If it’s your birthday

You will experience the deepest emotional and spiritual gifts this year by taking care of the people who mean the most to you. In our “service economy,” we have lost the pleasure — and, indeed, the honor — of offering ourselves to those we consider our family. Experimenting with this will teach you everything you need to know about where you stand with them. You share a birthday with Bram Stoker, Minnie Riperton, and Kazuo Ishiguro. MARCH 21-APRIL 19 A good home life and a good sex life are closely related, at least where your needs are concerned. Make your home as beautiful as you can, keep it neat and tidy, and make sure your bedroom is the lap of luxury. You’ll invite not just pleasure but the emotions that make it worthwhile. APRIL 20-MAY 20 Sooner or later, most people learn the trick of seeming more confident than they really are, which serves as a kind of protection. You might take the opposite approach and be open if you’re feeling insecure or in any way daunted by the presence of another person. Relax and be real. MAY 21-JUNE 20 Mercury in your opposite sign Sagittarius is providing you with an unusual mirror into your relationships. Notice the way that people close to you relate to what happened to them as a child. Are they open, or secretive? This will help you understand something important about yourself. JUNE 21-JULY 22 There is a risk in having actual feelings, which is widely believed to be that you could get hurt. Yet the other risk is being drawn close to others, and being willing to relate to them in a deep and sincere way. You don’t need a script. You don’t need to feel safe. You need human contact. JULY 23-AUG. 22 Some things you cannot plan for; they seem to just happen. Yet you can pave the way by being open and available, and staying in a positive frame of mind. If you feel confident and secure, and remember your sense of adventure, you will invite positive experiences and people into your life. AUG. 23-SEPT. 22 You never really know how people will respond to what you say. That concern must take a back seat to your need to be yourself and say what’s actually relevant. You may have to remind a loved one or close partner that their actions will get results, for good or ill — as will yours. SEPT. 23-OCT. 22 Mars in your sign is continuing to provide you with motivation and drive to do great things. Yet you must make sure you pace yourself and get enough rest. Monitor your energy output. Your emotions and your physical health are closely related all of the time, though especially right now. DEC. 22-JAN. 19 A powerful conjunction is taking shape in your chart — the alignment of Juno, an asteroid all astrologers are familiar with, and Pluto, the planet of growth and change. This means that your views of a relationship are going through a radical transformation — the deeper, the better. JAN. 20-FEB. 18 By all rights, things should be going brilliantly for you on the professional front. Yet you will need to keep your hands busy and your mind alert. The kind of astrology you have going for you, you could easily take for granted. It’s a blessing and an opportunity you must make the most of. FEB. 19-MARCH 20 Your world is becoming a bigger place. You are ready to stretch and grow, and to face the future with a sense of adventure. The one thing you need to be bold about is being visible. Contrary to astrological lore, Pisces does not like to hide under a rock. That’s a good thing right now.