Is romance written in your stars for 2016?

This year a rare celestial spectacular will have a dramatic impact on all our love lives, says JONATHAN CAINER

MeRcuRY is neither the planet of love nor the herald of romance. Why then, should we expect to feel an impact, deep in our hearts, from this year’s rare Transit of mercury? Why should we expect this event to have powerful ramifications that cause many relationships to change for ever for the better? Because, while mercury may not govern attraction, seduction, glamour or charm, it has a traditional association with something that matters far more to every lover — or would-be lover. It is the planet of communication!

As all who have ever tried to form a close rapport with another individual will testify, nothing is more important than the quest for mutual understanding.

mercury facilitates exchange! It governs information and education. It rules trade and transaction, too. What else is at the essence of any important emotional relationship if not a process of give and take based on subtle, constant emotional negotiation?

on may 9, 2016, this elusive planet will reveal itself in broad daylight by aligning so directly with the Sun that it appears, for several hours, to look like a tiny blemish, protruding from the face of the brightest light in the sky.

It draws the attention of a watching world and says: ‘never underestimate the potential significance of a tiny detail!’

We will feel it in our bones, in our waters . . . and in our hearts. We will respond to the amazing cosmic challenge being set by a sky overbrimming with symbolism.

The cosmos is saying, to each one of us, in 2016: ‘Dare to share what you feel, to say what you mean, to show what you know and reveal what you conceal!’ That’s going to give rise to a surprisingly large amount of candour — but, in unleashing a tide of honesty, the cosmos will support the efforts of all who seek a better, deeper, more genuine understanding of one another.

ARIES

(March 21 — April 20) WhY look to the heavens for an insight into your love life? Do you really feel such an important matter is entirely out of your own control? It is surprising how many of us take a passive view of romance.

We dwell on what others will do or wonder how they will act and suspect that our ability to influence this is limited.

The rare Transit of mercury in 2016 will help you see how you do have control over how the people you love relate to you and how, in turn, you can better relate to them.

This includes people who, sometimes, don’t seem to make themselves easy to love. This year allows you to take control of what you give out. This will, in turn, affect what you get back. As you rise above potential conflict and send out a strong positive signal about peaceful co-existence, you will attract a constructive response.

You will come across as the kind of person that others want to be around.

That will make a big difference to your emotional and personal life. For a 20 per cent discount on a full set of personal predictions for all of 2016, based on your exact date of birth, visit cainer.com now!

TAURUS

April 21 — May 21

ouR closest involvements often leave us lost for words. even if we are clear about what we feel, we are nervous about sharing this, lest it provokes a difficult reaction.

Yet, through such self-censorship, points get missed, subjects get changed and important details get glossed over.

We allude to matters indirectly when we ought to confront them boldly. And as much as we’re caught up in our fears and inhibitions, the people around us are, too.

now, not every event that occurs in your life this year, can be linked to the moment when mercury passes across the face of the Sun in your zodiac sign, in may.

But this unusual phenomenon symbolises a change which will affect you all year.

It brings an ability to express what previously, you have been unable to articulate. Wherever there is a need to understand someone better, there is an opportunity for a constructive, informative exchange to occur.

It may not all happen in an instant, but the goal you hope to reach is more attainable than ever in your life so far. For a 20 per cent discount on a full set of personal predictions for all of 2016, based on your exact date of birth, visit cainer.com now!

GEMINI

May 22 — June 22

Some people convey confidence bordering on arrogance. Their demeanour may appeal to people who like superficial swagger but detracts from the possibility of a deeper connection with someone more subtle. Do you swing too far to the other extreme when you worry whether anyone would be interested in you?

You may well have justified confidence in your mental abilities yet at an emotional level, self-doubt can mean that some of your relationships tend to be overly cerebral.

The sky this year makes it easier to share your deepest emotions and become more approachable. The Transit of mercury, ruler of your sign, across the face of the Sun in may is a symbolic moment with implications which travel backwards and forwards like ripples on the surface of the pond of time.

They reach you now at the start of the year and continue to touch your life long into 2016 and beyond.

They indicate a new ability to foster improvements in key relationships. Despite all you may recently have been through or may be anxious about, your outlook is surprisingly good. For a 20 per cent discount on a full set of personal predictions for all of 2016, based on your exact date of birth, visit cainer.com now!

CANCER

June 23 — July 23

IT DoeSn’T matter how noble or enlightened we are. Somehow, we bring out both the best and the worst in each other.

Yet if we are not careful, we end up only remembering the worst.

The best ends up locked away in an emotional vault to which key-holders are mesmerised into a form of forgetfulness that borders on denial!

From this distant dream, only wistful memories emerge like wisps of smoke from a dream cottage chimney atop a hazy horizon.

Yet if you work with the potential that this year’s new experiences offer, you’ll release happier memories and integrate these into a present full of hope and joy.

The year-long symbolic implication of this year’s Transit of mercury is an ability to move on from the past.

As you rise above regret and resentment, you’ll share positivity and resolve fraught situations.

You won’t have to love every aspect of your world the way it is.

But by valuing that which is good, and making it the foundation of a tower of meaningful interaction, you will change your emotional life dramatically for the better. For a 20 per cent discount on a full set of personal predictions for all of 2016, based on your exact date of birth, visit cainer.com now!

LEO

July 24 — August 23

RememBeR the Aretha Franklin song, Respect? I am not suggesting it is time to show more respect for others nor that they should show more for you but we must acknowledge how, where there is respect, progress can occur and where respect is missing, there can only be conflict.

Wherever there is friction between individuals, the tendency is for each to blame the other. That may be justifiable but it doesn’t promote the kind of magic we need if things are to change. It may be, indeed, that the only way to change something which appears unchangeable is to do something unthinkable.

This year you need a willingness to think in unconventional ways. The rare Transit of mercury puts you in a position, all year, from which you can create great change.

Perhaps it shouldn’t have to be down to you to do that but does that matter, as long as the right result ensues? In 2016 you move on from a syndrome which has been unsatisfactory into a realm of mutually helpful interaction that equally benefits your family, love and social life. For a 20 per cent discount on a full set of personal predictions for all of 2016, based on your exact date of birth, visit cainer.com now!

VIRGO August 24 — September 23

Though the Transit of mercury only occurs on one day, its influence radiates through time and affects you all year.

It suggests you will develop a more profound understanding of life in general and some close emotional involvements in particular. We never stop learning in life and sometimes, it’s the things we learn about ourselves which prove most valuable.

here comes a year in which you see why you’re entitled to be proud of yourself and to feel secure about the kind of future you can create.

We must, though, be careful not to think in terms of success or failure when it comes to ‘being ourselves’.

We must rise above the idea of winning or losing ‘love’ by understanding more about who we are. You will find, as you begin to blossom in your heart, that all

processes of personal change work in favour of tangible improvements in your love, emotional and social life.

You will become more attractive, more able to exude charisma, more able to pursue peace and more able to draw, into your life, the people you most need! For a 20 per cent discount on a full set of personal predictions for all of 2016, based on your exact date of birth, visit cainer.com now!

LIBRA September 24 — October 23

SometimeS, when we contemplate the emotional exchanges we have with our loved ones, we forget how we emulate one another, mirroring moods and reflecting attitudes.

emotionally, it is as if we have a blind spot. We know there must be some kind of connection between our behaviour and the behaviour of others . . . but we can’t quite see it.

oblivious to our own power, we end up blaming others for things that we are entirely able to fix.

Long before this year’s rare transit of mercury across the face of the Sun takes place . . . and long after it is over, this unusual astrological configuration will have an impact on your personal and emotional life. it will inspire you to ask, ‘How can i take more constructive steps to bring love and harmony to my personal life?’

the answer in every case involves refusing to focus on blame.

All you need to know is that slowly but surely this year, you can make something good happen by being willing to go beyond what appears to be an insurmountable obstacle.

Whatever you think you can’t change, you can. For a 20 per cent discount on a full set of personal predictions for all of 2016, based on your exact date of birth, visit cainer.com now!

SCORPIO October 24 — November 22

tHe rare transit of mercury in your opposite sign suggests the main thing you will remember in 2016 is a change in the nature of a relationship.

the relationship in question, though, may not be current. it may have happened long ago. maybe sparks flew, dramas erupted and consequences ensued.

to some extent you’ve been reeling ever since. Whether or not that drama is still officially ongoing, it is ongoing in the same sense that, so physicists tell us, ‘the universe is still in the process of expanding from the Big Bang.’

Your consciousness is still expanding from lessons you learned long ago. Your reactions have shaped your attitude towards relationships ever since.

this potentially healing year is when you gain an understanding of

. someone else . . and of yourself.

A precious insight frees you from a burden you’ve been carrying for too long. that will have a helpful effect on all your interactions.

it will make you easier to approach and thus easier for you to attract, into your life, the support, love and appreciation you so much deserve. For a 20 per cent discount on a full set of personal predictions for all of 2016, based on your exact date of birth, visit cainer.com now!

SAGITTARIUS November 23 — December 21

tHere have been times lately when you’ve begun to wonder whether you are cut out for the life of challenge you so often lead. Perhaps you fear 2016 will bring an occasion where you find yourself beaten?

Actually, in this year of the rare transit of mercury, you will discover how to move on from a stressful situation. effort, currently, seems to be required in your love life, your social life and your home life.

You feel you are being required to give more than you can spare; yet this year brings new genuine inspiration.

expect to gain the joy of cooperation, a greater ability to see what’s good and thus to feel less need to point out what’s wrong.

the natural side-effect of that is positivity. And positivity, when applied to any interaction between two humans, inevitably takes away the rough edges and creates enthusiasm.

if you like the sound of all that but fear you cannot see any of it on your horizon hold tight.

No matter how far away from magic you seem to be right now, it will eventually present itself. For a 20 per cent discount on a full set of personal predictions for all of 2016, based on your exact date of birth, visit cainer.com now!

CAPRICORN December 22 — January 20

BreAtHtAkiNg, life-changing, love life moments only occur if things are going very wrong or very right.

mostly, mainly, we just trundle along. it is only when the smoke of a problem gets in our eyes that we fear our hearts are on fire.

But where lately your inner alarm has been setting off psychological sprinklers, soon you will see you are safe to relax.

Far better, surely, to have stability than to be swamped by such a sense of immediate enormity that we feel we can no longer even cope with day-to-day existence.

As the imminent transit of mercury extends its influence this year, it may seem as if you have been conducting an important emotional journey on ‘automatic pilot’.

in 2016, you wake up, seize the controls and start asserting your will over the direction of your personal life.

that has the potential to create tension. You can, of course, make choices that bring consequences. But this year, there will soon be a much-improved ability to appreciate and celebrate the new. Be ready to make the most of exciting, encouraging change. For a 20 per cent discount on a full set of personal predictions for all of 2016, based on your exact date of birth, visit cainer.com now!

AQUARIUS January 21 — February 19

AquAriANS, they say, are aloof, unemotional and immune to soppy sentiments. Yet you are undeniably sensitive. that’s why you often put up a wall to keep out feelings which might otherwise overwhelm you.

You needn’t be afraid of those this year. improvements will come where needed, opportunities will arise where desired.

You’ll deepen existing relationships and form new bonds as you open up to a communication process that allows honest yet affable exchanges.

Where you are willing to share, to listen, to believe, to be explained to, you will make positive progress.

Likewise, wherever you are willing to hear what someone has to say, even if they find it difficult to communicate.

the transit of mercury may only be a brief event in may but symbolically it affects your outlook for the entire year, helping you to become a person others feel they can trust.

that isn’t easy. it requires responsibility. it can lead to you feeling encumbered by obligation.

But people who are in demand are never lonely. this year, you’ll build and deepen important links which bring great emotional and psychological satisfaction. For a 20 per cent discount on a full set of personal predictions for all of 2016, based on your exact date of birth, visit cainer.com now!

PISCES February 20 — March 20

eveNtS in 2016 bring the opportunity to strengthen an existing involvement with a member of your family, a close friend or someone with whom you are romantically intertwined.

there is, in this, an opportunity to broaden your own sense of identity.

As you respect and recognise the true depth of your own inner spirit you will become able to inject a spirit of freedom into circumstances which might otherwise seem onerous. the forthcoming transit of mercury will have a big impact on your whole year in that it shows you how to facilitate change without pain!

You can move on from the past without some great sense of misgiving or discomfort.

You need not feel that the only way to improve your emotional life is to do something drastic with difficult consequences.

there is a way to gently turn a situation around. this year, the cosmos helps you become the one who is in charge of your own destiny, who can take control of how relationships develop and make sure good things happen, just through the sheer force of love, hope and positivity you exude. For a 20 per cent discount on a full set of personal predictions for all of 2016, based on your exact date of birth, visit cainer.com now!