Horoscopes | Week of March 1-7, 2010

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Though much remains out of your hands, Aries, the tides they are a-turnin'… and by the end of next week, you'll notice the definite beginnings of a reeling-in of the harvest you've been waiting on. These are still young sproutlings, remember, so please handle them with the tenderness they warrant. Rather than representing the full culmination of your efforts, they're merely signs of what's still yet to come. With Venus entering your zodiac realm at the very tail end of the week, however, you should expect these affirming signs to continue showing themselves throughout March. Don't pounce like a thirsty vampire who's just gotten his first glimpse of a single tiny drop of blood. Too total a reversion to a forward-rush onslaught will have you missing certain opportunities still developing in addition to what's now bearing fruit. Leave plenty of room in your imagination for at least one more wild-card concept… which could prove to be a shiny bow that perfectly wraps everything up in one neat package.

 

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Let your dedicated teammates do most of the talking and marching and making of much ado, at least for this time being. You're moving ever closer to a phase of behind-the-veil evolution that requires you to increasingly trust others to represent you in the outer collective sphere, so you might surrender some of your ultra-reliable solidity for a chance at divine reinvigoration. Of course, you're just as likely to let that opportunity come and go uncelebrated, Taurus, if you simply can't (or won't) give up the illusion of control which compels you to be present and accounted for at every last subcommittee meeting and unofficial after-hours brainstorming session. The fact that they've come to count on you so completely speaks volumes about your capabilities… at the same time it allows theirs to remain underdeveloped. They haven't had to put in their full effort because there you are again, making sure the doors are locked, the copies have been made, and all the relevant parties have been informed of their responsibilities. But now they will. You're ready to evaporate some, so you may later re-condense in a new form.

 

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): So often, timing is everything. (That could indeed be a perfect slogan for the whole astrology industry.) So if you've previously had doors shut in your face, requests for further opportunity denied, or other symptoms that you shouldn't reach too far with your outer-world ambitions appear, Gemini, those disappointments ought not be an excuse to quit trying. Ask any success story, and they'll tell you that one of the keys to their ascension was an adamant refusal to let the word 'no' stop 'em in their tracks. This week, with lots of dynamic astro-action in your solar 10th (the house where public reputations are formed, careers built and achievements worked at over long periods of time), you have the 'timing' factor decidedly on your side. Try again, then… for the same shot with a different approach, for a different shot with the same confidence level you had before the prior denials, or for any wild new chance to expose the big wide world to all that exuberant energy you're dying to express. To counteract worries that your repetitive attempts might get on anybody's nerves, I also suggest being extremely sensitive to their situation (not just concentrating on your ambitions). Offering yourself to them as 'badly-needed help' shows that you're thinking about, well, how badly they need help.

 

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I soundly urge you to rally around whatever dream or desire bombards your innards with enthusiastic anticipation… and to temporarily plug your ears whenever your inner 'pragmatist' (or, as he's known in certain parts, the 'major buzzkill') starts trying to talk you out of 'getting your hopes up'. There is more to learn about life than what's contained in your day-to-day existence. There are more places to see, topics to study, defining values to uphold and life-meanings to chase than what you've already experienced, Cancer. On the possible chance that you're very close to deciding to book a crazy far-off adventure, apply for further education, dive deeper into a personal philosophic or religious exploration, but are waffling (because it's impractical? because you wonder, 'why bother?' because it's so far removed from what you're accustomed to that it'll leave many of your friends scratching their heads in concern for you?)… well, this may be the perfect time to hold your breath, muster the courage, and commit to a radical departure from predictable expectations. That nervous tickle in your tummy is probably a good sign.

 

LEO (July 23-August 22): You're soon to find out just what this epic Mars retrograde in your sign (since mid-December, if you'll recall) will prove to mean for your relative independence. Have you defined yourself so thoroughly against others' desires or expectations that you're left, happily or not-so-happily, on your own? Have you felt your heart's tug toward a certain person or project so blatantly that you can't help but give in to the appeal, self-protectiveness be damned? Next week, Mars finally returns to direct motion… and though he'll take another three months (!) to make his way out of Leo, the next several weeks ahead should yield some answers to questions that have dangled since last fall. For one last blast of useful (though not necessarily easy-to-hear) insight, which could well help you mold those answers into their final form, I again encourage you to listen to the messages you're getting from the other person—only, this time, it's okay for you to explicitly inquire as to their opinions on you and how you've handled these past few Mars-retrograde months. What you feel from what they tell you should say a lot about whether you're on the same page—or are now unequivocally out of step with each other.

 

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): A particular person in your life (or more than one, for that matter) may surprise you this week… and in a good-surprise kind of way. (In fact, that certain person could prove to be the actual surprise him-/herself, if a beloved figure from your past returns or a soon-to-be-beloved figure from your future finally arrives.) But you, Virgo, also bear the potential to miss the surprise altogether, if you are so sure you know how a given interaction or the flow of your entire day is going to go that you're merely moving through the motions, getting exactly what you expected to get because that's all you're open to. To take advantage of the continuing influences of startling insight and evolutionary growth in your relationship house (the 7th), then, you mustn't assume you've 'figured out' any other individual's behaviors, motivations, intentions or feelings toward you. Even if you've been partnered with them for years or decades, they may still have a new trick or two up their sleeve. Allow them the freedom to be different—and allow yourself the joy of being pleasantly surprised.

 

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): You'd better look up and away from your desk, your work heap or whatever bits of busyness are piling up on your lap. Otherwise, your eyes may start to become far too accustomed to looking at it all the same damn way… and your mind may no longer provide any fresh innovations, time-saving shortcuts, or much else other than a consistent repetition of what you've already been doing a couple weeks now. Don't get me wrong, Libra—I'm presuming you're doing a great job taking advantage of all this 6th-house hullaballoo, which makes this an exceedingly productive moment (in case you hadn't figured that out yet from all your recent 'scopes). Step back and look at the impressions this entire picture conveys, or else all you're going to see are a bunch of small colored dots that appear not to add up to much. You're due for at least one more methodological quantum-leap, should you agree to spend at least one day of your week ahead attacking this familiar load from another angle. (And it just might be that another person's outside influence is precisely the push you need.)

 

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Throw on your unfussiest play-clothes, and get a little dirty. And yes, for the record, Scorpio, I have no issue with you interpreting that first sentence in the most innocent or lascivious manner of your choosing… so long as the 'dirtiness' you get into is as close to a rendition of pure pleasure as you can find. When I originally envisioned this advice, it was more about building sandcastles on the beach, cutting and pasting construction paper into beautiful designs, penning over-the-top journal entries or extravagant poems on whatever's presently moving you, and/or engaging in an all-encompassing game of 'make believe'. Of course, once I got going on the actual writing, I realized the slippage of meanings left open the possibility that your 'pleasure' might also involve more, ahem, adult activities… a potential that remains well within the bounds of your week's astro-forecast. Such adult fun, however, ought not be indulged if there are apt to be entangling consequences to said activities; after all, pure pleasure isn't supposed bring guilt or heaviness afterwards. Whatever the manifestation of all this 5th-house action proves to be, I want nothing more for you than the ability to momentarily lose your weightier concerns in the act of play.

 

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): More outward fun is soon to arrive. But before that happens, Sagittarius, I advocate one more week of fostering inward peace. Actually, the words I really want to use to describe what I see for your ideal week ahead are 'startling silence'. In my mind, I actually picture you creating one loud handclap as the initiating signal that, as it echoes away, ushers in a profound quietness (the kind where you can actually hear your heart beating and your brain sending pulses from one region to another). Whatever action you need to take in producing this metaphoric handclap (is it the bang of a gong? the shutting of a door? the sound your cell-phone makes when you shut it off?), treat its role as ambassador to a window of noiselessness seriously. Ritualize this self-nurturing move. Then, do as certain monks do, and keep your words to the barest minimum. Because this is a short segment in time, you needn't stress about what you're not saying or doing—there will be plenty of chances next week to pick up where you left off. In the absence of excessive sound, your mind may feel safe enough to choose to whisper long-held secrets in your ear. Don't respond, just listen… quietly.

 

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): Please make yourself part of the conversation, Capricorn… not as the dispassionate spectator, the masterful moderator, or the know-it-all who shamelessly presents all you know as if that is all there is to know. If you're going to observe, do it from within, at the same time you're participating. While you're at it, observe yourself, too. If you want to bring your facilitating skills to the table, gently and patiently introduce organizational tools with modesty, as a peer might. Be prepared, by the way, for someone else to improvisationally riff off your suggestion… to the point where it might not resemble what you originally offer too closely. But who cares whether your ideas are followed to the 'T', or if they merely serve as inspirational fodder from which active collaborations may grow and prosper? In either event, you've proven helpful. And if you intend to share what you know (and I suggest you give it a shot), please remember that, though this knowledge has indeed been hard-earned as a direct result of your experiences, it is a factor of your experiences—and, as such, is not the exhaustive gospel.

 

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): It may feel like you're passing off a slight or not-so-slight bluff, Aquarius, when you declare yourself to be more of something (e.g., an expert, a sales star, a sound businessperson or confident spokesperson) than that which you've previously defined yourself as. But it's not especially dishonest to stretch toward a self-identification that, while admittedly might seem a couple steps ahead of where you actually are (or should we say more precisely: 'where you've actually been'), isn't totally out of the question… and that you're liable to become, more quickly than you thought possible, once you simply expand into the role and just start being it. This is, of course, a roundabout articulation of your need to reexamine yourself from a broader perspective, letting yourself off the self-imposed hook for not yet being 'the Master' while giving yourself mad credit for your willingness to try and your knack for quick learning. Lean into this stretch by explicitly claiming the position you're only just now, perhaps for the first time, really stepping toward. It's kind of like 'faking it until you make it'… except, truth be told, you're not exactly a fake.

 

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Helping yourself to a delicious morsel of risk, with both Venus-Uranus and Mercury-Jupiter conjunctions in your sign this week, means… going ahead with a daring action that defies others' image of you, saying more on a given topic than you might ordinarily reveal with such a free-wheelin' lack of self-consciousness, raising your hand when they ask the audience for a volunteer, wearing outfits that are 'totally out of character' (and discovering, from the reactions you get, how well they suit you), making the first move, actually accepting the compliment (rather than self-effacingly turning the attention elsewhere), unabashedly asking for the job by telling 'em how badly you want it or reaching for the last dumpling instead of waiting for someone else to snag it, and otherwise refusing to apologize for serving yourself first. You needn't scramble up your whole life in one fail swoop, Pisces, but maybe reinventing one sector wouldn't hurt. (To make this exercise easier: Please don't worry about what certain other individuals will think. Their reactions are their concern.)