By Eric Francis
ARIES — With Venus retrograde in your sign, it would seem that the thing you need the most is to experience the world from the viewpoint of a close partner. In fact, I suggest you do a review of your exchanges the past year or so, and see if you can figure out what you’ve been missing. Rather than asking for additional information, use what you know; note what you’ve already observed and put the pieces together emotionally rather than intellectually. You will know you’re getting somewhere when you have that sensation of revelation and discovery, as if the lights are suddenly coming on. In the end, this is about your relationship to yourself: how you experience your feelings, what relevance other people have in your life, and what you want to share with them. You want relationships, but why? Venus retrograde, which began Saturday and ends April 15, will help you figure that out.
TAURUS — Most people you meet are totally opaque to themselves. They cannot see through their personality into some deeper manifestation of who they are. Some love the seeming mystery of this; others cannot be bothered. You now get a glorious opportunity to peer deep into your own psyche, and to catch up with some long-overdue discoveries. The idea of an ‘identity’ has often been challenging to you, because you know you cannot fit yourself into easy categories. You’re aware of your need to be an individual and not defined by your environment. Yet this often leaves you wondering where you fit in. The current planetary picture describes a scenario where the closer you come to accepting exactly who you are, the easier it will be to find the places not just where you fit, but where you truly belong.
GEMINI — Monday’s meeting of Mercury and the Sun is about doors opening for you, especially on the professional front. Your part in the deal is to knock on those doors. Your job is to place yourself where people can see you, and to talk about what you love to do. The way to impress potential employers and partners is not just with your vision; rather, you must demonstrate your ability to come through with results that meet their specifications. Your past history is enough to get you into the conversations you need to be in. From there, you must stay solidly in the present, and show that you’re able to listen carefully and understand the task at hand and where it fits into the wider pattern. For some it’s a too-tall order to be authoritative and respect authority at the same time. That, however, is what’s required.
CANCER — Ask for a vision for the future and you’ll get one. Remember, though, that there are many possibilities, and they’re not all equal or equivalent. Therefore, I suggest you not settle for just one vision, or just one idea; keep pumping the well until you have many possibilities to choose from, to combine and to give you ideas for what else is possible. If you do this for a while, you’ll see that what you’re currently doing and what you’re currently thinking have plenty of room for expansion. You might also discover that you had some fantastic ideas in the past that deserve a fresh look. Pay special attention to the ones that seem beautiful but which may require too much change, commitment or time spent out of your comfort zone. You can, at least, afford to consider them for a while.
LEO — You can reach a positive resolution to a matter involving taxes, shared finances or some personal situation. But this will involve setting aside the seeming complexity of the scenario for an elegant solution that works for everyone. If you’re setting a goal, that’s the place to begin: not just with what works for you, but what will encompass the needs of everyone in the scenario. For this to happen, however, you must be working with all the true facts, and everyone must have their agenda on the table. You’re likely to be the one to facilitate this process. Here’s the thing to remember: you can only work with the willingness of others. You cannot overcome their unwillingness. Therefore, you must figure out what you want, and what everyone else wants, and then start building on the common ground. If others bring up differences, encourage them to talk about what they support and agree with.
VIRGO — It’s not easy to tell where people are really coming from. By now you’ve figured this out. This is not about men or women, or whether relationships are sexual or not. It’s about people and the way that they tend to walk around in a haze of ambiguity and hesitation. Sometimes this is about avoidance. Other times it’s about low expectations of life. You have enough psychological insight to see the signs; now you must have the strength and integrity to put them together and figure out where people are really coming from. You’ll be able to discern this more from their actions than their words, and this will be an exercise in pattern recognition. However, it’s likely that you will hear one specific message in written or spoken form that helps you assemble the full scenario. Watch, listen, read — and think.
LIBRA — If you’ve been having the feeling that the energy of your relationships is more like oil and water than a tropical fruit smoothie, this is for you. Don’t worry if someone seems to be pulling away from you, or questioning the future. Venus has recently stationed retrograde, and this is about introspection, and about sizing up the recent past. It’s time for a review, and for an assessment of the way events have developed (take this back to mid-2015 if you need a time frame). You must be honest about your role in the way things have developed. This might include having made some compromise early on, or having fallen for someone’s image rather than their substance. Take your time with this. Over the next month or so, the true colors will come out. You’ll figure out what you’re feeling, and that will make it easier to understand what others are feeling. A positive outcome is possible.
SCORPIO — The idea to keep in mind is nourishment. Under the current influence of Venus retrograde, many relationships are getting a little shakeup. Everyone will have their own notions of what’s going on for them; I suggest you cast things in terms of food. First, do that literally: what’s the meal plan in your primary partnership or other important relationships? Who feeds whom? That’s your central metaphor; it will tell most of the story. Then transpose that into an emotional context. What interchanges feed you and which deplete you? What is the pattern? It would seem you’re concerned about the way that someone is so focused on their own needs and feelings that they don’t have time or resources for you. This may be true, though before you decide that, do a careful assessment of your own generosity — of spirit, with money and in the kitchen. Love is about nourishment, and if it’s not nourishing, it’s not love.
SAGITTARIUS — Approach-avoid behavior is often about guilt. It doesn’t usually look that way, because the approach seems affirmative and sincere, while the avoidance seems to have no connection to anything, or to something abstract. They are connected, however, by the person in whom this is happening. Start with yourself. Notice how you feel when you back off from someone or something that you want. This may be subtle: you’ll need to catch a glimpse of the sensations that are going on between the lines and below the surface. Is something too good, too creative, too much fun, or too self-indulgent? Does something you want seem like too big a risk? Or are you getting snagged on the responsibility and the commitment that come with real freedom? In truth it may not be any of these things. Guilt usually signs its name in invisible ink, if at all.
CAPRICORN — Some old family matters seem to be up for discussion, though make sure you have the issue right. Where you and your family of origin are concerned, the central question of your life is: in what ways did your existence threaten the egos of your early caregivers? You were a precocious child, which on one level impressed the people around you and on another seemed to demand their attention in a way that they didn’t quite know what to do with. Many people never give up on the struggle for their parents’ approval, no matter how old they are. This, in turn, translates into other circumstances. Which ones? Any situation where you lack the confidence to say or do what you want, or what you need. You simply must question why that happens, and not take any explanation that does not solve the problem. Of course, the inherent riddle of confidence is that at a certain point, you simply have to get over yourself. Keep in mind that you’re no longer a child.
AQUARIUS — Both the ancient and modern planets associated with your sign are in a rare state. Saturn, the ancient ruler, is conjunct the Galactic Core, which is subjecting you to an ongoing awakening that may leave you wondering whether it’s really happening. The Galactic Core is famous for brilliant revelations that later seem dubious, or which are forgotten. What you’re figuring out, though, is not as strange as it may seem, and it’s certainly worth remembering. As for the modern ruling planet, Uranus, this too is in a rare state: it’s conjunct Eris in Aries. This is a blend of the brilliant revelation, the shocking awakening and a genius invention of some kind. That invention is not a thing, it’s your life — and the recognition that your life is guided by your thoughts and your perceptions (which come from your thoughts). All in all, this is a moment of awakening like none other. It’s time to get up, make a fresh pot of coffee, and meet the dawn of a new day.
PISCES — You know you need to rethink the whole money thing. Venus is retrograde in your house of finances and resources, which represents a question and a reminder to be impeccable about money. In the same house and sign, Uranus is making its last conjunction to Eris, which is about some kind of revolt, rebellion and reinvention. You might think you’re working through your ideas about money, but it’s much bigger than that. You are reinventing yourself and, in turn, that becomes your greatest resource. Therefore, observe yourself, understand yourself, and notice all the points where your self-concept (including self-esteem) meets up with financial reality. Two questions come to mind: what purpose do you serve, in a daily, active way; and what level of reality do you want to be on? What, specifically, do you want money for, and what relationship does that have to your stated values? In other words, what priorities do you want to finance, and why?