Aries (March 20-April 19) — You certainly have plenty to do and you’re motivated to get it done. What’s essential is that you bring your imagination to your work rather than just your time, effort and focus. There’s a purpose to what you’re doing, and the way to keep in contact with that purpose is to allow in the creative element all the time. This may run contrary to what colleagues and coworkers are doing; they seem to have ideas of their own, and they may seem obsessed with something that misses the mark. Therefore, you’re the person who must interject the element of that special something that keeps the project meaningful. Be subtle about this. There are ways to add the magic elixir that are not quite obvious, though you do have the advantage of understanding the original purpose of whatever you’re doing. That said, and collaborations aside for a moment, this can be an incredibly productive and, moreover, creative month for you. Make sure you leave yourself enough time and space to focus on your own individual priorities, both professional and creative. Don’t let work commitments siphon off all your energy, ideas and motivation; make sure you take a little something home every night after work, and that you focus on your own priorities. That means projects, but it also means people — especially after Mercury stations direct on the 9th.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Regarding your work-related endeavors, make sure you include the most important element: yourself. You seem to be involved in a project that leaves out some essential element of your talent. Only you can incorporate that; it’s the essence of professionalism in a field where you care about what you’re doing. It’s not up to bosses, editors, directors or colleagues to make that happen. Only you can show up with that one ingredient that only you can bring. Alternately, it may be that you’re seeking to add this element to your life and work, and now is an excellent time to do that — especially if you’re interested in getting paid for your creativity. Seen one way, your charts tell the story of ‘professionalizing’ your innate talents. Most people take the opposite approach — they sell out on what they really want to do, and put all their energy into what they think will support them financially. You cannot and must not compromise here, but that runs in two directions. The first is making sure that you consider what you love the most as a viable job. The other is making sure that you bring your most authentic creativity into whatever you do, as a day-to-day discipline. That means putting love, care and real ideas into whatever you touch. Purpose is inherent in who you are, and it can be inherent in everything that you do.

 

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — If you’re looking for that brilliant idea that’s going to ring the bell, you’re heading in the right direction (though it may not seem that way). Proceed with mindfulness and take the approach of doing things one step at a time. Be meticulous. Do not skip steps, especially involving communication with collaborators. If you find something that needs fixing, get to it now, so that it’s not there to distract or delay you in the future. You may not believe it now, but you’re working toward something that’s on a larger scale than you’re accustomed to. You are doing something that has the ability to resonate with others, and you may have been working toward this for a long time. It may be a new project, or it may be an existing one (dating back up to 18 months or so) whose time has come. I suggest you experiment with both existing and new projects and see what resonates. That’s the concept to work with — resonance. This same astrology may involve a relationship, and if it does, the resonance I’m talking about is specifically creative-erotic. I am not saying romantic. I’m not saying soulmate. I’m not saying hookup. I’m saying that rare morph of adventurous, nourishing pleasure that is available to you just about everywhere and with more people than you might imagine. Though few will admit it, this is the good stuff. Really good.

 

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — The developing theme of your charts is about writing, which is great if you consider yourself a writer. Under that scenario, the next year of your life can be a bonanza of collecting on long-delayed ideas, stories you’ve been brewing, or projects that have needed that extra burst of energy or resources to make them happen. I would remind you that there is a confidence issue you’re working with — and it’s one that you’re finally in a position to work out. Seen one way, I’m talking about having faith in yourself. But there is a practical element involved. Confidence is the elusive state of mind where you align your motivation, your abilities and a specific idea that you want to express. The keyword is specific. Specific as opposed to generic, vague, foggy or uncertain. Work with focus and precision on the idea, or element of an idea, that you’re developing. Give it time and patience. Work with the past and not against it. I would remind you that, though you may not fancy yourself a writer or even an idea person, the digital environment has swallowed us all like high tide at the Bay of Fundy. We walk, breathe and swim in a universe of ideas, of words, of images and of communication. To be a massage therapist you must be your own publicist. Ride with that tide.

 

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You have the opportunity over the next two months to reorganize and align your finances with your true purpose in life. This is sometimes called integrity. I would second that motion. Along the way to doing this, the details matter — and they matter quite a bit. If you pretend they’re not a factor or skip them over, you will get results in the short term but undermine yourself in the long run. What you now have is the potential to establish yourself financially as a well-rooted perennial plant, more like a tree and less like a marigold. As you do this, it’s essential that you be mindful of self-limiting ideas and habits. It’s true that you’re a Leo and that your planet is really the star at the center of the solar system. But you have a way of thinking in miniature. Miniature works just fine as long as it’s intended as a test, or as a scale model of something larger. So think in terms of scale, and how you might develop an idea into something that reaches farther and wider than you’re accustomed to working. One priority over the next year is going to be improving your income, and you seem strongly inclined to do this on the ‘right livelihood’ approach to existence. This is possible, though it takes a combination of intelligence, actual thought, courage and action.

 

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Jupiter is now in your sign — joined by Venus and Mars. You have every reason to feel good about yourself, though it would seem that in recent weeks you’ve either had your doubts, or you’ve committed to letting go of them. What exactly is this about? One thing to keep an eye on is your concern about others disrupting your life, or the power of their personality dominating you. This can have a way of making you feel like less than who and what you are, which in turn can have a way of making you doubt yourself or your value in someone’s eyes. Here is the thing: the force of others’ personalities will be an increasing factor in your life for the foreseeable future. You will need to respond consciously — and you have options. The most important one is to learn how to engage people who intimidate you in conversation. I recognize that society is being swallowed by utter panic at the mere thought of going off-script, though this is an art you must master. Once you get good at engaging these high-energy personalities in a dialog, they will cease to be scary. The other bit is being comfortable with people who express desire for you. You have many options for how to respond; though among them, fear is neither useful, helpful nor empowering. Many better choices exist.

 

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — One theme of the past couple of years that is worth considering is the way in which you’ve had to dismantle your ideas about relationships. Most people cling to their relational concepts with little or no thought; many circumstances have conspired to make that nearly impossible for you. The absence of predictability has compelled you to stay in the moment, seemingly as a matter of survival. We are all under enormous pressure to conform to rules of relating that few people have actually thought through and that most people violate. What’s vital is that you honor your actual tendencies in relationships. Not what you think you should do, or what others told you that you should do, but what you actually want and how you actually feel. If you’re paying attention you will see that this is an evolving set of values, and in truth every relationship is the result of an energy pattern you make with another person. Which brings us to a deeper question — your relationship to yourself. It’s now vital that you remember that how you treat yourself matters. It sets the tone for the rest of your life. There are facets of this understanding that have come with difficult lessons, ones that it’s not necessary to repeat, if you would remember them. They point to something much better — the joy of being your own person.

 

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Messages coming from your solar chart suggest you’re being called on some bold adventures. Yet you may be feeling some tension between your desire to create something beautiful and your fear of being judged or seen through, or the feeling that you’re faking something. The only way to get beyond that kind of paradox is to take a chance on yourself. At a certain point you will need to decide that who you are is beyond judgment and reproach, which is another way of saying that you’re not worried what people think about you or what you do. But you cannot have it both ways; you can’t transcend judgment and also respond to people as if they’re your parents. Therefore, if you’re going to create something, or feel something, you would need to give yourself enough space to feel and think and be, without stepping in as your own critic before you’re even finished. An example of this would be choosing not to do something because you know it won’t come out well. The way to take another path is to allow yourself to be guided by your own curiosity, without concerning yourself in advance with what you will find. Rather, take each discovery as it comes, and consider what it teaches you; consider its particular pleasure or invitation to something deeper. The art studio and the gallery are different things with different purposes.

 

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Saturn is now in your sign, which in a word is about maturity. As you experience the effects, the benefits and the challenges of this transit (which will last until late 2017), remember something — the world is in a crisis of maturity. Perhaps in the past too much was made of the requirement to grow up and be an adult. Today too little is made of it. Particularly in the United States, and to a growing extent in other countries, we are encouraged to stay immature and to overlook anything that requires serious thought or self-reflection. This is a self-serving scenario — like frat boys encouraging one another to drink, the better to pretend it’s not a problem. There are ways in which Saturn will seem to limit you, to hamper your freedom and to rein in your choices. This will help you factor out what is not necessary. There is an essential benefit to the efficiency and focus that you will gain under this transit. The one truly valuable gift you can give yourself is to be your own authority. It may not seem so thrilling today, but in the end you will be grateful that you’ve stepped up to the honor of taking responsibility for your own choices, your own necessities, your own idea of who you are and what you want to become. If you let that guide you, you will do brilliantly. Remember: Saturn always gives more than it takes away.

 

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Consider the concept of inner freedom — that is, the freedom to be honest about who you are and what you feel within the space of your own thoughts. This is typically the first freedom sacrificed to control-devices such as shame and guilt. Often these sacrifices are passed down the generations like some precious inheritance, only to leave people bound and hampered and barely able to move around the world. Saturn moving into Sagittarius, your solar 12th house, describes a phase of your life when you can and indeed must reclaim your inner freedom. By this I mean freedom from dysfunctional beliefs, denial, religiosity, guilt and false ideas of purity. I also mean freedom to think and feel what you want within the sanctity of your own mind, undaunted by the many expectations that have been put upon you, and that you’ve often internalized. I reckon that in learning to give yourself the freedom to actually be yourself, you will hold sacred the freedom of others to be themselves. In encountering such a profound inner confrontation, I reckon you will observe that the meeting places between different people are small, and delicate, and deserve to be honored. As you learn to honor your own distinction, your own difference from others, you will honor their difference from you and, in the process, finally recognize how much you have in common.

 

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — There is a place for you in the world. There’s a place for everyone who wants one. The reason why is that the world is constantly changing, if for no other reason than people die and are born every day. What seems to remain consistent are the patterns of society, but even those change, if ever so slowly. Your role is to establish patterns that are consistent with your ideas and your approach to life, recognizing the imminent necessities of our moment — and to do this in the public forum known as the culture. As you proceed, there are two things to be mindful of. One is that the most essential patterns to observe and work with are in your own mind. The mind truly is a microcosm of family, of society and of the global condition, all of which are in upheaval now. Second is that rather than innovating something new, you’re more likely to be updating something traditional, something well-established or time-honored. You are taking something that has already existed and modifying it for a new context. Originality is not an actual value, since nearly everything is derivative. Yet the retrieval of something functional, something that works, in a new context, is original enough for anyone whose goal is to get the job done rather than to make a splash. There is work to do. Do it well, and work joyfully.

 

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — You have recently passed through one phase of an initiation, which had the effect of demonstrating your commitment to the truth. I don’t mean The Truth in some mystical sense, but rather your commitment to what you know. This initiation will last for a while, and proceed as you take on ever-greater challenges in the world. I suggest you consciously embrace and love every minute, day, week and month of it. As a Pisces you tend to take things on faith. This, however, creates some famously skeptical people, who are in reaction. I suggest you view the faith versus fact issue as an equation where both sides will eventually balance. If something is valid and authentic, it will probably stand up both to a test of faith and also to an examination of the data. Probably, but not definitely. There are times when a set of facts will point to an absurd conclusion, and times when faith will bear out a point of view that is otherwise not supported by known reality. You must therefore be gentle and avoid coming to quick conclusions. The beauty of your sign is that it grants the ability to be circumspect, which means to look around the whole circle of existence. Keep an open mind, and pay attention to what both your senses and your intuition tell you. In general, pay attention.