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Horoscopes | Week of November 7-13, 2011

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Should you find yourself wondering why you feel out-of-step with, or totally invisible to, the rest of the group (or society at large), perhaps it's because you aren't instinctively considering yourself to be one of them. The 'them' will only become an 'us', Aries, if you position yourself as part of it… which entails agreeing to some basic ground-rules of interactive participation, starting with granting others the same attentive patience with their priorities as you expect them to provide yours. Why should anybody listen to the self-identified outsider who storms in with a grand pronouncement of how it would all work much better if everyone thought about it this way? The natural first-reaction to that is likely going to be a 'who the hell are you?'… followed not long after with a 'have a seat over there, and review this introductory packet describing how we go about sharing with one another' sort of informational dealie. There's no reason they should just let you in, by simple virtue of you being you; you've got to integrate yourself into the already-existing dynamics, or play elsewhere.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Before you turn an internal irritating itch into an outward reaction, you might want to remind yourself that public perceptions are important… and you needn't do anything to soil your image in the eyes of those who regard you as respectable, just because you're having an irked moment. And even if your primary triggered feeling isn't anger per se, but some other fired-up emotion that reflects what's going on inside you, Taurus, it still behooves you to take a pass on roping co-workers or clients into this singularly subjective lens on the world. You would see things much differently on some other day, rest assured. In fact, it might be preferable to just temporarily waive your right to weigh in on the pressing issue… and simply allow it to move to the next checkpoint without your involvement. Within about a week or so, you'll be far better situated to offer opinions without unrelated emotion impairing their expression.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Make the small moves you're compelled toward, and forget about how exactly they might contribute to any bigger ones you imagine you ought to be actively working on. The connection between the micro and the macro is largely obscured from your view for the moment, Gemini, as I was getting at last week. The motives behind the small moves should be obvious enough, and require little analysis. And as far as what's motivating the bigger ones? Well, let's just say, you're about to enter a multiple-month period of internal brooding, during which you'll be picking away at the nagging feelings inside that indicate some self-remedying action is due to be taken, to critically examine what unmet need is calling for your TLC. The solution to the soft-but-incessant questioning that's kept you preoccupied will not be found in any variety of outside activity, but deep within, where you have a multi-faceted riddle to solve. No rushing to the finish-line, I'm afraid: You're still in the midst of collecting all the pieces, which must happen before the fitting-together can proceed.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Dial your interpersonal psychic-receptors down to low, Cancer, and trust that the other person will let you know if they need something from you. Otherwise, you could lose your own bearings… and bend over, backwards, and/or all around into awkward positions trying to accommodate them, with no actual evidence to support that what you're doing is actually accommodating. No, you ought to proceed toward your desired goalpost, unapologetically and with firm self-assertiveness, and assume everyone else is okay unless they tell you something to the contrary. But will they indeed speak up, if they feel they're experiencing the unfair disadvantage in this arrangement? Maybe not right away. They might not even feel their dissatisfaction at first… which is why the last thing they'll need is you stepping in, intruding on their emotional process, giving mixed messages, wanting what you want but feeling bad if, maybe, they want something else. Allow them to manage it for themselves.

LEO (July 23-August 22): Imagine that, for the moment, you're inescapably attached to a cosmic megaphone that amplifies every word you speak or action you take, so that the tiniest motion or softest whisper will hit your environment with far more power and volume than you put into it. Let's further imagine, at the same time, that you are the only one who doesn't witness these amplified after-effects… and instead must assume what you are perceiving is not quite as boisterous or bombastic as what everyone else is seeing. Will that be incentive enough, Leo, for you to take all efforts and expressions just as gently as you possibly can? You don't want to come on like a parade of military tanks, ready to mow down any innocent bystander unprepared to tangle with such heavy artillery, do you? What'll likely exude a bloated sense of ego-pride this week could instead, if postponed until next week or the week after, sound terribly modest and rational.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): The sea-change between last week and next week ought to be distinctly palpable in your world, Virgo, where, as of late Thursday (Nov 10), you'll be hosting Mars in your sign through the beginning of July 2012… a guest who powers up your initiative, spurs action, ignites battles against anyone and anything that's standing in your path, and generally adds energy in all contexts. This influence will unquestionably color the next several months of your life, giving you the will and strength to move forward in any number of areas where you've been craving progress. The week ahead, then, should be seen as a transition rather than a full-on diving-into the Mars experience… especially because Mars first must clear a Neptune opposition, which has a befuddling, depleting effect on this otherwise direct and assertive planet. During this time, start getting yourself hyped up with a lot of enthusiastic self-talk. Like a video-game hero about to eat a power-pellet that'll give you a limited phase of superhuman capabilities, you'll want to think about the most profitable ways to spend this unique period.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): You've presently got such a strong affiliation with a certain collective manner of seeing things, you could accidentally miss spots where your own unique interests are potentially being overlooked. Of course, Libra, you're under no obligation to do anything to protect these self-interests—we all know you as somebody who's often willing to 'go along' with what pleases the consensus if, in the end, it'll minimize the likelihood of conflict. Yet, I at least want you to know this is what's conceivably occurring… rather than it transpiring so subtly that you aren't aware until it's too late. Even if you choose to let the larger group currents determine the end-game, it might not be a bad idea to inform a few of your tightest allies where you've voluntarily given something up to get something else, not in a self-congratulatory manner as much as a strictly informational one. Coming to collective agreements does often require individual sacrifice, after all; let's be explicit about it.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Please don't allow the ongoing career or outer-world demands to blind you to whatever 'personal needs' may require you to steal a few quiet moments, Scorpio. If you notice your usual efforts aren't producing as fast or thorough results, or if you find you're getting more tired more quickly… well, the likely culprit is your internal self-parenting mechanism informing you that you need a hot meal, a good night's sleep, or a whole evening without your phone blaring voice-mails and message-bleeps at you. This is not, by the way, a horoscope telling you to quit working so hard, merely a kind pointing-out that modest attention to these subtle personal-rhythm messages will make all the difference in whether you keep up the pace or flirt with a meltdown. There is no weakness in postponing such monumental expenditures of your energy for an hour or an afternoon here or there. Actually, it displays great strategic wisdom in knowing just what's necessary to ultimately get the job done.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): There's no compelling incentive for you to tone down your eagerness right now, not while all this beneficial forward momentum is linked with your excited spur-of-the-moment shoutings-out. At worst, Sagittarius, the biggest problem with you announcing your intentions is the expectation that you'll fairly immediately begin the actual hard-labor required to make them real. This holds especially true in professional settings, where you'll have many months ahead (starting with Mars's arrival in your 10th later this week) of proving, in careful incremental steps, that you're more than a bunch of hot air. The many small detail-oriented questions, which you and I both know have not really been explored, will be best answered through the actual doing… including some instances in which you'll try something, figure out it doesn't work quite so well, and have to try something else. So what? As long as you aren't too proud to admit you don't know the most creative approach to every last logistical quandary—and, therefore, are willing to talk out the options with other thoughtful individuals—the best-practices process will develop as you go.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): Don't get snagged on obvious bait or other hooked barbs with essentially short-term relevance. Quietly, but boldly, think beyond. The actors and the roles they're presently caught up in playing will shift themselves around well before you are demanded on stage, Capricorn. But for now, you don't have to show up in your predictable garb, to offer the admonishments they expect from you, so they have a so-called antagonist to bounce their supposed heroics off of. Hang off to one side, seeming to remove your personal stake from the matter, and let the storyline progress as it will. All the while, with a shrewd expressionlessness neutralizing your outward visage, you'll be rousing inner excitement over what you'll be doing after all this goes down… a measured internal strategy for lifting yourself out of this mess over here, without having to sanctimoniously declare that's what you're doing, since, if you do it right, you won't ever dirty yourself with this sort of mess again.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): If you're being overlooked by someone (or feel as if you're being overlooked), you may bear some responsibility in that dilemma, particularly if you haven't spoken your stake as articulately as perhaps you could have. So before your annoyedness rushes from zero to sixty in a few seconds flat, Aquarius, you might begin by granting any apparent offenders the benefit of the doubt… and, with no premature anger contaminating your tone, politely (re)state the opinion or feedback you wish to be included. Yes, even if you're being sweet as sugar about it, there's still a heightened possibility that you will be seen as a pain in the butt, a squeaky wheel who's waited until a most inconvenient late-point in the process to vent your concerns. Well, despite their potential reaction, you do retain a right to remark—and to insinuate yourself more directly into a situation that affects you—regardless of whether it's 'inconvenient' to others. You might want to apologize if, in fact, your timing really could've been better… but not for needing to get your voice heard.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Just keep at it, Pisces. Even if you start becoming suddenly self-conscious that this is what you're doing. Even if you worry you're going too fast, talking too loud, attracting too much attention to yourself. Even if you aren't sure when, or if, you're ever going to reach completion. Even if elusive demons are spitting critical bullshit in your ear, but when you turn around, they're nowhere in sight. Just keep on going. Doesn't matter if you aren't sure you'll know what to do at the next complicating juncture. Doesn't matter if you're secretly (or not-so-secretly) yearning to, on the contrary, do a whole bunch of nothing (because, trust me, that wouldn't be as much 'fun' as you imagine it would). Doesn't matter if nobody else understands where the fire under your hood is coming from, or why you're as motivated on this particular project as you. Doesn't matter if your friends are trying to convince you to ditch out. Just keep at it, please. You are making progress.