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Horoscopes | Week of February 9-15, 2015

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Keep reminding yourself this is just the calm before a spectacular cloudburst of hyperactivity, which begins when both Mars and Venus progress together into your sign toward the tail-end of next week, Aries. Hopefully, that knowledge alone will be sufficient to soothe your antsy energies… for if you didn't know this eternal-seeming moment was simply the astrologically-ordained incubation period leading up to an unbridled outpouring of self-driven forward momentum, you might be starting to really worry about why things aren't moving along quite as you'd like and/or whether there's something wrong with you for not knowing exactly how to jumpstart your efforts. For the last little stretch of this downtime interval, then, there's nothing to 'move along' and nothing 'wrong' with uncertainty or confusion. If anything, on the level of spiritual integration, you've still got a lot to gain from purposefully not trying to figure anything out or get anything going. The relative silence, stillness, and space you create will actually help the proper perspective fall into place on its own… far more effectively, I might add, than pounding on doors or kicking the ground or racking your brain for some missing piece of information. Circumstances are developing, even now, though not in ways readily apparent to you nor within your reliable grasp to mold. Give it all another short while to shake out, hands-off-style please. Your time is coming so very very soon, we can both taste it.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Spend this Mercury-turning-direct-again week gently straightening out any public statements and/or professional communications which might've gone awry in recent weeks… but without expressing any visible frustration, defensiveness, or antagonism about what didn't go smoothly the first time. Meanwhile, check in once again with your closest pals and/or teammates, to reiterate your spirited support and to solicit theirs, explicitly letting them know that any striking absence or emotional distance they might notice is a facet of your own inward process and not something they did wrong. As you begin to turn this next corner, you're approaching an oncoming interval of strange, cryptic, and/or mystical circumstantial developments… a window in which you could feel uncannily out of control of much of what's going on, except of course of your own reactions, though what'll transpire is likely to significantly impact your life. Though there's the obvious potential for such news to cause worry, I want you to deeply understand that remaining in control of your reactions does offer you a larger amount of agency than you may suspect—it could, in fact, make all the difference. In advance of this, then, please cover these two preparatory bases I mentioned in the opening: Clarify any public-record testimony, and reaffirm your allegiances. It's better to say it twice (or thrice) than to leave anyone to read into what's been left uncertain.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Concentrate intently on strategic positioning, Gemini… not the kind where you adopt stances based upon what's polling well amongst the populace at large, but by doing your best to ensure your every outward action genuinely reflects your personal beliefs about what's decent, upstanding, and correct in the world. At the moment, few actions you take could be legitimately considered 'off the record'. Rather, impressions are being made, opinions formed and attitudes interpreted, based upon what you're presently putting forth. So, if you'd like to make any further adjustments to the reputation you've lately earned for yourself, I recommend taking care of those this week. This could be as easy as simply repeating your reasons for caring so greatly about your pet project or passion, in a tone loud and direct enough for others to hear and understand. It might involve taking one big step closer to someone whose ideals are admirable and inspiring… or, conversely, stepping a noteworthy distance away from someone who's proven a disappointment and/or an unrepresentative ally. Or it could require you to voice a committed intention to developing your skills or knowledge in that certain area you'd like to more fully immerse yourself in. Whatever the specifics of your case, this is the time to unambiguously articulate (whether for the first time or all over again) where, by purpose and desire, you're now headed. Starting within a couple weeks or so, you should expect friends, colleagues, or community-members to meet your statement-of-purpose, flocking nearer by or dashing decidedly off, as appropriate.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): It's time to get any last unvoiced issues, unsettling observations, or unfulfilled feelings on the table as soon as you can, Cancer, if there's an ambiguous arrangement or outstanding argument still lingering within an intimate partnership or finance-related deal. On the psychic level, you just can't afford to have any such muddling situation hanging over your head. Soon enough, you'll have a red-hot shot to rocket yourself more dramatically into the spotlight, to thrust yourself up a rung or two on the ladder of achieving your professional aims, and/or to blast your public renown sky-high… but not if you aren't able to feel free, unfettered, and autonomous enough to boldly chase your impulses, when they promise to carry you to unprecedented heights. Rather than fixate too myopically on that certain party whose own distinct considerations have seemed at times indivisible from your own interests, I suggest you orient yourself around the wider ethics at play in any unresolved deadlock: You mustn't make exceptions to your general rules for living respectably, just because somebody else's feelings may be involved. The underlying matter of whether this entanglement ties your hands to such a degree that it interferes with the radical pursuit of your own aspirations, I must tell you, is not one which will soon pass by on its own. If you want to assert agency in how it ultimately pans out (and I think you do), then please keep this conversation going.

LEO (July 23-August 22): Any relational rhythms still shaking out, interpersonal tensions being worked through, and/or questions about the appropriate amount of involvement or compromise should really start pointing to their logical conclusion in the days to come, Leo. As Mercury returns to direct motion in your partnership house (the 7th), the conversations and levels-of-mutual-understanding are due to turn in a clearer direction… bringing you much closer to the answer you've been looking for, whether it's a more solid commitment to go onward together (along with your heightened need to consider their feelings, fears, and desires alongside all the extra-exciting benefits of escalating intimacy) or an increasingly obvious awareness that this probably shouldn't proceed much past here (if, that is, you don't want to fuel an impractical dynamic which puts one or the other of you at risk of unfitting self-sacrifice). And it's a good thing, too, since you'll soon become intently fired-up by an exhilarating pull toward some adventurous discontinuity: a radical departure from the usual frame-of-reference (that oh-too-familiar flow of one day just like the next, taking you past the same sites and through interactions with the same characters) so you might experience something new, eye-opening, and mind-expanding. What role will this other person play in your just-now-beginning-to-get-larger life? Would they feed this personal growth, or get in its way? Address these questions now.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Whatever path a critical interpersonal dynamic is currently traveling down, Virgo, is likely to tellingly intensify in the weeks to come. This shouldn't come as a huge shock, if you've been following the relationship-oriented thread that's recurred throughout your recent horoscopes. The question of how you situate yourself with respect to the other person—dominating them or surrendering yourself, catering to their needs or criticizing their neediness, behaving as an equal or playing out a power differential—has been especially ripe lately. And now, the next logical step of your evolution in this relationship is imminent, as both Venus and Mars prepare to advance, hand in hand, from your 7th to your 8th late next week. If things have been flowing swimmingly between you two, you should expect to hit a deepening level of intimacy, passion, and connectedness… or at least discover a new set of constructive challenges, which it's up to you to work through together, in the process of building greater trust and understanding. If, on the other hand, the relationship's sort of sucked lately, you're probably due to blow the lid off whatever differences or disputes have only been dealt with indirectly or passive-aggressively… with a potentially bombastic outcome of one type or another. But before the intensification occurs, you do have this small window-of-opportunity to change courses more gently if you don't like where it's been headed. That extra week-and-a-half or so could be the difference between a few calmish conversations and a full-on loss of patience.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): This is likely to be the last horoscope of mine you'll read for a while, Libra, in which I drill home the importance of tackling your day-to-day work above all other priorities. You're probably pleased as punch to receive that message (just as I'm eager to not sound like a broken record)… though those of you who have taken my words to heart over recent weeks may well be hitting a pretty sweet spot with your productive rhythms right about now. If you can once again adequately restrain the impact of social temptation or interference, you ought to be able to squeeze out another week's worth of competent progress—and, considering the astro-shift that's soon headed your way, the more you can successfully accomplish now, the better. As you're diligently toiling, you might simultaneously detect a perceptual refinement occurring in your mind, related not to what you're working on but to how you're finding your pleasure and, naturally, who you're finding it with. Some matter of predilection or preference is in need of ironing out. Only now, over the course of this week and into next, are you coming to understand the finer-points of what is and isn't functioning to your liking. Soon enough, you'll be in the relationship-standoff spot of having to actually make it happen, in active dialogue with the person-in-question... and let's just say, that'll occupy a lot of energy. You're not there yet, though. Until then, put in one more earnest worker-bee push, while you've still got it in you.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): You'll soon be entering a phase in which a lot more urgency is due to impact your day-to-day routine, Scorpio, leaving you far less spare-time-and-energy for the leisure pursuits you've recently enjoyed. Whether it's an intensified workload on the job, a ratcheted-up dedication to improved bodily health-management, or another sort of personal duty which won't allow for any further delays, you're likely to find yourself needing to go full steam ahead with your efforts… without much room for strategic forethought, careful analysis, or very many coffee-breaks. Though this is undoubtedly about ramping up your work, I don't necessarily see this as a turn you ought to dread. On the contrary, I believe you'll gladly rise to the occasion of whatever labors are demanded of you at any moment's notice—even if the motivating circumstances are challenging—as it will feel good to flex your muscles, tackle great responsibilities with aplomb, and generally remind yourself of your innate strength. All that said, however, I definitely encourage you to take dreamy advantage of this current week-ahead, knowing you won't continue to have the luxury of so delightfully drowning yourself in more subjective, imaginal concerns indefinitely. Have as much of a really good time (whatever that means to you personally) as you possibly can this week. Don't push yourself hard. Don't pull your shit together. Don't rally for position. Smile. Giggle. Flirt. Just float around.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): You are about to have so much more fun, Sagittarius. The last thing I'd want for you, therefore, is to indulge too many procrastinatory tendencies at this present moment… a time far better-suited for playing catch-up with your obligatory communications than once Venus and Mars hit your 5th (next Thu-Fri). This is your ideal week for following through on calls, texts, emails, social-media posts, neighborly visits, burgeoning acquaintanceships, and/or any other such interactions you've recently left to dangle (while you were lost in your own head?). Though certain bits of the information you exchange may actually be somewhat important, your main purpose in this ought to be more explicitly about the interpersonal contact itself, those gestures which show someone you've been thinking about them and wish to retain your warm connection. Take advantage of this chance to demonstrate your warmth and consideration now, for once the big astro-shift occurs late next week, you're liable to become totally wrapped up in whatever version of 'fun' captures your imagination—a creative renaissance, an athletic or gaming frenzy, a flirtatious liaison or romantic affair, and/or some other immersive encounter with your inner-child—and might not find yourself moved to pause long enough to carry out such considerate demonstrations. In fact, your total devotion of attention to that which makes you giddy and goofy (an orientation, incidentally, which I wholeheartedly support) could leave you susceptible to (potentially justified) complaints that you're behaving in a self-centered manner. That's why you might as well conduct a bit of preemptive defense by displaying you're not (typically) self-centered through reaching out to others now… before you become more, um, fun-lovingly self-centered.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): It's perfectly okay to just take it all in, Capricorn, without immediately understanding how you feel about it. In fact, for the moment, it's probably better to purposely not try to grab a reliable handle on your feelings… especially since your internal sense-making apparatus could become caught considering how you think you ought to feel, how you believe other people might expect you to feel, and/or what you wish you didn't feel, all of which are cerebral concoctions that'll only get in the way of your receiving the emotional information. You needn't put yourself through any such calisthenics in order to figure anything out. Between now and the end of next week, the pertinent emotional responses should simply emerge, effortlessly, the longer you sit with the circumstantial unfoldings—and, all the while, you should perpetuate your oh-so-fetching social-butterfly persona so that nobody will catch on to your unconscious feeling-crunching machinations. Yes, for just a little while longer, your pleasant presence remains in demand… if for no other reason than your glaring absence would be too noticeable. Put a grin on it, no matter your inner uncertainty about whether you should be laughing or crying or bitching someone out. You will have your chance to act on behalf of your emotional needs soon enough, once you have a better sense of what that will entail.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): Pieces fit into place. Light-bulbs suddenly turn on. You can really start to see how this is all likely to unfold, Aquarius… and, in your finally-putting-it-all-together excitement, your first impulse may well be to sing your realizations to the rooftops. But with Mercury only just barely returning to direct motion on Wednesday (Feb 11) in your sign, you might want to give yourself a small cushion of time to adjust to your fledgling perspectival clarity—before announcing your grand intentions to the world. Declarations made this week could smack of an underlying insecurity, not because the conclusions you're now drawing are somehow faulty, but simply due to your needing just a few moments to silently accept the shape of this new reality you're about to make manifest. If you prematurely enlist other people in the conversation, it'll feel like you're trying to sell them on your ingenuity (almost as if you're simultaneously trying to convince yourself to believe in what you're selling)… when, in fact, your commitment to follow through is essentially already a done-deal. Well, isn't it? Spend these next several days reassuring yourself. Come the end of next week, you will be ready to blab your brilliance to anyone who'll listen.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): No need to call the press, alert the authorities, or needlessly alarm anyone by expecting a certain response or go-ahead. Continue along with what you're involved in, Pisces, not exactly under the 'cover' of any shady disguise or obscuring masks but nonetheless confidently stealthily. If the door's unlocked, it seems logical to assume you're welcome to step through it. If a basket of goodies has been left on the front porch, by all means, help yourself. Soundlessly follow the signs, collecting the breadcrumbs which have been strewn along this magical path as guidance for you, according to a logic unbeknownst to anybody else who might pass you by, they who are unaware that you're up to some pretty fantastic self-development business right about now. Don't make any unnecessary noise, or you might spook the sideliners, tipping 'em off to the veritable goldmine you're quietly cleaning out (as so you should) and suddenly drawing competing interests to your down-low monopoly. You want to get in and out of here with a minimal amount of detection, lest you be put on the spot to answer loaded questions or defend your free prospecting rights. Slip through the cracks, never going so far as to break a law or ethical code-of-conduct, yet playing right into the unspoken loopholes, still perfectly honorable as long as no loudmouth or poor-sport catches wind. This is one last big chance to effectively assert your willful agency… before everyone else wakes the heck back up and starts their shit a-poppin' once again.