| During the next 48 hours, the planetary picture begins to shift in tangible ways. The string-of-pearls arrangement in Gemini, consisting of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, the North Node and Vesta (the brightest asteroid), begins to converge on Saturn, as both Venus and Mars make conjunctions to the planet of limitation, discipline, structure and strength. The result will be what seem like tests of patience, awareness and intention. But moreover, we face a test of balance, of looking at both sides of any issue, and working to find the third side as well. On a Mercury retrograde note, mercury, in early Gemini, has entered what is called its shadow period. There are several ways to measure the thrice-yearly Mercury retrograde event. By the longest possible reckoning, it is the entire time period during which Mercury occupies any of the degrees within which it will be retrograde or, after the fact, in which it was retrograde. That begins right around now and lasts through June 24. The best advice any astrologer could offer, without looking directly at your chart, is to use this time to complete business already begun. It is not the planting season. It is, however, a really good planning season, since the mental planes are highly active and many possibilities can be considered. The most important quality we will all need during this seemingly long phase is patience. Patience with our plans, patience with people, and most important, patience with ourselves. More info at the daily edition. For a full listing of events, click here. Read About Egan's Law | Sign dates below are approximate. They now overlap by one day. The date and time of the Sun's ingress to the new sign changes a little each year, so please check with an astrologer if you want the exact position of your Sun, and while you're at it, your rising sign -- this horoscope is written for both your Sun and rising signs. If you find that some other sign's interpretations work for you, then go for it. | | Aries (March 20-April 21) | | This is a moment of clarity, and perhaps one of the most dramatic thresholds of decision in many years. Looking at the sonogram of your mental state, however, I see highly diverse points of view being tested against your intelligence, your reasoning power, and most of all, your experience. I see a tremendous need for you to reconcile the seeming opposites contained within your belief system. You may never actually succeed, but there is excellent work to be done in the process of inner reckoning. In just a few months time, you will see how it all adds up to your finally having constructed a new foundation for yourself, one that can support the life you want to build. | | Taurus (April 21-May 20) | | You are arriving at a series of limits that are causing you to look at yourself, or rather, experience yourself, in an entirely new way. Limits are a good thing in this world, where there is unlimited potential for evil and seemingly scarce opportunity for goodness to manifest. It's not that your intentions are bad; rather, you seem to be less than familiar with what those intentions are. The old ones, or those you thought were true for you, will no longer suffice. And intention alone will not get you by any longer. The time has come to act on what you value the most deeply, the moment you know what that is. | | Gemini (May 20-June 21) | | The pressure may seem overwhelming, and you may be struggling to decide what face to show the world. If you accept the fact that you have no control over this process, you may find it a lot easier to let yourself change and flow with the days and hours. You are who you are, and who you are is under a lot of pressure to be an authentic expression of an inner reality rather than any kind of outer appearance. There has never been a time when it was more important that you come to terms with who you are, and I would remind you that this is no game, but rather your one and only reason for living. Get clear with yourself and many other fine reasons will emerge. | | Cancer (June 21-July 22) | | There is much happening in what mystics call the unmanifest world right now, and it will slowly emerge over the next two months. Will you like all of it? Probably not, though that will be more than compensated by what else is in store. Yet at the moment, you have a great deal of creative influence as to just what is developing within you. If you can test your perceptions carefully, and account for why, within yourself, people act toward you the way they do, you will gain a rare measure of what I will dare to call control over the finer points of your destiny. Pay attention to what people say, but moreover, to what you say to them. | | Leo (July 22-Aug. 22) | | When you make a public debut of any kind, not everyone loves you, or even likes you, but that is a vital part of the process. The frail human ego may see life as a popularity contest, whereas the spirit sees it as a process of the development of strength within a world of many contradictions. If you take both praise and blame lightly, you may notice that they both contain a grain of truth, and a lot of chaff that comes along with the stuff possessed by the person addressing you. In any event, the gifts of your work are yours, and yours to share with the world, and one of those gifts is being a bit controversial. There's likely to be some cash lined up as well. | | Virgo (Aug. 22-Sep. 22) | | You are building a reputation for having many talents, in unusual combinations. But the greatest of these, by far, is your ability to hold the line with pushy people, and yet somehow still have them be both productive and loyal to you. The rewards for these efforts will come, in due time, though there may seem to be a series of tests you must go through. In reality, however, we are in a time that calls specifically for someone with your particular odd mix of personal gifts. Just remember to hold the line where negotiations on your own behalf are concerned, which will only lead the flock into a state of deeper respect for your virtues. | | Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) | | Did God create humanity, or did humanity create God? Well, it all depends on the picture of God that humanity creates. I would propose, at this juncture, that your theology is your reality. If you can get yourself past the cartoon images of Moses, Adam 'n' Eve, and the Grumpy Old Creator, you can have a taste of how your concept of God is your concept of yourself, in very direct succession. And, frankly, you are at no loss for creative power right now. In fact, such a formidable task as redesigning your entire cosmology will give a nice flex to the muscles that you need to create everything else you're so diligently working toward. Just remember, God is your friend. | | Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) | | The truth is what you make of it. Though the gig is up on one particular arrangement, the current turn of events is probably long overdue. It is, however, equally likely that you are experiencing the first of a series of tests of mettle relating to deeper commitments, intentions and pure stamina. You seem to be attempting to forge an agreement that is designed to put together two halves of very different things. But what if they are already united, or perfectly symbiotic? What if the tension is a necessary part of the structure, a little like a suspension bridge? As long as structure is flexible, it will survive even the most raging storms. | | Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) | | No matter what confronts you, no matter what someone you are close to may be experiencing, you have the ability to stay far enough removed -- quite literally, independent enough -- to observe it with a clear head. The struggle you are witnessing is within someone else, not within you. If you can stay out of their game of projection, and maintain awareness of your own identity and intentions, you will discover at least two things. One is that you are really in a very strong position. The other is that this relationship exists on two levels, the level of projection, and the level of truth. But only you may be aware of this other reality, and may need to silently hold that in trust for your friend or partner. | | Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) | | Though you may not realize it yet, what you have experienced in recent weeks has taken you inside the true nature of something that has eluded you for years. Something? Something about yourself, and the way you decide what kinds of causes are worthy to pursue. The particular events of April will, in time, show themselves to contain vital information that will serve you for a lifetime, as you slowly decipher it. You already know that this year is a breaking point between all that held you back in the past, and all that you truly aspire to in the future. Yet between past and future is something known as the present, and to stay here with awareness should rightly feel like walking on the edge of a very high cliff. So be it. | | Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) | | There is an imperative dawning in your life to follow your intuition at all costs. For no matter what the risk of doing so, and no matter what your choice to act on your inner knowledge reveals, the cost of ignoring your sense of reality will be far greater. I speak of cost not in terms of dollars, but rather, to your soul. Look around and notice how this supposedly elusive thing known as soul is the first possession that most people sell off. The reward for refusing to do so, however, cannot be measured in conventional terms of value. But to you who seek an authentic experience of life, and to you who has given up so much of what you once held dear to finally experience it, this gift to yourself is priceless. It is the gift of integrity. | | Pisces (Feb. 19-Mar. 20) | | Stick to the bottom line, emotionally. Despite the sheer volume of material you are processing, there is a diamond clarity to what you are feeling, and you can put it to excellent use by keeping a careful accounting of just what you need to feel safe, to feel secure and to feel nourished. Then ask for it. You will be surprised the extent to which people are willing to rise to the occasion of what you know is right and true for yourself, if you are not hesitating on these important matters. And to the extent that you have hesitated in the past, this is a rather excellent time to learn that it's simply not necessary. | Search | Horoscopes | What's New | Index | Consultations  Space graphic above from the Rosette Nebula in Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Sulfur.
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