Planetarium

VIRGO

August 23—September 22 The key phrase for September is "open-heart surgery," but don't start grabbing for a stethoscope and screaming for pills. Take it symbolically. Uranus moves forward on September 14th, and on the 23rd Saturn and Neptune change direction in your 5th house, which rules over the heart. During this period you are going to have to open up emotionally, get into love and pain, perhaps even throw yourself shamelessly at younger, narcissistic objects of desire who don't appreciate you. Be prepared to answer this: Is the one who says "I love you" first the winner or the jerk?

LIBRA ^

September 23—October 23 You're now ending a cycle begun in the early seventies. Recently, pictures of the family at the reunion picnic have tended to bring tears to your eyes. If an elderly relative coughs, you're frozen with guilt. No matter what happens, stay calm, even if some parent-child relationships are not fully resolved. Sometimes that's the way it has to be when the Capricorn planets do their thing the last two weeks of September. A torch is definitely being passed to you, so hold back your sobs and snip that cord. Do not allow yourself the luxury of nostalgia or give in to your usual weakness—cheap sentiment.

SCORPIO n>

October 24—November 21 Careerwise, you're in the King Midas category. By the last week of September, many of your communications problems will be resolved, provided that you are willing to express some of your darker thoughts and deal with your own rootless ambivalence. There's nothing wrong with transience. Living out of a suitcase can actually be mind-expanding, as you know, but sooner or later people have to get more than your answering machine. Critics will call your behavior schizoid, and unless you're a Mormon living in Utah, you could be one of those Scorpios currently being sought for bigamy.

SAGITTARIUS ^

November 22—December 21

You are a spiritual soul caught in a material world. The dilemma you are feeling is the same one that makes novitiates quit the seminary five minutes before ordination. Three planets moving forward in your 2nd house between September 14th and 23rd conspire with Pluto in Scorpio to pose a leading question: How can you be expected to perform with the precision of a bank teller when you were made for jumping out of planes? Nevertheless, you should be feeling so loving now that, without the slightest ulterior motive, you could bring coffee and a Danish to your I.R.S. auditor.

CAPRICORN 75

December 22—January 19 It's time to shed all those expectations you've spent your life acquiring and find out deep down what really works for you. It should be quite a trip, overthrowing directives and dogmas you've had to swallow over the years as given truths about yourself and what you're supposed to be doing. If you dare, take off your grandmother's cameo or your grandfather's watch chain and let yourself come unbuttoned. Experience what you've been terrified to experience: the real you. Break the pattern at last. Saturn moves forward on September 23rd, so you don't even have to pretend to be sane.

AQUARIUS

January 20—February 18 If you're not sleeping well, you're right in tune with the universe. This might not be the most trying moment of your life, because things could always get worse, but with three planets changing direction in your 12th house during September, you will be laughing on the outside while inwardly screaming to know what the hell you are doing and why you are doing it. Just try to make sure that, whatever the mystery is, the joke is not on you. The sort of selfless dedication you've been demonstrating lately hasn't been seen since biblical days. It wasn't appreciated then either.

PISCES X

February 19—March 20 No matter how bouncy you act, you're pretty disillusioned with humanity. Has a good friend abandoned you? Have you felt like the geek at the county fair because you sense that you are never going to fit in? Has a group you have served well turned on you? If none of the above applies during the month of September, your mother lied to you about your birthday and you're not a Pisces. But if the road ahead seems dark and your headlights are not working, just face the fact that you're in an odd llth-house moment. Hold your head high and take the blackball with a highball.

ARIES T

March 21-April 19 You're totally nauseated from playing the loyal soldier. You've had it up to here with saluting generals, shining your shoes, and marching to the drum of professional recognition. Right now you're as lame a duck as Jimmy Carter in November 1980. But keep peeling those potatoes till your discharge comes through, which should be before Saturn leaves Capricorn in January. The ticker-tape parade they promised probably won't happen, because the guy who wrote about the bang and the whimper was definitely right. So what? If nobody else is going to give you a party, give yourself one.

TAURUS %

April 20—May 20 The Taurean mind is crammed with such vital information as where the secret stash might be hidden or which cologne would conquer the gorgeous neighbor across the hall. In matters of seduction, you can be worse than a Scorpio, if such a thing is possible. When it comes to understanding your own behavior, you block. Fancy Ph.D. or high-school dropout, polish your education now. With September's emphasis in your 9th house, it's time to prove that your maneuvers are not the random results of too much sugar or not enough exercise and that under your hairdo is a brain, not a souffle.

GEMINI X

May 21—June 21

You're tied to the tracks and can hear the whistle of the 11:59. Should you keep fiddling with the ropes or just relax into the experience? Financial crises and sexual panic notwithstanding, there are some good times ahead. If only someone would write you a big fat check or pay for your stint in a gender clinic, all of your troubles would be over. The ruse of sexual normalcy you've been clinging to doesn't quite work, does it? So get out of the missionary position and come out into the light. Nobody will be a bit surprised that your desires are not listed in the Scouting handbook of weekend fun.

CANCER Q

June 22—July 22 The bravery you've shown in recent months makes the captain of the Titanic seem a hopeless wimp. You courageously hung in there while the ship continued to take on water. You can look with scorn at all those who thought you were too chicken to be alone. You must be really sick of packing lunches and wiping noses. This month is the time for you to hammer out new agreements for old relationships. Be sure you have a lawyer to help you read over the fine print. A word of caution: Since it's your Karma to be suspicious during this period, don't even trust the lawyer.

LEO Si

July 23-August 22

Feeling a pull between the old, love-making you and the clone of Ben Franklin you've been trying to turn yourself into? Cheer up. That's how you're supposed to feel with Jupiter in Leo and Saturn in Capricorn this fall. It's great that you've gained back some of your old glitz and daring, but it might not be prudent to set fire to your X-rays in order to light your cigarette. You know now that you'll never be as virtuous as the Pilgrims, and that you can't live your whole life in a cold shower. The question is, can you have fun and be good too? Can you really get off on a G-rated movie?

Michael Lutin