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Horoscopes | Week of April 14-20, 2014

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The issues up for you at this time, Aries, will definitely require as intentional an approach as possible when it comes to how you assert your needs, feelings, and desires in key relationships. Though we typically consider it good form to be as direct and forthcoming with our truth as we can, we also sometimes go too far in sharing self-centered sentiments which the other person really doesn't need to hear—not because we're 'hiding' something, but because every individual naturally and necessarily withholds certain parts of themselves from certain other individuals—and which could even threaten the relationship, for no productive purpose. As such, I suggest you reflect on what the other person is likely to gain, in understanding and/or compassion for you, from any potentially rattling disclosure… as well as how they might feel needlessly angry, insulted, or snubbed. Is uncompromising self-confession worth the risk of interpersonal harm? Of course, if your withholding information puts you in the precarious spot of deceit by omission, you may have no choice but to share it anyway if you wish to remain in integrity. Or it may be, at this critical juncture, that your own liberatory impulses simply will not play second-fiddle to looking out for someone else's sensitivities… in which case it's ultimately far more of a self-relieving release to just let it all out, no holds barred, allowing your other-half to be hurt, and/or your best-friend to lash out, and/or your boss to respond as if under threat. Where to place yourself in this balance between personal freedom-of-expression and interrelational stewardship is your choice; just be intentional about it.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Here comes one more bizarre week in which you have little-to-no direct capacity to steer the events, even as you may find yourself caught up in other people's shitstorms and/or watching them from a too-close-for-comfort seat on the sidelines. But that's not to say, just because you aren't the ringleader or commander-general, your presence is somehow irrelevant to the proceedings. You're still providing something critical to whatever scenes are now unfolding, whether as a cheerleader figure who offers non-specific (though nonetheless genuinely heartfelt) support to pals and colleagues or even merely as a keen set of eyes-and-ears who bears careful witness, gathering evidence which will likely come in handy later. The tension brewing in you between (1) bowing out of any decisive involvement and yet (2) remaining socially participatory, Taurus, is probably best played out by your putting in a lot of face-time, while holding your tongue from saying too much of anything with potentially directive or opinionated substance. Again, I must remind you, this doesn't mean you shouldn't have any opinions on these matters-at-hand. Not only am I sure that you in fact do have opinions, but they are also still firming themselves up—and, considering the developments they're based on will continue to produce more bombshells, wild-cards, and/or sharp-left-turns, they may yet shift a bit more to one side or another as the week progresses. Far be it for a Taurus to issue a premature judgment, when we count on you to reserve your final unwavering take until you're totally and completely certain. This week and next represent your pivotal turn in this judgment-solidifying process. Last-minute information becomes available, and you begin readying your case for outward presentation.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Please don't fall prey to the mistaken notion that you ought to solve any vexing dilemmas all on your own, Gemini, as if you fear exposing your need for help to those more accustomed to seeing your clever-and-totally-put-together face (as opposed to one of the other ones). The 'dilemma'—and the individual who's at the helm of whatever circumstance has you tied up in knots—will essentially win this standoff, should you allow shame or embarrassment (or some other undefined threat) to prevent you from sharing all the ugly details with friends or allies who both can help (with both a fresh perspective and a set of extra hands) and would genuinely want to. Your silence will only grant the opposing party (which might in fact be your own internal shadow-self) more power. On the other hand, you regain an upper-hand by cracking open your secret worries… by rightly recognizing that you'll only hurt yourself by attempting to protect some pristine perception you wish others to hold of you, a partial glimpse at who you are that does disservice to your whole being. Those with whom you choose to share a fuller version of your story might indeed be shocked (which is probably part of your reluctance to share at all), but only until the first-reaction dies down… and then, likelier than not, they'll want to embrace you or declare their support or bombard you with practical suggestions for new tactics to try. Pretty soon, everyone's feeding everyone else's optimistic feelings—except maybe the 'dilemma'-helming individual, who rightly suspects that your claiming camaraderie with other people spells an imminent end to their singular control over you.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I want to begin by hopefully helping to quell any aggravated nerves caused by these uncertain times, Cancer, with a reminder that good king Jupiter (exalted in your sign) is a critical player in all this uncertainty… and, as such, is benevolently watching over you as you continue along with your game-changing moves, encouraging you to reach beyond where your previous limits once rested. The floodwaters of your personal growth have now breached the old levee, pouring into territory you once thought of as off-limits, carrying you on their currents to the newest wedge of higher ground. Yes, this is really all happening… and to your greatest benefit, I might add, even if the rapid changes in air-pressure are understandably causing you some significant discomfort. In order to keep yourself radically in the present-moment (and to prevent you from creeping back into self-defining tales which have now proven they're outdated), I recommend you make blunt-and-unambiguous public statements which claim this hyper-reality as your own. Instead of sheepishly downplaying the magnitude of what you're stepping into, it serves the new-and-improved you to celebrate it with brazen self-congratulatory ownership. Declare your arrival. Set the tone for this next chapter. Let those affected by your rising respond to you, rather than squandering one single moment on that dip-and-swerve routine where you attempt to preemptively head off and/or manage their responses by catering to what you intuit they'll feel. If someone doesn't like what you're up to, they'll let you know—and you get to figure out how to still care without bowing down in submission.

LEO (July 23-August 22): At this stage, it's most tempting and damn-near irresistible for you to jump the gun, Leo… to leapfrog from the outward release of dreams into the actual implementation of living them out, before the corresponding need to address certain day-to-day responsibilities and logistics has been thoroughly thought through. Yes, you have conducted some of this forethought, and hopefully remain actively involved in that process. But even despite the enthusiasm behind one's desires, timing really does matter… and while you may believe you've got all the wrinkles ironed out and are ready to hit the proverbial road, I'm telling you that a few more unforeseen hitches or gobsmacking revelations are very likely to materialize during these few weeks. For the record, such curveballs do not legitimately pose a mortal threat to what you desperately yearn to launch off upon. You definitely can figure out ways to successfully respond to what comes up and still clutch to your own future-in-the-making as a top priority. Yet, this seeming inconvenience of having to hatch a rightful response to these unforeseen developments is not optional. Nor, for that matter, is it even especially inappropriate. 'Unforeseen developments' are the stuffs of life… and if you aren't able to adeptly manage them alongside whatever else you're up to, you're naively resisting a necessary step in your maturation. Adulthood demands you not throw a tantrum just because a timeline isn't moving as quickly as you'd like, and, in the meantime, you have to deal with some load of mundane crap you'd rather pretend away into non-existence. I have great compassion for any impatience you're enduring. Your time is coming, I swear…

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): When I strongly recommend 'taking off the gloves', Virgo, that certainly seems to indicate things are currently due to get down and dirty… which could mean that a disagreement is due to become more forceful and/or nastier or an association is due to become more intense and/or steamier. But whatever the specifics of your case may be, this is no time to err on the side of politeness, at the expense of full disclosure or total immersion. It would be an insult to all parties concerned (but especially to your own eager-to-show-itself desire) to pretend that what's obviously happening, on the unspoken or merely-hinted-at level of energetic undercurrents, is somehow not actually happening as long as nobody dares to explicitly mention it. You clearly have a horse in this race, and you clearly want it to score the victory trophy. So who, then, benefits from pussyfooting around the facts? If you think you'd be shrewdly conservative or self-protective by purposely trying to avoid rocking the boat—which is a feat that, in this astrological climate, would require constant small maneuvers and counter-maneuvers and end up as exhausting an exercise as swimming against the currents—you are totally deluding yourself. This boat has to rock. It's just what boats in bumpy waters do. You can't seriously think your mental will is stronger than the force of all the oceans, can you? Bothering yourself with diversionary or stalling tactics, just to not 'take off the gloves', reminds me of a child who tries to hide by closing his eyes and wishing himself into invisibility. Nice try, kid. We can all see you. You're not hiding from anyone.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): Shocked anybody yet, Libra? Did someone shock you? Or are you caught mid-pause, with baited breath, afraid of disturbing the taut surface-tension with a sudden move or unsettling remark? I sincerely hope this last scenario isn't the one you're currently living out… and if you've been reading anything I've written here in the past I-don't-even-know-how-long, you should know exactly why. This present moment is like a friggin' handwritten announcement from the Universe, specifically addressed to you Librans, inviting you to please dispense with the cordialities and muster your gumption and take the damn risk already. And those of you crippled by anxious indecision, stuck weighing pros and cons, and/or otherwise indulging the worst of Libran thoughtfulness? I'm worried for you, not only because you may be soliciting the hands of Fate to force the dramatic release you won't allow yourself… but, more deeply, because you are allowing yourself to stay bound and deferential to an internal tyrant (who just so happens to bear a striking resemblance to one or both of your parent-figures), one who holds you back from any and every action that might dare to appear 'unreasonable' or 'impolite' or 'hasty' to the judging eyes of an imaginary jury of peers. Let me tell it to you straight: This tyrant does not have your best interests at heart, try though it might to convince you it's looking out for your safety. It wants nothing more than for you to repeat whatever ancestral patterns of dissatisfaction, containment, restraint, and/or 'perfectly appropriate' behavior are deep in your bloodline… though you've seen firsthand what havoc a surrender to its pressures can do to a person's heart-centered sincerity (and it ain't pretty!). As long as I've been writing horoscopes, there's never been a better moment for a Libran to overthrow an inner tyrant than right now. Can I put it any more plainly?

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Being present in your body is where all the exciting action happens, Scorpio, contrary to any deleterious fantasies that'd suggest otherwise. Regardless of its earthly age (which we could only truly know by slicing across your trunk and counting the rings), your body remains essentially a child… eager to see where its impulses might carry it, and what it can do if fed the proper mix of nutrients, restfulness and motion, its every breath and heartbeat a miracle that never ceases to inspire wonder. At this decisive juncture, then, you could choose to further fuel this child-body's enthusiasms by visualizing exciting self-development adventures for yourself, exercises and activities intended to challenge and strengthen its healthful relationship to the grounded reality it thrives best in—or you could choose to nurture other types of imaginative visions which nihilistically seek to ignore (or 'transcend', as the loftier among you might describe it) the limitations of this physical world, in a valiant move to touch the untouchable no matter what magnitude of ramifications comes along with it. Both scenarios are almost certain to provide you the thrills and chills you're hungrily searching for. The first one is a somewhat slower, more gradual approach, and it requires you to integrate this horizon-expanding quest with all those other spinning-plates of experience (many of which often bog you down with their tedium). The second one will get you there faster, and with greater drama… and, as such, has its undeniable appeal. But here's the problem with rushing ahead to so-called transcendence and leaving your body-consciousness behind: There's no guarantee you can ever get back here, once you 'transcend'. This is unquestionably a time to shake up lots of facets in your day-to-day patterns; however, please don't fuck with your guardianship of this childlike body-vessel you occupy.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): Going all the way to 'that place', Sagittarius, will almost assuredly bring the snags, intricacies, intensities and/or intimacies you both wish for and get nervous about… but isn't that why you're so eager to pull the ripcord and let 'er fly? You obviously want a little bit (or a lot) of tantalizing intrigue, to inundate your senses and tickle your tummy with anticipatory somersaults, or you wouldn't find yourself flirting this coquettishly with a complicating involvement. What's wonderful about this feeling, you can tell your 'practical' side to assuage its anxieties, is that you don't actually need another reason than 'because I want to!' to choose to engage with something likely to bring you this much pleasure… even if it's silly, even if it's fleeting, and/or even if it might require some delicate disentangling maneuvers somewhere down the road. 'Down the road' is so not of the moment, right? Obviously, the biggest potential danger here is also the very appeal of its greatest potential payoff, two sides of the same damn coin: Emotions, expectations, and the concomitant psychic etceteras are all running way high, essentially taking 'casual' off the table and firmly positioning this involvement in the 'major' category. In other words: high risk, high dividend. Sagittarians, alas, are renowned for your thirst for adventure, so I suspect you'd naturally lean toward taking the risk—if only because it's sure to expose you to a set of experiences you otherwise might never have, and you typically enjoy experiencing as much of what the world has to offer as you can. Just don't allow the thrills to inspire a momentary amnesiac condition which causes you to forget who you are as an individual, and/or how your own longer-term intentions will be impacted if and when you dive all the way in.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): Yes, I happened to spy yet one more offhand remark accusing me of not liking Capricorns (GRRRR!)… and on the occasion of this craziest of astrological weeks, which includes Pluto standing still in your sign and the climax of many conflicting energies, I want to make it clear once and for all that I'm, in fact, a huge Capricorn fan. Sometimes I actually joke I'm a Capricorn expert because of all the clients, friends, and romantic partners of your sign I attract. So it's not that I don't 'get' what's up with you, Cappie: I'm merely challenging you, hardcore, to truly and deeply acknowledge the impact your impeccable conscientiousness has on the rest of us. You are a lot to live up to, in case you hadn't noticed that based upon the high-standards trip you constantly lay on yourself. Do you think we don't pick up on that vibe… and, thanks to our own entrenched insecurities and aspirational strivings, falsely assume your strict self-disciplinary tendencies aren't also directed judgmentally at us? So the 'criticisms' you may hear in the horoscopes I write you are really intended to drill into your head how hungry the rest of us are to connect with you, and how you hold the ability to bend gently and lovingly towards us, in order to help counterbalance the likelihood that we're feeling threatened by your excellence. We fear that being 'connected' to us is less important to you than your many other great feats. We just need a bit of gentle reassurance, that's all—which ought to make perfect sense since, at the end of the day, that's also what you really need most from yourself.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): Just because 'everything happens for a reason', that doesn't mean you're supposed to have instant direct access to that reason while the everything is still happening, Aquarius. And just because you possess an extra-proficient ability to astutely talk yourself into, out of, and through all the details of whatever's up, that still doesn't mean your intellect is capable of truly comprehending the full consequential extent to which this current episode is affecting yours and others' lives. Discuss it all you want, of course, as an in-the-moment coping mechanism (because what could make you feel better than tossing words and concepts at an indescribable, elusive phenomenon?)… but please don't fall victim to any totalizing interpretive version, which might insinuate either the messiah's about to land or a very heavy shoe's about to drop from the sky. You do not (and cannot) know the ultimate significance of these strange goings-on, or even which parts ought to be seen as the 'significant' ones (and which not-so-much). Remember this, should you find the week's Mercury-Mars opposition across two information-processing houses stirring up an argument: You might not be arguing about what you think you're arguing about. Though the contentious communicative vibe may be real, any confidence you feel in the righteousness of your position could well prove illusory. All you really need to know right now is what your strengths as an individual are—distinct from these situational influences, which are fogging up the mirror—and how best to sustain your bodily wellness and productive capacity during this odd time. The rest remains to be seen.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Just for the record, this is quite a cresting of emotional torrents for a dear little fishie like you to deal with, Pisces… so please do your charitable best to grant yourself much leeway for the periodic gush of collateral fallout that could flush through your system. You're built to sympathetically swell along with the psychic tides, and I'm sure you're experiencing the high heights of this one through the all magnified manifestations it's obviously inspiring. Simply put, there's no getting away from these lunar-eclipse-charged surges of emotion… though not only are they (like everything else in our delimiting dimension) temporary, but they also need not be fully taken on as actually belonging to you. While you can't do anything about your innate sensitivity to the energies around you, you can choose not to identify with these energies. You can acknowledge feeling what you feel without fruitlessly trying to figure out what's wrong with you as an individual, when the 'problem' you're sensing may not be yours. The best way for you to successfully surf these waves, at the current moment, is through strongly prioritizing activities and interactions which promote simplicity—while, at the same time, trying to avoid those interpersonal situations which leave you feeling confused, frazzled, overpowered, and/or misunderstood. Steer clear especially of those folks who can't help but drag you into their drama and/or unfairly involve you in a conflict wholly of their making. It's hard enough to manage your own energy right now. The last thing you need is to be bombarded with someone else's not-well-managed reactions to the chaos all around. (This should also tell yourself something about the relative health or toxicity of certain relationships.)