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Horoscopes | Week of February 6-12, 2012

ARIES (March 21-April 19): What an outstanding week for audacious risk-taking and attention-grabbing expressions of pleasure and joy! Not only are we welcoming Venus into your sign, Aries, but she also forms a conjunction to troublemaking boundary-pusher Uranus… and as a pair, they'll hopefully inspire in you a willingness to chase your personal bliss, even if the next step you must take to do so will carry you off a cliff and into the wild unknown. In any situation where the choice is between carrying on with staid predictability or trying out a radically new approach that gets your heart pounding, this Venus-Uranus conjunction assigns the clear advantage to heart-pounding newness. I suppose I'm obliged to mention that, also this week, Saturn stations to retrograde in your relationship house (the 7th)… raising, once again, this all-too-familiar need to be respectful and considerate to any partner-type who's affected by your actions. Yet, this could alternatively symbolize your having reached a limit in the useful appropriateness of a certain partnership to you—a reading which would certainly be valid if that certain someone is discouraging or obstructing your leap toward the bliss.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The momentary snips and snatches of instant enlightenment, which are eager to shoot their perspective-altering genius in your eyes like old-time flash-bulbs, will only appear if you stop manically (or maniacally) doing for long enough. Yet, without a doubt, there remains much to do—and an onus on you, Taurus, to maintain a fairly steady and persistent pace. Be balanced about it, however, if you hope to see your life evolve, over the coming years, in strange and interesting ways… rather than it simply continuing to present these same items at this fairly steady and persistent pace. Carve out an impulsive escape, for a couple hours or a couple days, during which you are intentionally courting those magnificently mischievous messages from heaven, outer space, or the deities… the sort that might shove you onto an odd side-path (which could later prove to be the main road) faster than you'd have a chance to argue your reluctance. Said differently: You need to schedule a play-date with the universe (and/or any spirit-guides or unnamed mystical influences you'd like to include).

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The small view keeps you feeling trapped, Gemini. It only seems like the walls are closing in on you if you're spending all your time staring at those same four walls, looking for any faint sign of the environment changing. See, my dear, you have to get out and create the change… perhaps by placing yourself in other environments, no matter if they're unfamiliar or a tad anxiety-provoking, and then looking around for the signs. Otherwise, you'll merely continue picking at the same scabs and rerunning the same dreary story and wondering why nothing's different. If you don't know where to go next, I strongly suggest asking your friends to either take you to that strange new place or tell you exactly where it is (and then commit yourself to actually going). Though there's a potently social element to the serendipity you'd court by putting yourself in such out-of-the-ordinary surroundings, you may also snatch a helpful hint or two on the professional front while out and about.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Tending to your very specific requirements for self-care in your private life, Cancer, may necessarily involve holding an uncomfortable position of non-negotiable firmness… when, in the past, you might have instead agreed to a seemingly amenable compromise that, despite an 'official' understanding, didn't actually work for you. Please remember: When you give yourself exactly what you need, you can be that much more of a considerate and nurturing partner or friend or family-member—as long as you aren't being asked to bargain away any of the foundational non-negotiables. You'd especially benefit from the confidence boost that comes from success in firmly standing for personal emotional responsibility now: Your outer-world and/or career-related roulette wheel is presently spinning, with wild-card offers and opportunities which might require a trigger-finger wager likely to pay off at excellent odds, if you can stomach the risk. Having otherwise firm ground to stand on makes taking such a gamble considerably easier.

LEO (July 23-August 22): It's becoming an increasingly awkward proposition for you, Leo, to continue safeguarding the sweet notion of togetherness and, at the same time, to take care of your personal business. That's not to say it's completely impossible, if you've been sharing yourself with someone who understands that love (or at least enjoyable companionship) cannot always deliver us from the other real-life concerns beckoning to us for attentive diligence. Still, a sobering conversation about boundaries (or at least proper time-management) is due to occur… and, even in the best-case scenarios, just as likely to temporarily spoil some of the über-starry-eyed silky-smoothness you've both preferred to dwell in. And what if the dynamic between you can't endure this necessary reality-check? If you're respecting your inner ethicist's wisdom, you probably sense that growing pressure to free yourself from whatever dalliance is ultimately incompatible with your journey to the other places you're off to.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Applying the usual analytics to that situation or problem you're antsy to fix might not, unfortunately, lead you to the magic answer. If anything, Virgo, a combination of (1) too 'straight-line' a methodological approach and (2) heightened impatience with a stubborn step or two that refuses to be reached by the rational means you'd expect to work can catch you in a flummoxing loop of self-inflicted impasse. ('This should work, but it's not working, so let me try what should work again, and why the hell isn't it working?!?') To circumvent or move through such a potentially annoying stalemate, you likely need to accept the input of someone else—a person who may see the world so differently than you that it almost short-circuits your brain to force yourself to listen to their perspective on the matter. For your own sanity, please humble your listening ears and forget about how 'wrong' they've often proven to be about items you consider yourself more knowledgeable about. Just take in what they have to say. While it might not provide an instant solution, the shakeup in your basic frame-of-reference could bust you out of the loop… and give you that one badly-needed piece of fresh code to update the software you've programmed yourself to abide by.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): Equanimous reason, typically one of your strong-points, is currently under subtle sabotage by indulgently obsessive nit-picking. And let's be clear, Libra: It is not helpful to privately scratch away at that internal cat-post, as if you need to sink your claws into something. What transpires between you and another person in your imaginary hypothetical exchanges is far more upsetting and/or offensive that what would probably happen if you just sat down together and talked. In other words, the more you keep to yourself in this interpersonal standoff (which is likelier a one-sided fear-bubble on your part than any real 'standoff'), the more of a conflict-ready mentality you're bringing to the actual dynamic. So if you're looking for a fight, you just might find one—though whether it would've been there if you hadn't been looking for it is another story entirely. This 'release' headed your way, courtesy of a Venus-Uranus conjunction in your relationship house (the 7th), needn't be antagonistic. Rather, it could merely point to you letting go of the excessive trouble you're making for yourself… and, together with the other person, quickly simplifying the 'problem' in a few minutes of conversation.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Should you find yourself confronting the possibility of abrupt rhythmic shifts to your daily routine, Scorpio, please trust that giving in to them will be for the best. However, getting hooked into the urge to interpret the potential consequences of making such shifts (which have obviously presented themselves as preferable, if not necessary) won't do you any favors. To be responsive to changing circumstances is to admit, with no shame required, the original intended method wasn't able to cover all the bases… and therefore, a certain degree of 'winging it' is the only antidote. And 'winging it', of course, means not knowing exactly what'll happen next. These sort of on-the-spot adaptations are called for all the time. While the controlling part of your psyche is probably never going to adore the embrace of improvisational techniques, the part that just wants to get shit done ought to understand it must dip and swerve if the job demands it. Within those margins of 'making it up as you go along', please remember, there resides quite a lot of creative interest.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): Believe it or not, Sagittarius, you're actually in a freer and easier spot than many of your zodiacal brethren… except, of course, for the continuing fact of retrograde Mars in your solar 10th demanding that all assertive career-related actions are carried out by the book, one exquisitely engineered step at a time. So please don't take your relative advantage for granted, even as we can both acknowledge that 'relative advantage' doesn't necessarily mean everything in your life is smooth. This would be an excellent moment for spreading that freer-and-easier feeling to those around you who are presently confronting far tighter and more treacherous conditions than you. Try to minimize how much you complain about your circumstances to folks who have it a lot worse. Look out for places where you might step in as an advocate, cheerleader or sage for pals lacking the optimism to see a way out or through. And when it comes to that especially-charged career zone, you might consider taking on a similar leadership role for teammates with whom you share a common concern—if, and only if, you're prepared to fight the fight according to best practices and the letter of the law.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): Simply accept that, for the time being, you have to push yourself extra hard to accomplish something out there in the world that's a genuine representation of who you'd like to be seen as. It wouldn't actually be so hard, Capricorn, if you were willing to compromise your aspirations for a more modest role, fulfilling perfunctory duties and essentially 'getting the job done'—but without exactly attaining any achievement related to your unique skills, interests or passions. Please understand, by the way, it is perfectly acceptable to choose such a compromise… and to seek your personal sense of accomplishment in some other zone of life not on the public stage. In fact, resolving to settle for a public position that's more easily manageable could quell the inner striver in you. But if you want the grander shebang, you must persevere through this 'prove-your-seriousness' moment. And yes, it presently requires an extra-hard push. As such, you should probably allow yourself some extra breathing room at home, considering little about your outside-world existence ought to be treated casually these days.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): Of course your intellect is an asset to be proud of, Aquarius. And, as I'm sure you well know, it also sometimes serve as a weapon that you coolly use, to lord your 'evolved' perspective over others who may be more prone to emotional outbursts or hasty instinct-based conclusions you can easily poke holes in. But just because you possess this knack for chilling over and icily delivering an articulate explanation for why you know what you know, that doesn't mean their different types of intelligence don't hold their own insightful angles on reality… or that getting distance from gut-level emotions or irrational instincts necessarily yields a clearer answer. Beware of the potential dark-side to your smarts: an underlying edge of condescending cruelty that values 'being right' (if that is, in fact, what you are) over respecting a diversity of equally valid approaches. Rein that in please, if you hope to reach a mutually acceptable resolution with folks you might otherwise deem as 'missing the point' (or, worse, 'stupid'). Be willing to dance the dance of informational exchange, sometimes leading and, yes, sometimes following.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Your personal work, according to Saturn, rests on disentangling yourself from situations where your fullest freedom-of-movement is somewhat impaired by deals or arrangements you entered into in the past—and yes, passively neglecting to explicitly refuse to enter qualifies as 'entering into'—but which are merely holding you back. This would include dissatisfying romantic entanglements, professional-collaborator entanglements, familial entanglements, financial entanglements, or any other such circumstances in which one or both of your hands are tied, Pisces. Though there may indeed be a lot of knots in the rope that binds, if you methodically take on one at a time, you will be able to wriggle yourself out. On the other hand, not all entanglements are bad… and those in which you'd prefer to stay entangled are likely to become more solid and steadfast, based on you reaffirming your desire to be there during this time. Yet, what'll also become more 'solid' are any small needling problems you're avoiding addressing; if you leave 'em unaddressed, they'll become a more stubbornly entrenched part of the deal for a considerable time longer.