Aries (March 20-April 19) — The late, great Lois Rodden (the astrologer who created the system by which birth data is rated) once wrote that astrologers think Mercury is the money planet — but they have it all wrong. The money planet, she said, is Mars, the reason being that in order to make money you need drive. Mars provides motivation and energy, and it has recently entered the money sector of your chart. If you’ve ever felt complacent about your finances, you now have a phase of time where you can experiment with being more assertive, and also more persistent or maybe it’s consistent, or both. The contact point is drive, connected to action, sustained for the next five or six weeks. I assure you, you can make progress, but I would add some caution. Anything you do that is not directly connected to what you actually value is liable to backfire.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Inaction, or what is sometimes called paralysis, is usually the result of fear. The human psyche runs in a fairly typical cycle: for many, only fear is a motivating force. When fear subsides, then we can find ourselves going back into lazy mode. Mars has entered your sign, which means two things. One is that you are being relieved of significant mental pressure that has been at the root of a good bit of frantic emotion, paranoia or psychic irritation the past couple of months. Another is that you now motivate yourself directly, without having to process or dance with paranoia. There is freedom with this, but that implies movement, change and a dynamic — not predictable — relationship with existence. To make the most of this, you’ll be shaking your bones, even the lazy ones. Get in the groove now. More planets are on their way into your sign — a lot of them.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — You seem to have had your mind rearranged recently, or at least your thinking. The subject is how you see yourself in the world, or how you think others see you. Need I say that the differential can be more impressive than that big canyon on Mars? How you think people perceive you has nothing to do with how they actually do. This is important to keep in mind, all the time. The potentially troubling news is that, try as you may, you have only a limited ability to influence how people think of you, or experience you; most of that influence comes from where you present yourself, and to whom — rather than how. The good news is that you have far more freedom to be who you are than you think. People tend to be distracted; they tend to be forgetful; when necessary, most can be seduced with self-interest, no matter what they may have thought yesterday.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — With planets starting to exit your career house (Aries), you may find it easier to focus on some specific goals related to advancing your work or profession. Fewer planets means less pressure, and more acting from choice and a bit less acting from compulsion. Yet while it may seem like the chaos of the past two months hasn’t helped much, or helped anything, you’ve made more progress than you think. If you don’t know what you’ve learned, I suggest that you have some data-mining to do. All these experiences you’ve been through may be things you hope you have to avoid going through twice, but every one of them has taught you something, whether you deem it a success or a failure. Let the dust settle on these recent events; you’ll see you are still in possession of an excellent idea that you have every intention of developing — and you now know enough to do it.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You can now take authority; it would be great if you did. Here’s the thing to remember: It’s easier to bring people into consensus if you start with getting them to agree on values and principles involved. Leave the exact subject matter out; stick to the underlying things that everyone can agree to. Then, once a subject is added, you have a basis for the conversation and with that it will be easier to reach an understanding. Your outer role, therefore, is not really being the boss or the authority but rather the one who establishes a framework of ethics. Let everyone around you take credit for the accomplishments that result from the progress that you guide them into making. Of course, you do have the option to declare yourself chief in some obvious way, but that is far less likely to be effective. And effective is precisely what you want.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — As planets move into your fellow earth-sign Taurus, you will have support plucking up your moral resolve and your sense of adventure. For weeks life has had the approximate overtone of a sudden-death event of some kind, where your ego was on the line every day. This may have been fun at first but it is likely to have grown tiresome. People to whom crisis is interesting make excellent paramedics and ER docs, but the rest of us thrive on some balance between crisis and placid times. One advantage to planets leaving Aries is that you and others are less likely to take so many things so personally. This will make it obvious that neither you nor others have to get defensive, and you’ll tend to see defensive responses for what they are. One thing they are not is useful. What we call ‘ego’ is a frustrating perspective from which to see the world, and yourself — fortunately, other options are on the horizon.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Saturn in your sign has provided you with a base of stability through some unusually torrid weeks and months. Well, it’s not just Saturn; it’s how well you embody the Saturn principle of flexible structure, and of stability through times of change. The theme of your life is now about negotiation, rather than confrontation or of being confronted. Yet it will help considerably if you are the one who opens the discussion. This will mean being conscious of what you want sooner rather than later; and dispensing with your usual strategy of leading from behind or ‘topping from the bottom’. You gain a significant advantage both by admitting your actual desire and taking initiative on that desire on the framework of your relationship. This is not about being aggressive; it’s about being aware and assertive.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Mars in your opposite sign presents you with a mirror. The first question is, what do you see in that mirror? What do you feel? You can tell that by the shift in perception, experience and what some call ‘energy’ both in the world around you and in your most intimate relationships. For practical purposes, assessing a transit in your opposite sign, they are basically the same thing: your environment. Notice in particular the shift of the 48 hours surrounding this moment. See if you can observe what within you has changed that is coloring your perception. Observe how what you are noting is changing how you feel about yourself. The idea is to come as close to ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ being one experience as you can. This is not intended to blur a boundary — it’s intended to reveal your influence over your own experience of life.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — One house in your chart has been lit up for months now — your 5th house, which is Aries, which is daring art, adventure, passion and sex. There has been so much going on in this house, peaking the past two weeks, that I would not be surprised if you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by all of this so-called creative energy. It has been difficult to focus, difficult to gather your ideas, challenging to follow through on so many fleeting matters initiated by an impressive collection of planets. Now that most of these critters are moving into Taurus, two things happen. One is that you can tap into some persistent focus and work-related drive. The second is that your 5th house clears out except for two of the most inspirational energies, slow-moving Uranus and Eris, which will be around for years. In other words, you lose nothing in the way of inspiration, and gain plenty in the way of drive and dedication.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — You could relax and loosen up a little. Your concept of existence has been so driven by a mix of responsibility and the need to grow that quite a few times you’ve forgotten to have fun. But you have not forgotten how to have fun; that’s the meaningful thing. The kind of fun you’re likely to want to have involves risk, and that risk involves daring to act in a way you might consider childish or irresponsible. I can see where you might think this, though it’s unlikely to be true. In fact, one of the greatest risks you run is to allow the pressure to have fun and indulge yourself to build up, which could lead to actually acting irresponsibly (for example, such as when you drink). A little conscious indulgence will go a long way toward helping you fulfill more ‘serious’ responsibilities, but more to the point, it is springtime and that is a natural time to frolic and play.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — As more planets — beginning with Mars — cross your sensitive 4th house cusp, you may feel restless, even unsettled and like it’s time to pick up and make changes. At the same time you may have the feeling that it’s not a good idea to act from a point of frustration. Yes, maybe that would be true at a New Age workshop or Buddhist monastery. In reality, though, the things that spur us to action are valuable, be they ‘negative’ or ‘positive’. And given the challenges that so many of us face making changes at all, I suggest you take any inspiration to improve your situation as helpful and creative. You have the option to see the humor in any situation; to not get too emotionally wound up; to merely experience any feeling as the motivation to act. Indeed, the fact that you may feel anger or frustration is likely the result of waiting.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Sometimes you’re slow on the uptake, but once you get something, you really get it. The thing about your intellect is that it’s tactile, and it’s becoming more so. You like the actual document and substantial proof over somebody’s say-so. You like to see the thing in question, or at least see a picture of it, rather than merely having a description. Mars joining the Sun in the brains/cognition/idea angle of your solar chart is inviting you to be assertive, inquisitive, curious and bold about learning what you want to learn. You’re invited to be passionate about what inspires you to creative action, and by passionate I mean feeling anywhere along the whole spectrum. Love your ideas for how they feel as much as what they say. Your mind is a kinesthetic thing; that is to say, your preference most days would be for having clay in your hands over a math problem, for going into the woods over going into the gym, and for sex over the idea of sex. In the words of old Uncle Fritz, lose your mind and come to your senses.