Aries (March 20-April 19) — There are times when you must leave a situation be, and accept it as it is, and there may be such a scenario in your life. You’ve done plenty to help someone, or to resolve something in your life that’s taken great patience. Consider giving things a rest, which means not exerting so much effort. Shift your emphasis to more inwardly oriented matters in your life. This alone will help you re-focus your conscious thought process and your deeper emotional process. After a few days, you’ll notice that your priorities have changed. One benefit will be an activation of the serenity prayer: you’ll see the difference between what you can control, and what you cannot. There are some important priorities that are calling for your attention; make a list of what you’ve neglected over the past few weeks, and you’ll see what they are.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Keep your head and get enough rest. Mercury, the planet of mind, technology and communications, has quietly slipped into your sign, where it will go retrograde on April 9. You may be noticing beginning effects of that, mainly in the form of things seeming to unravel faster than you can keep them organized. It’s not easy to be patient under these circumstances, though remember that you cannot smooth out the surface of water with a canoe paddle. You’ll only churn it up. Again and again, the stars are relating the message of prioritization. Remember what’s important and why it’s important and then respond accordingly. One thing to push up the list of what matters the most is food. Avoid what you know is not helpful, and focus on what is helpful. You know the difference, on this topic and many others.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — If you’re not understanding something, try stating it in different language: look for other words, or rewrite your sentences. One method I use is to translate explanations of complex matters into language that would be understandable to a teenager. This will make them clearer for you, since what you really need is to reveal your mental process to yourself, so you know what you’re actually thinking. Break your ideas down into steps, so that you can examine your logic and see your assumptions for what they are. You want to make as few of those as possible; if you guess without knowing you’re guessing, you’re almost certain to be wrong. If you know you’re guessing you can raise your odds to 50/50, and if you use actual fact-based thought and logic, you’ll probably get it right.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — You may find yourself in a situation where you must intervene on behalf of justice. That is, you may encounter a scenario where you realize you’re the one who must make the right thing happen. You’ll know this because nobody else is available, and you know what to do. The world would be a better place if more people just stopped to help one another. This is rarely a matter of time or of resources; it’s more about mental attention and taking the risk of caring. You’re in a pretty good place right now — certainly well off enough to be supportive of others. And the funny thing is, when you need help, you’ll often get it asking someone who is poor or who is busy. Being human is about making space in your heart for other humans, particularly the ones you don’t owe anything to. Critters count too.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You’ve been eager to make progress in your career, particularly getting your name out there, and making sure you’re properly compensated. You’re likely to be doing much better than you think; however, you’re also at a stage where you have to slow down and consider your business plans. Most of this involves messaging: what is the message you’re sending, for example, with your CV or resume, your web page, your social media and so on? You must be 100% in accord with whatever ideas you’re delivering; it’s fair to say, you must become your message or let it become you. Once you commit to this, you’ll probably undergo a rapid series of revisions, as part of your process of gaining clarity. This will be fruitful, especially if you don’t rush matters and give yourself space and time to think about what you want.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Let your plans fall into place. That means giving your mind a rest, and to some extent, allowing what you’ve set in motion to take its course. If there are some elements of your design scheme that don’t work out, check in with yourself: are they what you really wanted? Or do they not quite fit? Extend just a little trust that the right thing will happen. By the right thing, I mean what’s in alignment with who you are becoming. You’ve been through many changes over the past few seasons, most of them associated with what you might call an evolutionary process. You’re growing, and this has churned up a little chaos in your life. This has been necessary, even though you still must deal with some aftermath and debris. Now, you’re getting information about how to tidy up and refine this process. Easy does it.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Over the weekend, Venus retrograded from Aries into Pisces. The main influence of this change is taking the emphasis off a relationship (potentially, a past relationship). This is reminding you to take care of your own emotional needs rather than expecting anyone else to do it for you. If you can do that for a while, you’ll be guided closer to the heart of the matter; closer to your true necessities. In reality, they don’t involve other people. Your state of mind, your overall health, and your relationship to your work are much more important right now. Once you have some of that sorted out, you’ll have more resources to share with others. Your relationship experiences will be more creative and more focused on pleasure once you have met your responsibilities to yourself. Once you’ve done that, you may notice that some people no longer fit in your life, which would count for progress.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — This week we come back to the theme of sexual healing, which has been prominent in your charts all year and for a good deal before. If there ever was a holistic idea — that is, something that relates to everything else — this is the one. Our culture’s hang-ups about sex merely emphasize every other issue, particularly the one about being a whole person. Turns out it’s incredibly convenient to plug up sexuality, and in effect throw a dam in front of all of your potential. Removing that dam, in turn, opens the way for all other forms of progress. And this is a big responsibility: that whole thing about really being who you are. Then there’s one other not-so-minor point: fear of judgment. At a certain point you must accept that the opinions of others do not matter. What matters is that you’re real with yourself about who you are, what you feel and what you want.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — The Sun in Aries is encouraging you to take some creative and romantic risks. That means doing things that are fun and exciting but where the outcome is not certain. I’m not talking about danger, though only you know whether your seatbelt is fastened when you drive, and whether you’re sober. Assuming that you’re clear-headed and acting responsibly, you have plenty of space to experiment, and to do so boldly. The world in its current form is obsessed with safety, most of which is a head-trip. The safety most people are really after is about protecting their fragile ego, which I suggest you throw to the four winds. Your ego is the very thing you want to go beyond if you want to be an artist, lover or adventurer. That’s helpful because art, love and adventure will teach you who you really are.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Looking at your solar chart, it would seem that you’re seeking security at all costs — and that’s probably way too expensive. More likely, any real progress will come from a jolt to your reality. You’re the best person to deliver this, by making choices that honor your actual desires rather than the ones that are designed to preserve your stability. If you have the feeling that big changes are coming, be the one who initiates those changes rather than bracing for them to happen to you. You’ve been luring yourself into new adventures for a long time. If you notice that you’re in “approach and avoid” mode, perhaps consider that it’s about a guilt complex of some kind. The nature of guilt is resentment. Who do you resent and why? And how is that helping you get what you want?

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — This is a good time to check in with some of your relatives — your parents and grandparents in particular, if they’re available. If they’re in the realm of departed ancestors, you can still tune in, and let them know you’re doing well, and ask them what suggestions they have for you. Either way, you want to cast these people as supportive. I know this can be tricky, as many people feel undermined by their families or, at best, hamstrung. Yet the moment you are honest about wanting your independence, you can make that fact known. You don’t need permission and you don’t need direct cooperation. You need to state, to whom it may concern, that you’re an independent person and that you’re ready to go your own way. Attachment to the past and embracing the present and the future don’t exactly work well together. Yet you don’t owe them anything, particularly your freedom.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Venus, a planet intimately connected to the sign Pisces, is now retrograde, meaning that it’s passing between the Earth and the Sun. The retrograde started in Aries, which has described all the emphasis on money in your life over the past month or so. Now, Venus has worked its way back into Pisces, which describes the theme of your life coming back to deeply personal, spiritual, creative and emotional material. You’ve done your bit on the financial end for now; you know that you have to take care of yourself and be responsible with your money. Now, you can take care of yourself in other ways — ways that you’re likely to be longing for. You have many reasons to do this; though, ultimately, you don’t need to justify being happy, fulfilled or at peace with yourself. Remember that.