HOROSCOPES
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Jan. 29): With a habit of gratitude, you’ll find it easy to rejoice in your life this year. There’s a deal to be struck in March — lucrative for you and a godsend for the other person. April is a kind of free-for-all. The rules get bent, and the professional climate shifts, and all the changes stir up interesting relationships. Aries and Virgo adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 45, 9, 31, 20 and 14.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): There’s danger in weighing in too soon, judging too quickly and reacting too impulsively. You won’t be sorry for asking a few more questions, taking your time and withholding your opinion until you get all of the facts.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You can be the star, but you can just as readily be the cheerleader, coach or motivational force to another person’s performance. When you interact with others, your goal is to help them win.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21): Some things you’ve seen lately definitely look better in pictures than in real life. But tonight you’ll witness what simply can’t be captured with a camera, no matter how good the lens is or whose eye is behind it.
CANCER (June 22-July 22): You’re the purveyor of good taste and consumer quality in your group. You’ll take the responsibility seriously today, vetting the options carefully and giving a full report to interested parties.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You’re not afraid of being proved wrong. In fact, you look forward to anything enlightening. That said, you will quietly hold to what you feel is right until anything that is truer can convince you otherwise.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Everyone is selling something, although some are doing it so badly (and others are doing it so well) that it’s hard to tell. What are you selling? If you don’t know what it is, it’s hard to get the right price.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23): You want freedom; you need rules; you long for adventure; you’re drawn to comforts.
All these contrasts are working in your life, and you’re better for the complexity.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21): Life seems to be going to plan, the only problem being that the plan in question isn’t your own. Take back the reins. Step one: Determine who has them. Step two: Wrestle.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Making friends isn’t so hard for you, and neither is keeping them, though the latter takes more of a conscious effort. Decide on a pattern that works for you, and hope it matches the needs of the other people.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Charisma is yours to wield today, so which direction should you wield it? Do you aim it for the low-hanging fruit, or are you willing to climb a bit? Hint: The one who is difficult to win will be won over by you right quick.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Tricks to stop the energy-draining habit of worry: Write it down and burn it. Distract yourself with overwhelming entertainment. Change the channel. Solve the problem.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You are, at times, helplessly, even unwillingly, empathetic. It’s usually when another person seems to need your protection. A baby crying, an animal hurting — you’ll feel it immediately.
FORECAST FOR THE WEEK AHEAD: The Year of the Fire Rooster is under way! The official calendar of China is the Gregorian calendar, but the ancient Chinese calendar, which is based on astronomical phenomena, is widely used for traditional activities — including the celebration of Spring Festival, aka Lunar New Year. The first day of the new year is the new moon in Aquarius, which was Saturday. Celebrations and traditions continue for the next two weeks. Ancestors will be paid homage to. Deities will be honored. Dragons will tour the streets, and lanterns will light up the sky to welcome the Year of the Fire Rooster.
In Chinese astrology, the element of fire is the second of five stages of chi, which is energy. Fire represents the prosperity phase of matter. Combined with the rooster symbol, this is a kind of double energetic whammy, adding some crackle-pop! to the cock-a-doodle-doo.
In world politics, small social groups and everything in between, leaders will strut and posture. Divas abound. Authority figures lay down rules and diktats that underlings scramble to build order around. The omens suggest excitement, abundance and spectacle in the months ahead.