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Horoscopes | Week of March 16-22, 2015

ARIES (March 21-April 19): If you're using this currently Aries-centric astrology for more than merely confirming what you already knew and/or unilaterally muscling your agenda into dominance (though a fair amount of that would be expected), then you're probably also now arriving at a greater understanding of what you don't know yet. If there's one surefire insight that emerges from so much rapid self-driven activity, Aries, it's the awareness of where your fantasies about what you thought would happen, as the probable result of your doing this or that, actually diverge from the real results you now see unfolding before you. To your credit, you're quite adept at instinctually responding to changing conditions and unanticipated developments, so I'm not especially worried about your capacity to shift gears based upon what you discover. But before you can effectively respond, you must first acknowledge what you're responding to… and if you refuse to accurately identify this rift between preexisting idealism and present-moment reality, you simply aren't thinking too clearly. It's no unflattering reflection on your intellect to admit you overlooked a key consideration or didn't see this certain scenario coming. It is, however, deeply regrettable to insistently double-down on being 'right' when your version's obviously missing something.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): With your ruling-planet and bestower-of-blessings Venus back in your sign as of Tuesday (Mar 17), Taurus, you can happily expect a gentle mood-elevating influence to make things generally easier and more pleasant for you. Will that instantly rescue you from this lingering sense of being powerless, at the whim of others' uncertain deeds and slippery statements? Not likely. Hopefully, however, it'll help you preserve a more self-confident stance in response to whatever they're up to… rightfully seeing that, no matter how things shake out with certain bonds or affiliations, you are going to be just fine. Lean on Venus's reassuring energy as a support, should you discover a disappointing focal-point or streak-of-opinion rising amongst your community or social-circle, so that you're able to express your discontent and/or present a contrasting viewpoint, even as it may obstruct the togetherness vibe or highlight your own rupture with particular players-of-influence. For your longer-term sense of personal integrity, it's better not to go along with a collective tide that, if left to its own devices, could carry you an uncomfortable distance from the virtues which anchor you. If that means serving as the voice for complicating counter-considerations or unpopular reality-checks, so be it. At least with Venus on your side, you're likelier to emerge with favorable impressions intact—at least in most people's eyes.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): As a flip-side companion piece to last week's horoscope, Gemini, it's just as important that you not kowtow to any single individual's asserted hope that you bend the truth and/or cherry-pick which parts are 'for public consumption' than it is that you remain conscious of how your public communications impact others. The common thread here: an awareness of how none of your professional and/or community-related relations exist in a bubble, but rather are potently interrelated. To do what's best both for the issue-at-hand and your standing as a responsible party in its handling, you must strive to occupy that middle-ground of (1) respectfully practicing collegial courtesy in all exchanges while (2) honorably setting everyone's egos aside, in order to impersonally advocate for whatever best-practices the work necessitates. Just as you shouldn't want to be seen as a inconsiderate go-getter or blameless buck-passer, neither should you sign off on anybody else playing a similarly problematic role, at the expense of what serves the whole team. Your duty could thus involve offering some difficult feedback (though I urge you to shy away from personal attacks, in favor of discussing effective collaborative methods and values)… or even enduring an 'a-ha!' moment of coming to understand the unavoidable limitations of your relationship with this individual. What you mustn't allow is for any single person to block your capacity for truth-telling.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Don't hesitate to share your aspirations with the folks in your life, Cancer, out of fear they'll point out everything that's half-baked, starry-eyed, or too ridiculously improbable to 'make sense'. Your dreams are actually craving a reality-check, believe it or not… not to discourage you from continuing to dream your little heart out, but, quite the opposite, to help you see how very possible it could be for you to manifest what you desire. Trust me, it'll be incredibly useful to discuss your hopes for the future with your most trusted friends or peers, even if you don't immediately adore everything they have to say. That's because, if they're your people, they truly want you to see you happily self-actualized. Though they may indeed possess practical know-how which you lack, you needn't interpret their pointing-out of these experiential gaps as a sign you shouldn't, therefore, go forward. It's your responsibility to not react to such outside suggestions as criticisms, but as helpful hints for success… and, consequently, to not allow this sobering awareness of all that still must get done to dissuade you from your intent to make it happen anyhow. You'll have to expose your ideas to the public eventually, in order to turn 'em into something real. Practice getting comfortable with such frank reality-check dialoguing—without taking any challenging feedback so personally.

LEO (July 23-August 22): With Venus entering your solar 10th (the house of career, public-world participations, and earned reputation) to stay for the next three weeks, Leo, this is your time to cement your position by functionally demonstrating how you intend to sustain whatever enthusiasm has recently swept through your life. One quality I'd suggest you deliberately highlight: your steadfast follow-through. Not only is a certain consistency in work-ethic a trait that's self-evidently essential for verifying your latest inspiration isn't a fly-by-night flash-in-the-pan, but a similar consistency in attitude is just as critical for fostering trust amongst investors, collaborators, and other partners-in-crime. This means both regularly showing up whenever your presence is expected by key impression-formers and maintaining a coherent narrative about your goals which doesn't change from day to day. Due to Neptune's influence over Mercury-in-your-8th, you're under increased risk of conversationally veering from your unambiguous personal truth should you feel as if the other party would prefer you to sing a different tune. That would be a serious misstep, however. Even if motivated by a sincere desire to keep them happy, your shape-shifting opinions are likelier to confuse and/or concern than to inspire confidence.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Stay true to your soul (or whatever you wish to call it) first, Virgo, regardless of what any other person—including a spouse, best friend, business partner, or other important individual in your life—is liable to say about it. As we discussed last week, you're under a heightened risk of telling this certain someone all the kindest-and-most-understanding sentiments you imagine they want to hear… even if, deep inside, the very voicing of such them-centered notions causes you to gasp for breath or flinch in anticipation. There's now brewing a sharp astrological conflict between (1) preserving a smooth sympathetic flow with them and (2) holding a firm self-protective line, and it'll feel far easier for you to just give in to the instant-relief of the former than to be seen as selfish, difficult, or uncompromising by carrying through with the latter. Thanks to Venus's grounding arrival to an earth sign (and to your solar 9th), you can support yourself in staying true to your soul by casting any potential conundrum in ethical terms: What is the right thing for you to do, to keep you on your most personally enriching path? How will you feel later about the decisions or judgment-calls you need to make now, once several years have passed (and perhaps you're no longer under such immediate interpersonal pressures)? And by the way, being 'nice' to someone isn't always the morally correct approach… especially if the so-called niceness rests, at least somewhat, on pretense or deception.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): Perhaps because you've recently had plenty of near-constant dialoguing (and/or internal positioning-and-repositioning) in your relationship with that certain special someone, I can understand why you might see the work-tasks you're charged with as something of an escape from all that talking, Libra. Though I do urge you to turn your attention to your work-at-hand, I cannot, however, encourage you to do your work in a self-enclosed echo-chamber where you're somehow not obliged to stay in close contact with those whose opinions, directives, and/or blessings are critical to the success of the endeavor. Indeed, the more you isolate yourself from other key players in your work-process, the likelier that you'll (inadvertently or intentionally) maintain certain unrealistic expectations, precarious blind-spots, and/or needlessly ineffective methodologies. Pausing to check in, discuss, and run your thoughts past those who have a relevant horse in this race is not merely a necessary evil, by the way. The whole point is to save yourself from any wasted time, excessive effort, or energy-depleting problem-solving headaches. Why reinvent the wheel when someone else can hand over the blueprints, dispense educated advice, and/or help you explore all your other options? Any avoidant tendencies are actually less about trying to get your work done, in fact… and more an unconsciously alienating defense-mechanism.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Once Venus hits your relationship house (the 7th) early on Tuesday (Mar 17), Scorpio, you'll be less likely to strike other people with the sharp, piercing tone I warned about last week. In fact, where before your ideas might've seemed too self-determinedly ambitious, risky, and/or hasty, the change in astro-climate could cast these same notions in a much more appealing or irresistible light. This marked uptick in visionary salespersonship is excellent for persuading those who may lack a certain imagination to believe in the exquisite tale you're spinning. But, at the same time, you must be on guard against falling so hard for your own pitch that you heedlessly block out the intrusion of inconvenient facts, details, or other practical considerations which don't fit the spin. The metaphoric image that comes to my mind, in pondering this potential hazard: You arrange a lovely dinner meeting, inviting the person(s) you wish to win over to your vision and overseeing the proper ordering of every last perfect touch to the meal… only to discover, once the bill arrives, that you've neither anticipated how much such a perfect meal might cost nor come financially prepared to cover the exorbitant sum. In other words, don't let your romantic mouth write a check which your guaranteed resources cannot cash. Interpret as applicable.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): While it's best I stop short of outright telling you, 'Don't trust your feelings, Sagittarius,' I do think it's probably wise you not to rewrite the action-plan you've been working to actualize since 2015 began, based on a just-now-emerging emotional awareness or mood. Rather than full-on mistrusting that your feelings have something valuable to tell you (for isn't that the whole reason we have feelings at all?), I'd just be wary about making any confident claim that you understand what their valuable message is. And, therefore, because you may not understand your feelings, I wouldn't recommend acting in any decisive or dramatic fashion, in a well-meaning but potentially wrongly-aimed attempt to 'resolve' them (for what, exactly, would you be hoping to resolve?). Rather than hastily changing direction, trying a radically different approach, or calling it quits, I suggest the opposite response-tactic: Respectfully identify that you're feeling a certain way, but continue along the path you've already been traveling for these past couple months. Recommitting to a consistent, habit-forming rhythm for the foreseeable future—even despite any doubtful or depressing moments—will help counteract the subjective impulse to suddenly make a different choice and thus re-open a certain can-of-worms. If you're still experiencing this same discouraging moodiness over a span of several more weeks, then you can do something about it.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): To counterbalance any instinctive sense you ought to guard against devolving conversational spirals (a la last week's horoscope), I advise you to unapologetically focus on situating yourself in places, contexts, and activities which maximize your capacity to relax and have fun, Capricorn. While you can't completely nullify the potential to lose your way in social situations which seem to take on a life of their own, you can reduce the likelihood of being pulled into such personally off-putting scenarios by only agreeing to spend your leisure time engaged with people and pursuits you genuinely enjoy. Sure, such a tactic could be legitimately described as being fussy about your preferences. I'd instead prefer to portray it as a simplifying mechanism… a way to reduce the number of circumstantial variables, in order to decrease your exposure to folks you might energetically clash with. The moment you find yourself being coaxed into participating in an encounter which doesn't engender much interest or enthusiasm on your part—perhaps because you feel decorum or politeness requires you give in—that's when you're inadvertently risking a social misfire. You're likelier to stay on the straight-and-narrow, however, if you go into it knowing there's already something or someone you definitely like there.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): After enough exposure to everyone else's destabilizing actions and reactions (likely including some which were, fairly or not, attributed to you for daring to conduct your end of the exchange differently), I hope you're starting to not let this uncontrollable volatility in your social world get you too frazzled or grim, Aquarius. Even as the increased chance of being confronted, ignored, misread, misquoted, imitated, emulated, argued with, revered, conspicuously avoided, revered like royalty, and/or treated like trash continues to leave you not knowing what to expect from a given interaction, you should now be moving into a place where the outer events hold less sway over your inner emotional perspective. In other words, it's as if the feeling of 'I can't win no matter what I say' is giving way to much greater detachment from whether 'winning' matters at all. One way to positively foster this detachment: Be very deliberate in shutting the door to extraneous social input (e.g., texts or email chains, tweets, Facebook posts, chat-rooms, the comments section below online articles) when you're at home and 'done for the day', focusing instead on simplifying comforts and pleasures which get you out of your head and into your body. These small self-nurturing steps will go far in helping you stay on your established track, regardless of what any other folks might think about it.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Even as you're likely to start feeling more comfortable, chilled-out, and socially freer, Pisces, please don't let that relative relief inadvertently cause you to overlook your top life-priority goal(s). Though of course, on the one hand, every moment of your day-to-day existence needn't be devoted to practically driving your ambitions along, on the other hand, you never really get a break from being someone who's presently actively engaged in attaining a higher and/or more gratifying level-of-achievement out in the world. Put another way, just because you're not at work or on stage making public statements of purpose, that doesn't make you a totally different person from the one responsible for those things. Compartmentalizing your behavior, at this critical juncture in your make-it-or-break-it ascent, is somewhat unwise… mainly because you're liable to get a bit too sloppy or imprecise with your actions and utterances, which could indirectly impact the serious reputation you're currently creating for yourself. It is a much smaller world than we often believe, and what you thought was a safe space to be provocative, absent-minded, or out-of-control could prove to have a strange link to your professional world. Embody the authority you're creating for yourself, even when you're not officially 'on the clock'.