Aries (March 20-April 19)
At a certain point we all learn to stop judging ourselves. It could be sooner; it could be later. But in terms of saving time, emotional energy and conserving opportunities that only come once, the sooner, the better. One thing you might have to get over is the notion that the kind of self-critique you’re accustomed to makes you a better person. I don’t think it does. I would say that the only possibility we have of being better people is awareness, and the gradual, repeated choice to surround ourselves with aware people. In the trapeze act of life, we need to work together and the main thing we need support in is consciousness. What you seem destined to learn over the next few weeks is that having a fixed concept of who you are, or who you’re supposed to be, is the basis of your overly critical opinion of yourself. Judgment requires criteria, and when those are unconscious, unreasonable or unrealistic, then the assessment is more of a mental or emotional trip than it is a growth process. You’re working toward an extraordinarily rare moment of being able to let go of the self-concept that is at the heart of this crisis. With it, you may find yourself letting go of certain ideas of why exactly you deserve so much attention. You do, but it’s for reasons other than you think.
Taurus (April 19-May 20)
Visualization is one of the tests of what is possible in the world, or rather, what is possible for you. If you can imagine something, then you can assume it’s possible. One reason we stop ourselves doing this is because we assume that if we fear something, then it may happen; then we shut down the process of imagining, even of the things we want or worse yet, what we actually are. This is a way of letting fear rule your life. I want to propose two exercises that involve the theme of how you see yourself. The first involves observing yourself now: how you move through your day, and how your mind navigates the ocean of consciousness. Notice your moods and what affects them; how you respond to people and how they respond to you. Notice every time you make a decision, and observe the basis of each decision you make; that is, the information you’re working with that leads you to action. This is an exercise in mindfulness; that is, paying attention and staying awake. The second involves envisioning yourself in the future: not what you will look like or what you will be doing, but rather how you want your presence in the world to feel. This is subtle, but not so subtle as you may think.
Gemini (May 20-June 21)
Every time you tell yourself how open-minded and flexible you are, I suggest that you question this assessment. I’m not saying you’re wrong; but you won’t know if you’re not asking. Every time you discover that you’re actually less progressive than you think is an opportunity to make a choice to open your mind to other influences. Part of the problem is that we currently have exceedingly few examples of what it means to actually be open. Our entire social climate is so guarded right now that the smallest modicum of depth or authenticity feels completely radical. This is a distortion. If you’re on a path of self-development, seeking your freedom and willing to explore, I suggest that you open yourself to the ideas of other cultures and other times in history. What is normal now is not what is or was normal at other points in space and time. We live in a unique moment, most notably because so many people feel so paralyzed and indeed passive, waiting for something to happen. You seem to be among those who have decided that you’ve waited long enough. One thing to look at closely is everything you avoid; check out what you pretend you don’t want; make a little note every time you decide something is impossible. Then, ask yourself how you came to be in this place.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
The ethics of a professional situation may be weighing on you, but I would propose that’s a waste of your imagination and thus your potential. You seem intent on proving yourself right, or demonstrating who you are; give it up. You’re as right as you need to be, and it’s only a point of emotional confusion, based on the past, that is leading you to believe that you’ve got a problem that you do not have. So what’s really going on? You want more, with urgent, yearning, lustful passion. You may not even know what that passion is pushing you toward. This seems to conflict with a self-image of certainty that you’ve been trying to project. This image, however, is different than the substance of what you actually want. True, you may be thinking in terms of status and social acceptability, but your real quest involves expanding your horizons. I suggest you think less in terms of results and more in terms of your potential. That will mean devoting yourself to new things rather than sticking with the ones you’ve been pushing with such determination. You’re much closer to connecting with one of those fresh experiences than you imagine. The key is this: Give up on whether it’s right or wrong by an external standard. Connect with the calling that only you can articulate to yourself.
Leo (July 22-August 23)
Long ago you decided that the simplest way to deal with life’s complexity, and with the many agendas people have, is simply to be authentic. This has proven to be an excellent policy, though it’s had results you were not expecting, one of which is bringing out the deeper truth that others close to you were not planning to reveal. You’ve only seen the beginning of this process. Your life has simplified somewhat from the circus of the past few months. This has cleared emotional and mental space to work through a key matter in a relationship, and to put to good use the information that you have spent so much time acquiring. There’s a point of discussion that has for months seemed non-negotiable. It’s as though you or someone else was taking a kind of parental authority over the matter. You may therefore be surprised to discover that soon enough it will be up for discussion. This is an emotional or spiritual matter, which will open common ground that previously seemed impossible to reach. Give it time; let the new environment settle into place, and prepare to proceed in this relationship with an entirely new understanding. If you take the opportunity to get clear, a side benefit of that clarity will be making you aware of shared financial resources that were there all along.
Virgo (August 23-September 22)
Yours is one of the signs that puts the most profound emphasis on finding yourself through relationships. I know this is nowhere in the traditional delineations of Virgo. If you’re wondering why you feel so volatile or unstable at times, this involves the many ways in which your sense of self is invested in what you think other people expect of you, and how you think they define you. As Venus moves retrograde in Aries and many other developments take place, you’re starting to see the extent of this situation. The idea is not to divest yourself of deep or risky contact with others. You will always be relationship-oriented and you seem determined as ever to clear the haze and fog where you seek clarity. Venus is suggesting that you stop deciding in advance what other people think, and more to the point, why they think it. You don’t really know their true thoughts and you don’t know their motives—that is, until you find out. You’re more sensitive than most to this dimension of existence. The more people express themselves, the more there seems to be the potential for misunderstanding. Therefore I suggest you give yourself the benefit of the doubt in any situation that’s bothering you. The chances are when you discover what someone you care about is really thinking, it will be a lot happier than you feared.
Libra (September 22-October 23)
By one measure, the purpose of life is healing. It’s not the only measure, and healing takes many forms. Not all of them are boring or arduous; many are inadvertent results of exploring honest pleasure. Your current involvement in a relationship is a good example of this. There seems to be an undertow of some kind pulling you toward some destination that you were not expecting and could not have predicted. This is including an inner confrontation that is potentially coming with a sense of loss or sacrifice. You might ask what you’re having to give up, and more significantly, what you want that would have an even greater emotional value. The situation you’re in is compelling you to assess what is important to you in a deep way, particularly where a key relationship is concerned. You know you cannot go forward from this point without being absolutely honest with yourself; and the bottom line is that if someone close to you is not willing to be equally honest, there’s not much of a meeting. You haven’t seen the end of this particular discussion, so I don’t suggest you predict how it’s going to go—only that you be real with yourself from day to day, and make sure you have some of the beauty and pleasure you seek in the present, not in the future.
Scorpio (October 23-November 22)
You seem to be having a difficult time understanding why someone in your life is being so self-centered. The ongoing result has been an emotional disconnect that for you is the next worst thing to sleeping on a bed of ice. This is particularly true with Mars, the planet that best sums you up, moving through emotional, impassioned Pisces at the moment. The phenomenon of so close and yet so far may be the most difficult part of the situation. Given the astrology, I can offer the following suggestions. First, I would counsel patience, and remember that historically, you’ve kept plenty of people waiting. Do your best to vent any frustration in a constructive way. You can get all intense, but that’s not going to help. This is a significant risk at the moment, but the truth is that all this energy and creativity you’re feeling is a rare resource. If you have to express sexual energy, figure out how to do it in a way that won’t create alienation. Also, you can go cover a lot of territory simply by expressing your basic needs with the understanding that if there’s a meeting place, that’s excellent and if there is not, you will live. Your situation is moving toward a meeting point, and it’s closer than you may think; and in fact, it’s a mutual turning point: a place to have a real conversation about what you both want.
Sagittarius (November 22-December 22)
In a word, participate, and keep at it. Involve yourself in your close-to-home community and with the most important people in your life. I suggest you not concern yourself with the rewards for doing so, but rather count the opportunity to share and grow as its own magnificent benefit. You’re learning so much that I cannot imagine a better environment for you to put that knowledge to work. There’s something about your current life journey that has only begun to come into focus, or for that matter, into manifestation. You consider yourself an idealist, a problem-solver and someone who respects a beautiful idea when you have one, or see one. Your role is therefore pivotal. You are able to process information into knowledge; you’re in a central position to many people and have the ability to create a rare nexus point. This will continue to focus through the year, so I suggest you make friends with being in for the long run; that’s how you will get results. The other way that communities and organizations get results is by sticking close to the common values that you share. Close partners are intent on one thing, which is doing what they truly have faith in; and this is a baseline truth that you can depend on, and that will nourish you deeply.
Capricorn (December 22-January 20)
You’re under enormous pressure, and you’re turning it into power. There is one simple truth you must face, which is that you are now in a position where you establish or at least observe the basic terms of reality. Give them the space to agree or disagree and you will discover that you have far more in common than you thought. Even disagreements, psychological tension and your own inner emotional struggle can be turned into common ground. Do this and you’ll focus the considerable impact that you can have on the world. We both know that “the world” is involved. You may not be president, a news anchor, or a Supreme Court justice, but your choices have impact that is greater than anything you’ve known, experienced, or imagined. You’re also being influenced by external forces in a way that few people would admit or even notice. There are other influences on you that could cause you to be hotheaded, or leap to false conclusions. If you keep your fear in its place, you will have access to some of the most stunning intuition that a human is capable of. After all is said and done, this will turn out to be the key, and the gift: understanding the role of fear.
Aquarius (January 20- February 19)
You need to be careful with your finances, and conscious where debts in any direction are concerned; but I suggest you recognize that your true wealth is not in cash or assets bur rather in ideas, intelligence and your perceptive abilities. You may be thinking that you cannot take ideas to the bank, but some would say that once you graduate from the chicken factory, that’s all you actually can take to the bank. However, at the moment, the most important ideas you’re having are about yourself. The past year has been full of “aha” moments. There have been hundreds of them. You’ve probably filled two notebooks. You keep figuring it out (yourself, that is), then you figure it out again. The look of your charts over the next two months suggest that some perceptive gift is coming into focus for the first time. When you start to notice this shift, you will also notice that it’s been dawning for a long time, but like eyesight itself, the brain takes time to get accustomed to it. I could also describe this evolution in terms of events, which promise to be highly unusual and shift your whole sense of existence. But this is truly one of those moments when you don’t see things as they are; you see them as you are.
Pisces (February 19-March 20)
If you think you’re getting no results, have no fear. Not only are you a Pisces, but your sign is the dominant energy in the sky right now, owing to many aspects involving Jupiter and Neptune in Aquarius. What happens in Pisces or involving Pisces planets takes longer than most things, but the outcome is more complete, it goes deeper and it lasts longer. Processes involving water, emotional energy, creativity and turning ideas into tangible form have little in common with pure logic, and if they cooperate with linear time, it’s usually a coincidence. So don’t depend too heavily on time as a metric, though it will be a powerful tool when you need it the most. In recent months you have been seeking something, or working to create something, that seems to be all investment and little in the way of results. You can see the process unfolding, but so far you haven’t been able to put the pieces together. In a sense it’s like you’ve been assembling a puzzle blind. And you have no way to tell if all the pieces are even there. The puzzle you’re assembling has an odd property: the pieces mold to fit one another. The image is fluid, like an animation. But there is a solution, and you’re rapidly approaching the moment when you know you’ve found it.
Read Eric Francis Coppolino daily at PlanetWaves.net.
This article appears in April 2009.
