Horoscopes | Week of July 3-9, 2017

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Make more room for festively shooting the shit with pals and local characters, Aries, as a welcome antidote to your past couple weeks of less-socially-oriented, self-reflective brooding. You should find you now have a lot more to say… much of which may thankfully have little to do with whatever's recently had you mooning, mopey, or miffed. Better yet if you can surround yourself with folks who have plenty to say themselves, and who can point your shit-shooting sessions toward topics which don't demand much personal emotional investment from you. You'll support a positive outlook more solidly by engaging in witty repartee or unabashed ridiculousness rather than attempting deeper heart-to-hearts (only to find you've selected someone ill-equipped to provide the affirmation you need and/or that you lack the patience required for thoroughly detailing what's on your mind). See, even with the week's heartening astro-changes, Mars remains in your 4th as an inner-sphere irritant, inciter of out-of-whack reactions, and/or rebellious refuser of too much stifling 'support' from other. Keep your exchanges mostly frivolous or frolicsome, and you should be able to avoid spewing your feelings all over folks who don't deserve the dump.

 

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The theme of 'leaving well enough alone' I raised last week, Taurus, starts coming in even stronger this week… with a pair of planetary sign-changes (Venus and Mercury) meant to return your attention to more inward, private, and/or domestic-realm activities that'll address your emotional needs (rather than keep you intersecting and intertwining with others' competing concerns). Likewise, this is a good opportunity to regroup with regards to any very-recently-emerging ideas, initiatives, or involvements which now require affirmative reiteration, further clarification, and/or a deeper analysis (especially as far as potential costs, benefits, values, and methods are concerned). Don't, however, fool yourself into thinking there won't continue to be side-discussions or backroom-whispers you'll desperately want to insinuate your feedback into. Before you finish any remark that would begin with something like, 'I know I shouldn't say this, but…', please ask yourself exactly what you expect to gain from it. 'Just going on record' may not 'gain' you anything. In fact, it might exact a price.

 

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Hail and welcome Venus, goddess of the spring-in-your-step and the dazzle-to-your-glow, to your sign early this week (Tue Jul 4), Gemini. For these next three weeks, you'll be working an undeniable charm even more appealing to the world-at-large than usual… and only further enhanced by the interrelated shift of your ruler Mercury into your 3rd, which (if you can believe it) increases your capacity for multitudes of status-updates, text-chains, gab-sessions, and data-swaps. This should prove an exceedingly favorable slice of '17, provided you use your shrewd people-skills to position yourself in front of the right people at the right time to receive the good graces they'll want to send your way. All this advantageous astrology won't work quite as well for you, alas, if you show up to the scene expecting a certain outcome of your specific choosing and/or too straightforwardly stating a desire. The best benefits will derive from your focusing on the reach-outs, the connections, and the social flows, not any explicit goal you want out of them. What presents itself might end up being better than what you would've devised yourself.

 

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Please be mindful of this week's underlying friction on your physical plane, Cancer, due to an inconjunct between Mars and Saturn across two body-related houses (your 1st and 6th). This isn't the best moment to push yourself beyond what your system's accustomed to, veer too far from your steadying habits, or take major risks to your bodily safety. Instead, it's a time to heed the more reasonable voices in your head… and, if you're unable (or unwilling) to actively reduce your exposure to potential hazards, to do a bit of protection magic and/or pray to your guardian angel. I offer you this not to scare you, please understand, for this isn't necessarily astrology that portends horrible dangers or utter doom-and-gloom. It's a far more subtle situation than that, insofar as your lately-emboldened instincts may be goading you to suck it up and brave your fears, though you probably ought to do so only gradually, modestly, or cautiously so as not to utterly disrupt your familiar rhythms and throw off your equilibrium. Taking bold action is still presently favored… but strictly within the context of also keeping up with whatever's already kept you healthy and productive.

 

LEO (July 23-August 22): This Wednesday (Jul 5), Mercury begins a resplendent three-week visit to your sign, Leo, granting you a relatively unfettered (and potentially attention-grabbing) ability to clearly and powerfully articulate yourself… a gift to writers, storytellers, communications professionals, and anyone who wants to be heard and understood loud and clear. This Mercury-in-your-1st will be gorgeously supported by Venus entering your 11th (also this week), which promises a warmer embrace by those in your social circles (whether they're close-in or on a more peripheral ring) as you regale them with your first-person tales, theories, and obsessions. This is the sort of astro-combo that positively situates you amidst a crowd of your beloveds, shining in your full expressive glory. For the time being, though, an especially shifty Mars still skulks through your 12th, threatening to dash your happy-go-lucky gait, should you forget last week's warning against participating in activities you'd be ashamed to speak openly about. You hopefully won't experience any Mars-related bummers as long as you aren't engaged in anything you fear would soil your outward image if everyone knew about it.

 

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Your window for effectively speaking up is essentially closing early this week, Virgo, with the transfer of your ruling messenger-planet Mercury into your 12th (on Wed Jul 5)… a move which makes it no longer wise to attempt to explain your logic or argue a point. But if you rashly conclude this is a regrettable transition, please think again: With Venus concurrently headed to your 10th, you'll actually be in a prime spot professionally (and/or in the public sphere), provided you can dispense with the self-imposed presumption that you're supposed to be the 'expert' and instead roll with whichever directions (and I'm using the plural here to signal there may not be a single coherent one) are coming from the top. This advice is apt to work better if you've already expressed your opinion earlier at least once, so nobody can later accuse you of withholding pertinent information. If you're not content with how this is all going, it's no longer an advantageous time to vent your frustration. Screw your thinking-cap on straight, and spend the next few weeks discreetly engineering your next move. If you pick a quarrel now, you're the one likeliest to suffer the most.

 

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): Let's use the upcoming week to get you off the hot-seat, Libra, and back into a position where you'll be better able to express yourself in a more politically adept manner. This isn't, alas, a repositioning that'll come super easy. Though you have some astrological support in shifting your mindset away from challenges to authority or convention, you aren't altogether leaving behind that heightened impulse to fight whenever hindered in your efforts to achieve, ascend, or acquire. But as the planets adjust themselves, you're likelier to get ahead by massaging the roughest edges off your message and/or greasing the palms of your allies with kind words and considerate gestures than by confronting any scary monsters head-on. Furthermore, I advise dropping any premeditated or retaliatory attempts to 'gain the upper hand' in this ongoing jockeying for advantage… instead looking beyond the specific personality-differences in question this very minute, to the purposeful future payoffs these efforts are aimed at producing. That's why you want to emerge victorious: not to unseat or defeat anyone else, but to succeed at something you believe in.

 

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): There are also practical reasons not to hurry through your interactions (as we discussed last time), Scorpio… though they may not be immediately obvious to you, if you're too single-mindedly insistent on riding this rocket to adventure (without, say, considering whether you've got enough fuel to power the whole journey). Including a certain someone (or someones) in the more intimate workings of this latest passion, however, is a good way to increase your odds of noticing something you otherwise would've missed. Their participation will give you another set of eyes-and-ears, as well as assets and talents distinct from yours—and thus hopefully complement nicely what you're bringing to the table. And in order to procure eventual funding, institutional support, and/or the blessings of mentors, you may also wish to develop a clever elevator-pitch description that encapsulates this endeavor in more professional and/or palatable terms. Even if you aren't especially interested in recruiting such things now, your capacity to make this all sound reasonable is one worth working on, for reasons as yet unclear.

 

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): I think you'll really like the shift in store for you this week, Sagittarius, as lovely planetary smoother-over Venus shows up in your relationship house (the 7th) and makes it so much easier to click and cavort with your favorite people (and the not-so-favorite ones, too). You'll rack up bonus points in any relationship whenever you dive into conversation-topics that get you both excited about what's coming up ahead… whether future study interests, travel plans, ideas for mutually edifying collaborations, or just general exploratory enthusiasm. But at the same time, there still lurks the allure of getting sucked back into an ongoing re-litigation of some unresolved frustration, financial snag, sexual hang-up, and/or other psychic compulsion. Like, it still doesn't feel quite right, so, even though you rightly suspect nothing productive will come from fixating on it, you don't want to let it go quite yet. May I return you to the beginning of this horoscope, then? A shift is in store, orienting you toward interpersonal good-times directly fed by looking ahead. Why keep looking back and poking at the past?

 

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): How, exactly, to deliver your unfiltered feedback or a potentially painful truth—the disclosure of which is essential to your 'being real' with this person—without needlessly fanning further the flames of animosity? I'm not sure there's a surefire answer, Capricorn, considering Mars remains in your 7th, provoking any latent relational differences into conspicuous being. Even still, I advocate unburdening your psyche of information that's fundamental to all parties understanding what's actually going on between you… if not to improve the overall authenticity of your dynamic, then to guard against you taking on the emotional weight of presumptuously managing other people's capacity to process. If you don't communicate about it with them, you'll just be holding it all yourself. To soften the sting, I suggest framing any difficult conversations against a backdrop of fostering greater productive efficiency and/or looking out for integrative mind-body-spirit wellbeing, with the intent of sealing any energetic leaks which may otherwise be siphoning life-force away from you both if not addressed.

 

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): While you'll continue possessing the steam you need for ongoing tasklist progress, this week's tidal changes will also start stoking your leisure-time participations up to a higher level of personal satisfaction. Of course, you must make a deliberate decision to pivot your energies away (at least for part of your day) from all the shit you'd still like to get done… though, oddly, you might find it more comfortable (for any number of reasons) to stick with the reassuring grind. I recommend not passing up this ripe opening for engaging in more out-in-the-world fun, however, mainly to counteract the tendency to socially isolate when you're too intently focused on personal jobs, chores, and habits. To further entice you into choosing some outwardly entertaining play alongside your diligent work, let me add this nugget: With Mercury moving into your 7th in sextile to Venus in your 5th, you'll be wielding a rather convincing, captivating, and seductive tone in your one-on-one communications that should keep whomever you're speaking with very interested in whatever you're doing. Use this fleeting gift to further stoke all parties' personal-satisfaction levels.

 

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Though I suspect (or at least hope) you've been enjoying a livelier-than-usual party scene, gaming schedule, creative wellspring, and/or romantic life, Pisces, I spy the craving for a bit more peace-and-quiet starting to announce itself. Obviously, these two behavioral impulses are somewhat at odds... though I don't think you need to pick only one, at the absolute expense of the other. However, the urge for and/or the expectation of one more drink or slice-of-pizza, another late-night meetup or improv session, or any unmitigated indulgence in the sweet fruits of life is liable to overshadow the quieter desire for a restful sleep, a restorative ritual, or a dose of solitary me-time. Even if your body seems to be keeping up with the fun-times pretty impressively, your mind demands a bit more space for sorting through all the stray assignments and considerations which may've gotten lost in this recent shuffle—not that you've done anything wrong up to this point, let me clarify, but merely that a certain practicality-minded anxiety could begin creeping in if you don't pause to organize your thoughts, in between this activity and that intrigue.