscapes of personality. Try the navigations now, and you'll hit a dead end.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I'm sure, over the years, you've been told by plenty of people to stop talking so damn much… and if nobody's said it, I'm sure a handful of more polite folks have at least thought it. You're good with words—too good sometimes. What can we say? This week, though, I hope nobody will try to keep you quiet, since your animated chit-chat is the social glue holding your friends, co-workers, teammates and/or committee members together. To that extent, last week's horoscope is still in effect. The more actively and avidly you point out to them what your pals or peers have in common with each other, the more you'll help cement their bonds… a team-building approach that'll prove clever later. However, with Saturn adding a more prominent edge to the mix this week, you should also get glimpses of how too much unfocused socializing will fry your ability to process any of what's going on. It's not that you'll do anybody any harm by flitting around like a hummingbird, barely noticing the inroads your beak-poking has made in pollinating—or not doing so, as the case may be. But you might not be working your interpersonal magic in the smartest, sleekest ways possible… especially if you're applying your attention indiscriminately, whether your audience is your all-time best friend or some interesting-enough-seeming dude you just yanked in off the street. While everyone is equal, they're not all equally meaningful to you. Invest your energies a bit more wisely, so an enthusiastic investment in the same things that are important to you will come back to you from all (or most) parties toward whom you direct your ideas. Talk all you want to all sorts of folks, but don't waste your breath on every person in a 100-mile radius.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Will you make good on the promise to yourself… that, if you pay close attention to your professional environment, in quiet search for any insignificant-seeming opportunities to add extra bits of your personal panache to the pot… and if you, in fact, act on these opportunities, not for immediate glory or appearance's sake, without making too big a deal of it… you will prove, through successful results, that quality and regularity of effort really do pay off? If you've been playing along with this 'promise' I just outlined, you'd know that it all began at the New Moon three weeks ago, when I asked for a month's dedication to this scheme. Right off the bat, I'll tell you that if you weren't able to keep this commitment all month, the fruits you yielded may not have been as dramatic as those who stayed with the program. But beyond all that, the big point I was trying to make is how much you can directly personally gain if you feverishly work toward goals of your choosing—even if you don't know the necessary logistical steps in advance. The only essential ingredients are (1) your clear unwavering focus and (2) persistent, pragmatic expenditures of energy. That 'clear unwavering focus' part is particularly important this week, when you may be tempted to waste your sparks on distracting personality clashes that threaten to pull you away from what's ultimately most important to you. Before taking the bait and getting upset, consider the tradeoff. Is a reaction worth the interruption, just to prove some point? Take the high road, and prioritize yourself over 'us vs. them' situations. Save that fighting spirit for the greatest battle of all: stepping into your highest potential vs. settling for less.

LEO (July 23-August 22): Now that Venus will be looking out for you for a spell, as she enters your sign on Tue (Jun 5), please feel free to step closer toward the edge. It's adventure time, Leo… and that's based in no small part on the fact that Saturn, which has been dampening your fun (but toughening you up in some important ways) since Jul 05, is on its last leg of the journey. Come September, the 'lord of Karma' will be out of your path, and you can happily resume your place as the zodiac's royalty. That's not to say, of course, it'll be perfectly smooth sailing until then (or even after), especially for you Leos born later in the sign. (And wait until you see what Venus has in store for you in August and September! But let's not get ahead of ourselves.) Still, Saturn is playing rather nicely with the other planets this week, making this a wonderful opportunity to try out some of things you've learned over these past two years—mainly regarding what's appropriately a genuine expression of you, and what's merely a public pose for the most flattering photo-op. Let's face it: There are risky ventures and outrageous about-faces you'd love to partake in, 'twere not for the worries about what others might think or what the ramifications for what you've already created for yourself may be. At this point in the game, you'll nourish your soul by goin' for one (or more) of 'em. You've earned your wings. You already know what the likeliest pitfalls are. And you won't get any closer to the bliss promised by such leaps beyond your comfort zone… until you take one. Don't feel bad if you feel a little nauseous—it's not really a risk unless your stomach does somersaults.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Ooh, Virgo, you're on the verge… but it's not a bad, scary, about-to-fall-off-the-side-of-the-ship 'verge'. This is a far more self-empowering, long-time-in-the-making, get-in-or-get-out, ostentatiously victorious verge: the verge of figuring out what to do next, and what potentially difficult alterations or excisions will be necessary as a result. You've been batting around some rather wise notions along these lines for some time, and the good news is that you're probably on the right track. But they're still in the development phase, and therefore, it's probably a smidgeon premature to be blurting 'em out and upsetting the apple cart in advance of your full preparation. Though getting it off your chest would probably intoxicate you with relief—and, in all fairness, that's one compelling argument to quit deliberating and begin making the madness happen—you'd also need to be ready to defend your ideas once the tough questions start to come at you. And I wouldn't want to see you stumped, flustered or outsmarted because you didn't cover all your bases first. If you want to spell the beans about what's been going on in your head, you might consider talking it through with an unbiased friend, rather than a main player in the upcoming action. Get really-extra-super-duper clear on all aspects of what you'll soon be stirring up—the benefits, the drawbacks, the potential consequences for people who you care about but are unwilling to allow to hold you back, every last little detail you could possibly foresee. There's always an 'unknown' factor that can never be known in advance… but as a Virgo, you're the closest thing we can get to someone who's able to think out all the possible pitfalls before facing 'em. Before moving past this 'verge' and into the new matrix, do your absolute best in anticipating and arranging accordingly. You'll be so glad you did.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): Sorry, Charlie, but you're not getting off the relationship hook that easy. I don't care if you're coupled or single… looking for love, drowning in it, sick to death of it, or content to seek your interpersonal connection in another fashion. You are not exempt from looking at what makes your relationship world go 'round. Before you start picking at your sweetie's blemishes, making lists of all the non-negotiable qualities you're insisting upon in your next honey-bun, or justifying your current status (whether or not it's truly satisfying you), be sure you know why you're doing it. Does it make you feel better about yourself to cut 'em down to size, to set unreasonable expectations that nobody's likely to meet, or to defend why you're right (even if you're unhappy in such righteousness)? Okay, I'm not trying to be mean here, Libra—and I'm also not saying that any of these suggestions I just made are definitively true. Rather, they are merely questions to stimulate your own explorations behind why you behave as you do in (or not in, as the case may be) relationships. Meeting another person across the table as a peer or partner, our 'other half' or a potentially jarring 'mirror', is an opportunity to get to know ourselves better… to uncover what emotions drive us to reach out and/or push back, and to show us what we're really proud about and/or rather ashamed of in how we live. If you're sincerely invested in helping yourself grow, you'll have to approach these differences with others—apparent in the bickering, in the 'rules' you've established, or by believing you're superior in this way or that—from the self-discovery perspective. What do they say about you? Otherwise, you won't notice those little slams or slights starting to pile up… until your steady Freddy dumps your ass, or you can't find a date, no matter how badly you want one.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): If you're a woman or a man with a purpose, you should go very far this week. The hi-octane energy boost, courtesy of a symbiotic trio of planets (Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) in fire signs, is perfectly suited for you to deploy for hammering through heaps of grunt-work… and busting apart any roadblocks you confront along the way. When it comes to the task at hand, don't accept 'no' for an answer. However, Scorpio, if you are lacking some practical or productive purpose to focus your energies upon—or if you prefer (against my counsel) to skip past the unglamorous undertakings and rush toward the post-performance parties—that's when problems are likeliest to arise. There's simply too much physical activity in the astro-zones related to your functional well-being (i.e., work, health, money, worldly repute) for you to permit it to course helter-skelter through your system without properly, constructively channeling it to self-supportive ends. Without clear tangible targets at which to aim your efforts, you're liable to end up overtly frustrated, contentious or bubbling over with unspent nervousness… all of which have their negative consequences for your strength and sanity. Don't strand yourself in the midst of such fruitful treasure without a pre-charted path to its acquisition. Otherwise, you'll face exhaustion from all the running in circles… while someone else speeds ahead on a better-defined mission, leaving you to dilly-dally with irrelevant interpersonal episodes.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): : She's getting your point loud and clear! He can't miss you! My deliciously brash Sagittarius, there's very little chance you're being ignored or misinterpreted. It is what it is. The reactions, as they're currently being shown to you, are a direct response to what you've put forth… without a so-called 'missing link' or 'red herring' you can legitimately blame for whatever's not going down as you'd hoped. Obviously, you're in luck, if you'd set your sights on a certain somebody and had been hoping he/she would take notice—that is, if you liked the kind of notice you received. And if you've had a few holes shot into your latest declaration of purposes, at least you know which parts just won't hold water anymore. But though you have unequivocally laid down your line and said your piece, with little wiggle room for backpedaling, you mustn't be sure that the gist of their feedback is already set in fast-drying cement. Is it possible you're overlooking clues being dropped in your general vicinity… that, just maybe, a little bit of heartfelt, hot-blooded convincing could make a difference? Even if it seems you're being shut down flat, all hope isn't lost. For this week—and, I repeat, this week only—it might be worth trying a few times, to be completely sure of where your wavelengths diverge. Confidently pursue your desired result, even when it seems like a long shot. In the end, your real success will be judged by getting as much of what you want as possible… while also giving them something splendid to write home about.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): If I haven't told you this before, my special Cappie children, you are on the threshold of some truly exciting times… and by 'exciting', I mean totally beyond what you currently conceive of, but with its fair share of thorny turbulence along the way. First off, expansive and benevolent Jupiter will be tenanting your sign throughout the whole of 2008… a transit which promises to broaden your horizons with ideas, exposures and opportunities that'll get you seeing how huge the world of potentials really is. Also in '08, slow-moving-but-deep-impacting Pluto heads into Capricorn for a brief 15-year span… essentially ripping out your insides slowly but surely, in order to put them back together in a manner that'll give you much more personal power (minus the reactionary ego crap) to work with. I know that may sound intimidating, anxiety-provoking or just plain 'too much', but luckily you don't have to worry about those specifics now. I'm just giving you a heads-up, so you can start preparing in advance—and thus have certain ducks in place before the less stable circumstances present themselves. In the near term, it's all about securing your foundations, so those things you are already certain about and/or strongly invested in will flourish during the dramatic times ahead. And that means chewing on your own issues, while occupying yourself with household or otherwise personal projects of your choosing. Therefore, the last thing you need to invite upon yourself is somebody else dumping his/her crap on your lap, expecting you to drop everything for another of their crazy crises (or so it's purported to be). Beware against putting out the 'happy to help' line as some free-for-all, since it's all too easy to let resentment quietly build up. Prevent that from happening by guarding your precious personal time. You have preparations to make, after all…

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): Your friends need you… or at least they really want you, Aquarius. With the finesse of a fire-triangle across your 'people' houses, you carry a spark of stimulating presence that'll wake up any dead space or sleepy affair, solely due to your effortlessly grand entrance. As such, your free-spirited participation at sporting events, cocktail parties, neighborhood fairs, fundraising benefits and wild nights out on the town is cordially (and madly!) requested. Trust me, these communal celebrations just won't be the same with you. You're not going to leave 'em hanging on a thread (because what? you want to 'leave your options open'?), are you? Of course not, since you so smartly suspect that your show of camaraderie is as essential as its promise of entertaining engagement. Try explaining that, as artfully as possible, to your number-one squeeze—if he/she should display a lack of eagerness to share you with everybody else. You'll want to be nice when you reply: 'Too bad, dear. I've really got to go.' One of the trickiest features of living the Aquarian life is how to dispense your energy outward to humanity fairly… and yet still leave the folks most important to you feeling as if they really are more important. This week, you want to make yourself readily available to the larger group—without pissing off the one(s) who matter most by falling short of their reasonable expectations.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Start off by swallowing my recommendation to be shameless this week. Totally strip yourself of all remnants of the 'bashful' gene. I want you to grasp what an unparalleled opportunity you are in the midst of right now… and the silliest reason to pass it up would be out of momentary stage fright. Now, hightail it to the metaphoric equivalent of the town square or weekend farmer's market. Claim a chunk of prime real estate, and set up shop. Then, sell yourself… with a sincere ferocity we often don't see in you. Come on, Pisces—I know that immodest self-promoter is inside you somewhere. It's an ideal time to hawk your wares, to hone in on whatever hustle will hitch you to everybody's list of 'must-haves' this season. Talk up your strengths (while subtly downplaying anything less strong, but without explicit dishonesty) with any and every individual with the potential to influence your future. Argue a powerful case, heading off their possible objectives before they're even voiced. Offer concrete examples of how valuable you are. And please, oh please, don't fall victim to the old 'humble' routine that'll hold you back from singing your own praises. There are plenty of better occasions for modeling humility than right this second, when it's far smarter to show off your talents in the brightest, most flattering light. While you're at it, if you've been postponing that long-dreaded discussion in which you ask your boss for a raise… go for it now. The worst they can do is turn you down.