HOROSCOPES:

astrology with Lilith Rocha

Capricorn

DEC 22-JAN 20 January capers off to a rollicking start with the sun and new moon in Capricorn on January 6, lighting up the start of your personal astrological new year. Heavenly heavyweights

Saturn and Pluto also hanging out in your sign can tend to accentuate your serious side, which might need the occasional reminder that getting things done and having fun aren’t mutually exclusive. With Mercury on board as well for two weeks mid-month, a sense of humour’s absolutely key to negotiations – as is time for kicking up those goaty high heels with friends and activities that put a smile on the Capricorn dial.

AQUARIUS • JAN 21-FEB 19

As game-changing Uranus, your wild-card planetary ruler, hits January’s highway for its final hurrah in the let’s-do-it, pioneering sign of fresh starts and new beginnings, your cutting edge, future-focused thinking dives into overdrive. From the 21st onwards, when the sun and Mercury light up your tech-savvy, resourceful, community-minded sign, take advantage of this peak period for communicating in groups, to organisations, on social media platforms. And naturally, such full-on activity will need the balance of soul-reviving time out to kick back and coast, love and laugh, relax and play.

PISCES • FEB 20-MAR 20

powerful healing in your personal and surrounding environment that won’t happen again for another half century. While truth-telling Jupiter and the full moon eclipse on the 21st could rip the Band-Aid off frustrations, complications, temptations and other touchy subjects, reconciliation, forgiveness and closure are also all readily available. And if this year’s most achievement-oriented month starts feeling a bit dry and driven, there’s a special sauce available to make January more nourishing and satisfying. Its secret ingredients? Goodwill, gratitude and generosity.

ARIES • MAR 21-APR 21

You couldn’t wish for a more energetic jump-start to 2019 than mighty motivating Mars firing up your sign for the next six weeks – especially when it’s rocket-boosted by liberating Uranus, whose wake-up call you’ve been hearing loud and clear in your inner ear for quite some time. Now the astral wind’s beneath your wings for doing what Aries do best: inventing creative ways of being and doing, living and loving. With Mars and Venus both lit up in fire signs, January’s crackling love action ignites plenty of spontaneous sparks – just watch you don’t leave scorch marks.

TAURUS • APR 22-MAY 21

January’s earthy energies are absolutely your Taurean cup of material-world pleasures. Delightful Venus, your guiding planet, in extravagantly outgoing mode is fun-loving and easygoing, though not easily swayed, so aim at keeping your flexibility levels up, especially on holidays. With ambitious (and

sometimes authoritarian) Capricorn vibes on the front burner for most of this month, expect a spike in competing egos and power plays, best handled by giving dictatorial divas a wide berth. And if doggedly determined people start veering towards heavy and humourless boot camp-style in pursuing purposeful plans, lighten the vibe by tickling their funnybone.

GEMINI • MAY 22–JUN 22

Geminis are the zodiac’s networkers, said to talk twice as much as anyone else. (What do they expect? You’re twins.) But with Venus flitting into the sign of chatty banter this month, less is more where romance is concerned, so remind yourself to hit pause occasionally and listen – admittedly not easy with communicator Mercury zooming through the signs of lightning repartee, ambitious promotion and wild ideas. All up, your January operating strategy could look something like this: First week, ask questions, gather intel. For the next fortnight, talk shop, do online promotion. Last week, brainstorm, mind-map and stay open to all possibilities, however astonishing.

CANCER • JUN 23-JUL 23

Of all zodiac signs, Cancer’s the most affected by lunar movements, and the January 6 new moon in your opposite, complementary sign on the astromandala carries a strong momentum of executive energy – which if you’re on holidays will mean mulling over options and making plans. The dramatic full moon eclipse on the

21st in flamboyant Leo offers a zesty cocktail of business and pleasure, so don’t be backward in coming forward. This date also ushers in the brainiac month of Aquarius, which can incline people to speak their minds in somewhat tactless fashion: your cue to slip an extra protective layer on the crab shell.

LEO • JUL 24-AUG 23

Single or partnered, January’s flirty Mercury in your fun zone, plus love planets Mars and Venus in fire signs like your own, couldn’t be a better recipe for romantic fireworks. Or dramarama: your choice. Someone else being a bossy boots when that’s actually your job? This month’s tastiest takeaway is accepting that a) you can’t control others, and b) how much more rewarding it is to manage what you can, namely your own reactions. Enjoy the pay-off when this year’s only Leo full moon on the 21st lavishes you with outrageous swagger and celestial sizzle – but do stay cool, Majesties.

VIRGO • AU G 2 4 - S E P 2 3

Happy new year, down-to-earthy Virgos. Mercury, your planetary guide, moves through a trio of communication styles this month, which you could make best use of by first checking out Gemini’s operating strategy, whose Mercurial rules also apply to your sign. Preparation, planning and perseverance are powerfully amplified by January’s planetary conglomeration in fellow earth sign Capricorn, and your efforts in these areas should be amply repaid. Profitable pairings of both the business and intimate kind are highly likely, and if your mojo’s been (heavens forbid) a touch lacklustre lately, prepare to be shaken and stirred.

LIBRA • SEP 24-OCT 23

Venus in peripatetic Sagittarius is friendly, breezy, free and easy, out and about on the move, bringing new people, helpful connections and delicious synchronicities into your orbit. While conversations are stimulating and discussions fruitful, this month, people are less likely to be impressed by what you know than who you know: the precise degree of support and influence you can call on. Want to ask for a raise or a favour? The force is with you. If this involves negotiating with overassertive others, nobody plays the charm card with more artfulness than you, Venusians.

SCORPIO • O C T 2 4 - N OV 2 2

Venus is in a very adventurous mood for romantic interactions this January, which also means not particularly dependable where affections and promises are concerned – though this could be useful prep for when next month’s interpersonal antics get even more variable. What can be relied on is the advice and guidance of older or more experienced mentors, and the down-to-earth practicality of breaking a giant job that initially seems daunting into small, manageable steps. With this month’s dominant tone, it’s worthwhile finding the fine line between persuasion and pressure so you know when it’s being overstepped.

SAGITTARIUS • NOV 23-DEC 21

With the season of unreason done and dusted, now you can really get down to the reality of big-news Jupiter in your sign for the next 11 months, because this is your year, Archers, and it’s got legs. When frisky Venus joins the great striped planet in Sagittarius mid-month, you could sell anyone anything and you’ll have them at hello. But so much propulsive energy needs discipline and direction – and while you might fight it, reining in. Winners need this, champions benefit from it, and January’s race is all yours, if you can power down and pace yourself.