Aries (March 20-April 19) — The past month or two looks like your life has been the scene of nearly nonstop strife. In an odd way, you knew that this was centered with you, and yet there were others who seemed to be provoking you, making a compelling case for the energy coming from outside of you. All in all, I reckon you have at least determined that you’re sick of people holding power over you, at the expense of your ability to influence the events of your own life. Make a careful study of all that happened, and determine your exact role. This is more for your own forensics than anything else. As for what is ahead: events early in the month can conspire either to challenge your confidence in such a way that you feel compromised, or inspire you to take the creative risks you want and need to take, to assert yourself in a bold and courageous way. You are not the child who grew up in your family home; you are well beyond that, though it’s easy to get dragged back into your old insecurities, and the emotional manipulation of others. To create, and to create yourself, takes courage; nothing else gets the job done. Courage is an old French word that means coming from the heart. This is what it takes to be yourself in the current environment, where there are so many influences that say all you need is a little gloss and a little grease and you can fool the whole world. You want to fool nobody.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — There is a subtle message coming from your solar chart, which you may recognize. It involves your relationship with the technology you use, and how it changes how you experience yourself. By “experience yourself,” I mean your relationship to your own consciousness: your thought process, your memory, what you externalize that was previously only deeply personal material. In other words, what are you saying in online environments that you would never, ever have said 10 or 20 years ago — and why are you saying it? This is not merely about technology or devices; it’s about what they do to you, what they do to who you think you are, and how you relate to yourself and others. I reckon you are onto these issues to some extent, though I suggest you bring them to the foreground. The forthcoming solar eclipse is a factor that gives you unusual ability and added leverage to change your mind, along lines you know you want to. You face many questions about what to do with old, outmoded beliefs. Those, too, have a trend of controlling you in ways you have surely noticed by now. You might say the forthcoming astrology is a moment of truth, in a time when the truth is the only thing that rightly matters to you. Over the next month or so, you will be reclaiming many things about yourself that you seem to have surrendered, though your greatest fortune is held in your ability to be utterly and only real with yourself.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — One of the peculiarities of Gemini involves a lot of ebb and flood where your finances are concerned. There is constant fluctuation, and it’s not easy for you to create a stable situation for yourself. This is a matter associated with having the sign Cancer as your 2nd house or solar house, associated with your personal assets. But what is really fluctuating? An argument could be made that your perception of your value is what is rising and falling, and this drags your bank account along with it. Sometimes known as self-esteem, though I am partial to the term self-respect, since this is a matter of re + spect in the true sense of the word: to see again, and in this case, to see yourself “again” (meaning, maintain an awareness of who you are and what you have to offer). There is more, though: you need to work with the predictable elements of your life (in the spirit of a tide table), and know what is coming and when. Your cycles are not as unpredictable as they may seem, though you need to study the patterns. Here is the thing about commerce: it requires many other things that begin with the prefix “com” — community, communication (and mutual trust and friendship). If you are going to be competitive, you need to choose wisely and remember who your friends are. Yet there is one thing worth more than anything, which is your word. It must be your bond. It must be your gold standard, or else you have nothing.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Events of the past two months (associated with Mars transiting your sign or rising sign) may have spun you around so many times, you don’t know if you’re dizzy or not. There was a little bit of everything: a trial here, a tribulation there; a confrontation here, a moment of truth there; a challenge here, a breakthrough there. Overall, this was about the quest to be persistent, consistent, true and correct. All in a day’s work for the astrology you’re under. Now comes something new: a total solar eclipse in your birth sign. This happens July 2. The most recent pattern of this nature took place in 2009-2010, and current developments may be reminiscent of that time. Anyway, here’s my theory about this eclipse, and the corresponding one in Capricorn two weeks later. This is a point of realignment for you. You have concentrated power to make adjustments to your innermost being, which will then ripple out into your relationships. Part of this process will be intentional, and an aspect of what you do will be intuitive. It will help from the outset to work with the idea that you want to use what you have learned. Some of what you have learned (in part, from a series of confrontations and also, more creative intimate encounters) is who you are and who you want, and need, to be. Eclipses also relieve pressure, and you’ve been under plenty. Let the momentum carry you; keep your hand on the rudder and your eyes ahead, constantly scanning from side to side.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — There is either cruelty or communication. One will supplant the other. There needs to be a high standard for what constitutes an exchange of thoughts and feelings. The first thing to be cautious of is any form of scorekeeping. If you notice you’re working from a list of grievances, I suggest you put it away and listen. More than anything, track your own expectations for the relationship. Where do they come from? Are they grounded in reality, or are they based on presuppositions? You might take the exactly opposite approach: what can you offer to serve the situation? Note, the answer to this question is, itself, not predicted by much of anything except what is right. And it’s based on what the situation calls for, rather than what you think is appropriate. So therefore, it might turn out to be bringing more of yourself to the relationship, or less. To know that, you will need to listen, and listen to yourself. Meanwhile, whole new prospects in life are calling you: from the look of your solar chart, there is something new and unusual that you want to devote yourself to, with your time, your body and your soul. This is described by your astrology as something that is vocational or not necessarily profitable, rather than a career kind of thing. It’s the deeper calling than what is merely professional, and it will mean more to you. This does not insinuate it will not in some way support you financially, though at the moment, that’s beside the point.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — The world you will see when you look around is a reflection of the one that you contain within you. This is almost always true; one spiritual aphorism I’ve often found helpful is that projection makes perception. However, at the moment, this message is taking a specific form. You are coming up against certain inner limits to your creativity, ones you would be happy if you transcended. There is a dichotomy described by activity in the two other earthy signs. Capricorn, which covers your most creative and dynamic house, is at maximum density, which may feel like you’re having an implosion of some kind. If you’re an artist in any sense of the word, this may be a challenging time for you, though I assure you that you’re capable of your best work now. You will need to go deep into yourself and take a risk with what you express, which means doing something where you feel like you’ve got something to lose. In Taurus, an alignment of Uranus, Vesta and Albion is pushing your horizons wider. You may be seeing tremendous potential — outside of yourself. That’s really a description of what you are personally capable of. It is, therefore, an excellent exercise to envision the world a better place; to recognize the excellent work of others; to imagine what is possible; to look all the way out to the horizon and be curious what’s beyond it. I would remind you that thanks to those little pocket computers, we tend to live hideously myopic lives. Stretch yourself out of this like it’s all that matters. You are not your IP address.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You are the person who frames your reality. That’s basically what you are: a walking, talking concept of existence, which you then experience. The spiritual books all drip with this idea, which can be annoying as all get out. However, Logos, a long-term visitor to your sign (a Kuiper object, part of the Logos-Zoe binary pair), says that you are the ground of consciousness you stand on. In order to demonstrate this, you will need to investigate your reality, and do some experiments. In particular, notice the way people, circumstances and events take on the significance you give them, which comes from you. Therefore, practice giving these things different meaning. You could start with the greatest purpose of all, an experience that offers you learning and the potential for growth. Most people you meet will be out to get ahead, or be out for themselves and themselves alone. Be vigilant against any trace of these things. Making progress in life is a good thing, though the kind of progress matters a lot. Your success must be meaningful. Your life is not your image or who you impress. I know this is a radical thing to say. It’s not about your bank balance or (borrowing from a Grateful Dead joke) whoever has the most tapes when he dies wins. You are a deeper person than your society and your social environment let you recognize. You are, at this time, being called into deeper relationship experiences, which are about going in, rather than up or over. When you are with someone you care about, turn your awareness inward. Feel, listen, share. Keep going.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Recent activity of Mars in the past month suggests that (like your water sign cousin Cancer) you may have been through the wringer the past two months. It was something special to behold, and to experience: Mars making aspects to Chiron, Saturn, Pluto, the lunar nodes, as well as Eris, Logos, Makemake, Salacia, Quaoar and Pholus. (None of these are asteroids; they are all slow-moving modern planets. I will link a few articles at the bottom of the horoscope in case you missed them.) And what exactly did you go through? What did you learn about how you use your power? What did you learn about how you use language? Most of all, what did you learn about projection? By that, I mean assigning to others what is really in your mind and your feelings, a concept I suggest you do some quiet reading about, given the current state of your astrology. You have now changed modes entirely: you are in your ‘rock the world’ state of being. There are those times when you recognize your potential and you utterly groove on all that is possible if you apply yourself to your life purpose. However, I suggest you take it easy on the ambition and aspiration thing, and allow certain unfinished processes to play out. Now is the time to evaluate all of your goals, cross some old and outmoded ones off the list, and add one or two truly meaningful ones. During Mercury retrograde (the last three weeks of July), you will be reviewing some of the territory you crossed in May and June. Be careful and thorough about this. Make amends where necessary.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — For someone as intent as you are on leading a self-determined life, you certainly get jerked around emotionally by others quite a bit. Never the twain shall meet, as the poet Kipling wrote long ago. Yet it is only experience that will teach you this. Early in the month, you may find reason to call into question a certain emotional connection that you have with another person. Based on recent past experience, this may not be an easy ride, and it may be calling on you to question the nature of your commitment. Remember that such is not something made for you; a commitment is something you make and uphold yourself. This is true on any day, at any time during any phase of the relationship: your commitments are your business. You can keep them, you can end them, but more than anything you must evaluate them. What do you give, and what do you gain? Who benefits? I do not mean to reduce the complexity of human relationships to what might seem like a cash transaction, but in the end, relationships are transactional: there is giving, receiving, gaining, losing and exchanging — of something. There are important factors in your astrology that currently make it difficult for you to see through the fog. Yet you have moments of clarity, which either arrive as the sudden dawning of awareness, or asking yourself a question so compelling that you have to stop and think about the answer. This is right about where you are today. Use this rare opportunity well.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — At the moment, everything has to come back to you. Rather than assigning responsibility or accountability to any circumstance, relationship or situation, take it all on board. Your whole existence begins and ends with you; your participation in the world makes the world what it is, to you. So forget about all of them for a while, and consider the nature of the changes you’re going through. Granted, this includes Pluto, which has been likened to a caterpillar spinning itself a cocoon and melting, having no concept what it’s about to become. You are deep in that process now. It’s not possible to know, or even fathom the future. Yet you can trust your process. You can also trust that you’re in the demarcation zone between the past and the future, by which I mean your whole past and your whole future. This is the Saturn-Pluto conjunction, which plays out between now and Jan. 12, 2020. While there is no rushing this process, you can be grateful that it proceeds as gradually as it does. And by the way, you are not a caterpillar; you are a human with full sentience, the power of observation, the ability to respond, and the power of decision. Therefore do all of these things, each in its turn, and allow your process to unfold. One last thought: It is probable that certain events over the past two months have given you a clear idea of what you do not want. That is important information, though only if you use what you know.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Two issues are up this month; they’ve been up for a while, but now, the bell rings. One is how, and whether, you take care of yourself, meaning your health, your rest, your nutrition — and your emotional wellbeing. Second, closely associated, is your association with aggression. This has been an issue in recent weeks, through much of the spring and longer, and it’s taken a toll on you and potentially your work-based relationships. You may be thinking that none of this was necessary, and if so, you’re correct. You’re under a lot of pressure right now. There is energy moving in your direction. You get to decide what to do with it. Do you direct it where you want, like a martial artist, or do you let it slam into you? There is a similar issue with your use of language, which is the forum for nearly all controversy these days. It will be helpful if you set all use of language in any potentially controversial situation on a 24- to 48-hour delay. Sleep on things for a night or two, including what you hear. You may develop a tendency to hear the things people say to you in the worst possible light, when really, they meant something else, or intended a different inflection of meaning. Therefore, slow down and contemplate your moves. You need to have a clear set of strategies, which you follow in a focused, disciplined and intentional way. You may need support. Get some advisors you trust. You don’t need to do what they say; rather, you only need to take it under careful advisement.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — It has not been easy for you to get a grip this year, though you’ve accomplished more than you may think. Jupiter, your ruling planet (from classical astrology), is in its best possible position — in Sagittarius, in your 10th solar house, which is giving you a sense of your true potential. However, Jupiter is square Neptune in your own sign, which is making your potential about as easy to grasp as a greased eel. There is also a clarity issue (see Sagittarius for another take on that), which is to say it’s not easy for you to discern what is real and what is not; what you want and what you don’t; who is helpful and who is not. Here is a clue: you need very basic criteria for these things, which you apply sooner rather than later. However, the second half of the year tends to bring an upswing for you. The Sun has moved in your favor, and there’s about to be a total eclipse in the most daring, dynamic angle of your solar chart. This represents you being willing to take a chance on yourself of some kind; it represents an opening; and most of all, it describes you moving into one of those deeply intuitive phases of how you relate to your own creativity. Set your priorities carefully. You will have abundant energy going forward, which can only be drained by misunderstanding, pointless controversy or wasting your time on goals that are not specifically relevant to you. Therefore, focus your priorities. Know what you want and what you need, resolve to create that and that alone, and stand your full height as you walk through the world.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — This month you will have a series of opportunities to confront your fears, particularly those associated with authority. This would count for whatever form authority may take, whether the most powerful corporate or government powers, or whoever lives with you in your bedroom. Yet if you do this in an aggressive way, you will only reap more of the same. Anger and attack thoughts lead to insecurity more than any other factor. They don’t even need to be expressed to have the effect of making you feel impotent or helpless; you are likely to take them out on yourself, which is the root of the problem. However, that can get to the point where you need to discharge the energy, and get it out of your own consciousness, which is what typically leads to directing it at others. This is where it’s necessary to pause, preferably before the temperature gets too hot or matters seem too urgent, which is now, early in the month. You have an opening to conduct a civil conversation, which is best begun when you have something to say. This may seem to take courage, where waiting until you’re frustrated, enraged or depressed does not. But this is not a reasonable tradeoff, as finding the inner strength to speak about what is troubling you can and usually does get a positive result. I suggest you do so sooner rather than later, and that you get to the underlying matter — not the relatively minor surface issue.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You’re in a delicate space of figuring out how your sense of the way that others perceive you undermines your confidence and self-worth. It is true there is a connection between the value you think others put on you and the value you place on yourself. That link is entirely in your mind, and you begin to lose the moment you make the connection. The loss of energy comes, among other ways, in the form of thinking that if you can only change someone’s perception of you, you can change the way you feel about yourself. Yet this verges on hallucination; it is all in your mind. And this is particularly challenging when the opinion you think you’re trying to change, or that matters, is that of everyone. The place your antennae must perk up is the moment you stake your self-worth on anyone else’s point of view. I don’t mean the value of a product you make, which has a relationship to one marketplace or another. I mean your value as a person. Even the most successful public figures have a hard time with this one. And now we are all living in the hall of mirrors of the internet, and many of us are heavily invested in social media. It may seem a contradiction, though it helps to seek understanding of yourself through relationships — by which I mean real ones; honest ones; ones wherein your value is tangible, to you. Yet even that will only get you so far toward coming to an understanding with yourself that only you can reach.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — In several crucial ways this month, you will play a supporting role in the lives of others. This is rarely a situation that is in balance: a great many people are either hardcore givers or takers. I’m talking about something different: investing yourself in a situation or circumstance that is not exactly your own, and working for an outcome that you may not directly benefit from, but which you understand needs to happen. To my thinking, this is the ideal modality for helping another person: a combination of involvement and detachment that adds up to true commitment. The bottom line of any situation you’re in is taking control over your sense of purpose. There is something here about doing things for their own sake, even if you “have to” do them. Once you have taken over why you are doing something, you have claimed the most important element of your creative power. You can then convey this into your sense of mission for anything you do in life. You will have freedom from various trappings associated with money (issues around doing things only for pay, doing them for no pay, and many gradients in between). As for assisting others (or someone specific) in immediate and upcoming scenarios: your role is to do what you can. That means what you have the time and energy for, and what you make time and energy for, because you can. This is different from coming in and saving the day. It’s different from sacrificing yourself. Be mindful of your potential role recruiting the assistance of others, and serving as a positive example.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Stay a few steps ahead of the many situations that are brewing in your life. Write the Boy Scout motto on your mirror, or put it on the home screen of your phone: Be Prepared. Your primary worldly and spiritual lesson at this time is that you are the leader of your own life. The way to not let anyone usurp or undermine your authority over yourself is not to hand it to them. This means choosing who you respond to, and how. It also means choosing the ways you confront others when that has to happen — and in this world, at this time, such is inevitable. Strategy guides, both ancient and modern, tend to recommend against going blow for blow. This necessitates clear thinking, and working with viable strategies. That, in turn, requires knowing your goal; knowing what you want — and then everything else follows from there. But you must hold your objective in mind. You determine the outcome you want (whether you get there or not), and you establish the steps on the way to getting there. Once you claim these crucial steps in the process of whatever you’re doing, you will find that it’s more difficult for others to hold power or undue influence over you. Therefore, keep making decisions. That is how you navigate through this world; it is your most awesome and sacred power. It is the difference between driving a car and falling asleep at the wheel. If you feel yourself getting drowsy and starting to nod off, or going into denial, stop, take a breath, take a nap, or eat lunch — and go back to making decisions.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Keep a close pulse on your fears this month. The challenge here is that fear is something most people would rather not think about, so they tend to push it under the surface of consciousness. I suggest you do the opposite, which is to bring your fears to the surface, and use them as a guide to your awareness. However, there is an issue at the moment in that we’re being pelted with reasons to be afraid pretty much around the clock. They seem to come from across your phone, every news feed and, most of all, from inside your mind. That is the real source of fear; it is a thought. Then one has a series of responses to that thought. Some objects of fear, held in the mind, seem rational, and many make no sense at all. Yet they are all the same, in the sense that they are mental phenomena. While it may seem odd to take fear as one’s teacher, on this plane of reality, we have little other choice. When you hear spiritual teachers talk about “working with shadow material,” this is what they mean: to pay attention to “negative” emotions including fear, guilt, anger and shame, all of which are related. Do you notice these feelings? Do you judge them? And what do you do with them? Your options may seem like taking them out on yourself, or taking them out on someone else. Neither of those is suitable. There are other possibilities.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Your chart describes high aspirations this month, though you will need to remember your manners. It will be easy to get into conflicts with friends and allies, and this does not help your personal or professional aspirations. What I suggest is that through June, you spend as little time in public as possible, and as much time doing the work you do the best. Your astrology contradicts that idea; the surface level has you out in public, moving and shaking. There will definitely be occasions for which you will want to get out, though caution in those environments is essential. Your emotional impact is far greater than you can conceive. People will respond to things you say in ways you did not imagine. Therefore, staying close to your actual work — the creative substance of who you are and what you do — will make much more productive use of your time. You want your work to have the impact and the influence, and it can, as long as you stay one step detached from its effects in your community. This is an important step in the life of any artist, writer, or person of social influence: to let your work speak for you, rather than you speaking for it. And before your work can speak for you, you must dig in and work out what you are doing, which can only come through a process of experimentation, revision and more experimentation. This process will drive your evolution forward, and it will have an influence that you may not see and can surely trust.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Be mindful of your relationships with those who have authority over you. This might include anyone from your boss to the government to a relationship partner. Some facet of the corporate world could also count — an insurance company, for example. You will want to be at your diplomatic best at all times, and stay way ahead of any developing situations. In other words, where you see the potential for confrontation, work in advance to defuse the conflict. If you focus and listen, you will be able to unravel problems before they go out of control. And if you find yourself in the midst of a controversy, or some situation where you need to take charge, you will have plenty of intelligence to work with. The most vital issue you can consider is how you treat your adversaries. Public image is of the essence. Make sure you address them with the utmost respect, or at least the appearance of respect. Speak in understatements, and use inference. Let the facts speak for themselves, without needing to argue for them with too sharp of a point. In terms of the politics of the situation, it’s not clear who is on whose “side” at the moment, and it would be wise not to take anyone’s loyalty for granted. You will need to let people stand the tests of both time and stress, and remember that in all situations, actions speak louder than words. Demonstrated example speaks louder than theory.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — In any negotiation process, make your expectations known, and inquire as to those of others. This is not a time to make assumptions, or to take anything on faith — and you will likely be inclined to do so. Therefore, be cautious. Take care to work out the conditions of the discussion in advance, on mutual terms. If you’re engaged in a conversation and you notice that the topic drifts outside of the agreed parameters, gently bring it back into bounds. This, too, is likely to happen. Persist in these methods any time something of value, or any commitment, is being worked out, even if it’s fairly small; there will be instances where the small points may count for more than they seem. What you are practicing is your words having meaning that is documented and therefore verifiable. If your words have meaning in this sense of the idea, then you are grounded in reality, and therefore have relevance. There are times when it’s necessary to take things on faith, or to ask people to take your position on faith, though this is not one of them. It’s the mental trend of our times to take everything on belief, with an emotional gust pushing behind it. Now and for the foreseeable future, your life policy needs to be a commitment to standing on the solid structure of thought and language. Not only are you vulnerable to being challenged, you could easily provide others the means to effectively challenge you on matters where it truly counts. Your strength is available in objective truth, not subjective opinion.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Be mindful of how your emotions are influencing you. This will be a special challenge, because often you think they don’t affect you at all. And at the moment, that power is rather invisible and, in most other ways, difficult to discern. So you will need to look for indicators of your overall mood, beginning with how expressive you feel. Use this as the primary metric of your mental health. Do you find yourself holding thoughts and feelings inside, or can you easily express what you need to say? If you’re usually a creative person, how is that going? Are you writing, drawing, making music or moving your body as you usually do? Or do you feel caught in some invisible morass? Another thing to check out is how the people around you are conducting themselves. Are they being reasonable and truthful? Or are they acting out in some way? Make sure you’re using documented observations to make this assessment, to avoid being persuaded by any bias you may have. Meanwhile, if you want to be more involved with life, the thing to do is to stoke your curiosity. This will work in nearly any form: artistic, mental, erotic, intellectual. You will find it satisfying to read old books on psychology, by authors like Fritz Perls, Eric Berne, Alice Miller, and other classic writers. Above all, you need to cultivate understanding of your situation, your growth process and your creative process. This is an active endeavor, not a passive one.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You’re not in the mood to be provoked, though people seem to keep doing it. Or are they? Are they merely being themselves, which on certain days is a little too erratic and emotional for you? There may be two different things going on: how people are conducting themselves around you, and how you are responding. With both Saturn and Pluto retrograde in your sign, your attention is likely to be inwardly focused; the inference is that you are engaged in some deep growth work that must be done in a solitary environment. Yet it’s also a position of what you might call maximum density, and can indicate resistance or unwillingness to change or even budge. In that condition, any irritant from the outside is likely to seem worse than it really is. How you respond to your surroundings will be an indicator of your mental and emotional state. In any event, there is something that seems external that is trying to get your attention. You can think of it as an element of your own awareness, or some facet of yourself that you’ve disowned or cast away. It could be showing up as someone’s desire for you or your attention. Or it might be manifesting as someone being provocative, assertive or aggressive. What matters is how you respond to this influence: what you call it, and what you think it represents. Since it’s likely to be coming from a person, consider who this person is to you, and what their presence in your life means to you.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Be mindful of your health this month, which will be directly related to your state of mind, or more accurately, your emotional state. You seem to be holding a lot in; that may be related to feeling like you don’t have a suitable way to express yourself, or you’re not noticing one that is available. With Saturn, Pluto and the Moon’s south node lingering around the most sensitive angle of your chart, it would appear that you’re trying to process something difficult and somewhat dark from the distant past. This has you extra sensitive, and other factors have you feeling like you’re pushing the limits of your emotional capacity. The best approach to this scenario is to find people around whom you can be easily conversant about your feelings and your overall situation. I suggest this be people who do not have a vested interest in you, or vice versa, as that tends to complicate matters and remove the objectivity that is necessary for a clear conversation. Consider the possibility that you don’t really know what you’re dealing with here, though the state of your body will be an indicator. Look to any form of irritation, inflammation or heat as a metaphor. Notice when a problem is cyclical. The nature of the cycle holds the clue to what the physical issue represents on the mental or emotional level, and also holds the most useful clue to how to resolve the problem on every level. You want a gentle approach that helps you unravel things gently.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Keep your energy moving outward. That is the message of Mars in Cancer, and many other factors. How you go about it matters, though. Not everything will help. For example, confrontation in anything but the most ritualized form (such as martial arts, chess, or writing to a politician) will be counterproductive and serve as a drain on your energy. Being truthful in an understated way will be helpful, as it will ease your sense that the world has no integrity whatsoever; at least you can express yours. What you really want to do is what you can feel. Painting, drumming, daily personal writing, and any honest sex that you can get will all feed your soul. While your professional plans may seem to be moving too slowly or not at all, work in the background while Jupiter is retrograde (which ends Aug. 11). Set up the conditions for success: efficiency with time and money, learning to direct your energy, and working with modest goals that you can more readily attain. Now is the time for a total reassessment of your larger goals or visions for both your professional life and your overall existence. Don’t rush this process. It will take until around the autumn equinox to get clear about what it is you want to be doing and why; what you don’t want to be doing and why; and what possible means you might use to get to your goals. Keep in mind, though, that as you attain genuine inner clarity, many of those means will present themselves and be within reach.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You have a right to exist, and you do exist. A series of recent transits involving Chiron in your sign may have pushed deep questions onto you, or taken you places within yourself that you’ve never been before. Yet even the most seemingly ordinary questions are probes into the way you relate to your existence. Each comes back to what you’re free enough to feel, do or say. I reckon more people wander around with this type of concern in their minds, lurking right below the scrim of consciousness. It’s just masked as something else: a sense of not belonging, apprehension or anxiety, guilt, judging oneself or feeling judged — among others. What if all of these were about permission to be? One of the zeitgeists of our moment in history is that so many “causes” feel it’s their role to tell people they have no right to be who they are — even if who they are is not harming someone. Others tell people what they must be, even if it’s not true or they don’t want to be that way. Chiron often focuses on the most poignant kind of existential crisis. Make the most of it. Be aware that your feelings may represent questions — particularly any that comes along with tension, discomfort or irritation. They are your friends. Inquire, explore and seek understanding. Some may take you to a deeper level by way of a mental or emotional adjustment. Most will require you to experiment: to take action, and then notice how you feel.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — The key is to give yourself permission to do or not to do anything; to be or not be with anyone; to be open to any and every possibility. Then, from that place, choose the obvious thing to do. This is a thought exercise in giving yourself the freedom to be yourself. However, you don’t need much of the stuff; in reality, you just need the ability to make each decision in accord with your true being. If you start by granting yourself a very wide berth, and feel out many different potentials (whether they seem available or not), making focused decisions won’t seem so daunting. This is a little like reading the whole menu before you choose what to eat, only making sure you consider many things that are not listed. At this stage in your astrological development, you need to be aware of two things. One is the human tendency to be afraid of freedom and one’s own potential (the two are related). The other is the fear to look and feel within and arrive at an understanding of what one really wants. The typical result of this is living a narrow life, lacking both worldly vision and inner vision. And thankfully for you, Uranus in your sign is encouraging you to take a wide view of life and notice things you would usually consider revolutionary or ridiculous. This will loosen up the grip that you and seeming reality have on one another. Chiron in Aries, set within the house of your inner experience, is encouraging you to be impeccably observant of yourself. If you can do both at once, you will discover how much is possible.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Whatever you’re doing, be sure to take care of your needs first, and then consider the needs of others. Often they are intertwined, though your present situation calls for you to unravel this. Mars remains a present force in your chart, which is giving you extra power to manifest what you want. Yet this same factor is putting you into contact with much larger situations: when you want something, other people seem to be impacted or influenced. It may also be difficult to sort out what you want from what others want. In such a situation, change the emphasis from desire to need. I recognize that there are various schools of thought that consider this kind of thinking selfish. And there are plenty of conceited people who blur the lines and make their own priorities out to be the only ones in their environment. If by any chance you have such tendencies, get a grip on them. I am primarily speaking to those who tend to be squashed out of the way, or to have their needs subverted to more assertive people. It’s necessary to act before you feel yourself revert to resentment or frustration, and if you are there, address that situation first, beginning with identifying your basic needs (rest, food, time to yourself, time outside, space to do your work, whatever). Then take an inventory of who around you is making what demands, and begin to sort things out and make decisions. Your partnerships must function as such: be assertive about asking for help and delegating responsibility. Pay attention to who is helpful. Notice who keeps their commitments, to you and to others.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Saturn’s station retrograde in Capricorn, your opposite sign, will take some pressure off of you, though it does not change the basic fact that you’re going through a personal restructuring of some kind. What you get, though, is time to plan your moves, and set up certain contingencies such that you’re never backed into a corner. Give yourself space, and time, and take as much of each as you need to handle your own affairs responsibly. And this is about responsibility; meaning your ability to respond in a way that is self-sustaining, in a time when everything in the world seems to be going sideways. At the same time, it’s true that many old and outmoded aspects of life, both your own and in the wider environment, are falling away. That is one process; what they are being replaced by is another, and for you, this is something best not left to chance. Take a fully conscious role in determining what you want from life, making sure your priorities are not being dictated or even shaped by past expectations, experiences or disappointments. This will take a conscious yoga-like practice of monitoring your thoughts, and turning them toward creative ends. Let every day begin with what you want to accomplish, in terms of meeting your responsibilities but more significantly, creating something new for yourself. Be specific, and set tangible goals that are within reach. Have in mind larger goals that may seem out of reach, though set yourself moving in their direction. Ideally this will include at least two very long-range objectives that you’ve been considering for a long time.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Your solar chart is bursting with the theme of expanding your horizons, both personal and professional. By personal, I mean a true evaluation of your long-term goals, your spiritual condition and where your self-concept intersects with who you actually are. What is the story-arc of your life? Where do you want to be on the planet? By professional, I mean doing something exciting and different — and taking an inventive approach to what you’re doing now. You tend to be stable in your work commitments, and making changes does not come easily to you. This same astrology also suggests that you tend to hold patterns for a long time before you realize that you need a change — and you most definitely do. This will begin with a new approach to your current involvement, and then develop into scoping out the possibilities for the future. And, plan as you may, it’s possible that you’ll need to make some rapid adjustments that are based on opportunities that come your way, or circumstances that seem beyond your control. Therefore, lighten your load, and take on only new commitments both that you like, and that have a reasonable exit plan. More than anything, be open to progress, and remember that progress not only implies change — it necessitates change, movement, adjustment and flexibility. These things are not happening for their own sake. Everything you do, and everyplace you go, is in accord with new revelations and discoveries you’re making about your purpose on Earth. You have one; and you made it all the way here to get it going and bring it into full expression.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Your astrology through late April and early May focuses what I consider to be the essential Virgo question of how much you see yourself in others. By that I mean identify so deeply that it’s possible to lose track of yourself. However, the series of jolts you may have recently experienced have called on you to awaken from just that situation. It is a kind of dream. It worked for you for a while; it may still work for some people, though it’s not an effective or valid path for you at this time. Within your relationships (of all kinds, from intimate to family to business), you have encountered a necessity to be yourself and express yourself. You can no longer use your encounters with others as a way of finding yourself. One distinction is that there will be a more even-handed distribution of responsibilities, including maintenance of awareness that is so vital to healthy exchanges. Leadership is a core necessity in any relationship, and this, too, must be divided if not equally then equitably. You need to know that you have some influence over the flow of events. When you feel like you don’t, the answer is not to accuse anyone of overpowering you before you make a list of everything you have not said out loud. The dialog in your mind does not count. Letting others guess what you need is irrelevant. Thinking you should have said something in the past does not count. Actually speaking for yourself is the only thing that matters. This takes some courage, because you can’t really plan the outcome. But you can stay present for the whole conversation, and the next one.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — You may feel like you’re in an exceedingly complicated situation where you have no control over your circumstances, or of major decisions. Yet the exercise would seem to be discerning just where your influence is, and how to access it. In these matters, astrology offers you a few clues. One basic matter is to pay attention, and to study the situation. There seem to be quite a few people involved, and there’s a lot of jockeying for power going on. How did things get to be this way? How long have they been so, and when did you first notice? The “noticing” aspect is an important element of its own, perhaps the most significant of all. You can only see with your eyes open; you can only drive at night with your headlights on. So your awareness level, and where you direct your attention, is the single most meaningful variable you are working with. Rather than addressing the specific circumstances that seem to be in front of you, the time has arrived to address the deeper questions, ones you may have pondered for a long time. One goes right to the purpose that relationships serve in your life. How much is about love? How much is about companionship? How much is about sex? How much is about money? How much is about conforming to your parents’ notion of what is right, or right for you? If you spend some time with those questions, and develop your responses sincerely, you will find yourself feeling like you have a lot more power in your situation. We can add one more factor: are you expected to be a good boy or a good girl? By whom, for what purpose, and at what cost — to you?

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — None of your old relationship strategies are likely to be effective any more. All you can do is be in the moment, listen honestly and speak honestly. That means gently, without judgment. Perhaps there seems to be a contradiction here, in that if you’re judgmental, you should be honest about that. Perhaps. And there’s a way to do it that facilitates communication rather than shuts it down. For example, claim when something is your opinion, or your perception. Moreover, do your best to see several sides of every issue. Even if you baldly disagree with something, understand where someone is coming from if they think it’s true, or true for them. This does not need to be from an intellectual point of view; our beliefs are often motivated by emotional reactions. You’re at a point in your growth when all that will really work for you is a mature state of understanding, which may mean admitting that you were wrong about something, whether in the past, the present, or if it happens some time in the future. For you right now, much of what seems like a mental position is driven by something much deeper. It will be helpful, and save you considerable time and energy, if you make contact with the underlying motive driving your point of view. To succeed at this is genuinely liberating, like dropping armor or taking off clothes that fit too tight. The way to peace is not agreeing on the mental level, or even emotional. It’s coming to a place of shared values and priorities that can be applied to all situations. Either those shared values are there, or they are not. You won’t know till you get there.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — A Course in Miracles has an annoying comment about how we have the choice to be right, or be happy. Rather, it’s annoying until you see it work, and you have an excellent opportunity to experiment: let everyone else be right for a while, and keep your opinion to yourself. Keep your mind open and consider the possibilities, but don’t worry about whether you’re right, or wrong, for that matter. There are a few ways to do this, one of which is to maintain a position of always being open to more data, or more interesting perspectives. It’s likely that certain people in your environment are going to be rather opinionated for the next few weeks (this may have started a while ago, but it will be more obvious now). That in itself is likely to be a turnoff at worst, or entertaining at best. Don’t let it become offensive, though. Keep your sense of humor as an underlying foundation of your self-confidence. If you can laugh at something, you rapidly diminish the power it holds over you; in a real way, you set yourself free from its clutches. Seeing the humor is also a form of humility, which means moist, like the earth. I’m not talking about sarcasm, which is dry (and there is a place for it, which you may encounter from time to time). Here is the thing: You are bigger than any opinion that you or anyone has. When your mind is open, your creativity engages, and you see many possibilities, when before, you may have only seen a few.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Saturn turning retrograde in your sign will give you some room to breathe, and time to make decisions. In recent months and years, you’ve learned to function under pressure, as if time is running out, and you just have to deal with it. But how much of that is an illusion? How much is you noticing something that’s always true, which is that time (for any individual) is a finite resource? That’s the thing it would be helpful to consider, as it’s a key element in the kind of maturity that you’re reaching for, and that is reaching for you. It’s fair to call this time in your life an extended phase of enforced growth, so you may as well get with the program. Another element is having the correct relationship with your family of origin, for you. How dependent or attached do you want to be? How much responsibility do you want to take on, and how much is appropriate? This is related to the wider question of the past. Part of your challenge (and at times struggle) is to let go of what is not working. Yet to do that, you will need to be honest about it. This is not about making a run to the local transfer station. Rather, you’re at the stage of clearing closets, basements and attic spaces, and making fully aware decisions about what you want and don’t want. From the look of your solar chart, you will be retaining quite a bit less than you’re letting go of. Keep a consistent, steady pace as you proceed.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — There are indeed hidden factors driving and in many ways dominating your life, though the truth is they were always there. What’s happening now is a struggle to bring them to full awareness and see them for what they are. One thing revealed by astrology is that a substantial portion of this material (what some would call karma) is not your own. It belongs to other people, and you have in a sense inherited it. When you feel yourself driven by forces outside of your control, pause and investigate. Look carefully for matter that is secretive or taboo. It may be related to sex, death or money. It will have the feeling of a trove of family secrets that are gumming up the works not only of your existence but some larger one as well. The days of these conditions running your life are numbered, though your full cooperation is required. When you encounter something that reminds you of this business, push the situation as far as you can, until some new information comes out. Do not be deterred by people keeping a poker face, making denials or telling you how wonderful they are. You will need to summon some extra courage to do this, since you’ll be exceeding a limit or cultural norm. You may risk offending or angering people who seem to wield power for its own sake. This is the whole point. Then notice what you dredge up. Part of the exercise is claiming what is yours. First and foremost, this means your personal truth.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — There is no stopping you from thinking your own way, but don’t stop there. The point is to live your own way, to express your own views, and therefore to be free from ideas that are not your own. Revolutionary Uranus in Taurus is driving this project, and it will not relent. You can proceed in a way that is more or less creative, but you will proceed. The way to keep some sense of order in your world and in your mind is to stay a few steps ahead of yourself. Do what you can to be organized, particularly in your ideas. From there, maintain some order in your personal paperwork, your workspaces and your communication devices. You won’t get this perfect, but a little will go a long way, and help you smooth over the process of expressing yourself in bold, emphatic ways that get a result. If you’re in a creative role of any kind, be aware that part of what you’re doing is specifically altering the remnants of the past and creating something new. This is not new for its own sake but rather for the purpose of liberating energy and pushing back on the robotic patterns that seem to be taking over known reality. That you can feel, and respond consciously, and stretch your capabilities, and crave the truth, are all evidence that you are actually alive and conscious. This may not make you a popular person, as the prevailing ethos of our times is to get in line, do what everyone else is doing and wear a button that says “unique.” You are much, much greater than that. Letting your light shine may make you feel vulnerable, though that’s the cost of true happiness.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Tonight’s top story in the solar system is that Chiron has entered your sign. It’s rare when an era-defining event takes place in the home territory of your Sun or rising sign, though it’s happened to you many times in recent years. Yet Chiron will have a way of helping you integrate many unusual past developments in your life. You may have several of those moments when it all suddenly seems to make sense. While this transit lasts eight years, the first year will be one of the most interesting of them, as Chiron makes many aspects to slow-moving planets in the next 12 months. The upshot is that it’s time to wake up and get hold of your destiny, particularly where your professional aspirations are concerned. Your awakening and the work you do are now so closely linked as to be the same thing. At certain times you can feel who you are; at other times you can feel what you want to do. Now, taking action based on both considerations will be more intuitive. You may still feel like you’re balancing two sides of an equation, going back and forth between them — though that’s a sign of progress even if it feels like acrobatics. It’s significant that all of your current astrology puts you into contact with a wider public. You may feel the allure of being part of some larger group or ideology. You don’t need this. Keep your own counsel, and hold to your choices and personal values. When you see a crowd, walk the other way. Your true success depends on it.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — In just two weeks, Uranus ingresses your sign (on March 6), to stay for the next seven years. It is unusual to have two slow-moving outer planets change signs so close together (see Aries, above), though that’s what we’ve got. Taurus is presumed to be the sign of tradition and stability, yet this transit will put you in touch with your fiery, daring, creative core. The first change you’re likely to experience is feeling more alive, and more willing to take chances. You may have challenges in holding down routines, though that will teach you minimalism and discipline — and these will grant you the efficiency you need to use your time and energy wisely. It’s fair to say that you’re entering an extended phase of self-reinvention. This is better if practiced as a daily experience. When you wake up every morning, ask yourself what you want to do — even if you already know what you have to do. The idea is to give yourself the opportunity to choose between options, even if it’s what order you want to do things, which way you travel to work, or what you want for breakfast. Under this influence, using disruptions as opportunities to pause and redirect yourself is a helpful skill. Uranus is self-inventive, and it can also bestow the gift of the creative flash. If you’re short on an idea, pause and ask for some guidance. This is not your “normal” mind working; you will be summoning the spark of the eternal spirit.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — One of the themes of Chiron in Aries is where the individual meets the group. This comes with the temptation to align yourself with a cause, a movement, or an organization; even a clique will do, in a pinch. There’s another direction of travel, which is that of self-discovery. It’s by far the more challenging journey. In truth, most identification with collectives of any kind is directly at the expense of seeking and finding oneself. It’s a little like giving all your money to a cult, when you would be much better off having your own modest apartment, and doing your own thing. For you, Chiron in Aries is a challenge to distinguish yourself: to stand out, and to stand apart. You have abilities you have not developed; you have a language gift that is like gold ore still buried underground. Yet with each passing day, the world is dragged deeper and deeper into a weird kind of conformist cool, nearly all based on marketing programs. The rest is based on the impact of digital, which has been particularly hard on your natural tendencies to be social. I suggest you resurrect those. Spend time in places where the internet is not a factor. Leave your phone home as many times a day as you can. Talk to people in person, and listen to what they have to say. You might ban all forms of online dating, and compel yourself to get among people and remember how to communicate with them. You will have fun, and will be doing your part to save the world.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Chiron is now transiting your 10th house of reputation and responsibility. Soon, Uranus will enter your 11th house of your social world. These two transits are now part of the landscape of your life, and represent a whole new realm of possibilities for you. It will be helpful to distinguish two kinds of leadership: formal and informal. Formal leadership relates to your documented responsibilities; it’s about direct accountability, including those to whom you are accountable and those accountable to you. That’s the Chiron piece of the equation, where your most fitting role is to lead as a teacher. Your knowledge and experience are the roots of your authority (which is a word I relate to authorship). If you come from that angle, you will get better results with people. Uranus in Taurus is more about informal leadership: for instance, setting the example of being different, in ways that are not usually socially acceptable (face it, not much is). This transit is about your personal freedom, and it’s an invitation to push the edge, and to experiment. That includes hanging out with people you never thought you would, and challenging yourself to have a good time. This will suit you, because as this transit develops, nothing will be more boring than normal. And there’s a lot of normal going around right now, so much you can smell it walking down the street. In all respects, your astrology and your life journey are here to remind you that the only thing you can really be is yourself.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You can afford to be more ambitious. You would be; however, your daily responsibilities and sense of commitment to others keep getting in the way. Yet there are big changes going on in the world and in the depths of your psyche, and it’s time to break free. You will always be someone who maintains a high level of responsibility, though it will help you if you set minimums so you know that you’re at least meeting your bottom line. You can then define success by the new creative and professional territory that you take. You don’t need a revolution; you only need an idea. Remember that ideas are fragile in this world, especially for someone like you who has so much for which people are depending on you. Yet with each passing day, you can gradually modify your work patterns, and you can incrementally renegotiate the expectations others have of you, and what you have promised them. Better still, engage those same people to support your projects. This will be instructive. Not only will you discover who around you has talents, you’ll find out how they feel about expressing them; and better yet, you will get a sense of who in your life has a concept of mutuality. Who cares about you enough to get behind what you want to do? Who will watch the kids or watch the store or take care of your critters and plants while you do something new and interesting? Ask politely, and see who responds. The results of this experiment will be interesting.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You need to raise your standard for what constitutes “fun.” You are cautious by nature, so it won’t take much; though actual fun always requires pushing some limit or taking a risk. There has to be an element of passion involved, and that has to come from you and not from the thing you’re doing. Often your point of discovery involves other people. They are endlessly fascinating, challenging and time-consuming. They can provide a forum for your self-discovery, they can be teachers, they can be inspirations, and they can be major distractions. It will be helpful if you enter some territory where others cannot go with you. You need some point of inner orientation that’s not subject to the opinions of others. You might be surprised to discover the extent to which your every thought feels subject to evaluation and even to judgment. If you struggle with guilt in any form, this is likely to be an element of it. The underlying question may be something like: within your life, what is really yours? What physical things, desires, feelings and spaces actually belong to you? And when you claim these things that are rightfully yours, how do you feel? If you feel any misgivings, one result could be that you condition yourself to be cautious, so you don’t step on anyone’s toes, get in the way or offend anyone. This is the thing that needs to change. You must be free to express yourself, take your chances and make your choices, without worrying about anyone’s fragile state of mind. This will take practice, though now is a good time to start.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Pay attention to who you meet in these first few weeks of Chiron in Aries. Beginnings are important times, and you are in one now. Last year’s brief visit of Chiron to your opposite sign (associated with relationships) was a warm-up phase, a test run to acclimatize you to your new environment. Now it’s arrived to stay, and you can count it as a new feature in your landscape. The first thing to do is tune in to the people in your life and what they mean to you. This will of necessity require you to set aside your prejudices and go to a deeper level of human experience — with everyone. It’s true that in our era of history, people have never been more expendable. They seem to be easily blocked or deleted; you never know who anyone really is anyway. Part of your yoga in this realm might include never using a fake name on the internet. Consider that if you have to do something under cover of anonymity, it’s either the wrong thing to be doing, or you’re misrepresenting yourself. The notion of “privacy” (the usual reason for using fake names) is an excuse, and a toxic one. Every time you fragment yourself, you lose a little energy, and you have to maintain the split-off portion of your being. As part of this, you will expect others to be less real. The theme of Chiron in Aries is being real with everyone, and holding them to the standard of being real with you. Here in the Neighborhood of Make Believe, that’s a radical notion.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — You have a lot going for you; all you need to do is relax a little. The main thing you will benefit from easing are expectations, both those you place on yourself, and those you place on others. The fewer expectations you have, the less disappointed in people you will be. This is not lowering your standards; rather, it’s about letting people be who they are. Once you know that, it’s easier to figure out what they want, and relate to them from there. However, for this to work you need to be curious about them, and in some way interested in pleasing them. You can afford to make room for who they are, even if they seem to change every day, throw you curves, or in some other way surprise you. This is good yoga for increasing your flexibility in general, and for your ability to be responsive to your environment. Overall, the less tightly wound you are, the better your life will flow. If it seems like certain people are pushing you intentionally, consider the possibility that that’s merely a perception, based on your density level. This is a concept that will be helpful to work with. The denser your vibration, the more erratic others will seem. The lighter and more expanded your vibration is, the more predictable others will seem, and you will be able to anticipate their moves. It’s a little like when you’re driving and you relax and pay attention; you can feel what’s happening just before it happens.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — The recent Full Moon in Virgo is summoning you to focus your path in life, make some decisions, and pull one particular creative angle into focus. I know this may feel more risky now than ever; our lives and the world seem so delicately balanced, and there is so little extra to go around (whether it’s time, money or patience). Yet you’ve entered new territory, territory where you must express yourself from the core of your being, and this is indispensable. Doing this does not happen overnight, though you’ve been building up to this moment for a long time. Your challenge has probably seemed to be about focusing your energy and commitment. Yet you know that on a deeper level, the real challenge has been about taking the plunge of accessing places you’ve never gone deep into, where there is no turning back. If for many long years this particular aspect of your calling has seemed scattered, and somehow impossible to focus, get ready for a new tack. One approach to this new era is to choose one thing, one seemingly small goal, and do it. The ideal aim would seem within reach, contained, specific and would likely be something you’ve experimented with for a while. As an objective, it would relate to a particular thing you produce or to development that you attain. This is not the end in itself; rather, it would be designed as a practice run, so you get the hang of doing it. And with that under your belt, you would move on to another.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You will never make up for your doubts with false certainty. The two are incompatible. It’s far better to stay in a space where you don’t know, rather than to enter territory where you don’t know that you don’t know. This is, however, the difference between awareness and lack thereof; between being intelligent and being a fool. Do everything you can to stay in contact with your uncertainty, your insecurity, and your overt state of not knowing. Then, stand in a conscious relationship to the mystery. For you right now, this includes important elements of the future, including who you are becoming. You are being driven by the feeling that there really is no telling, and you would be wise to make friends with this. The more you can hold open that space, the more you will give your potential room to grow and become. Beware of clarity, which is often the false certainty of a fixed point of view. One way to avert this trap is to be circumspect. Look at a problem, at a situation, and at yourself from many angles, and collect your observations. This is different from skepticism, which is the belief that the truth can never be known. Being circumspect is, rather, a gentle quest for truth. Along these same lines, it’s vital that you not allow others to confine you, or to define your reality for you. You will have an alert that this may be happening when you feel restless and boxed in based on someone’s ideas about you.

Get your full Capricorn INTELLIGENCE reading by Eric here.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You have a strong altruistic streak, though at the moment, you must guard this facet of your nature. Kindness is almost always a virtue, though it takes many forms. It’s different from being naïve. It’s different from making an assessment of the world based on an assessment of yourself. A diversity of factors, including the pending Mercury retrograde, are recommending that you focus on getting the facts, and then studying the patterns. This is particularly true where matters of finance are concerned, as well as your personal value as an asset to yourself or in any situation. There are many facets to what I’ll call the “personal asset value” equation. For you, the final result must be solid, rather than a matter of speculation or feeling valuable or worthwhile. At this stage of your life, you need to work with tangible elements: skill sets, specific knowledge, reliability, problem-solving ability, and your positive financial impact. All of this extends further than your immediate personal sphere and reaches into the world around you; that is the essential nature of Aquarius. You are here to be of service, which is measured not in intentions but in results that you can see and evaluate. If you can do this for the next month or so, you will make significant strides in both your value to the world, and to your own income potential — two elements that by all rights are directly linked. But the link is not a given; do not take it for granted. This will take study and practice.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — The Sun has finally entered your zone of the zodiac, which comes as a relief for you more than any other sign. Your cosmic waters need to be refreshed and warmed, and now is the time. In the long-term sense, the notable recent development is that Chiron has moved on from Pisces to Aries, ending an eight-year phase of your life. Consistent with the presence of Chiron, you have most likely faced a series of healing-crisis type events in recent years, including a few odd health-related matters. All of these developments have served to push your self-awareness to a higher level. You were able to resolve problems you didn’t think you could ever unravel, and others that you did not know about, and at the same time, put protections in place to make sure similar things don’t happen again. Given what an important transit Chiron through your sign has been (particularly if you were born in the 1960s), I would encourage you to take the forthcoming Mercury retrograde, which takes place entirely in Pisces, and do a review of your life since 2010. Start by finding some markers of where you were then: who you were with, what you were doing, how you felt, where you lived, and what was the most meaningful to you. Then, suss out the major turning points, and see if that gives you a better sense of how you got where you are today. The future is ahead of you, though briefly and sincerely, the past is calling you to notice the ways in which you’ve grown.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — This year you will meet Chiron. You might have at some point in the last four seasons, though most likely you were addressing some urgent material from the past that took up most of your energy. Yet in the sense of experiencing a particular kind of activation, and an unusual challenge that compelled you to grow, or threw you into some kind of crisis, what you experienced was pure Chiron. What you are learning is how to distinguish yourself from others. This is mostly an internal process. You begin by awakening to the degree that you allow your ideas about yourself and your existence to be determined and even dictated by others. The early stages of this — which you may well have experienced — may include the consequences of being different, such as you might stumble into accidentally, by stating your opinion. The place you will want to study is the point of resistance, where your will meets that of “some other force.” The “other force” you’re encountering is a combination of your past conditioning and the current movements in society that might reinforce it. So you might look at this as a clear case of you against the world, or vice versa. That is how Chiron can seem, at times, because it’s so closely associated with standing out and standing apart. There’s another way to experience this dynamic, which is internal: expressing your self as contrasted with your not-self. The quest — and the urgency — to be real exists entirely within you. It has nothing to do with all those other people. Get your full Aries reading by Eric here.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Taurus is considered the sign of stability, of etiquette, and of determination. You reach for impeccability, whether with the passion of an artistic master, or the steadfastness of an oak tree that drives its intention to exist deep into the ground, and into the sky. Yet few see what you go through to maintain this state of being. To say the least, it’s not easy. I would remind you of what Alice A. Bailey said of your sign in the well-known but little-read work Esoteric Astrology. She describes Taurus as the blacksmith shop of the soul. It’s dark and smoky, hot and loud. Down at the core is not the elegant Aphrodite but the limping Hephaestus, whose mother threw him off of Mount Olympus due to his apparent imperfection. Then, as the metalsmith of the gods, he made all the weapons of the Olympians. He served a profound purpose, though it was in no way glamorous, or related to appearances. It was born of practicality and of honor; his singular role emerged from the agony of abandonment and misunderstanding. With Uranus entering your birth sign for the next seven years, you are now in a new phase of fashioning yourself, and the tools of your consciousness. Keep in mind that this is not a delicate or pretty process. There’s no pageantry and no accolades, and few who will even notice the progress you’re making — so that must come from you. Remember: you are not only constructing tools. You are developing the skills to do so. You will need to be patient, and accommodate the potential for change every single day. Get your full Taurus reading by Eric here.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — At this stage of your life, the focus of your growth is on your agreements. This includes the agreements you’ve already made, the ones you are about to make, and the legacy of those that existed in the distant past. You are also subject to the agreements that others make on your behalf, such as through various arrangements in marriage, business partnership and trusts. I suggest you develop your skill in contracts. Start by reading the ones you’re presented with, no matter how boring they may be. You might also read something in the genre of Contract Law for Dummies. Find someone in your life who has a knack for the topic, and work with a collaborator or two — someone who has no interest whatsoever in the outcome of the arrangement. That part is essential. Contract law is a cold art. There is one principle I suggest you hold above all others, which is knowing what is asked of you, and entering no agreement that you are not 100% confident you can fulfill. This applies to business arrangements, intimate situations and family business, with a special emphasis on the agreed time of delivery. And one other: every agreement you sign must have a reasonable exit clause. There will be times when, despite all of your precautions, you find yourself in over your head. And in those situations, you will need to be something of a ninja, keep your cool and make decisions. One thing to keep in mind is that this is all a group enterprise. You’re not in anything alone, though it’s also essential that you allow nobody to make your decisions for you. Hold people to the fire, especially where the facts and figures are concerned. Get your full Gemini reading by Eric here.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — In order for your life not to seem like an ongoing confrontation, you will need to study your environment. Translated, that means learning how to see what everyone else misses, and how to see what’s invisible. This will give you many, many advantages over those who simply don’t pay attention. You’re willing to defend yourself and your brood when you have to, though this is not your preferred way of life. Therefore, you must know people and know yourself. Study the landscape, and get a sense of what strategy others are applying in their dealings with you. You must surround yourself with people you actually trust, which means understanding what trust is, in the strange verging-on-insane world in which we are living right now. Notice who demonstrates their fidelity to you, and stick with them — and return the favor. Your real project this year is not defensive; it’s about setting your mind on tangible, useful and necessary achievement. Chiron is about to enter Aries, and will be there for another eight years. That’s your 10th house, which is about leadership, responsibility, and the authority you wield in the world. After many years of studying this house, the concept that threads the needle is responsibility. More than anything, this means taking charge of your own affairs. That will become a habit and then a pattern, all the while serving as an example for those around you. In many ways, you were born to lead; you are a natural pioneer, and you have the ideas to back it up. Therefore, I’ll say it again: know people, and know yourself. Get your full Cancer reading by Eric here.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You’ve been through many unusual changes in the past two years, mostly centered around eclipses of the Moon and particularly those of the Sun in your birth sign. The question now is of restoring some stability to your existence. The place to focus your efforts and your energy is the work and wellbeing angle of your chart, which means some form of enhanced work/life balance, or work/life integration. There are two approaches, though I would suggest that what you’re doing is all about integration rather than balance. For you, life and work are not distinct entities. Work is so integral to your existence that it’s essential for any notion of living well. This will mean, in the coming seasons, working at what you find to be the most meaningful, and making the most of each day as it passes. There’s a word tossed about lately, I believe improperly: that is sustainability. This is not an especially helpful concept, since nearly nothing qualifies at the moment. You would do better with the notion of resilience. This is a working principle that can be applied from moment to moment, rather than something that exists only in theory. It’s the ability to recover from the expenditure of energy; this implies having some reserves — of energy, of cash, of time, and of other resources. Leave yourself headroom, rather than pushing your efforts to 10 or 11. Prioritize, and master the art of collaboration, so that you can shift the nature of your responsibilities and your efforts to accommodate your energy level and other demands. Consider time your ally, and be bold about making the changes you need to make. Get your full Leo reading by Eric here.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — There’s something within you that you urgently need to set free. This will inevitably call for you to let go of your concepts of what it means to be a proper adult, a well-behaved person or a responsible child. Those self-images and roles have come under some tension this year, as something else about you has been struggling to be born. You would serve yourself well to be a little less risk-averse. That means taking possession of your experiments; you will take your chances, or they will take you. The first thing to do is let your imagination run a little wild, and explore some of the possibilities. Then start bringing your body into the scene, and physically explore some of them: go somewhere unusual, do something you’ve never done, or have an encounter with a person you’re curious about, and take your time doing it. Every cell in your body is reaching for the child within you, who lives for how strange and interesting life is. As you do this, you will begin to shift your relationship to what you consider your responsibilities. You will recognize that you can let some of them go; others may seem to be taken from you — and it would be helpful if you gave them back from whence they issue, or delegate them to someone who likes them more than you do. One thing that the pressures of adult life do for you is to shield you from new experiences. This includes within your work, where you would benefit from boldly exploring aspects of your profession that you’ve never experienced before. Get your full Virgo reading by Eric here.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Over the next year, your primary job is to bring to a close every matter of your life that is ready to end. This end phase of what must conclude goes back a year, though certain matters have been on your agenda for up to a decade, and now is the time to write the final act. Part of what’s distracted you is your need for security; however, you may be in that situation where you’re struggling to make decisions, and that gets worse as the pressure builds. For this reason, I suggest you begin taking steps sooner rather than later. You may have a mistaken idea of what it means to make a decision, or what readiness is, and are likely to figure out that you were ready and decided long ago. You will not know that, however, until you actually move, which for you is the last stage of making a decision: to actually enter the territory, and then you recognize you complete your decision-making process by taking action. Said another way, taking action is how you finalize your decisions, and no amount of contemplation can get you there: only movement itself. Therefore, make a punch list of that which you know must end. That could mean personal arrangements, business arrangements, living arrangements, the storage unit: the things that influence your life every day and that you’ve said anywhere from 10 to 1000 times are done. Let them be done. Meditate on the phrase, “the end of the matter.” Write it on the wall, or tape it to your computer, and make it a way of life. Once you get started, you will want to keep going, and going, and going. Get your full Libra reading by Eric here.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — You may think it will be impossible to get your head together; to have some peace of mind; to have one voice that you communicate in. Yet a little focus will go a long way, as will some flexibility. Your mind is a living creature, not a machine. You will develop what you cultivate, and if you want clarity, then you need a way to grow it. I propose writing as a daily discipline; and further, that your approach not be precious but rather practical. This is not about the beauty of your words or the precision of your expression, but rather about clearing clutter, and making room for your real ideas. Henry Miller said that to find one’s writing voice, it’s necessary to write a million words. For you, finding your voice means thinking clear thoughts, and knowing where you stand with yourself. Life is rather different when you can do these things; when you’re not squirming around trying to decide what you really think and feel. This is also a process of learning how to be more honest with yourself, at which you have a C+ average most of the time. Such honesty is about breaking through the clichés of your own thoughts, and getting to the real material that’s beneath them. But you don’t know you’re down there till you actually arrive, and it can seem like a long, craggy slog for a while, until it’s not. From the look of your chart, it’s possible that being able to write is really, truly something you want to learn, like wanting to breathe. I would encourage you, and I would also remind you that for a while, moving words can feel like hauling rocks; and then you find that they are as portable as yoga blocks, and as soft and as colorful. Do the work. Do not stop. You will thank yourself. Get your full Scorpio reading by Eric here.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Make careful use of your technology. Ensure you are the one using it as a creative tool, and that it is not using you. This is challenging, because we tend to become like the tools we use; our minds shape and form around them. It can be painful to take up your tools, because they are sensory devices, sending you feedback that can be overwhelming. So, too, can thought itself. We are now well into the age of delegating the making of decisions to technological processes (falsely called “artificial intelligence”). What our society does not see right now is that our technology exists on the level of a religion. That is the part of the brain and of consciousness they occupy. We accept that they are miracles and that the gospel is true. You must keep your conscience about you in the coming years. Above all, this means making your own choices, and knowing the moment you deflect the responsibility to do so. Normally I might say that you can trust your own goodness, but this time I’m going to suggest that you raise it to question. Subject your intentions to scrutiny. Make sure you differentiate the emotional level of your consciousness from your mental process. You are more easily subject to propaganda on the emotional level, where it’s easier to be persuaded and to persuade yourself. Therefore, the planets in their courses are calling upon you to be a master of doubt. And if that is true, your most effective tool will be your curiosity, because it will lead you to the place of true intelligence: the desire to know and understand. Get your full Sagittarius reading by Eric here.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You may have the urge to run from your responsibilities. You might ask yourself how you would feel if you did; just say screw it all, I don’t need this crap. Who are you living for, anyway? And what are you living for? The chances are that you’re trying to maintain several agendas or sets of priorities at once, and you need to figure out which one is really yours and yours alone. Yet this will take courage of a special kind, because you’re so accustomed to doing everyone’s bidding, even to your own detriment. You’ve learned a lot in recent months about your true priorities, though you may have had a difficult experience of seeing what happens when you go against the grain of what you think is expected of you. That’s what this is all about, Grasshopper: expectations. That word deserves to have a disgusting feel in your mouth; I will skip the metaphor but invent your own — something you really, really don’t want in your mouth — and connect it to that word, and that concept. You will do better to sweep the deck clear of all of your preconceived ideas about life, and then add them back one at a time, and ask yourself, one by one, if this really matters to you; or if it has that gross feeling of being tethered to someone, something, or some other time — purely as a consequence of your own thought process. Nobody else can free you of these things, but they can try to heap a little more on you. At a certain point you will need to decide what’s more important: your freedom or thinking you’re perceived as perfect. It’s time to give yourself a break. Get your full Capricorn reading by Eric here.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You can trust that whatever just happened will never happen again. You’ve released an enormous amount of pressure that was clouding your whole environment, and bending your reality — and now you can get down to what you really need to do. That involves ongoing inner work, though few people have a sense of what that means. Here’s a clue: it’s not about rehashing the past, and it’s not about denying the past. And it’s too complex to sum up in a tweet or two. Yet history is very much a factor, by which I mean the history of your family going back many generations. It’s no easy task claiming back your life from what seemed to have an invisible grip on you. Yet you’ve had a good 10 years in the process, and now the pace of changes is accelerating. I suggest you make peace with one basic fact, which is that much of what you’re dealing with is not really about you. You’re still responsible for it on some level, because it’s been passed down to you as some kind of inheritance, like an old house you’re not sure you want but suddenly you’re paying taxes on it and you have to fix the roof and all of that. There’s a plus side to all of this, which is you have material to work with, if only you will take a creative approach to the questions you face. Yet now, that facing will be inward, not into your thoughts or into your feelings, but directly at the cosmos from which you emerged, as strange and as turbulent as it may be. Borrowing a line from the eternal professor, Bob Dylan: “I have a brother or two and a whole lot of karma to burn… Isis and the Moon shine on me.” Get your full Aquarius reading by Eric here.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — You’ve been through the great initiation known as Chiron in Pisces. Well, technically, it ends the day the Sun enters your sign on Feb. 18. The time remaining presents you with a brief opportunity to look back and consider how far you’ve come since April 20, 2010. While you’re doing that, make a list of everything you need to complete, which will probably mean closure with certain individuals, specific creative projects, and matters of healing that date back to around the beginning of the transit. The growth process you were taken through involved the clarification of your emotional body. Depending on what day it was, this might have had the feeling of dropping a hook down the drain and dragging out all the weird gunk that was down there. Other days, you might have felt like you were pumping water out of a well, waiting for it to finally come through clear and cold. And at other times you were standing in front of an ocean, knowing that in truth it’s not the only thing in the world you actually respect — it just feels that way. With Chiron moving on to Aries, you’re on your own, in your relationship to your intuition and your creativity. You will need to be discerning, focus your mind, and know the difference between your prejudice and what you truly perceive. You will need to split the difference between instinct and fear. You will need to know when you can trust yourself and when you must pause and get additional data. These are tools that will help you on the way to aspiring to greater experiences and accomplishments than what you’ve known, though all depend — and depend entirely — on exercising your capacity to be honest with yourself. Get your full Pisces reading by Eric here.

My Chart for December Monthly Horoscope

Chart for the December 2018 monthly horoscope is the Cancer Full Moon on the winter solstice. Extra points include asteroids, centaurs, Kuiper belt objects and several hypothetical points.

For a Full Moon chart, the place to start the search for relevant extra points is what makes an aspect to the Moon or the Sun. Notably, they are in the first degrees of Cancer and Capricorn; the Full Moon happens just as the Sun is at its southern solstice, with its rays shining directly onto the Tropic of Capricorn.

A lunation on a solstice is a significant event, packing abundant energy. The Moon-Sun cycle reaches a peak just as the celestial machine is reversing directions. Many people will be brought into whatever events occur; this relates to how both of the luminaries are making an aspect to the Aries Point (the first degree of Aries).

The energy of this Full Moon is also illustrated by the Sun’s conjunction to the centaur Pholus (the second-ever planet in this class, discovered in 1992). Pholus is the energy of the uncontrolled release or the runaway reaction. Think of it as letting a genie out of a bottle. The other side to Pholus is the small cause with a big effect. [Here is my best Pholus article.]

Remember that Capricorn is the sign most associated with government and the stability of society. It’s under quite a bit of pressure to change right now. Whatever world events or political events this chart represents, they seem to happen right in the run-up to Christmas weekend.

For those interested in my personal-level interpretation, the monthly horoscope is below.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Certain professional aspirations seem destined to take off, and take you interesting places. Yet you must not be led by ambition, blind or otherwise. Rather, guiding forces such as ethics and wisdom will serve you much better. That’s a lot to ask these days, when it appears we live on crumbling structures, of intellect, of identity, and of tradition. There now no longer seems like a right way to do things; a right way to live. This is part of a larger problem where it looks like nothing actually matters. However, in times of radical change and instability, such as we live in now, you must have a code that you live by. At the moment, the focus of astrology is on the responsibility and reputation angle of your chart, which is Capricorn (your solar 10th house). There are two seemingly competing drives at work. One says push all limits and don’t worry about the rules. The other says keep your focus, respect boundaries, and use a traditional approach. Included here is honoring the flow of time, and not being in too big of a rush to make something happen. You will do better following this approach. The rapid-action placement (Pholus in Capricorn) will be a factor no matter what. It’s a kind of accelerant, in the sense of both time and fire. Under those conditions, it’s essential that you be able to apply the brakes and maintain some control over your own development. Other factors are guiding you to tap into the wisdom of your spiritual path, and remember that there is a difference between right and wrong, and that difference matters. Get your full Aries reading by Eric here.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — If you want to make changes, the place to start is with your mind. One would think that thought is the most flexible element of all, though humans struggle with this. Yet at the moment, curiosity is driving you to see the world in new ways, to question your preconceptions, and to take chances with ideas. This is not something that you’ll be doing in an intellectual spiritual vacuum, like a yogi sitting in a cave. Rather, others will play a role in seeding your thoughts, through their example and through open-ended conversations. Have as many of those as possible, where the purpose is not to drive to a conclusion or a point, but rather to go in through the narrow end of a funnel and come out the wide end. Consider possibilities that might not be true, or that might be absurd. Consider ideas just because they seem interesting or beautiful. You’re someone who respects what scholars call canonical thinking — established wisdom. This is one of your strongest suits, and something people depend on you for. Now you get to experience something else, which is pushing the limits on what is already known and accepted. As for the “already known and accepted” angle, that’s sometimes called consensus reality. It has a way of blocking perception of deeper, wider or otherwise more relevant levels of thinking. What you want is to perceive existence as it is now, not as it was believed to be in the past. Bring some courage to the adventure. Get your full Taurus reading by Eric here.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — When people meet and connect, there’s that transcendent moment — and then the details need to be worked out. Those might be the arrangements of a partnership, or of a business development, or of a family. Often, when the relationship is vibrant and daring, the sticking point is addressing the inhibition that seems to haunt humanity, and which often gets in the way of your dreams. What is this about, really? Well, we have a lot of resistance programmed into us. It might come across as guilt, as fear, as “commitment” blocking one’s ability to act on desire. It might feel like moralism or virtue or the desire to conform to someone or something seemingly outside yourself. These tendencies are transmitted many different ways: environmentally (often in childhood, and many other times), through our genetic code, and through this elusive thing called karma. Yet it all comes home to roost in the here and now, where we experience our feelings, make decisions, and seek to explore creativity and desire. One thing is sure: we hear a lot of “I wish I had not held back.” Many people wish that in the past they had not resisted so much. At the moment, there are seemingly competing internal factors influencing you. One is striving to push you past your boundaries. The other appears to be applying the brakes, and compelling you to slow down, lest you go out of control. Here’s a question. Do you get any pleasure from holding back? Is this in some way an expression of your desire? If so, how is that serving you? And what would happen if you surrender to your desire, and it works out beautifully? Get your full Gemini reading by Eric here.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Many of the questions of your life involve who is willing to take responsibility for what. These, of course, begin with you. And your perspective is subjective, from your point of view. You see the world as you see it, and you’re mature enough to know that other people see the world differently. However, to get anything done, different people have to agree on what needs to happen and what to do about it — and this is currently leading to a global crisis. This is starting to feel a little like what’s called a Texas League hit — a fly ball that lands between two outfielders, who both either thought the other one had it, or were afraid to collide. Yet there is much more going on. These days, taking a little responsibility implies taking total responsibility. We are told, over and over, that failure to do our part (recycle, conserve fuel, vote) will result in global disaster. For many people, potentially you, this weighs heavily on their conscience. Yet we also know that our individual actions don’t really matter, because the world and its problems are so big. People are more likely to think they will win the Powerball than they are to develop a technological or spiritual breakthrough that solves some seemingly insurmountable world problem. In fact, it would seem that most people need heaps of encouragement to think they might solve a personal problem. I am here to tell you that you are part of the solution, and that it doesn’t involve your recycling bin. It involves making a discovery about how you relate to others, and how people relate to one another. Get your full Cancer reading by Eric here.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Here are two questions that are really the same: What is sex, and what is art? We could ask another way: what does it mean to be human? What art and sex have in common is that they change the world in ways nothing else can. They change us, each of us, in ways that nothing else can. By change, I mean create, recreate, and draw into new territory (in both senses of the word draw). For everything that exists in the human realm, there is a drawing; and for everything that was created, the draw of sex was in the picture at some point, since that is where we all come from. The source of your consciousness and the source of your ideas are the same mystery, which point us inward toward the same source. And this source is burning brightly now, urging you to consider new possibilities, to express yourself from the inside out, to follow your curiosity, and to experiment. This is, however, so terrifying to so many people that it’s often avoided. I don’t mean to overstate the case; when you tap into your inner source, you let go of what you “know for certain” and something unfamiliar enters your awareness. Something within you is born and takes on a life of its own. At the moment, one of the undefined crises of the human race is the misuse of creative power. Too often, it’s used destructively and maliciously. Here is where your freedom of choice enters; here is where your personal ethics must guide your ability to make the world. Get your full Leo reading by Eric here.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You may fear that once you start to let go of your inhibitions and dive into your feelings, you won’t be able to stop. You might have this sensation that you’ll unleash the furies or start a fire you can’t control. Yet to really be alive is a kind of runaway reaction, and that may be just what you need to get beyond the various bindings and attachments that seem to hold you back. This is the same stuff that prevented you from having the kind of fun you wanted as a child. It’s related to the feeling of having grown up too soon. This is the same place your true inner artist and lover may feel trapped; and where you feel your curiosity is inhibited. You’ve made more progress setting yourself free than you may imagine. One thing to bear in mind is that whatever it is you’re liberating yourself from is old, by which I mean many generations old. If you don’t think of it as your personal material, but rather as something you inherited, it will be easier to handle. Think of it as a house you inherited, with all its stuff in the attic and ghosts running around and liquor bottles in the closet, with a few drops left in each. You can do anything you want with the place, though it helps if you remember that you didn’t build it, and you didn’t put all that stuff there. You also don’t have to live there. Then there’s the other side to this: there will be things of value that you want, though you will need to do some rummaging to find them. That will be worth your while. Get your full Virgo reading by Eric here.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — In the matter of whether you feel safe on the planet, you are tapping into family material that goes back to the dawn of time. If you feel it’s up to you to bring an end to many issues that have been a problem going down the generations, you’re on the right track. Yet your mental posture is essential to your success. You must decide for yourself that healing and resolution are actually possible. If you have some idea that the problem is unsolvable, or that you are impacted in a way you cannot reverse, you’re unlikely to succeed. That’s the place to begin to work out whatever you may be facing, particularly issues that have some origin in your family and which impact you directly. How you define the problem will be key to the solution. To solve any problem, it must be expressed in such a way that it’s subject to your intervention, so spend some time doing this. Notice where your language is self-defeating; study the words you use to describe yourself. Pay attention to the role guilt and shame may be playing. This could be the very binding that is holding everything together. Study where alcohol has played a role, and how it may be influencing you, whether directly, or indirectly through others. Above all else, monitor and work with your state of mind. An open mind is a channel for intelligence. Use time wisely; don’t expect to resolve everything immediately. Some things will take years; some will take days; some will take a moment, because the thing that matters most is a decision. Get your full Libra reading by Eric here.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — You’re finally starting to get a grip on your finances, though this has other implications. Your money is an expression of your power, and what you do with it is a statement to yourself about your priorities. This is not as complicated as you often make it out to be, though one essential factor is that you be in a position where you’re not drowned by the opinions of others. Your values must guide you. You will recognize what’s really your idea because it’s intelligent, it’s relatively simple, and it feels good. If you experience anguish, the chances are that you’re trying to live through someone else’s priorities. Let that be the sign to back off and re-evaluate what you’re doing and what decisions you’re making. You’ve spent much of this year in a process of untangling or at least in some way distinguishing yourself from the values of your family and possibly other communities or groups as well. You know what you value, and you also have a sense of where others are coming from. These things matter. Your ability to stand apart from others is one of the most crucial strengths required for being an honest person. Integrity means that you are true to yourself, based on careful evaluation. There are no shortcuts here. And it will never suit you to have to deceive others about the most intimate aspects of your life, your healing process, or your deepest needs. If you must, leave people out of the conversation. But when you speak, speak truly. Get your full Scorpio reading by Eric here.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You have more in common with close partners and loved ones than you may think. Yet where it seems like you don’t, there may be specters from the distant past haunting you. There may, for example, be some tendency in your family line for people to deceive themselves for what seems like the sake of convenience. One place this deception might take hold is in the aspect of desire. What do you want? Who do you want? Can you make clear, simple and assertive statements to yourself about that? Not conditional statements; not complex ideas, complete with rationales and counter-arguments, but rather, expressing yourself in short, cogent statements. Sure, you may have misgivings. You may be protective of your space, and your independence, in ways that are so distinctive of your sign. Those are other matters. Here’s what I’m getting at: your life is both powered and directed by what you want. To the extent that you have any influence at all over the direction of events, desire is your most important guide. Over the next few weeks, as Mars forms a conjunction to Chiron in Pisces, you will have many opportunities to get clear with yourself, including confronting your doubts. The way to do that will be, again, through being honest about them. This will help you sort out any mixed signals you are sending (or sending yourself), and help you figure out that what you perceive as a weakness or a liability is in fact a strength and an asset. Get your full Sagittarius reading by Eric here.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Your solar return chart for this year embodies the tension between cut loose and hold back. You might experience this as approach-avoid, which is a sign you may want to step back from the action and determine just what is bothering you. It might go like this: you want something, so you move toward it, but when you get a sense of what it is, you hesitate and back off. Then you want it again, and the cycle continues. I’m curious about a few things, though. Choose one such matter, if this applies to you. How do you feel when you’ve had a couple of glasses of wine (assuming that you drink any at all)? What do you think your mother would think, and how does that influence you? What are you concerned other people might find out, whether we’re talking a close partner, your friends, or your social network? Use these factors as thought exercises and you’ll get a feeling for the push and pull of your emotions. There’s one other factor: the control thing. You may equate the idea of really being yourself with some loss of control; if so, the remedy would be self-control, though that prevents you from being who you are. However, when you’re true to your wants and needs, you’re unlikely to run wild in the streets. You will feel the pleasure of taking a breath without having to count. Anyway, you cannot really control your life; the best you can do is influence your own choices. Get your full Capricorn reading by Eric here.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Borrowing from Martin Luther King, appearances do not matter; the content of your character does. You’ve had a wild ride this year where your identity is concerned, and the emphasis is now more firmly on your inner being. This is an extension of a process that goes back a decade, and which you may have named and recognize. It involves coming to terms with your deepest fears, which is another way of saying that you understand you’re larger than they are. This is true even if you recognize how much of what you may need to confront was transmitted through your DNA and is in fact ancestral property. The central metaphor from your solar chart is that all that stuff is contained inside of something, and you may feel like you need to open the lid and see what is there. Here is the crucial factor: if you do this, do it yourself, for yourself, not at the bidding of someone else. Enter the attic of your family history not out of idle curiosity but rather with the intention of learning something, solving a specific problem, or recovering something you suspect was lost. Remember that you’re dealing with collective property, not individual. The rules differ greatly. What you can claim as your own is knowledge. You are entitled to information; though, to make it your own, you will need to validate it and place it into the context of your own experience and your own needs. In this and related matters, proceed consciously; proceed carefully; be conservative; be sober. Get your full Aquarius reading by Eric here.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — One result of cosmic movements the past four seasons has been a tremendous release of pent-up energy. This does not always work to one’s advantage — earthquakes, tsunamis, fires and melting ice caps are also energy being set loose. Usually, unless energy is harnessed, it turns destructive. How did you do in this regard? Were you able to direct the flow of events in a constructive way? There was one other effect: now you know something that you didn’t know before. And while there is no turning back the clock to some previous time or situation, you possess both awareness and opportunities you didn’t have before. You have a clear space to work with, and some extra bandwidth, because so much pressure has been released. You also have a new sense of both inner and outer reality. This is valuable information, and you would be well served to put it into some form you can remember. Work with the new social order of your life, rather than trying to reconstruct the old one. This corresponds to changes within your awareness that no longer align with the past. However, you will need to create a new world that is based on your newly revised inner reality. There are people you don’t know who you will soon meet. There are places you’ve never been, where it’s time to visit. There are things you’ve never imagined that you will soon be doing. Remember, though: how you are seen is not who you are. Reality transcends image. Get your full Pisces reading by Eric here.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — It may seem to you like everything is up for negotiation, but nobody knows what they want, and certain individuals keep changing their mind. The scenario looks a little like this: first, someone seems to want what you want, then they want something else. Then they have to think about that more carefully, owing to something their mother said. You may be left feeling like someone you care about makes no sense at all, which does not make it easy to relate. Fairly recently, though, you were in a similar dynamic, where you had little clue what you wanted, or needed, except that it was clear you needed your space to think independently and not be beholden to commitments, at least for as long as you needed to sort yourself out. Others may be less bold than you are about this need, which all people have. Someone more timid might try to persist with a policy of people-pleasing, while at the same time trying to do what is right for them — and never shall the two be reconciled. I suggest you make room in your life for people to make their own decisions, just as you need to do. Open up space for this, and do your best not to take things personally. Easier said than done, and worth working toward. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Some of the pressure you were feeling much of the year has let up, as Uranus has backed out of your sign and into Aries. This will give you an opportunity to reassess something that few people ever get around to: who you are. The forthcoming seven-year journey of Uranus through your sign, which you’ve had a taste of, will confront you with this question many times. It will help if you have some sense of your true direction, so that you can use this transit to bring out your deeper being rather than feel like you’re being changed, molded or shaped. Who you are is no surprise to you; difficulty arises when you go into denial of that fact, and try to simulate being someone else. Your true identity emerges from within you, not from an external frame of reference. And with Uranus in Aries between now and March 6, you have extra access to your inner world. You may notice that it’s a little chaotic in there, as if you don’t have solid ground to stand on. Yet you’ve gone through other changes before, even on this scale, and the truth is that there’s something entirely consistent about who you are — far more so than most people you know. You may be concerned this is the very thing that might change. Considering just that possibility will be informative. For example, change into what? Get your full reading by Eric here.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Don’t take anything at face value this month. Anything includes anyone. This is not a matter of being suspicious, but rather one of letting the truth of statements be borne out before you commit yourself to action based on them. This will take time, patience and discernment. You’re perceptive, but often impatient, and are too quick to act in a lurch, because something sounds good, or feels good. Yet with Mercury stationing retrograde in a square aspect to Neptune on the 16th, you cannot take anything for granted. Your astrology is compounded by the delusional nature of our times: unverified information moving at the speed of light; Twitter feeds going by like the line at the world’s largest McDonald’s in Orlando, with about as much nourishment; and insecure people saying many things they don’t mean, and don’t know for sure. This is encouragement for you to slow down the metabolism of thought and of speech, and to question yourself persistently. Go deeper than you usually do, moving in layers, as is indicated by Mercury retrograde. Being ‘conclusive’ is a bad habit; it’s one of the true enemies of intelligence. You must keep an open mind at all times, which primarily means being open to the possibility of being wrong. Once this approach saves your ass a few times, you will find it a lot more appealing, and may even become an advocate. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — The Nov. 7 Scorpio New Moon looks like it might open some doors in your erotic life. Usually horoscope writers couch this in the term “romantic,” and I am specifically not talking about that: I’m talking about a form of sexual intimacy that’s much deeper than “romance” and which will require a corresponding risk, and at the same time, promise you something much deeper in the way of fulfillment. Yet in our era, this whole region of eroticism is the one that is most often shunned and eschewed. It’s treated like it does not exist, yet nearly everyone is drawn to some deeper realm of their desire, even if it slips in for a brief visit as you’re waking up, appears in your dreams, or shows up in intimate moments when you’re not expecting it. There is a taboo on knowing who you are. This is rarely called what it is, though it’s engaged by connecting with your deepest and potentially most secret desires. The alternatives are things like aggression, sleepwalking or frustration, and none of those are especially appealing. The astrology of the past six months may seem to have warned you off going too deep, or taking too many risks. Yet based on the most elemental makeup of your nature, you will want to get back in the water again. Be conscious about it, and please keep it real — not digital. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You have to be confident in yourself before you can be confident in anyone else. Usually, the opposite presumption is considered true: the commitment to or from someone else is supposed to make us strong. Yet how is that possible? Your consciousness is the center of your experience. Even if you have perfect faith in someone else, that faith is coming from you. The place to orient, at the moment, is faith in yourself. Another word for that is fidelity, which is most often used in the context of marriage (and banking). So let’s start with the premise that all fidelity is to you: your mission in life, your existence, your happiness. This may be subject to an accusation of being egotistical, though the opposite is true, since the ego is an illusion and I am talking about something real: actual grounding in your true self, and what you’re doing on this planet, at this time. That may be the realest question you can ever ask, and it may make you quake in your boots, as the old saying goes, especially if you want to be wearing ballet slippers. Yet between the two may be some kind of crisis of faith, which I suggest you welcome. You will know that you’re in the right zone, mentally and emotionally, when you find yourself asking questions that you cannot easily answer. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — It’s been an overwhelming year, perhaps even heavy, though help is on the way. Jupiter joins Mercury in your 4th house of grounding, home and family this week, to stay for a year. This will take some pressure off your mind, and help you prioritize what matters the most for you. That includes taking care of yourself, and it also covers resolving old material — drawing an “end to the matter” (borrowing from ancient astrology) in several important things related to your family, especially on your father’s side. The two are related: the living well bit, and the one about resolving the past. Resolved might not be the right word; displaced is a better concept, since what is old and dysfunctional must, in a sense, be outdone by something noticeably better and more worthwhile. This must start with where you call home. Jupiter through the 4th is what I think of as the “feather your nest” transit: making your home space acceptable to your physical body. Take the time to make small improvements, eat better-quality food, and do what you must do to feel confident. It matters less where you are, and more how you feel, no matter where you may be. The persistent challenge will be emotionally honesty. Listen to the stories you tell yourself, and check the facts. Make sure you’re correct, and that the elements of your version of events add up to something that makes sense. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — The essential message of Venus retrograde in your sign is whether you’re going to run your life influenced by unconscious emotional forces, or by using conscious strategy and making decisions. First, though, you will need to differentiate between the two, and notice the results when you use one method or another. Here’s a way to focus the difference. One way seems like someone else is making decisions that you’re subject to, even though nobody else is around. Those will tend to be based on things like avoiding perceived threats and dangers, more than on creating something positive for yourself. And those fears will likely belong to someone else, which is a way of having you under their control. When you make your own decisions, you will feel the clarity of your own mind, you will notice yourself in a reasoning process, and you’ll sense the satisfaction of choosing for yourself. You need a plan — especially a financial plan. When you’re in control of your own money, you know that you’re sloughing off the influences of parents and other overlords. This really is the keystone to the bridge that will lead you into the next phase of your life. That, and speaking up when you need to, stating directly what you need, and never getting bogged down in guilt. That is an art you can master. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — You may finally be feeling some relief from Venus retrograde now that Venus has backed into Libra, where it stations direct on Nov. 16. Before that happens, Jupiter leaves your sign and enters Sagittarius (Nov. 8). Usually, Venus and Jupiter in one’s sign are considered benefics, and no doubt you’ve gained in ways you have not noticed yet. However, while they’ve been present, you’ve also been under unusual pressure, both emotional and psychological. It may have felt like certain issues settling over you like a dome, or thought forms you could not evade or escape. Scorpio is an unusual sign in that, collectively, it holds all of the things supposedly civilized people are the most afraid of, such as the mysteries of sex, life and death. And this is partly why people respond so strongly to you. Jupiter moving through your sign has magnified these elements of consciousness, making you aware of them (whether you identified them, or not). What you may notice over the next few days and through the coming month is that these feelings evaporate, like they were never there. They’re still present, but will now go back to their earlier size, rather than the recent fun-house-mirror exaggerations you experienced. Venus, for its part, has been encouraging you to seek within yourself for answers. That is something you would be wise to remember. There is no “out there.” It’s all in here. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Jupiter enters your sign this week, where it will be for about one year. This is a homecoming of sorts, as Jupiter returns to one of the signs that it rules for the first time in nearly a decade, and returns to Sagittarius for the first time since it arrived last on Nov. 23, 2006. This is one of those transits that offers everything you ever wanted from astrology — in its potential form. With Jupiter, you’re the one who must make your mission real. You must activate your potential, make decisions, set goals, and determine to seek what you know is right for you. We could say that Jupiter describes what is possible — and that the other symbol of your sign, the arrow about to be let loose from its bow, represents the one-pointed arrow of determination, focus and direction. There’s not a rush to let the arrow fly, though. In fact, there is reason for caution: you are still too influenced by negative feelings and events, at the moment, to have a clear sense of what you want. And Jupiter’s long square to Neptune in Pisces could have you more optimistic about certain goals than is called for. So you will need to make a point of being honest with yourself about the downside to any possible endeavor, but also, aware that certain influences may be leading you to be unrealistic about particular factors. Facts, data and time are your friend, and the three will work well together. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You may still be experiencing a struggle about whether you’re willing to offer yourself fully to what you want and need to do. The spirit of our times is to make a half-hearted effort and call it good, or to emphasize this odd thing known as comfort over the strength and guts that it takes to get anything done in this world. You may feel like your goal requires too big a sacrifice to make it worthwhile, and if that is true, then you need a more significant goal. You’re being called upon not to do something but to become someone. What you do is merely a facilitator or venue for who you’re becoming, and whether it’s large or small, meaningful or petty, brilliant or dull, you will be devoting your whole being to the process. This does not merge well with a predictable, safe, steady nine-to-five kind of existence. Rather, you will need to take risks that may feel dangerous and that will certainly push you out of any zone of comfort you may be in. You don’t want a safe space; you want a space where you can, and must, be real, with yourself and with the people around you. You will benefit from facing your fear, and rather than rising above it, burning it as fuel. This calls for the recognition that you may not succeed at what you want the very most. But that desire would be worthless otherwise. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — The long, challenging and at times absurd transit of Mars through your sign ends mid-month. Whatever happened to you was in some way unprecedented, and nothing like it is likely to happen again. The last time Mars was retrograde in Aquarius was back in 1971, a time curiously like our own. So this has probably stirred up some old material, including family baggage (which is closely associated with Aquarius, though you won’t read this many places). Mars retrograde has highlighted the problem of anger, collective and individual, and more to the point, the struggle associated with addressing it. Anger also equals anxiety, guilt and any form of struggle associated with aggression or resentment, in whatever direction it may flow. This cannot be addressed in “the world,” since it’s such a deeply individual response to existence. Mars in your sign, including the 12-week retrograde, has compelled you to take a level of profound responsibility for what happens in your life, including how you feel and how you respond to events. More than anything, though, you’ve been compelled to have a bold reckoning with what you want. I don’t mean want, like a BMW. I mean want, as in want from your privilege of existence. And I don’t mean want, as in desire somewhat; I mean want as in you feel like you’ll drown if you don’t have it. You’ve learned a lot this year. Don’t forget it, by which I mean remember every day. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Your deepest fears rarely come true, and no matter what you’ve experienced this year, that remains a fact of existence. It’s now time to focus your life in the most productive and constructive ways. Jupiter entering Sagittarius this week crosses the midheaven angle of your solar chart, which will open up a world of possibilities you’ve never quite imagined. Yet you will need to rise above your own anxiety in order to take full advantage of this yearlong transit. This is not just the fear of things going wrong; most of what concerns you is lack of confidence. Neptune in your sign (an ultra-longterm visitor) can feel like a massive hole where your courage should be. So that’s the element to work with. The thing to remember is that courage is earned, not bestowed. That happens through conscious trial and error; doing what you’re not supposed to do; saying what you’re not supposed to say; and attempting what you think is considerably beyond your potential. Jupiter’s first point of contact in Sagittarius will be a square to Nessus in your sign, which represents an opportunity to overcome some debility inflicted on you by your family, or someone who abused your trust. The second will be an extended square aspect to Neptune, which seems destined to inform you that you genuinely know what is true and right for you. Let time prove your theory, rather than letting someone else disprove it. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Let people be honest with you. This is a choice — as much of a choice as to speak one’s truth. Be open to listening, and to sharing your feedback — though keep that part modest. The thing to remember is that people’s story is not necessarily the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. But that does not matter, really, because all statements are symbolic. Symbols stand for something else. What you need to listen for is that something else: what is being represented? Is it a feeling, an opinion, a concern, an idea, a challenge? One way to listen interactively is to say, “I hear you saying [whatever, which you state in your own words].” Then keep listening, for the correction. One thing to consider are the ways that someone might be speaking your truth for you. So keep asking yourself whether anything you hear is personally relevant for you. You might find that people will have a way of revealing your secrets to you, or putting into words what you cannot usually say. If any such material comes up, take the occasion to speak openly. Venus retrograde in Scorpio will offer you opportunities to share what was previously concealed, and to reach a deeper level of intimacy with yourself and others. You can follow this gently to unusually deep places, and learn easily what is otherwise difficult to grasp. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — This year’s astrology, including the retrogrades of Venus and Mars, is here to help you prepare for the long-term presence of Uranus in your birth sign. That began in May; it will retreat briefly for the winter, and commence for the next seven years in March. Uranus in your sign suggests the rapid, ongoing emergence of new ideas of who you are. The recent Mars retrograde and the current Venus retrograde seem designed to shake you loose from your preconceptions, prejudices and concepts (such as of self and other). This, in turn, will help you shed your skin each time the moment arrives. Most of what people are is contained within their ideas, and right now, all of yours are being subjected to a series of tests and verifications. That does not mean they are all wrong; rather, that you need to be bold about evaluating what is true for you, and not be afraid to ask any question — of yourself, or of another. Venus and Mars retrogrades have been running what you might think of as test scripts that will facilitate just this kind of inquiry. You are being presented with circumstances that invite the ongoing questioning of what seems like reality. And at the moment, it’s particularly easy for people to grasp where you are coming from, even if it does not feel that way. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — You are no longer subject to what other people think you should believe. You never were, though it was difficult to feel your way to a point of independence. This largely involved your reticence to be controversial or to seem aggressive by challenging people — even if that challenge came only in the form of you being you. Events this year have shown the futility of this approach; circumstances have taught you that you have no choice but to assert yourself, if you want your mind to be free. Conflict, challenging people, and challenging yourself are how you figure out who you are. You cannot live in avoidance of conflict, on the level of ideas. That would be the equivalent of putting a bag over your head, and calling yourself a visionary. You must say what you see, and not be afraid to be challenged, to be wrong, or to call out what is obviously false. This does not mean being a jerk, though it will help to cast off any fear of being seen that way. You can be friendly, funny, and argumentative, and still be a good sport. It helps if you don’t take yourself so seriously that you can’t take being made fun of. Your sense of humor is the most useful talent you can bring to any discussion of reality. See the humor in everything. That’s a sign you’re perceiving the world with an open heart. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Current activity in Libra is encouraging you to settle in and make home. If you’re happy where you are, then that’s the perfect place. On the home front, the place to start is to take charge of your kitchen, your food supply, and the preparation of meals. This is the center of any meaningful concept of home, particularly for you. Take the role of the one who nourishes and nurtures, as an active practice of karma yoga. Give this six months, till the vernal equinox, and then re-evaluate your life, your relationships, your sense of grounding and safety, and your sense of home. When it comes to intimate partnerships, begin by considering inwardly any concerns you have. This is different from stuffing them down. Quite the opposite — you’re hanging out with any issues in an active and conscious way, seeking first within yourself for the source of the conflict. You might decide that you have some accountability or at least the ability to resolve things on your own in a way that sets you free. However, you might notice that you have an actual concern you want to raise, and the time to do that is after you’ve done an accountability check on your own. Projection is a serious problem, and you are the only one who can do something about it. Account for what is the product of your own mind and feelings, and you will be a lot happier. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You must take care of yourself: rest, food, sunshine. That, and just the right amount of work, which could be a bit more than most people are capable of. Then, intersperse generously with rest, food and sunshine. It will also help if you gradually remove sources of conflict from your life. You have seen the toll it can take, on your productivity, and on your ability to feel good. A great many people live with conflict as a way of life, or in some way depend on others to disrupt the flow of their existence. To the extent you thrive on chaos, for whatever reason, it’s time to eliminate that. This includes choosing friends and partners who are respectful, because that’s a better way for you to live. These things need to be long-term commitments. There will be some delay between the time when you rotate the wheel, the rudder moves and the ship begins to turn — so the sooner you start, the better. Part of why removing conflict is so important is that you will make room for supportive people, who demonstrate their love and appreciation of you. Don’t be afraid to turn this into direct support, and ask for the help that you need, when you need it, or better yet, well in advance. For example, take leadership and make sure the workloads that surround you are reasonably distributed. You have amazing vitality, though you are not invincible — nor do you want to be. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — When you think of wealth, think of food. When you think “bottom line,” think food. Your bank account is one thing; what you are able to eat is another. The beauty of food is that there reaches a point where it costs less to eat better, especially if you’ve been eating out of the house a lot. Organizing your life around food will require you to do some adjusting, restructuring and rethinking, and you will be happier, healthier and probably wealthier for it. Then, there’s a related subject, though it might not seem that way, which is your ability to speak (or write) your personal truth. This will require a process of discovery that is currently well underway. A series of aspects with the retrograde of Venus are offering you a rare opportunity to be courageous, to be self-inquisitive, and to find words for what might otherwise, at other times, seem impossible to express. The concept of secrecy, as you experience it, needs to come under careful review. Nothing is ever really kept private; the question is whether it’s expressed in useful, wholesome ways, or ways that are toxic and self-defeating. At this time in your life, you have a profound need to learn how to be articulate, about what matters the very most to you. That means developing the ability to speak from your center, though particularly gathering the focus and discipline to be able to express yourself in writing. For the benefit of your health, sanity and strength, there is no substitute. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Libra Birthdays and Rising 2018-19:

A Libra New Moon and a Reading Like No Other

“I am truly amazed at the accuracy of these readings with the current events of my life.”

— Denise J.

Dear Friend and Reader:

We began this week with a significant New Moon in Libra. It was conjunct the asteroid Ceres — goddess of the harvest and of nourishment — making this a potentially key time in your year.

If you have a Libra Sun, rising sign or Moon, you can still get your complete Libra Astrology Studio (formerly the Libra Birthday Reading) for only $44. You’ll get instant access to both astrology segments, and we’ll send you an email as soon as the tarot portion is ready.

“My previous Birthday Readings have been very, very helpful. I refer to them throughout the year. The tarot readings have been particularly informative.”

— Carolyn Cornish

You can listen to a brief audio sample of your reading here. And if you need a little background, you can listen to last year’s reading here, as a gift.

Yours & truly,

Amanda Painter

P.S. If you’re feeling especially overwhelmed or set adrift by recent events — or if you know a Libra who could use a little astrological TLC — I hope you’ll take advantage of the current price on your Libra reading before Eric records the tarot section. The world may feel challenging right now, but we’re with you.

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Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Current planetary movements involving your birth sign describe Libra as the sign of individuality and introspection rather than the sign of relationships. This is in part associated with Venus retrograde in your neighboring sign Scorpio, which describes a deep journey of self-awareness for you. Yet it is this inner exploration that will bring you to a new place of contact with others. Even so, you must contract before you can expand. Your self-awareness must always be the property that leads you through any situation you find yourself in, because your “self” is the only thing you have that could possibly relate to the world. So in this sense, self-awareness involves monitoring your environment and how you respond to it. This implies a much larger concept of self than we normally mean when we say the word. Yet the prevailing lesson of Venus retrograde seems to be that you and your environment are so closely related, you can consider them the same thing. Still, the most dependable information will be found within yourself; and this, in turn, provides you with incentive to notice how you feel and what you’re observing at all times. This is not so much a chicken-and-egg matter as it may seem. Notice how your perception of the world changes when your mood changes. Your feelings have the power to bend objective reality, so you may as well stay in contact with them. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — It’s often difficult for people to see, and to feel, one another’s perspective. This leads to many needless misunderstandings, conflicts and disagreements. You are now in an unusual position to feel the perspectives of others as they feel them, or close to it, needing little explanation. All you need to do is focus and pay attention to how you feel, when considering another person’s reality. The thing to note, in the first instance, is that how they feel will be different from how you feel. You may not be able to understand what you’re feeling from an intellectual perspective. Just noticing the contrast will be helpful. If you are engaged in a dialog, you can make contact statements, which would be mellow: something like, “I get that you’re agitated about this” or, “You seem worried.” Whether you say anything or not, your ability to empathize, by itself, will be supportive. Meanwhile, following the recent Mars retrograde in the family and security angle of your solar chart, you are not willing to have the terms of your life dictated by others, and you’re bold enough to speak up. When you are feeling where people are coming from, it will become obvious how little you need to say, or do, to assert your independence. Mostly, you need to be yourself, and give people the space to be who they are, and never argue the case for your own freedom. You don’t have to. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You will have a more positive outlook once Jupiter has ingressed your sign on Nov. 8. Until then, you can make the most of things, and you have plenty to work with. The most helpful thing you can do, to that end, is to take responsibility for your feelings. The current social trend is for everyone to hold everyone else accountable for how they feel inside. This is not helpful, because it’s not true. Your feelings are your responsibility, which is good news because that means you can influence your emotional responses, evolve how you feel, and understand the inner conditions leading to any particular response you might have to any situation. Said another way, taking responsibility for your feelings is a fundamental step for emerging from any form of victim consciousness that you might experience. It will also help you address fear, once you recognize that nearly all of it is an internal experience having nothing to do with an actual situation in the world. Jupiter ingressing your birth sign will help you figure out how little you have to worry about, and focus on what actually matters. Yet in the month before that happens, it will be an excellent exercise to sort out what is coming from inside you and what is coming from outside. This is a real question. It may be the only question. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — What has your life been like, in this year of Saturn in your birth sign or rising sign? Old-school ideas about this transit describe it as a time of enforced maturity. It could also indicate the sensation of being held down, on practical matters or emotional ones. Yet for this transit to work its wonders, you will need to take full ownership of it. The message of nearly any Saturn transit is to internalize what Saturn represents. First, that means taking responsibility for time: or, you might say, taking possession of your life on Earth as a finite thing. Then there is taking up the matter of authority as an inner function rather than an outer one. Saturn becomes your friend when nobody has to tell you what to do. Yet the cautionary side of this is that people can become harsh masters of themselves when Saturn is in the neighborhood. People can be much more strict with themselves than anyone else ever was with them. Whatever else may be going on, and whatever you may need to accomplish, you need to give yourself flexibility, room to maneuver, and room to make mistakes. Saturn is an influence associated with what we learn and who we become in the long run, not the short. This is associated with character development and also with your understanding of time. Under the influence of Saturn, time must become your friend and ally rather than an enemy that stalks you. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Anxiety is one of the most serious problems the world is facing right now, particularly here in the Western world where people have a little less to worry about than many other places. Many, many people deal with anxiety, more or less effectively. I bring this up now because you have both Saturn and Pluto in your 12th solar house, and that can be a formula for stress or panic. If you know this, you can have a model of what it’s about and how to handle yourself. You will also be able to tap into the resources that are involved. Both planets in Capricorn, and Venus retrograde in Scorpio, describe distinguishing what has been passed down to you through the generations from what is actually your self-acquired personal property. I suggest you make a long-range plan of sorting this out (and, it’s a topic I’ve reflected on in many annual readings for your sign, which you can find here, open access). However, there is one immediate thing to be aware of. Mars in your sign has entered new territory for the first time since going retrograde many months ago. Mars will lead you to strive for what you want, and to push people, a little and sometimes a lot. That can come with a backlash of guilt. This is the thing to watch. All guilt is the product of a childhood dynamic. It does not mean you’ve done something wrong and certainly does not make you a “bad” person — though that is the feeling. Pay attention to how you feel at the end of the day. Let yourself off the hook, offer apologies if necessary, and connect your feelings to how you were treated as a kid, and how you responded. Get your full reading by Eric here.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — This year has brought many changes to your circle of friends, how you’re viewed publicly and how you see yourself as a member of the community. Yet these changes are secondary to the inner work you’ve been doing, associated with Mars retrograde in Aquarius. Though you may not see or feel it yet, there are few transits that could do more to set you free from your inhibitions, your fears, and your inner pressure to conform. Conform to what exactly? Whatever line people are expected to toe, however that manifests for you. Given that the Mars connection is 12th house (ancestral material) and Aquarius (family of origin material), what you experienced — whatever it was, and it may have been weird — has involved setting yourself free from the karma and the ideology of your family. Given that this involves the 12th house, the experience itself, and your sense of liberation, could well be a little below the level of full awareness. However, it might also be plain and in your face, requiring only placement in proper context. The sex question is vital: the idea that you’ve somehow been set free from the negative patterning of the people who raised you, and whatever weight of the past they carried. However, set free is only the beginning, and it’s a real commencement only if consciously claimed by you. You must plot your way forward, and take each step as a wholly conscious act. You are not all those other people. You have your own place, your own time, and your own way. Keep reminding yourself of that. Get your full reading by Eric here.