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Horoscopes | Week of February 29-March 6, 2016

ARIES (March 21-April 19): This is the last moment (for a little while, at least) in which it's really worth investing your all in the continuing outward dialogue, Aries… in advance of your shifting away from this socially interactive, this-is-how-what-you're-doing-and-what-I'm-doing-necessarily-impact-each-other confab, and toward a more relatively retracted, wordless self-containment. So please make it a good one, in terms of posing every last relevant question (though you may be scared of hearing the answer) and proffering your unreserved opinions while there's still time to imprint your directional influence (even as it could raise painfully uncomfortable awareness of a major disagreement or hitch heretofore underexamined). Following whatever emerges from the week's negotiations and/or showdowns, you'll gain nothing more from prolonging the discussion at this juncture… and instead will move into a moment where forward advances, which reflect your commitment to a certain mission or passion or principle, are ready for you to make 'em. Next week begins your statement-level next step, action-based rather than insubstantially verbose. Looking out over the months ahead, of course you will return to the bargaining table—but not before you've actually done something else, giving you and the other party something more to talk about.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): By the time this week draws to a close, Taurus, I suspect you'll have an unmistakably obvious sense of where your concept-level, goal-setting mindset (and all the official hoops it must tactfully squeeze itself through) is being blocked in realizing its vision by a certain stubborn someone (and/or your need to factor some other terribly inconvenient interpersonal consideration into the equation). If you haven't already identified the terms of this battle by now, please pay extra attention to the specifics of what annoys the fuck out of you this week… especially as it relates to another individual (and/or other people in general) standing in the way of your constructively integrating your great ideas into the overall strategy. Don't fear the standoff, as it's practically useful to know as much as about the opposing side's motives and maneuvers as possible, though there's no reason to purposely get nasty. From here on out, this whole dynamic will only veer further into the depths of what's really at stake—and, because your triumph incontrovertibly depends on your holding the long view, this is no time to lurch toward whatever red-button will turn this nuclear real fast. Starting next week, you'll probably need to seek some outside assistance, whether by soliciting advice from folks who see 'the whole picture' and/or by actively recruiting allies to fight alongside you.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Think long and hard this week about what you think is right, Gemini. Even if you must simultaneously handle business in a manner which involves immediately making a 'practical tradeoff' or two, you shouldn't treat such shorter-term task-management as total capitulation to a resolution you find directionally unsatisfactory and/or a breach of your principles. With warrior-planet Mars headed into your relationship house (the solar 7th) this weekend for a rocky few months ahead, you probably need to brace yourself for a fair degree of protracted conflict… though, if it's in clear support of a value you cherish and/or in defense of what's ethically correct according to your worldview, this is a fight definitely worth having. As you ramp up to assert yourself, please anticipate that your every uttered and/or written word will become an ineludible part of the permanent transcript, and you'll be expected to stand behind this 'testimony' for some time to come. Therefore, this is not the time to be flippant with your communications, to indulge behaviors which blatantly contradict your claims of righteousness… or, most importantly, to lose sight of what you're fighting for. Dare you forget the foundational precepts underscoring your assertive advances, you'll just end up in a nasty personal battle without any clearly defined purpose.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): This week is all about letting the irritating friction between (1) unabashedly going for what your heart craves and (2) having to, in the process, play shell-game negotiations with whatever complicating or convoluting character is inescapably implicated rise to the surface, Cancer. You won't be able to make up your own mind as reassuringly, in terms of deciding to press on towards one overarching premise or another, until you've gotten every relevant factor on the table. You're reaching the end of the line for this go-around—which, for the record, doesn't mean there won't be another chance to reopen this dialogue at some as-yet-undefined later point—and it therefore doesn't behoove you to beat around the bush at this juncture. Come next week and beyond, you'll need to get more emphatically to work, on whatever project(s) you've determined to be the most valuable, viable, and/or vital at the moment. So, based upon whatever critical statements-of-desire, hard-bargained agreements, and/or discouraging setbacks end up emerging, this week then serves as your occasion for deciding where to invest your amping-up efforts. Even if this story changes again further down the road, you still need to start focusing your shorter-term attention somewhere that's immediately constructive.

LEO (July 23-August 22): Any recent attitudinal approaches based on supposedly 'making things easier' by being overly accommodating to others (and/or, more specifically, a certain special someone) will soon give way to the inevitable next-chapter, Leo… one in which you come face-to-face to the resultant consequences of whatever you've agreed to, glossed over, and/or resisted saying. Should there be a friction between the surface-terms of your recent conversations and what you're really feeling underneath, you can expect it to become unavoidably palpable this week. It's your call as to whether you raise it with the party-in-question or keep it to yourself for now. To put it into clearer perspective, though, let me also point out that the broody-and-moody feelings you've lately harbored are likely to morph into a self-empowering drive to do something to bring more joy into your life, starting next week. Whereas, up until now, you might've given another person what they want because you were busily mulling over private emotional concerns, you'll soon enough wish to grab back those reins, returning to a more naturally self-evident expression of your personal preferences… at which point you'll probably have to deepen the conversation, to readdress what you earlier let slide.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): In case you hadn't noticed, Virgo, this faster-paced personal evolution you are so privileged to be experiencing this year (thanks, Jupiter!) comes along with its inevitable disruptions to any longer-term interpersonally-intimate associations which aren't naturally evolving as quickly. For you to handle all the business related to growing into your latest-and-greatest rendition of self, you can't help but disappoint, disconcert, or dumbfound those who are unduly attached to that now-outdated former version. And I suspect this realization is neither brand-new nor easy to stomach, since I'm sure you'd prefer to keep everyone else happily reassured… even as you know you probably can't do so without sacrificing ripe personal opportunities. I tell you all this now, at a moment when this rub is becoming more conspicuous, in order to ready you for a few-weeks' period in which explicitly having the necessary relationship-minded conversations with those most closely impacted by your burgeoning developments is powerfully favored. Be aware, however, that you're liable to experience some challenging emotions within yourself, if you're indeed being honest and forthright with the other person. You'll have to steel yourself not to cave on this front, in some misguided effort to 'take care' of them. If you really care, you must be fair and upstanding in living your truth.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): Don't downplay or hurry through any suddenly-palpable conflicts, Libra, between (1) what you know you want, even if you haven't yet figured out how to make it happen, and (2) what you're impelled to do out of necessity or common sense. This nervous tension is a fertile one to examine, to help you gain a clearer view of these two at-odds voices in you… both of which must be respectfully listened to, in order to avoid the possibility of your own unconscious impulses becoming your worst enemy later. Notice the direction in which your survival instincts are presently pointing: This is a zone you'll likely have to revisit in the months ahead, to repeatedly prove your staying power and/or neutralize any threats to your material well-being. Though perhaps your mind has lately wished to deliver you from such stresses by diverting your attention to more immediately pleasurable matters (which has, until now, been totally appropriate), come next week, you'll want to redirect it toward whatever functional tasks, scheduling strategies, or organizational rearrangements will keep you on your toes regarding this particular survival-zone. This is mainly because your impulses are also due to shift… in a fashion more prone to hyperactivity, distraction, and/or preoccupation with other people's dramas. Interpreting your internal conflict under this week's astrology, then, will give you the fairest idea of what 'staying on track' might look like in the near future, before the temptation to stray heats up.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): The astro-climate shift which kicks off this coming weekend takes your ruler Mars out of your sign for the first time in a couple months, Scorpio… and carries it into your solar 2nd, where it charges you with steadily turning any recent first-steps, advances, impulses, and/or outgrowths into something more stable, sustainable, and/or profit-worthy. What that'll also entail, as you might expect, is a more proudly conspicuous expression of your unique story: what you wish to create, how you ended up here, why it's so important, which distinctive flourishes you intend to tout, the type of experiential delights your next moves will foster. After these past few weeks of relative silence, it'll be time for you to come out of hiding—and to begin putting your brilliance on fuller display. Before that, though, spend this week reviewing all that's happened since '16 started… especially taking into account what you made happen, and how exactly you feel about it. You need to have this tale ironed out into a logical sequence, with dramatic hooks that'll keep your potential audience on the edge of their seats. As the months progress, please note, Mars will go retrograde and eventually end up back in Scorpio (specifically, from late May through early August). You will have to 'start some shit up' again later; for now, though, just work on stabilizing the boat a bit more.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): Because Mars will leave your solar 12th and arrive to your sign late on Saturday (Mar 5), Sagittarius, let's just consider next week to be the momentous occasion on which you finally start to assert some onward-ho initiative out in the world. Please bear in mind, however, that Mars is also already within the territory of its pre-retrograde shadow (get further details on this here)… which means (1) you will spend the next three months hosting Mars in your sign, rather than the typical six-to-seven weeks, with another two months of it (August and September) later and (2) you're almost certain to find that the moves you next make will require additional effort or revision later and/or that you'll find your attentions unexpectedly hijacked to another suddenly-pressing item sometime along the way. Looking back from a future vantage-point, this next half-year will prove to be a critical phase in your having taken self-motivated action which shaped the quality of your life for a long time to come. As such, I recommend spending this anticipatory week-ahead to solicit friends' opinions and advice, to run hypothetical scenarios past 'em, and to ask for their explicit support with what you're about to do. The starting gun is about to go off on this long-distance race to the peak of your promising potential.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): You're about to enter a pretty weird chapter of life, Capricorn, in which your usual ability to competently aim your outward-facing acts toward manifesting the outcome of your choosing will be not quite so reliable. Asserter-of-will Mars shuffles into your solar 12th by week's end, where, thanks to an impending retrograde, it'll stay for three full months… and that's only the first part of a story which continues into September. The-long-and-the-short-of-it? Much of this next set of developments due to impact your standing will be out of your hands, at least in terms of any direct control. You'll be especially susceptible to others' inconsistencies, unpredictabilities, and whims. You'll discover qualities in them which perhaps you hadn't known about prior... which could serve as a happy surprise or a deflating reality-check. You'll learn a lot about the current conditions—if, that is, you're properly paying hands-off attention from your corner-of-relative-retreat rather than angrily trying to force the proceedings to head this way or that—which can definitely help you take fullest advantage of the bigger splash you're due to make in the last quarter of '16. But, in all honesty, things are bound to be more than a little weird as it all goes down. Your most important resource during this period will be your friends, neighbors, family relations (the ones who aren't laden with years-old drama), and social contacts. Your check-ins, conversations, and comradely connections with them will prove essential… both for your sanity and your quiet capacity to pull a couple strings from backstage.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): If you haven't yet openly laid out your agenda, spoken your intentions aloud, and/or jockeyed for your desired position (just as we spoke about last week), Aquarius, you've got one more fateful workweek ahead to do just that. (Don't wait for the weekend; do it during the week.) With Mercury in your sign applying to a square with Mars-in-your-10th, voicing your sentiments as transparently as possible ought to reveal any stubborn obstacles, institutional roadblocks, or oppositional forces which could frustrate or thwart your capacity to secure what you say you want—and, believe it or not, this would be a productive development. Though it's undeniably scary to confront head-on the animosity, aversion, or antagonism of someone who may not wish to see you attain your goal as you see fit, it's functionally better to know what you're contending with than to continually hit up against an anonymous or invisible enemy. That said, please be aware that your presently emboldened vibe could strike an unwelcoming or closed-minded player as more of a threat to their power than you realize (though, if we're being honest, you sort of are posing such a threat). Once this week's in the can, however it may go, you'll be in a better spot to reconsider your most practical strategy and/or reach out to potential allies who may share your views (and this same common obstacle or foe).

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Think of your week ahead as a rich harvest of illuminating information, Pisces, directly applicable to any judgment-calls you're just about due to go on public record with. For right now, your job is to go out and actively collect these insight-bearing fruits (rather than assuming some kind character will drop a bushel-full on your back porch)… to search out source understandings, supporting materials, outside opinions, and/or alternate frameworks (without putting forth much expressed speculation about where your mind may ultimately arrive) that'll enable you to attain a more researched confidence in your own purposeful standing. Come next week—which features a solar eclipse new moon in your sign (on Tue Mar 8)—you'll be back in the hot-seat spotlight, facing others' glaring expectations that you've taken ample time to reflect and are now ready to speak out with some kind of authority. Don't let that frighten you into believing you must therefore have properly taken every last consideration to its farthest possible conclusion. (That would be impossible.) While you may later have to amend your thinking to integrate future insights or evolutions, you must be prepared to, very soon, do your absolute best with everything you could reasonably know now.