HOROSCOPE

Carrot and Stick Opposition The sun in Virgo pulls across the sky from Neptune in Pisces, creating a cosmic opposition akin to a carrot tied to a stick held over the snout of the workhorse. Every step taken pushes the whole scene forward, carrot and all. The distance between appetite and fulfilment will always be the same until someone cuts a string and changes the game. ARIES (March 21-April 19). If people don’t respond to your messages, then it could be for a variety of reasons. They don’t understand. They don’t know the answer. They are at a loss as to how to move it forward. None of this should be taken personally. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Do you dare reach into the past? Talking to someone you haven’t talked to in a long while will be a kind measuring

stick inserted into the annals of personal history.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). If you miss a beat, don’t scramble back to try and pick it up. Be like the professional musicians and show people. Keep moving forward, no explaining, complaining or excusing... onward, always onward.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). What you want radiates through your body language whether you want it to or not. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, because people understand you loud and clear. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). In her defense, Dorothy didn’t know about the power of the shoes she was wearing. Have you been minimizing the big blessing of your life? Have you been pocketing the secret weapon, the special sauce, the X factor? VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). It’s the science that matters today – what can be

proven via systematic observation, measurement and experiment. Make your hypothesis and test it.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Though fighting for love is an oxymoron, you’ll do it anyway, mainly because you’re up to it, you’re a believer and if anything could make things better, love has the best chance of being that thing. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). What you’re trying to do is far more important than what you’re trying to resist. The people in your life are only starting to support you in this. They need more training. Excuse them.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). What a happy day this will be – a day when you’ll happen to catch the most important events of the sky involving clouds and a very fortunate diffusion of light.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Who wants to live in mystery? Everyone! No one! Because the tension of mystery is essential to living and also the release of that tension is implied. Unsolved mysteries are no fun! AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Love gets confused for ownership all of the time. But no one can say, “I love you and therefore you must do as I want” and still

stay nestled in the folds of reason or the true emotion and nature of love. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). The amateurs go for one moment, the pros go for another – a moment that’s much further... months, maybe even years, down the line. The pros take long-term risks and grow rich or poor by them.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Sept. 10). This is the year to apply your imagination and see what happens. You’ll be amazed at how the most amorphous, kooky and improbable things can come into being. Things don’t have to make sense, to make life shift in wonderful ways. The money from a November business deal doesn’t hurt either! Aquarius and Scorpio adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 8, 1, 19, 4 and 18. ASTROLOGICAL QUESTION: “I’m a Pisces with Leo rising and don’t play well with others. Things start out smoothly, but then my siblings, mother, girlfriend, boss, roommate, whoever, starts to annoy me. I lose my temper and ruin everything. Any advice? My Mars is in Sagittarius, and my Mercury is in Pisces.”

I commend you on reaching out for help with your anger problem. Hotheaded Mars in fiery Sagittarius makes for enough emotional intensity to melt whatever comes within a mile’s radius. So treat your temper like professionals treat an explosive – with respect for its power. Take precautions. Have a plan. The best one usually includes backing up and walking away when you get the very first signs of a potentially triggering situation. Consider having a few mantras in your pocket you can repeat to yourself as you’re walking away. It will calm and cleanse the emotional charges from your mind. Try this one on for size: “You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.” – Buddha