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Horoscopes | Week of April 16-22, 2012

ARIES (March 21-April 19): After having 'danced around' (or, more properly, bided your time until this occasion presented itself), you have now entered the moment in which it's on you, Aries, to directly and deliberately clear up any confusion and reorient the facts as you see them. Holding your tongue from here on out is not favored in the slightest… and actually serves only to dangerously repress sentiments that will seek their expression regardless, even if it brings an unplanned eruption of fiery emotion. Though there exists the possibility that what you have to say might sound like a criticism, condemnation or curt correction to anybody feeling too tenderly attached to their perspective, you and I both know that it's really all about the process/product itself—and not about personality conflicts. Right? RIGHT? Therefore, be very demonstrative with your gratitude to the other players for their contributions, even in cases of a disagreement on principle or practice. You have a chance to prove, once and for all, that your passion and energy are interactive assets—and not a source of interpersonal antagonism.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): To make the most of your horoscope for the week ahead, Taurus, I suggest first reflecting back to the beginning of March, a time when Venus was kissing you with her sweet blessings… and when I asked you to pay attention to 'flashes of unexpected brilliance, ideas that seem wild or kooky yet "just feel right", or other sudden interjections of cosmic wisdom that might even make you giggle because of how serendipitously they arrived'. Does this ring a bell? If, at the time, you found meaning in this advice, I encourage you to now ponder how whatever came to you then has since developed… as well as to, starting this week, actively progress this epiphany to its next logical step. After all, it's been a momentous month-and-a-half for you Taureans—I'll bet you're actually already better equipped to build upon what was started only weeks ago. But if a mystical life-advancing insight from the Infinite Cosmos has not serendipitously found its way to you yet, then please pay extra-close attention this week. Maybe you don't know how to recognize it? Maybe you aren't willing to trust it? Compare parallels between the moments that transpire this week and what was happening the first couple weeks of March. There is vital info there, I swear.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): There's a certain 'whatever happens, happens' mentality I think you'd benefit from embracing, Gemini… not because I want you to give up asserting your willful desire for events to transpire a certain way, but more from a place of practicing detachment from any single manner of interpreting the signposts, during such a fantastic moment of one thing potentially leading to another and another and another by a logic not immediately comprehensible. The biggest potential obstruction to you starting to experience a cascading effect of fortunate developments is your own inability (or refusal) to refrain from negatively judging each turn as it comes, as if you've already predetermined what's supposed to happen and what, therefore, isn't supposed to happen. That is a closed-circuit of self-fulfilling thinking, which saddles you with an ill-fitting responsibility for assessing potential future outcomes way too prematurely. What you need is healthy dose of having the story you're telling yourself get serendipitously fucked up by the surprises Lady Luck has up her sleeve… but first, you've got to swallow the medicine.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): If you require additional persuading, in order to color yourself convinced that publicly claiming a stance, an opinion or some directive authority over what happens next is the right thing to do (see also: last week's scope), let me remind you: You're not just doing this to stroke your own ego, Cancer, but as part of your commitment to advancing a vision that benefits many others as well. When you see it's others' future successes at stake, not just your own, perhaps you'll be less hesitant to stun the naysayers or power-trippers with a brave expression of propulsive force. I say, Whatever it takes. Frame this challenge to overcome your timidity about asserting leadership in terms that play to your natural tendencies—your pressing need to be loudly progressive, forward-thinking and/or potentially disruptive is actually a reflection of your basic drive to nurture those around you, and apparently this is how you're being called to demonstrate your caring. It's not always about baking someone a cake or whispering soft reassurances.

LEO (July 23-August 22): You've now gathered enough information, caught as you've been between (1) soaring hopes for what else could be part of your future and (2) sobering confrontations with what you still need to handle before being able to legitimately leave yesterday behind, to determine just how presently realistic your hopeful vision is… and what your next steps to realistically make it happen will entail. So, Leo, are you ready to dig your nails into the dirt and really do this thing? Then, first and foremost, you need a good working list of the major parts of your current life that require diligent wrap-up work, presuming, of course, that you don't want to leave other people in a lurch and/or duties you previously signed off dangling dangerously loose. Give yourself the next three months or so to tick them off, one by one. But here's the other important aspect to tackle, sooner rather than later: If you really want to make this 'real', start talking about it—with a new level of eager seriousness—to the important people in your life. It's time to face the dread of their possibly unsupportive and/or critical responses. If you're truly balancing the hope with realism, you can handle it.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): The curtain comes up, and, in the Master-of-Ceremonies role, you're here to kick off the show with whatever provocative promise of what's to come will stir the audience's oohs or aahs. This is not a time to play it safe, Virgo, even knowing that the penchant for controversy I'm urging you to claim as your own is a somewhat unpredictable tool. Yet, you have made ample preparations for any and every kind of response you're likely to receive… and all that's left is to stand in the light, unveil the secret project or release the previously-proprietary information, and absorb the cheers and/or jeers. It's more crucial that you make an impactful impression—of any sort at all—than attempt to cordon all possible impressions within a narrow margin of watered-down acceptance. (One loud heckler or two is not enough to bring this house to its knees. Am I right?) There's no greater victory on the world-stage than to put our truest expressions forward, own them wholly, and let public opinion shake itself out according to our legitimate merits.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): Silently sitting on nervousness, hoping to squelch it with enough self-discipline or positive-thinking, isn't going to move it through… not in any productive manner, at least. Sure, Libra, you could wait out the inner jitters, assuming (based on logic) that, since everything passes, this too will eventually even itself out. But with no actual release, confession and/or catharsis, you'll just be biding your time until the next recurrence of this issue finds a passageway back to your conscious mind… and another round of this same damn anxiety will rear its ugly head. Speaking it aloud, though it does make the feelings 'more real', also allows you to hear its panicky irrationality from a different angle, much the way one's singing voice sounds different in one's own head than it does on a recording. Even if there's a genuinely convoluted knot that requires loosening and untying, a quietly self-contained emotional reaction on your part only impairs your ability to actually get this de-knotting work fully complete.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): The interpersonally delicious reason(s) why you'd want to hurry along with whatever nagging chores or duties have absorbed your spare energies, Scorpio, are becoming ever tastier. Whereas before you might've been purposely sinking your everything into the concretes that work provides, you're now emerging into a more socially (and/or romantically?) rewarding phase in which you may no longer desire to fill your every hour with a purposeful feat to complete. You may, instead, just want to hang out with a certain individual, pressure to perform off, clock not being watched, relational exploration the only motive on your mind. But, alas, there is still a lot of laborious stuff left to tackle (though, just to put things into perspective, you've presumably made quite a load of progress since late last year). Suddenly your reason(s) for wanting to get this shit done presents more immediate temptation—and suddenly, like magic, you're willing to try potentially advantageous shortcuts you wouldn't have bothered with a month or two back.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): Free speech is not only a constitutionally guaranteed right (at least in this country, and at least for the time being), it is a sort of holy grail for the Sagittarian soul. While you and I perpetually ride this ride of me often encouraging you to watch your mouth and/or carefully choose your words, I am, at the end of the day, deeply committed to fostering a strong sense of confidence in you that, yes, a big part of your purpose here on this planet in this Sagittarian body is to speak your mind… even when it rubs certain people wrong… even when it stirs a lengthier discussion that causes some or all parties to rethink their belief-system… even when it flirts with 'getting you into trouble'. You're not supposed to be the deferent diplomat offering dippy platitudes intended to assuage all tension in the room. You are the archer, Sagittarius, because you are meant to aim your probing arrow right at the bull's-eye heart of the argument and say the seemingly obvious, simplistically and bluntly true thing you see but which no one else seems willing to utter, knowing full well there could likely be fallout. Where might that come in handy right about now?

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): Don't erroneously claim the status of 'being conflicted' when your mind is far more made-up than that would imply. You do know where your values reside on this certain matter of overarching motivating-purpose, Capricorn… and to emit a partial ambivalence about it is to step back from your truth when I already told you that you have to stand in it. That's not to say there aren't tough consequences to wade through, as you ever more unambiguously persist in toeing your line, which may be where your impulse to claim 'conflicted' is coming from—a natural response, perhaps, when exposed to others' discomfort or pain (or emotionally outrageous actings-out). But it doesn't, and therefore it mustn't, change the wisdom you've earned yourself on this matter. As you continue moving in the direction your ethics demand, you're still in a process of growing accustomed to shouldering this discomfort or pain. That, however, is a process distinct from making up your mind… something which you've really already done, and thus which you really should internally affirm to yourself has already happened.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): A commitment to seeing it all the way through (like we discussed last week) must begin with a solid core… an unshakable belief in your own emotional strength, which allows you to admit where you've been short-sighted without indulging a character assault on yourself for being so imperfect. In fact, Aquarius, it's your very willingness to be compassionately accepting of yourself—and to intentionally value self-acceptance as an emotional priority—that's going to make or break how comprehensively you wrap up the past-few-months' business over the coming couple months. Therefore, inviting in all manners of expert advice and friendly counsel needn't be a threatening affair, as long as you can create a bit of distance between (1) those certain items that continue to beg for corrective attention and (2) the fact that you as a living breathing human don't need such 'corrections'. No know-it-all likes to focus on what s/he doesn't know… though opening to that knowledge is a first step toward learning about what, in fact, you don't yet know.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Despite the fact that last week's horoscope pretty sternly asked you to consciously accept your free-will to participate (or not) in whatever one-on-one relationship(s) presently consumes your attention, Pisces, you'll notice there wasn't necessarily a decisive 'call to action' other than clarifying things for yourself. In other words, if you know you want to be there, that doesn't mean you have to outwardly pledge your undying devotion… and if you know you don't, you need not issue the walking papers right this very moment. It's more about coming to your own conclusions internally first and, from there, allowing confidence in your decision to accumulate enough so that, when you are unquestionably ready to declare your intentions to the relevant individual(s), you're less likely to be shaken. For now, as you're leaning towards attainment of that confidence, be thorough in considering whatever practical self-sustaining concerns you should probably take care of… in advance of moving more decisively in this certain direction that will impact your relative status as a more or less independent entity.