Horoscopes | Week of April 15-21, 2013

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Conversations must now be hammered out, Aries. Flatly put, you will not be able to continue advancing onward as you'd like without the consent of certain other non-optional stakeholders… and, compared to the freeness with which things have most recently been flowing over these last several weeks, this newly restrictive dynamic could feel quite discouraging. I urge you not to hook into adversarial attitudes toward whichever 'other party' might easily (and too conveniently) be fingered as The Problem. Even if they are behaving unkindly, making things more difficult than you believe they need be, and/or refusing to see the situation from your perspective, please don't interpret these signs as an indication of some interpersonal showdown. (Warning: That doesn't mean they won't interpret it that way.) Instead, think of this merely as a logistical challenge… a need for you to concentrate on resolving practical issues collaboratively, getting everyone on board with whatever will work best, and resisting the urge to forego detailed methodological explanations by just demanding they 'do it your way'. (The detailed explanations will help you get them on board.) Productively dealing with them is, in fact, just one more logistical practicality for you to manage.

 

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Everything's turning right now. Confusion gives way to renewed self-assuredness. Relative immobility transforms into the generating heat of a proverbial 'fire under your ass'. That recent clumsiness of self-expression is happily shed, to be replaced by a newfound charismatic glow destined to win back good favor from those who might've forgotten what a strong presence you possess. This is all the expected result from a week marked by Venus, the Sun and Mars all entering your sign together… blessing you with an attractive glow, a warming-up of spirit, and a boost of physical initiative, all functioning in synergistic alignment with one another. 'Hell, yeah' to all that! You're back in business, in a pretty palpable way, in these weeks to come. Now, a couple mitigating provisions: (1) Mercury is still a wild-card until he departs your solar 12th on May 1, and especially so this week, when he's messing with Uranus and Pluto. Therefore, while I encourage you to start moving assertively ahead and, in the process, flirting madly with the whole world, I still don't recommend initiating important conversations. Let your actions speak for themselves—and if you're being cornered into discussing what's up with you (in anything more than a perfunctory couple-sentences manner), try to drag your feet on this until May. (2) Saturn, as I mentioned last week, could prove to be a party-pooping stinker through all this, presenting interpersonal challenges to your uninhibited movement. Fighting against this fact—and hoping to avoid notice by the other important player(s)—will only make it worse.

 

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Decidedly not the time for deciphering the whole picture. Clarity-seeking comes up short. In exchange for the confident knowing, however, you may count on quietly tripping over discoveries about your 'essential nature' (loaded term, I'm sure). Practice willing modesty, Gemini, assuming no confidence in the conceptual modes by which you identify yourself. 'Identity' is just a word game for passing time. The place to put the conscious effort: maintaining regular rhythms with the mundane; completing the papers and carrying out the chores, which would call for your diligence regardless of whatever else is going on; eating well; staying in your body, rather than indulging any 'grand escapes'. The very routines that threaten menacing boredom are currently your only answer to spiritual presence… and when you responsibly surrender to this repetitive work, amazingly magical tweaks-of-consciousness reward you, bell-and-whistle-style, with the stuff you foolishly imagined would only arrive through shirking the work and om-shanti-ing for twelve hours a day. The second half of May and into June is when you'll return to your less 'out-there' self. Until then, chop the wood and carry the water… all the while, saying a respectful hello to the spirit-guides watching over your shoulder, whispering suggestions.

 

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Back away from center-stage for a moment, Cancer, and observe how your peers are handling their similar circumstances. Why rack your brain trying to figure out what your next steps are, when there are people all around who have already reached their version of this same crossroads and moved through it successfully, whether by making shrewd first-choices or learning valuable information from their initial goofs? Consider gaining yourself some on-the-spot training in their hands-on school of joining along: Volunteer to help them out with keeping up their beautiful vision, both to take some of the personal pressure-to-achieve off you and to build sincere camaraderie through real-life support. Should you identify someone who appears to be working toward an almost identical purpose, perhaps it might make sense to join forces… if not in total unification, then at least by tackling the tasks side-by-side, cheering each other on as you both move forward. To derive the most genuinely productive benefit from such team-type efforts, however, you must keep any competitive urges in check. Your success will not be made by beating someone else to the punch, outdoing them and/or withholding your assistance. There really is plenty to go around.

 

LEO (July 23-August 22): The triple arrival of Venus, the Sun, and Mars to your 10th house in the span of a single week bespeaks of much heightened activity in your career (or other outside-world-related) zone, Leo. In the days ahead, you can channel this planetary assistance to create or strengthen the sense of personal groundedness you experience through your commitment to a particular professional purpose or calling. If you are on the brink of redefining yourself in this capacity, I suggest completing at least one humble but pragmatically necessary step in the process each week over the next month or so… with full knowledge you are slowly building a foundation that could take quite some time to fully actualize, but which nonetheless must start somewhere. If you're already further along on your path, I recommend looking to simplify your outlook on all the various duties that have gradually come under your management… with the intent of helping you reprioritize the guiding reason(s) you ended up in this position to begin with, and hopefully working to root out all the non-essential complications that threaten to impinge upon your enthusiasm to keep going. In any event, despite the astrological boost you've got on your side, you still must contend with your worst enemy: the inner troublemaker who, at every turn, threatens to raise tangential doubts and irrelevant fears to distract you from the basic formula of success. Don't let that troublesome inner voice make this harder than it actually is.

 

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Even as you probably still have a few last bits to add to that ongoing discussion/debate (or is it a full-on fight?), you'll notice your orientation to the issues-at-hand shifting quite a lot during the week ahead. You've likely heard more than enough from the other involved person(s) about where they're coming from (including perhaps at least one game-changing disclosure about how they really feel, which is hard-to-digest knowledge you simply can't un-know), and you've also likely (or at least hopefully) done your fair share of disclosing. There isn't really that much more to hash out, is there, Virgo? If your mind isn't made up, it's sure pretty damn close. Settle into full acceptance of the conclusions which are now becoming obvious. Admit (to yourself, if not to anybody else) where you could've communicated your truth earlier and/or clearer, to avoid the more painful or shocking tone that necessarily accompanies a too-late-onset coming-clean. Acknowledge how your ethics insist you now must proceed in a certain direction, if you want to remain proud of yourself. And then, fix your eye on what happens next. Though open negotiation may be coming to an end, informational 'how I will be moving forward' talks will still need to be had.

 

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): 'Well, now what?' you might be wondering, Libra, in light of all that's gone down in your relationship life (whether we're talking romantically, professionally, and/or in the friend-zone) over the past month or so. If you've made some serious strides in attaining greater mutual understanding, I advise you to take full advantage of this increase in intimacy: Consciously concretize this new level of commitment. Share a vulnerability you've kept to yourself. Confess a dream you have about the two of you. Make plans to do something (psychologically) risky together, as a laboratory for experimenting with this deeper trust you two have worked for. If instead you feel that progress has halted and/or you've hit a dead-end, I suggest going another step further in the deconstructive process: Tell them which unresolved issue you fear will be the 'deal-breaker'. Push on their button of whatever intense emotion in them you still don't really understand. Ratchet up the pressure. Unleash the repressed angst. No matter which extreme you're now headed into exploring more fully, you cannot avoid confronting what's here-and-now in front of you—in fact, if you do avoid it, you'll be setting a deleterious precedent in your ongoing Saturnian challenge to strengthen your self-worth.

 

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): It's prime time to start more actively wooing the person you've had your eye on, Scorpio… to conspicuously direct your energy in ways that'll grab their attention, put a smile on their face, and/or show 'em you care… and to seriously consider what sorts of compromises you might make, in order to feed the potential for a sturdier, more fleshed-out relationship. Likewise, if you need to deliver an uncomfortable reality-check to someone and/or loosen the grip they're trying to hold in your life, this is also your prime time to utilize your charms for effecting the change you hope to see between you. A trio of arrivals (Venus, the Sun and Mars) into your relationship house (the solar 7th) this week creates a not-so-subtle transfer of interests to all things interpersonally-related, putting you in an excellent spot to play for what you want from key individuals in your life. Caution, however: Saturn will make you work for it, increasing the challenge in any situations where you attempted underhanded maneuvers in an effort to manipulate their responses. Sometimes, you may learn, being direct and obvious and fairly basic in your approach delivers better results than overly complex machinations or hidden motives.

 

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): The next several weeks serve as one of your best intervals of productive efficiency this whole year, Sagittarius. With that in mind, there is no good reason for you not to roll up your sleeves and dive into the work you've let pile up on your desk, the household projects you've been putting off for too long, and/or the reengagement with physical fitness your body surely aches for. While 'doing what you're supposed to' is rarely an orientation any of us excitedly looks forward to assuming, this is one of those times when it'll be much easier to honorably swallow the duty-pill. Right off the bat, you may reap the immediate rewards of personal gratification that come with refocusing on tangible accomplishment. Throughout these weeks ahead, alas, this otherwise-ideal concentration of 6th-house workhorse energy will be pitted against Saturn-in-your-12th, the stubborn bearer of senseless fear and other spirit-dampening mindfucks who's continually asking you to consciously separate yourself from irrational inner-voices that are long outdated and no longer serve your present self. In other words, if you're not a careful steward of your psychic state, you could easily fall prey to an infestation of demotivating messages (mere parrotlike repetitions of bullshit sentiments previously uttered to you by bullies, critics, adversaries, or mentally unwell figures from your past) seeking to convince you not to work hard. Do not let old shit overwhelm this new-and-improving you… the one who knows, in your heart of hearts, a few honest weeks of extra-hard work will bring you more pleasure than those self-destructive inner-voices would want you to believe.

 

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): Have you refreshed yourself, Capricorn? Have you stolen enough of a respite from the outside-world's noisy nosing-in so that you are once again ready to face it, willingly and wittingly, with composure and class? Awesome! Then, you are due for some friggin' fun, my friend! On this other side of having felt annoyed by others' infringing upon your personal space, you hopefully now realize that the best antidote is doing whatever will make you feel good… and, yes, at the moment, it really is as simple as that. This presently-inviting path to greater enjoyment involves choosing the less complicated option at every step in the process of deciding how to spend your free time. Don't take on the responsibility of managing everybody else's conflicting desires; state your own intention to fulfill your own desire, perhaps with a friendly encouragement to your 'easier' friends to join you if they wish (but not if it requires convoluted rearrangements). And if there's still a certain someone who continues to bear down too claustrophobically into your kool-aid? Well, maybe this is the week for your peevish 'get the hell away from me!' snap. (Even that seems like it'd be more friggin' fun now than it would've been earlier.)

 

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): There emerges a very clear astrological directive to look inward, Aquarius… to focus more significantly on your nesting instincts, enjoying more quiet time at home while privately futzing around with new-and-improved ways to make your domestic life more comfortable and cozy. After a fairly socially active month or so, the desire to draw the curtains and double-bolt the front door is a most natural response. Protecting your sanctuary from anything (or anyone) that might spoil the peaceful easy feeling is an endeavor even worth fighting for, if need be. Only problem is, it doesn't look like you're being granted a vacation from the ongoing demands on your time from your career commitments. And thanks to Saturn's continuing presence in your 10th, this remains a very poor moment for taking your eye off the ball in all outer-world/professional contexts. So you probably will need to change out of your sweats, hop in the shower, and keep putting in your face time wherever you're expecting to see productive results from longtime efforts. I suppose that, therefore, deems your presently precious home-time that much more valuable an asset to guard with your life. It's okay if you let a few non-career-related social obligations slip by without attending. The couch, the bed, the kitchen, and the bathtub all beckon with their near-irresistible allure.

 

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Reacquaint yourself with the social world. If you've been following the planets' guidance, Pisces, you have likely spent this last span of time diligently embroiled in stabilizing your footing… and now it's time to remove the blinders, lighten up a little, and connect with pals both old and new, if for no other reason than to give yourself something else to think about for a while. Don't underestimate the positive psychic effects of swapping anecdotes, side-notes, unsolicited opinions, and a smidge of harmless gossip with folks you've been out of touch with for far too long now: You will instantly feel less like a lone warrior fighting for survival, and more like a valued member of some community in which what's happening with this or that character is important news to swap with the other townspeople. This is an excellent opportunity to unobtrusively open the door to lengthier conversations, deeper friendships, and a more detailed exchange of knowledge to unfold over the months ahead… though it's not necessary to force any fevered pace upon these intended-to-be-slow developments of social network. In the short term, though, you will want to watch out for any acquaintances who seem to want you to bend certain unbendable rules-of-conduct you hold dear. First and foremost, no matter the exploratory context, you'll still need to do 'the right thing'.