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Horoscopes | Week of September 26-October 2, 2011

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Please complete a copy of this questionnaire for each of the most presently valuable and significant one-on-one partnerships in your life. (1) I am most grateful to have [insert name here] in my life because _____. (2) One gesture I recently made to show [insert name here] how important they are to me is ____. (3) One way in which I could demonstratively improve my considerateness in my relationship with [insert name here] is _____. (4) I really need to talk to [insert name here] about _____, or I will start to build up resentment. (5) It's probably wise that I stop talking to [insert name here] about _____ because we aren't likely to reach common ground, and that's probably okay. (6) If I could wave a magic-wand and solve [insert name here]'s problem with _____, I'd do it in a heartbeat. (7) One thing I could do right now, without further ado, to bring more fun into [insert name here]'s life is _____. Now, having completed this exercise, Aries, what will you do with these answers?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): I stopped myself from throwing out the hyphenated word 'self-important'. After all, that wouldn't be a good descriptor to attach to you, would it, Taurus? Yet, with the week ahead waxing toward a Mars-Jupiter square that hits your solar chart in a subjectively mood-bloating manner, you have the capacity to come off as such… particularly if an emotional irritant becomes magnified beyond its suitable frame and takes over more space than it probably should. No matter how unsettling this fragment may be according to your inner perspective, it unfortunately doesn't buy you an 'out' from certain responsibilities (your proper management of which others' responsibilities directly or indirectly rely upon). Your ultimate success—or relative inadequacy—at getting the job done rests on how well you can properly separate personal concerns from impersonal duties, which need your attention regardless of how you're feeling that day. Pull it together.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Don't leave too much open to interpretation or chance. This is no time to straddle fences or slide, all slippery-like, into the in-between territory. Though you may choose to sweeten your delivery of the decision(s) you must make, which will speak volumes about what you want and don't want in your life, you really shouldn't seek to avoid making the call(s). Destiny is asking you outright how you'd like to define yourself, Gemini… and too wishy-washy an answer will, at the end of the day, rob you of an opportunity to derive much satisfaction at all. Please don't be afraid of this imminent arrival at the 'no going back from here' point, with its looming ramifications. Endings clear the path for beginnings; deaths yield rebirths; dusk always promises another dawn. While your main objective is to stand on behalf of something (or someone), you may need to you stand in opposition to something (or someone) else as part of the articulation process. Leading the life that's uniquely yours means saying no to whatever doesn't fit—and exclaiming a triumphant (if not simultaneously difficult) yes! to your particular predilections.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Here's to intentionally investing your energies in your domestic well-being first, Cancer. You're known to be the quintessential homebody of the zodiac tribe… and yet, too often, when the outside-world's stressors are bearing down on you with greater intensity or unpredictability than usual, you forget to leave that shit at the door once you return home. This applies both to (1) scenarios in which you don't assert your personal needs to those you share living-space with, perhaps because you imagine it'd be just one more bother, and (2) instances of repeatedly running over what happened earlier that workday and/or what might happen tomorrow, to no productive effect (and a lot of inner turmoil). Your emotional health, overall and especially right now, greatly depends on your willingness to serve as conscious custodian of your residential recharge-chamber. Nothing should be allowed to 'slip' in this context, therefore. And for those particular homefront bugaboos you have absolutely no control over? You must counteract each one with a deliberate, self-selected improvement or beautification, in order to reclaim responsibility for a happy home.

LEO (July 23-August 22): The chance of being received by some people as 'too much', which I touched on last week, becomes even greater this week, as Mars-in-Leo crosses paths and purposes with your 10th-house Jupiter. Is it a case of their envy for how wide a portal of possibility you're presently passing through? Could be. Is it your refusal to respect limits on how much you legitimately deserve to be in charge? Perhaps. More likely, you're facing a delicate convergence of factors—some a result of your assertive actions being temporarily magnified, some an effect of others' fears they can't compete with your dynamic manner. Whichever angle you're trying to minimize the negative outcomes from, Leo, try your best to defuse potential tensions with plenty of meandering small-talk. Folks will be less threatened by you, if you seem like just another character in their neighborhood (albeit one with a stand-out personality)… if your exchanges feel as if everyone's just shootin' the shit with each other (rather than you pushing an agenda, all gung-ho on their ass)… and if you leave 'em with the impression you'd like nothing more than to piss away some of your time hanging out with them. Social intelligence is your best disarming tool.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Proceed with your personal economic interests at heart, along the same veins as last week's horoscope… while simultaneously not permitting your pride to get the best of you. In other words, Virgo, you mustn't make a grand stand over how you're looking out for your own economic interests (with its implied indictment of how others are, obviously, taking far less wise actions). Nothing personally advantageous will come from calling attention to yourself (and your self-serving, self-protective attitude). You'll have to bask in your moral satisfaction silently… unless you'd rather tempt fate by haughtily poking at the unreasonable beast with your smug calm, without knowing what reaction you might elicit. If you're essentially drawing a fracture-line boundary between a former mutuality and newly-necessary individuality, please do so in invisible ink. It'll still be there—because you'll be all too aware of it—but they needn't notice its dividing demarcations quite yet.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): Excellent new-moon-in-your-sign week for recommitting to self-definition, Libra. Nobody should be allowed to assert undue influence over who you are to be… not feared peers (who might judge you if you behaved as you genuinely desire?), not mischievous partners (who sometimes do what they do just to get a rise out of you?), not manipulative family-members (who couch their controlling moves beneath the cover that they're 'looking out for you'?), and certainly not your imagined versions of any of these folks (who perhaps aren't as powerful as you're making them out to be?). Don't retreat from authenticity, simply because the potential fallout could momentarily get a bit messy. The time is perfect for using your diplomatic voice-for-justice to stand up for what's right for you. Steps made in this direction now will have potent self-stabilizing effects that ripple outward for months. Sadly, the contrasting refusal to be real also brings lasting consequences: How long can one bite her tongue before it starts to bleed (and will she just swallow the blood)?

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Beware of projecting your shit outward, Scorpio. Irrespective of whatever private demons you're battling, secret lusts you yearn to satisfy, and/or mystical dealings you've involved yourself in, you must hold a decent boundary around other folks… or you flirt with causing yourself some otherwise avoidable problems. Your craving for the transcendent (which is indeed what's behind the aforementioned possibilities) could leave you scratching at someone else's back door, looking for them to let you—and your presently unstable pull toward drama—into their kitchen. It could have you poking at your boss's patience levels, inappropriately inserting yourself into a friend's or lover's own issues, or daring a potential ally/adversary to meet your challenge. But it doesn't have to go like that. Alternatively, you might simply behave yourself where others are concerned, especially in professional settings where a personality conflict is the last thing you need… and indulge that quest for meaty meaningful turbulence in contexts where nobody else will suffer collateral damage.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): Fight the urge to skip required steps in the process. The apparent importance being placed on labor that you might deem excessive (especially when your eyes would prefer scanning the horizon for something more interesting to sink your full attentions into) is not so arbitrary. If certain other people would want you to put in the extra effort, Sagittarius, it probably behooves you to do so. With Venus conjoining Saturn in your 11th this week, the burning of a bridge isn't out of the question, if you can't properly balance your haste with protracted consideration of what they need to feel secure about all this. Hand-holding and/or anxiety-soothing, in fact, is part of your 'job'… if not in the official description, then certainly a crucial factor of preserving mutual trust between you and your associates. Launching into umbrella discussions about 'what it's all really about' risks alienating them—and, just so we're clear, won't save you any time either.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): There's a subtle landmark quality to your week ahead, Capricorn, particularly with regards to acknowledging you've indeed earned the outward position you now find yourself in. But whether this is something to be proud of—or more a symptom of the course-correction now demanded of you—depends on what you're seeing. As this is a fairly straightforward factor of you reaping what you've sown, I cannot verifiably outline the specific manifestation… other than reporting that it's definitely not a fluke. Good signals must not be written off to luck, but ought to be fully owned and appreciated. Likewise, rationalizing away any less pleasant observations with finger-pointing excuses about 'changing societal circumstances' or 'being in the wrong place at the wrong time' doesn't do you any favors. If you were hoping to cruise by doing the same old thing you've always done, you should expect those hopes to be dashed (and, yes, it is your responsibility to adapt). Timid self-preservation really isn't an option: You've got to push beyond, to ever-greater authenticity, or you'll fall ever-further behind the curve. Pluto permits no middle ground.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): You really ought to make room for ample strategic long-term thinking, Aquarius—no matter how numerous the neon-lit distractions that now cascade across your line-of-vision. One thing quickly bleeds into another, and, before you know it, another week has passed… and another… and another… and, all of a sudden, what you'd deeply known to be an important item or two to prioritize during the coming season is no longer able to make it onto your schedule. Time-sensitivity is a worthy concern, after all. So, even though I just finished a spiel on willingly allowing yourself to get 'sidetracked', I'm now changing the tune a bit. I'm daring you, in the midst of everyone's loud demands, to carve out the necessary moments to build a timeline for your rest-of-2011 (which is a jarringly short span) sometime this week. (And don't be surprised if you determine its constraints point to your need to say no to what someone else wants you to do, which obviously could anger 'em.) Otherwise, simply put, you won't accomplish what you know to be important.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Your next mission, should you choose to accept it, revolves around attaining (relative) peace in circumstances where very specific sticking-points (yours or another person's) must be newly respected or reaffirmed. You can't go past a certain well-considered level, Pisces, before what could be quite good ends up turning into something more threatening to your self-sufficient well-being. Whether you're the one attempting to etch the unpassable line in the sand or desperately trying to cross somebody else's, it doesn't much matter; the situation demands a mutually agreed-upon set of guidelines, or it flirts with eventual disaster. (The pushy opinions of others not directly involved ought to be seen, in fact, as a potentially misleading non-factor in this case.) Please don't ignore any red-flags; calmly and directly address them now, and your courage will be rewarded. Likewise, please don't transgress into their 'safe-space' without an explicit invitation, even with your best intent. Be engaged, but reasonably so.