Monday Morning Horoscope #173 for April 22, 2019

Aries

Aries (March 20-April 19) — You survived the Sun’s run through Aries and the first expression of the 2020 alignment that directly involves your sign. This portends a year with many relevant turning points — and some inevitable ones. You’re under astrology unique in all the world, though there is a worldly theme: reaching escape velocity from the influence of your parents and your family of origin. You are at the point where you have no choice but to be who you are, which is easier said than done. There is always the temptation of retreating into some old-fashioned not-self pattern of fear, resistance, resentment or frustration, and using that as an excuse to stay put. But the more you hold fast, the faster the forces of your own nature will pull you free. There is one essential ingredient that is almost mandatory to overlook these days, and I don’t know if anyone understands what I mean when I say it, but it’s time for you to live your sexual truth. This will be equal parts healing, experimentation and understanding where your experience of love matches your biological experience. One clue I can give you is that it has nothing to do with what you see in the movies. Get your full Aries reading by Eric here.

Taurus

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — The Sun has arrived in your sign, in grand style on the heels of last week’s Libra Full Moon, and with the Sun making a conjunction to Uranus. You are in all-new territory. It would be fair but not entirely accurate to say you are becoming a new person. Closer to the truth is that you are taking the chance of discovering who you are, which if it’s working always comes with some surprises. No matter how old you are, you contain a continent or two of unexplored territory, which you’ve always had inside of you. You’ve felt this many times, though there is something about Taurus that tends to resist the kinds of energy flow that Uranus represents: difficult to control, unexpected, erratic, shocking and brilliant. Uranus comes in fits and starts, but it’s a constant and continuous presence. You don’t need to imbibe this influence all at once. Take it one day at a time, one season at a time. A reader named Alison wrote to me and said, “Uranus seems to be about burning through convention to see what remains, like the alchemical calcination phase, and using what’s left to (re)build something new.” She said the influence started in May 2018, though, “At that time, I didn’t know what I was heading towards, just what I was leaving. It began to emerge over the summer but didn’t really gain momentum until earlier this year and is still becoming clearer by the day.” Note to Taurus and Sun and rising: I’m planning to record your Astrology Studio reading on Monday; here is how to pre-order.

Gemini

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Mercury is now in Aries. Your ruling planet is in the process of passing through several different levels of full-strength astrology, so you can reasonably expect unusual developments, deep experiences, and a tour of various forces outside of your control. Yet the choices you make are all your own. How you respond to your environment is your decision. Be aware that the more force you exert, the more pushback you’re likely to get. When you articulate your energy, and refine your thought process, and make your choices carefully, you will get a better result. Because Mercury is involved, your use of words is a critical factor: how you express yourself, how you describe your situation, how you speak to others, and what you choose to discuss. My suggestion is to keep your responses on the level of what you can build, weave, make or create. Stay off the level of ego, personality and conflict. If you have to wrestle with something, let it be your conscience. If you must tackle something, let it be a real problem, not a made-up one. Live by one standard: the truth is true, and nothing else matters. Get your full Gemini reading by Eric here.

Cancer

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Developing astrology puts you further into the public eye. Since we’re talking about the Sun-Uranus conjunction, don’t try to be normal. It’s true that part of your usual strategy is to dress well and present yourself like a professional. You tend to be understated and well-spoken when you know people are watching. You can relax that standard, and allow yourself to be as different as you want to be. You don’t have to flaunt convention for its own sake. You are free, however, to be as eccentric as you really are. You are free to experiment. You’re welcome to be a little shocking and to call it like it is. Though we’re talking about Uranus, we’re also talking about Taurus, which is a reminder to make sure that whatever you do, you bring an aesthetic quality: emphasize beauty. My work-a-day motto for American life (applicable elsewhere) is that you can do anything you want, as long as you do it well. For you, doing something well always includes a touch of class, and of elegance. Get your full Cancer reading by Eric here.

Leo

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Uranus in Taurus, and the Sun’s conjunction to it, are invitations to open up new horizons in your professional life. This is the time to shift from “career” to “vocation.” A vocation is a calling, that you answer with your whole being. Career is (for example) when your parents tell you to be an accountant, or they won’t pay your tuition. Vocation is (for example) when you want to be a bass player and you do so with no thought of making a living at it, only doing it for its own sake. This will call for some inventiveness, which Uranus grants. Fortunately, the world has become flexible enough to accommodate these kinds of choices more easily. When I was in my 20s, someone once told me I was too weird to be a freelance writer. We’ve all been offered that kind of horseshit advice, and it’s best to leave it in the compost pile, so maybe it will become something more useful. The technological environment will be your friend and ally, opening up many possibilities, though ultimately it’s the quality of your ideas, and your dedication, that will get the result. Get your full Leo reading by Eric here.

Virgo

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — This week’s astrology ignites a kind of alchemy between the spiritual, the erotic and the artistic that just about everyone is passionately determined to avoid. And why would that be? Well, for one thing, investing yourself in these primal forces of consciousness calls on you to be open to change, from the inside out. This is not the kind of change that comes from making decisions but rather the type that comes from lighting yourself on fire. If you move your life in this direction, you take the risk of total involvement, which means surrendering your expectations about the future, about yourself and, in many ways, about the world. It’s why so many people so often take what they perceive as the safe path, of seemingly little risk. Yet what is sacrificed is existence actually having some meaning that comes from deep within you. That, too, might result in some temporary but palpable sense of disorientation. In any event, whatever you choose to do with it, your transits are pointing you away from the familiar and into the unknown. You might want to board the next flight to Greenland or South Africa. Or you can admit how much you don’t know and begin right where you are. Get your full Virgo reading by Eric here.

Libra

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — At this stage of your life, there is no place for secrets or denial. Both are serious hindrances to your wellbeing, your spiritual health and having full access to your wisdom and potential. Yet for many people they are ways of life. Often that is because everything else seems so scary. After all, if the truth were known about you — who you are, what you want, what you’ve done, and how you feel — do you think that your current relationships could withstand the shock of that awareness? That remains to be seen, though what would surely happen is that any disruption would call everyone present to their actual reality, their feelings and desires. This would lead to a reorientation of awareness and the need to make some decisions. Whether you desire this or not, something about you is likely to shift this week that compels you to reassess your intimate situations. And though you may not think of it this way, it involves all you have not said to the people close to you. Perhaps make a list of what that includes. Get your full Libra reading by Eric here.

Scorpio

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — People are full of surprises. If someone close to you presents you with something you just were not expecting, slow down and consider where they’re coming from. Most people you will meet, or even know well, are not so good at expressing their healing needs. Here is what I suggest you keep in mind. When someone says what they need, or even is honest about how they feel, that creates a vulnerability. And more times than not, on our particular planet, there’s always someone waiting to either turn that need into an advantage for them, or to exploit the vulnerability. This is not about you personally; it’s just the way things usually are. Do your part by not allowing this particular circumstance to turn into that, in any way, shape or form. Do not let your intimate exchanges be about power. Go in the other direction — guide your purpose toward healing, service, and what you have to offer. It’s essential at this time in your life that you allow the people close to you to be who they are, recognize their needs as be valid, and give them space to exist. You need the same things. Get your full Scorpio reading by Eric here.

Sagittarius

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Keep your temper, particularly if you run into frustrating circumstances early in the day Monday. Mars moving through your opposite sign Gemini can have a combative feeling, and you may be living with the illusion that you don’t really know where anyone is coming from. For now, you will have to take them at their word, while at the same time giving them space to evolve their views and correct statements that turned out to be inaccurate. If you try to hold people to absolute consistency, you’ll only burn up what good faith the situation includes, and there is plenty. How you handle self-destructive tendencies, whether your own or those of someone else, is another question. And they are likely to be a factor as Mars makes a square to Neptune over the coming week. You may feel a tendency to go into retreat or reverse, though that’s not what your situation calls for. Rather, you are being invited to take a new kind of risk, where you allow yourself enough vulnerability to create something new for yourself. You will know you’re really doing that because it feels dangerous in a way you can’t easily describe. Get your full Sagittarius reading by Eric here.

Capricorn

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Saturn stationing retrograde between now and the 29th will help take off some of the pressure you’ve been feeling, and cool off your sense of imminent change (or doom). Yet it remains true that you have important matters from the past that you must address before you can guide your life forward. Commit to doing that this spring and summer, starting immediately. Begin with what is the easiest: for example, addressing unfinished business with people you’ve been close to recently. Then go deeper into the past and sort out a few situations about which you may have some misgivings, or where you wish you had handled things differently. See, for real, how people respond to you when you reach out to them. Americans in particular have a tendency to try to blaze into the future and bury the past before they’ve come to any real closure about what occurred there. Saturn’s presence on the South Node in your sign says that you have little choice but to confront your personal history, though you’re also protected from the worst results of certain less than helpful decisions you’ve made. Get your full Capricorn reading by Eric here.

Aquarius

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — If you’re experiencing a shakeup involving your home base or sense of personal grounding or security, take it as an invitation to new and better things. In particular, it’s clear you need to design living spaces that are more suited to your state of mind, and that are more accommodating of the future. That likely means some combination of lightening your load and also giving yourself room to work, to grow and to play. If you’re flexible and have even a mild sense of adventure, you can work any situation to your advantage. Make sure your strategy includes plans A, B and C. In the end, you’ll borrow a little from each of them and come up with a synthesis that works for everyone. Note that Venus, a vitally important planet for you, is making a conjunction to Chiron and other sensitive points this week. To me that says keep a handle on your emotions, choose your words wisely, and emphasize expressing yourself in a creative way rather than a self-centered or combative one. To get out of the trap of “self,” stick to the topic at hand. You are a reference point, though there’s something much larger than you at work and at play. Get your full Aquarius reading by Eric here.

Pisces

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Keep calm and keep cool. Don’t play it cool; relax and be aware, of your surroundings and the flow of your thoughts. Both are likely to be rather adventurous in a number of ways. Two of the most personal angles of your chart, Aries (house 2, values and value) and Taurus (house 3, words and immediate surroundings) are illuminated by powerful conjunctions, both exact Monday. Venus conjunct Chiron in Aries is about tapping into your deepest well of self-worth and staying rooted there. Don’t let anyone shake you, fool you or trip you up. You’ve been through a lot, and you know who you are. The Sun conjunct Uranus in Taurus is encouraging you to be a little outrageous. You can drop your filters a little, and be dauntless if you feel the need to provoke someone, or say something that’s out of character for you. Actually, you are beginning to inhabit some very new personal tendencies and explore your inner territory in an unfamiliar way. Therefore, push the edge, take some risks, and allow yourself the freedom to get in the face of anyone who tries to tell you who you are. Get your full Pisces reading by Eric here.

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