the weather inside me

the pisces-saturn flashback wierding

I'm channeling Earth, Wind, and Fire. You know --the band. Last night was trying to relax with this meditation tape of running water and kept getting strains of a brass section I KNOW isn't on the tape, but holy satin spandex! It was the brass section from Earth, Wind, and Fire!

I know. So distracting. Not meditative at all.

And dreamed all night that I could hear things through solid objects. My pillow was no help because I kept hearing someone else's conversation through it.

I had this same problem last fall while listening to a Glenn Gould album. I kept hearing this cantor on some of the tracks. How he got there I have no idea. He was a nice cantor, but the experience was a whole lot like "The Kugelmass Episode" from Woody Allen's Side Effects. Ditto last night's brass section.

[Update: a friend just informed me about Gould's humming habit when he played. Okay. So that's what I was hearing. Thank you. Now can you explain the brass section?]

So of course today I had to poke around on you tube for a lil' EWF. Sigh. Ooh. Yeah. And what did I find? This fabulously cheeeeeesey scene from the embarrassing Sargent Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, the movie. I may have been young, but I these were my Beatles obsession years and even I knew the movie sucked. Except for this great scene. Cheese tho' it may be. And then a surprising synchronicity. The date of the movie: 1978.

Saturn was last in Virgo 2007-2009, before that 1977-80 and then in Libra '80-'82/3. This is a 30 year cycle, and we're back there again --Virgo and Libra.

Saturn is retrograde in Libra, moving back to another month or so in Virgo, and with all this free-associating Pisces stuff in the water, suddenly I'm channeling my early adolescence again. Heavy Metal, anyone? (Dear lord, I had no idea how many SCTV folk were a part of that venture.) Or how about a little Xanadu? (And the death of ELO.) Talk about two ends of a fantasy spectrum. Wow. 

This was the era in which my mother lost all censorship rights when she got someone (a neighbor kid?) to (illegally) hook up to the new cable box behind someone's house. Free cable! Which meant free HBO. Whoa.

Enter the Chicago WGN station and reruns of Monty Python...and Caddyshack...and The Shining...and Ice Castles...somebody stop me now...I'm rarely the one to wax nostalgically...

What were you up to these years?

the story so far...the (long) late february 2010 overview

If you're just joining us, here’s a summary on the current long and mid-term astro scene:

Pluto-Saturn square: it’s still on --the hard realities, the call to courage, the fear, the projecting of shadows-- but Saturn’s moving back into the Virgo degrees, so we’re just getting a second look at relationship “stuff” that popped up since last October. Count it a second chance at important conversations and decisions.

Neptune-Chiron in Aquarius: the end of an era, or as Gawker proclaimed it, “The Fake Decade”. Finally, we're getting it. Chiron’s not done with his work here, but these past few weeks have certainly given me some unusual views into inconvenient “truths”. And talk about a wild dream life. Oy. I need a break.

Jupiter in Pisces: Connections, identifications, and professions with and of encouragement and hope are totally available if you want them. As are big creative possibilities. Can you be the bigger person? Sure you can. (As I type this, I’m listening to Alan Simpson joking it was time to hold hands and jump into the wine-dark sea --of the budget deficit. Poetic water imagery as political threat? Only with Pisces.)

Avoid the paranoid and the generally detached from reality. This is the dark side of Pisces and not a comment on Mr. Simpson. Uranus in Pisces (at the end of the sign, now at 25+ degrees), is pulling punches with those teetering on the edge of the Fear Abyss. A lot people are completely convinced this is the end of the world. No, it's just the end of the world as they know it, a fact that's microcosmically true every day of our lives. Still, we can't ignore the big, big challenges we face as a country. It's just that fear is not gonna get us closer to a sane deficit, safe highways, or decent health care for all.

On a related note: if you’re a Pisces or have personal planets in Pisces, take care with substances this year--right on down to caffeine, MSG, BHT and food coloring. I’m serious.

And finally, Mars, still retrograde in Leo: Mars is really slowing down now, and by the full moon on the 28th will have reached it’s retrograde direct degree. So if you feel some kind of gear grinding or stuckness, that would be Mars. Ditto big case of anticipation. This is all about going backstage and reworking your self image. (My original horoscopes on the retrograde are here and here.) What you're feeling could be a case of stage fright, or could be a case of retrenchment before the big advance come March. Circumstances vary.

If you know where Mars is passing through your chart, just ease up on yourself in that area. Strategize, visualize. Play with any new ideas that popped up with the Neptune/Chiron bingle last week AND the Full Moon in Leo in mid-January. What do you want to do with that new knowledge?

Strangely, if we’re not handling our own nervousness or irritation well, we seem to invite similarly nervous, irritating people into our lives. Not always true, but you could play with that idea and observe other people’s responses to your energy right now.

A note to men, or anyone who cares about a man: I'm not a guy, nor do I play one on TV, so I'm not gonna pretend I know what this feel like for you. My thoughts are based on my own reading, and the thoughts shared by men at other serious astrology forums.

Mars retrograde is especially challenging for men; after all, Mars is THE planet of the male impulse, the anima, the dude in you. Here’s the bottom line: the man in your life (could be you!) may or may not know what Mars retrograde is doing, but it's affecting him nonetheless --rearranging his ego, his self-image, his heart, his leadership instincts, his pride for his pride (or whatever substitutes for his creative output, progeny or no).

Mars retrograde is all backwards and inhibiting, frustrating and often confusing for many men. You could be angry, frustrated, scattered, inconsistent, or distant --really, really distant. Especially now as we approach the incredibly slow stationing direct motion. Imagine trying to save the damsel in distress who's stranded on the opposite side of a molasses pit. And the molasses pit is your expectations about what guys should do, could do, did do --starting with your dad and then every significant male authority figure you've known in your life. Now imagine how difficult this time could be if you never really had a solid male figure who taught you what to do when damsels lie on the other side of molasses pits. McGuyver never had it so bad. This "self" thing won't get fixed with a Leatherman, some chewing gum and three paper clips. Think about that for a moment.

If the man in your life doesn’t know what’s going on, or they’re resistant to introspection, you get a guy who needs to take on the world instead of himself. This might get internalized as heart problems; Leo rules the heart. As Leo practically grinds to a halt, Evan Bayh announced today that he’s lost heart in his work in the Senate and will retire. This is not good for the already straggling Democrat majority in the Senate.

The WORST example of this impulse also showed up in the news today: Andrew Stack, an enraged, suicidal man (badly managed Mars retrograde?) who’s sense of manhood and pride (Leo) was threatened by the limitations (Saturn) imposed by a government (Pluto in Capricorn) agency, the IRS, flew his personal airplane into an IRS office.

No doubt his actions were exacerbated by feelings of paranoia and doom emerging from those who’ve been embracing the end of the world (Uranus in Pisces) scenarios. He's not the first man who's wanted to take on the IRS with violence, but as we're revisiting a Saturn-Pluto alignment that last appeared fall of 2001, I'm saddened but not shocked that Stack chose to mimic the violence of that tragedy by flying his plane into an IRS office in Austin, Texas. Note --this was his own Piper airplane, and thus, he was not one of the huddled masses spewing underclass resentment. This was a wealthy guy by any standard. Do you have Piper small craft docked in your local airport hanger?

On that note, I looked at Glenn Beck’s astrology last week. He’s got Venus at 29+ degrees Pisces, the last degree of the zodiac, aka, the end of the world (sort of). In short, he’s in love with the end of the world. Yes. Have a look at his wiki and you’ll see a guy obsessed with eschatology. We'll hear much more about his obsession come spring. Bank on it.

Sigh. So play safe out there folks. You don’t have to be paranoid. You don’t have to push people around. I know so many people who are experimenting with huge new possibilities for their lives. Really big thoughts. I've got one friend who was making good money as a black-jack dealer, but she's leaving the industry to work at a raw-food retreat. She'd been wanting to walk away, but it wasn't until she broke her wrist in four places over the January eclipse that the decision was forced on her. A break like that is a career ender for a card dealer. But the end didn't start there: as she became mentally and emotionally more stable, her tips took a nose dive and she knew why --unhealthy people only reward their own kind. She's a Cancer rising, so Leo is working through her second house of money and self-esteem.

If you're moving towards healthier self-esteem, know that some people will find this a turn-off and not know why. They would prefer you functioning as their food source for whatever emotional, financial, or practical service you give them. And you're gonna catch some flak for this. For my friend, this translated into lost income. If you're hanging with people who pay you for being as immature, selfish, and needy as they are, you're going to face a loss of something --a contract, a contact? Or you may face losing old friends. These are not easy losses at first because they represent an old image you've probably carried with you for years. But this whole year is forcing all of us to rethink the old ways. Those who refuse to change won't be any fun to hang with anyway. Keep that in mind as you grow and experiment with the new you.

The time is also exciting because it presents the kind of risks that demand truly creative thinking and not a little paradigm shifting/shattering going on in that mix. But the risk doesn’t disappear just because the adventure holds happy possibility. So compassion is very much in need right now, too. Compassion that entends both ways --to you and to those around you-- and patience.

In that spirit, I’m taking a few days off from this blog to address some work at my side. One project is a revamp of this site, another some notes for the upcoming NCGR conference...and then daily ephemera and sticky fingerprints that come with motherhood. I need to shift my focus for a bit. Maybe I'll actually go for a walk. What a thought.

I’ll be back before the Full Moon to talk about the Venus-Uranus conjunction and early March events.

Until then, have a visit with any of the forecasters on my link list. They’re good people who’ll be happy to serve your astro needs.

Ciao.

Art: lisacongdon.com

Photo: seattlepi.com

All other photos: Philippe Halsman

void, of course and then into the deep

The Libra Moon finished it's sweet sweep alongside the Venus/Chiron/Neptune confab and today is on it's way to Scorpio.

But until then it's a light day with no aspects to the Moon. No aspects = no connections = Void of course.

Void of course (VOC) should become part of your astro vocabulary. It's a space in time, usually a few hours, when we cruise with no Moon-astrological conversations on tap. (I just mistyped "on tao" --which makes sense, too.) Anywhoo. The practical application for "void of course" is "out of pocket". Folks don't respond to your emails or phone calls. You drift. Ideas just don't come to mind and you feel a little aimless. Decisions made during void of course hours are often forgotten.

You probably can't defer your workday obligations during every VOC; however, you can modify your expectations about an impending decision or contact. Just chill. They'll get back when the Moon starts contacting folks again, too.

Which will be about the end of the workday today (in North America). This evening the Moon heads into Scorpio and makes a trine to Jupiter in Pisces. It's a lovely, easy aspect that brings emotional depth to the day.

Keep it real, though. Scorpio loves a conspiracy and Pisces can be a gullible as all get-out. So unless you're working in a creative/artistic capacity tonight, keep it real. Check your facts. Know where the boundary lies between fantasy and fact.

astro in motion: sharing the stories

I had a consultation with such a lovely, funny, intelligent woman today, and it reminded me of why I doing this: I love hearing your stories.

I get no high off of "knowing the future". First of all, the future is always in motion and our responses to that future vary so widely I will not say exactly how a person will react. Every astrological theme represented by a planet or angle has a range of expression and gives us choices about how to proceed. The pleasure is in discussing the possibilities.

Anyway. Not going off on that tangent. But really, I love hearing your stories and I'm deeply, ever so deeply grateful you share them.

Over and out.

future think: we've cleared the ground for take-off

Practical, grounded, must-get-this-done, must-plan-for-that-contingency future thinking going on here. Delayed gratification, long-term thoughts is the theme, folks. But innovative. Different. Challenging. People out there won't know what got into you. "Is that even possible?" they'll ask.

Yeah. It's possible.

Mercury just passed the North Node of the Moon and out of it's retrograde shadow phase, meaning this past week we've seeded a few thoughts about new structures in our lives.

Whatever you learned during this retrograde phase is  clearing your brain for take-off. These thoughts are important because both Mercury and the North Node are now in Capricorn, the sign of this 15 year era and new foundations and legacies. The North Node is a door into the future, and Mercury, representing our thoughts, just stuck his head in that door and had a gander at what's possible.

If you're thinking, think it strong enough to last for the long haul. 

This means you don't get all the goodies just yet. Delayed gratification --it's the new sexy. Bank on it.

And speaking of attraction: Venus trines a Libran Moon today. The sparkle you need today is in your head and a little zany. Venus in Aquarius likes it a little weird, but that Libran Moon gives your unorthodox ideas charm. Today may be the day you finally agree with your Aquarian inner self and dare to innovate.

Charmingly weird. Yep. Different. Not in the usual vein. But attractive. Think about that tonight when you review what you talked or read about recently.

It's future think.

Illo: David Hernandez, "Telepathy Woman".

get out of your own way

I love this. Robert Wilkinson always pulls something good out for days like today.

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.” --Goethe

Which is why we should never allow our limitations or fears to deflect us from a noble goal. You just never know what might happen if you get out of your own way....

Just what my incentive/disincentive dilemma tape needs to hear.

Art: Damien Hirst, The Dream

the relationship has changed

The Libra Moon crosses the Aries Point and on-going Saturn/Pluto square this morning: your feelings need an adjustment. The relationship has changed. Could be work, friendships, lovers, parent/child, hair dresser...it's a relationship. Today we strike a note of feeling the change.

The Saturn/Pluto square demands we shift our relationship expectations. It asks us serious questions we haven't wanted to look at for nearly a decade now.

Is it fair? Who's on top? Who wants to be on top? If I'm on top, then who gets to be on bottom? And will you like that? Do I have to like you to work with you? Do I have to hate you in order to love you, too? Can I be your child and an independent adult? Can you work part time from home and still keep the house?

And it's pushing us to make decisions.

It's sort of complicated --but on a big, socio-economic scale, too. Whatever decisions are going down in Washington matter to you. This time, it's personal. Yes, personal. You don't want to be the small guy who's always stuck on the bottom while corporations go roaming the earth like they're human or something. Everyone knows they're giant machines, so why did we give "individual" rights to robots and not, uhm, same-sex couples who've been faithful to one another for decades?

Libra's always interested in the balance of power between two people, two companies, or two nations. Or two sofas. It's about the dynamics of relationship. Always. And aesthetic. Grace. Dipolmacy. Win-win. Libra hates hard angles.

But rarely do we get a win-win solution. So you have to take the long view and believe THE RELATIONSHIP HAS CHANGED.

Everyone has a stake in this one. That's the emotional truth right now.

Photo: from En Tus Brazos.

no pink cupcakes: adjustments this week and the tipping point of June 2010

The tipping point this year will be the Uranus/Jupiter conjunction on June 8th, followed by the Big Shift of August.

I'm not going to make specific predictions about what this summer will bring, but I have been thinking about it for a year and half now, and I do know this:

• Summer 2010 will be a summer when people make decisions, or will be forced into decisions. These decisions will be life-shifting choices.
• Uranus and Jupiter will meet at zero degrees Aries. This is the Aries Point, where the personal meets the political. Whatever happens here will have a public and private influence.
• Aries is THE action/initiation/pioneer sign. Aries is not into second place finishes, diffidence or hunkering down.
• Aries is a declaration of self: I AM is a declaration of identity. We will declare some new form of identity. For some people this will be a big deal; others will be simply adopting a new radical stance in place of their old radical stance. Your mileage will vary according to personality and circumstance.
• We've been working towards this for a year already.
• It's not a disaster.

This weekend we'll have another Saturn/Pluto exact square. The next Saturn/Pluto square is in August. So this is yet another adjustment in a long series of initiatory shifts towards a new adventure and/or identity that will begin to emerge in the summer.

Saturn/Pluto squares always demand we sober up and make plans. If we don't, then someone else will make plans for us, and with Saturn/Pluto aspects those plans don't involve pink frosted cupcakes and a cool glass of lemonade.

People, ideals, and ideas form the backdrop of these shifts. This is Aquarius activity, which we're still in the thick of until 2011.

Right now many of us are trying to get clear about who to trust and why to trust them. Some of us are playing with possibilities of new associations, new identities, new group work and new people to play with.

This is all Neptune in Aquarius (which has been with us since 1998), finishing up it's last degrees and preparing for a new social plan.

But Neptune prefers not to define anything and definitely won't color inside the lines. So if you feel the information you're getting through the mass media (Aquarius), is nothing but mirror tricks and squishy "facts", you're not paranoid. If you're believing all the "facts", however, I might say you're gullible. Never assume, is my motto concerning all things Neptunian. Walk in that other person's shoes, is also a good Neptunian motto. Think a bit before you react. Have a heart.

I don't have a big story to tell you here. You just need to know that if people are breaking off and if stuff feels like it's getting pulled out of your life and you feel like it's shit or get off the pot time, know you're not the only one. Maybe you have outgrown or simply don't need the circumstances and friends you currently know. Maybe you need to rethink what sentimental or power-trippy attachments are holding you back. Maybe you need to get your finances straight. Maybe you need to go apply for that business license...Or give up the cigarettes. Whatever. You're working toward a new role in the world.

The question behind all this change is: What kind of person do you want to be and what will you do to work for that?

You have until summer to get clearer about this. Come June, we'll all be making bigger choices. The adjustments we make now will influence how pro-active or reactive those choices will feel to us.

full moon roar under the world tree

Full Moon this Saturday at 10+ Leo, opposed by Sun at 10+ Aquarius. Building now.

Leos everywhere will finally feel a return of the inner fire because this Full Moon is conjunct the current Mars back-peddling his way through Leo. That should feel good.

The rest of us? I think this is about connecting with your emotional intent. What's driving your motor right now? Full Moons push our emotions to the forefront, so look for signs of what emotional and ego needs are really driving your intentions. They probably deserve your attention. And under these aspect, they'll probably demand your attention.

Here's a little image for you. A very, very simple but common picture.

 Picture a woman (or a man) sitting in her 6x6 parcel of the cubicle farm. She's a devote employee (to the extent that anyone can be devoted to the act of pushing numbers from one column to another) and a she's accumulated 243 friends on Facebook (that Venus retrograde last spring brought out half her high school, you know), and life is pretty cool. She knows where she came from and she still remembers her college fight song, her first Sunday School teacher and the high school haunts. She's got her co-worker lunch posse now, and the co-ed volleyball team that plays most Saturdays. She feels like she belongs. This is Aquarian group energy.

And yet, and yet and yet... Something is missing. And that something has been missing for a year now, or more.

Maybe she feels as if she's drowning a little in the global internet collective. It's a big stream. So she's been hiding more friends on her Facebook account and paring down the notices. Maybe she wishes she could have gotten that award for Best Accountant last year. Maybe she wishes her credit card company would stop misspelling her name. Maybe she'd just like to go somewhere different for lunch AND not talk about Sex In The City for once. And maybe she's wondering what's so wrong with that, anyway?

What she wants is a little recognition. Strike that. She wants a LOT of recognition. Some genuine props, or at least an acknowledgment that she's a real person with a real heart and her own dreams, not just one of the herd. This is Mars in Leo roaring.

If the she is a "he" in this story, multiply this drive by about 5x.

So I'm here to ask you: What's driving you to distinguish yourself from the crowd? What would you do or say that says, "YOU"? How are you pushing yourself away from the standard practices of your friends? Your townies? You homies? Your FeeBees? What's driving you?

This weekend should give you both insight into and an a opportunity to express this. But, because we're working with fixed or consolidating energy, think carefully about what you're fixing in place --especially if you have planets or points in the first ten degrees of Taurus, Scorpio, Leo or Aquarius. These degrees will be most affected.

Len Wallick at Planet Waves makes this point:

The trick for each of us will be to see the distinction between legitimate issues of autonomy and arbitrary stubbornness. In turn, any group in question will be challenged to balance its standards of conduct to allow individual expression. The outcome will depend on how open the flow of communication will be. This aspect will flow into and become part of the more powerful aspects at the end of the week.

Saturn in Libra will square Pluto in Capricorn immediately after this Full Moon. This demands cooperation, an eye to fairness and awareness of the power you're brokering.

Air signs value ideas and communication. Libra and Aquarius are Air signs, which means five planets right now want to exchange ideas and communicate. Diplomacy and detachment are helpful right now because they're going to balance that big emotional fireball heading our way. If we get the balance right, we could probably negotiate the recognition and contribution our hearts really want this week.

Finally, the Sabian symbol for the Full Moon degree is about a child swinging under a well-established and sheltering tree. This is about open expression and having fun --like Leo's playfulness. It's also about the big tree that was once a little acorn. It's about legacies left for all of humanity --a very Aquarian theme.

Individual experience within a larger communal stewardship are what this Full Moon is about. What's your inner fire burning for? Where do you want to make this investment? And with whom? Are adjustments (Saturn/Pluto) needed? Choose the high road --oh please, oh please.

I end this post with a quotation from William Blackstone, whose Commentaries (published when Pluto was last in Capricorn 250 years ago) are the backbone of western jurisprudence:

The public good is in nothing more essentially interested than the protection of every individual's private rights.

That's a lifetime stewardship right there.

backstage with mars in leo, part 2: libra, scorpio, saggitarius, capricorn, aquarius, and pisces

Note: Please read the previous entry about this transit, posted here. Lots of good stuff there.

(As always, read your Sun and Rising signs to get a better picture of the transit for you. You can discover your rising sign at this site: astrodienst.com, or if you already know (or want to look up) the latitude and longitude of your birth place, use tracy's excellent serennu site.)

And now, backstage--

Libra: If you worked in theater, you'd be happiest working in a repertory company or perhaps identifying as a loyal IATSE union member. Contributing to the greater good is your raison d'etre. But lately your contributions have been less about about "us" than "me" --and that's been a little jarring. Aren't we all a merry band of troubadours, bringing the people visions of a better tomorrow? So why won't anyone recognize your unique heart for the venture? Maybe there's a reason for that. "Tall poppies" is the Aussie term for what you've been sighted as: the flower that stands above the rest is the first one to feel the scythe. Standing up for something or standing out is likely to make you a marked man (or woman). And yet you cannot let the status quo be. Spend the next two months reformulating your new path away from the group norm. Maybe you need to find another troupe, a different union. Until you find the outlet, stay far away from fights, Poppy. The focus is on your own evolution, not a reformation of the department. Others may resent your ideas and go looking for their lawnmowers.

Scorpio: Of course you deserved that starring role. Of course you have more talent in your pinkie finger than most have in their whole nuclear family --grandparents included. Not that you need to advertise this truth; most people sense this without knowing why. It's part of your appeal. And lately you've been really showing your stuff --or have been making plans to go public with that stuff. The trouble is, you've got all this trouble on your home front holding you back from your big close-up. Something needs a big adjustment there. How can you move forward with this new public face and still answer to the ensemble? How can you be the star and still have a home to go home to? Playing understudy is not your style. And yet, that's the role you may have to take for the time being. If you don't self-destruct with frustration and bitterness that it's not you in the follow-spot, you can find a new outlet that better suits your conflicting (and legitimate) needs. Use this time to redefine your notions of stardom.

Sagittarius: Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue. And that's the trouble. You know the song all about blue skies and rainbows and it's still just a song, a siren call that beckons you on to the next town, the next show, with the hope that you'll experience the perfect performance. What you don't know is how to turn all that blue sky into a practical money-making venture. You were making some progress on that score this fall and connecting with folks who were showing you the money. But the money (and your connections) are still far away, and for the moment they're about as ephemeral as a rainbow after a thunderstorm. Keep singing, Sag --the musical score isn't done yet. Keep jotting those notes and replaying your fondest refrains. The work right now isn't out there, it's right in your neighborhood, right beside your elbow. In fact, elbow grease is your best friend now. Stay cool with the folks far away, whether there's money or love involved. Channel Johnny Mercer --the artist and the businessman-- and acc-cen-tu-ate the positive (easy enough) while you're building your new empire.

Capricorn: Oh, dear lord, you've landed the role of a lifetime! It has guts, it has grit, it's challenging and tender all at once. And you know it, deep in your gut you know this is the shot at your dreams. The dilemma is it's almost too rich, this role. You've wanted this for years but you've been such a duty-bound trooper in the background. Now you can finally to show the world what you learned back there, but this...this is almost too much. It's a role that calls for the ultimate of authenticity, the calling forth of all your darkest demons and dearest desires: you must orgasm onstage. Yes, you've got to surrender to desire --not in your head where that's a daily drama you may hide from even yourself. No, this role demands you pull it all to the surface. Lusty lions roar. Inhibition is your enemy. Until the last couple of years you've been too comfortable watching others interpret life for you. Not anymore. Now you are the interpreter, the conduit of love and passion. The key to your character work these next two months is this: get honest about what you honestly want from intimacy and what you'll do to get it. Don't cheat and fake the orgasm. Giving is the key, and now's the time to give the real deal. Authenticity --nothing less.

Aquarius: You're the improv veteran who's been cast in a long-term contract as the BFF or the lover these days. It's a great deal, this new partnership, and in this role you've been exploring new ideas about friendship and love. It's so cool, this expansion. And you've been looking for a new creative partnership who likes the talents you've got to offer. What you've got going on with your plans is so innovative! But if you're honest with yourself, it's been all a little cerebral. You're an excellent interpreter, and your notes during rehearsal are second to none. But the director keeps telling you you're missing feeling. You don't get this. Or do you? Reconsider what's at stake here: no one's challenging your unique vision of this relationship; what they need to see more of is your willingness to let others shine. Improv is a tough game and the guy who gets the biggest laughs, wins. Now you've got to work out a way for your partner to get the laugh. With an eight month contract that will put you in a new league, professionally and personally, you've got to make this one work. Feeling? Empathy? You'll find it inside if you if you study your beliefs about love and don't expect the other guy to serve up the tenderness every time.

Pisces: What role wouldn't you play? What job wouldn't you take? Chief cook and bottle-washer, if it needed to be done, you offered yourself for the job. Anything for your art. Anything for the one you love. What's missing in this picture? You. The problem is, you don't want to the girl-friday anymore and you're not going to accept whatever is handed your way. Recent battles may have set something straight in your heart, leaving you to finally focus on the true work that calls you. That new you is a picture of the Burning Man offering to the creative inner fire, not the self-immolation of mourning Buddists. Bid farewell to martyrdom. This past year got you in touch with a piece of your self-worth, which allowed you to develop a little more healthy selfishness. Now what're you gonna do with that new self? Work it, and then rework it. If your day job is less than creatively or artistically satisfying, don't hassle yourself or your co-workers. Give it time. You are creating a new world for them, too. It's a world that going to get bigger and bigger for you very soon.