Thursday Night Horoscope for Jan. 9, 2020 (#1272)

Aries (March 20-April 19) — It is not your position or your reputation that grants you influence. It is your ability to relate to others on their own terms. This may not mean a lot today, though over the next few months, you would be wise to make this a way of life. Pluto moving through your 10th house since 2008 has emphasized your desire to climb professionally. Though there have been plenty of shakeups between then and now, it is likely you’re in a much more solid position than you were a decade ago. Saturn moving through the same territory has only emphasized the point. However, let’s consider a bit of wider background. While you aspire to be a fair-minded person, let’s set this into context. Throughout the duration of Pluto in Capricorn (2008-present), the world has experienced the popularization of the power grab, and it’s getting old. Step ahead of the trend. Prepare yourself to become an innovator and teacher of cooperation and collaboration.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Once you figure out that your old beliefs no longer hold water, much less serve you, it’s time to live on different terms. What you’re now discovering is that you must write your own constitution. This is a restless time for you, perhaps even a revolutionary moment. You are starting to feel your potential in a whole new way. And you know the rules and limits that were instilled in you as a child simply do not serve your purposes, or make sense in any objective way. It is fair to say this is a moment of breaking free for you, even if you’re not sure what that means. Yet it is vital to your nature to have an investment in tradition. If you’re doing the most innovative experimental theater, read Shakespeare. If you’re creating an avant-garde music experiment, listen to Mozart. Your role is to keep a certain tradition alive, rather than to abandon it.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — Friday’s eclipse of the Moon aligns exactly with your ruling planet Mercury; this is a personal message for you. One of the themes of your life for many long seasons has been figuring out why people seem to hold so much power over you. This may have come in the form of financial situations, sexual relationships, employment situations and other scenarios when you were least expecting it. It is now clear that you must be your own advocate, and moreover, must understand what it means to give your power away. Once you have a clue about that, it’s a lot easier to stop doing so, and to claim it back. To do that, you need your own internal moral guidance. You must know what is right and true for you, and not fall prey to the guilt trips and traps that others lay for you. It’s essential that you study the agendas of others, and work with that information. Then you need a plan of your own.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Friday’s lunar eclipse in your sign is a magnificent opportunity to redefine yourself, in concept, in word, in deed and in reality. An element of this is letting go of some vexing emotional attachment from the past. Indeed, you must commit fully to the past no longer defining you. This is, of course, the great challenge of the spiritual path and that of self-actualization. You know by now that you are a person with a mission. You now have a focused calling. It is the invitation to rise to a challenge. What is easy and familiar is most likely representative of the past. What seems laden with obstacles is also likely to be part of the done deal of history. Hear your calling and take up your mission joyfully. Commit to leadership in the form of living your life well and truly. Remember that everything you do, down to the smallest decision, sets an example for others — and they are watching.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — By now you’re aware that your personal healing journey is the theme of your existence. You must take what you’ve learned in these years and reduce it down to a few basic guidelines. Speaking as someone who aspires to be gluten free on the parts-per-million level, I know both how challenging this is at first, and then how liberating it is once mastered. ‘Mastered’ means that it becomes a central organizing principle of my life. This is what I am talking about, in terms of how you organize your own efforts at self-care. It must begin with self-awareness: monitoring how you feel, what your body is telling you, and awareness of your limits. Speaking of limits, those are often talked down, though they too become a structure for accomplishment, because they compel you to set priorities and focus your activity. This is something you can get better and better at, which will multiply your efficiency and effectiveness, and help you feel good.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — I believe that the central Virgo quest, or struggle, or challenge, is that of aligning with your self-expression for its own sake. You may not even know what this feels like, or it may have taken you many years to figure it out. The current momentous astrology is pointing to a breakthrough. This is less about waking up a musician, a poet or a painter, and more about making contact with your vitality. Removing or clearing any seemingly minor blockage can go a long way toward increasing your flow of energy. It will help if you get the message to stop resisting yourself. Do whatever you do with your full attention, your full intention, and just enough passion. Balance out your activity in the moment with your awareness of a goal; you need both, so that you’re working within a wider context. The more creativity you allow through you, the less isolated you will feel.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Our once-in-a-lifetime astrology is the perfect setup for an earthquake, and it happens to be taking place in the lower region of your chart, where you make contact with the ground. And that ground may be shaking right now, or it may be tense, and you may be wondering what you’re going to do about it. You don’t have to do anything, really, though it would help if you ask yourself one question. That would be the one about what it means to feel safe in a world that is rife with one change after the next. You know your confidence must come from you and only you. You’ve been through enough tests and trials and tribulations to have built up a well of confidence. You have learned that your personal foundations are stronger than anything in this world. Now, you are free to face the future with a sense of optimism, knowing you can rise brilliantly to any challenge.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — The time has arrived when you must be driven by your own motives and your own necessities. And when you engage that, you can expect to meet some resistance. That might come in the form of an overt rebellion, or what seems like some sly form of betrayal. What is crucial is that you not betray yourself or your own cause. You are at a point where you must get all self-destructive tendencies under control. You do not have a lot of wiggle room here, not if you want to see at least some of your most cherished goals come to fruition. “I have a weakness for that” is not an excuse; it is an alert. Eventually, you will come to love the feeling of success more than submitting to emotional games, unwholesome habits (whether of thought, or physical), or having days when you don’t give a toss. This is a significant time in your life, rivaling any and all others. Stay awake.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Mars in your birth sign is pumping you full of confidence and drive. Neptune in Pisces is a well of uncertainty and insecurity that keeps on hassling you. You get to decide which one is the true voice. Our particular moment of astrology is sending you a bold, clear message: you must live for what you know to be true, for you. Be aware of when you make small compromises, which will no doubt be based on some fear or insecurity. Pay attention to your decision-making process. Notice, as well, who in your environment inspires your self-confidence, and who drains your energy and brings you down. You have a choice about whom you associate with. You have a choice of whose energy you allow to affect you. Note that you are most susceptible to infiltration by family and in domestic situations. This is not exactly late-breaking news for the human race. The big news would be how you respond.