Aries (March 20-April 19) — If you’ve been wanting for company, you won’t be for much longer. There is companionship in the stars, which means that you’ll have a variety of possibilities available. People have a way of aiming low in their relationship choices. We’ve all been there, and seen it more times than we can count. You have your options open, and I suggest you leave it that way for a while. You don’t have to commit to the first person who you think might be acceptable, and you don’t have to compromise. Stand in your truth, and see who responds to you as the person you really are. This will take some time. And in that time, you’re free to do what you want, with whom. See if you can stand back from the idea that you owe anyone your loyalty, fidelity or exclusivity for as long as you need to have some fun and to truly discover who the people around you are. Far from violating the rules of civil society, you might say you’re violating the rules of low self-esteem. Over the past year or so, you’ve emerged as someone original with a unique mission. There are people in the world who recognize you for these qualities. Those are the people you want in your life: those who are friendly, supportive, encouraging and genuinely loving. Settle for no less. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You’ve made an investment in the technical aspects of what you do the best. This has necessitated a long phase of using the ‘beginner’s mind’ technique, even though you’re not a beginner. Said another way, you’ve had to stretch your capacities, your skills and your knowledge. There have been some frustrating moments, perhaps, but along the way you knew you were doing the right thing, and you kept doing it. By all indications it looks like you’ve succeeded at attaining a new level of talent at something you’ve done reasonably well for quite a while. Now you begin a journeyman phase — that is, of being fully qualified to do the work that you do. Along this part of your trip, understate your abilities. Never claim mastery; rather, let others claim it for you. Make sure that your workshop is as beautiful as your work. You thrive on working in a pleasing, well-outfitted environment, one that reflects your personal style. Make an investment in yourself here. Keep doing what you do with style, passion and your impeccable sense of aesthetics and you’re headed for an unusual phase of professional accomplishment. Just remember that your true calling is some form of art, which in any event means doing whatever you do artfully and beautifully and letting this be the one relevant metric of success. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — The obsession with security that our society has developed during the past 15 years has a parallel on the human level: how is it possible to feel safe on our planet at this time? There are days when everything seems to be unraveling. We are constantly reminded of what’s supposed to threaten us, from mosquitoes to the nuclear arsenal. The spiritual approach is to declare yourself the safe place. You become your own sanctuary. Yet the private dimension is one of the most menacing for many people, where their own inner voices, such as the critic or the moralist, leave them the least room to be themselves, or to feel safe. However, inner poise is what you must cultivate, and you have many opportunities to do so. One thing your astrology indicates is an inner exploration of the sources of insecurity as they are rooted in your childhood experiences. You might avoid these memories and emotions as one way of dealing with them, though I suggest you address them directly. This is the simplest way to neutralize the power they seem to hold over you. When you hear an inner critic or authority speaking, ask yourself: whose voice is this? If you can get past this layer of turbulence, you will feel safer, and you will tap into a well of wisdom and knowledge from which you will surely benefit. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You certainly have plenty on your mind and your plate. That’s a beautiful thing — you’re involved with your own life. Yet at times you may feel a little overwhelmed, as if your life is living you. When that happens, slow down and make some decisions; rearrange your schedule; eliminate what’s not truly necessary and emphasize what is. Amidst the sheer volume of thought and activity, you may find it easy to focus on the single most significant thing you need to be doing, and there most certainly is one. Pay attention to what you’re called to do the first week of the month. If you need a clue, I can give it to you in one word: writing. But what exactly? The thing you’ve been wanting to do very nearly forever. What if you’re not a writer? There is some element of analysis and exposition, in written words, of the thing that you do the best. It might involve a business plan, a proposal, a grant, your CV or resume, or that important letter you need to write. This might involve an intimate aspect of your life, such as your journals (dust them off, in any case). There is a special role that both reading and writing have, which is the cultivation of inner, private space, and your sense of self. Ultimately, this is what you’re working toward. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — From the look of your solar chart, you’ve just experienced some kind of personal breakthrough that’s taken you closer to being an artist, a lover or a free spirit. You’ve worked hard for this; you’ve had to face many inner demons and insecurities, and the result has been a surge of creative and sexual energy. This has helped you overcome an inner block that’s been interfering with your fun and passion for a while. The thing to remember is that it’s possible to revert to old ways of being. It’s easy to get scared of being ‘too free’ or ‘too powerful’. In fact, freedom feels like a dangerous state to many people, which is why humans so often revert to some form of unfree. You have to decide what you want, and what you’re willing to do in order to have it. If you want to get into the flow of energy, ideas and pleasure — that is, vital force — I have a few suggestions from your astrology. One is to avoid moral judgments on pleasure of any kind. Another is to step back from people, whether friends, partners or colleagues, who express such judgments. Preserving and developing your newfound space to explore your potential will in part depend on cultivating relationships that support you rather than diminish you. Those relationships are available, though you must set the criteria. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You’re beginning one of the most intriguing months in many seasons. A total solar eclipse in your sign, Mercury retrograde in your sign, and Jupiter leaving your sign, combine to create a unique set of circumstances. Let’s take them one at a time. The eclipse is like being reborn, with all the perils and potentials thereof. Said another way, you’re catching up with much growth and progress that you had either not noticed, or not added up on your karmic balance sheet. Update your files and proceed with full credit for all that you’ve learned. Mercury retrograde in your sign looks like what some call a searching and fearless moral inventory. Yet as a Virgo, you must remember that you tend to over-judge yourself, so I suggest you take this on the level of discovering all that is right and true and beautiful about yourself. Learn to see yourself and your life from a benevolent perspective. You have learned plenty the past year about how much you have to offer, and I suggest you make this knowledge a permanent feature in your psychological makeup. As for Jupiter leaving your sign, that means it enters Libra; and for you, that’s a comment on self-esteem. This is not something that’s given to you; rather, it’s something that you must claim for yourself, and the time is ripe. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Virgo: A View From the Inside

“Thanks for putting your heart and soul into what you do. Without a doubt, your work and love enrich my life.” — Ellie

Dear Friend and Reader:

As a student of astrology, I know there is something to love about each of the signs; something unique and beautiful, a crucial piece of the picture. Yet I must confess that with Virgo, my rising sign, I enjoy an unusually profound connection.

Our ruling planet Mercury, captured in a delightful false-color image by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

I’m not a Virgo Sun native, but I generally pay the most attention to Eric’s readings for this sign, because they seem to resound most powerfully for me. And as someone who identifies strongly with Virgo, I can tell you this: Eric understands us through and through, and his incredibly accurate readings reflect that.

The 2016-17 Virgo Birthday Reading will appear following the total solar eclipse in Virgo. This, paired with the imminent Mercury retrograde and Jupiter leaving our sign, means the forthcoming solar year could be a big one for us. And that makes Eric’s friendly and useful advice all the more important.

I heartily recommend you pre-order yourself a copy of this reading. As always, the pre-order price is the best one — just $19.97. Truly a great bargain to secure an invaluable guide for the year ahead.

With best wishes,
Amy Elliott

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — The big news, of course, is that Jupiter is entering your sign this month. For reference, the most recent time that happened was way back in late September 2004, which leads me to a question: are you still facing the same old fears, or have you found your confidence? I suggest you not make any assumptions; really consider this one. Fear and confidence work in a ratio. The more confidence you have, the less you are inclined to worry about things that might trouble other people. Another theme is generosity. I’ve noticed something grim in the 12 years since Jupiter was last in Libra, which is that being sincerely helpful has grown ever-less fashionable — or worse, it makes less and less sense to many people. The ethos of taking, of getting what you can, of taking advantage, seems to seep through a lot of rhetoric about integrity. You have something to gain by being generous, which is peace of mind. I would propose that you have a need to live knowing that you’re doing everything that you can do for everyone you can do it for. To do this, you must go beyond what you think your capacity is. You must stretch a little, and that is what Jupiter does. You will have many opportunities this year to set small things right — and some big ones, too. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Do you feel protected? It’s time to tune into that feeling. Your sign is more given to anxiety than the astrology books say, plenty of which is social anxiety about what you think other people think about you. If you knew the sheer volume of energy you’ve wasted on this topic, you would be amazed. No matter how grounded and secure you are in fact, you will scramble that feeling by projecting judgment onto others. Two bits of information might help. People think about you less than you think they do. They have a lot of other people on their mind. Second, it does not matter what most people think or feel, unless they have some direct power over you, or unless you specifically care about them. This will require some sorting out. Your astrology this month is a wild tour of your civic and social world. You will see and notice a lot; you’ve got the power of discernment when it comes to deciding who means what to you, and why. Yet you can afford to go light on your assessments, and you can afford to notice those with whom you share goodwill. Suspicion and judgment in any form will block your perception. There are some people who really have your back. They care about you just because they do. Notice who they are. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Whatever happened in late August was in some way life-altering; which is to say, it looks like you had a moment of clarity. An innovator of therapy named Fritz Perls once said that his definition of learning is discovering that something is possible. So I would ask: what did you discover is possible? Did you challenge yourself to do something that made you push your abilities or talents? That might even include challenging someone who had undue authority in your life. You might have challenged a belief that was holding you back; and if you have not quite squared up to that yet, there’s still time. You remain determined to live your life your way, beyond what’s typical even for you. Take this advantage while you have it. You can proceed with the confidence that your truth is your truth, and if you don’t live for that, you’re not really living. This will, of some necessity, involve conflict. This doesn’t need to be ‘jackets-off, outside’ type of conflict, but it might mean some abrasion. Little scrapes and skirmishes will help you get clear about who you are and what you want. And nearly everyone on the planet needs practice standing up for themselves. Before long you will be able to dial this back and be on friendly terms with the many people who see, and moreover feel, who you are. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You tend to split hairs over your beliefs, as if trying to determine which are more true than others. Here is the thing: Belief is just belief. The problem is that when something so frail is assigned authority, that thing can take authority over you. For example, you might have a belief about integrity, and that can take on the stature of a god in your mind, while doing little to influence you in a positive way. Your astrology for the next few weeks is challenging you to consider this issue. What do you believe and why do you believe it? When you encounter one of these thought forms, ask yourself this question, and listen for the answer you get. Then ask again and take it deeper. You might conclude that belief per se is meaningless. It would be a compliment to call it fiction, since fiction at least involves the conscious weaving of a reality for a specific purpose. Yet it works a little like that — the purpose often being convenience. Don’t be afraid to go out of your way to find out what’s actually true for you. That might include going somewhere to conduct a personal inquiry, in search of what is real. The decisions you make this month can influence not just your long-range view of your future, but also your actual destination. Keep your eyes open and shine your light into the dark. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — It looks as if you’re ready to go someplace exotic, or at least to travel further than you can drive. In any event, you need a change of scenery and a change of pace. This will help you see the greater possibilities that you contain. When you can feel your own potential, you have a much greater chance of making it real. And that is the very thing that is opening up for you now. If you tune in, you may feel the scale of your entire future. This might manifest as what in the Seth material is described as your ‘probable selves’. You have many; many people you can be, things you can do, and places you can go. Hold that potential open as you make some important decisions this month around your finances and your career. You are starting to see the futility of certain attachments that are not furthering your cause. Before long, you’re sure to notice a certain attractive power of one particular goal. It’s seemed like a nice idea; though, when Venus moves in your favor later this month, you’re likely to be drawn to this with passion and creative lust. You’re intelligent enough to work with a clear strategy, and clever enough to know that part of that strategy must include leaving certain things to what some call luck or fate. Keep your feet loose and your wheels turning around. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — This month ends a long cycle in your relationships and begins another. We might be talking about something that dates back eight to 10 years. That’s quite a while, especially with time speeding along in dog years. Plenty has happened to you; and as you take a step forward, it’s time for a review of what this past decade of relationships has been about. Consider the people, consider the patterns, and consider how your expectations have evolved over time. One hint I can offer you is that as time has gone on, you’ve made peace with what a quirky individual you are. You’ve figured out that your priorities are different, your values are different, and that your drive to be your individual self — almost at all costs — is genuinely unique. This discovery may have come gradually, or it may have come all at once (of course, after building up for a while). Now comes a kind of summation of all your progress and experience. If you feel like you’re heading into unknown and uncertain territory, you’re in the right place. Yet, despite some sense of intensity and living on the edge, you have every reason to be confident. I would sum it up simply in a few words: you’ve reached a stage of life where a real exchange is possible. That translates to: give consciously, and receive graciously. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Much of what’s been shocking the world for the past few months involves your birth sign or your primary planet, Mars. This may be resulting in change, clarity or some chaos. You may know that the great astrological event of our era — Uranus conjunct Eris — is happening in Aries. For its part, Mars, on a long visit to Scorpio, has been provoking some results out of the conjunction. Personally, this could be serving to get you interested in being free. By that I mean participating in your relationships on new terms, able to make ongoing choices about who in this world you’re intimate with. The notion that one must give up nearly all close contact with people for the sake of one relationship actually works for very few people. It’s altogether reasonable that anyone would choose to coexist on their own terms. If you notice one thing, maybe it will be this: the social rules that pressure people to be certain always seem to be rooted in the past, but really they are held in place by peer pressure. Couples are often more influenced by the group around them than they are by their own values and ethics. Where do you stand on this? Once you’re solid with yourself and your partner, or potential partner, it’s much easier to do what you want, no matter what the crowd is up to. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — What the world needs is stability, though what most people don’t recognize is that they must bring this to the equation of life themselves. Consistency is something that grows from the inside out. It’s up to you to provide that in your life and, to some extent, in those of the people around you. At the same time, you’re being summoned in the direction of a change or breakthrough. That may seem like it’s about some total shakeup; it’s really about deepening your creative journey. If you’re someone who has made a life of suppressing your curiosity, your desire and your creative impulses, this may indeed seem total. If you’ve stayed in contact with your passion, you may understand the idea of integrating the ability to maintain some consistency with the ability to experiment, stretch and grow. In any event, you seem to be working out some significant blockage right now, and it will be worth the effort. The resistance you’re addressing is on the level of your agreement with existence. You might think of this as ‘getting a new religion’. Your old religion goes back a long way. You’ve already figured out some of what you cannot abide. For example, you need peers, not parents. You need the power to negotiate and enter agreements rather than having morals imposed on you. You need the clear view of a future that you can abide. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — The more you cling to your reality, the shakier it will seem. If you can hang loose, you’ll find it much easier to adapt. It might seem that your adjustments mainly involve people and their changing needs and desires. In truth this is about you. There are certain outer circumstances, such as work or partnerships, that seem to protect you from the truth that you’re growing and changing on a constant basis. It’s true that Gemini is the master of being a different person every day, though I’m referring to something deeper. For example, possibly you’re becoming aware that you need your family of choice around you, rather than your family of origin. You may have ideas about how you want to structure your home, or where you want to live. Most of all, you have ideas about what will help you feel safe and secure on the planet in a time when that’s an extremely rare commodity. You may not have the answer to that, though you may also recognize that certain factors in your environment run contrary to that goal. If you discover and acknowledge that something or someone aggravates you, you have the power to remove that influence. Don’t expect it to go away or mysteriously get better. You know it’s your job to take care of yourself. It’s your job to make your own decisions. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You may seem to be building your fortunes at the same time you’re dealing with constant uncertainty. In fact you’re standing on more stable ground than you may recognize; what you need to do the most is to keep your priorities in order. Stick close to your core mission and your minimum needs. Understand your motives and remind yourself what they are when you forget. It’s true that you see all kinds of potentials and many possible paths to the future. You cannot tell at this point which are valid and which are not. Yet the one thing that all paths have in common is your feet. Therefore, keep the abstractions to a minimum and focus on what is tangible: that is, what produces the results that you want, and how that fits into a larger pattern. Focus on the short- and medium- range, living one day at a time. Set goals you can accomplish, and notice your feeling of even the most mild achievement when you get something done — then move on quickly to the next tangible goal or project. At this time, it’s necessary to invoke the future with care and caution. For you, the future is not what you want to do, but rather who you want to be. And you can be that person exactly where you are right now. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

“What an amazing reading! I do believe that Eric upped the ante on his reading skills.” — Dee McCrorey

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You are standing at an intersection in your journey through space and time. There are a few ways to look at this: for example, you might take the more challenging route or the easier one. You might choose to be jealous or forgiving. You might choose to deceive, or to tell the truth. All of those potentials are open, and many more. Yet what I suggest you not do is let ‘fate’ decide. You must determine the approach you want to take to life, and understand your motives for doing so. It would help if you recognize that subtle choices and shifts of energy can make far greater differences than seems obvious. In that environment it makes no more sense to leave your life to luck or destiny than it does to take your eyes off the highway for a few minutes when you’re driving 75 miles per hour. When you’re driving, minuscule decisions can have profound outcomes. Trusting to seeming fate is not appropriate, though for you right now it’s a real temptation. Why you might do that is another question, and it involves your experience of your power. Most of the time it’s far less nerve-wracking to be ineffectual and subject to the whims of others. Invoking one’s own strength and influence can seem dangerous. Fear of failure and fear of success can both loom large. But they are not equal values. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You have spent well over a year stretching into a new idea of who you are, which has not been easy. This has involved learning, absorbing and evaluating the tendencies of others, and establishing a dependable relationship to your environment. All of this leads back to one experience: existing in an unfamiliar state. This is the very definition of being ‘out of one’s comfort zone’. This has persisted so long you’re finally getting accustomed to the feeling, even if you don’t have tangible confirmation of why this process has been so important. You’re likely to get a solid clue as to the meaning of what you’ve experienced, and how what amounts to a transformation will shape your future. Turn the clock back to January 2015, and tune into the feeling at that time in your life. How were you doing on themes like your sense of purpose, your sense of your potential and your desire to live? How does this contrast with today? You may feel like you’ve got more than you can handle. You might feel pushed to exceed your current capacities. What’s really happening is that you’re flushing yourself out of a corner you hung out in for way too long, and are getting a taste of what life has to offer. You can now start to make some refinements and adjustments. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Jupiter will soon be arriving in your sign; that happens on Sept. 9, for the first time in 12 years. Until then, you may feel like you’re stuffed with potential but are having a difficult time expressing any of it. You might be feeling a bit trapped within yourself. I suggest you hold that space as consciously as you can. Feel all that energy you have inside of you. You’re under no special obligation to sort it all out. Let the elements you contain mix and match as they please for now, and see what ideas come to you. I do suggest that you leave yourself at least one creative vent. It might be writing every day, or drawing, or taking pictures, or playing music — though it will help abundantly if it’s an active vent rather than a passive one (i.e., participating rather than observing). You’re not doing this for any special goal, or you don’t have to. Rather, it’s about staying limber and expressive, and keeping contact with your inner world. To this end, keeping a dream journal for the next two months could provide a resource that you treasure for a lifetime, because that’s the most likely way that you will get a sense of your own potential. Notice, feel and observe the way that your sense of self comes in and out of focus. Then keep noticing. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — You seem to be getting yourself moving dependably enough to set some new goals. By necessity, you’ve invested considerable time and energy this year into resolving the past, and addressing some emotional issues. This has added up to one necessary development: being honest with yourself. Why exactly is this such a challenge, and not just for you but for so many? The answer can be found in one emotion: guilt. I don’t mean regret for something you actually did wrong. Rather, I mean that nagging, toxic sensation of self-questioning. Among other things, guilt is an adhesive that sticks us to the past. Seen one way, this is a vastly complex issue; seen another, it’s as simple as: what would you do if you didn’t feel guilty? Have you ever questioned how one emotion, taught to all children and enforced with a real degree of violence, can so deeply mess with the relationship you have to yourself? And have you considered that’s the main purpose? By now it’s likely you’ve come to an emotional-level understanding of who you are and what you want. Your new learning goal, as I see it, is how to be that person unabashedly. If you feel resistance, notice that and keep going. It will be a combination of optimism and persistence that keep you going through the next month — to a much better place. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Powerful forces of change are at work in your life. They point to one thing, which is the need for flexibility. Sagittarius is the most interesting blend of broad, sweeping vision (skipping the fine points) and total obsession over every last detail. You may be leaning toward the control/detail side of the equation, though you would benefit from more emphasis on your larger ideas. This may be a case of how all the facts in the world don’t add up to the truth, but the truth can be supported by certain facts. Mars will be back in your sign all month, and it’s driving you to explore life from a space of passion and freedom of being. As you do that, you may notice an obstacle. This is not a physical block but rather an idea that’s separating you from your life force. You may feel the desire to confront whatever this is, though you might take the nonviolent approach and ask yourself: is this true? What good is this serving? The belief may be so deeply rooted as to count for religion. Yet it’s likely to lack any poetic elegance or mark of the divine. It’s more like some huge should or should not. What is this doing where it is? You don’t need any self-governing devices. You merely need to make decisions that make sense and feel right, to you. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Pay close attention to your level of anxiety as the next few weeks unfold. Indeed, it would be wise of you to invest a little extra time and space into your inner life, whatever that means to you. Sagittarius, the sign right before yours, is the one that relates to your inner being. Mars will be in there, making a conjunction to your ruling planet Saturn. This could be the formula for a struggle — or it could be the perfect setup you need to help you figure out how, exactly, you can live in peace with yourself. You might get over the idea that you need all the answers, right now. You might set aside the notion that you can control what is true and what is not (which is usually done by ignoring valid information). There is, however, something else. What you thought to be true in the past and what you know to be true today are not compatible. It would seem like you’re trying to reconcile the two, and not very successfully. One last clue: that previously true thing was true for your parents, not for you. And if you find yourself in the midst of some anxiety-producing crisis, it’s really about trying to please them, or somehow live up to some expectation in the past that has nothing to do with you and never did. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You can afford to sidestep controversy and conflict. In fact, you would be wise to do so — and to invest your energy in more productive things. You might want to keep that skill close to the top of your personal toolkit this month. You will find that if you use your diplomatic resources, you will have much more influence over your environment. Nobody is asking you to suffer fools but rather to know how to deal with them effectively. Relate to everyone on the level of their agenda. That will help you fulfill your agenda, about which you need to be abundantly clear. That is to say: know what you’re working for; be clear about the specific goals you have in mind; and then fit that together with all the people you need to cooperate with you. I suggest keeping that number as low as possible, and placing emphasis on those whom you actually understand, and who are responsive and engaging. Remember: you have a vision. You are working diligently to bring that vision to fruition. You know how tricky this is in a world where everything seems to change every five minutes, and where the one thing you need is stability. Succeeding under the bizarre conditions of the world right now depends on having special skills. You have them, or you’re learning. Make sure you use what you know. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Now you must do all the things that no astrology book ever said a Pisces was good at: exert strong leadership skills, be practical, and focus on clear objectives. It’s time for you to be a taskmaster, which means a master of tasks. And you must do all the things for which we know and love those born under your sign: express empathy, take everyone’s needs into account and, most of all, be artful in everything that you do. This combination of factors will help you get to a new place in life, one that you’ve been reaching towards for many seasons running. Certain factors might lead you to be impatient; work with that as a resource, like fuel that you burn slowly and carefully rather than all at once. At other times you might get pushy; turn that down to the smallest, most invisible flame that you use to prod people gently rather than aggressively. What you must always remember is that your efforts to shape ‘the world’ or your life are really all experiments in self-becoming. You are, above all other factors, in a profound phase of character formation. It’s therefore essential that you focus on being rather than on doing. Keep your life in order and in balance. Make time for what you love, and learn to come from that place all the time. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You can now work out a mutually agreeable plan in an intimate relationship. When you look back on this development, you will see that the missing ingredient was being honest about what you want. You knew all along; this was a matter of admitting it to yourself. True enough, it involved subject matter that’s not easy to discuss even with oneself; but you seem to have figured out that you really need to be more open. This story is not over; you’re learning something that will set the tone of the next couple of years, so remember to use what you know. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Recent events have taught you a lot about empathy. It was a process, which you might think of as learning to be a compassionate witness to the process another person is going through. The key here is being helpful without getting so involved that you lose your independence. It’s easy to overcompensate and keep too much personal space, which doesn’t really help relationships. You now know how to find a balance. There is an easy formula: all expressions of care begin with self-care, and overflow from there. Then you have plenty of love, patience and food to go around. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Your financial life has a tendency to run in extreme cycles, more than those of most other people you know. If you know how to ride the waves, you can do well for yourself. Your solar chart indicates that this is a moment of relative abundance. This is a great time to get into the habit of stashing away money and other important resources. Just the fact of doing so will have a stabilizing effect; not just on your finances but on your self-esteem, and wealth attracts wealth. Society teaches us a big drama about running on empty. Running on abundance suits you much better. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

“Your readings are always so insightful and their timing tends to unfold in a way that refers to a point that we may not have reached yet but will be experiencing soon (at least that’s how it has felt to me). Thank you for listening and for your art, which nourishes us all!” — Winter Clark

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You have every reason to feel good about yourself. Leave behind any recent challenges that may have had you working too hard to tap into the pleasure, creativity or contact that you need. If you orient your life on these core human experiences, you’ll find it much easier to reach for the great accomplishments you know you’re capable of. Success at this stage of your life has nothing to do with ambition. Rather, it’s about full appreciation of your own humanity, coupled with understanding that any job worth doing is worth doing well. Happiness is success; everything else is window dressing. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Your best ideas are going to come out of the blue, as if your inner genius is a kitten ambushing your head from behind the couch. Therefore, pay attention, and do that thing where you sleep next to a notebook and pencil, or ask your friends to write things down while you’re driving. There is energy behind your thoughts right now, and you will come up with solutions to problems that could turn out to be valuable, useful things. It doesn’t matter whether you feel creative; the fact is that you are, in some eminently practical forms. Put that gift to use. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Make room for some chaos in your life. It’s true that you love order and organization, but sometimes it works against you. Pick a room, a table, or some part of your living or working area where you allow a storm to brew. Then work in that space without any need to clean up, allowing things to become and evolve in their own organic way. This is a fermentation tank for your future goals, desires and plans. In every great success there is a measure of odd chance, the unpredictable and the unusual. Hold the space open, in a direct invitation to both new vision and opportunity. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — This is a moment of bold achievement for you, though remember that your real goal is to take care of people. Whatever you do, and whatever you aspire to, consider how important that value is to you. More than being about graciousness, you recognize this as central to your philosophy of existence. It will help considerably if you surround yourself with others who share this approach to life. You can also do some teaching, both in words and by example. You may not recognize how well respected you are, so keep in mind that what you say and what you do are powerful examples to others. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Mars has been retrograde in your sign for months, and it changed direction in late June. This has taken you on a journey deep into your emotions, including direct encounters with fear, desire, passion and memories you haven’t recalled in ages. You now know what you’re made of, and what you want. You don’t need to argue with yourself about these things; you merely need to accept what is true about you, and live from that place. Self-acceptance is a journey without a final destination, though as you travel this path you will discover others who accept you without hesitation. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You will lay many anxieties to rest this month, as you discover that your fears were all in your imagination. Once you let go of this kind of resistance, you’ll discover how much more energy you have. Eventually you’ll reach the point where your flow of love and creativity leaves no room for worry or self-doubt, which is how you’re likely to imagine yourself as an enlightened being. This is a rare form of confidence, deeply rooted in your soul. The more you focus on what you love about life, the more you will discover where your true strength lies. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You may discover that this is a rich month for relationships, so much that you will want to keep your options open. Many feel that when you’re doing that, there’s only so close you can allow yourself to get to other people. You might consider taking the opposite approach, where you stay open and embracing of anyone who strikes your fancy, with no hesitation. You certainly have a little something extra going on. These people are drawn to something, and that something is you. Being open to receiving is one of the great lessons of your life, great being another word for excellent. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Take some space for yourself this month, as in space and time to get to know yourself again. Plenty has changed, and you’ve been through a lot in recent seasons of your life, and it’s time to reassess. It’s true that you could find plenty to keep you busy. The angle of your solar chart that’s getting all the action is the one that covers ‘work and wellbeing’. Emphasize the wellbeing, minimize the work, and you’ll be stunned how much you get done with how little effort. Rest, recreation and repair are the keys to efficiency. This will serve you well. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — You’re embarking on the summer when you discover your true talent as an artist, as a lover and — most of all — as someone who trusts yourself as these things. Pisces is the sign that’s designed for pleasure, though it’s easy to get distracted from that because you place such a high value on serving others. Yet it’s clear that you need an extended opportunity to soak in the beauty to which you are so sensitive. No matter how busy you may be tempted to be, indulge in what you know are the finer things in life. The result will be flowering into a new phase of your life. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — What is it about sex? I mean, what is it exactly? Have you noticed that the world seems driven by something that it’s simultaneously obsessed with and terrified of? It’s time for you to put sex into the category of what is natural: like organic apples, playing Frisbee with a dog or dancing at a concert. Any time you have a question or a concern, imagine one of those things. Any time a power struggle manifests, think of a border collie leaping into the air and gleefully snapping a flying object in its jaws. While you’re at it, be aware of the faux moral trips that people lay into one another on a regular basis. At a certain point, any mature, happy person must decree that such is utter nonsense, if for no other reason than it’s useless for anyone to mind anyone else’s business. With this comes one particular necessity: dropping the control drama. This may seem like too much to ask, but freedom is to sexuality what breathing is to yoga. You can hold your breath through your Sun salutation, but only at the expense of depriving your brain of oxygen and turning blue. You can now do something radical: allow yourself to be free, and openly encourage others to be free. What do you do with jealousy? Recognize it as the toxic emotion that it is, and put it down — just like cigarettes. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — The undeniable creative prowess of Taurus is rooted in the fact that you mean what you make down to your flesh and blood. Your words carry feeling. While your creative devotion goes in cycles, perhaps more distinct than other people’s, this is not a reflection of your talent, which is as solid and as alive as a magnificent old tree. You’ve reached a kind of harvest time around your creative gifts. Everything is aligned for you to tap into your potential. Not everyone is a writer, though you would benefit from at least experimenting with an idea you’ve been playing with, just to see how it feels. If you are a writer, the time is right to try something more ambitious, something you might ordinarily think is over your head. You may be calm on the outside, yet there is plenty moving and bubbling in you, and that energy is looking for a place to go, and to become. As you embark on this journey, you might find yourself going deeper than you expected, accessing something that feels like it’s ‘beyond you’. It’s not beyond anything: that’s actually who you are. One other bit: if you’re concerned that someone close to you won’t understand or appreciate what you’re learning, give them a chance. You’re closer to being on the same page than you may recognize. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — It’s time to go beyond any semblance of survival mode. This is particularly true when it comes to money. Your chart blends the theme of survivalism (accented by old lessons not learned) with the image of natural abundance, including financial. You might be wondering what the hang-up is. Money is its own special game, with its own skills and techniques. You are particularly susceptible to negative infiltration by ideas such as ‘money is bad’, or ‘people are corrupted by wealth’. Anyway, I don’t see your goal as being rich so much as having enough and some to share. There is a difference. One of the Gemini traits around finance is that you tend to run in cycles, and you must plan for those turns of the tide. You’re likely to be running on the abundant side more than usual right now, and that’s the time to set cash aside. In fact, you will sooner or later figure out that it’s always time to stash money aside, as a kind of religious devotion. One other bit: like many companies, you’re likely to have one profitable product. For you, fortunately, that something is likely to be a direct, tangible benefit to the people who take advantage of what you offer. Put some energy into that every day and you will have something that produces for you on a dependable basis. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

“I can’t imagine what I could ever suggest that could make your readings any more relevant or spot on than they already are. You are truly performing your true purpose during your sojourn here on earth, sharing your insights with the rest of us.”

— Cancer reader Lyn Quitslund

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Adjust to your physical surroundings as a conscious act. Notice your environment. Feel the heat for a moment before you flip on the air conditioning. Notice who is in a room when you walk in, and notice how air in the room smells. Notice how you feel. This is about being fully present where you are. If you can do that, you are likely to notice how supportive your environment is. Life is offering you a lot right now. You will experience that abundance and that support by harmonizing with your surroundings. That means being open and receptive to who and what is around you. Feel the natural tides of life and move with them. The result will be emphasizing the beauty of existence over and above any one task or goal. This, in turn, will make the things you do more meaningful. You have equally abundant opportunity for creativity, achievement and worldly success, though that is dependent entirely on your ability to tune in and see opportunities that other people would miss or misunderstand. It’s likely that your highest and most cherished goals involve things that have not been done before, or which are at least rare enough to find. This will require invoking calm focus and expanding your mind enough to embrace the unusual and the unlikely. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Imagine a famous person who is really an introvert. It seems like a contradiction because so many people know their name and face. This is a fair description of you right now. You have a lavishly enterprising outer life, and yet you are an inwardly focused person; you must pull in and find a home within yourself. This is not optional; one way or another, it’s going to happen, so you may as well make some choices that work for you and give yourself all the space and time you need away from your usual activities. This will remind you what a private person you are. You might wonder how you engage in so much activity with so many people, and with so little time and space for yourself. Those are good questions and they are worth asking, and answering to the extent that you can. Your astrology, however, is encouraging you to take a more reflective view of life for a while. That means making fewer plans, not more of them. If you do make plans, such as to travel or take time off, minimize activity and give yourself plenty of time to sit on the porch and stare at the water or at some trees. This is not any kind of permanent state. Rather, you’re gathering your strength and awareness for the next stage of your journey, soon to arrive. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Relax and feel appreciated. This is not easy for you, since you’re prone to doubt and rarely cut yourself any slack. Now would be a good time, actually. You know you’re in this moment where you must grow into a new form, even though it requires stretching. Depending on your psychological constitution and your life experience, this might be a significant challenge. It will help if you invoke the flexible quality of Virgo rather than the stubborn quality. It will help if you practice opening up in the face of feeling overwhelmed, rather than shutting down or resisting. There are two factors in your sign currently, and it’s rare to have them together. One is the North Node, which can feel like a magnetic pull toward a form of growth that you don’t necessarily trust. The other is Jupiter, which is making it necessary for you to fully engage with your relationships in a way that’s different from normal. You are experiencing increased sensitivity, and the seemingly external influences (mostly coming from your opposite sign Pisces) are unusually potent. Yet the real movement, the real tension, is entirely internal. You are having to consent to something that also feels inevitable. You know that the gig is up on certain persistent factors in your life. Yet you’re safe following this influence. The time is right. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — For most people this is the time of year to take it easier. For you right now, it’s the time to accomplish great things. Do your best not to be distracted by the social fashion of the season, but rather put it to good use when you do get involved. You need less recreation than you think; in the language of your chart, what you need is the satisfaction of creative achievement. Your soul is calling out for the kind of fulfillment that can only come from doing something of genuine significance, in your own opinion. You cannot fake this, because when you invest yourself in your work, you do it with your body and your soul. And that, I believe, is the thing that will give you both emotional nourishment and an opportunity to mature in the ways that you want to grow, particularly as a person of influence. Remember that your sense of contact must flow all the way through from your inspiration or drive into what you create, and how it influences people. The sign that occupies your house of career is the one usually associated with feeding people, with rearing children, and with taking care of a family. That particular sign is Cancer, and right now you have enough to feed many hungry mouths, or hungry souls. Rise to your purpose. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — At long last, Mars is returning to direct motion (on June 29). To the extent that you’ve been feeling out of sorts, you can now wiggle back into alignment with yourself. Mars, however, will spend the next month covering territory in your sign where it was retrograde. You are getting similar life lessons and life experiences in a new way. There are certain factors that you have to penetrate through in layers. In truth it’s taken most of the year, perhaps longer, to do this — though you’re at that point where you must get the point. You would do well to pause asking questions and look at what is blatantly obvious. That includes how you feel. Denial only works for so long. Then something else must take over: bold honesty, imagination, love, lust or all of the above. The nature of your life must be about who you really are, and if you don’t know, then the nature of your life must be about an honest experiment. The thing about that experiment is that you don’t know the outcome. That’s the whole thing. That’s the heart of the matter. However, it’s no longer possible for you to live only with what is predictable, or in ways of life that are pallid in comparison to the passion you feel inside. This is a rare time to move in daring new directions and, presently, the odds of success are stacked your way. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You are being pulled in what feels like the direction of your destiny. Factors that might otherwise make this particular movement feel strange or alien are balanced by confidence that you really can do what you’ve set out to do. I think that the most delicate challenge is balancing your wider vision with the microscopic details required to get anything done. I would describe this as one of the most elemental factors of being born under your sign. The key, I think, is to keep context. If you find yourself getting lost in the minutiae of something, ask yourself why you’re doing it. If you find yourself having wild, brilliant visions, acknowledge them and then notice if you take the steps toward making your visions real. You have the strength, the experience and the opportunity right now to blend practicality and vision. Just remember: in the end, this is a practical affair. Your vision does not need to be grandiose or even grand in order to be genuinely useful to yourself and your community. The outcome does not need to be certain. What matters is that you engage a specific idea with specific action — and strive to change yourself just a shade more than you’re striving to change the world. Ultimately you are not accountable to anyone or anything outside yourself. Good thing, too. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — While life is emphasizing relationships, and offering you so much, it’s possible that you’re feeling isolated. That’s not certain but it’s a potential that’s necessary to address, and it seems to be related to wondering what impact you have on others. What I would propose is that the thing you want is for others to have an impact on you: to be moved by them. Pluto in your sign is strongly emphasized right now, as many planets are going by in the sign Cancer, making oppositions to it. You can be sure that you’re having an influence on people: that they feel you, and want your attention. You can be sure that they notice you, even in those times when you feel invisible. The question is: are you actually moved by them? Do you let yourself be moved? By moved, I mean movement in all its forms, whether physical, psychic, emotional or metaphorical. And I mean moved in the direction of the other, in reality rather than in your head. Pluto in your sign is likely to be making you feel vulnerable, yet at the same time, not necessarily willing to express that openly. Work with your willingness. Offer the very thing you want the most. Give people a chance to trust you, by being trustworthy. Give them a chance to feel you, by feeling them. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You must trust your own leadership. It’s true that when you have to take over and get the job done, not everyone is happy. But more people will be. It’s essential to recognize how much humans need and depend on leadership. Crooks and tyrants know this; it’s time for wholesome people such as yourself to figure it out. It’s time to assert a few significant goals, and rally the jamboree. Do this in a spirit of service, in the spirit of what is right and true. Offer people the good feeling of cooperation and of assisting one another, and of working for a larger purpose. Say that over and over again until everyone around you is humming it like a catchy tune. There is one thing I suggest you remember, though: a key to your success is exercising your flexibility. As one born under a fixed sign, you have to work at this regularly, and I suggest you do that at every opportunity. Every discussion is an opportunity to compromise and be accommodating. Do this in conscious, measured ways; open up the give-and-take aspect of every situation, and make sure you establish an environment where ‘negotiable’ is a working theme. If you notice someone taking advantage of you, say something sooner rather than later. Keep everything above the boards and state your goals openly. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — In many ways, the river of life is flowing. Mars is returning to direct motion on June 29 in your fellow water sign Scorpio (after a long retrograde, dating back to mid-April). Planets are gathering in your fellow aquatic sign Cancer. There already was plenty happening in your sign. Planets in water signs are good for Pisces, which otherwise can feel like, well, a fish out of water. Now, the thing to do is swim. Send out your dolphin sonar and listen for the return signal. Yes, the oceans are large and potentially perilous, though you have the power to get wherever you want to be. In addition to all this water energy, there is the picture of some form of direct contact in your solar chart (illustrated by Jupiter in Virgo), which feels like empathy and the ability to identify with the experience of another person. You don’t have to worry about ‘losing’ your identity; rather, you can only gain from this situation, because you’ll be exposed to ideas and experiences that will compliment what you already have going on. Life is a creative experiment, or it’s very little at all. Circumstances this month will call you out of your old routines, into new ways of expressing yourself. Take the time to explore. Take the time to remember who you are and what you want. Let one good thing lead to another. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Aries (March 20-April 19) — Take care of yourself — words often spoken and rarely heeded. Most people take far better care of their car than they do of their body, and incredibly, our bodies hold up under constant assault. Our minds, though, feel the stress, and we pay in ways we don’t usually notice. Begin to orient your life around your home. Speaking of cars, save yourself time, energy and money by reducing your time spent on needless travel. Notice the many things that make supposedly modern living into the frenetic chase it so often is. The motion and energy expended on so much that matters so little add up to one huge distraction from life. You need your energy now, as you’re in a rare space of personal breakthrough. It’s the kind of development that’s calling for you to pull your attention inward, so you can actually feel, notice and work with the changes that are developing. It is fair to say that you’re taking a genuine, long-anticipated step in your personhood. While this is a rare moment of personal evolution for you, it would be easy to miss the opportunity for profoundly improved self-awareness that you have in your hands. Feed and nourish your internal progress with quiet spaces, doing the things you love to do the most, and spend time with carefully selected people you care about. 

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You are rapidly moving into a space where you can connect your deepest inner truth to some form of creative expression. Consider that this is what many people reach for their entire lives. Others long wistfully for the meekest feeling of creative satisfaction. You can now be among the fortunate few who connect their soul’s growth to a mode of actual material expression. There’s a kind of Zen koan presented in your charts: remember how easy this is; remember how challenging it is. The ease is a description of how what you’re seeking is right within reach. You can accomplish it using skills you already possess. The difficulty is in continually coaxing yourself to respond to a calling or an idea that may seem elusive. You are not following a prescribed plan. You are not driving toward a destination. Creativity is like a river that runs through you. Your main job is to either get out of the way of the flow, or dive in and float along, and see where you end up. To borrow a phrase, you’re seeking process, not product. Think of the thing you make as a side benefit of an experience, rather than the goal. Gardeners understand this: you’re relating to the plants, you’re communing with their divas; you are tending to something older and larger than yourself. And in that journey, many beautiful things grow, emerge and appear.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — You must make space for yourself in your own world, and in the world. Nobody’s going to do it for you. In fact you might feel as if you’re being crowded out of an increasingly mobbed society. It’s nothing personal, of course; but you must make it so as a conscious act. Space begins with actual room: to work, to think, to live, to explore. Whether there might be an opening for you in a given field starts with whether you have the room to do what you do. Is your worktable big enough? Is your space quiet enough? Do you have time to think? Is there any wasted space in your home, office or studio that can be cleared out? You might start with the corners and work your way into the middle of the room. You could do that mentally as well, noticing what you tend to gloss over or habitually shove aside. As you clear physical and mental space, your energy will begin to flow in a new way. You will gain back some of the emotional self-control that you need to master your creativity. Here’s something to keep in mind: you are more likely to discover an opening or an advantage in the world searching inwardly than you are, say, from a listing on Craigslist. Then you must hold that open as you move through the social world and look for the connection you need.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You cannot force a breakthrough, though you can set up the conditions that facilitate it. The first step is to become conscious of everything you tend to overlook. This would require a genuine exercise of mindfulness, and dropping your awareness down to the levels you generally don’t notice, or tend to miss. Your dream activity will be profoundly revealing, and clue you into the ways that you can better cooperate with yourself. The phenomenon of levels is vitally important now, though not in the usual sense of pay grade, highest academic degree or the corporate ladder. By levels I mean that a certain type of awareness tends to open up a corresponding dimension in the world. You align your mind, and you notice something or someone that you might not have ever noticed otherwise. It can help to be randomly aware of whatever you observe, to introduce yourself to people you might not have acknowledged, and to shift your point of view continually. There’s one other thing: what you choose to nourish. You will come to love, and to make ever more real, that which you devote loving energy to. This includes doing what you can to take care of people who seem to have much more than you. Few gestures are more effective at establishing common ground, which you might call the key to your success.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Most blessings are hidden: we don’t notice them. Pay attention; and not only observe but embrace the many offerings existence is holding out to you. First among them is what looks like some burning spiritual thirst or desire. You can count that as a gift because without it, what motivation would you have to seek your deeper truth, embrace your life or strive for freedom? You may be experiencing an emotional craving for sex that has replaced your previous need to feel safe and secure. Count this as a gift because you’re going beyond the need for things to stay as they are, and are becoming willing to challenge yourself and allow your life to change. You may want independence from your family and its drama, which is a gift because you have your own life to live. The essential blessing of this time is the ability to honestly admit what you want, stepping out of any guilt or hang-ups for doing so. This is no small matter, as we live in a time of increasing criminalization of any desire that does not involve your credit card number. You seem ready to burst free from this oppression, though you would be wise to have a plan for what to do with any inner backlash. In this instance, as in most of life, guilt is a sure sign you’re doing the right thing.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — For most of the summer, Jupiter remains in your sign. This is fairly rare, manifesting every 12 years. Jupiter is a planet of opportunity; and in Virgo, for you, it’s the opportunity to expand your inner horizons. It’s when you stretch your inner capability for experience, for feeling and for the movement of energy through you. There is no doubt that Jupiter in your sign is the invitation to improve your life in many ways, and you’re likely to be experiencing many of them without even knowing it. Yet the most vital of these is consciously exploring your capacity for new experience. You are too young to be set in your ways. I suggest you not take any comfort in doing something, or limiting yourself, because that’s ‘just the way you are’. One thing Jupiter represents for you is the integration of outer experience, including people, into your life. It’s about accepting not just the ideas of your environment but also embracing its actual influences on you. As you encounter new experiences (again, including people) it helps to expand into the potential that they reflect. I recognize there are a few possible issues here, one of which is what seems like a culture-wide reluctance to change; the other is a crisis of trust. To put it mildly, actual growth requires both change and trust.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Success for you is a matter of caring, of devotion and of beauty. Our culture has long been driving a notion of success as competition and greed. This is not in your DNA, and you would be ill-advised ever to act as if it is: to take part in practices that are, in effect, destroying society. You know that you must take another path, something that respects the inherently familial nature of humanity. This month, particularly toward solstice, your sense of caring increases exponentially, partially in response to what looks like the tail-end of an extended self-esteem crisis. Here is the catch: caring in the style of family can breed resentment. You might feel like you have no choice. That, in turn, can come with a wildly varying cycle of devotion. It may seem inescapable, though it’s one of the essential disciplines of your life to stabilize your caring for others, which is a direct extension of your caring for yourself. If you feel resentment, consider resolving that one of the deepest healing projects of your life. This month you will get a chance to feel how beautiful it is to devote yourself fully, to see its effects in the world and to feel the benefits in your own life. Your success is not about you or the wider world separately, but rather the sensitive place where the two intersect.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Mars ends its long retrograde in your sign on June 29. If you’re asking yourself why your life has been so unusual, why so much emotional material has come up, and what exactly is the nature of the conflicts you’ve experienced, Mars retrograde can help illustrate the point. Several persistent matters are likely to keep vying for your attention. Those are the things to look at and listen to rather than complain about. There are two messages that are pouring through the astrology. One is the emphasis on being here now. By that I mean living in the present, rather than burning your energy obsessing over the past and the future. Note that the very purpose of focusing on anything other than the present is specifically to do just that: essentially, to evade your own life. The answer is found in the second message, which is to be honest about what you want. The whole matter of actual desire can have a way of up-ending social conventions, expectations and agreements, but the real ‘danger’ is that of actually living. I suggest you face that supposed danger; that you take the risk of actually living for what you want rather than for what is expected of you. To be fair, I must say this will have many unexpected results. There is a risk involved in movement and change, and an even greater risk in stagnation.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You are being taken on a tour of what might be called your underlying motives. You are tapping into the deeper level of your feelings. What you may be noticing is that they don’t quite jive with your image. Neither do they blend well with your conditioning, which other factors in your solar chart are insisting you come to terms with. If you are experiencing any conflict, consider the relationship between these two layers of your psyche. First there is the inner you, driven by passion, a sense of mystery, incessant curiosity and vibrant sexuality. Then there is the outer you, which seems to need space and independence, yet is often caked in a layer of fear that’s difficult to penetrate. Now, at least, you have the impetus to move from the inside out. Your core motives, necessities and desires are speaking to you, growling and groaning and insisting that you take notice. Here is what I propose, for your consideration. You have nobody you must impress, most particularly your parents or some visage of them (the priest, rabbi, lawyer or insurance company among others). There is no outer authority you must obey. You may govern yourself with decency, empathy and a sense of balance, but you don’t need to serve or have the approval of any external master. You are, therefore, free to respond to your actual self.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — It’s time for your reputation to live up to your substance. In the age when everyone is their own full-time publicist, it can seem that the thing people are the most afraid of being known for is who they actually are, and what they actually think. This is plastered over — habitually, even incessantly — by the image of integrity and authenticity. Yet it’s not enough to seem sincere. You’re being guided into revealing yourself, your feelings, your misgivings and most of all, what you want. This is likely to be happening among the people you consider your friends and colleagues. Here’s where things get tricky. Social groups are based on the principle of inclusion and, by inference, exclusion. There’s always the lingering primal fear that one will be cast off. So to reveal your inner truth — that is, to actually say what you want, what you want to do, and with whom — you must face that fear. At a certain point the pressure of being bottled up, and the constant need to seem pure and ‘in integrity’, must give way to being known. This is true even (and especially) if you are addressing inner conflict, which is seemingly the most important thing to conceal. Open up and let in the fresh air and sunshine — and as you do, build the confidence that people love you for who you actually are.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — The poet Marge Piercy wrote, “The good must learn to cultivate their anger like fields of wheat that must feed them, if they are ever to win.” One of the unspoken issues of our time is seething rage, what one pundit called “distemper among the electorate,” that (for example) is driving much of politics at the moment. Yet anger, if taken consciously and properly understood, can be a tremendous force for change. Many other emotions considered unsavory and/or politically incorrect can be cultivated and worked with constructively. Really, do we have any other choice at this point? Shadow is only shadow if it’s unconscious, which typically means projected onto others. You are in a rare position to see the deal the way it’s going down — and to do something about it. This will surely be in many small ways, and potentially some big ways. The action piece is about taking accountability, including for what may not properly be your responsibility. You are in a position of leadership, and your example counts for more than you may know. Yet a vital part of that example involves how you move what is inherently frightening, negative, shadowy and toxic to a new level. This is more than about ‘seeing the positive’ in something. Rather, you have the capacity to recognize anything with emphasis behind it as a source of energy, and to tap that energy on your way to changing the world.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Keep giving yourself permission to have fun, then go and do it. This month is the perfect storm of opportunity. Mars turning to direct motion in Scorpio is about leaving all of your hang-ups behind. The Sun and Venus heading for your fellow water sign Cancer will open many doors; it’s up to you to walk through them and to keep your emphasis on the grand creative experiment that is life. You can afford to be less picky about who you associate with. Ideally you would find a little something nourishing or inspiring in everyone. If you come from that place of appreciation, you will emit positive vibes and find it easier to move around various social circles. You would be wise to pause and consider the possibility that people are intimidated by you. There continues to be an alignment of slow-moving, deep and evocative planets in your sign. One response people might have to you is that things get real fast when you’re in the room. This is not your problem; don’t take it on. It’s been a long time since people in Western civilization have been this frightened of their shadow. You will get the best results if you consciously choose not to be frightened by anyone or anything, and hang out where art, love and celebration are made. If nothing comes up immediately, be persistent. You will break through.