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Horoscopes | Week of November 21-27, 2011

ARIES (March 21-April 19): It's all starting to fit together: the overarching purpose that's been driving you onward and the moment-to-moment increments of progress actually leading you there as we speak. Don't get so swept up by the excitement, Aries, that you fast-forward too far ahead… and, as a result of not paying adequate attention to where you in fact presently are, trip over your untied shoelaces or another such symptom of unnecessary lackadaisical rushing. Mercury retrograde, which begins midweek, is apt to fool you into believing you're far enough along to just glide on the tides of enthusiasm—because, after all, you really are within range of tasting the deliciousness—but that's simply untrue. This fire must be met with equal doses of earth, if you want results that outlast the seconds-long flame of a match. The current astrology is offering you amazing aspects in the tangible realms, including Venus's entry into your career/public-reputation house (the 10th) by week's end. Please keep your feet on the ground, even when there's every reason to leap up into midair suspension.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): On the one hand, everything's really moving for you, Taurus… and in a manner that I would imagine is very self-affirming, considering you are drawing plenty of notice (and reaping much pleasure from it) for the very reasons that most make you you. Looking out at the road up ahead, you have quite a bit to be joyously anticipating. At the moment, among all the signs, yours has a lot of planetary support. Yet, on the other hand, all that I've just described could easily occupy your focus to such a totalizing degree, you miss a key component to everything that's going on: namely, that your expansiveness simultaneously bears interrelated consequences for someone or something else. That is, if your energy's going certain places, it's also not going other places where it's needed, expected and/or missed. Of course, with their twisted senses of humor, the planets are likely to soon make sure you don't 'miss' this dimension too much longer. Life may be flowing swimmingly (as well it should), but not without also demanding you pay attention to this other complicating factor.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): 'Saving face' is not nearly as useful—or personally fulfilling—as just letting 'er rip, Gemini. The fiery blend of Mercury-retrograde and eclipse energies in your 7th house is all about yanking the covers off the underlying dynamic and calling it like it is… no matter if it comes out so bluntly, the other person in question is momentarily stunned at your directness. But this approach is more than a mere self-gratifying temptation to be provocative. It's also a pragmatic deployment of the other astrological influences, which seem to grant you the advantage in drawing all parties' attentions to the as-yet-unaddressed strain at the core of your differences. You point it out; you confess your impolite feelings on the matter; you put them on the defensive with your brave confession. Let me add, if this burbling power-issue is playing out on the home-front, then it's that much more crucial for you to launch the first shot. Unknotting this tangle is essential to your reclaiming agency over how you process your feelings, in your own space, on your own time.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): In a strange somersault of logic, the day-to-day routines that typically keep you grounded are exactly the zone where you should reserve room for wild-and-crazy unpredictabilities, courtesy of both a solar eclipse and Mercury retrograde in your solar 6th. Thankfully, though, you should be able to count on the people in your life—close intimates or casual contacts—to help counteract any anxious reactions you might have to so many on-the-spot modifications, mutations or make-dos. Use your support system, Cancer, instead of trying to handle the hurrying stress on your own, as if not to 'burden' anybody else with your mundane complaints. Giving other people the chance to help you (since you're not always the easiest person to help) could actually be a positive thing for them, too, considering most of us much prefer grappling with someone else's headaches over our own. It'll offer 'em something else to think about… and provide you with the necessary reminder that, with friends by our side, nothing's too overwhelming to manage.

LEO (July 23-August 22): Your avid willingness to work hard, in addition to whatever else may be going on, will be your saving grace… not only allowing you to truly thrive at your own hands' earnest deeds, but providing a grounding consistency to an otherwise bonkers expression of (unrelated) overheated eagerness. Yes, Leo, you'd be quick to say or do almost anything these days, impetuously getting yourself into daring situations so immediately intriguing, you can hardly focus on anything else. Except, that is, for the fact (as I mentioned last week) you're also having a high-profitability moment in your work life, tied solely to how much of yourself you opt to put in. Should you take this other practical opportunity seriously enough to somewhat temper your adventuresome impulses, you ought to be able to exploit both in a proper balance. Actually, demonstrating you're a diligent and unperturbed worker could even buy you a 'get out of jail free' card, should you (thanks to Mercury retrograde) inadvertently over-share or say something that goes too far.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Emerging feelings of doubt, guilt or undeserving aren't a fluke, appearing, as they do, alongside a strange new force pulling you further into your fuller being. To be so unapologetically self-directed, to step forward without as thoroughly engineered a plan, to put yourself in charge of inventing the criteria by which you judge your doings… these are both (1) the rightful behaviors for your budding moment, Virgo, and (2) an emotional trigger, stirring your inner rule-follower into punitive-reaction mode. But if you know what's ultimately good for you—despite how loudly these pesky voices, which I'll bet originally belonged to a parental figure or other early influence, try to convince you otherwise—you'll merely acknowledge the feelings, from an outside-observer's perspective, and then continue down this bumpy unpaved road to your glimmering future. I invite to free yourself from their clutches. Allow yourself to disagree with the value-system you inherited, which now threatens to talk you out of these scarily self-empowering next steps. You get to reframe your internal debate.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): There remains quite a heightened temptation to wrap yourself in an intricate web of yearnings, Libra, as I described in some detail last week… and if on some level you know this temptation threatens to be classified as 'unhealthy' (though nonetheless appealing, obviously, or you wouldn't be tempted by it), you just might find yourself saved by the unanticipated intrusion of unrelated, lighter-hearted social invitations, which I highly recommend you accept, though you might not feel up for it. Should you notice you're making excuses or spinning little white-lies (and yes, omissions of key facts certainly count) in order to get your pals to leave you alone, something is definitely not 'right' with what you're intending to do. Admit everything, and then you'll see, by the reactions of those not so deeply 'in it' as you, whether you are really pulling the wool over your eyes. Even if you decide to go forward (since, remember, I'm not telling you it's necessarily 'wrong' either), the process of open discussion will grant instantly clarifying perspective.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): If all's going as I believe it should, you're becoming increasingly clear and level-headed about what exactly you bring to the table that's so damn valuable. Self-confidence is a truly beautiful thing when it is rooted in distinct tangible fact, which is quite different, of course, from that cloying routine of acting like one is superbly talented at everything (a pretty safe indication of mediocrity, a case of trying to do too much and not doing any of it very well). So, Scorpio, in expressing your flowering confidence, please don't be afraid to be quite blunt in letting folks know what it is you don't feel especially gifted at… followed shortly thereafter with a very direct statement of what you know your specialties are, and why your experience entitles you to claim such expertise. If you can't sum it up in a few sentences, you're already working too hard to fluff up a resume that shouldn't need fluffing, if you're using it for entry to the appropriate venue. The less you need to say, the stronger the message.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): I just now sort of chuckled aloud, reflecting on all those Sagittarius horoscopes from who-remembers-when in which I'd repeatedly tell you not to worry about the lack of action… that your time would be coming, and we'd both be able to look back and laugh at the relative quiet once it no longer existed. I suppose, then, this was the time I'd been foreseeing for you, Sagittarius, when there are antics astir left, right, and all the way around. This week's solar eclipse in your sign, an infusion of circumstance-spinning developments if ever there was one, at the same time as Mercury going retrograde also in your sign speaks of a near-excess (if any excitement could be 'excessive' to a Sagittarian) of stimuli to engage with, professionally and personally. At least I presume you're keeping yourself busy? I could issue the standard warnings against moving too quickly, becoming too loose with important details, or other such cliché indictments of the fast-and-furious rhythm that's presently rocking your world. But why bother? If you overlook something or make a momentary mess, I'm sure you'll come back and readdress it later—when you find the time and/or if it actually proves to matter enough.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): One more week of relative 'hands-off', Capricorn. The 'scene being set' I referred to in your previous horoscope is changing by the minute, even more so this week, due to the solar eclipse, than last week… and with these agitating energies hidden from fullest view in your 12th house, you should not trust any potentially self-delusional impulse to somehow step in and iron things out. I cannot say it to you loudly enough: Keep your hands clean of all this. By next week, Venus will be firmly in your 1st and conjunct Pluto, which puts you in a powerful position to respond smoothly and strategically—after enough shit has gone down, other folks have shot themselves in the foot, and/or the smoke begins to clear. In fact, if I were you, I'd find some safe fun place, totally unpopulated by whatever players are involved in the whirlwind I've been alluding to, and actually engage in some merry revelry… simply to celebrate that you are not involved in the drama. (You still haven't involved yourself, right?) While my suggestion surely borders on qualifying as 'gloating', it doesn't count as such if you're not rubbing anybody else's noses in it—and if it's actually a celebration of your own shrewdness in staying out of the fray.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): Please make sure you know who you're talking to—and exactly what you're so fired up about—before you let loose on anyone, Aquarius. Under the dual eclipse/Mercury-retrograde effect heating up your 11th house while other intense astrology is whipping through your psyche, you could inadvertently make a mess of a friendship or other social alliance by misdirecting your unsettled emotions at them. You're likeliest to fall prey to this possibility if you're attempting to disavow the root-source of these passionate millings, so let me be the first to reassure you: You do have a genuine right to feel as strongly as you do. Still, let's keep everything in its proper place, if not merely to save yourself a mouthful of foot… but also to reserve that pungent sass for more productive purposes, as in actually attempting to resolve the real issue that's gotten you so whipped up. I'm not trying to dissuade you from a fight; I just recommend fighting the correct one.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Something's astir on the professional front… some 'changing of the guard' development that's due to unstick whatever crusty doldrums have left an air of blah over the situation. And you don't have a lot of time to sit around and mull over which response you're supposed to take, Pisces. So aim wherever your heart's pointing you, cross your fingers, and go with the divine flow. While you can't get an accurate hold on where this all may be going, you can—and, in fact, should—pay extra-close attention to how a certain key player in your life reacts to you and your changing circumstances. Are they trying to pit you against other team-members and/or separate you from the pack, to hog you all to themselves? Sketchy. Are they feeding your fears with panicky warnings? Unhelpful. Or are they talking you up, reminding you how much you bring to the table and how it'll all work itself out in the end? Now that's a supportive person who you want as an influence on your thinking. Funny how much we can learn about our relationships in these indirect ways.