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Horoscopes | Week of March 7-13, 2016

ARIES (March 21-April 19): It's more important to simply aim your purpose-filled eyes in the direction you intend to head, Aries, than to attempt to draw too much interpersonal notice to this decision you've (at least for now) already made. Just send passionate, enthusiastic energy toward that ideal or endeavor which represents the more-meaningful future you're creating for yourself… but skip the part where you talk up how great it'll all be (and, perhaps, inadvertently offend those still invested in a more-modest perpetuation of 'how it's always been'), as if you're trying to convince the non-believers and the preoccupied-with-their-own-circumstances to get on board. The now-suddenly-disproportionate convergence of activity in your solar 12th bespeaks of a sort of retreat from the external earthly business engaging everybody else's attentions…. a certain hands-off, watch-and-wait removal of yourself from the main proceedings, compassionately allowing the other players to fidget and finesse their realities in ways that'll organically expose their agendas, giving you a few moments to thoughtfully engineer the best on-the-ground methods for moving yourself forward within the context your mutual interdependence. You might know where you're headed, but you're still investigating the most realistically-workable method for getting there, based in part on who else is necessarily affected.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): For the current time being, your personal process of determining (1) what it is you really want, simply because that's what'll put a big fat smile on your face, and (2) what's the pragmatically shrewdest method for actually attaining it, Taurus, should probably include a lot of disappearing into the crowd, closely noticing which way the broader social currents are headed, looking to colleagues and comrades for support and motivation, and not following any solo course that might carry you too far afield from your core-people. Admittedly, those guiding suggestions might sound downright strange as a means for arriving at some individuating conclusion about your own interests and desires. A strong-personality soul like you allowing yourself to be influenced by everybody else? to not unequivocally hold a certain stance, side, or position? to drift, dawdle, wander, and wonder for a few, with the loosely-formed expectation that revelation will strike by your making ample room to be cosmically touched by this sense of belonging? Yes, that's what I'm saying. Not only is such openness your most-presently-promising (though self-evidently indirect) path to eventual discrimination, however: It'll also keep you away from compulsively policing a certain battleground, that still-ultra-contentious zone where it's too possible to go too deep into it for your own good.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): This is an excellent occasion for officially reaffirming your dedication to a particular professional calling (and/or other outside-world responsibility), Gemini, to ritually herald an upcoming few weeks in which significant strides in this arena can be more handily made, thanks to a 10th-house lineup now to include benefic Venus too. It'll help your case, I should mention, if you're instinctively clear about how your increased success in meeting your guiding goals will actually help support an entity, individual, or ideal you believe in and/or otherwise improve others' quality of life. (The mystical logic presently operating in your career/public-community zone is especially responsive to this sort of we're-all-in-it-together thinking.) Hopefully, such an alignment will also encourage you to more brazenly go for it, since your willingness to overcome fear or passivity wouldn't merely further a personal ambition (or 'ego-indulgence', as your inner self-saboteur might suggest) but is part of your own special duty to make the world a better place. Please be aware that, with Mars now in your 7th and square to these 10th-house influences, a certain other person may be your biggest obstacle to rededicating yourself to your calling, whether because they're dominating your attention (by choice or against your will) and/or actively trying to block or compete with you.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Though the day-to-day grind may well be demanding a hell of a lot out of you right now, Cancer—and, to a significant extent, you should probably expect this heightened demand-level to persist intermittently over the months to come—you must keep holding your heart in the right place for galvanizing your continued leaning-into what really matters. Above all present-moment stresses, you've got to remember that this isn't how it's going to be forever… that there are vastly different realities you could well be living out, at a not-too-distant spot in your future, in which you're doing less slogging and more meaning-making… and that, at every step, you should refuse to accept this current short-view snapshot as an excuse for your conscience to settle into things staying as they are indefinitely. This is a time to feed your visions of the 'something more' (rather than talk yourself out of believing in 'em), even if you sometimes feel like it's all a big fat fantasy you'll never have a prayer of actualizing. Your everyday work is requiring so much from you right now (and, thankfully, you've got it to give), but you will be able to pivot your attentive efforts elsewhere at a later point. Until then, you must keep the hope alive—even if that's just about all you can capably handle, on top of everything else, at the moment.

LEO (July 23-August 22): At this point, Leo, you probably shouldn't hesitate to get further into it, if that's what's required to thoroughly address your concerns, unburden your heart, clear your conscience, bare your soul, and/or take your intimacy to the next level. For you to evaluate what's really going on here, I think there's no way around exposing yourself to a certain degree of uncomfortable vulnerability—especially if you expect the other party to do the same. While I understand you may feel like your pride will be at stake, should you decide to show more of your cards, I must point out that pride isn't actually what you ought to be afraid of losing. (In fact, a loss of pride often means you're delving beyond the well-put-together surface persona… and getting into some real honest emotional shit.) Where you could go too far with 'getting further into it': trusting in undiscussed assumptions about someone else's values (particularly as they relate to shared responsibilities, psychological safety, sexuality, or money), and/or proceeding deeper into involvements without explicitly fleshing out the areas in which your respective attitudes may diverge. The risk isn't in talking about things too much; it's what'll happen if you don't talk about 'em enough.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): This is a ripe moment for turning your full attention to that most-important individual and/or very special someone in your life, Virgo… and really and truly opening yourself to better understanding what's presently going on with them. Though so much of your Jupiter-kissed year has so far centered around expanding your own grasp on life, venturing into new territory and encouraging yourself to see just how much more you're capable of experiencing and achieving and enjoying, we wouldn't want you to attain all these amazing gains at the expense of any important relationships which still sustain, stimulate, support, or satisfy you. Don't get me wrong, though: This is not an endorsement of backing away from your ambitions, putting imminent success on hold, or reverting to a prior version of self so as not to rock the boat. Rather, in the act of becoming this more-fully-actualized you, you'll probably want to spend some time simply taking in your favorite person's (or people's) vibes, their personality quirks and sensitivities, their joys and sorrows, their preferences and desires… both in a spirit of engaged companionship and in quiet analytic consideration of how best to honor them while simultaneously continuing to evolve yourself. As we discussed last week, caring for them doesn't mean sparing them your truth; on the other hand, it does necessitate being open-hearted in receiving theirs.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): Even as you begin more earnestly pouring yourself into your work (and/or management of other day-to-day mundane duties), please rightly acknowledge that the concrete functional progress you'll be making in this area during the weeks to come is not all that's presently advancing, Libra. In fact, though you may lately spend your days busy-as-a-beaver-like, the effort you're expending is essentially going towards 'completing a contract' you already signed on for some time ago… while, at the same time, the newer and fresher and more-personally-inspiring ventures are quietly taking form behind the gauzy veil of your private think-tank. It's those still-germinating details—all the little ways in which you're engineering future fixes, improvements, clean-up jobs, purification rituals, and exquisite touches—where you're really and truly evolving. The piles of currently-pressing responsibilities? They are simply a matter of meeting your commitments, sustaining health-supportive rhythms, and getting your business taken care of. Talking through these tensions with pals can be helpful… up to a point. Beyond that, however, you'll just de-motivate yourself from keeping up with the here-and-now by griping about its contrast with that nascent 'next'.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): The very good news these planets are delivering you, Scorpio, is that you're now due to experience a major boost in creativity, romance, impishness, and/or joy. Not only will you be more easily capable of spotting the beauty which is already all around you, but you'll also be exuding plenty of it yourself, out of every pore—and beautiful beings simply beget more beauteousness wherever they go. I urge you to take as much delightful advantage of this favorable turn as you possibly can… even as you must simultaneously continue to look carefully at your bottom-line, both keeping your spending at a reasonable, well-thought-out level (for money is not a zone in which being 'creative' or 'romantic' will suit you) and continuing to seek out new avenues for additional income. Because it wouldn't be wise to turn your back on such practicalities (though you may sincerely wish you could just totally immerse yourself in all these happily-emerging pleasurable potentials), you might endure some annoyed feelings toward these inescapable restrictions placed upon you by material reality. (The correct answer isn't to try to escape, for the record.) No need to bear such annoyances alone, however. This is an opportunity to reach out and connect with possible co-conspirators in that collective project of figuring out how to lead joyous, creatively fulfilling lives feasibly, here in the real world.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): Okay, Sagittarius, just as I informed you last week, make-things-happen Mars is now in your sign for its first extra-long installment of three months… which means, first off, you should expect to welcome a markedly noticeable increase in initiative, will, vitality, and/or forcefulness. This will definitely help you gather any dynamic momentum needed to get your desired efforts going, to move 'em decidedly along, to unstick 'em if they've been stuck, and/or to fight for 'em if you've been heretofore blocked in your pursuit. Of course, having Mars in your 1st also heightens the likelihood you'll be perceived as sharp, aggressive, self-serving, and/or short-tempered… which, in certain circumstances, wouldn't be entirely off-base, especially considering your patience is liable to be lower than it's recently been while you're this emboldened to advance your personal agenda. All the while, though, a less-obviously-bombastic concentration of planetary action in your solar 4th (including this week's solar eclipse) bespeaks of possible emotional considerations you probably ought to simultaneously take into account… quiet questions, doubts, discomforts, and/or instinctive warnings which might raise a sufficient reason or two to slow down, second-guess, or double-check before rushing too far onto any treacherous ledge without a safety net. Mars's visit to your sign, please remember, is a marathon—with a rascally retrograde interval within its course—and not a sprint. At each and every big move, you'll need to spend a bit of caring time checking in with, and calmly reassuring, your potentially-freaked-out inner child.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): Though the latest astrological happenings are definitely kicking up some dust with their general dynamism, as far as you are specifically concerned, Capricorn, there's a certain bide-your-time, listen-and-learn, see-what-develops energy currently enveloping you with its glaring lack of calls-to-immediate-action. We began discussing this last week, but now it's coming in at full force… and all you've really got to do, at this stage of the game, is stay in regular contact with players both central and peripheral, hearing them out as they confide, complain, describe conditions, share stories, and/or talk shit. Your ideal subject-position to adopt: present and in attendance, a participant in the ongoing conversation, yet not exactly adding anything substantial or noteworthy (except, of course, the unmistakable underlying influence of your just being there). Should you feel the impulse to assert a strong opinion, a reactive emotion, or a preference for which way things ought to turn, I wouldn't recommend freely doing so. It might be wiser to express that fire behind the scenes, in a relatively protected environment, where nobody could possibly misread your sentiment and/or attempt to retaliate. Once you don't feel quite so susceptible to going off, you can remind yourself you're still gathering data for a case you'll be presenting and/or a vision you'll be unveiling later.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): The change in astrological climate we're experiencing between last week and this one should, to a fair extent, take you off the hot seat, Aquarius. Though the action out there in the world doesn't necessarily show signs of slowing down or cooling off, you nonetheless will have a chance to catch your breath… an opening you probably ought to use, first and foremost, to start thinking about how next to proceed with matters of financial security, resource allocation, and the shrewdest possible uses of whatever tricks you've got up your sleeve. The recent complications are due to continue being complicated, of course, on and off over a length of months. But this is your time to reorganize your side of these interactions, momentarily away from the incessant and back-and-forth, shoring up your personal strength by reexamining everything now at your disposal for self-supportive (or self-protective) purposes. Seen in this light, what you're also going to need to do is refortify your sense of self-worth, in order for you to remain a confident advocate for your own interests (rather than, say, starting to question you have what it takes to emerge victorious). Your best method for doing that, I advise, is to reaffirm your solidarity and shared understanding with the people you have your back, asking them to help talk up your awesomeness and cheerlead your continuing in this race. At the same time, don't take up conversations about your most sensitive issues with folks who are likely to provoke insecurity, doubt, animosity, or conflict.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): This week's astrology has divinely deemed you the temporary wellspring, linchpin, and/or cornerstone of the zodiac, Pisces—please take your pick of titles for this central starring role—due to the tremendous amounts of Piscean energy now overtaking our outlook, including Tuesday's solar eclipse in your sign, a Mercury-Neptune conjunction, and Venus's blessed arrival. In other words, the way you think and the manner with which you treat people will serve as examples of how the rest of us ought to behave in the short-term. Compassion, imagination, intuitive receptivity, a holistic worldview… these types of Piscean qualities are exactly what this moment in time demands of us. And it's therefore on you to please actively model such attitudes, knowing that (thanks, in part, to Venus's new presence in your 1st) you are likelier than usual to receive very favorable responses to proceeding, with heart, however you're so moved. That said, your compassionate holism doesn't exempt you from possibly having to make tough judgment calls, challenge repressive authorities, and/or take feisty actions in your professional (and/or public-world) zone. Sometimes a bit of a fight in one context is exactly what's warranted, in order to advocate for wider inclusivity, justice, or peace. Thankfully, taking such pronounced leadership at this moment is liable to only make you that much more appealing to those who already admired you.