Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, #1029 | By Eric Francis

Aries (March 20-April 19) — The holidays are rapidly approaching, and most people are thinking about what fun they are going to have. I suggest you keep your focus on what you’re going to accomplish. Aspects for the next few weeks strongly favor productivity, career and achievement. You might feel some tension between these two aspects of life. I suggest you apply the concept of structure and boundaries to resolve that tension. Devote specific times to spend with friends and family, and then focus on the great strides you can make, and are indeed making, in this rare moment. Keep your focus and you can ride this energy quite a long way to some unusual success. One word of caution: alcohol will not help you right now. Keep your drinking moderate to not at all. If you are going to drink, please follow the suggestion of a politician I worked for: stay three drinks behind the crowd.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Keep a balance between your outer life and your inner life. This may be just a bit tricky, because there is so much happening in your internal world while the seemingly outer world is inviting you to take action in some bold way. The two are not at odds. Your relationship with the people and events around you is driven by your inner reality. To some extent this is true for everyone, but it’s especially true for you now. I suggest you focus inwardly and make sure you know your priorities. Make sure you’re at peace with yourself, which may mean finding harmony with feeling so driven and passionate. When you express that outwardly, cool it off just a little. Strive for cooperation. Set the example of working with others and distributing the workload. But be the keeper of your vision, and then relate that vision to others in a way they can clearly understand and help you develop.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Concern yourself with one thing only — clear agreements. Watch your tendency to be self-sacrificing, which is probably an outgrowth of feeling like you’re the less powerful person in business or joint financial situations. You may notice a tendency to respond to those in power in a rebellious way — I strongly suggest you keep a lid on that. If someone proposes something that makes no sense, ask them for clarification. If something you’re expected to do or to go along with explicitly contradicts your values, then state that in a respectful way. Remember that every person has their own customs, as does every culture. Some of them make absolutely no sense, but are harmless enough. Some are toxic. You must have the maturity to know the difference. And remember never to sign any agreement that you’re not absolutely certain you can fulfill. People sometimes put some crazy things into contracts. Read carefully. Be alert at all times.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Plenty is confronting you right now. Unless you find this much action to be totally thrilling, you might just want to crawl into the closet. The thing is, you’re in control. You are in command of your life. I know there’s a long list of gurus who would disagree with that statement. It is of course relative to your circumstances. Suffice it to say you have the power of decision in your hands. Everything coming at you, each thing, is an opportunity. You don’t need to accept all of them or any of them. The important thing is that you actively decide what you want, from among the options that you have. While you’re doing this, I suggest you maintain a high level of self-respect. You are worthy of any opportunity that comes your way. You have the experience and the natural talent to handle it. This is why you must choose carefully.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — You may feel like you have to hold up the sky in a partnership or marriage. Your role is indeed integral to the situation, though leave the work of supporting heaven to the gods. You have plenty of ordinary human work to get done, though you would benefit by applying various techniques of coordination, cooperation and delegation. Yet you need to be the organizing principle, supplying the core intelligence that will get the job done. Think of the delegation of authority as something you give to someone, and then take back when the task is complete. As long as the task is delegated and not complete, you’re still on the hook. Hence follow-through is essential to that ‘core intelligence’ role. So too is structure, and the conscious use of time. Just don’t make the error of feeling like you’re in this alone. There is plenty of support around you; you just need to ask.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — You seem to be in a titanic struggle with your own boundaries. It’s as if some force inside you is trying to break free of every inner constraint you’ve ever lived with, and some outer shell is trying to hold you together, fearing what might happen if you really let go. This is a head-trip. The thing you’re experiencing is a self-concept; an idea about who you are rather than the actual thing you truly are. These ideas can be powerful. We live in the age of self-identification; the whole “I identify as” trip is running at full throttle, and of course, there is an ocean of difference between self-concept and self. It may be an ocean that you’re trying to protect yourself from, because if you open up, you’re going to set sail on the vast sea of experience. This will indeed reveal that any narrow self-identity cannot withstand the uncontainable truth of who you are. If you’re tempted to cling, and notice that it hurts, then feel — and experience.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Gee, it looks like you’re expecting company. Or like you’re headed to a family reunion. Or like the family reunion is headed to you. Ok, that doesn’t exactly qualify as spot-on clairvoyance with Kwanzaa, Christmas
and Hanukkah coming up, though it is a fair reading of your chart. That symbolic picture looks like a collection of every relative and ancestor you ever had is sitting at your kitchen table. Not the formal dining room — I mean stuffed into the kitchen, up against the stove, with bread in the oven. It looks like a collection of characters of wit or at least wisdom, including Uncle Ralph with his dirty jokes, cousin Martha who still after all these decades wears a mini skirt in December, and the presence of many people who have sat around that table in years past who are now memories. Even if that gathering does not come to you, then go to it — and bring someone who’s never been among your tribe before. They will notice many things invisible to you.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.” “It was love at first sight.” “I have never begun a novel with more misgiving.” “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.” “You better not never tell nobody but God.” Every story begins with a single line, a statement of the truth as it is in that moment. No matter how complex the scenario, nor how many people are involved, nor how ordinary or strange, to tell the story, one must begin — and you surely have a story to tell. It seems to be bursting from your mind and aching to be expressed. There is so much that it may seem impossible. Yet I would encourage you to begin. You might find this better done with an older kind of writing — a pen or pencil on the page rather than an electronic device. This will foster a sense of seclusion rather than the idea that everything is public the moment you write it.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — The Sun is about to leave your sign and Saturn is about to arrive. This is like your Bar Mitzvah, only it’s the real thing. You are being reminded that you are an actual woman or man, someone who is capable of taking your destiny into your hands. That capability, that capacity or potential, is now ready to express itself through you. Be prepared to take life more seriously, which will require you to keep your sense of humor on at all times. Prepare to leave the swirling chaos of past years behind you. Get ready to draw some lines, and to work within those lines, which will help you concentrate your energy. Don’t be fooled by the idea that boundaries and timeframes are in some way limiting. For you in particular, they are the assurance of surpassing your limitations. You are someone for whom anything is possible — that is a core self-concept you possess. Now you’re about to demonstrate that it’s true.

 

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — All of this and many other things shall be revealed. Like, in the next three days or so. I would say you’re approaching the single most interesting moment of self-discovery of your life, but you’ve had a few of those lately. Still, one builds on the next. And it helps if you’ve cleared some debris out of the way, which you have done. One of the most intriguing things about your current chart is the blend of chaste purity and unfettered lust. You may be thinking you’re having some kind of identity crisis. Like, how can both of these things be true? It’s not that they can be true; rather, it’s essential that they be true at the same time. They are opposites that support and affirm one another’s existence. They are options that you can choose from at any time, and live in for extended periods of time. The White path and the Red path are simultaneous realities and they both lead to the same place — to yourself.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Don’t let the pressure get to you. Rather, have fun with it. I know that’s easier said than done, sometimes. I know you may not like to admit that you can thrive under pressure — and you do appreciate some serenity. Now, however, is the time to flourish as the psychic barometer rises. Using some tools will help. One of them will be structuring your time. Another will be setting priorities. Another will be getting enough sleep every night. This may be the most important resource you have, because you’re going to be processing a lot of events and developments in your sleep, some of which will come through boldly. Others will come through as impressions. Then I suggest you set specific, attainable goals. Leave extra time, like a 20% fudge factor, so that you apply time structure in a way that supports you rather than in a way that overwhelms you. A deadline is not the due date — it’s a container for how much time you have to get something done, plus or minus 20%.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — The theme of your charts continues to shift to the achievement and recognition areas, in a big way. In a few days, Saturn makes contact with the professional angle of your chart, your 10th house. While there is no automatic success, this at least is saying that your efforts will add up to some solid accomplishments, beginning now and over the next three years. At the same time, planets are rapidly gathering in Capricorn and on Sunday there will be a rather amazing New Moon right on the solstice. This describes your role in your community, and the important role of collaborators. What is interesting about the supposedly spacey and pleasure-seeking sign Pisces is the way that your solar chart describes your investment in organizations, culture and society. Indeed, the placement of Capricorn suggests that you’re a practical visionary, and this factor is coming through like thunder right now. Yes, there is work to do — though every day you will know that work is making a difference and adding up to something much larger than is obvious.