Your Stars

ARIES March 21 — April 21

When celebrities are interviewed, they are often asked ‘what’s the secret of your success?’ Their answers are sometimes surprising. They may attempt to be amusing or they genuinely may not know what to say. Or it may be because they have always assumed that one particular quality or talent marks them out from the crowd, whereas this has actually made an almost irrelevantly small contribution to their achievement. I mention this only because you currently fear the loss of something you hardly need.

TAURUS April 21 — May 21

Next time you wander in an orchard, look at the apples. Why don’t the trees imprint them with barcodes? Think how this would benefit the pickers, packers, distributers, wholesalers and retailers who must then engage in the process of getting them from the tree to the table in return for financial reward. Indeed, why don’t the trees just grow money and save us all the effort of having to earn it? The trees just want to make apples. It suits them that we eat them. Don’t be suspicious of a natural advantage today.

GEMINI May 21 — June 22

Have you been dealt a less than ideal hand? Are you making the most of the circumstances you face, and stoically resisting the urge to wonder why others seem to have received better treatment from the cosmos? There may be no miraculous change in your circumstances today, but what if no such change were needed? What if all you required was a greater willingness to see the hidden benefit in a current situation? Act as if you expect to make an encouraging discovery shortly and it may yet happen.

CANCER June 22 — July 23

With the odd notable exception, most folk like to avoid conflict. If someone says something with which we disagree, we prefer to gloss over that difference of opinion than to confront it. Who knows what kind of hornets’ nest might get stirred up if too many contentious opinions were expressed and explored. But then, it might not be a hornets’ nest, it could be a beehive from which the sweet honey of a far more meaningful agreement can be safely extracted. The full moon suggests you should be frank and fearless.

LEO July 23 — Aug 24

There are millionaires who lose sleep at night about the state of their finances. There are paupers who feel genuinely happy and secure. Whilst we all tend to imagine that we would feel better if we were better off, that is a false assumption. At best, an improvement in our material circumstances would bring fleeting excitement. True peace of mind can neither be bought nor paid for. But it can be experienced. The full moon now strongly suggests that you are nearer than you may think to a real reason to relax.

VIRGO Aug 24 — Sept 23

We have our own personal beliefs and opinions. We know what we think and we know why we think it. We do our best to lead our lives by our highest ethical standards. Yet these do not exist in isolation. We are all sensitive too, to the prevailing social climate. We like to feel that we are in step with a wider moral community. And if we are to be out of step with it, we prefer this to come about as a deliberate expression of defiance, rather than some accidental misalignment. You are now making an important inner adjustment.

LIBRA Sept 23 — Oct 23

Have you got a play to write? A symphony to compose? A story to tell? Helpful alignments from Venus to Jupiter and Uranus combine with an imminent Full Moon in the part of your chart that governs dreams. They suggest this is an excellent time to explore your creativity. And if you have no such fanciful plans and aspirations? You may still be able to find many imaginative solutions to more mundane challenges. Somehow, you are now more able to think differently. That is a more valuable talent than you may yet realise.

SCORPIO Oct 22 — Nov 23

Back in the ’70s, some people used to say “you get back what you give out.” The principle remains as sound now as it was then. If we treat people with hostility or suspicion, they somehow sense it and reflect it back to us. Kindness inspires kindness and, in case you are wondering what I’m getting at with all this, forgiveness brings forth forgiveness. A sharp alignment from Venus to Pluto now emphasises the need for you to treat someone, not as they seem to be treating you, but in the way you wish they would treat you.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 — Dec 23

What will you do if a tiger breaks into your home and starts baring its teeth? And tell me, do you have a strategy for coping should this coincide with an invasion of aliens who are keen to kidnap you and hold you hostage on another planet? What’s that? You have no contingency plans for such developments? Well, that is very sensible of you. You would be wasting your time if you did. You would be similarly remiss to take too many precautions based on the possibility that your worst fear is due to come true.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 — Jan 21

People who rise to positions of authority and responsibility usually have great wisdom and experience to draw on. But this doesn’t make them infallible. Are you currently making some choices on the basis of advice that seemingly can’t be questioned? Before you allow yourself to be talked out of an idea that once made great sense to you, you perhaps ought to look more carefully at why someone seems to think that it is no longer such a smart option. What if they have something to lose from you turning out to be right?

AQUARIUS Jan 21 — Feb 20

What if, when we are spreading our breakfast toast, our hand slips and the slice falls to the floor? If it lands butter side up, can we see this as a cosmic suggestion that we are going to be lucky? Should we prepare for the worst if it happens to land butter side down? And what if it lands jam side up? We are surely only safe to see this as an auspicious omen if there wasn’t any jam on it at all when we dropped it! Inexplicable miracles may be as thin on the ground as ever today, but hopeful coincidences may yet abound.

PISCES Feb 20 — March 21

Some spiritual teachers advise their students to show circumspection around simple concepts like ‘good’ and ‘bad’. We all have a way of making judgements about events, circumstances and even other people, based on the flimsiest most superficial evidence. Things that look good can sometimes turn out to be bad. And vice versa. You may need to be a little wary today, about jumping to conclusions, regarding the desirability or otherwise of some newly emerging factor. It has more to offer you than you may think.