signs

Aries (March 20-April 19) With the influence of Mercury stationed retrograde in the area of your chart associated with both commerce and communications, you will need to watch your numbers and your words with equal care for a few weeks. Jupiter magnifies everything: problems as well as assets. So, you must work from a place of personal knowledge. This may present a challenge in a time when we always expect computers and experts to be correct, and humans incapable of paying attention to the details. But pay is what you will do if you leave the most important evaluations of the data to anything other than your precious mind.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) You must be careful taking on board what you hear from friends, by which I mean any form of gossip or information that is passed from ear to ear. If you paused to evaluate the actual truth or falsity of everything you think you know, you would probably not get a good result. Yet at the same time, it’s possible to swagger through the world, certain you know it all. Take solace in the truth that you do not. That should come as a relief — and so, too, will discovering the power of your curiosity.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) Mercury stationed retrograde in your birth sign on May 10. At the same time, Jupiter arrived in your 11th house of social affairs. The influence will last for weeks. The other day I walked past a shop window with a quote attributed to Yoko Ono tattooed onto the glass. It said something like, “You can change the world by being yourself.” I wondered: what else can anyone be? Well, the message translates to tell the truth. And also noticing when you fear that telling the truth, or stating your true position to people you say you care about, will get you rejected in some way.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) The reason most people relate to the world in a way that omits their feelings, or any true sense of vulnerability, is that to feel is the very last thing you do before you respond. And if you’re numb, you don’t have to do either. This isn’t you — not even close. You tend to care, you feel, and you respond — though you live in a place and time where this approach to life is shunned.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) Some say that seeing is believing. Others think that hearing is believing. Either way, believing is the trap; it is what will most dependably deceive you. Therefore, you want evidence — and I would advise against playing games with yourself whether or not you ‘like’ what it implies, suggests or proves. When you learn something, add that to the landscape of your awareness, and keep exploring.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) Be vigilant when it comes to tracking the self-destructive behavior of others. You will be subject to their choices, and unless you are vigilant, by the time you notice, it will be a little too late to avoid getting involved. And since this is appearing on your radar along the self/other axis, you need to track your own tendency to make less-than wholesome choices, particularly in relationships. This all comes down to “the dynamics of delusion.”

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) It’s time to re-evaluate a long-held belief. You will have to do this whether you plan to or not, so I suggest you be ready to make this assessment. Doing so comes down to the basic questions that you might use as an investigative reporter. Is that statement true? How do I know that (whatever it might be)? Does my belief about something contradict the evidence I’m looking at?

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) Mars moving up on Neptune in your fellow water sign Pisces will present you with many enticing possibilities. You will want to take advantage of some of these. They might range from bursts of creativity to the boiling-up of lust. This is adventurous astrology, calling for experience, not merely the fantasy of having it.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) Several factors are influencing you at the same time, all of which pertain to the most personal aspects of your life: where you live, who you live with, your relationships and your partnerships. One is Mercury stationed retrograde in your opposite sign Gemini — this is about partners, both business and intimate. Think: communication. Then there is Mars in Neptune in your 4th house, which pertains to home, security and your emotional state. Think: emotional self-regulation.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) You are at the end of a long and potentially exasperating growth phase. I know most people don’t think this way, though as students of astrology, we have the opportunity. Pluto in your sign has stretched you in many unusual ways; it’s taken your personality apart and put it back together a few times; and you have had to address the significant matter of obligation.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) “What would your closest friend do?” That was the response I got from the digital version of Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies. This is a creative divination set of about 100 cards that he’s used with the artists he has worked with over the decades — Talking Heads, U2, David Bowie, and many others. They contain little bits of advice for getting creatively unstuck, or for taking your project in a new direction.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) We are in one of those astrological zones where many events are converging at once — though one in particular stands out for you. That is Mars in Neptune in your birth sign. If you read through this column and look at the other signs, you see that in many of them, I am doing my best to interpret the aspect as it might influence their lives — and you will get cues and clues. However, given that this is happening in your sign means it’s about you. This could result in some strong feelings, and is best suited for sequestering yourself in an art or music studio with your favorite libations and some food, and not coming out for a while.