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Horoscopes | Week of March 17-23, 2014

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Vague and gentle (though nonetheless detectable) whispers of developments that are almost ready to unfold are really starting to murmur through the back-alleys of your awareness, Aries… though these aren't yet formed fully enough to constitute a clear intention or solid strategy. The Moon is now in its waning phase, building to its annual Newness in your sign, which occurs at the end of next week. Until then, your consciousness is in quiet preparatory mode… watching others' game-moves, noticing which of their actions rouse what sort of internal responses in you, and insightfully connecting all the dots. You needn't worry about attempting to proactively cohere all these stray clues and hints and intimations into a distinct action-plan. I suspect this cohering process will just naturally happen, if you're open and receptive enough to the idea of not forcing anything at the moment. Let these impressions impress themselves upon you. Trust me, by the time this March 30 New Moon rolls around, you'll be much better informed about what your next big actions ought to entail—and probably won't need to do a whole lot more thinking about it.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): This is a great time to start acclimating yourself to an increasingly out-of-your-control, wheel-of-fortune period of experience, Taurus, one which you're just in the early stages of at the moment. Over the coming six-to-eight weeks or so, developments will twist and turn and teeter-totter and, at times, totally take your breath away… all in the process of transforming the playing-field, as a direct effect of the actions and reactions other players put forth. You, meanwhile, will be peculiarly hands-off in terms of actually directing these developments—at least if you know what's good for you—but will be most shrewdly positioned as the very careful observer, one whose trademark patience should hopefully allow you not to draw short-sighted conclusions, but to let several acts play themselves out before claiming a reliable understanding. As I insinuated in the prior sentence, you're likeliest to go wrong if you respond to shifting circumstances too quickly, attempting to 'fix' what seems problematic rather than properly assessing whether this 'problem' is actually just a symbol of your 'new normal'. Despite the superficial appearance that others' actions pose a threat to your well-being, it's you and your potential to overcompensate for, wrestle and/or resist the waves of change that's the real danger. Begin acclimating this week by not trying to control the conversation, but allowing it to drift according to your colleagues' interests and intentions.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In career-related and/or public-world contexts, Gemini, please spend your week doing a lot of listening: listening to what the so-called 'important people' are saying, listening to what they're conspicuously not saying, listening to what the less 'important' people are saying about the 'important people' behind their backs, listening to the social trends blowing in and out on the gusts-of-change, and listening to the inner whispers of priority-simplifying Truth which the fairy godparents and/or celestial overseers are gently feeding you. This is a moment of awakening to whatever professional service or community duty is calling you to it… though, admittedly, sometimes a 'calling' first manifests as disillusionment with a person or purpose you'd thought was 'it' and/or the uncanny closing-of-a-door. And just because you're being 'called' toward and/or away from something doesn't mean you have any fucking clue what to functionally do about it. Thankfully, this last bit isn't something you have to concern yourself with right at this moment. No one expects you to have practical answers to huge life-direction questions, especially if the direction itself is only now starting to reveal itself. Be courageous enough now to just listen; you needn't respond right away.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): For this passing time-span, Cancer, please prioritize your fundamental life-values over being 'reasonable'… a confining label which often pressures us to make some ill-fitting compromise of one of these cherished beliefs, under the usually-erroneous assumption we must surrender our ideals in order to be (ugh) a 'functional member of society'. While in certain instances such compromises may be immediately essential, this isn't the case in your situation at the moment. And besides, what about the premise that these so-called 'reasonable' tradeoffs demanded by 'functional society' are, in fact, demeaning or intolerable or just plain fucked—and that the real problem is this fucked-up facet of society itself, not your care-based beliefs? Isn't that how society ultimately transforms… when individual heroes (like you?) decide to stand up for their beliefs, as an act of answering to higher principles (which the self-serving overlords of society-making don't necessarily obey, because these get in the way of their blind pursuit of profit and/or power)? Though I don't mean to lay too heavy a trip on you, as if you're supposed to be some singular savior of social well-being, I do strongly feel that these weeks ahead, with Jupiter on your side while wacky rockings-and-rollings occur, are an excellent invitation for you to potently advocate for what you feel is right, reasonableness be damned.

LEO (July 23-August 22): To reemphasize the point I made last week, I again must warn you against telling a certain special somebody what you think they want to hear… or, potentially an even more troublesome approach, promising to commit and/or combine forces based on the exquisite feelings such a promise would garner (rather than, say, on a well-thought-out strategy for how to unite your lives in this intensified manner). I at once applaud your desire to think relationally, on this path of learning to intimately share more of yourself in this context, and worry about the possible mess you could create by not balancing these romantic (in the broadest sense of the word) thoughts with proper self-protective pragmatism. For instance, agreeing to lend somebody money (or is it a 'gift'?) without talking through all parties' expectations of the terms (e.g., when will it be paid back, if ever? does the lender receive any 'special benefits' from the lendee, as compensatory payment? does the lender have any say in how the lendee spends the money?) is a recipe for upset, on one side and/or the other. Likewise, deciding to turn a close friendship into a sexual relationship without discussing issues of safer-sex practices, monogamy vs. non-monogamy, and/or whether this is now a full-on romantic partnership or merely a fuck-buddy arrangement is similarly setting someone up for hurt feelings. These are just two examples of a broader threat: that you won't have the necessary conversation, no matter how awkward, and instead proceed on unspoken emotional presumptions which might later reveal you're not on the same page.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): In a befitting follow-up to last week's edition, Virgo, I want to let you know that this week is an excellent time for actively engaging in the very type of heart-to-heart exchanges that would've been much less favorable to engage in any earlier. Whether the other person is the love-of-your-life, a long-term partner or object of your developing desire, a close friend, a business colleague or creative collaborator, you are likelier than usual to really hear what they're trying to tell you—on the level of emotion and intention, where a mutual connection really counts—as long as you don't obsess on any perceived imprecision and/or confusion in the actual words they use. Listen to their heart (for this is how a 'heart-to-heart' conversation works), not the always-imperfect translation of their heart-sentiments into sentences and paragraphs. Likewise, on your end of the conversation, speak from your heart… as opposed to from that place of fearful anticipation of their responses, of how one remark might lead to another and another before you know 'what this all means' or 'where it's all going'. You two can fill in some of the informational blanks later. For now, a meeting of the hearts is the experience to aim for.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): Ideal innovations, modifications, and/or solutions which relieve work-related dilemmas or delays are likelier than usual to just magically appear, Libra, if you can suspend your need to rationalize away your instinctive sense that this will, indeed, do the trick. To entice this magic to flourish, you've got to look at the situation with a renewed or rediscovered innocence… one which you'll permit to drown out your too-hasty objections or naysay skepticism, which are based in reductive presumptions, and take over the steering-wheel. Don't fixate on merely tweaking particular steps in an already-said-and-done process. Stand back, and gaze at the entire process itself. Remind yourself of the 'highest' purpose behind what you're working on. Who are you trying to help? What overriding vision are these efforts supporting? How can you best achieve that heartwarming feeling of having helped make the world a tiny bit more kind, beautiful, life-affirming? By releasing your mind from the grip of magnified details and restraining beliefs, you'll create the necessary room for creativity to thrive. Inspiration requires space, in order for it to be received.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Even despite last week's warnings against telling highly subjective stories which might later show themselves not to be consistent or lasting, I still want to encourage you, Scorpio, to be unapologetically 'in love with love'. That's right, it's never love itself that poses you potential problems. How could it be? Love is magnificent. But sometimes, too personal a love—one that gets saddled with an unreasonable need to comprehensively define you, based on who or what you love at a given moment, and thus weighed down by undue attachment to lasting outcomes—dirties its magnificence, for it cannot be legitimately owned in such an acquisitive manner. For love to serve its highest purpose, we must greet it with gratitude, invite it to stay as long (or, for that matter, as briefly) as it can remain untainted by our fear of its disappearance causing us to sabotage its grace, and (here's, for many, the hardest part of all) to wish it well as it passes on, faithfully knowing it will return, as long as we continue to create a welcomingly non-clingy-or-desperate environment where it can again bloom. Be a vehicle for this vision of love. Write odes! compose songs! wage idealistic prayers on the wings of your angelic spirit-guide crew! share love freely with the universe! Don't, however, try to hook it or hoard it or lord it over anyone. True love don't play that shit.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): Should you recognize a faint recurrence of internal self-doubt, self-imposed suffering, and/or a self-effacing minimization of something that's actually pretty important to you, Sagittarius, don't try to bully it into submission. Just like the last time it started to rise up (say, in late-Jan or early-Feb), this reappearing voice which seems damn set on undermining your confidence has, in fact, an important message for you. This voice wants to engage you in respectful dialogue with your lurking self-denying streak… not necessarily because you aren't perfectly able to overpower its soft suggestions with bombast and bravado, and to continue along on your way (though, inside, you might be somewhat wistful about the whole overpowering-then-continuing-along process), but in order to foster compassion for the part of you that doesn't want everything to 'roll off your back' so hurriedly and heedlessly. That soft small voice merely requests a few meaningful moments of your unrushed, un-task-oriented down time. It asks that you listen. It's willing to answer any questions you have about why it's there, how it got there (and from whom), and what it hopes you'll learn. Talk to it, and it'll talk back. Soon enough, things won't be this 'quiet'. Utilize this pause to develop a more trustful rapport with this sensitive inner character.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): Voluntarily lose yourself in other people's ideas, interests, and/or preoccupations. For the passing moment, at least, there really isn't any especially important self-defined concept to clutch, defend, or advertise amongst the people, Capricorn. You're floating through a relatively short span of intermission from too much purposeful activity… though it's quite possible, upon first hearing me report this news, you won't necessarily accept this characterization as accurate. That's cool, you don't have to believe me. But if you stop for a minute and consider the different consequences of either (1) buying into this notion you're presently 'in between' this and that, with little reason to hover back or thrust forward, or (2) rejecting it and continuing forcefully forward with the Grand Intentions, you'll hopefully recognize that the latter option keeps you in a pressurized psychological environment, while the former permits you some rejuvenating breathing-room. Just to be clear, circumstances in the coming weeks will ultimately keep you moving (perhaps more rapidly and/or turbulently than may be comfortable); no need to worry about that. Why not give yourself a mental break while the getting's good, then, and find relieving distraction in the feature-stories of others' cares and concerns?

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): If all's going according to the divine timeclock, Aquarius, you're set to be feeling pretty damn idealistic about all that you're capable of. Idealism is an awesome trait to wield as a creative, a 'concept-person', a radical advocate of not accepting status-quo determinations of how things should and shouldn't be done (when, so often, those notions exist to preserve the power-structure for the lucky few who prosper from our 'doing what we're told'). And with Venus along for the ride, your idealistic invocations will come forth with an extra-lovely shapeliness to them. Yet, unbridled idealism isn't always the best strategy to follow wholesale—particularly in practical matters of how much your time or effort is worth, whether you've accurately projected the material costs, and/or who's going to foot the bill—without being properly integrated into a pragmatically grounded, problem-solving context. Presently, you are not wielding such a pragmatic, grounding mindset. That's okay. I'd prefer you to concentrate on using the idealistic energy that is flowing, and invite yourself to be that wide-eyed visionary. Just don't dismiss the practical and/or economic considerations, or falsely assume you've got 'em covered. If decisions in that realm need be immediately made, have lots of open-ended conversations with the pals, acquaintances, and contacts likeliest to poke holes in your dream-balloons… simply to hear out their thinking.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): With Mercury back in your sign this week, clearing the end of his retrograde shadow and conjoining Neptune, you'll be in rare possession of a direct telecommunications link to what the touchy-feelies sometimes call Source Wisdom. In layperson's terms, Pisces, this means you have special access to cosmic truths—about yourself, other people, and/or existence at large—without necessarily knowing just how profound these insights coursing through you indeed are. This is not a matter of the egoic You demonstrating your intellect or otherwise 'figuring things out', as much as you serving as a willing and receptive channel for information that seems to come from elsewhere. ('Elsewhere where?' is a great question, one which I cannot answer because it deals head-on with the great mysteries of the universe.) As far as truths about other people and/or existence are concerned, I encourage you to be as conscious as possible with the feedback you have to give: It could likely impact those you speak it to with far greater power and potency than you realize, and, therefore, please discern (1) what's your intent in sharing it, with the hopes that it's a helpful and/or compassionate one, and (2) whether the listener's in a psychological place to productively hear what you're saying. With truths about yourself, I'd treat them as celestial clues on how best to take advantage of April's wild-and-crazy, risk-happy astrology (which also happens to feature aspects very favorable to Pisces): Nothing to do yet but to take careful note of the images, impulses, and intuitions which flow through.