Horoscopes | Week of June 26-July 2, 2017

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Coming at it from too emotional a place won't help you continue pushing toward your overriding goal (and facing whatever institutional challenges or power-player hindrances are part of the deal), Aries… though I'm not sure there's any other 'place' you could be coming from this week. Rather than either fruitlessly attempting to wage a confrontation against potent forces or officially surrendering your agency in sentimentality or fear, just think on it for a little while longer. There's a subtle tension now lurking in your consciousness, between what feels safe-and-familiar or definitively-defiant (two opposite-seeming sides of the same coin) and what will authentically move you closer to a more meaningful higher-ground—and this is more a moment for internally growing more cognizant of this tension's dimensions rather than effectively resolving it through some outward act. It's not that you're doomed to inaction forevermore, merely that you have one more psychological knot to untangle on your own before your stand will be strong enough to yield a triumph.

 

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): 'Leaving well enough alone' for your own sake, Taurus, involves properly understanding that not every interaction need become an occasion for explicating your worldview or explaining how anyone else might add more substance or virtue to their life. That's not to say you drop all cares and waltz through the scene as if ethics don't matter a bit to you. But on the other hand, do you really want to get into it with whomever happens to cross your path with a problematic attitude or closed-minded belief… without even knowing too much about who that person is, why they harbor such intolerable thoughts, or what they're liable to do if challenged on their lapse-of-judgment? What are you trying to accomplish, anyway? If sincerely making the world a better place is your motivating factor—not merely paying dutiful lip-service by saying all the right things, even when they aren't likely to change minds (and might even aggravate or endanger you, with no constructive payoff)—then a smarter starting-place would be to simply establish genuine relational contact with that person you claim to care enough about to want to instruct them on a virtuous life.

 

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): No matter how shrewdly or practically you're geared to operate (as I advised last week), Gemini, this week's dual oppositions from Mercury and Mars to Pluto-in-your-8th suggest you may still face a discouraging block or harsh pushback that isn't in your immediate control to clear up. Your autonomy is being undeniably hampered by a deal you've made, a debt you owe, and/or another discouraging consequence from actions taken some time ago. When I say 'there's nothing you can do about it', I mean you should probably respect the figure or force that's thwarting your progress (rather than refusing to abide and making things more painful for yourself). What you can 'do' is use this halt-point as an opportunity to remember which leaky boundary or needy tendency originally got you into this mess… and to commit, again, to having learned your lesson. But please don't burrow into a hole of self-pity. What's done is done. Looking ahead, Venus lands in your sign early next week, to spiff your mood and shine your shell right up.

 

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Your more-brazen-than-usual presentation can be quite a valuable asset, Cancer, if you need to get something off your chest, pitch a proposal, or otherwise make yourself exceedingly clear. Feel it or not, you'll read as a formidable figure who isn't afraid to take charge of your own destiny… and every self-assured statement of interest, inclination, or purpose will only go further in exemplifying that image. Those who have underestimated you or wondered whether you possessed that certain inner fire are liable to start seeing you differently, taking your aspirations more seriously or treating you with more deference or devotion. And then there are those who, consciously or not, will be threatened by this bigger bolder version of you. Under the current astrology, you may just not be able to do anything to relieve their sense of peril, lower their guard, or make nice. Bend over backwards to accommodate, and they'll feel pandered to. Challenge 'em to a pissing contest, and they'll aim to destroy. Therefore, just go about your business, recognizing any such threats… and staying in your self-focused power by not actively feeding the animosity except in defense.

 

LEO (July 23-August 22): Please don't attempt to dishonor or betray the rules of physical reality, Leo, by disappearing into a wishful daydream, overindulging in escapist substances or behaviors, and/or pretending you aren't privy to the potential ramifications of your actions. This week's potent double-opposition from your 12th to Pluto-in-your-6th presents a major astrological warning against shirking your duties, disregarding your body's needs and limits, or trusting the wrong reassurances. Think twice if what you're about to engage in is something you're instinctively moved to conceal from the reasonable characters in your life. If you must slink around in the shadows or perform an innocence that isn't totally sincere, you probably aren't that proud of what you're doing… and that's evidence of an underlying problem Saturn would prefer you not allow to worsen. Should you feel a temptation to steal away into a world where you're telling yourself whatever happens right now 'really isn't that big a deal' (when you secretly know it is), you'll do yourself a solid by instead getting a piece of work done, taking a walk or a swim, cooking a healthy meal, or cleaning your house.

 

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Your ability to work smoothly with the other characters, Virgo, is liable to become actively impinged upon by any undercurrents of personal yearning you aren't fully accepting or attending to. If you feel pressured (by outside forces or your own conscience) to adopt an orientation or message that forces you to abandon certain features or flourishes you really want included, you may do a fine job of mouthing your assent with all the appropriate wording… and yet you probably won't be so successful at swallowing all the traces of your discontent. Whether you bring a subtly snippy edge to your official communications or just vent your heat in compensatory after-hours activity, you won't be able to completely avoid that taut feeling of being stretched between 'team player' and 'unique talent'—not if you're paying heed to both roles with the earnest intent they each deserve. I have no easy trick for resolving this stretch, mainly because the proper balance will fall in different spots based upon what you are in the greatest emotional need of better prioritizing. For this week, it's enough to notice the thick creative tension in its fullest glory.

 

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): This is a decisive moment in your ongoing pursuit of professional aspirations and/or long-term goals, Libra. Your contributions are noticeable, your carriage is emphatic, and your communications cut through the noise like a razor. You're also still flirting with crossing that line between confident and haughty (per my closing warning from last week's horoscope)… which ought to mean that you understand how someone could mistake your fervor for ferocity, your ambition for aggression. Should you confront one of those potentially unwelcoming misperceptions, then, please approach the situation from the utterly adult perspective of not taking it as a personal attack and/or an invitation to defend your reputation. You're likeliest to go wrong in your handlings of such tensions whenever you unconsciously project your own parent/family-based drama onto the situation, as if you must justify or rebel, avoid or overthrow, kowtow or curse, in the face of questions or corrections. The inept, irrational, or fearsome authority-figure lives in your head; this person is just another fallibly multidimensional human, no better nor worse than you.

 

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Take your time with the person(s) in front of you, Scorpio, instead of rushing off to the next thing or hurrying them in the direction you think they ought to go. While I wholeheartedly endorse your actively fueling whatever form of excitement will keep your perspectives fresh and up-to-date, you mustn't ride that surge so fast or fanatically that you zoom right over those angling for a few minutes' engagement or leave them fumbling in your dust. Might I remind you Venus is presently in your relationship house (the 7th)? To overlook those easy moments of interpersonal kinship, companionship, and delight, just because you're hellbent on doing your thing your way all the way right this minute… well, it'd be a real shame, of the sort where folks make a bunch of preparations or a long trip or a big deal to chase a thrill when there's also something just as thrilling right in front of their face that they never bothered to notice at all. You can still continue to seek out those ever-more-wonderful wonders; just don't forget to pause to enjoy the wonderful humans you encounter along the way.

 

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): Slow your roll please, Sagittarius, before your mouth writes a check that the rest of you can't or shouldn't cash… and I might be speaking more literally than this colloquial language would indicate. In an impassioned effort to get the job done 'at any cost', you could find yourself volunteering to go further into some joint venture or shared obligation which may, sooner than you'd have expected, become a huge drain on your emotions, your productivity, and/or your finances. Before you sign on (or allow yourself to be coaxed into), you should probably assess the actual likely cost of your time and attention (whether in pure dollar value or in how you might otherwise use those resources)—and determine if your own self-identified priority-list can afford you making such an investment-of-assets in this situation. Your energies, efforts, and economic wealth are all facets of a single pie which you divvy up into slices to feed your various endeavors…. and when it's gone, it's gone. No more left. Overdrawn. Bye-bye. Therefore, allocate strategically, not merely by impulse or feel.

 

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): With serious conflict-ready astrology falling across your solar chart's self/other axis (that is, the 1st and 7th houses), Capricorn, I encourage you to consider if maybe the real interpersonal power-position is choosing not to even engage a disagreement. I mention this because, should a conflict begin to manifest, it'll likely be waged about a subject or desire the other person has raised… and, no matter if you ultimately win or lose the immediate battle-of-wills, they'll nonetheless have framed its terms and therefore lured you into their sphere-of-influence. A legitimate 'force to be reckoned with' like you needn't allow somebody else to hijack your agenda of prioritized concerns, causing you an emotional flare-up that frazzles your attention and distracts you from what you'd rather concentrate on. However, to resist the attention-distracting tussle altogether, you must refuse to let your feelings outwardly intensify about something you claim not to care that much about. The moment they spy you acting irked or put-out, you're already in it.

 

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): Devote major effortful attention to the task(s) at hand, Aquarius, knowing you've got an unusually efficacious combination of strength, ingenuity, and instinct to work with this week, courtesy of a Mercury-Mars conjunction. But if and when you hit a wall or notice your amount of progress on a given item just isn't what you expected (perhaps for some reason you can't seem to identify?), don't force it any further, please. You can only do what you can do—and you can only understand what's within your perceptual grasp. Beyond that, you're not only running down your motors, but actually risking your safety as one does when the aggravation from something not functioning as it should rouses a reactionary attempt to make it work by ranting and raving and kicking and screaming and rattling the mechanism with a ferocious smack. If an attempted effort doesn't show the results it ought to, don't freak out or assume it's indicative of a larger problem. Just turn your productive energies to something more momentarily responsive to your touch.

 

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Please don't think twice about putting yourself way out there, Pisces, as playful participant or spirited experimenter in whatever pastime, artform, or affair has unmistakably captured your current attentions… especially if your main hesitancy revolves around what certain other people might think about it. Unless you are directly breaking a distinct commitment you've made to an intimate partner, you are free to explore anything you may be interested in—without fear of rejection or retaliation from folks who are too invested in a particular impression of you that this activity might shatter. Even if such pressures aren't quite so overt (or perhaps exist entirely in your own head?), my mention of this possibility returns us to that continuing lesson about the repressive strain of maintaining friendship or connection with people who aren't like-minded or soul-supportive. The company you keep matters, my dear. Keeping around peers or pals whose presence causes you to doubt the acceptability or awesomeness of what you really want to do? It's damaging to your sense of self.