Horoscopes | Week of January 23-29, 2017

ARIES (March 21-April 19): As you're on the verge of a major energetic transition, from a sort of limbo to feverishly racing out of the gate and back into action, please first take a moment to mindfully connect with your gratitude for the cycles of life which have recently assigned you this segment of down-time, Aries. Your ruling instigator Mars returns to your sign late on Friday (Jan 27), immediately infusing your physical self with a fiery charge of initiative and gumption… a systemic fueling-up which endures well into March and, when viewed together with the other upcoming astrological goings-on, presents you your best window for starting shit up, moving things along, and fighting for your most-desired outcomes in all of '17. These weeks ahead are ideally suited for the Aries soul, as they'll demand instinctive action, on-the-spot courage, and a pioneering spirit that's eager to tread new ground or engage unfamiliar circumstances. Be very glad, then, you've had this time to rest, renew, and rejuvenate. In embracing this shift toward increased bravery and boldness, one of your first orders of business is to speak the inconvenient truth to power… knowing full well there may be no going back to your prior (disempowered?) status.

 

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Once Mars makes it to your 12th by the week's end, Taurus, you'll be entering a period best navigated with relative inactivity, comparative retreat from public prominence, and temporary suspension of efforts to 'get anywhere' other than where you already are. This astro-weather will carry through the second week of March, an interval which also brings a pair of eclipses sure to rouse any currently-still-developing circumstances to some sort of climax… and, still, your task of staying somewhat hands-off (at least in terms of attempting to direct the developments rather than simply responding to them) won't change. Therefore, in preparation for this phase, I suggest spending this week shoring up two main life-components: (1) Again, reiterate (to yourself and those in your orb-of-influence) which overall direction you're headed in life, what driving beliefs and ethical stances underscore that choice, and what, as a result, you're unwilling to accept. That will guide you in assessing potential responses in the weeks to come. (2) Expressly reach out to your best friends and closest colleagues, alerting them to what's going on with you, flashing them your vulnerability, and asking them to help keep you lifted during this time.

 

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Trying to play to the center, blend into a crowd, or maintain diplomatic neutrality are not strategies liable to work so well, Gemini, now that Mars is entering your 11th. You're being pressed to take a stand that, likelier than not, will put you at distinct odds with a certain sector of folks… or else your unwillingness to do so is just as likely to rankle those who suspect an unvoiced opinion is lurking beneath your shoulder-shrug noninterference, which still puts you at odds with certain people. Your current astrology does continue to favor discomfiting frankness, partisan loyalty, and eyes-wide-open acceptance of the corresponding social consequences over any attempt to rescue affiliations, allegiances, or relationships at the expense of principle or truth. Rather than fixate on those questionable connections or uncertain bonds which may warp under the weight of your unrestrained testimony or unapologetic position, I suggest investing positive attention in those friends and relations which are effortlessly in sync with what you're putting forth. You need one another's support, after all, to strengthen your collective resolve… so you may continue effectively engaging an at-times-painful reality you can't avoid responding to.

 

CANCER (June 21-July 22): First things first, Cancer. With Mercury finally forming the conjunction to Pluto in your 7th that it initially flirted with a month ago (i.e., pre-retrograde), you're now at the appropriate point for speaking any 'final words' on an interpersonal matter that's been on your mind a while now. When I use the phrase 'final words', I'm not insinuating these will be the last sentiments you ever utter to the person-in-question—though, if that's what the circumstance suggests, they might be—but, rather, that they should be decisive and dauntless and thorough, so nobody could legitimately claim they didn't get where you were coming from. Moving on from there, and beginning in earnest next workweek, Mars's entry into your 10th ushers in a forthcoming several weeks ideal for effortfully pushing ahead with your career goals and/or other big outside-life aspirations. This is your astrologically-ordained moment for stepping out from the sidelines and up to center-stage, determinedly grabbing any opportunities in front of you or creating yourself one out of sheer will and moxie, and/or actively battling back against any institutional, interpersonal, or internal obstacles that'd prefer you to remain dutifully in place. In this astro-climate, you can't afford to wait for a gilded invitation; just show up.

 

LEO (July 23-August 22): Consider this week as your transition, Leo, from being rather stuck in a sticky situation that (if you were handling it appropriately) demanded you to stick with the stickiness… and back into much more dynamic motion, in a fashion that actually does propel you onward to someplace other than where you've most recently been. One key aspect of this transition, of course, is arriving at a conclusive decision about how to proceed with carrying out a relevant piece of work or other mundane task, then putting that issue to bed and continuing on. Even if the agreed-upon answer isn't what you personally hoped for (because, of course, you weren't the only participating player and therefore never had full agency to decide this all by yourself), it's still time to continue on. I suspect the ultimate outcome of this particular item—which, while it's loomed large in the short-term, actually isn't so significant in the grander scheme of your life—is less important than what you've presumably learned, through the process, about yourself and/or the other person and/or how well you do or don't collaborate. Bank that insight, please. Then, check your engine, gas up the vehicle, and get ready to move.

 

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Recall how centered on getting your relational needs met all your recent horoscopes (such as this one and this one) have been, Virgo? Are you receiving my message loud and clear? I certainly hope so… considering that, as this week seeps into the next, the delicate-handling gloves are due to come off as the most-natural-and-logical intensification of any recent interpersonal bargaining or bantering (or lack thereof) presents itself. This isn't flatly 'good' or 'bad' news, please understand, but simply the obvious progression from batting around conceptual lifestyle possibilities to confronting their psychological consequences… from tacitly agreeing with a disagreeable agreement to acting out in resentful or retaliatory style… and/or from deciding to 'do this' together to immersing yourselves in the full-spectrum sensory experience of 'doing' it. Going forward after this week, you'll be unlikely to get away with cruising along at the same pace, no bumps or sharp-turns, as if things between you are 'the same as they ever were'. Stagnancy will not sustain that middling level of hoped-for satisfaction, but instead will worsen whatever you find dissatisfying, damaging the good parts in the process. There is a necessary leveling-up—or crumbling-down—due to occur, status-quos be damned.

 

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): Here's one last week in which to continue reveling in the self-affirming joys of everyday productivity with relatively little intrusion, Libra… provided, that is, you've successfully warded off the temptation to socialize. By the weekend, once Mars dashes in your relationship house (the 7th), you'll need to start investing a lot more energy into the key coupling(s) in your life—and if you don't voluntarily choose to better prioritize your relational sector, you should expect the other person(s) to make it virtually impossible for you not to. I'd be remiss not to mention that these next six weeks of Mars-in-your-7th will heighten the possibility for interpersonal conflict… but please understand this is nothing more than a natural potential response to one and/or the other of you being more direct about what you want and, consequently, having to renegotiate your dynamic in order to adequately address any such statements-of-desire. I encourage you to focus, then, on your own responsibility to directly assert your interests to them (rather than worriedly waiting for them to provoke a quarrel). It's good timing, too: After a lengthy expanse of letting your feelings sort themselves out, you're finally starting to regain the capacity to effectively put words to 'em.

 

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): This gorgeous window of romantic dream-time is drawing to a close, I'm afraid… not that you must abruptly stop finessing your vision of a heart-full-of-love, Scorpio, merely that you won't have the luxury of dedicating quite as much of yourself to it, now that the astro-tides are turning. Over this upcoming weekend, Mars boogies into your 6th, the house of one's day-to-day work routines and physical self-care habits… and kicks off a month-and-a-half during which you can get a shit-ton accomplished (provided, of course, you don't burn yourself out by trying to do too much at one time, hyperactively resisting the need to focus, and/or overexerting your body without respecting its built-in limits). But for this week that's still ahead, I encourage you to take on one more romantic-thinking challenge: Dare yourself to share intimate details about yourself with people you don't know very well, if at all… with no expectation other than the knowledge that sharing your heartfelt self impacts other people in ways you cannot, need not, and should not fully understand. Think of this vulnerable self-share as your version of sending a message in a bottle onto the open waters, letting it be mystically carried to someone who needs to hear it, without claiming identifying ownership of it.

 

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): You should probably continue devoting a significant part of your attention to your inner sensitivities, Sagittarius, as opposed to rushing yourself into donning a thicker skin and posturing as if nothing ever really gets you down. Such proper self-honoring may also entail temporarily hesitating before automatically agreeing to help anyone else take care of their business—overextending yourself in the process, which would ultimately lead to an even louder craving for 'time to yourself'—and instead attending to whatever pieces of your own business might immediately leave you feeling incrementally more organized, secure, or put-together. By the end of the week, though, a reenergizing impulse to go out and grab some fun will begin to rise… ushering in a new zeal for making the most out of life, in whichever ways are most specially suited to you, that persists for many weeks to come. In other words, you're soon moving into a phase in which you'll be on the hunt for excitement, giddy with mischievous glee, and maybe just daring enough to flirtatiously beckon a long-admired player into joining your festivities. This week's the time, then, for a few last moments of quiet introspection.

 

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): Now is that critical moment to acknowledge, to yourself but just as importantly to the world-at-large, that you know what you have to do, Capricorn… and, hell or high-water, you're unflinchingly intent on doing just that. But in case you mistakenly presumed that such a potent acknowledgment would qualify as 'the hard part', let me correct that notion by informing you there are certainly more 'hard parts' in store over the coming weeks. That's because, for stoic sensibilities like yours, the process of so baldly allowing raw emotional discontent or turmoil to serve as the fuel to propel your next steps forward may well prove 'harder' than any actual chores or tasks. You must accept that this thing isn't objectively or pragmatically your only or most-obvious choice, but it's 'what you have to do' simply because you feel it in your bones—which, for the record, is no less solid or convincing a reason—and that you've 'got to do' it as a means of fighting for emotional self-determination. As part of defending this right to obey your inner calling, you may have to battle against, or altogether uproot yourself from, comfortable-but-toxic influences at home, within your family, and/or in your own head. But come next week and beyond, you'll be ready for this fight. You know what you have to do.

 

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): Your days of remaining relatively mum on certain important topics are slowly drawing to a close, Aquarius. Though Mercury continues to linger in your 12th through this week and next, it's becoming increasingly difficult not to recognize how that until-recently indistinguishable (but nonetheless palpable) cloud of worry, panic, or fear is now cohering into a clearer understanding of what's behind it. Soon enough, you will be ready to directly address those aspects you're in a position to impact, simply by calling them out… though I'd give it these final two Mercury-in-the-12th weeks before actively seeking to make statements, issue challenges, and/or open dialogue. However, with feisty-fighter Mars entering your 3rd near the week's tail-end, you may not be able to hold yourself back from assertively objecting to disagreeable sentiments, ripping holes in their weak arguments, or otherwise holding folks to task—and nor should you necessarily hold back, provided that you understand you're still at a relative disadvantage (in terms of cleanly and coherently communicating intricate ideas) and can only expect so much from yourself. No need to conclusively fight-and-win every ideological battle right away, though; this is only the beginning of a longer trend.

 

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Please spend just this one more week basking in the undeniable glory-and-splendor of being you, Pisces. And if, while you're doing that, a situation presents itself in which you must staunchly inform certain cursory colleagues, fairweather friends, or ideological opponents who you're decidedly not, please feel free to refrain from mincing your words as you correct their problematic presumptions once and for all. Socially speaking, we are judged not only by the company we keep, but also by the mischaracterizations and biases and 'innocent' offenses we passively let slide. Embracing yourself just as you are and loudly speaking up whenever another person perceives you as someone you're not are, quite obviously, two sides of the same confidence-nurturing coin. Come next week, as the astrological weather's changing, you will have to shift gears toward more proactively practical self-interests… so get ready to hit the pavement, hawk your wares, ask for what you're worth, open new income potentials, straighten out your financial snapshot, and put your glory-and-splendor concretely to work. With all the upcoming Venus-centered activity, you have a great chance to really get your money situation in order between now and June.