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Horoscopes | Week of July 6-12, 2015

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Though you're unquestionably an action-driven type, Aries, that orientation, like anything, isn't necessarily optimal for all situations. Sometimes, it's better not to externalize your impulses too promptly… particularly when such expressions are liable to open you up to further convoluting influences, by simple virtue of the fact that those around you will almost surely respond to any outward developments your actions caused. Do you really want to draw more complexities, contradictions, and/or conflicts into your already-convoluted emotional state? Probably not. Especially since, presumably, the whole point of your even taking an external action would be to simplify, settle, or speed along your inner uncertainty. I wouldn't recommend needlessly involving any outside party in your personal process—which is what you might indirectly and/or unconsciously end up doing, as a result of some sudden step circumstantially situating you in someone else's path—unless you must interact with that certain individual, in order to cleanly move forward. Otherwise, if you're careless with who else you implicate, you might just make things a lot more complicated than they need be.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Though you may prefer to be left to your own discrete devices these days, Taurus, you mustn't do so at the expense of your commitment to a primary relationship. While last week's horoscope also touched on similar issues regarding the rightful balance between private personal interests and a broader ethical obligation, this week's situation isn't quite the same… though it still requires you to temper your urge to bask in self-affirming 'me time' with the need to remain actively engaged with the outside world. Yet, in terms of this central relationship, you might not feel the same moral imperative to act. The other person may need nothing 'important' (or, at least in your view, nothing more important than what you need from yourself) other than your company: no crisis to manage, no urgent business to handle, no critical decision to make. Or perhaps there is something of greater significance lingering beneath their surface-level nonchalance, and they're just waiting for you to pay them enough sustained attention before bringing it up. You can't know, however, until you grant them a certain chunk of your presence. Their demands (even if largely unspoken) might feel like an imposition on your emotional freedom at the moment, but don't be short-sighted about it. The relationship itself is really what's important, after all—right? isn't it?!?—not whatever fleeting conversational content could otherwise be too easily dismissed because you want to be left alone.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The threat of your falling prey to distractions is presently at a peak-level, Gemini… which is really saying something, since you inquisitive twin-souls are always already known for your, um, diffuse attention-span. While this threat shouldn't be read as a wholesale rebuke of your daring to savor these amped-up social-butterfly vibes, you do need to simultaneously keep your head in the game. By that, I mean you have some vital practicalities currently bearing down on you, and they require more than a mere fraction of your regard, in between this and that diversionary engagement. Your day-to-day grind has little room for skipped steps, overlooked obligations, or exceptions-to-the-rule: Look away for more than a couple moments, and you'll only accumulate more work for yourself. And if you ever hope for your routine to improve, in terms of how constructively rewarding it feels, you cannot afford to lollygag or snooze during these critical few months. Fix your mind, therefore, on simple efforts you can take now—with no additional skills, tools, or resources beyond what you've already got—to immediately carve out more profit-potential for yourself. Though concrete opportunities abound, you can too easily fritter them away… perhaps without even noticing.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): As of mid-week, we can add Mercury to the mix of planetary helpers (i.e., the Sun and Mars) in your sign, and thus happily functioning on your behalf, Cancer. With this further concentration of astrologically self-suiting energy, including the synergy of mind and might which accompanies an impending Mercury-Mars conjunction, you are incontrovertibly in a sweet spot when it comes to your current capacity to make shit happen. Gone now, too, are all those warnings about fuzzy or imprecise communication potentials: Feel free to establish any and all desired contact, to describe yourself, explain your thinking, make your pitch, and/or initiate discussions under whichever auspices best serve you. While plenty of folks will take particular note of what you're presenting them, both in words and posture, there may of course be certain individuals who are put off by your go-getter stance… and who, in response, attempt to undermine your confidence and/or curtail your assertive advances. Rather than assume the transgression is yours in such an instance, you might alternately consider whether they're just a power-tripper trying to 'put you in your place'—in which case they probably aren't someone you'd want to get deeper in bed with (so to speak), unless that's the dynamic you wish to continue playing out. Though you may be strongly motivated by furthering your practical interests at the moment, please don't seriously pursue any involvement unless you also actually want to involve yourself.

LEO (July 23-August 22): No two people carry the identical emotional stake into a given situation, even when it may ostensibly appear as if you are really, truly, deeply understanding each other. Taking that into account, Leo, please be aware you may be bringing a certain psychological hunger—for stimulating engagement or exhilarating adventure, for loving attention or self-affirming recognition, for some enlivening release from the predictable or mundane—to your present condition which is not necessarily as indistinguishable from what other involved parties are bringing to the table as you might mistakenly believe. Perhaps you're more emotionally attached, overeager, impatient, intense, and/or daring than they are. Maybe you're only seeing your certain angle... and, as such, you're missing key details about theirs. Or it could be a simple case of you feeling readier to leap, thanks to the eggings-on you're still receiving from Venus and Jupiter. In any event, you are at some elevated risk of getting yourself into trouble by taking precarious (and/or potentially self-sabotaging) actions, based on a degree of confusion about where someone else now stands in relation to you… and what the subsequent ramifications of this miscalculation to your standing might be. Number-one self-protective ideal to honor: emotional self-containment. Before doing anything based on a feeling, take some time to explore the depths of what's underneath that feeling, and/or what it's really all about.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Please don't allow the discourse to circumstantially slip into a case where you're expected to confess inapplicably personal information, Virgo, in contexts where your intent is far broader and/or more collectively-minded than such a conversational tone would suggest. Otherwise, it's possible someone who's unfriendly towards your cooperative vision and/or your style of community involvement will use your offhand disclosures as an excuse to psychoanalyze your motives… and try to make you appear more egotistical or greedy than you in fact are. In light of this possibility, however, you probably shouldn't posture as if you have no self-serving agenda at all, and are merely participating out of the pure charitable goodness of your own noble heart. You do have a personal stake, of course—as we all do, whenever we care enough to channel our passions into a certain pursuit over any other—and it's essential to your credibility to acknowledge it up front, rather than disingenuously disavow it. Yet, as I already said in my opening, this discourse is ultimately not about you, but about a larger project and/or the joint contributions of a whole cast of characters. If put on the spot, keep reframing the discussion to align with this rightful perspective.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): You mustn't become too absorbed with how what you're doing expertly dovetails (or doesn't, as the case may be) with whatever everyone else is up to, Libra, lest you pass up this superb chance to advance your own enterprising public-sphere agenda. After all, you are the one presently at the podium… and it's your longer-term trajectory so pivotally on the line at this prime moment. While of course it's nice to maintain a generous vibe of camaraderie amongst your peer-group whenever possible, such an attitude should not come above the critical need to look out for your own interests. Be especially vigilant about any internal preoccupations with whether other people (either actual individuals or the hypothetical concept) are liking you, since such concerns could undermine your capacity to embody the outward authority fundamental to attaining success. When you're in a more conspicuous position such as your current one, you can't escape the fact that you are separating yourself from the crowd: You receive more attention, your every move is seen as if under a microscope, and you're thus more susceptible to possible criticism or judgment—as well as to admiration and respect—than at other times. Don't buy into the imagined press, whether good or bad. You're simply here to demonstrate what you can do.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Your eye must stay on the grand prize, Scorpio, if you wish to contain any stray rebel-cries or erratic itches which might otherwise discharge themselves from you during a momentary ego-surge. You ought to have enough to be genuinely excited about (provided that you are indeed intentionally orienting yourself in a specific direction) to keep your imagination happily occupied with future-minded visions… and, as a result, any passing irritations with a present-time happenstance can hopefully be kept in check before they spur an impassioned, though aimless, lurch. I'd even declare it okay to indulge certain escapist inclinations, if, of course, you're only 'escaping' the triggering reality by immersing yourself in creative conceptions, inspiring daydreams, and artistic inventions—but not (as we've already discussed) literally escaping the real-life situation. But just because it's presumably becoming more and more obvious how much else you could be reasonably aspiring to achieve out there in the game, that isn't enough to justify potentially imperiling your present status by trying to prematurely collect on a prospective, forthcoming greatness which you haven't yet manifested.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): Kicking it into high-gear (which, to remind you, doesn't mean rushing sloppily ahead) will require a fierce degree of enforced focus, Sagittarius—even if you have to fight off other parties who may be competing for your attention. Your most urgent responsibility is to watchfully guard against any potential energy-leaks, which might slyly siphon away your much-needed initiative if you're not paying proper mind. Analogously, your biggest current risk is perpetuating poor emotional boundaries, allowing yourself to get swept up in someone else's storms (or just the general storminess of human life). This is a mood-gamble that your top-priority purpose simply cannot afford for you to take at this time. Therefore, you might need to raise your voice or increase the emphasis in your tone when informing any likely focus-stealing culprits that you must, first and foremost, attend to your self-selected investments… and, if and only if you find you have any left to spare after that, then you may be able to give 'em a bit of yourself. Without putting this essential psychic discipline into practice, even your best-intention enthusiasms will only get you so far. Seal those energetic cracks, please.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): Should you encounter an incident in which another person responds to you as if you're being domineering, dismissive, and/or difficult and you have no flippin' idea where they're coming from on this, Capricorn, please don't assume the problem is entirely theirs. At the moment, even if you're intending to behave in your most accommodating mode, you're probably not coming off with as easygoing a manner as you might believe. In fact, there's a way in which 'accommodating' can also read as subtly snide or superior-seeming if you're not careful, as if you're merely pandering to a perceived problem-child with your considerate language or cooperative gestures. Whether such a tone is unconsciously (or semi-consciously) coloring your interpersonal offerings is not something I can confidently assess from where I'm sitting: It would necessarily depend on the specifics of your case, as well as how totally aware you are of your full range of emotions regarding this other person and/or the situation you're in—and, being in it as you are, you might not be so objective about this either. What would a neutral third-party with no personal investment think, though? What if the whole exchange was broadcast to a panel of your most fair-minded peers? Would you be declared innocent of all charges?

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): Duty is definitely calling, Aquarius. Despite so many apparent desires and temptations to the contrary, this is a moment in which you're being unceremoniously reminded that, despite whatever else may be simultaneously transpiring, you have ongoing responsibilities which cannot be ignored without unleashing some sobering wake-up call. The good news: Your 6th-house is full of planetary energies supportive of such diligent duty-fulfillment, provided you don't try to arm-wrestle yourself out of working hard (as a result of phantom rebel-impulses and/or faulty logic). It'll help to remind yourself of the interconnectedness between the current business-at-hand (which might seem pointless, annoying, and/or disheartening by your inner self-saboteur's rationale) and what you consider your broader purpose-in-life (which, though it's likely far more idealistic-sounding, still must necessarily rest on a stable foundation of tangible effort). You'll be more earnestly inspired about your immediate labor if you rightly understand what it's all apt to amount to over time. The less-good news: As I alluded to two weeks ago, your warm and encouraging rapport with certain individuals—warm and encouraging though it may be—could make it harder for you to stay appropriately focused on your own agenda. What they want from you and/or what you want to enjoy with them may well be in sharp contrast with what's rightfully expected of you, due to this important role you've toiled long and hard to achieve.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): I'm going to begin by inferring that any mood-dips from a few weeks back have since faded into relative oblivion, Pisces. If for some reason they haven't, you probably aren't letting these now-quite-strong 5th-house energies do one of their main jobs… which is to raise your fun quotient to a much more palpable level of immediate gratification. Not feeling it? Then it's on you to functionally set yourself up for more fun: Put some sure-to-be-enjoyable plans on your schedule. Attend those events and hot-spots which always put a smile on your face. Sign up to play. Even if you aren't certain your spirits will lift, go through the motions as if you expect they will. Should certain social inhibitions be playing a part in your hesitation, you'll simply have to bust through the unhealthy compulsion with what other people think: Honey, it's your good time on the line; if they judge you, fuck 'em. It really is that important for you to positively promote a significant leisure-time… not only because the 5th-house astrology really wants it for you, but because it's also time to tackle those most-critically-defining facets of your work which you perhaps haven't been attending to. Over these past couple weeks, in the process of rebuilding your optimistic outlook, I've granted you permission to pick and choose which work-tasks you'd prefer to do. No longer. That tough highest-priority job now needs your attention.