Horoscopes | Week of October 10-16, 2016

ARIES (March 21-April 19): This would be an especially lovely time to tell a partner, best pal, key player, or close collaborator how much they mean to you, Aries. Explicitly articulating your appreciation for what they add to your life will go very far, as a result of the week's Mercury-Jupiter conjunction in your relationship house (the 7th). It'd be a similarly considerate gesture to also acknowledge the impact your latest all-consuming preoccupation with achieving that big goal and/or attaining a new level of command has been having on them. By simple math, the more energy you're directing towards that target you can't peel your eyes off of, the less attention you'll have available to devote to this valued person and their cares. That is not a criticism of how passionately you're pursuing your self-selected aims, by the way. You are indeed arriving at that transformational climax-moment you've been striving to reach, and it therefore wouldn't behoove you to ease up on the force with which you're continuing to push. Don't, however, forget about the corresponding side-effects such single-minded intentness may be creating in your interpersonal zone. Addressing it head-on with humility and gratitude could turn any emerging resentment on their part into resounding support.

 

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Piggybacking on last week's counsel, Taurus, I still advise you to choose your battles wisely. There are undeniably significant value-proposition points to be made, and there are lots of pressing jobs and chores to handle. You cannot take on all of it, all at the same time, and expect to perform at your highest competency. You may have to forgo an opportunity to lead the crusade, call out a certain injustice, or debate philosophic matters of integrity—though that doesn't mean you'd have to temper your beliefs or ultimately abdicate your stance—out of immediate practical regard for the more mundane essentials which presently require your mental attention. But should you feel so strongly that you can't live with yourself if you don't halt everything in order to stand for what's right, I won't try to convince you to pass up this passion-driven call. Follow your conscience, please… but also recognize you've made a defining choice that this righteous mission is more personally important than accomplishing those jobs-and-chores in a timely and capable manner. Which is more important to you? Can one or the other be effectively delegated to someone else? This is a determination only you can make, which is why I'm advising you to do it wisely.

 

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Don't be afraid to speak your mind freely and openly, Gemini, even with the knowledge that your comments aren't very likely to alleviate any sore spots or 'fix' anything. Though you're known to downplay certain sentiments and/or mitigate your frankness out of regard for not jolting the other person out of rapport with you, such discursive attempts to suppress the magnitude of what's at stake won't presently work so well. You can't deny the impactful quality of these latest developments, no matter how smooth a conversational course-plotter you may… so you might as well say more rather than less, get all the awkward disclosures and nervousness-inspiring questions out into play, stand baldly in the intricacies and convolutions, and see what happens after that. As I see it, you have more to lose by not plainly claiming your most-desired outcome than you'd gain from tiptoeing around topics, swerving this way or that in reactive response to their stand, or withholding your endgame motive. That doesn't mean you'll get that most-desired outcome, but at least it'll be outwardly identified for all to see. Besides, by this point, everything already seems to be headed a certain direction. Why try to forestall the inevitable or postpone your critical attempt to alter its inevitability?

 

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Your thoughts about what's going on are more heavily colored by your own subjective emotional outlook, Cancer, than may immediately be apparent to you... though that doesn't make them any less valid in describing your experience of these most-recent narrative twists. Yet, if you were being held to their precise factuality by someone seeking to argue about 'what exactly happened' or discredit the premise upon which your perceptions rest—as opposed to, say, trying to gain a clearer understanding of where you're coming from, to get to know you better and/or support you through your sense-making process—you'd likely stumble under the challenging pressure to explain any inconsistencies or otherwise justify your feelings. That sounds like a pretty discouraging setting in which to attempt a constructive coming-together. So, please don't take the bait, should you find yourself confronted by another person's threatening insistence. In fact, without your playing into it, their aggressive behavior will more noticeably protrude. Even if there's really no getting around this obvious battle-of-wills, you certainly can conscientiously control the quality of your own responses. If you let 'em get under your skin enough to provoke words or deeds you'll later regret, they'll have scored an advantage.

 

LEO (July 23-August 22): In continuing with the astrological trends which favor both an intensified orientation towards your daily duties and ample (if not excessive) amounts of socializing, Leo, I encourage you to stick to the rallying-cry of 'work hard, play hard'. You may understandably feel pulled from one end of this balancing-act to the other, based on the moment and the situation… but I don't think you'll be very satisfied if you try to solve this tension by totally championing either consideration over the other. In fact, both seem to be coming to a head over the coming couple weeks. On the work front, you're on the verge of hitting a major turning-point—whether we're talking 'breakthrough' or 'breakdown'—which requires you to devote as much prowess, perseverance, passion, and out-and-out power as you can muster. The efforts you invest during this stage will serve as a critical determining-factor in the longer-term fate of this undertaking. Meanwhile, next week brings a boost in your capacity to attract avid admirers, pleasurable participations, and leisure-time livelinesses which promise more interest and excitement than usual. Because of that turn, I'd use this week to further your work-life footing… knowing that, by mid-next-week, you'll face even more social temptation, in a good but simultaneously distracting way.

 

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): This is an excellent moment to study the details up close, Virgo… particularly those related to any small adjustments or minor concessions you might make, in a sincere sign of interpersonal accommodation, which would help establish your position as a right-hand cohort worthy of trust (and the compensatory benefits, economic and otherwise, that come with it). You presently possess a keen instinct for just what to say to massage another person's perception of you, so they're likelier to recognize the high value you contribute. That said, there is a danger in too heedlessly uttering such sentiments, even though they may be your ticket to a rise in income and/or esteem. The danger? That you do not want to make the adjustment or concession required to influence that certain someone's impressions… and/or that you'd be diluting some personal mark of distinction or ownership that's important to you, just to nab a quick buck or a fawning endorsement. Remember last week's horoscope about the 'swell of unmistakable desire'? Just as I already warned you against allowing it to totally overshadow practical concerns, neither should you ignore any ardent heart-wants in the name of short-sighted 'security'. There's no easy answer, dear, because both considerations are essential to your satisfaction; it's a matter of balancing reasonable amounts of each.

 

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): The exuberance, passion, and/or striking show of confidence with which you'll express yourself this week, Libra, may be a lot for others to handle… especially if they're more accustomed to receiving a milder tone, a go-with-the-flow ambivalence, and/or people-pleasing acquiescence from you. To that possibility, I respond: So fucking what? Though the heightened force of your self-regard could awaken contention, resistance, or retaliation in those individuals who don't necessarily want things between you to change, you probably need to bring that level of intensity to such situations in order to overcome the inertia and demonstrate how formidably you mean business. This is not your moment to faithfully obey polite protocols, smooth over the rough edges which indicate the existence of real problems to address, kowtow to others' delicate egos, or swallow your truth—even if a conflict rises up, as a result of resolutely defending your interests. If your inner conflict-averse diplomat balks at this potential to rile someone else with such fierceness, please remind yourself you're fighting a big battle for self-determination (not necessarily against another person)… and now you've got the edge. Don't settle for any less than the personal triumph.

 

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Just revel in the imaginative power and breadth of your latest creative breakthrough, Scorpio… but please take a bit more time before trying to explain its ins-and-outs and/or sell its merit to any of the other stakeholders. Take another couple weeks for the ideas to germinate, for your best communicative approach to formulate, and/or the most timely conversational opening to present itself. (Remember how I told you Mercury's presently in your 12th and thus not in optimal shape for clear expression?) All the while, you'll likely be privy to others' tempestuous discussions, cranky complaints, and/or self-serving mindsets… the dynamic quality of which will almost certainly alter the very circumstances that you're actively mulling over and chewing on. Let everyone else work out the kinks in their own limited perspectives, ineffective methods, and/or snarky personality spats without diving in as some 'voice of reason' (so then you can get unfairly held responsible for their misbehavior). Consider this an instrumental hands-off step in allowing the playing-field to clear itself of any spoiled sports, foul-perpetrators, or clothes-less emperors. After all that, your fresh outlook will receive a much warmer welcome.

 

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): For just this week ahead, Sagittarius, I advise you to refrain from actively publicizing or outwardly pressing your personal agenda—which shouldn't be too much of a problem, if you followed last week's advice and quietly positioned yourself in a way that self-protectively guards your resources—and instead to lend your voice to a larger chorus, in support of a peer's initiative, in solidarity with a cherished cause, and/or for team-building purposes. Yes, adopting this group-minded flavor with your social interactions is essentially the flip-side to my prior advice. I'm trying to help you deftly address both angles of this present friction between 'loyal team-player' and 'self-made success-story'. Step One (last week's edition): Don't overpromise to others what you're likely to resent them for later. Step Two (this week's version): Having made sure not to overpromise, totally devote what's left of your attentions to your cadre of comrades. This latter step is something of a performance, let's admit, wherein you deliberately say just the right things (provided you're being honest) to demonstrate your allegiance or affinity. But so often, alliances are cemented through the act of affirmatively articulating their existence. Meanwhile, your personal agenda can come back into play more noticeably once Venus hits your sign early next week.

 

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): Be as sensibly diplomatic in your phrasing of public statements and/or career-related communications as you can, Capricorn… but stop short of uttering anything so insincere or not-altogether-accurate that it'll set off your own inner bullshit-detector, since any such disconnect between your oh-so-sweet words and your instinctual response-flinch is liable to emanate off you vibewise. If you're treating this current opportunity to expand your worldly influence seriously, then you really have no choice but to respectfully participate in whatever protocol-dance the specific sphere of your aspirations traditionally requires. Even if your ambitious intention is to totally overhaul this very system, you still must begin by demonstrating you know how it works… much in the way that experimental writers ought to understand the correct rules of grammar before seeking to subvert them, lest an unfamiliar reader come across their incomplete sentences or awkward syntactical constructions and naturally assume they were composed by an uninformed or inept author. To effectively make your own mark within this wider context—one in which others have dutifully worked over lengths of time, to build the successful enterprise where you now wish to contribute your greatness—you must blend your feisty self-determination with a healthy amount of gracious courtesy to those who came before.

 

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): Though I don't question the fact that you're catching a more integrative, future-facing, wider-angle purview of these current conditions than most other participants, Aquarius, I wouldn't get too self-satisfied about the obvious 'superiority' of your 'higher' perspective. For one thing, your present grasp on the issues-at-hand, comprehensive though it may be, is more theoretical than applied. From your eagle-eyed observatory deck, you're able to clearly see how all the major components fit together—but you can't inspect the on-the-ground details closely enough to determine where the littler inconsistencies, process-glitches, and human-factors aren't supportively in sync with the governing purposes, principles, or priorities. Furthermore, there lurks at least one irresolvable variable you simply cannot account for, smart as you are and hard as you try… by virtue of the fact that certain very-relevant developments remain in progress, and must be allowed to start naturally transpiring before you can effectively understand what is and isn't working. No amount of insisting that everything abide by your preordained guidelines, nor racking your brain for ideal solutions, can substitute for simply letting time tell. Please continue telling your frantic master-designer brain to keep the faith… and keep watching what happens.

 

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Don't let anyone else's oversimplified thinking, bandwagon rhetoric, or bullyish pressure cause you, Pisces, to make ill-advised compromises in your nuanced understanding of the relevant complexities. If somebody's going to force a reductive 'you're either on one side or the other' determination, don't let it be you who's the initiating agent. However, should you find yourself backed into such a showdown by another person's dogged and/or dogmatic demand, you may have no truly authentic choice other than refusing to 'take their side'—not merely because you hold dissenting ideas (since, in the right relational situation, you might be able to amalgamate yours into theirs for a supreme synthesis), but by very virtue of how they're expecting you to fall into formation, based on some immutable line they've drawn. Though I have been encouraging you to keep these complicated conversations continuous and open-ended, that's only a productive orientation if all parties are actually willing to consider all these different angles of complication. But past that certain point at which you recognize the other person's inability or disinclination to do so, continuing to negotiate with them becomes a losing proposition—and a waste of your breath, if not your allyship.