Horoscopes | Week of May 15-21, 2017

ARIES (March 21-April 19): It'll be easier than you know, Aries, to dominate the discussion and/or overshadow any other person's participation in your relational dynamic… not because you'd be doing something wrong, but merely due to the fortunate fact that you're presently more 'in the flow' than most folks you'll encounter. Do with this information as you will, of course. There's not necessarily a need to hold yourself back, if you're really that enthusiastic about what you're bringing to the table—and if your companion-of-the-moment seems genuinely interested and engaged. If you want to ensure a more equitable conversational balance, you may have to regularly remind yourself to pass off the baton to others, tapping into your own curiosity about their life-stories and perspectives. If you take no deliberate action to mitigate this current tendency, you might not notice the negative consequences much, by the way. That's because they'll be happening wholly inside someone else's impression of you, as it quietly lowers in esteem, based on your apparent indifference to anything they'd have to say.

 

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Mercury returns to your sign early this week, Taurus, carrying with it a renewed capacity to constructively think on your feet, identify fresh alternatives to deadlocked conditions, and confidently communicate about your ideas with the other players. At the same time, this changing astro-climate could also alleviate some of the inner anxious tension which has been contributing to your sense of needing new ideas or innovations… potentially encouraging you not to rock the boat or reinvent the wheel, but to instead return to the familiar routine and keep doing things as you've been doing 'em. But I don't recommend letting this opportunity to actively evolve your practical processes slide, just because what so recently felt like a 'critical crisis-point' is now mellowing back into an 'area for potential improvement' to address at some undefined future moment. Any such tacit decision to delay progress is resting atop an undercurrent of escapism, as if you've somehow earned the privilege of not-dealing by having weathered the latest round of chaos. Postponing the inevitable—and prolonging the existence of a less-than-satisfactory method—is more a burden on your consciousness than a 'privilege'.

 

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): This isn't the point in your process where you open it back up for further discussion or debate, Gemini. That time has passed, as I believe you know. What more needs to be said, anyway? I'm being so firm on this with you because I suspect the urge to return to the dialoguing drawing-board is largely based in fear… of accepting the evident or inevitable conclusion, of releasing outdated hopes or crusty thought-patterns, of closing a door or grieving a loss, of not continuing to discuss. But going forward for these next few weeks, you must let your actions speak your intentions—without falling back on your comfortable use of words, to attempt to provide an assuaging spin to those unavoidably affected by your acting so distinctly on behalf of one agenda over another. Please don't put yourself in a position that invites any other person to question your choices, plant corrupting seeds of doubt, or try to talk you into something else. Didn't you already have those conversations? If you're utterly resistant to what I've written and would argue that this discussion isn't over, then can you at least table it until the second week of June… and give yourself time to reflect on why everything hasn't yet been said?

 

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Hands off, please, Cancer. You presently have no business trying to grab the wheel, pull the lever, or move any of the components to new locations. Your current good fortune is predicated upon preserving an outwardly eager but unattached-to-outcomes demeanor, a collaboratively-minded manner of communicating, and a continued commitment to excellent work. You'll notice I included nothing about you making a personal splash, recommending a particular direction, or overtly challenging any voiced opinion. Such attention-attracting efforts would be ill-suited to this moment in time. Though I believe you can adeptly manage to maneuver through this with your hands-off posture in effect, let me point out what could be the biggest threat: If there's a simmering undercurrent of envy, competitiveness, or hostility coursing between you and a certain someone, beware of their possibly super-subtle-and-wily attempt to get under your skin. Should you suspect they're coming for you, there will be scant concrete evidence to back up your claim. Therefore, whether your suspicion is true or even if you're just being paranoid, it won't look good for you to press on that sore spot. They can't hook you if you don't take the bait. Let it slide, for now.

 

LEO (July 23-August 22): Please try to follow my circuitous logic, Leo, as I attempt to explain how best to organize your current outlook. Presuming you've already listened to your heart to determine which path presently represents 'the right thing' (and not looked to others for answers only you possess), you should now be holding a firm personal truth about what you want to do next. Yet, you might still be unsure about how to move forward with doing it. That's the point where you need to widen your focus back out… away from self-directed soul-searching, and towards other people's feedback once again. While nobody else could've helped you resolve the major decision(s) driving everything else, once that's been resolved, you're ready to again receive guidance and camaraderie from like-minded folks who've made such decisions before, and have wisdom from the trenches to share. Other people did this before you. Their experiences are a valuable resource, in terms of saving you from wasteful steps or annoying impediments. Now that you know where you're going, it's wise to draw observations and inspirations from those who went before.

 

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): Time to get more intently philosophic about your own advantages, Virgo, instead of refusing to accept the truth about what you have going for you that others do not, as if in an attempt to 'even the playing field' when it's not in fact even. It can be just as detrimental to collaborative efforts to disavow your skills or talents as it is to make assumptions about someone else's without verifying their accuracy. That's why adopting a more explicitly philosophic outlook can help you root out the spots in your process where you're overlooking or avoiding concrete realities, in order to (consciously or not) pump up, pander to, and/or presumptuously 'protect' another person. Set the players' personalities aside, and ask yourself: What's the purpose of this current step in the process? What the best method for successfully meeting that purpose? Which fundamental priorities or delegation-strategies will immediately help to most effectively simplify this situation? Without worrying as much about whose finesse or expertise might threaten the other's ego, you'll be better able to see the whole picture, unimpeded by any relationally-driven contortions.

 

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): What a wonderful chance you now have, Libra, to lay the charm on real thick and win (back?) the favor of anyone you might seek to sway, woo, or enchant. Too bad it's not a chance I'd suggest taking, if it comes at the expense of fuller interpersonal disclosure. Hooking someone on your line, based on a calculated self-presentation specifically designed for its appeal, is not an automatic signal of your fitness for mutual intimacy. On the contrary, having to keep up such appearances will hinder your ability to get to know each other really well. So, under this astrology which can make you more likable, you might as well put more, rather than less, of yourself out there… and exploit this opportunity to flaunt those inimitable charms which markedly distinguish you from the commonplace John and Jane Does, knowing full well not everyone will find them (ahem) quite so 'charming'. Under the eye of monarch-of-blessings Jupiter, you might as well lead with your everythingness—and let those for whom you're 'too much' pass right on by. At least there'll be fewer disruptive surprises later.

 

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): Stay close to the moment-by-moment turn of events, Scorpio. While you have less clear of a vision for how this is eventually (as in: months down the line) leading to a personally auspicious opening, you do presently hold a keen ability to throw your whole self into the here-and-now… especially when charged with sorting through a convoluted or internally-contradictory set of data, engaging a complicated mix of contributing factors, and/or working hard to solve an immediate problem. Plus, starting this week, you'll get better results from your efforts to pick others' brains, secure elucidating answers from them, and sell them on the efficacy of your latest tactical direction. The more sincere-minded conversation you have with other sharp knowledgeable players, the better for the current progress of this active collaboration—and I say this even with the possibility that your divergent (though similarly passionate) outlooks may collide. Stay with this, keeping the constructive benefits for the task-at-hand in the forefront of your mind. Forget, meanwhile, about positioning yourself for that farther-ahead future you really can't see right now.

 

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): Don't allow any pushy or prodding individuals pester you into joining along with some group activity or wave of communal zeal, Sagittarius, if there's another more personally compelling pursuit, pastime, or project you'd rather spend your free moments enjoying. If you say no to someone's request for your involvement, that doesn't mean you aren't generally supportive of their cause (maybe you are, maybe you're not). It's simply a matter of properly preserving control over your schedule, so you're making sure to both meet your work-life demands and steal some self-replenishing fun when you're not toiling away. That's totally reasonable. Yet, certain insistent types may struggle to accept anything other than your utter acquiescence to their notion… whether by trying to guilt-trip you, indirectly asking for your involvement in twelve different side-door ways, and/or refusing to acknowledge the personal importance of that other thing you want to do instead. Since Mars is in your relationship house (the 7th), it's natural you might attract those who want to tell you what to do—and just as natural for you to refuse, resist, or fight back.

 

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): I find this incredibly strange advice to be offering you of all people, Capricorn, but here goes: Keep yourself productively occupied, with industrious on-the-job efforts and health-supporting initiatives and reenergizing completion of half-finished projects. You're usually the last one I'd need to goad into working hard, and it's not like you're presently lacking the bodily oomph required for such a productive orientation. Yet, I detect a temporarily activated part of you who's really craving some good old-fashioned peace and quiet… which in itself isn't an unseemly urge, of course, except for the fact that indulging in too much of it now would, unfortunately, be a somewhat badly-timed squandering of promising outside-world opportunity. Because you're ordinarily so responsible about putting the pursuit of critical goals ahead of personal relaxation, you may try to convince yourself that it'd be fine to flip that order for a moment. It is fine; just not this moment. Nothing bad will necessarily happen if you don't work to your potential. You just might miss a good shot to make significant headway on your ambitious climb.

 

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): Don't let an irrational worry prevent you from interrupting an otherwise pleasant moment of socializing, Aquarius, if the so-called 'pleasantness' rests on someone else inferring that their thoughtless remark, permissive ignorance, or casual offense is okay with you when it's not. By all means, interrupt. If you don't, then you might instead be signing on as an implicitly willing accomplice to some sentiment that goes against a principle in which you believe strongly… painting a problematic portrait of you, since it flies in the face of how you've outwardly characterized yourself. Regardless of any anxiety you harbor about the potential relational ramifications of publicly disagreeing with this person, you must, first and foremost, strive to be proud of yourself. And putting forth your best self has nothing to do with how somebody else may react to you being you. Once they do react, however, you can choose to 'agree to disagree' (which, once you've clearly had your say, is probably the right way to go)—or continue having it out, knowing nothing edifying or fruitful is apt to develop (and it's just likelier to go downhill from there).

 

PISCES (February 19-March 20): As I suggested last week (and have advised, in one mode or another, for a while now), Pisces, your hardest and most important challenge these days is to remain unerringly focused on your own self-determined, longer-term, life-purpose goals—no matter what other people are up to, how they pull on your heartstrings or play to your inner doubts, the discombobulating counsel they self-servingly offer or the constant attention they endlessly hunger for. You aren't being insensitive or non-responsive if you filter your compassionate concern through an analytic lens of 'how things actually work'. You are striving to secure a satisfying and sustainable enough future for yourself, so that you have a more confidently stable foothold in the world… enabling you to then give more time, money, support, and engagement to others without it draining you dry. See how that works? Please continue spelling out this smartly-ordered methodology to your inner emotional hero-warrior-helper-figure, that voice in you who still mistakenly believes the best care you can show someone involves dropping everything else you're doing and jumping to their call.