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Horoscopes | Week of October 10-16, 2011

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The full moon in your sign on Tuesday (Oct 11) could carry a zing that gets you all riled up, Aries, particularly if you find yourself losing patience in reaction to having recently been practicing interpersonal restraint. With multiple Saturn conjunctions in your relationship house (the 7th) lately, you've been challenged to up your cooperativeness game (see: last week)… though, this week, a spontaneous rise in assertiveness comes along, enticing you to not be so damned cooperative. I'm not saying, however, you're likely to lash out in the same relational situation where the recent restraint has been practiced; in fact, you may well unconsciously act out the pushback in an entirely different context, telling off someone else as a means of cathartic release. Please try to be sure, should it play out this way, you don't abuse your power (i.e., take out your suppressed frustrations on an employee, a child or some other 'underling') or say something disproportionately rotten that'll hit 'em so deep they have a hard time getting over it. In an impulsive—and potentially misguided—move to regain your edge, you just might shoot yourself in the foot.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Standing in their shoes for a while, running back over the story as if the other person were narrating the goings-on, inviting someone else to momentarily call the shots… these are all exercises favored by the 7th-house focus now developing, Taurus, courtesy of both Venus and Mercury. Any first-response irritation you might experience as a result of a spouse, partner, colleague and/or best friend asking you to pause and consider another possibility, framework or manner-of-proceeding ought to be moved through rather than indulged. This 'irritation' is merely a cover for the progressive call to more intensely collaborate with one another, which necessarily requires a few readjusting moments of discomfort… and the urge to fight, should you feel it coming on, is really a 'fight' within your stubborn self (who doesn't always immediately enjoy being pushed into uncomfortable territory, however personally productive it may ultimately be). Embrace this other person, whose presence adds color and texture to your life, instead of pushing 'em away for reactionary reasons.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Feeling the presence of logistical struggles and/or other real-world conundrums, merely to acknowledge their existence, is no longer enough of a step. The underlying sense that you need to do something about whatever isn't feeling right has now ripened, Gemini. You must screw your problem-solving brain on extra-tight, and invite yourself to enter any and all unholy grounds where the real solutions actually reside. 'I'm only taking care of business, not intentionally trying to hurt anyone,' you can reassure yourself with, as you pull out your (non-violent?) version of a rifle and aim it at the sacred cow(s). Others' upset may indeed become a collateral-damage manifestation of the necessary actions… though, between you and me, their clinging to how things were may be an unconsciously coercive power move. The maneuvers demanded of you to 'get the job done' are of the type where everything must come out from the crevices so it's done right, once and for all, instead of over and over again in partial chunks. That'll solve the problem all right…

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Love finds us when we're already enjoying ourselves. Few suitors or sweeties are eager to fall for a sad-sap, a shut-in, or a glass-half-empty kind of guy or gal. We're attracted to those folks likeliest to transform us with a refreshing zest for life… and we recognize them as such by the manner in which they're out living theirs. That's why, Cancer, you mustn't be hunting for love (whether from a new source or in a renewed way from your one-and-only), despondently drooling in desperate anticipation for what you don't have—even though, at this present juncture, the astrological potential for finding love is in a heightened state. You've got to start by loving your life (or at least maximizing your attention to those pieces you do love)… and commit to more active participation with whatever instinctively brings your grins and giggles out to play. When you're genuinely having a good time, you'll emit a homing signal that beckons others who want in on your fun. Like draws like; love (of self) attracts love (from others).

LEO (July 23-August 22): That thickening in the air, as picked up by your psychic barometer, signals a storm is a-brewing. The looming atmospheric unrest is being brought on by the meeting of multiple emotional fronts across your inner landscape, Leo… which means, though you'll likely need to address a rich mix of conflicting feelings wholly your own, the storm doesn't necessarily require a torrential pouring-down soak your external circumstances (such as relationship or career). Nor, in fact, must this be interpreted as a problematic occurrence, since we sometimes gain a much clearer understanding of our previous inconsistencies once we must integrate seemingly divergent strains of emotional information. In other words, rather than trying to push down the surge, I encourage you to take sufficient personal down-time to explore why your internal state isn't as simple to get a handle on as you might wish. Stop trying to fluff everything so it's all sunny and light. Aim for the deep-breathing relief that comes after the clouds have opened up, freed themselves of the pent-up moisture, and effectively cleared the air.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Call your brother or sister, cousin or old friend, Virgo, if it's been too long and you need to catch up. Update your blog, or start Twittering again. Get back into the informal dissemination of your day-to-day information… not for any purposeful reason, as if you have to deliver some pressing life-or-death message, but just to feed your interactive side. Don't underestimate the power your unique presence may have in those lives you have personally touched, whether you grew up together or only met over the Internet. Without being reminded to reach out, you can too easily absorb yourself in an intensely microscopic focus—and potentially forget about the network of relatives, associates and acquaintances who, together, weave a web far more wide-reaching than that single speck you've been fixated on. In case what I've written sounds too much like another obligation among many asking to be met, let me add: This will be fun.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): The abstracts must now give way to concrete pursuit of that which secures your base. This is the time to hunker down into conservative stabilizing mode, Libra… to take stock of what you've got, what you need, what you can let go, and what you ought to work for. As much self-provision as possible is a much surer bet than wagering your ongoing security on promises (no matter how sincere or heartfelt) from those who get something from 'taking care' of you. While joining forces with someone you love and/or trust spawns its own synergistic rewards, you mustn't rely solely upon that deal to rescue your ass from all material concerns. Likewise, it wouldn't be so wise to burden yourself with responsibility for any other adult's sustenance, unless or until you are completely confident you have everything you need. For now, idealistic generosity is a dish best served only after you've already eaten enough to keep yourself healthy and content.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Situation's lookin' up. Kisses from Venus, newly in your sign, brighten up your aura. Admirers' heads do a double-take, for a second helping of your delicious brilliance. It's not necessarily that you've left your trademark brooding by the wayside, Scorpio, as much as the seasonal tide has turned toward your most-natural climatic habitat: Everything you-ish is suddenly in high demand. Taking this opportunity to re-present your case, not just to the same familiar audience but to anyone and everyone who'll listen, will surely get things hoppin' and happenin' again. By the second part of the week and beyond, you might consider taking a stab at directly articulating how you'd like things to go, in any one-on-one partnership where you've recently hesitated to say it outright. Under this astrology, you'll come in so loud and clear, they'd be hard-pressed not to take you up on it. Just be forewarned, due to your presently potent level of influence, they almost can't resist… though they may later rethink what they thought they heard you say, or wonder how they fell so easily under your spell.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): As your attention drifts elsewhere, don't try coercing it back to business. In the dreamy diversionary mode it's shifting into, Sagittarius, there's little point in effort-squandering enforcement tactics, like one might use in repeatedly chasing a wandering puppy back to its home-base, for as soon as he gets put down, he's obviously going to wander right away again. The urgency with which you try to buckle down and attack practical concerns won't get you thinking any more practically, incidentally… so perhaps your week's biggest threat is that you'll fool yourself in believing you are of rational mind. This would not be the best moment, therefore, to attempt to singlehandedly tackle detail-oriented work. If it's got to be done now, please consult a second (and maybe even third) set of eyes, ears and hands (of the ultra-reasonable variety) to balance your less-grounded outlook with realism. From another perspective, however, this is an excellent time for meditative reflection, spiritual development, artistic inspiration, and recharging retreat-style seclusion.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): You need outside input. Additional social participation. Other people surrounding you, circulating, shifting your energy, redirecting your gaze, pleasantly contaminating your outlook. Without the impact of such influence, Capricorn, you are merely muttering to yourself from inside an echo chamber… and hearing the same damn thing repeating in your head, locking you into an inert dead-zone where creativity, excitement and other mutations are unlikely to blossom. Get out of your head, get out of your house; if you're going to spend time on solitary pursuits like reading or writing, do so in a public place, where the ambience of nosy noises imposes its effects on your consciousness. Attend events, visit community meeting-places, hang out at the magical crossroads. Grab a sign, and join in the protest. Volunteer a couple hours at a center of significant meaning. Crack the ice that keeps you so neatly self-enclosed. Let others' unruliness offend your too-well-behaved sensibilities, so you may happily grumble about having your boundaries pushed… and the imprint of a memorable week impressed upon you.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): Career-related (or other public-world-oriented) efforts made now are powerfully influenced—either helpfully or in a potentially obstructive manner—by the winds of personal emotion. Enthusiasm, hope, passion, and, most importantly, belief in yourself will help everything along, Aquarius, as if the magical hands of a fairy godmother are pushing you toward your goals, both swiftly and lovingly. Similarly, panic, suspicion, debilitating fear, and, most critically, self-doubt will muddy the road, threatening to stall or fully derail your intended activities, as if secret enemies are throwing up booby-traps every few paces. You're in a temporary phase of generating great professional impact, during which your inner dialogue will decisively redeem or, sadly, sabotage you. Treat your current work with the significance this warrants. Any other individual who's externalized the saboteur role, by the way, ought to be fought against as if your life's-work depends on it… because, for now, it sort of does.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): In a galaxy far far away, mundane earthly laws like that of gravity don't apply in quite the same way. All the inhabitants of distant planets, who the small-minded naysayers claim don't exist, look far different than the average human brain might imagine them to. (Doubtful they're even carbon-based life-forms.) And trying to understand how Moment A developed into Moments P, Q and R is a far more cryptic affair when time folds over on itself like a wonton. Therefore, Pisces, suspend whatever disbelief has fixed your concept of 'what's possible' into too narrow an obvious continuance of what's already been going on. Liberate your imagination from the despotic regime of hyper-realism. So many of your current worries could, if you're willing to 'go there', vanish from their centrality by you making one or two breathtakingly daring (though totally within the realm of the universe's marvelous possibilities) life-changes. It doesn't have to be like it's always been. You have freedom of movement, of expansion in knowledge, of change in perspective. Food for thought: Your cast of supporting characters either magnifies this freedom, through encouraging excitation of your dream-nature, or seeks to pin you in your stifling place.