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Horoscopes | Week of October 26-November 1, 2015

ARIES (March 21-April 19): At the moment, Aries, what you don't know (and cannot know) is not likely to hurt you… provided, that is, you (1) unashamedly admit you don't know it, (2) don't punitively blame anybody else for that which isn't known, and (3) otherwise remain diligently and industriously on task. This honestly isn't the worst time to take part in difficult conversations, as long as your intent is to confess a shortcoming or face a truth rather than point your finger or assert your dominance. The outright acknowledgment of any missing piece or dangling question-mark can, in fact, help engender trust within those relationships directly impacted by this uncertainty. What won't be helpful, however, are any erratic or explosive reactions on your part, particularly if they involve a sudden switch-in-direction or a hastily-thought-out quick-fix solution. More important than anything else right now is your capacity to stay focused on the work at hand… and to carefully control, to the absolute best of your ability, the quality of each move you make and step you take. Do your most impeccable job with those items you do know how to handle, instead of freaking out about those which you're unclear on.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): This is an intensely fertile moment for you, Taurus, especially thanks to how precisely you're currently able to shape your creations so they present a pristine reflection of what you personally value. The only catch involves how said creations might interact with the wider community in which they'd presumably exist. As crystal-clear as you likely are about how you want it to work, you may presently be just as innocent or starry-eyed about how other people could be collaterally impacted should you proceed strictly according to your platonic ideals. Your unquestionable clarity only applies to one particular side of this story (i.e., yours)… and flirts with cancelling out all others (to the potential detriment of certain alliances with folks who feel overlooked by your version) if you insist upon its unilateral rightfulness. While conversations with key allies about their feelings on what you're now creatively occupied with are best left until next week, you really ought to be thinking about your best way to sincerely address such broader social effects now. Even while I urge you to spend much of your week immersed in your creative process, please don't mistakenly suppose your perfect vision is the only thing to consider.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Your feelings matter, Gemini. A lot. Not like you'd really be able to avoid 'em these days, even if you did try to discount their significance. Should you still be in a spot where you're resisting the (over)due acknowledgment of exactly what is causing your inner turbulence, please, oh please, oh please spend a sizable chunk of time this week in active dialogue with your emotions. Ask 'em what they're trying to tell you. Do some journaling. Articulate those few scary-but-necessary sentences which summarize what your well-being requires in order to expand the satisfaction it can provide you. And, above all else, do not criticize yourself for feeling as you do (for that won't get you anywhere) or attempt to justify away your truth with 'reasonable' analysis (as someone who'd seek to control you might do, in convincing you to follow their rules). Now, presuming you have accepted how much your feelings do indeed matter, you must also counteract the reactionary impulse to defiantly shirk outside-world obligations and/or slyly disappear from roles where your earnest participation is expected. As unsettled as you may feel, using that as an excuse to slip into less responsible behaviors—with potentially lasting consequences, especially career-wise—would ultimately only make you feel worse.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Take great effort to be intently present in all your exchanges, Cancer. No matter how jam-packed your day's schedule and/or how distracted you potentially could become by any number of sudden professional (or outer-community) concerns, you'll actually find your energies more productively put to use by giving whoever you're engaged with your undivided attention. From their end, receiving such a concentrated dose of your total engrossment (even if for no more than a few moments) will communicate more heartfelt care than a litany of sweet-but-hollow 'right words' uttered offhand while your mind's obviously elsewhere. But please remember a slice of your undivided attention does not entitle anyone to a monopoly on your understanding. Just because you listen to or hold space for another human being, that doesn't mean you should necessarily buy into everything they tell you as the divine gospel (or even as altogether honest or correct). Your willingness to connect is not an implicit commitment to be on the same page they are. To be willing but without getting yourself on the hook, then, requires you to be altogether present—and also to continually preserve a broader awareness that any singular interaction shouldn't be treated as the comprehensive testimony on the matters-at-hand. In other words, don't take their word for it; draw your own conclusions, after the fact.

LEO (July 23-August 22): It can't only be about what works for your bottom-line, Leo, but must simultaneously profit anyone else who'd seek to invest in (monetarily and/or emotionally) or collaborate with you. I'm not giving you this line out of some clichéd stereotype about natives of your sign wanting everything to center on yourselves (since, for the record, I don't find that to be especially true). Rather, it's because the astrology has you both (1) in an excellent position to seal a deal which justly compensates you for what you contribute, an opportunity which we've been discussing for weeks now, and (2) under threat of miscalculating where the other party's interests lie, especially insofar as they may diverge from yours. In properly comprehending the whole situation, you mustn't conflate your potential gains with theirs, as if to assume you're both in it for the same reasons and/or they'd be unreservedly happy about you receiving whatever will make you unreservedly happy. If you are getting paid, then somebody else will therefore be paying you… and, trust me, you'll want them to genuinely feel they're receiving what they're paying for, or it's a recipe for future resentment-driven problems down the road. Please feel free to apply this logic to situations beyond merely the financial, to any which involve the exchange of one thing for another.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): This is the peak of that eventful, far-reaching astrological advantage you've been gifted over these recent weeks, Virgo. Venus and Mars are converging in your sign, the quintessential planetary act of insemination and propagation… which means you have been in the midst of bringing forth new life, and we all know just how crazily our existence turns upside-down with the arrival of a newborn. Please keep that image in mind, then, should this upending concentration of newness (perhaps accompanied by loss, confusion, and on-the-spot self-education, along with anticipation and excitement) be currently creating more unavoidable chaos than a typical Virgo enjoys. As with any newborn, whatever's still fresh or undeveloped will show you what it needs as you go along; you simply need to be hopelessly devoted to its nurturance and loving. Of course, by devoting yourself purely and completely to what you're bringing forth, you might be unwittingly leaving a certain someone out of the equation. If your way-of-being is rapidly morphing to accommodate more attention to your 'baby', anybody else who shares life with you is also necessarily affected. (For example, they may also be enduring loss, confusion, and/or a need to get up to speed real quick.) Just as it would be a damn shame for you to forsake this amazing self-development opportunity on anyone's behalf, it would be just as shameful to ignore a doting partner's or close collaborator's experiences from the other side of this evolution.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): Slip out to the nearest well or fountain, Libra, and drop in a shimmering coin imbued with your biggest dream for the coming two-to-three years. Or perhaps wishing upon the first evening star is more your cup-of-tea? Writing secret notes to the Universe and burying them in your garden, or setting them out onto the open sea in a bottle corked with love, also works great. If ever there were a week to suspend your rational-mind's disbelief in magic, and to muster every last bit of wonder still left in your consciousness from that idyllic worldview only children possess, this is it. There's an intensely mystical vibe reverberating through the hidden back-corners of Libra-land at the present, though you needn't take blind faith in any particular divine plan or spiritual dogma to enjoy its benefits (just as astrology continues to describe the archetypal qualities of any particular moment whether or not someone chooses to consult its many-handed clock to see what time it is). This vibe is exceptionally sensitive to any energetic imprints, patterns, or designs you send off into the ethers… provided, that is, you focus all your creative power into this release, then let it go, expecting no immediately discernible evidence but knowing in your heart you'll later be knocked over in humble gratitude by what you've manifested. That said, once you've finished your version of this ritual, it's time to get back to the earthly work relevant to where you are now. Contrary to simplistic views, magic will not substitute for actual effort; it simply helps everything along.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): A little bit (or more) of healthy dreaming will do you good, Scorpio, but too much of it will put you out of step with the consensus reality we all must share. These past few weeks, I've encouraged you to draw upon your peer-networks for inspiration, support, and suggestions… but not to present your ideas and imaginings as much as take in theirs. You have this one last week of Mercury-in-your-12th, during which it still serves you to remain relatively quiet and receptive, before Mercury lands back in your sign again… at which point you will finally be in the right spot to outwardly express what's been percolating in the hidden recesses of your mind, releasing creative seeds into the open air where they'll interact with the other elements of life, and develop into something either appealing or alienating to others. I cannot stress this last bit enough: It's essential to integrate your personal spirit (the romance! the idealism! the flair!) into offerings which serve the actual needs, interests, or inclinations of those who'd be your cronies, clients, consumers, or community-mates. There must be enough of yourself in it that you're motivated to invest your love… and so it doesn't come off as a robotic attempt to pander to others' tastes. But if it's all about you, no one will know what to do with it.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): At this momentous apex of public-sphere opportunity, Sagittarius, when impressions already made and actions already set into motion are now rooting themselves into earthly being, I humbly ask you to quietly check in with yourself to ensure that all this is really what your heart craves. I know you're pretty far down this certain road by this point, and that we've had similar discussions in the past… but it's still not too late to make corrections, revisions, or a different decision, should you feel some tinge of not-quite-right-ness emanating from your conscience. To be clear, I offer this suggestion not because I think there's some massive problem with how you're advancing or that your heart doesn't genuinely crave this (though, for a handful of you, such implications may be true). Rather, I believe this self-reflective exercise can simply help you gain clarity on some of the underlying—and potentially unconscious—emotional motives which drive your outer-world ambitions ahead. Are you expending all this outward effort in an attempt to impress, obey, prove, disprove, or justify? Which faces or voices appear when such fears, pressures, or compulsions bear down? (I'll bet at least one of 'em looks a hell-of-a-lot like a certain parent you know.) The more you know about why you're striving so hard, the likelier you'll strive more shrewdly and self-satisfyingly… and only on behalf of those very specific aims which are personally important to you.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): As a follow-up to my having reminded you 'where you are now is not all there is', Capricorn, let me also emphasize, if you're intending for the next landing-place to be more interesting or meaningful or what-have-you, you're at an excellent moment for firmly setting that intention. You won't miraculously end up somewhere that's so much more [fill in the blank] than where you are now, however, unless you fill in that blank yourself… with a driving ideal or purpose you've identified as fundamental to your feeling like your life's really being lived, one you perhaps haven't prioritized as distinctly in the past (which may have something to do with what's unfulfilling about your current status) but wish to mindfully increase in its day-to-day importance over this coming chunk of time. It's critical to identify what's missing (or at least in shorter supply than you'd like), in order to begin deliberately valuing it more—even if you aren't entirely certain just how such a value-adding proposition would logistically play out. Once you decide to align yourself with whatever particular mission, quest, or adventure is next for you, it'll be easier to iron out the details… a process far likelier to yield good results through ongoing conversation with all sorts of folks of varying experience, knowledge, and personal acquaintance. That's right, you'll needlessly struggle to actualize your intention by staying silent, stoic, or self-enclosed; actively exchanging ideas is essential.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): 'In the middle of it all' as you still are, Aquarius—and by 'it all', I mean the web of entanglements that keep you from complete control over where you presently stand, like we discussed last week—you have little choice but to continue handling each extenuating circumstance and complicating detail with as much accuracy, scrupulousness, and prudence as you can possibly muster. Staying calm under such pressure will help you reach the fairest resolution possible, while losing your cool or reacting with sharp cutting digs against someone else's character will only exacerbate that out-of-control feeling (since, well, you will have obviously lost control) and unfortunately deepen your enmeshment. Yet, simply capitulating to the other party—because you believe it would be easier to just let 'em have their way, because you convince yourself what you want isn't really that important, and/or because you think such a step somehow proves you're the more 'evolved' one—isn't your smartest move, particularly if it heedlessly jeopardizes your practical interests or flies in the face of what you feel is ethically correct. Don't go for the supposed 'easy way out' in a desperate hope to get this all over-and-done-with. You're more patient than that.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): With a union of the proverbial yin and yang—that is, a conjunction between astrological cozy-couple Venus and Mars—now forming in your one-on-one relationship house (the 7th), Pisces, you're reaching a culmination in these past-many-weeks' corrective refiguring of how you essentially do relationships. To put it bluntly, the patterns and rhythms you set into motion now are likely to serve your relational needs (or not, if that's the case) for quite some time to come. The number-one consideration to focus on: establishing explicit, unambiguous ground rules for the behaviors you consistently expect, both from yourself and any individual with whom you're involved, with concrete measures you can look to for evidence of whether you're being successful. That's right, a successful relationship does not magically arise from connection, chemistry, or comforting companionship. Those are promising starting-points… but from there, you must learn over time to sync up on the level of mutually-agreed-upon conduct, with considerate respect for each other's specific needs, desires, peculiarities, and triggers. Saying 'treat me nice!' to someone, for instance, is far less objectively measurable a request than asking them not to call you names or address interpersonal conflict by text-message. How much more clearly can we show our serious commitment to someone than by honoring whatever behavioral requests they make of us (within reason, of course), simply because we want to make them feel good? Conversely, what statement are we making if we're unwilling to meet a few of their behavioral expectations in order to make 'em happy?