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Horoscopes | Week of October 29-November 4, 2007

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Mercury turns direct in your relationship house… and before you even have a chance to stop what's about to happen, the words you've been hesitating to say to that certain other person (scared? unsure of the point? saving it up for maximum impact?) start pouring out your mouth. Remember I mentioned putting your suspicions on hold until you've gathered more evidence? Well, Aries, whether you've made the conscious decision to finally air your thoughts on the matter (or simply run out of patience), it appears the floodgates are opening now. You can only restrain the inevitable torrent for so long, after all, and then it actually hurts to hold it in. So don't be ashamed for revealing the more tender (and/or less fierce) tone you ordinarily keep hidden, if in fact the issues that come out make you kind of emotional. These feelings have churned around inside long enough, and, for your own personal well-being, you should probably release them from your heart. Don't worry about how exactly it's phrased or if such disclosures will 'gain' or 'lose' you any ground. Just tell that one particular individual what's true for you… and if you're being blunt and uncensored, as opposed to wily and manipulative, the best will eventually come forth. Understand, however, that their first reaction might not be the prettiest one. Give 'em a few minutes of discussion, though, and that initial sting will lift.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): One person's silly fun is more than enough to jab another person rather uncomfortably, even painfully, in the side of the ribs… and in such an instance, one shouldn't expect the other to guffaw. Remember that, Taurus, if you're just trying to have a good time, but somebody else appears to find your extra-chipper manner to be more than a bit obnoxious. Who's really the problem, here? Unless you like to dwell in the problem-hood, I don't see why you'd bother to stick around and find out. If you offer yourself up for participation in an 'unpacking' of the perturbed individual's underlying issues, you will undoubtedly get an earful or two—including plenty of implications (projections?) about what you're doing so terribly thoughtlessly, selfishly or just plain wrong. And still, the accusations are questionable at best. You may want to avoid the grump path altogether, and head elsewhere… someplace where folks will appreciate your goofiness, rather than calling you on the carpet for it as if it's a federal offense. While certain guilty parties probably need to be told to 'lighten up', I wouldn't waste your breath on it. Instead, lead by light-footed example.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In last week's horoscope, I talked up the appeal of retreating to your home, as a method of escaping the madness erupting all around you… but built into that suggestion was an implied assumption that you actually enjoy being in your place of residence. Now I see, of course, that this might not be the case, Gemini. And if that's indeed the sad truth of your current home life, then you really shouldn't settle for that dissatisfaction. If you want to find a lasting peace at home, you mustn't keep giving in to everything your partner or housemate wants, just to avoid a disagreement. This sort of 'easygoing' behavior doesn't go over so easy in the long run, once you begin to silently seethe inside or carry out small (barely noticeable, even) acts of domestic vengeance. Why wait until it gets to the point of anger? (Or, if it's already there, until it gets even worse?) Make your concerns known now, while you'll probably be able to express yourself fairly calmly. Address the excess household stress, and the consequences for your entire life will be larger than you might think. If you're not getting proper relaxation in a place you consider safe, everything else suffers. And if you won't be able to get it where you currently live, because another person already dominates the scene and is unlikely to budge, start brainstorming where you might move next.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Faster than a speeding Lamborghini! More powerful than a team of Ultimate Fighters! Able to leap soaring residential-condo towers in a single bound! It's super-Cancer! And while the continuing burst of Mars-motored energy may indeed inspire you to attempt such a superhero slate of feat-after-feat, please remember you're still just a mere mortal—and one who's not quite accustomed to such a fevered pitch of physical exertion. In the mad rush to try tackling a hundred different small tasks in a single week (like loading 'just one or two' more boxes atop your already-strained back, simply to prove to yourself that you can), you may strain yourself… and, in the process, miss a few important details or break something or hit the absolute limit to what you're capable of, any or all of which are likely to leave you feeling totally bummed out. All because you overdid, in an overenthusiastic desire to take full advantage of a surge in perceived capacity. Though I strongly recommend taking this new-and-improved (for a limited time only?) sporty model for a nice challenging test-drive, to work out just what it can do, you shouldn't necessarily floor the gas pedal 'til the tires screech out skid-marks around every curve. Moderate yourself, so you don't bite off more than you can chew and end up choking on it.

LEO (July 23-August 22): Though you may be finally reaching some degree of quiet clarity, due to having pondered long and hard inside that pretty head of yours, you shouldn't expect those close to you to grasp much of it quite yet. The chirpy explanations you have to offer are overflowing with excitement and vigor, but shorter on details than you might imagine. Try, try as you might, you can't quite convey the full significance of recent internal developments to your sweetheart or best pal, who probably just hear a lot of words… but can't quite decide if this truly is a benchmark or merely another instance of you parroting the proper rhetoric without the serious commitment behind it. Don't be frustrated with them. You must own your present-moment limits in communication: You're not getting all the way to your point. For now, you'll have to tell them to just take your word for it. Within the next few weeks, as Mercury reattunes to direct motion, the phrasings that currently escape you will once again return to your lips. Give it some time. Until then, remain patient with the fact that you've made some important changes inside—but nobody else is going to understand how important they are for a little while longer. You'll have to enjoy the progress by yourself first.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Let go, and let Venus. With lucky thanks to her, enough of your life is running smoothly—not perfectly, Virgo, but with much less of the disruptive bumpiness others are grappling with—that you can afford to ease up a tad. And it's a good thing, too, since this is really not the best week for taking care of detail-oriented tasks or complicated chores. Over the coming month, you'll have ample opportunity to address these items (and many more!), so you needn't feel lazy or ashamed for taking life at a chilled-down pace at the current moment. Can you please stop puttering? preparing? arranging the components in the most efficient order, so that when it is time to get busy, you'll already have done part of the work? These little fiddlings do count, you know… and they're likely to get you all hot-and-bothered (when things don't fit, when you can't decide which goes where, when you don't have all the necessary parts to finish up the step you unwisely opted to begin), though you really could've just waited before jumping in. I promise: You can deal with the labor-intensive stuff later. For now, keep your hands off the worktable… and zone out on unproductive nonsense.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): The first idea that crossed your mind was probably the right one. Did you contaminate its virginal righteousness with pessimistic disbelief? wishful self-delusion? a need for others' 'expert opinions'? The challenge is to not second-guess yourself… though the temptation is so strong, it's almost automatic. Check back with last week's horoscope, where I cautioned you against rewriting reality to match a passing slump in mood, and you'll see that danger hasn't exactly passed. Yet, what tremendous wisdom is hovering right below the surface of your momentarily unstable temperament, Libra, dying to be recognized! Can you get out of your own path to knowing, long enough to identify the truth for what it is? Breathing deeply for five full minutes can help, as it separates the hysterical ego-centered inner voice from the calm-and-impartial sagacity of your higher self (s/he never gets that worked up). Don't analyze the simple revelation to death, as that'll only waste time—and after all, it's not like you arrived at this answer logically, so logic won't exactly serve you in this case. Go with your instincts… even if what they tell isn't what you were expecting, hoping for, or planning on… even if your emotions haven't caught up yet… and even if you can't defend the reasons why, to yourself or anyone else. You just know the truth, and that's that.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): At the heart of whatever's the brewing matter is your knowledge of what you're going to have to do. It's grown stronger over these past weeks, and soon you won't be able to avoid making that stir. But while you're probably getting pretty eager to dive into it, I'd recommend holding off for one more week. Trust me, Scorpio, it'll go much better if you do. I could tell you to hang in the back of the crowd, and politely wait it out. Yet, it's not as if you're lacking the energetic gusto to start shit up now, so you probably need to find something fairly consuming to occupy your twitching fingers and toes… or else you might start prematurely poking and prodding. Remove the person (or people) entangled in the about-to-burst situation from the equation completely. Spin the wheel of your life's other activities, involvements and interrelations, and watch it land on an entirely different topic—a friend you haven't seen in a while, a place you've been meaning to visit, a half-finished hobby project. Then, spend your week working out some of your pent-up frenzy in that arena. Not only will it create the appropriate lag-time to ensure a more successful disclosure or confrontation in a week or two; it'll also get your ch'i flowing, to free up your life-force for other occupations besides that one brewing matter. And don't worry… your moment to let 'em have it (in whatever context that makes sense) is almost here.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): Please note that a Venus-Jupiter square, especially when it comes down in two very noticeable houses (your solar 10th and 1st), amplifies the desire for drawing attention to one's self… not that there's anything wrong with that. On the contrary, Sagittarius, you shouldn't feel obligated to swallow your excitement (or to give it a try, though you're unlikely to pull it off convincingly), if you're jazzed up about a recent development. But it's also fair to warn you that anything resembling gloating will probably rub the folks around you wrong. (Makes sense, right?) Do your best to celebrate good news or flaunt an upbeat attitude with a hearty dose of grace, so as not to inadvertently stir up reminders of other people's dissatisfaction, which they then feel at liberty to dump on your lap and/or try to make you responsible for. (I'm just attempting to save you from exposure to unnecessary negativity, a possible result of unwisely directing too much of your one-sided zeal toward the wrong audience. There's no criticism here, merely a practical suggestion for avoiding others' bullshit.) Stand in your victory modestly, so they'll be happy for you, too… and if you do gloat, only do so within your tightest-and-most-trusted inner circle.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): The ground beneath you is still slightly shaky, particularly in handling the practical stuff (e.g., career, money, etc.). But the tides are in the process of turning, due to both Mercury and Neptune stationing direct this week in houses of earthly success and stability. That's why none of the lingering questions or minor inconveniences should give you cause to freak out, as they'll all work themselves out shortly enough. Yet, nothing you can do right this minute will add much to their eventual resolution, so there's no real reason to focus on managing such nitty-gritty items. I know you'll probably feel like you're being irresponsible or negligent to let the unsettled business float out there unattended to… but I'm telling you, Capricorn, step away from it. You'll actually do a great service by inviting yourself to daydream throughout your week—and not about how the unsettled business floating out there will eventually get resolved. (One-track mind?) Pick a completely different zone of fantasy, preferably one where you can envision some future adventure you'll go on years from now, after all the present-day kinks have long since been worked out and your basic attitude toward life has evolved dramatically. It's the Capricorn way to grow lighter, freer and younger-at-heart as you get older… and in that far-off future, you'll hopefully feel far less burdened by the type of day-to-day hassles you need to step away from as you read this. It won't always be this way.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): How bravely are you interested in learning more about your outwardly expressed self? I ask you this question, Aquarius, for the following reason: This week, you might be rather surprised to discover more specifics on how a certain somebody perceives you. Perhaps they're bubbling over with flattery, and you find it difficult to accept such kind words without humble deflection. Or maybe they have some touchier feedback to offer, in more or less constructive terms, that triggers an altogether defensive reaction in you. Whatever the circumstances, I advise you to sit with their voiced perceptions… as opposed to immediately launching into denials, excuses or qualifications. You don't have to ultimately accept their take on you as true, but it is worth entertaining the possibility. At least think about why you might be coming off that way. You might even consider asking for concrete examples. But don't offer much of a rebuttal of any kind, neither agreement nor argumentation. You'll want to ponder these self-reflections quietly, outside of an interpersonal discussion, all by your lonesome. Only then, after the initial emotional charge has died down and your critical intelligence regains control, can you decide whether you find their impressions to be accurate—and whether it would really be such a good or bad thing if they were.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Who do you think you're fooling, anyway? You're certainly not doing yourself any favors by going along with somebody else's 'brilliant plan', if you're not really feeling it… and I'm not exactly convinced they can't detect the inauthenticity of your response either, if you're mouthing all the right things but hardly believing 'em yourself. I wouldn't recommend taking the passive (that is, 'passive-aggressive') approach to participating, as if somehow avoiding all direct statements of opinion will qualify as not really agreeing just because you didn't explicitly disagree. This type of supposed 'out' does you no good, Pisces… because even if you've officially 'covered your ass' (by the book, at least), you're still playing a part in something you'd honestly rather not. If you have a serious reservation, please be upfront about it—even if it upsets the other person. Otherwise, you're just taking another unnecessary burden on. And eventually, the negative feelings associated with this tacit endorsement will make it to the surface… but you won't have a very legitimate case for blaming 'em on anybody but you.