Horoscopes | Week of May 22-28, 2017

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Don't permit a bountiful release of information, passionate opinion, or heated exchange to go so far, Aries, that you say more than you meant to and/or betray your principles in the process. Maybe you won't be aware enough of the power differential at play in a given interaction… leading you to inadvertently offend an important player, lord your influence over someone with less of an advantage, and/or otherwise dishonor the chain-of-authority. Or perhaps the stream of expressed sentiments will gush forth so voluminously, you'll miss the serious repercussions of certain utterances, the distinctions between innocent chitchat and ideas-with-consequence having gotten lost in the feverish flood. Whatever the scenario, I hope you will stop yourself from making any statement (even when you think 'statement' sounds too formal to accurately describe your glib gibber-jabber) that you'll likely wish to take back later. There are no do-overs. Before you speak it aloud, you might ask yourself (1) why you want to say it, (2) if it could be heard as an overshare, a threat, an attack, or a piece of gossip, and (3) whether saying it is worth the risk.

 

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Let the profundity of a certain lesson which has periodically reappeared so far this year, Taurus, really sink in this week. What is that lesson? you could be wondering. Here goes: Sometimes, your most advantageous response-position to adopt is granting everyone else huge latitudes of freedom to do whatever the hell they're going to do. You may suspect (or know beyond the shadow of all doubt) that what they're doing is short-sighted, self-centered, ill-informed, and/or just plain wrong… but, on the other hand, is it your responsibility to police the myriad moral lapses and misguided decisions others are apt to make? You might proclaim this to be your business because of how deeply you really do care about justice, integrity, and rightful action. Yet, in the here-and-now of your life, you should probably focus on items and concerns a little closer to home (as in: in your own life). When you aren't engaged in managing personal practicalities, use your extra 'make the world a better place' energy on quietly visualizing what else you wish to create, rather than on outwardly detailing where someone else's efforts fall short.

 

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): With a still-in-your-sign Mars bumping up against Saturn in your relationship house (the 7th) this week, Gemini, I must issue you a giant caution against taking any rash, combative, and/or perilously self-centered actions which could damage an important coupling, friendship, or alliance. The lesson here is not about surrendering your autonomy altogether, in order to please a particular person (or others in general)… but, rather, acknowledging that certain moment-to-moment freedoms are worth deliberately curtailing, if it's in support of a longer-term and/or higher-value interpersonal asset you couldn't otherwise attain. Yet, thanks to Mars and its shifty Mercury-in-the-12th dispositor, you're presently hosting a surge of 'I can do whatever the fuck I want' paired with a 'what they don't know won't hurt them'… a potentially hazardous combination, should it move you to sneak around in the shadows, violate a relational agreement, or talk shit behind someone's back. (And it'll only get messier if you recruit pals to 'cover' for you.) It may be much harder to honor your own impulses without sidestepping your commitments to anybody else, but it's a hell of a lot cleaner—and far fairer to all parties involved.

 

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Hold a steady rhythm, Cancer. Fall back on the healthful habits and familiar routines which keep you sensible and sane. Even as some aspects of your life feel irresolvably up-for-grabs and/or currently out of your control, there are other parts which will prosper from your continuing to maintain that same faithful diligence as you otherwise would. Be aware, however, that the unsettling energy in the air is making an impact on your psychic well-being… to the point where it could inspire imprudent or rebellious acts on your part, prompted by an impractical desire to 'just not deal' with the anxiety-provoking circumstances. In other words, at the very moment you'll benefit most from earthly steadiness, you may be confronting renegade impulses towards avoidance, indulgence, and/or self-sabotage. Please don't give into such impulses, at least not all the way. You may have to broker a bargain with yourself, in which you're allowed a limited amount of non-destructive escapist retreat… in exchange for not 'just not dealing', but instead holding yourself functionally together.

 

LEO (July 23-August 22): Can you integrate others' influences on you, Leo, without indiscriminately obeying their instructions or swallowing their opinions as if they're the holy gospel? As you seek to actualize your intentions, your creative challenge is to do so in a way that both (1) astutely situates you within the existing social conditions where you operate and (2) reserves you a wide enough swath of stylistic independence that you feel a proud sense of personal ownership over what you're doing. Therefore, when you disagree with a comrade's suggestion or otherwise wish to diverge from the conventional perspective, you needn't make a big deal about it. Nothing constructive is likely to come from arguing with someone about what they've shared with you—take what speaks to you and leave the rest, but don't pick apart or cast aspersions—nor from demanding a bunch of attention from folks for choosing not to abide by their model. The real work doesn't come from criticizing others' efforts or announcing your plans to do it better than they have; it's actually producing your own original version that'll establish your distinctive place in this ongoing creative conversation.

 

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Because it's more straightforward to achieve concrete outside goals than to cultivate subjective feelings of contentment wholly within yourself, Virgo, you're presently prone to fight for a certain easy-to-identify sense of accomplishment even if what seems to be required won't sit well with your conscience. Truth be told, you don't have to compromise away your inner well-being in order to attain outward success. (In fact, one might wonder what would be the purpose of such 'success' if it comes at this high a price.) Please pause before blindly 'doing whatever it takes' to push yourself ahead, dominate the field, or vanquish the competition… at least long enough to dwell on how it's likely to feel in retrospect, whether it'll engender heightened self-respect or deadening regret. If you can resist any logic that dictates there's only one route to the finish-line—and instead get a bit more inventive, investigatory, and flexible—you're liable to discover there are other paths to tread that don't demand you sell yourself out. On the other hand, faithfully honoring your inner well-being is likelier a black-and-white, either-or matter.

 

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): Don't go in too emphatically for the kill, Libra. Even as you lead with your everythingness, you shouldn't necessarily needle anyone else to draw a certain conclusion or finalize that decision you wish them to make. The situation requires more finessing than that… a bit of foreplay, if you will, to set the mood and create a trustful rapport before any more fateful act can comfortably occur. You can do this dance spectacularly without being especially indirect or feigning an attitude you don't actually feel: It's about striking the equilibrium between (1) expressing unquestionable clarity about what you want and (2) courteously carving out ample space for the other party to feel they can choose whatever's best for them, and that you'll respect their choice either way. For this to work, though, you must prepare yourself to genuinely be okay with whichever direction they opt to go. You don't have to be super-psyched if they choose differently than you hoped, of course. But, trust me, it's better than strong-arming someone into going along with you… and then later confronting built-up hostility towards you because you (ahem) 'forced' this on them.

 

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Please hold your own material interests and/or other self-securing needs first and foremost in your mind, Scorpio, as an incentivizing reminder not to push that flashing red button and detonate a decisive 'pop!' in someone else's tender zone. Your current capacity to hit where it most hurts, and/or to conjure the very response that'll show just how you've gotten under their skin, is even sharper than usual. But prevailing with such a strike may not ultimately serve your purposes: Certain types of 'wins' don't offer much continuing enjoyment of any fruits-of-victory; instead, they cut the game short, or end it altogether. Just because you can so adeptly probe into their psyches and engineer a mode of communication designed to appeal specifically to them, that doesn't mean such efforts would help you on your path to greater earthly stability. If anything, the power from the resulting post-shot recoil is liable to knock everyone on their asses. If you must push for a certain outcome, I suggest stopping somewhat short of the full-throttle approach… and preserving much of what's already been achieved, rather than staking it on all-or-nothing.

 

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): Striving to 'be your best self' (Saturn-in-the-1st language if I've ever heard it) is presently more critical to your evolutionary progress, Sagittarius, than taking the bait another person's laid for you and letting them define your relational agenda. Even if you're the one setting precedent for the dynamic between you, you're still liable to fall short of 'best-self'-ness if you're more consumed by 'getting them where you want them' or 'putting them in their place' than concentrating on your own singular concerns. Having difficulty discerning between what's legitimately your concern and what's undue interest in someone else's business (and/or merely a distraction)? Here's a tip: The most important building-block steps toward self-actualization don't change dramatically over short lengths of time. Other people's participations in our lives, and our responses to them, more often do. Considering Saturn has been showing you the areas you most need to focus on mastering pretty consistently over the past couple years, you should probably beware of taking any spur-of-the-moment interpersonal-related actions that will disrupt or defile your personal-growth efforts.

 

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): Though the more competitive or domineering side of you may rightfully loathe the notion of anyone thinking they can slip something past you or pull the wool over your eyes, Capricorn, the week's astrology suggests your more powerful posture won't be a confrontational one. Unless there's an immediate actual threat to your livelihood or status, you'll do yourself a solid by just filing this knowledge about their shady self-serving behavior away in your memory banks… leaving them to project onto you whatever they will, while discreetly reserving yourself the upper hand. You'll presently be best served by an orientation centered on (1) purposeful, high-intensity, multi-tasking productivity, balanced with (2) whatever private pleasures or domesticity-based self-nurturance will keep your emotional tank full enough to sustain this heightened activity-level. What you don't need is to invite overt struggles for dominance or other ego-drama into your already-full life, at a time when a personal 'win' will be more about getting shit accomplished than anything unduly involving other people. In fact, you may be overestimating the importance these 'other people' hold in your world.

 

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): Being casually but unreservedly authentic in your outward self-expression, Aquarius, also means accepting the fact that your brand of unreserved authenticity isn't everybody's cup-of-tea. Such acceptance can indeed make all the difference between (1) having an unadulterated good time within social contexts where your idea of a 'good time' is appropriate and appreciated or (2) becoming aggressive or angry with those who won't sign off on your behavior (for whatever reason they may have, or none at all). Perhaps you shouldn't expect a warm embrace from people who aren't of a like mind—and perhaps, then, we might wonder why you'd voluntarily make things more complicated (and, correspondingly, less fun) by even bothering to bark up the wrong tree. You don't have to turn a potentially easygoing vibe into a full-on unpacking of fundamental differences. That's not an excuse to overlook others' problematic behavior, for the record, but more a question about why you wouldn't just steer clear of those likeliest to cause you a problem. Everything doesn't have to be so serious.

 

PISCES (February 19-March 20): This is the turning-point at that crossroads you've been loitering around, Pisces, these last months. To unashamedly claim the personal gain you've both earned and require for stabilizing your life-circumstances, you may have no choice but to allow any folks who don't understand your motivations and/or judge you harshly for diverging from the presumed party-line thinking to just do their thing—even if you find their conclusions about you unfair and/or their attitude intractably hardline. You can't please everyone, obviously. And you certainly shouldn't attempt to please anyone else at the expense of your own incremental climb to sounder heights. That's a main reason I advise you not to defend yourself against distressing allegations, or even to try explaining your nuanced feelings to those already somewhat unsympathetic to your position. But because you have to continue looking out for your practical interests first, you also shouldn't publicly vent your upset or avenge a wrong (no matter how clear-cut or justified). Put on a polished-and-professional public face, no matter how hurt you feel. You can rant and rave and kick and scream once you get home.