Your May 2020 monthly horoscope by Eric is available here. This includes access to his article, The Private Idaho Virus.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — As preparation for your new life ahead, start working with language. Listen to how you speak, and study how you write. This includes what you say, though how you say it is the more significant factor. Both matter and both are essential. You need to do this like you’re going to an unfamiliar country where you know you’ll need to speak the language as a matter of necessity. You know that the language will open up possibilities that would not otherwise be there, because you would not hear about them or understand them if you did. However, at the moment, you don’t know what country that is going to be, or how things are necessarily said. So what you want to work on, therefore, is your ability to put your ideas and feelings into words. Work on this process deeply enough to reach the point where you have a shift in your ideas as you refine their expression. This aligns with how the writing process is often a thinking process; but when you have a tangible thought, it has a way of writing itself. Work both sides of this equation, and make sure this happens in actual writing. The closer you get to pen and paper the better. Begin as if you’re sketching something you cannot see but know exists. This is intuitively educated guess work that you can practice and practice until you slip your hand into the feeling and know the glove fits. Keep at this, somewhat relentlessly, and trust that it will all make sense soon enough — but not too soon to get real preparation.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — In a very general sense, here is the shape of your life. For a good long time, you struggled to rethink, transcend or escape from ideas that guided you for a while, though at a certain point they clearly no longer served you. Part of doing that was figuring out how, specifically and in fact, they were useless. Then all of a sudden a jolt ran through your being, and you knew you had to shake it all loose. I mean really loose, like diving into the water naked for the first time. Wow, what a transformation. Now, Saturn is about to take up residency in your life in a new way. You are likely to feel the instinct to contain, constrain and shape your reality. You may give that a little taste, just to see how it feels in the context of your new fiery restlessness. However, before you get too cozy, I am here to tell you that you’ve still got some shaking and some loosening to do. And if that is going well, it’s definitely too soon to determine what form it, meaning your daily life and central mission, will take. Here is some news for you: forget the form, for now. Stick to the content, your ideas, your exploration and even your confusion, and let it do its thing, without the notion of what to do with or about it. Losing or loosening your tendency to pull focus will be helpful, because ultimately you will be dropping a self-limiting tendency. That is the thing you’ve been after, though it’s been a little like the trap where the monkey gets his hand caught only because he won’t let go of something.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — It’s time to rethink the career question, on the basis of what you would do if your commitments to others were not hemming you in. You’ve invested yourself in several different relationship situations that have proven difficult to get a handle on. The question, “Where did my power go?” might be easier to answer if you understood where it came from in the first place. Ultimately it is your ability to change and adapt, though in some situations, this has had the effect of wedging you into a corner. One of the walls that constrained you is about to move, and reveal an exit. At the same time, possibilities for what you might do with your power (meaning your creativity, and your ability to make decisions about how to use it) are opening up. You may notice some option or possibility and ask yourself boldly: do I want to do that, or be there? If you feel your reality expand with just the question, don’t be too surprised. You might even wonder if you’ve been caught in a conceptual trap all this time, which you could have shifted with your thoughts. Well, you could have, but you would not have experienced the feeling of being pushed so hard in directions you might never have gone. Having liberty is never so obvious as when you have some prior constraints fresh in your memory. And you encountered a certain kind of closeness that you might never have experienced otherwise. You can still have something akin to that, though without the pins, the barbs and the emphasis on power. Remember, there are some things you should never have to negotiate for. And at least you know.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — For a person who appreciates stability as much as you do, it’s been difficult to go through so many years of living on shifting ground. Yet one of your approaches to handling this has been to cling to grounding in small ways that may not work for you anymore. Be aware of what those are. Your opposite sign Capricorn is involved, so this could relate to anything in your environment or the universe of your relationships. It could relate to how you perceive the world. It could relate to where you are physically located. There may be some nexus where all of the above meet, and this, in turn, will invariably affect your professional calling. Speaking of, the bold sigil in your chart is Chiron in Aries, and it’s not possible to say too much about that. This placement is a compelling calling and an urgent inner need. It is your drive to be yourself in all that you do, and to be your own guide. You have taken authority from the usual set of responsibilities and self-imposed limitations to something much better: you must be your own best example. The thing you can no longer seek from outside yourself is how to be who you are. Exemplars have gotten you so far. You have learned some important methods, and taken in some key ideas that all got you where you are. Now you must aspire to be who you are inside, in truth and in the future: the actual, real you that you know you must become. Much has shifted and is shifting that will move you there.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — A particular struggle has persisted for some years, and you are now gradually coming out of it. This will happen in degrees rather than all at once. There is plenty of talk in the world about setting boundaries and limits, though rarely do we apply this idea to difficulty or effort. Rarely does it apply to wasted time. Maybe you’ve experienced something like this before. You have a lot of little problems that have persisted for a long time, and a couple of big ones. Then you face a new challenge that you embrace wholeheartedly. In the process, you transcend all those problems and suddenly they no longer exist. It’s almost as if they never did, and you wonder where they went. This is the power of engaging yourself with a greater purpose. Your charts describe a similar scenario over the next season. You’re about to enter a test phase of what is really a new paradigm. That is a framework, both conceptual and physical. One bad example of this from history is how the automobile solved the rapidly growing problem of horse manure in cities. Yet as time went on, it caused a whole new assortment of even bigger problems. You must choose the options that resolve issues rather than create them. During Saturn’s initial three-month visit to Aquarius, study the law of unintended consequences. Note the solutions that cause other problems, and the ones that do not. There will be obvious distinctions between the two, if you slow down and notice them. You must be observant, and organize your observations. Work with them ongoing.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Being creative and having lots of ideas is one thing. Yet you’re rapidly approaching the time when you must put your own brilliance to work for a whole new purpose. This is likely to involve transposing your personal and creative breakthroughs into a collective or group situation of some kind. This has always been a calling for you, though you had some territory to cross before you could actually do it, and you’ve reached a borderland. That is the one between individual creativity and creative leadership. You have been through one heck of an initiation the past few years. You have been pushed, pulled or dragged into learning how to open up, take a chance and express something bold. You may have done so reluctantly, or resisted with everything you had, though you probably shifted your attitude at a certain point and decided that the risk was worth it. You may not have full faith in your ideas, or confidence in your abilities, though you might review where you were at three or four years ago for some contrast. You are now starting to get the message that people don’t accomplish that much working alone. However, it takes special talent to coordinate individuals with their own tendencies and approaches into a synergistic effect. That’s the thing we all know about how the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. This is easier said than done, due to various ego issues, struggles with authority, and a general state of immaturity that pervades so much of human existence. You are on the wave front of progress.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Your personal history is starting to loosen its grip on you. Or maybe you are loosening your grip on it. As you do that, here is something to consider. To what extent do you make decisions with a need to please others, before you are true to yourself? If so, and this could be subtle, the question is whom are you attempting to make happy? Way in the back of your mind, or in the crevices of your emotions? Ask yourself and observe what comes back in reply. Whatever that may be, you are ready to let it go. You have been attempting this for a while; maybe for months, maybe for years, maybe in some cycle you’ve noticed and then forgotten about. One result of whatever this may be is an indirect approach to relationships and also to your whole existence. That in turn is the result of your attempts to form a compromise between your purpose and what you perceive to be some other purpose, as if you are trying to serve two masters. Every now and then, a confrontation with a different reality gets your attention. Someone might throw you into crisis. A spiritual teacher, mentor or exemplar may enter your life, from whom you know you want to learn. Then it becomes especially difficult to stretch yourself across the contradiction. What if you worked with the idea that it’s impossible to be in two worlds at once? What if you dared to involve yourself with something that, for you, represents a new reality? That will feel like moving in one direction without being pulled in another. That would be your direction rather than that of someone else.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — It is time to carefully re-evaluate your emotional attachments to your family. Matters such as your sense of belonging among them, and by extension, any other group you are associated with, are front and center. This comes down to the squishy issue of whether you feel secure without them. Keep your finger on the pulse of how much approval you need from outside yourself. There are those people who always have to go somewhere with someone (whether it is out to dinner, or getting on an airplane). Others are portrayed standing next to someone in every photo. Where do you fall along those spectrums? One of the themes of your forthcoming extended phase of your life will be greater emotional independence. This does not mean facing existence entirely on your own, but rather the growing desire to liberate yourself from habits that bind you to others in limiting ways. This includes your family, to the extent that you have one. It includes your rituals and traditions associated with the past, whether we are talking about putting up Christmas decorations, where you live and why, or why certain people are your friends. Where do you stand, when you set yourself apart from all of this? What do you do specifically to feel secure? Dredge all of this up to full awareness. Make a map of your comfort zones. Shift or outright bust your routines and your persistent habits, just to see what happens when you do. One major reassessment is soon to involve your work. Is what you do actually representative of you? Were your life to end tomorrow, would you be satisfied with what you have accomplished?

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Mars in your birth sign has been provoking your desire nature. Yet rather than certainty about what you want, an experiment is called for, ongoing. Your chart poses a question that is easy to state and more difficult to answer. To what extent do your desires and impulses align with your principles? Or said another way, do your actions align with your intentions as you state them? I suggest you consider that for a while, and perhaps score yourself on your past activities as well as your current efforts. The experience of time wasted, of goals not met, or of making decisions that ultimately serve to work against your interest represent one set of criteria. The feeling and actual experience of evolution into who you are inside is another. Your quotient of frustration versus a sense of accomplishment counts for a lot. Statements such as, “I’m doing this, but I really wish I could be doing that,” are worth keeping track of, for both their content and their frequency. Relationships are calling for a similar set of tests. Are you in any relationship just because you are, are you growing and learning and having fun, or are you feeling the itch to do something else? You may not have ready answers to these questions. They may bring up some uncertainty and anxiety, because certain responses to any one of them could lead you to recognize the need to make big changes that you don’t feel ready for. The placement of the eminently Sagittarian planet Chiron in Aries is saying that none of these matters are theoretical. The experiment is testing them through direct contact, and noting carefully the results.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You are in the last few weeks before Saturn leaves your birth sign for a test run into Aquarius. Let’s contemplate the Saturn principle. Were someone to know only one thing from all of astrology, this would be the one. The idea is that you take responsibility for yourself, such that nobody has to tell you what to do, or why to do it. This involves being aware of your environment and its boundaries and regulations, and adapting yours to work with them. You understand your commitments, and you keep them without being told to. You become your own parents, your own boss, and your own police department, so that you don’t need things nagging you from the outside. Drive safely and you won’t get pulled over. Pay your parking tickets and you won’t get booted. Pay your taxes and the revenue department won’t come after you. Honor your responsibilities and they become privileges and opportunities. Those who do not do these things are the ones whose lives either become a rolling disaster, or who never seem to reach their potential due to seemingly external factors. There is always some obstacle. What most well-seasoned therapists would tell you is that this is a game: refusing to internalize your authority structure is the perfect way to block yourself, and not embrace the responsibilities that would lead to the greater possibilities. Given the state of society and of so many people’s lives today, this leads us to a question: are you done with that? If you want to be, the timing is perfect.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Saturn entering your birth sign or rising sign is an event to prepare for. The date of arrival is March 21, just past the forthcoming equinox. So you have a little time, which I would suggest you use consciously. One question you might ask yourself is the nature of the internal struggle you’ve been through during the past few years of Saturn in your 12th house (which began in late 2017). What, exactly, have you been working through? Were you even aware of the depth of the material you were processing, or did you plod along attempting to maintain your life as usual? Some deep questions have been nagging, and at times, dragging you into situations you may not understand. Superficial explanations will be of no help, despite their immense popularity. You need to be honest with yourself about the ways the past has held you down, and the role of denial in this scenario. You may have some completions to do with people from your past, or who are in your life now. The central question is what it means to be honest with yourself, and how you know whether and when you are doing it. Then there is the matter of connecting with your actual creativity, and your desire to do something that is more fun. When you have tried that previously, what has held you back? That is something to get real about, and upon which to focus your intelligence and your desire for healing. Said another way, you must have no secrets from yourself.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — You are establishing yourself in new social and professional territory, in a process that will take some surprising directions this spring. Those, in turn, will emerge from deeply personal discoveries that you are making currently. For now, you want to resolve the past rather than do anything that will bind you to it. Most people know very little about resolving anything, and tend to drag their personal history behind them in ways that are not useful. This prevents them from making any actual progress, which is another typical condition on the planet. I suggest you establish a relationship with your future and with your potential, and take your mission seriously. This will require you to do something beyond what most of your peers are up to, and to have a different approach and attitude. Devotion to your purpose sets you apart. It makes you visible, and just that will carry an aura of success. You must maintain your public relations position in a sincere way, and at the same time attend to the details of your friendships and your work. Relationships matter a lot now, which means honor your commitments, and pay attention to who does and does not honor theirs. People you do not know are observing you, so assume that, potentially, any of your actions are visible. This can and must work for you. For several long and possibly difficult years, you have been establishing yourself and making a place for yourself. Now it’s time to move in on your own territory. As Sir Paul said, when you got a job to do, you gotta do it well.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — It may seem your whole life is focused on your career and matters involving your family, which are related. This could be taking considerable time, effort and emotional energy at the moment. To suss out the relationship between family and profession, notice who at work is acting like whom in your family of origin. Notice the way the dramas unfold. Most of all, notice how you respond: do you feel weak and powerless? Do you feel like you have a voice? Can you stand in your strength? Do you have some influence over the flow of events? Use what you know, and remember your power of choice at all times. Whatever might seem to be going on now, your life is heading well beyond these situations that are consuming your time and energy. You are making your way to a whole new reality field, where you will find yourself on much more level ground. Your concept of power will evolve this year from a top-down model to a lateral model. You will still be able to use what you learned from negotiating your freedom and your destiny, though the rules will all be different. Bring your attention to the far wider social environment that surrounds you, and where you have much more influence. Notice the people around you. Treat everyone respectfully, as your equal, and establish yourself in your community as a person dedicated to service. This is leadership; it will take practice, and it will be worth it.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You cannot control how others see you. You cannot control what they think about you. You can only choose who you are, and how you express yourself. Integrity means staying close to your center and not being distracted by perceptions, opinions or the judgments of others. This includes the residue you may be carrying from how others have perceived you in the past, or the ways they’ve conditioned you to think about yourself. To sort this out takes more maturity and strength of character than would seem to be available now. And it’s certainly not in vogue to stand on your own and not be swayed from your inner truth. However, over the next four weeks, your commitment to yourself may be tested. Others may claim authority they do not have. People around you are likely to be driven by ideology that they consider the Holy Grail. I would suggest being wary of any ideology, and assessing the known facts, using your own power of reasoning. You are in a position of guiding others, and that places additional responsibility upon you to not believe what is not true. This means avoiding belief in any form. And it means avoiding what is known as “conviction” — absolute certainty about anything. These things are a kind of philosophical comfort food for many, and they tend to cloud or even paralyze the mind. Thankfully, your situation is much better than that of many people around you. You don’t need palliatives. You need to honor your truth, which means gradually finding out what it is.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — You have been in so many situations where you’ve experienced your power being taken away, or giving it away, that you may have forgotten anything else is possible. This has gone on for years, and you are now at the crux point. You cannot go on in the same style you’ve considered acceptable for so long. The question is: why would you? Why have you? It’s time for a careful, thoughtful and honest look at the role of guilt in your life. Guilt is the toxin of social control, installed into us as a self-governing device for the convenience of those would dominate us. It is usually taken for granted. It is often used as a cudgel or a way of getting control of a person (when all else fails, there’s always a guilt trip). I would propose you want none of this: not the power you might gain, or that which you might lose. There are more and less responsible ways to attain this. We know that one problem sociopaths have is they lack guilt and remorse, and then give themselves permission to do anything. That is not what I’m referring to. The path out of this particular thicket calls for the highest degree of ethics, radical honesty, compassion for yourself, and learning how to clear your conscience. Over the next four weeks, you will have several once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to free yourself from a certain kind of oppression that is just pointless. So to my list of personal ingredients we can add courage. That is the most important one of all.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You have gone through so many changes in recent years, you’ve lost track of them. This goes back about 10 years. Something has been riveting your attention, whether you liked it or not: some compelling force of nature, or of your soul. And it’s pushed, pulled, stretched and dragged you many different places through many circumstances. You are now coming to closure on all that has happened in these years. The next month brings a true-to-life turning point, which I would describe as gaining the ability to meet the world on your own terms. However, you must bring focus, devotion and impeccability to the equation. What you’re experiencing is less like flying a kite and more like flying a jet plane. The stakes are higher; it’s more dangerous; a lot more can go wrong — and you can finally get where you want to go. The thing is, nobody is going to lure or lead you. You are now handling the controls; you are making the decisions. This is true even if that involves deciding what to do when you encounter circumstances seemingly outside of your control, or people who might seem to be more powerful than you. Challenge that illusion with your presence and your intelligence. Step into the position of being steadfast and self-directed. If you need information, ask for it — whether you’re asking of spirit or of a trusted source. Then listen; assess all incoming information carefully, and make your decisions consciously. This is the whole point. Don’t let anyone decide for you. Those days are over.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — It is now time to master the art and the craft of self-care. This goes beyond the mani/pedi and the spa treatment. It is an approach to existence where you place your life at the center of your world, and work your way outward. Though this will involve making many small changes, there is something structural about your life that you need to alter. You might think of this as the shape of your existence. There’s also something about “letting food be thy medicine.” You must eat what is right for you, and be in a continuous process of making adjustments. I know how challenging this can be, particularly in the midst of time crunches, and the constant temptation of prepared foods that are simply not wholesome. This message is coming through with such potency that you may be able to organize your whole existence around your food supply. Society is due for a reckoning here, but I’m not holding my breath. For you, step one is: if it aggravates, remove it. There are artificial toxins (glyphosate) and there are seemingly natural ones (soy, gluten, etc.). As a celiac person, I assure you that this can become a full-time vocation. You have to scrutinize every bite of food you eat. It’s one heck of a mindfulness exercise. Step two is: knowing what foods you need, and making sure you get them. This is more controversial, though you might start by remembering what your grandparents ate. Generally, nutrients come from food, not supplements. You may need guidance; three trusted human sources would be ideal, i.e., not the internet.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Much of the agony of Western civilization involves suppressing sexual feelings. This is flogged into us from a young age, and then treated with suspicion and derision throughout the life of anyone who does not take a personal stand. You will talk to many people who think this is a good thing. Well, it is, if your life goal is to stand at attention and recite the Pledge of Allegiance perfectly. If you want access to your curiosity and your passion; if you want to experience your senses; if you want to deepen your capacity to love and feel and share; well, then, the aperture you want to open is your erotic connection. This will be disruptive to all that is stuck and boring in your life. You may push people around you to wake up, whether they want to or not. You may need to make some new friends, who support your holistic approach to creativity and who may want to participate. Most of all, you will have to confront the feelings of guilt that have stalked you for much of your life, and which can act up whenever you strive to feel good. This is really the thing you want to resolve above all else, but such never comes in the form of deconstructing the negative. Yes, you do some of that, and learn about the subject. What really does the work is your vital force pushing through the barriers. This is most organically accessed through tapping your sexual feelings, which will in turn ignite your senses and your curiosity. Hang loose, relax and, above all, do not judge.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — The whole world is on shaky ground at the moment. Due to the orientation of your chart, you feel this palpably, and you understand something about your environment. So for you, there is no denying the obvious — only dealing with it. That said, it would help if you tuned into how other people are experiencing this groundlessness. This is what’s behind the feeling of panic that is taking over the world. It’s also what’s underneath this strange idea that ‘there is no truth’ and/or ‘the truth does not matter’. It’s leading people to opt for what seem like easy and expedient solutions to problems that are either misdiagnosed or that do not exist. All of these situations grow out of two things: one is collective early conditions in the family; the other is the ground of reality shifting to the internet. You are in a position to benefit the most from these changes, and you’re also vulnerable to some of their worst effects. You must know the ground that you stand upon. It is not physical ground but spiritual. You have a life apart from all of the chaos in the world, and apart from the physical conditions of your life. The many tests you’ve been through (going back about 10 years) are about to culminate in your discovery of who you actually are, and what your most vital contribution is. This includes understanding that it’s not your job to facilitate the frantic insecurity of those around you. You have a much more important and positive role right now.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — We live in a time when the truth has never been easier to find, and when fewer people believe it exists. Then many people are absolutely certain they know what is true, without any basis at all for their beliefs. Yet ignorance (a concept based on the verb to ignore) is not bliss. The prevailing mental state is creating a truly dangerous situation for the world. You are in a process of maturing intellectually. Depending on who you are, this may feel painful and arduous, or it may feel liberating and beautiful. Here is a bit of ancient wisdom, to help you on your journey. You do not need to seek what is true. Rather, you must seek within yourself for what is false, and clear that out of the way. Then you will be much more inclined to see reality as it is. When you discover an untruth within yourself, move it out of the way and ask to be shown what is true. It’s best not to obsess over this exchange, but rather to take it in stride. Remember, though, that untruths exist for a reason. They might be justification for something; they might seem to block something painful from your awareness; you might believe something out of a sense of loyalty to someone, particularly your family. You might latch onto something because it’s trendy and socially acceptable. It will help to know your motive, and pay special attention when it shows up. Be aware of when you’re kidding yourself. You need conscious boundaries and limits where your mental faculties are concerned.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You know you must live your life your way, though too often there are questions of circumstance that seem to prevent you from doing so. Frequently that involves the role of others who have a smaller vision for their existence than you do for yours. And, too frequently, their lives can complicate or be destructive to yours. Let’s take this in two parts. First, you have your motives, needs and values, which cannot be changed or modified by anyone else. Nor is it anyone’s responsibility to help you make those real or live them out. Then there is the influence of others, which tends to enter when you feel like you need someone to help complete you in some way. Yet it is that perception which distracts you and allows for the infiltration of influences and values counter to your own. It has a way of drawing you out of your center and, at times, depleting your resources. Which brings me to the point of money: you must become your own master, where your finances are concerned. This is the single most important issue of 2020, and it’s an issue that has been brewing for a while. It’s no great mystery how money works, on the basis of cash-in, cash-out. Where most people get into problems surrounds the issue of maturity. You need structure, and you need leadership, and those are going to come from you. It takes a certain amount of money to maintain your life; there is a way to bring that in, or lower your costs: it must be one or the other.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — The time has arrived for the Saturn-Pluto conjunction in your birth sign. Whatever is going on now is what this is about. Whatever you feel stands between you and the future is what this is about. In the days remaining between now and this once-per-lifetime event, you must ask yourself what you want to carry into the future and what you want to leave behind. Consider this as if it’s an actual question, with a time cutoff. Make a list of the most important factors in your life and choose what you want and what you don’t want, based on what helps you and what harms you. These can include everything from personal tendencies to relationships to roles that you play in life. Imagine you’re boarding a time ship to the future, but you have more stuff than you can take with you. So you have to determine what you want, and what you need, working within a limit. Since we are talking mostly about spiritual matters, you will need to set the boundary. Please do so carefully. You want as few useless or outmoded ties to the past as you can arrange. That means fewer attachments and obligations. Free up as much of your personal bandwidth as you can claim back. The future is upon you, and it will soon be arriving with more emphasis and intensity than it ever has.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You may be feeling some inner pressure that you cannot name. You may have the idea that something big has to change, but you’re not sure what. It would be better if you didn’t leap to any conclusions, or make any excuses. Rather, keep your attention focused inwardly and listen. You may not recognize it, though you’re in one of the most formative times of your life. Deep changes are taking place within you, many of which have been brewing for long years or decades. You are impressionable, and I would suggest you orient on people who set an example you want to follow. This involves two things, mainly. One is ethics. Much of civilization is currently being driven by the urge to attain raw power, and you’re not exempt from getting caught up in this trend. The other is the extent to which the tendencies and values of your family are still driving you. You’re likely experiencing this as being moved by “unconscious” feelings and motives. If that is true, it’s time to bring what is in the shadows into the full light of day. Evaluate what you’re feeling based on what you do, how you respond to people, and the responses you get from them. You are approaching the moment when there is no room for needless controversy, turmoil or upset in your life. You have neither time nor energy to waste. And you cannot have loyalties you don’t understand lurking around beneath the surface of your mind. Said another way, you must be totally real with yourself and take responsibility for all that you do.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — By now you have a sense of the territory you’re in. You know your surroundings, you can see the forces moving in the world around you, and you have a pretty good idea what you want. You know who you can trust. The time has arrived to go forward in one direction. Prioritize and focus on what stands out as the most important to you. This is likely to be more than one goal or project, though keep a tight grouping on what you commit to. It’s essential that you not over-extend yourself or your resources. Be realistic about time, and over-estimate how long things will take and how much they will cost. Keep up with your most important business and keep your plans close to you; do not talk about your business plans in public or on the internet. It’s also critical that you work with a communication strategy that includes the details of who you are in contact with and when, and how you approach any given transaction. For example, it matters whether something is discussed in person, on the phone, on paper, via email, or some other tool. Think this through carefully on a case-by-case basis: one size does not fit all. You are in a position to experience a series of professional breakthroughs, possibly leading to a major turning point in your life — though you must not take anything or anyone for granted. Keep up with all your important tasks. Be vigilant about staying ahead of schedule. Challenge any and all assumptions, and fact-check everything three times.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Your most important work is bringing people together. It does not matter in which context this occurs, though it’s likely to have manifestations in your professional life. Taking part in this will be helpful to the world, though also essential to your healing. One of the problems undercutting human harmony is a degree of nearly obsessive toxic competitiveness that you can find almost anywhere. Your current spiritual project, as I read your chart, is to resolve this in yourself. That means taking a different approach to professional and social situations: extending yourself more, doing things for which you’re not paid and don’t get recognition, and where you set the example of being helpful for its own sake. You may not be able to ‘make’ everyone get along; not all of them want to, though it will help if you study their differences. Imagine the politics you see in the environment surrounding you in some way reflecting attitudes and values you possess. As well, the helpful actions of others will provide a positive example and a map to your healing. Note that you may be feeling an increasingly intense need to compete with others. This is precisely the impulse you are learning to transcend, on a quest for new ideas about both success and what it means to participate in a community. The message is that life is not about what you do. Rather, your life is about who you are.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You are changing, faster than may be comfortable for you. But this has been going on for a while, in the form of your most rigid, antique beliefs being dismantled by the combined efforts of Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn. You no longer have those old concepts fully intact to stand on, get lost in or distracted by. You may be feeling the competing impulses to cling to a notion of tradition or old ideas about who you are, and at the same time rebel against, well, something. I would propose, however, your true role is to invent: to see problems (yours or those that seem to be collective property) in new ways, and to invest yourself in developing helpful approaches to them. Though it may have worked for you in the past, you can no longer go from day to day following some rote program. You can no longer use your “personality tendencies” or being “set in your ways” as an excuse. And dependence upon conditioning and belief must finally give way to full reliance on your knowledge and your learning process. In fact, no two days are alike. No two projects are the same. Relationships evolve from day to day; reality forever changes. Therefore, face the unknown with courage and love in your heart, and allow something new, different and potentially better to happen.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — There is now a rather massive collection of planets gathering in Capricorn, including (among others) both Jupiter and Saturn — which have more mass than the rest of the solar system combined. Capricorn is your 8th solar house, “the crowded house” because of its complicated collection of intertwined themes. They include all the places where human nature haunts, stalks or otherwise engages us. The major themes of the 8th are where sex meets money, where relationships meet commitment, and where death meets transformation. Needless to say, this is a significant time in your life and in your relationships, and you may be feeling overwhelmed by the kinds of potentially wrenching changes you are having to negotiate. Change can also mean exchange, which is an essential theme of the 8th: there is often a transaction going on, a contract being entered or terminated, or some circumstance forcing you to stand up for your values. This relates to the power theme: who has power over you, who do you have power over, and how did things come to be this way? The pitfall of the 8th is that it covers all the material most people make excuses for avoiding. You could say that means avoiding the truth, first and foremost, which is barely possible at the moment, and which will become impossible over the next two months. It is fair to say that in a very short time, everything will be revealed. Make peace with who you are and what you’re dealing with in life. Take a more transparent approach, so you can get the help you need. The result will be a better life, where you are free from the fetters of the past.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Your world is changing. For a long while, change seems to have meant everything but improvement, due to many challenging aspects influencing your sign. The immediately forthcoming astrology, among the most significant in a generation, is going to level out the ground you stand on. If you’re in tune with your ethics and willing to grow and make adjustments, this will work out well for you. If you are someone who resists progress and constantly prioritizes yourself over others, you will find yourself in circumstances where you will need to be more generous. The question to ask is: what is the purpose of your life? The answer by the standards of society will usually be some form of “every man for himself” or the need to survive. This is often lubricated by some version of, “If I win the lottery, then I will help people.” Please — forget it. You have work to do now, not in the future. Work means a purpose to serve, and people in your life who need you to invest in them. Most of all, work means that you are being called to lead by example. You can have no ideals except for the ones you personally embody. Nothing else counts now except what you demonstrate to be true by your actions and your choices. You’re being called to step up to the challenge of living, with your full sensitivity, even here in our era of duck and cover. In a phrase, it’s time to get real.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Be cautious of how much you’re willing to sacrifice for what you consider a cherished goal. Sure, you will have to give something, though you need to be making conscious decisions as you do so. Right now the end result is not the question; how and where you travel is. You could easily lose yourself in all the endless activity and potential stress (particularly at work) suggested by the Capricorn alignment now in progress. Yet in truth, you are being guided by a bright star to discover something about yourself you’ve never known but have long suspected. The notion of finding yourself is no longer something you have to read about in books, or practice in some structured way, such as a workshop. Rather, your whole purpose for existing is now making a series of discoveries that will lead you to a new understanding of who you are. This is a process; yes, it’s true that some people report those stunning sudden breakthroughs. Usually, self-discovery is a journey of putting one foot in front of the other. The question is whether you look down at the ground, or up at the horizon, while you’re traveling. Now, I say this knowing you are probably involved in some important, time-consuming and high-pressure situations, such as related to work or health. By all means take care of those, though at all times remembering the central nature of your life mission. That might be described succinctly as true self-awareness, which you can and indeed must practice all the time.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — For those who don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from, and for plenty who do, the central struggle of life is figuring out how to express themselves. Your chart embodies this entirely, as if you are a sculptor at work 18 hours a day bringing a piece of marble to life, or welding scraps of metal together into a bird that so convincingly wants to fly. Yet you are the marble, the metal and the bird. You want to shape yourself into those delicate flight feathers and talons, and into the person you’re becoming; you are the ideas you are making into a painting that you want to reveal to others. There is also something about your chart that describes you wanting to forget something: an experience or aspect of yourself, or perhaps a long phase of your history. However, I don’t think you can just let it go and have it be gone. Being human is not that simple. You’re not a device from which you can delete things. The purpose of your creative process is to move your experience through yourself and into a new form. In this way, art and evolution are related to one another. Talent does not matter; having something to say sort of matters. What counts is that you need to address something urgently, and you find an outlet for doing so. You don’t bury it, or go on a head-trip. You work it through in the process of recreating yourself.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Just in time for the holidays, the family angle of your chart is lit up like the decorating department at Lowe’s. This looks like a kind of last tango when it comes to certain ways that family of origin relationships influence you. You tend to be heavily dependent upon bonds with close relatives for your sense of stability, which has not exactly been working out in recent years. Very little has been stable, and whatever benefits you get appear to come at way too high a cost, in terms of your peace of mind. What seems to happen is that when you get around these people who knew you way back when, all of your growth and hard work on yourself can be disappeared with a single dismissive insult. Now, there may be an exaggeration effect, and you will see all you’ve been missing, and much that you have not been missing. Here is the thing: it may seem like this is about them. Really, the topic is resolving what happened to you at the hands of others, and under their emotional influence. If you are experiencing conflict, you can be sure that you are the one who is not stuck and who does not want to be so. Being stuck means that nothing seems to change, when you know that in fact, everything has changed, or needs to. You’re not going to take them along; nobody is going to finally announce that they approve of you. You’re the one who needs to make the adjustments and changes, first by finding an element of emotional independence, and then approving of yourself. If others up-end you, then spending time with them constitutes a conflict of interest.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — You have a lot to say and you may be inclined to say it. Yet I suggest you practice some discipline: refining your message to something with focus and actual thought. You may be tempted to blurt everything out at once. That might feel good for a while but won’t get much of a result. Be particularly cautious what you say, text, tweet or otherwise broadcast when you’re under the influence of alcohol. Even one sip could have a profound effect on your consciousness, such as by tipping you in the direction of slightly depressive, which alters your confidence, and starts a cascade of some kind. Stick to Perrier or cranberry juice, particularly when you’re around relatives. Then, as the magnification effect of Jupiter conjunct Pholus takes effect, you will hear certain thoughts loudly and clearly — stuff you might want to avoid. I suggest you pay close attention, because you’re being granted access to a tap into the distant past. You will have the opportunity to hear and feel with a certain energy that has been coursing down the generations, twisting everyone around it. Do not confuse this with “your own thinking” even though it’s percolating through your own brain. It’s as if you’ve dug up an ancient burial ground and you can see all that has been denied or ignored. Be conscious and careful around this material. Take notes! Think of it as an ancestral entity with a life of its own. Most of all, learn from it. The more aware you are, the less it can control or even influence you.

Everyday Secrets: Sagittarius Astrology Studio

Dear Friend and Reader:

I have now published your Sagittarius Astrology Studio. It covers Jupiter’s conjunction to the Galactic Core, a review of Jupiter in Sagittarius and a preview of forthcoming Jupiter in Capricorn. I focus on the Saturn-Pluto conjunction and many other exciting facets of your astrology. My readings are easygoing and easy to follow, and address real-life matters of life, work and relationships.

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With love,

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — How you feel about yourself is your most important resource. It is the one that grants you access to all the others. Recent events may have shown you what is possible, though this is only so if you make the total investment of faith in yourself. While that always has a relational aspect — people will either affirm you, or not — be cautious about seeking approval from others. Most of those ‘others’ are voices in your mind, representing people from the past who were not supportive when you needed them to be so. Some may have done actual damage from which you’re still trying to piece together recovery. You have everything you need. You have all the talent, commitment and perseverance. (Skills need to be acquired ongoing, and I suggest you never miss an opportunity to learn one.) Yet what regulates your access to your array of abilities and ideas is your emotional state. This is often confused with self-esteem, because it affects the way you see yourself and the basis for the choices you make. Yet it’s much more utilitarian to think of this in terms of how you feel, and what might be interfering with holding yourself in positive regard. For anyone who works their way through this, usually it takes progress and learning over time, and also gaining the basic ability to navigate emotionally. Something impacting you profoundly has a source in the distant past. If you pay attention, you will see exactly what this is. And then if you want to — but only if — you can get some resolution.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Jupiter now enters your sign for the first time in 12 years. It does so in our tense moment, with you under some unusual pressure to make what feel like enforced changes. Indeed, you are fortunate if you have any influence at all in certain circumstances. You do, though it may not be what you think. What I suggest you explore is your own attachment to the very things that seem to trap you or hold you back. This might be some bond to the values espoused by your family, which you have said you want no part of. It might be an emotional approach to life that you know is not working for you. You may have decided you’re ready to go beyond a model of authority that does not leave you room to exist. In fact, at the moment you may feel pretty cramped in, and like the very things you’ve sought to transcend have only become magnified. It is fair to say that this is an important time of reflection for you. It is time to consider what change and progress really consist of, and what these terms really mean to you. In our world, it is easy to be conned out of your true potential. Usually, this is facilitated by wanting to stay in a comfort zone, which is another way of saying not quite being ready to face the unknown. Yet you will indeed be confronted by all that you do not know. The question is, do you turn toward it, or away from it?

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — The prevailing astrology of our moment has had a way of drawing you into yourself, though this has not always been pleasant. Jung once remarked about how people will do anything, no matter now ridiculous, to avoid facing their soul. Soul is not a thing; it is the process of integrating your consciousness into your existence: calling yourself fully aware and present for your own life. This has certain properties, such as commitment to truth. Seeing someone else’s interests as equal to your own is right up there, which implies generosity of spirit. Then there’s the part about facing your fears rather than denying them. If you don’t do these things, you’re likely to project your issues outward, and see them manifest as figments in the world. Of course, the world really does have problems, and is often mean and unfair. But at the moment, that is not your responsibility and it’s unlikely to be your situation. Striving for your own sanity and peace of mind is your situation, and this is going to require shifting or transcending certain mental and emotional patterns that have been running your life for years. You’ve circled around these issues many times. You’ve burrowed in on a few occasions, though this is not necessarily appealing. You are reaching the point where something must shift, or you are going to crack. I suggest you opt for the shift option. It is easy to invite necessary changes into your life. Start by questioning what you have denied or taken for granted. That is step one in focusing your commitment to truth.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — After a stunning series of events in your professional angle of Sagittarius, your ruling planet Jupiter is about to change regions of your chart, entering your social and public realm of Capricorn. The entire universe of what we call “social and public” is in chaos at the moment. You’ve probably experienced some of that firsthand, with the Saturn-Pluto conjunction brewing there for a couple of years. And now your own personal story is drawing you out of your shell and into a phase of your existence where you will be more directly involved in collective events. You don’t want to get too involved, though. A vital aspect of what you are being called to do is bear witness, rather than control the flow of events. You will have many opportunities to be a positive influence. Your viewpoint will be helpful — assuming you take a focused approach, and have respect for tradition. That’s the thing. There is revolution in the air, but it’s probably not your chosen variety. You must attune keenly to your bodily senses, and notice how you respond to both people and ideas. Many will pretend to be both savior and the saved. Others will be racing to the bottom to see who can win the gold medal of victimhood. You will witness many forms of the obsession with power. What you have to offer is a loving approach to reality, which implies being just a little above and beyond the fray. You do not need conflict, and you don’t want to be drawn into it. Just be an honest witness.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — We live in the age of politicized sex, which is not sex at all. This is reaching into every facet of human relationships, though it’s not always obvious what is happening. One challenge is that our society currently has little concept of sexuality that is not part of a public dialog involving power, rights or legal issues. Be aware that this might find its way into your most intimate partnerships. Out to one extreme, this could involve some legal matter arising. However, it’s more likely to work its way in subversively, through unquestioned beliefs and expectations. There’s also the question of how contemporary issues relating to gender and women’s rights influence the most sensitive elements of your life. The question you might ask yourself is, what do you want? If you’re seeking emotional exchange, vulnerability and pleasure, then relating through a political filter will not serve you. If you are seeking respect, that is done by agreement, and through a claim to natural rights rather than legal ones. Most people are not interested in being equals in some legalistic sense. Relationships involve complex dynamics, with “topping” and “bottoming” in various shades being distributed through the emotional and logistical landscape. If you want to be treated with respect by someone, you must treat that person with respect. You decide for yourself what that means, and then can communicate in a way that will hold someone’s interest voluntarily. Throwing down an ultimatum may be honest, but it will have consequences.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You may be ready to see someone’s point of view, or they may be ready to see yours. However, you might step back from expecting anyone to agree with exactly what you’re saying or thinking, because it’s so subject to change. Said another way, your current environment does not support fixed points of view. The Earth generally is a place where you must keep your perspective moving, though particularly now, in your one-to-one relationships, communication needs to be a dance. Take the space to make up your mind a little differently every day. Give others the space to have ideas that evolve over time. With Mercury retrograde in your relationship zone, “over time” might be a little quicker than you may think. That could mean progress on key issues that have been stuck or delayed, which takes place over a few weeks rather than a few years. The important thing is that you actively seek an understanding of where someone is coming from at any given time, and that you have a sense of your perspective at any given time. Then remember everything is in motion. One potential direction of travel for you is from the need for attachment to the need for freedom. Particularly in your relationships, there’s often that unacknowledged but deep element of wanting to have your options open. This may seem to contradict the usual concept of Taurus as a fixed sign, who demands perfect fidelity. Take it easy there — Venus is about to enter Sagittarius, which will boldly expand your horizons.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — The forthcoming Mercury retrograde (Oct. 31-Nov. 20) describes your process of discovering the right work to do. I don’t mean the right job; rather, the activity that involves you fully and also works out to be of service to others — in that order. Much discussion of work activity these days involves monetizing something. I’m suggesting a different approach: noticing what you lose yourself in, which also happens to connect with others in some relevant way. Where that happens, there will almost always be some financial opportunity. This month’s planetary movements, which are focused in Scorpio, describe you exploring this zone, which is your 6th house of work and service. The retrograde of Mercury in this area involves seeking some form of mutual benefit; that’s the underlying layer of Scorpio. And in this style, your investment must be passionate and committed; nothing boring will do. That said, there are always the elements of every task or project that are less appealing, and your point of view and mental attitude will make the difference there. Remember that this is all a process of discovery, including getting a feel for a strategy that works for you. Mind your politics and your social customs; key people will be involved in helping you get from one place to the next. They will be judging you based on your fair-mindedness, your ability to follow through, and your ability to stick to your plans long enough to see if they are viable. It all starts with you, investing yourself in something you love.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Sexual exploration for its own sake is still considered taboo. It almost always is, except for brief intervals, in specific times and places. And in our era, there is always the potential for some political concept to worm its way in and spoil the fun. The Sun combined with Mercury retrograde in Scorpio — your 5th solar house of art, sex, creativity and play — will have a way of taking you into this territory. Part of the intrigue involves Pallas, the asteroid of strategy, law and politics, who is noted for her asexual qualities. Notice how inhibition sets in the moment the discussion moves to people’s rights and other legal issues. If you want to avoid, evade and elude the emotional-erotic elements of life, the easiest way to do that is to place them into a political context. Then, no fun is possible, because people are waiting for the state legislature or state police to burst in. What you want is basic consideration, mutual respect and the sense that everyone involved in an erotic situation wants to be there — and that’s about all you need. There’s a delightful indignity to much erotic activity. It’s a little chaotic and people are naked and there is submission involved. Your hair gets messed up and stuff gets thrown all over your room and with any luck everyone has fun. Even assuming that what you’re doing is perfectly legal, it still defies the law of puritanical conduct. You can make no claims of being pure or exempt from natural desire. That is virtue.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You might decide it’s finally time to say what you feel. Not what you think people will agree with; not offering “both sides of the story”; rather, what you actually think and feel. You don’t need to take out full-page advertisements or sponsored Facebook posts. Rather, say what you need to say in the moment when it’s appropriate. That could mean when you feel it the most, or when you decide it is the right time. Here is the thing to keep in mind. You’re figuring out where you’re coming from. The angles of your chart that address ideas and communication are in flux. It would therefore make sense to let people know you’re thinking out loud rather than making firm statements of certain conclusions. In our times of lazy, incomplete partisan thinking, being able to argue or at least explain both sides of an issue is an excellent exercise. What you may discover is that one side is usually approaching the question rationally (or what it thinks is rationally) and the other is doing so emotionally (and may be claiming absolute logic). Sorting this out involves going deeper into human nature than most people are interested in, but you’re already there. There’s one other factor that usually gets left out: how creative is your approach to reality? Can you see things in a way that’s both original and interesting? You will know this is happening when a question you’re trying to resolve suddenly ceases to be boring. Your curiosity is invoked and you want to dig in and figure out how things got to be the way they are. That is truly living.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Events in your fellow earth sign Capricorn continue to grind and thrash and compel you to let go of your inhibitions. This is the challenge of this time in your life. It’s where your particular moment intersects with our collective moment in history. We tend to delegate everything to authority, and therefore wait for authority to intervene. Civility is being delegated to rules that everyone is supposed to follow but nobody really understands. If you want to be an adult, with the freedom and responsibility of an adult, who is free to have all the fun you can afford, consider this. You do not need external authority telling you what is right and wrong. This includes both authoritarian concepts, and various (numerous) forms of pseudo-parents who tend to run and mess with our lives. The appealing quality of tyranny in any form is that it seems to absolve people from both vulnerability and the need to make difficult ethical choices. This only works for so long, because ultimately your evolving mind needs to wrestle with its own conscience and set itself free. Eventually, being protected and safe and secure becomes so tedious that, once you’ve experienced something else, you will never want to go back to it. One way to sum up your astrology is that your consciousness is moving from a political/parental orientation to a creative/exploratory one. This is the leap that so many people are afraid to take, mostly fearing they will be disapproved of. Therein lies the true Revolution.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — As you do your best to sort out your finances, remember that, usually, just one thing leads to monetary success. That one thing is determination. You can pick through your values and your priorities. You can assess your virtues and your faults, your credits and your debits. In nearly any financial matter, what wins the game is drive, motivation and desire. Therefore, don’t get too distracted by the small details. For sure, get the help of a bookkeeper if you need to sort out your paperwork. Definitely know where you stand — how much you have, how much you owe, how much you bring in and how much you spend. All of that matters and will be helpful. Yet nothing matters as much as wanting to succeed. I suggest you get out of your mind any hesitancy along the lines that there is something wrong with financial success. I also suggest you do your best to be true to your values, so you can sleep at night and appreciate the rewards of your efforts with a clear conscience. Then go about doing what must be done. Your solar chart indicates you will have some breakthroughs on the level of financial strategy that will be helpful and may last a lifetime. There’s no such thing as a “strong foundation” that cannot also withstand the fact that the ground shifts. In order to have true security, you will need to be comfortable (and draw strength from) being insecure, at least for certain special occasions. And on a planet where nothing much is certain.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Mercury is about to make an intriguing retrograde in your sign (Oct. 31-Nov. 20). For you, part of the appeal will be how psychological the astrology is, beginning with Mercury holding a long conjunction to one of the most important asteroids, Pallas. Plus, Venus is in town for the excitement (until Nov. 1), and Mars is lurking in your 12th solar house of deep introspection. Altogether, one result may be that you acquire a kind of superpower of insight into the motives of others. You’re good at this already, though the benefit of the current alignment is how your self-awareness helps you peer into the minds of others. Just two caveats. One is to make sure you are taking their feelings into account as well, and using your ability to help others be at peace with themselves. Second is that there are people in your environment who can throw you a curve. You may get them totally wrong. They may surprise you in some way you were not expecting. You will learn the most from those instances, because the exceptions are usually far more interesting than the rules. However, the most exciting surprises are likely to come in the form of the discoveries you make about yourself. These will be the real gems. For example, you may have noticed there is some thought form or idea deep in your consciousness that too often allows you to be ruled by your inhibitions. It’s an overcautious aspect of your being that needs to be on the shelf of a curio cabinet, not running your life.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You are in the last weeks of Jupiter in your birth sign. The ruler of your sign, it visits your sign for one year out of every 12. This time around, it may have felt like trying to expand into some substance that would not hold the shape you were pushing it into. You may be wondering what became of all the effort you exerted. One thing I suggest you make is an inventory of your ideas since January. That includes plans, whether long- or short-range; and the things you decided you wanted to do, but may have given up on, or forgotten about. (A good few things disappeared into the Jupiter-Neptune square that is thankfully behind us.) Please resurrect those ideas. Dig through your emails, scribbled-on placemats and other places you might have stashed them. Ask your friends and collaborators what they remember. Jupiter is about to change signs into Capricorn, and this will be no ordinary run of astrology. By which I mean you will be gaining considerable traction on the business and financial front, which will be building on years of work, effort and sacrifice. Jupiter through Capricorn and, starting in late 2020, through Aquarius, will bring out the practical visionary in you. You will have the thing you need the most, which is help from Saturn: time management, steady persistence, business structure, efficient use of resources. Meanwhile, Jupiter is in your sign and conjunct the Galactic Core until Dec. 2. This is pure visionary, without the practical applied yet. Let your ideas flow, write them down, and keep track of them. I mean it.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Soon, all eyes will be on Capricorn, in the astrological sense, and what Capricorn represents in the world. I am talking about the conjunction of Saturn and Pluto that takes place on Jan. 12, as well as all of the worldly events that surround that conjunction — the likes of which we have never seen before. Between now and then is one major event, the retrograde of Mercury in Scorpio. This takes place in your 11th solar house, which covers your public image, your social circles and important elements of your professional life. Think of this as a final passage before fully engaging the Saturn-Pluto event in January. Here is what I get. You must get over any discomfort with being seen or appreciated as a sexual being. It’s simply a fact of your existence. Yes, this affects every life in some way, but you present your Scorpio energy to the public. This is an essential ingredient in what “Capricorn” means. Our society is involved in a massive game of charades right now, where many people are pretending that the matter of sexual vitality does not exist, is not a factor, is inappropriate, or is wrong — particularly as expressed in the public realm. If you hesitate, or apply any negativity to your natural state of being, you will be sending static down the line — like listening to music with a loud hum, which prevents appreciating the beauty of the work. I suggest you take the seemingly radical step of suspending judgment of sexuality in any form. Let biology be biology — it rules the roost. In so doing, you will claim an essential element of your power. This will make you more visible, more appealing, and more able to command respect. But — and this is a big but, so to say — only if you respect yourself. You do not need to be good. You only need to be real.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You will be making some important career decisions this month, though I suggest you not act on them immediately. This is crucial, because on March 21, Saturn enters your sign. That may seem like a while, though you have some work to do, cleaning up some past situations, getting your shop in order, and making peace with certain facets of your consciousness. By that, I mean making peace with yourself, as you go through some deep inner changes, on the way to being reborn in a new form. The rebirth part is associated with Saturn in your sign, which transition happens between March and December of 2020. So the kind of planning I’m talking about is medium- to long-range. This will involve a few levels of thinking, including a sense of your trajectory: knowing the next major destination you want to get to. It will help if you set aside plans that are no longer valid, and which no longer serve. This is an exercise not undertaken often enough: purging your agenda, and closing down old projects and files that burn energy and distract your attention. Your mind needs a central organizing principle, and that is recognizing what you want and what you do not want. Meanwhile, you must be impeccable in your business dealings and be aware of the layer of politics underlying everything. Rather than thinking of the political dimension as a place you can “win” or “have an impact,” try regarding it as a set of protocols that facilitate your involvement in society, where skilled interaction can help you get things done.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Mercury retrograde takes place in your fellow water sign Scorpio, one of the most resourceful angles of your chart. By solar house, this is the 9th, pertaining to long-term plans, long-distance travel and your spiritual orientation. For you, all of these are expressed through Scorpio. That means depth, involvement with others, and a biological and sexual connection to cosmic existence. You understand instinctively and from experience that the creative force works through sexual expression. In the first instance, that is how we all end up in bodies on Earth. Religion has tried to make this controversial, and sinful, and has attempted to deny it outright. This disconnect is one of the deepest sources of trouble on our planet. All of the worst neurotic behavior — such as we see in politics, and the sick distortions of social issues — makes its way into our reality through this disruption in the natural order of life. Your job now is to foster your own connection, which means to yourself, your body, the people around you, and your existence. This is your connection into your DNA (through which “God” manifests), your sense of purpose, and your ability to belong on the planet. Do not let anyone take that away from you; and further, do what you can to understand, foster, and strengthen your connection to your own nature. You will need to have this conduit running strong over the next few months. When Mercury stations direct and the Sun enters Sagittarius (both, around Nov. 20-22), the pace of your life will pick up, your responsibilities and visibility will increase, and you will need full access to all of your resources. Said simply, that means feeling good about yourself and what you want.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You have both unusual magnetism and the ability to help others discover themselves. You possess something of what others need. Yet this can also work the other way; where Chiron is involved, it’s necessary to refine and focus the “do no harm” approach to existence and to relationships. This is not always possible, because people can make self-destructive choices even when you are at your loving best. Still, you will benefit from aligning your awareness with your psychic hygiene, and being fully present for everyone you encounter. You need to maintain your own sense of what people are ready for, and whether your communication is clear enough to sustain deeper levels of intimacy and sexual contact. One characteristic of people who enter your energy field is that they may be trying to define their reality their way. From your viewpoint this may be a “conscious” or “unconscious” process for them, though I suggest you err on the side of acknowledging the self-awareness of everyone you speak with. Listen to the words people say for clues as to how they want to exist within their reality, which includes you. It does not matter whether you agree or disagree with their position; whether they try to impose it on you or whether you pick it up in a passive way. Invest the energy and love into listening to people carefully. Figure out what they are saying about their state of being, and what they want from existence. You might be able to offer some of it; you might not. Regardless, your ability to bear witness to someone else’s reality will help you bear witness to your own.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — For the past year and a half, the big news is that Uranus has been in your birth sign; that is still relevant. At the moment, though, there is another point, which may be having a significant influence, and that is Vesta. This is something of a subtle influence that people often notice years after it’s been having an effect. The gist is that in collaboration with Vesta, you take the role of holding space for others. You become a kind of facilitator, yet doing so with minimal intervention. Basically, you hold space and allow, reflect and, to some extent, protect the journey that your fellow humans are on. By contrast, Uranus is rather bold about mixing yourself up in the affairs of others, or acting on your own behalf with little care how others might feel. So we have some contrast here, and two approaches you might take when investing yourself in any situation. Uranus will be around for years; you’ll have plenty of time to master it, and its art of self-reinvention. Vesta grants you the gift of assisting others in their self-reinventions, though with little or no direct benefit to yourself. That is the whole idea: to allow yourself to be a vessel of transformation for others. Yet this must be done with the utmost care, and without injecting that thing known as ‘ego’. What you are doing, more than anything, is allowing. This could be in the context of an intimate relationship, where it’s clear a partner wants privileges that go beyond your agreed-upon scope, or what makes you feel comfortable. You might offer yourself in service of someone’s artistic development. This is not necessarily a permanent state of being; rather, it’s a temporary privilege.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — October ends with Mercury stationing retrograde in Scorpio, so let’s focus on that first. Along with much other activity, this takes place in your house of work and wellbeing. This is a well of strength and resources for you, and you’re about to have full access. Yet it represents an inner reality and not an outer one; it is something you are being invited to experience, though not necessarily to express. In essence, you are on a journey of self-discovery. This may involve making your way along a fine line where sexual expression meets your unexpressed inner sexual reality. In our society at the moment, we have a serious question regarding what to do when you have amorous feelings for coworkers. This calls for a delicate balance of sensitivity and awareness. Our robot-driven world has put us out of touch with how the social realm is the way into the deeper emotional aspects of life. Most of our social skills are deteriorating (if they ever existed in the first place). Where there are professional and political considerations, the thing you don’t want is for your hormones to take over. Rather, start with maintaining basic respect for the humanity of anyone you may care about. Ask them how they’re doing and perhaps how their day is going, with no expectation of any special response. Notice if you are seeking their approval in some way — investigate what that is about. If someone likes you, they might signal that to you and the conversation will develop. During the retrograde, don’t make any guesses. Meanwhile, your astrology indicates that you would be wise to wrap up old business this month. Clear the way for the future.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — The planetary currents are drawing you deeper into your creative side, which for you includes lust and passion. Try to keep it light. Give yourself options. Emphasize feeling good, taking care of yourself, and exploring the aspects of your nature that can easily get sidelined in our busy world. You probably know what those things are. Dust off your paints or pastels, and dig out your sketchbook. Put new strings on your guitar or violin, or clear all extraneous material away from the piano. Take this as metaphor: make room for what makes you feel good, by which I mean space, time and emotional bandwidth. Reconnect with the part of yourself who is that sensual, creative person for whom the whole world has the flair of the erotic. Be alive and act like it, feel all the beauty, and allow yourself to be turned on for its own sake. In our current version of the world, this is considered a dangerous kind of vulnerability. So you will want to beware of any zombies roaming about, and casually walk the other way. Don’t make the mistake of trying to convert them into joining the living. Rather, observe who picks up on your vibe. Notice who comes over to play. Listen carefully for people who have their own relationship to “the rules,” and who have already determined that freedom is preferable to tyranny. With that as a standard, you will not exactly be overwhelmed with suitors or potential collaborators, though you’re certain to make one, two or a few friends you can groove with.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Keep your focus on your health: good food, enough rest, and making sure that your work feeds you rather than depletes you. Yes, there is such a thing as work/life balance. But if you find yourself focusing on that too much, the time has come to question your work and why it’s not in the category of “life.” Your work has to be vocational. It must be a calling. It’s not enough that it be about responsibility or a sense of duty. Yes, those things are relevant as well, though you need an element of sacred honor — and you cannot fake this. As the next few seasons unfold, the question of vocation comes to the forefront of your existence. So where are you called to serve, and what are you called to do? And what is the origin of the message? Sometimes the phone rings, and someone has an assignment or wants you to do something. At other times, there is an event that shapes your life and sets you on a certain path. I think that at the heart of the concept of vocation is an inner summoning, coming in a form akin to a necessity like eating or breathing. That sounds compelling, though most people are shallow breathers and don’t eat especially well. Diet and whole breaths aside for the moment, your astrology is potent enough that you are probably hearing your inner voice speak loudly and clearly. If you’re willing to listen, you will get the message about your assignment or your mission. How you might go about it is another question, though that information usually flows from the commitment and not into it.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Honor your words and your ideas. This is seemingly a great notion in a time of deception, where not only truth but the most basic value of meaning is being blurred, lost or intentionally destroyed. For your own sanity, you cannot participate in this, and further, you are someone whose leadership is needed to help us go beyond the current state of anarchy. This will require a careful review of your own point of view, your vocabulary and the way that you connect words and ideas to meaning. The most basic question to ask yourself is, “Is this true?” The second is, “How do you know?” Then there is another more sublime dimension: “What is the speaker’s (or writer’s) intended meaning or effect?” Words and letters are abstract symbols, and are inherently meaningless. We attach much to them, and then, ultimately, reading is what you might call an educated guess. Yet when you are the speaker or the writer, you must work with an element of precision, based on your understanding of what you’re saying. For most people, even the most artful professional writers, the quality of writing comes through the process of revision. Therefore, take the time to write, read, rewrite, and reread. Share your thoughts in progress selectively and ask other people what they think you mean. Then listen to what they say. You’re up against two disturbing trends in society. One is the prevalence of programs, scripts and robots. The other is the use of words as weapons. You are doing something else; you are conveying nuance and feeling. This is a purpose of its own.

In These Times — 2019 Autumn Reading

How do we confront this dual problem of premeditated decay of society, and the inner issue of needing the strength to take some meaningful action? Where do we start? As in few other times, this calls for a response from a spiritual place: of deep caring and responsibility; the quest for honest connection above all else.

It has called forth all of my knowledge, experience and wisdom to do this work. I have proceeded in the spirit of therapy, knowing that most people do not or will not go. That spirit first involves seeking refuge, becoming aware of your situation, ordering your priorities, and then making choices. But the single most important factor of therapy — and of old school spiritual mentorship — is not giving answers, but helping the client find them for themselves. What I have to offer you are 12 readings of approximately one hour each, which use astrology to address the matter: the one about how to orient yourself to make the most of the difficult and challenging times we are in.

All 12 signs are currently $111. I am keeping that price low to encourage having access to all of the work. Individual readings are $44 for the first and $22 for each additional.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — The whole world and your experience of life may seem like one endless test of your confidence and sense of safety. Yet while this may be true, there is something else going on, which is about your emotional independence. That applies both in personal, intimate relationships, and how you interact with family and those you may live with. One of the primary sources of insecurity and instability comes directly through your contacts with others to whom you feel some sense of obligation. You also tend to use your partnerships to stabilize your sense of who you are, which seems natural enough — though that is part of your situation. Other people are rarely a good way to orient yourself; or, better said: you need inner reference points. The challenge is that you don’t usually find those moorings until you detach yourself from dependency on others. And the further challenge is that when you start to do this, others can rebel, because you’re likely to affect their sense of confidence and orientation as well. This is the problem with relationships that are based on maintaining the status quo, emotional security or one’s sense of identity. The good news is that certain key people around you are beginning to question this for themselves as well. So you may find common cause with them, and consciously expand your agreements to include more introspection, time apart, and the cultivation of new friendships outside of your shared emotional sphere. You are going through a kind of revolution, though you don’t need to revolt. You need to practice noticing how you feel, and honoring that all the time.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — One quality of Scorpio is its tendency to be mired in the past, and then to forget that fact. While some rather potent astrology is dynamiting you out of that at the moment (including Uranus in your opposite sign Taurus), you’re in a place where a review phase is necessary. You might actually discover there are points of attachment in your personal history that you want to resolve and disconnect. This is not so much a demolition job but more your specialty, which is forensics. Note that this might be about actual bonds and relationships, and it might be loyalty to people through ideas that no longer serve you. There may be some notion that “my mother valued this thing or thought this way, so I must as well.” But it’s rarely so blatant. You will notice the condition in a subtle sense that you’re betraying the person, which comes with a little pang of guilt. The place to begin is with what you take for granted: what you assume is true, or what you notice from time to time but rarely question. The theme of the coming New Age of your life is mental and emotional independence from those who would only drag you down. Look at the results of what loyalty to the ideas of others has caused for you. This applies not only to relatives but also to those who you established in your mind as being somehow greater than human, or in some way infallible. It’s time to dial that back, and then update your files.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — All year long, Jupiter in your sign has been in a 90-degree, or square, aspect to Neptune. Jupiter has a 12-year orbit, and spends only one year of those 12 in Sagittarius. Usually this is as good as astrology gets for you, though there has been a challenge lately, which has been the angle to Neptune in Pisces. This has made it difficult to have any sense of standing on solid ground, or any real leverage toward meeting your goals. (Pisces has been affected in a similar way.) The square passed as of Sept. 21, and it was as if a spell was cleared, allowing you to be more realistic, and to see certain problems for what they are. The astrology is now tipping in the other direction, of gritty practicality and even urgent necessity. This will help you prioritize. But you don’t want to grind too deep into the bedrock for this. You have had a good look at your highest ideals from your experience of Jupiter-Neptune; you’ve had the opportunity to dream a little. Your task is now to put together the best attributes of your vision with just enough pragmatism to get the job done — without sacrificing either. This is one of the most basic forms of alchemy for getting anything done on the planet, particularly in this time of so much potential, and so many available creative resources. You will need to find the right mix, though there must be one — going only one way or the other will not suffice. Some things will work on one part vision and four parts business; others on four parts vision and one part business. Regardless, you must integrate the two.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Consider the possibility that the coming season is one of the most significant of your life. Certainly, it is a time like no other. These next few months have you on the final approach to Saturn converging with Pluto in your sign. We would need to go back a long time, hundreds of years before the American Revolution or any modern government, to find this conjunction in Capricorn, where it is particularly significant. This is because Capricorn represents the underlying structures of society, what we think of as stalwart institutions, and the foundations of family. You are at a personal crossroads, where your choice of directions is to set yourself free from the grip of history, or to invest yourself further in it. Plenty who claim to be revolutionaries end up as supporters or subjects of the old order; it’s so commonplace as to be ordinary. If a radical feminist who spent years fighting the patriarchy suddenly announced she was getting married in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, most people would say oh, how lovely, and not blink an eye. Every cell in your body is urging you to make a choice that will advance your own cause, and set your life on a new course, as apart from your ancestors. You have decided over and over that many facets of your upbringing, your family’s culture, and the direction of society are not for you. Yet are you willing to take the personal risk to really test that out? You might ask yourself what you honestly have to lose. If you look at that carefully, you might say your sense of orientation. But that is already gone, and there is no turning back. There is only moving forward.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — “Unconscious” is a strange term. It has a number of meanings in psychology, and others in pop spirituality. Generally, it means what is within the realm of denial, or what is subliminal to one’s own awareness, such as an unconscious motive. I am from a therapy tradition where the thing you don’t do is to deny consciousness. “What does he know? He’s just a kid/dog/houseplant/rock” is a question that deserves an answer. If one does not have an answer, what does one assume? That a kid or tree does not know what is going on? Right now, most of the activity in your chart is in a region that most astrologers would say describes the “unconscious.” That might include your relationship to your own motives and your own psychological workings. Can any of that really be unconscious, or just unacknowledged? The thing to do now and for the foreseeable future is to pay attention to this whole realm of what might lurk below the surface of your thinking. To do this, the main thing you need is to want to. If you are feeling restless, or angry or even just miffed, or feeling pushed, or wondering why you are making strange decisions, gently look inside of yourself to figure out what is going on. Notice what is coming through your dreams, and pay attention to how you feel when you wake up. It’s true that your mind is something of a cryptical envelopment these days, though it is your mind; we’re talking about you, not a thing apart from you.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — You have been working your way through a slog for the past nine months. Did you feel it? That was the sensation of what should have been within easy reach turning out to be a projection onto a cloud. Yet despite this, there are some specific goals you have persisted in moving forward. Notice what they are, and how you did it. You now need to shift the focus and method of your efforts. First, note the projects and intentions you have chosen to invest your efforts in through this challenging time. Size them up, and see if you can consolidate and prioritize. Determine what you want to do the most, and what you don’t need to do at all. That will help you set yourself in order, based on both your values and your experience. Then, start to draw the most direct lines between your artistic goals and sources of revenue that support both you and what you do (they are closely related). With the world, and the internet, in its current state, this is not necessarily an easy process. What you’re doing may not have been done before, though there are many elements that can draw on precedent and experience. You will have to apply them in new ways. As a Pisces, you are often the psychic or emotional probe into collective consciousness. Even though that can be overwhelming at times, you have talents and assets you can offer to support your own cause, mission or purpose; this is your main directive currently. To do so, you must know what that purpose is, and remember all the time.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Self-care is your top priority no matter how busy you may be. In fact the more you have going on, the more you need to focus on your inner needs, your basic nourishment, and giving yourself time to replenish the well. We live in an age when the theme is to exploit every resource till it’s depleted, and push every system until it breaks. That does not work in the human world, and it’s time to remind yourself that you have limits — and these must be honored. It may seem like a cliché to say that if you have your health, you have everything you need, though it’s ultimately the bottom line. You may be getting the message that your work is your top priority (all that action in Capricorn, at the top of your chart, and in Virgo, your house of activity and service). Yet this is set within the context of being a living creature that depends on food, water, rest and companionship. The world is growing more complex by the day, to the point where chaos theory is the only way to get a handle on things. That’s a fancy way of saying “pattern recognition.” To do that, your mind must be in a relaxed state. You need some empty space and available bandwidth to have an idea or to notice the solution to a problem when it comes to you. The problem is we’re forgetting about these things: relaxed state, empty space, available bandwidth. You must remember, and rediscover, if necessary.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — It’s time for a more creative approach to everything. This calls for a combination of observation and originality: working like an inventor. Such an approach defies everything we’re pushed into being, feeling and thinking at this moment in history. Notice the way everything is being reduced to an algorithm, or a mindless routine. You are not a script, a processor or a machine, and the challenges you are confronting are distinctly human. When you open up your bottle of truth and smell it, you must be turned on. Craving, desire, curiosity, and delight in experience are the feelings to follow and to encourage. On the other side of this equation is identifying everything that qualifies as a belief. The Taurus mind has a strong tendency to get wrapped up in religiosity, whether we’re talking about politics, style, creativity or existence itself. When you notice yourself believing something, trace the idea as close to its origin as you can. Rather than assume it’s correct or true, phrase it as a question, and argue both sides of the issue. Large, sweeping concepts, principles or convictions are not flexible or adaptable enough to be of any service in your present environment. One other thought: there is the solitary aspect to creativity, and there is the relational one. You want others around who you can bounce ideas around with. Too much seriousness will not serve; a sense of play is essential.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — You are in a time of renewal. Currently this means concluding matters that must come to an end before it’s possible for you to begin anything new. Start with the easy stuff: wrap up any nearly complete project, or divest yourself of it. This is a skill that needs to be learned, taught and practiced. I can go as far as telling you that there is such a thing as closure, and it’s not about pretending. Mostly, it’s about making a decision and sticking with it. There is also the element of understanding the nature of your commitments, and knowing when a promise is kept, a job is done, or a goal is unattainable. Then, everything that follows is based on that knowledge. There is no “going back.” This involves a conscious relationship with the passage of time, and that implies death. The current state of society and of many individual minds is to hold everything in a state of limbo, where there is neither closure nor completion. In that state of being, the vital force — the life force in any form — slowly drips away. This is the state of being when the future never seems to arrive. You can help yourself by beginning with endings. Go through your physical space and remove everything that has expired, or that is useless, in the way, or otherwise gathering dust. Continue by resolving a few matters with friends, relatives or associates that are keeping you perpetually on hold. The feeling connected with these projects will be edgy, a little daring, slightly unfamiliar.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You have plenty on your mind. Most of it is irrelevant, and you would be wise not to talk about it, act on it, or let it burden you. Yet in the mix of it all, there would seem to be something you want and need to express, to learn, or to master. Keep this a private matter for now. Yes, in the age of spewing everything out of one’s pocket computer/camera/phone, it’s arguable that there is no such thing as private. Find your way back to that space, or perhaps get there for the first time. It feels a little like you’re sitting in a room and nobody else but you exists. And as much as you might seek someone else for validation or even verification of your existence, you do not. Instead, using the strength of your mind and your ability to control your physical spaces, you compel your frame of reference to be internal. Older people will remember this, and it will feel good. Younger people need to learn, or be taught, or discover, what this is — and it may feel daunting, frightening, uncertain. It’s the feeling of “nobody knows I’m here but me.” There may be a kind of uncomfortable silence that you think needs to be filled. Note, I am not talking about sitting upright on a wooden floor in total silence for two weeks. You can go to a remote location in your city where nobody will find you, and write or draw in a paper notebook. You can play an instrument. You can sit in the back of a library and read a physical book. For this to work, leave all devices elsewhere.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Set your priorities in order. That means knowing what comes first: the one thing above all else. This may take some thought and deliberation; but then, you may go right to the answer (and even if you do, apply some true contemplation to make sure you’ve got it right). Once you are aware of your first agenda item, the others will fall into place. You will have a better idea what to do every day, because you have acknowledged what is the most necessary or urgent. You will have an organizing principle. There is no right answer; you must decide. We are talking about things on a higher order, not a lower one. You might make the determination based on an external deadline you must meet. It might be something that has been troubling you for a long time, which you know you have to accomplish or resolve. The challenge is that you seem to have many pressing concerns, yet they are not all equal. Something among them will stand out. You may notice a pattern: all things influencing your mental health; all things influencing your body; all matters of your diet; the way you structure your time toward any one of these particular ends. Note, based on other factors in your chart, the most important matter is likely to skew in a direction akin to what I have mentioned. The top item will go to the level of the structure of your life, and that will help determine the content and your approach. Yet you must identify what it is, and act on it.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — What is happening now will be clearer once the Moon opposes the Virgo Sun in about two weeks. However, we can begin with one idea: the events and developments in your world are about you, not about someone else. A good mantra for you now would be, “It’s not about him/her/them. It’s about me.” I am not suggesting that you be “selfish” as much as I am proposing that you center your experience on your own existence, and not use others as an excuse or foil. If you hear yourself placing a relationship as a major factor in a decision you’re making, pause and reflect. If you are worried about someone else’s feelings, take a step back and look at that carefully. These are likely to be excuses you are using to subvert your own power of decision. In that condition, you cannot be true to others, or take care of their needs — and to do so might be to avoid your own important agenda. Similarly, ensure you make everything in your life work for you. If you’re doing something out of a sense of duty or responsibility, learn how to do it better as a matter of self-improvement and experience. With Neptune in your opposite sign Pisces, you must proceed with caution in all matters where relationships are concerned. It’s not easy for you to see what is real and what is not. And you can no longer invest yourself in others as an “unconscious” means of finding out who you are.

My individual sign readings are designed to be a source of motivation and inspiration: they’re about what is right with you. I talk about how to best use your resources and your abilities, and making peace with who you are and what you want.

In These Times Autumn Reading by Eric Francis
Individual Signs: Astrology That’s Better Than Therapy.

Dear Friend and Reader:

You might have noticed that the world is in upheaval, which is both coming from, and feeding into, personal challenges: that out of control, crazy feeling of what the holy heck is happening and where is this all going and what am I doing? This will be the theme of my Autumn Reading, called In These Times — which I am about to begin recording.

Although I conceive of this project as a set of 12 interrelated segments, I realize that some people prefer to focus only on the one or two signs they resonate with most strongly. To accommodate that preference, I am now opening up the pre-order phase for individual signs of In These Times.

This option tends to be particularly useful if you’d like to give the reading as a gift to a friend, relative or colleague — which many of our customers do.

“Uncanny. Wow. Totally on point. So much so, I bought readings for my daughter, cousin and a friend as gifts.”

— Glinda W., on the 2019 Spring Readings

My individual sign readings are designed to be a source of motivation and inspiration: they’re about what is right with you. I talk about how to best use your resources and your abilities, and making peace with who you are and what you want.

And you can still purchase the full set of all 12 signs for $99 (final price upon publication will be $111). Costing less than half a therapy session for all 12, these readings will point you toward your source of guidance, comfort and sanity. I will take a light touch covering the intense Capricorn astrology, and the current Virgo astrology, tailored for each of the signs.

Delivery is anticipated for early September.

In These Times is included with the Backstage Pass and the Galaxy Pass. If you upgrade, it will come with your new membership. If you have one of those levels, please consider extending the reading as a gift to someone who needs it.

Thank you for your purchase, and for trusting me as your astrologer.

With love,

PS — You may place your order by phone, by calling (206) 567-4455. If someone does not answer we will call you back promptly, next day at the latest.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Quite a lot is about to happen, though at the moment you might feel like you’re trapped in a bubble, or in a soundproof room where nobody can hear or see you. This is the “world apart” feeling of the 12th house, which for you is Virgo, where all of the personal planets are currently placed. You won’t be there for long, though time may seem to slow down while you are in this particular state of mind. I suggest you take advantage of your situation, and do just that: take a breath. Assess your life. It’s clear from your astrology that you feel as if your life is built on shifting foundations, or maybe in an earthquake zone. In the silence, you may be able to hear or feel where the rattling is coming from. The state of the world is affecting you particularly strongly, and directly. That means, in part, the mental and emotional condition of so many people who seem to be giving up, but who don’t know how to. From where you are, you have plenty of room to experiment. Few would even notice that’s what you’re doing. Test the boundaries of your commitments and your relationships. Experiment with how you present yourself to the world, and see how you feel — and observe whether anyone even notices. More than anything, admit to yourself how you feel and what you want. Remember those two elements, as often as you can: how you feel, and what you want. Write it on the mirror.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — What is good and what is not: do you need anyone to explain that to you? Well, you may need to explain to yourself why there is so much confusion, and why, at times, you may get confused. There is an underlying matter: if someone thinks that the ends justify the means, then anything goes. If someone thinks there are plenty of people in the world, and therefore they are expendable, then anything goes. If someone thinks the world is here to serve them, rather than there being a mutual relationship, then it’s easy to pull out the stops. Therefore, much depends on your underlying philosophy of life. Much depends on who and what you think people are: specific individuals, and humanity in general. While you are discerning person, it will be helpful if you consciously step back from being judgmental. Discrimination usually takes place in a blind spot. Therefore, make the effort to be accepting, sincere and vulnerable, in private situations, but especially in public ones. Be real with people; let your face reveal your state of mind and your emotions. Other factors in your chart suggest that you are reticent to speak, and to admit your reality to others. You may fear what someone will do with anything they learn. Yet take note that the truth always comes out. You may have some sway over how you are perceived today, though not in the long run. Simply put, you are who you are, and you only waste precious time by trying to be anyone else. Therefore, admit what is real, and be yourself at all times and in all places.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Jupiter in your birth sign or rising sign is making its way toward Neptune in Pisces. We are all about to experience the Jupiter-Neptune square, and you are about to experience it in an especially personal way. The message of this transit is to be honest about your feelings. A domestic situation has been troubling you more than you’ve been willing to let on to yourself. The reason for your state of “self-concealment” (which translates to denial) is that admission of your most basic feelings would likely be followed by the recognition that you need to act on them. That, in turn, could entail considerable inconvenience and emotional upset. Yet this is a matter of whether you are willing to live the truth as you perceive it. The question I suggest you ask yourself is whether the situation as it stands today is helping you, and whether you can sustain it for much longer. You might also ask yourself the source of any hesitation. Ultimately, taking action on your situation and your feelings is the admission of your personal truth; the truth is not an abstract thing — it is the most compelling thing. Even so, here is the deeper question: what else is going on? What is this really about? There would seem to be some underlying layer that you may not want to get to. Yet not only has the time arrived; you are in a rare position to identify and resolve something that would otherwise be very difficult to pin down or act upon. Let one sane response lead to another.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — The clock is slowly ticking on the Saturn-Pluto conjunction in your birth sign or rising sign. Though this takes place in January, you are on notice now to take care of unfinished business as a top priority. That includes finding closure on important personal matters that have hung around for too long: unfulfilled promises, unspoken truths, unresolved conflicts, and all other matters you know are holding you back. Here is the crux of the situation: holding onto the past will keep you there. Letting go of the past is not a matter of marching on, pretending nothing happened. It is, rather, about coming to closure, so that you reclaim your life as your own — as a whole person. On one level, the effect of Saturn conjunct Pluto can be seen as destructive or disruptive. Yet it is an event of such momentous significance that this cannot be the ultimate message. You are advanced enough to know that you must clear a way for the future by actually coming to terms with the past. This conjunction signifies the power for you to do what every spiritual path claims to point toward: transcending or “breaking through” the ego, thanks to the power of your soul. Yet remember: neither your ego nor your soul is a thing. Ego is essentially a thought-form constructed mainly of denial. Soul is a growth process that you take from lifetime to lifetime. At the moment, your growth process is coming into contact with your denial; and usually, growth is the stronger element — but you can still derail that if you want. Ultimately, nothing happens without your consent. Therefore, choose wisely what you agree to and what you do not.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You may feel like your circumstances are over your head, beyond your abilities or outside your control. Now you get to test any such theories, and test your mettle as well. It is true that we seem to live in times of wrenching change, and to be experiencing events that make no sense and that we do not understand. Yet you are what is changing more than anything else. Your psychic and emotional structure is experiencing much greater tectonic forces than is society. You are being forced to confront your fears, your hidden dimension, and what may feel like your past karma (it remains to be seen whose it is, in actual fact). Within the sphere of your own consciousness, what’s happening to you counts for more than what is happening around you. Growth is rarely easy, and it tends to be experienced in the face of what feels like the inevitable. Often there must be a confrontation, if only because change is so inconvenient. Yet it is now up to you to make the most of it. Even though you may feel pushed and confronted, it is your destiny to discover your true strength, your deepest abilities and what I will reluctantly call your power. Far from some form of magic or titanic strength, that would be the power of decision. In just over a year’s time, the mighty planet Saturn returns to your birth sign (and its other sign of rulership). Lay hold of every opportunity to take charge of your affairs, know when you must accept that you cannot and (as is often misattributed to St. Francis) have the wisdom to know the difference.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Borrowing from the philosopher and playwright Seneca, when you don’t know what harbor you’re sailing for, no wind is the right wind. Ah, but when you know — and you soon will — you will see that there is a strong gust at your back, guiding and even pushing you into the future. This is about Jupiter in Sagittarius, which this month makes its last contact with Neptune in your birth sign or rising sign. This will help you resolve many lingering questions. Sagittarius represents your aspirations and your desire to accomplish meaningful things, even great ones. It’s also about your professional activities, which have been a little bogged down as of late. I was reading up on Jupiter in the first interesting astrology book I’ve come across in a long time, from way back in 1945 by the Rev. Dr. Marc Edmund Jones. He said that Jupiter is about “deeper participation in experience, as compared with the more simple continuance in existence.” You need adventure in your professional life, not a job. You need a vocation — a calling — not a career. This is just in time, as a crack is opening up in society, and you are nimble enough to go through. Pay attention to this fissure or fault line as it moves, shakes and opens up. That is your invitation and in a sense your destination. What to many others is an annoyance, an inconvenience or some form of social tragedy is your greatest resource. Yet to take advantage of this, you must participate boldly in your own life, and that of society.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You’re still wrestling with your insecurity rather than burning it as fuel. The root of your hesitation is that you think if you speak up or express yourself, you would really shake things up. Well, if true, that would be fortunate, because a shakeup means that people care. The ultimate purpose of this astrology, in any event, is not to shake up anything but yourself. Any concern you may have about how someone else might respond is secondary. Challenge yourself to say what you need to say, for the sake of saying it: to overcome that phobia or inner resistance. Here is a clue: the way you know you’re really touching on “empowerment” — you experience fear, and you confront it. That particular word is overused to the point of verging on meaningless, but it’s worth one last thought before it’s relegated to the dustbin. Power is not about swagger or brashness or bravado. It’s not what you see at campaign rallies or on television commercials. You’re touching on your power when you have some sense of dread, or the sensation of standing at the edge of a cliff, wondering if you can fly. It’s really not all that bad, though you might be wondering. Anyway, in this situation, the risk is less than you may think, though it’s just enough to put you in a conscious relationship with your own aversion. Which will be just enough to teach you about thinking and speaking more freely.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — To be vulnerable, or not to be vulnerable? That is the question. The opportunity you have to open up to someone may feel like a life-or-death situation. Really, you are faced with the choice to be asleep, or to be awake. The whole world is teetering on this brink, though there are many reasons — and many ways — to stay asleep. One prevailing sensation of our time is a little like sitting at your desk feeling drowsy, wondering whether you want to lie down and take a nap, but not wanting to, but not quite able to be fully alert and present. Yet sitting there is torturous. You have to go one way or another. Another theme that may teeter in the balance is “to be partnered, or not to be partnered.” This may come up if you get into that zone where you think it may be time to take the relationship to another level, i.e., to move in together. That’s actually a good time to consider the scenario, before the moving in actually happens, though don’t let it already having happened stop you from thinking about it. It’s never too late to think about something; and it’s never too early. The more you provoke yourself into any form of original thought, the more you will contribute to your process of casting off orthodoxy, purism or any form of pretentious holiness. You are indeed holy, in the real sense, which means your desires, your needs and your confusion are all evidence of the fact that you belong on Earth and in the universe, right here and right now.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — To some extent, everyone assesses their personal value in terms of what others think of them. Then, in the end, we have to come around to our own evaluation, which will be more or less honest, and more or less based in actual events. Or, looked at another way, more or less based in the desire to be social. Or better said, the need to be social; humans are gregarious and we tend to need one another, though we are not always real with ourselves about this. And, at other times, we put this necessity above all else, to the detriment of integrity, independence and honor. That said, events early in the month will leave you with few options other than to say exactly what you mean, or what you feel, and you might not be so diplomatic or sensitive about it. You might push some buttons, and risk the social status you have. If you dare, you will discover what it means to express some fundamental truth of who you are, which you might otherwise have concealed; in fact, which you are entirely likely to have concealed. Yet the discovery you are making is not something you can conceal, least not from your self, and not from the people close to you, the ones you care about. And in this process, you will find out who your friends are. They are the ones who stick with you when you are in your truth. Be not afraid of alienating anyone else.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You need to shake things up where your professional aspirations are concerned. By that, I don’t mean take an exciting trip through the pages of Monster.com or Zip Recruiter. You are having an idea, or about to have one. This is signified by Mercury stationing direct in your birth sign, square Eris in your professional angle (Aries). This is, actually, more than an idea; it’s akin to a mental revolution, and it may grab you passionately, or seek to dismantle some aspect of your world, or seem to upset the known order of your thoughts. Note that, depending on your relationship to your own awareness, this might be annoying, disruptive or downright freaky. That part is subjective; there is something genuine at the core, at your core. Connect with that experience for as long as you can, and learn as much as you can while the aspect is hot, which is approximately through the first week of August; the peak is Aug. 3. From there, you will need to persist every day, under your own power, and develop whatever it is that showed up for you, or burst forth from you, or tweaked you. There will be days when that goes well, days when it’s boring, days when you don’t seem productive, but show up each day and allow. Take the approach of one great writer: write at least one word a day; or of a great artist: draw a circle, if nothing else. Just keep coming back to yourself, and gently, steadily, persist.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Keeping secrets from yourself is known as denial, and there is one particular matter for which this will no longer work. While you don’t have to put your inner life on display for the world, you must be real with yourself, and sooner rather than later, with people you’re the most intimate with. By all outer indications, you are a tower of strength at the moment. There is a New Moon in your sign on July 31, accompanied by both Venus and Mars. Jupiter is offering support from fire sign Sagittarius. Yet it is your inner life that is calling for your attention, and calling loudly. Be aware that in our time of history, though, the “inner life” is a concept that is, for most people, nonexistent, of little interest, or something they have never made contact with. Even older people, from the pre-internet era, may have difficulty dialing in their inner reality, which digital consciousness has turned inside-out to the degree where you cannot call it internal. Still, you must find your way in, and make contact with the thing you’re thinking, feeling and discovering. It may frighten you; it may irritate you; you may be exuberant once you make contact with it. Your response matters less than your need to actually probe, meditate, and notice your thoughts, and in particular, how you respond to them. There is plenty going on in the outer world that may distract you, and there are many opportunities on offer. Yet without sustained contact with your inner being, they will be of little use.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — It’s vital that you remain loyal to those who have helped you, and who consider you a friend. There is an aspect to your personality that can exclude people or turn them off like a switch. In the past, you’ve given yourself permission to do this on the pretext of self-preservation, though those days are gone. Anyway, that was never really true. What you were, and still are, confronted with are your feelings about yourself, which have a way of being divided. There is no way to turn on someone else without turning on yourself, and this is what I suggest you question. Pause and consider any rebellious feelings you may direct at friends or your community. Honor the fact that you may change your mind or make a new decision, and that you can do this in a direct and honest way. You can also mitigate any fallout that may cascade onto others, if you want to. The thing to be most wary of is feeling right and righteous, no matter who it’s directed to: whether friend or ‘enemy’ or someone about whom you may have seemingly neutral feelings. There is an opportunity here, which is about connecting elements of your psyche that may be alienated, cast off or veiled in shadows. Be cautious of any notion of revenge or comeuppance. Be helpful and keep your promises, or at least gently bow out of them. It’s true that you’re learning to be generous with yourself, though for that to work, it does not imply a lack or loss for anyone else.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Proceed with care where your professional activities are concerned, especially when handing confidential or sensitive information. I am rarely one to encourage distrust, though I will say that you must pay attention to the agendas of people you’re working with, and to whom you give your confidence. For the foreseeable future, treat the whole world on a need to know basis. Keep your plans to yourself, and maintain boundaries around your personal and professional business. Your thought process is still in motion on many important issues, and you’re still involved in a renovation/rebuilding on the deepest level of your security, both emotional and financial. The most helpful thing you can do for yourself is spend time among people, and listen to them. Get them talking and evaluate where they’re coming from. Notice what people say unprompted. Notice how they answer simple questions. Pay attention to who and what they advocate for; you’re likely to hear quite a bit of this going on, and you want to know who is taking what position. This may not be easy to discern in the days surrounding Mercury direct, with the shifting and changing effect going well into the first week of the month. This pattern is associated with a “truth revealed” kind of effect, so I suggest you not only listen to others, but read carefully, and connect the dots. Part of this is a conscious act; part of it will require you to take in the world within and without in a relaxed, neutral stance. Then make the connections.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Be cautious when advocating for your own cause. You must be subtle about it, and let partners, friends and allies take up that role when possible. Be impeccable about following public relations guidelines: stay within the four corners of the truth at all times. Ensure statements that will be read by others, whether going out to Instagram, Twitter or over the AP international wire, are impeccable and understated. You are visible now, which means you’re under scrutiny whether you realize it or not. The Sun and several other planets are passing through Leo, your solar 10th house. The late Debbi Kempton-Smith said of this condition that life is good as long as you don’t mind the feeling of being followed around by a television crew. That is how you must live: as if you are seen, and your words are being recorded and evaluated. To some extent this is true for nearly everyone, and many people live like it’s not true at all; like we haven’t all been thrust into the town square. One theme that may not be obvious though may surely be relevant is to be sensitive where spiritual matters are concerned: your own and those of others, including religion. Whatever your faith or beliefs, avoid proselytizing or evangelizing in any form. Be modest about what is most important to you, and respectful of what others feel. Please, don’t claim any special powers (being a shaman, the ability to heal others, and anything related). Rather, carefully, quietly, do what you can, when you can.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Your ruling planet Jupiter stations direct in your sign on the 11th, which may come with the feeling of some relief from pressure you didn’t know you were under. Yet it won’t be until the equinox that you get a sense of what you did not know you did not know. That is when Jupiter completes its last of three squares to Neptune. Any aspect square Neptune is slippery, and comes wrapped in fog and haze. There is an X-factor involved on several different levels, and you will have to be patient enough to see what that is. For now, I suggest you proceed with the awareness that there is missing information, potentially about something of significant importance to you. The current movement will offer you some hints as to what that might be about; Mercury changing directions on July 31 may come with a partner or adversary revealing facts or making an admission they may not be aware they’re making. Jupiter’s change of direction on Aug. 11 will help you tune in to your own self-awareness in a deeper way, though the relevant information will be easy to dismiss or overlook unless you are alert to its possible existence. It’s the interval between Aug. 11 and the equinox on Sept. 23 when you must proceed with special care, because your own impatience may get the best of you. Remind yourself you want to make all decisions with full information available, or with an understanding of what might not be currently visible to you, even though it may be right nearby.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Be aware that you are under considerable pressure due to the imminent Saturn-Pluto conjunction in your sign. While both planets will remain retrograde through August, beginning in late September, Saturn begins approaching Pluto for the final approach to their meeting on Jan. 12. This will be one of the most formative times in your life. Yes, it may be stressful, and you may feel like you are under some highly unusual form of pressure you’ve never felt before. Yet it’s essential that you not squander this opportunity with any kind of palliative self-care. Do not place feeling better over getting your inner work done. Americans in particular and Westerners in general are all about trying to smooth things over in the present. That is often at the expense of changes they know they need to make, and have needed for a long time. I suggest that as the next four months develop, you go directly into confronting all that you need to re-evaluate in your life, and make the decisions you know you have to make. The alternative will be the feeling, or the reality, of having them made for you. Your sign is famous for its attachments to the past, though you cannot say “those days are gone” until you’ve done your part to resolve the karma and actually part ways with what you are finished with. Therefore, use this very rare opportunity — better said, this once in a lifetime opportunity — to assess, to resolve and to conclude as consciously and as willingly as you possibly can.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — This is no ordinary time in your life. You may feel like you’re dealing with forces out of your control, yet ultimately, what you’re feeling are movements deep within you. Since you contain them, it’s not quite correct to say that you don’t control them, though the ‘power’ issue comes down to one of awareness, and in particular, self-awareness. This is not easy at the moment, as so much seems to be going on inside of a blind spot (known in astrology as the 12th house). If you want to take the message of this transit, the thing to do is get your home, and your mind, in order. That means clean closets and drawers. It means tackle the storage unit or the basement. And it means focus on the subject matter (sometimes called ‘issues’) that trouble you the most with someone who you both trust and consider wise. Do not take that particular assessment for granted. People claim to have all kinds of powers they don’t possess. Most of all, you want someone who can handle sexual subject matter with humor, grace and depth. The 12th, at its essence, contains our most intimate sexual secrets. They are the ones that seem to arise from the fire and disappear like smoke; the ones that get masked over the next morning; the ones you may not like to think about, or have avoided for years. There is no proof of anything in this house; yet the closest you will come is the sensation of stifling pressure coming off you, working through pain instead of being bogged down in it, and the gradual release of passion. The question is, in today’s world, do you feel safe being vulnerable and alive?

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — There is an art to not caring what others think, or think about you. And though you may excel at several other arts, this one is not your strong suit. Yet I suggest you go beneath surface appearances, opinions and perceptions, and figure out where you are in time, in space and in your understanding of your existence. True, there is always more ice cream. There is always another margarita. Makeovers are cheap and most people are well practiced in putting on a mask and hiding behind it. And it is rare for anyone to investigate the nature of their life, which always involves confronting the unknown. Even when you do this well, which means gently, and with a sense of honoring the mystery of your existence, you will not pin down the ‘meaning’ on a definitive or factual level. What you can do is enter a relationship with your doubts. You can be aware of what you know, what you don’t know, and what you believe. Leave yourself room for correction; room to be ‘wrong’ and happy to be corrected. Over the next two months, beginning in mid-August, you will encounter a series of turning points that help you gradually shift the direction of your life from what may feel like you’re suspended in midair to actually being carried forward. Most of that will not come from your internal propulsion, though some will. Rather, as it happens, you will feel at times like you’re being carried by air, or by an ocean current. Those are alien elements to earthbound humans. Remember that.