HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Jan. 22): Your intensity turns up a skosh. People around you will take notice and move in response to your energy, which is pleasantly effective. You’ll get a hard job done quickly in February, and the rewards come in March. Your family expands, and home life becomes beautifully efficient to accommodate the changes. Libra and Taurus adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 30, 5, 33, 28 and 41.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): You’re listening better than ever, and you’re keen to many layers of communication. Much will be revealed in the manner of people speaking too much, speaking very little or speaking without words.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Action without insight may be wasteful, scattershot and ultimately ineffective, but insight without action is equally fruitless. Your success route is extremely simple today: Think; do.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21): Your day is structured around a particular activity, and your emotional life is worked out in this arena. What comes up for you is interesting — feelings, strong and surprising.
CANCER (June 22-July 22): Inside every person is a secret hope to be understood, accepted and loved without conditions. The question of the day: How easy or difficult is it for you to give this kind of love?
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Lately, everyone seems to need you so much that the hours get away from you. Seek an internal locus of control. What if your actions could be motivated by your own values, needs and feelings instead of theirs?
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Most things do not immediately work. Glitches are a normal part of every single endeavor. Getting very frustrated usually helps nothing. Anticipate rough patches in the road. Be cool; stay flexible.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23): Just because your destination is far away doesn’t mean it will be difficult to get to. This journey is a straight shot. Your arrival at the goal line is certain — and dependent on very simple consistent daily efforts.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21): Where the big philosophical topics are on the table, someone is depressed or going through an existential crisis. Just one more reason to seize every opportunity to forge real and loving connections.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Although you understand that people develop in various ways and at different rates, you still find immaturity rather off-putting. It’s one reason you strive to make the most adult choice you can think of in any given moment.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Relationships will thrive in a buoyant energy, and there will be plenty of distractions around to keep the mood breezy. It would, however, be a mistake to make light of the things that others experience as heavy.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): After every interaction, ask yourself what the overall feeling is that you’re left with. Be wary of the one who deals quick advice from the hip instead of taking the time to listen to your thoughts and concerns.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Narcissists tend to oversimplify the needs of others, whereas co-dependents overinflate. Give the attention necessary — and then slightly more — but don’t overdo it.
FORECAST FOR THE WEEK AHEAD: The scholars remind us that it wasn’t until the 12th century that humans celebrated romantic love in a courtly manner through stories and songs. The medieval movement toward valuing the spiritual qualities of ordinary individuals (not just leaders, heroes and gods) led to a shift in the way people viewed relationships. These days, there are many who will argue against the glorification of romantic love, suggesting that romantic love is an ineffective construct for relationships.
How do you feel about it? Might there be a better one? If you’ve never questioned the validity of concepts such as “soul mates” and “everlasting love” and whether people are “made for each other,” the arrangement of Venus, the love goddess, to Saturn, the questioning planet of hard lessons, may start a dialogue on the matter.
This is the first of four squares between Venus and Saturn this year and has potential to be the most thought-provoking of them all. Friday brings the Aquarius new moon, which can be slightly detached and dispassionate on the matter of relationships. It will be easier to separate fact from fiction and fantasy with the emotional intensity turned down like this.