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Horoscopes | Week of February 25-March 3, 2013

ARIES (March 21-April 19): I am well aware that not acting can be an incredibly disagreeable sensation for someone like you, Aries, who is not known to be an especially passive participant. Yet, as I keep telling you, you're better off resisting the urge to do anything at all significant during this peculiar moment when your usually-astute instincts are unusually susceptible to a blinding fog of emotional sensitivity. If you must exercise your muscles with some operative action, then I suggest using them as self-disciplinary bolsters to hold yourself in place—and, likewise, to hold others' complications at bay. You're liable to fall into the worst potentials of this current astrology if you aren't keeping guardful watch over others' psychic effect on your emotional state… and instead allow them to stir you into a reactive tizzy such that, in a heated flash of upset, you end up impulsively taking some critical action you probably shouldn't have taken (because, of course, it only furthers your immersion in their complicating whirligig). Be strong with your boundaries, if only because they're presently thinner than you're used to. The best thing you can do for others, in the meantime, is to send them loving energy, through meditation or prayer, from a relative distance.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): If you have been authentically orienting yourself toward the team perspective (as I encouraged you to do here and here), Taurus, you should begin to feel a palpable return on your investment as early as this week and into the next few. There's a sort of psychic call-and-response circuit, presently operating at pristine connectivity, that links your purest altruistic intentions for the collective with all those who echo your sentiments… and, as long as you remain committed to helping your fellow comrades make their dreams come true (because, naturally, you know that their successes comprise a vital part of the new-and-improved world you're all building together), you will discover that similar assistance from your own assemblage of earthbound guardian-angels seems to magically find its way to you. See, if you're 'doing it right', you may even momentarily forget how badly you've wanted to push your initiatives along because you're so busy lending your supportive hands to everyone else's… only to end up marvelously surprised by how a dear ally or teammate has taken a big forward step on your behalf, unbeknownst to you at the time of its taking. If, instead, you cannot stop obsessing about your own interests, you're likely to miss out on all this multidirectional collegial benevolence.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Your innate smarts could work against you, Gemini, if deployed for the purpose of justifying the questionable correctness of a certain possibility you desire… particularly if you quietly recognize that it's an entirely other possibility that's really what you ought to pursue. Listing pros and cons, for example, becomes an obviously faulty strategy once we consider that a clever character such as you can easily create an inventory of sound reasons to support nearly any proposition—though that mentally creative deed doesn't automatically transform said proposition into a good idea to actively pursue. It only takes one unambiguous con, after all, to immediately and totally invalidate a whole catalog of pros. Beware, therefore, of your own wily techniques of persuasion. You could probably convince yourself to adopt unchallenging alternatives, accept letdown compromises, and/or muddy your focus with tangential nonsense that seems momentarily promising, simply by concocting a compelling story about how such choices would be awesome. Deep down, though, your words won't be fooling anyone. Instead, I recommend using that persuasiveness for rousing your full devotion to not compromising your special contribution to this world. Tell that story instead.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Though this month's astrology has been the type under which you Cancerians could fall under the spell of some religious cult or charismatic teacher, I'm going to instead assume that you've simply found yourself newly engaged by a streak of bold philosophic reflection. It may be more convenient to wholly absorb someone else's one-stop-shop model for understanding how to lead a well-lived life, but you'll get even closer to a meaning-system that competently works for you by adhering to the specific precepts which feel intuitively in sync with your unique worldview… and by actively questioning those that sound unnecessarily strict, reductive, dogmatic and/or punishing. No spiritually cogent ideal should be threatened by your earnest challenge to its underexplored grey areas; if the premise of a belief cannot stand up to such challenges, you ought to be quite suspicious about why others cling so tightly to it. Your awareness of the interconnecting parallels between 'higher' and 'lower' expressions of the same few Laws of Human Nature is presently expanding, both quickly and deeply. You're learning a lot right now, if you're thoughtfully making these connections. Don't, therefore, mindlessly adopt a deferent position toward another's so-called 'teachings'.

LEO (July 23-August 22): That unguarded quality your heart is presently brandishing, Leo, comes with its advantages and its dangers, you should know. The major advantage—and it's a big one—is that you now find yourself being inordinately exposed to some of the grandest, deepest, fullest and most intensely instructive feelings known to humankind. Though this magnified level of emotional engagement isn't always pleasant to shoulder, it is friggin' real… the stuff of epic love-stories, legendary feats, poignantly tragic plot-twists and/or consummate experiences one might brave in order to touch the high heights and bargain-basement bottomings-out that, at the end of the day, help us put everything into perspective. You must appreciate, then, that by the time you've muddled through your involvement with all this, your psychological insights into the human condition will be sharper and more sophisticated than ever. The danger, of course, is your exaggerated sensitivity: Other people currently have more direct access to your tender spots, making you that much easier to woo, impress, inspire, convince, manipulate and/or injure. You're already typically more of a softy than folks give you credit for being… only, now, you might lapse too far into compassionate generosity, at the expense of certain necessary self-protective measures, if you're not careful.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): If you're listening carefully—not only to what a certain someone is saying to you in words, but to the concurrence of non-verbal signs from the universe that are currently providing additional validation—then it wouldn't surprise me, Virgo, to learn your feelings about that certain someone are softening, if not more significantly shifting. As you uncover more information about their honest motives (and about how the specifics of their uncommon history invests them), you can't help but understand them in a way you previously didn't… a development that naturally leads one out of cold judgment, and towards much silkier affinity. It doesn't hurt that Venus arrives at her exalted place in your solar 7th (the one-on-one relationship house) right as Mercury's retrograding through there: You can presently draw from a wealth of interpersonal blessings if you are willing to let your mind change, away from conclusions you might've hastily drawn about somebody's character (based, perhaps, on just a tiny glimpse of who they are) and into the ambiguous spaces where we all veer this and then that way, in the improvisational act of discovering ourselves. And if, despite this astro-climate, you're still caught on some snag about why they did a certain thing? By all means, give them an honest chance to explain their rationale… and please hear them out.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): The joys of doing are vastly underrated, Libra, in this world where we too often fantasize about being freed from our routine responsibilities… when, in fact, most people will display symptoms of depression or other such mental unwellness if they lack commitments to regular dutiful doings. Now that your ruler Venus is joining the cadre of planetary characters presently occupying your solar 6th (a house of doing, which qualifies as our personal service to the earthly need for consistent output), you should expect the positive mood-results of your recent productiveness (presuming, of course, that you have been behaving productively) to begin markedly showing themselves. And the converse is true, too: If you've been postponing the inevitable nose-to-grindstone efforts, likely due to anxiety-related paralysis or other such self-mindfucking, you're going to have a hard time finding much personal satisfaction at all. Though you may falsely believe you've been sparing yourself the agony by dodging these deeds, you are in fact worsening it by needlessly prolonging this discomfort of motionlessness. Joy is yours for the taking, but only if you seek to attain it through making practical progress with your workload or tasklist. Actually, too inert a physical orientation, and you just might manifest bodily unwellness as well… to really drill home the point.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Geeky astrologer-artist confession: I really loved the horoscope I wrote for you Scorpios last week, not only because the content therein was such feelgood advice to dispense but because I felt like I actually got to enjoy for myself the very theatrical romance of creative self-expression I was advocating on your behalf. (In other words: It was fun to write!) So this week, with essentially the same sort of message for you scratching away at my psychic sensors, I must now find another mode of translating this astrological call to have-a-good-time that's just as fresh. Oh, fuck. What do I write now? How about the honest-to-God truth… that I'm eager to finish up this paragraph so I can steal a break in my workflow, turn on some upbeat tunes, and dance around my living room until any last trace of that drudgery feeling has been shaken loose, so I might continue my 'work' with the immediate sense-memory that, yes, I love what I'm doing?!? We've all got our shit to take care of, of course… but if we are properly attuned to the fact that, above all else, we are supposed to embody love in every act, we needn't analytically separate our must-dos from our can't-waits. Whatever you're up to, consciously decide to love it. You'll hardly believe what copious amounts of lovely in-love-with-love love vibes will come streaming back toward you as the natural cause-and-effect response. Now, dance!

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): In case you were starting to worry, let me reassure you, Sagittarius, that you are not permanently becoming this shy, uncommunicative, moody person who's recently taken over your body. You may have another few weeks of such out-of-sorts touchiness in store for you—or perhaps you're actually starting to catch your groove with this heightened dose of uncontainable emotionality—but I promise you this too shall indeed pass. With that in mind, then, please continue surrendering yourself to its crests and canyons as best you can… all the while taking full advantage of as much soul-soothing domesticity (a la last week's call to nesting) as possible, to help ease the jags and jerks. Knowing that this (like everything) is temporary and you therefore needn't 'rush it along', you might even detect a subtle sense of relief welling up inside: Your instinct to rapidly hunt down the silver lining or whatever 'next thing' will help motivate you ahead toward the brighter future may not, in fact, be as 'natural' as response as you think… but instead an inherited trait from a family lineage of folks who refused to dwell too long in spaces of dense emotion, to the detriment of their own psychological development. And if you were to break that familial pattern and actually allow yourself a bit of extra time to moon or mope or vacillate between this and that feeling, you might find the end result would actually bring you great peace, in the end. What a relief to get to be emotional as long as is necessary.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): Share more personal specifics about a sensitive topic than you ordinarily would. Step further outside your safety-box to explicitly show your support for someone who'll greatly appreciate that you bothered to say it aloud. Speak up on behalf of any 'little people' you've too often seen overlooked, not because they need you to save their helpless butts as part of some grand deal but out of sheer no-strings-attached generosity. Confess what you are not proud of, in order to clear the slate with anybody who you've been holding yourself back with due to this unaired issue. With a newly retrograde Mercury flanked by several planet-mates in your 3rd house, Capricorn, this is actually an excellent time to be somewhat less careful or controlled in your conversational exchanges… particularly if what's at stake are merely details about your own life, which, if more openly offered, might actually bring you into closer intimacy with others. Though you may view yourself as a deeply flawed and/or fallible human subject, it's quite likely that the rest of the world sees you more as a meticulously well-put-together, hyper-reliable, almost-perfect-seeming specimen—a perception that, though flattering, creates a wedge between you and them. Let your fallibility flag fly free. Show your clumsy, awkward, doubting side. That part of you is so easy for us to lovingly embrace… even if you still struggle to do so yourself.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): Please get your financial affairs in order, Aquarius. This doesn't mean every last debt needs to be paid off pronto (though, if you can, I recommend it)… but merely that you mustn't allow yourself to shove the bills and the statements into some unruly desk-drawer without properly studying their contents and using that data to inform the day-to-day choices you're making. Knowing where you stand economically (even if you don't like the present view) is an inescapable element of the requisite practicality you're now charged with cultivating. Once you look the proverbial piggy-bank square in his eyes and examine exactly how full or empty his belly now is, you'll be able to happily eliminate that shifty feeling in your gut that comes from avoiding the objective truth about your material reality. Trust me, you won't be able to pull any lucrative rabbits out of your magic hat as long as you're trying to fool yourself about the details of how that trick actually works. However, with the incredible lineup of planets in your solar 2nd right now (including, as of this week, an exalted Venus), you can begin to reverse any undesirable trends in your financial life straight away—if, and only if, you bravely evaluate the rugged terrain instead of shivering nervously in the lodge, hoping the scary monsters don't come for you.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): You've got the full Piscean planetary pinnacle workin' for you for another two full weeks, before Mars finally leaves your sign behind… and so, I beg of you, please make these two weeks count. That also means, thanks to Mercury retrograde, you needn't guiltily hesitate if your gut's telling you to walk away from any initiatives you enthusiastically began a few weeks ago but which no longer possess the same appeal: Such 'false-starts' must not be considered failures, merely practice-runs intended to test out your engines. There's no harm in jumping on your second thoughts… especially if they seem like startlingly simple alternatives to what now, in retrospect, look like convoluted half-baked first-thought schemes. Don't undervalue the qualitative difference between then and now; with Venus happily in her exaltation in Pisces, you're likelier to get things working more smoothly than they would've been just a short while earlier. And yes, that's true even with Mercury retrograde, who sometimes actually saves the day by fixing what we didn't even know had been 'broken' before. Revisiting issues you thought you'd already addressed could prove rather beneficial in the end.