Horoscopes | Week of June 1-7, 2009

ARIES (March 21-April 19): When somebody maintains a rather fast pace for quite a while, as you Aries folks have over the past few months, a lot of the finer points get missed along the way. This is natural and to be expected. We covered this ground last week, but it begs to be repeated… especially now that it's time to go back through the dust you've been kicking up, to check for dangling commitments and unfiled paperwork and budgetary constraints coming due. Essentially, Aries, you must spend the next month or so following through on any promises made in the height of excited conversations, movings and groovings. In other words, it's time to close the deal, rather than assuming everything's already been said and done, even though the check is supposedly 'still in the mail' and not yet in your account so that your checks will be good to go. By the grace of Mars and Venus (and not without an underlying push from Pluto), you'll have the drive to make good on the opportunities you recently conjured, particularly over the next couple weeks, when staying firmly practical in your thinking will prevent possible mishaps from wreaking havoc on your dreams. That also means, alas, consciously pulling the car out of the fast lane, restricting how many ultimately unnecessary business dinners and networking events you attend so that you find many moments to do the less glamorous parts of the work. You've generated enough word-of-mouth for the time being. Now all you've got to do is prove your worthiness to those who will still be talking about you (don't worry about that) while you slip away to figure out how to manage it all.

 

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): During the earliest parts of the week, you can simply smile with a knowing glint in your eyes. Like the smug employee who's already decided to quit her job but hasn't yet let the cat out of the bag, you can easily grin and bear the usual annoyances… secretly clutching the confidence that, even if the surface appearance of events isn't displaying much difference from the way they've been for a while now, things are definitely changing. By midweek (say, Wednesday or Thursday), you will have allowed enough hours to pass—and other people's unconscious actions to transpire—that you'll be well set up to, once again after oh so long, proclaim what you will and won't stand for going forward. Do it with complete calm and composure, Taurus. You've earned this well-substantiated opportunity to reestablish the game plan in general, and your personal boundaries in particular, having (hopefully) held off for quite a long while to ensure your ethics were well thought-out and coming from the right place (rather than from petty righteous indignation). Between the second half of the week and the end of the next, you should feel free to unfurl all that you've kept tightly wound up inside… and, if you've been incubating as major a reorientation as I suspect, a whole lot of life development can happen in a rather short time. (Of course, it really won't have been that short, if you count all those months of secret consideration.)

 

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): It may seem somewhat unfair, in the cosmic roulette game of being, that you're just starting to experience an ultra-unmotivating sluggishness right as your birthday scene rolls around. It's possible, of course, you haven't even noticed your desire 'not to deal', if you've wallpapered it over with a regular evening lineup of cocktail, chocolate and/or reality TV—anything other than acute acknowledgment that, in fact, you've seen better days. This is a passing phenomenon, Gemini, like most everything proves itself to be, leaving you in something of a waiting stance for the time being. Just be kind to yourself, rather than cascading down a mental waterfall of things not going as you'd like… which is especially wasteful of your energy, seeing as it's highly unlikely you'll, right at this very moment, be able to control the status of very many of those things. The upcoming month is simply one of those periods during which it pays to remember the golden rule astrology is here to teach us: Everything has its time, which both comes and goes, if only we give it the chance. Rely strongly on your belief that this step will lead to the next, though you may currently struggle to sense any movement (let alone the productive kind). Virtual stillness is also an important step in any process, or how else would the caterpillar find time to transform into a butterfly? Contrary to the way the media portrays its duckling-into-swan makeovers, there's a lot of off-camera down-time that goes into those miracles.

 

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Stick with your friends and teammates, Cancer, even when the discussions turn tense and you aren't sure how to respond (because sometimes discussions do that)… even if you have to confront somebody about how their actions indeed affected everyone and not just themselves (because you really can't let it slide, can you?)… even in the event you'd rather go home and bake cookies to bring 'em tomorrow once they've cooled down, rather than continuing to sit there as they sputter and spit (because, actually, you display more care by sticking around in this ooginess)… and that, my friend, is what builds true trust in friendship and among teams. There is a reason why incoming military troops are put through such hell in their training process, after all—that willingness to stand by your comrades as you show each other the least flattering sides of your personalities ensure they will be there no matter what. No, we cannot all speak to each other in low soothing tones of voice. No, we cannot all agree to disagree and proceed as if the disagreement doesn't matter. And most of all, no, you mustn't say whatever you think will cut the conflict short the quickest, falsely presuming you ought to take on the burden yourself so as to unburden your pal, when he/she would not be pleased to learn you were only speaking out of emotional anxiety. If you've really got each other's back, then you're going to have to be stubborn about doing what's right for the whole group… which isn't necessarily what will make you feel better in the immediate awkward moment.

 

LEO (July 23-August 22): Far be it for me to school you, dear Leo, in how best to attract recognition from the world at large. You could probably write a highly instructive how-to book about getting noticed, and that too would reap you plenty of attention. But moving into a period where lots of eyes will be on you, I want you to up your game a bit… and consider what exactly you hope to get noticed for. Needless to say, I have a few things to say about that. One smart strategy is to focus on branding yourself as a highly reliable and loyal person, someone who has been working to attain certain goals for quite a long time and isn't likely to turn around and quit the second a newer, hipper interest comes along. This is a quality that's, sadly, in short supply these days. Along a similar line, another good trait to stress is a certain consistency in personality, so that people will know to expect the same thing from you tomorrow that they got from you today. Nobody warms up to a fast-talker who, as anyone can tell simply by looking, won't follow through with the goods they're promising out of both sides of their mouth. And be careful not to bank too much security on the sanctity of a certain relationship—say, the person who's getting your foot in the door or the interviewer with whom you have an innocently flirty rapport—as interpersonal connections can often prove more fleeting than overall life aspirations. Most of all, though, be ready to work your ass off, both in front of and behind the cameras. You can draw a lot of positive renown through the efforts of your next six weeks or so, but not nearly as much if you keep taking your eye off the ball.

 

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): This week is a major turning-point for you, Virgo, in that you've hit the moment where you must make something of your past few months' passions and/or perturbations… or you'll merely prove yourself to be a glutton for punishment, for no other reason than masochistic pleasure. Okay, maybe that opening sentence is a bit heavy-handed, but no less true. Now that your solar 9th house will be getting all the planetary action, you're due to reach a higher understanding of what this has all meant to your ever-developing character… how it's inspired you toward or away from certain types of activities, because they boost or undermine your sense of being proud and morally stable. On the chance your recent past has been disorienting or demoralizing in some way, this is your moment to take a dramatic step in the other direction. It almost doesn't matter where that step takes you, as long as it'll provide a vastly different backdrop for evaluating your life as a whole (not just this past period in hyper-magnification). Maybe now is the time to get back in touch with a magical motivating presence from your past? to launch into that new activity you've been curious about? to plan a transformational getaway? And even if your recent past has instead been enchanting and captivating, you still have to find a way to bring it back down to earth… to sustain what you've gained from it, without continuing to overlook other parts of your being that have been temporarily pushed aside. In any event, you've got to bring everything together again—for your own unity of being and meaning. Otherwise, you're basically living multiple realities, which breeds disintegration—not integration—of self.

 

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): There's nothing casual about it anymore. Those jerky yanks on your insides, Libra, are bodily signs that your deepest feelings are being activated in a big way… whether in terror or desire, anger or adoration, or some complicated cocktail of them all. Resistance is futile. You've already bought your tickets to this thrill-seeker's performance, and once the show's begun (which it clearly already has), the doors remain locked for the duration. Let's be grown-up about this, then, and resign ourselves to dwelling in this almost-too-much, total-and-complete absorption for at least a month more… no matter what it currently feels like. In the best-case scenario, you are just now succumbing to the undertow and, overpowering all prior attempts to keep your head above water and one arm ashore for safety's clutch, you're immersing yourself in the experience. Bravo to you! The loss of control is terrifying, but the surest way to touch interpersonal bliss. In the worst-case scenario, alas, you are stuck fighting for your life against powers that seek to keep you enmeshed in their psychological game… only you also volunteered to play this game and, even if you just walked your ass through the exit and onto the next plane out of there, you'd still have several final moves left to make to fully extricate yourself. Regardless, you simply cannot pretend it's all 'fine and dandy'. It's either way dandier than 'fine'… or not the slightest bit fine at all.

 

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): It's been many weeks since I laid down a work-plan for you, courtesy of an active 6th house in your solar chart making April and May excellent months for accomplishing a loaded slate of to-dos. Well, Scorpio, you've probably forgotten all about that by now… and with good reason, considering that your relationship life (whether romantic, friend or professional in nature) has begun lighting up, pulling your attention toward issues and activities you can share with another person. Here's hoping you did get a lot done when the doing was favored, since I expect your mind to be elsewhere—namely, on a certain person who maybe began pulling your attention away a few weeks back, but who's now taking on a much more central role in your day-to-day existence. The good news I have: I cannot come up with any compelling reason why you shouldn't explore who this person is, what you have to offer each other, and where this all could be going. Just be aware, however, that even subtly unassuming steps made toward this relationship can't help but make unspoken statements of a certain greater magnitude. (In other words, everything seems loaded.) If none of this relationship hullaballoo is speaking to you, alas, then the astro-action could play out in a different way: through other people (and one in particular) getting in your path and under your skin, no matter which direction you turn. In that case, be careful with how you set out to 'put an end to it'. Again, supposedly subtle motions will speak volumes, possibly even creating adversaries out of harmlessly annoying individuals.

 

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): For the next several weeks, Sagittarius, your assignment is to regain your footing (or at least your sense of footing, if you only feel like you've lost ground) after a confounding phase of wheels spinning furiously but seemingly having taken you nowhere fast. The story now entering your frame is decidedly other than that one, my dear. If you'll briefly review last week's edition, you'll see how much liberty you've already been granted, both to be grumpy about how things weren't going your way and to react against the flusteredness with frivolity. Hopefully, it's all out of your system by this point. You have some serious building (or rebuilding) effort to put in… but, as I see it, not in any thankless time-wasting manner. No, you actually possess great potential to move huge heaps of stuff from the undifferentiated 'to do' pile into the various sectors of properly sorted and attended-to achievements. June is all about the work, people. Yet, I'm still struggling to convey this information to you in a way that doesn't immediately turn you off or spin you back into reactive 'fuck everything!' mode. The truth is, when I imagine you toiling away, you are actually happy about it… or if not happy, then surely relieved. While your fed-up-ness may have recently caused you to put up a brave front, acting as if you're not going to let yourself get down over the mundane crap of life, you do in fact care. Nobody likes to feel like they've somehow 'fallen behind'. Just in the nick of time, you finally have a chance to catch up.

 

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): 'Look at me! I'm out in the world again, being me! Not some facsimile I've created, to stand guard while I privately muddle through the inner demons I keep alive to torture myself… a facsimile that has recently been allowed to assume center-stage, since I just haven't had it in me. Enough with those cobwebs! Enough with "playing nice" for the cameras! Now that I'm finally feeling like myself again, I'm ready to scream it from the rooftops… only in a more standard Capricornian fashion, with less fanfare and more restrained grace and wit. Still, it's my version of starring in the show, and I'll do it my way, thank you very much. By the way, this is me talking, so I'm not sure what advice I'd give to myself… as if there were something I was "supposed" to be doing. Haven't we all had enough of that, for crying out loud? Aren't we ready to grab the reins and pull the whole horse-and-buggy toward whatever destination we want (not "ought") to go? I promise to be louder, sillier, more outrageous and less withdrawn than I've been for a few months now. I promise to tell you what I really think. I promise to stop downplaying my personal strength, my powerful opinions and accidental ability to intimidate people who don't know how to respond to my, er, edge. Why should I? I'm ecstatic to be back in the saddle again, and I'll be damned if I'm going to bite my tongue or clench my jaw, now that the time for outside excitement has finally returned to my astro-domain. Look at me! I'm a Capricorn: Not as staid and serious as you might've falsely assumed, and far more of a kick-in-the-pants than even I sometimes recall!'

 

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): I made a brief allusion to this trend in last week's episode, but I'm going to be more direct this time around. With Venus soon to join Mars in your solar 4th, you're moving into a less out-and-about and more in-and-away state of being… which means the place you consider home (whether it's your literal dwelling, your town of origin, or an abstract sense of comfort) is due to become more and more appealing a zone of retreat. It also means, likelier than not, you'll be drawn to the pillowy nurturance of home because the stresses of the outer world are beginning to feel like 'too much'. ('Too much of what?' isn't such a bad question to ponder, either.) All of this is perfectly understandable, Aquarius. Not only have the past few months required, more often than not, an extra amount of being 'on' socially, but you're also under the ongoing influence of Jupiter, Neptune and Chiron conjoined in your chart, which holds the potential to make you more open, sensitive and vulnerable than usual (a recipe for needing more time alone to recharge your batteries). In case you can't tell, then, I am endorsing your drive toward further privacy and self-care… and encouraging you to enjoy the time you spend in your homiest place. That said, if home doesn't feel terribly comforting or peaceful, I urge you not to forgive its falling short. Demand a certain level of respect for yourself by demanding a certain level of comfort in your domestic sphere. It may take one uncomfortable or non-peaceful moment of action, in fact, to then achieve what you really want to relax into.

 

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Down with heavy vibes! Off with the heads of the 'poor me' brigade! Away with that nagging case of the mopes! You and I both know how susceptible you are to fruitless melancholy, especially when left by your lonesome to pine away for the perfect world that you and I both know will never exist. But thankfully, Pisces, we also know how easily influenced you are by the emotional states of other people… which can work to your definite advantage this week and next, as long as you surround yourself with the kinds of folks well attuned to movin' right along, despite the fact that plenty of things in their lives are imperfect or incomplete or perpetually falling short of their ideals. It's called life, after all, because you've got to be out living it if you want to legitimately have one. It almost doesn't matter what you do, darling, as long as you're doing alongside somebody who's likely to talk your ear off (in a good way) and get you talking right back, about anything other than the morbid thoughts you'd otherwise entertain, were you to indulge your faulty fantasy that you only want to be left alone, Garbo-style. Let yourself be swayed by the contagious moods of perennial optimists (even if you can't help but suspect they've got some wishful naïveté at play). Take each moment as it comes, knowing that if there's one thing you can count on from other people, it's their endless knack for surprising you with the offbeat things they say.