Planetarium

LIBRA September 23—October 23

Motivate yourself right now to take over, to get behind the wheel and drive. Mars and Jupiter in Libra means a definite up, so go out and fight for what you want. Take some action (or fool others into thinking they've taken action) and help fate along, all in your own sweet way, of course. Don't just camp out in front of the TV, munching on chips and watching the track of the storm on the Weather Channel as the roof blows off your house. Instead, get out there in your slicker and climb up onto the roof with a hammer in your fist and a mouthful of nails. Use those vitamins breakfast cereals are forever promising you lots of.

SCORPIO October 24—November 21

The next time you watch Jenny Jones, don't be too quick to judge the neatly coiffed housewife who moonlights as a hooker or the family man who has been caught on one of his sneaky side trips. In their own way they are coping with the dark side of ambivalent human needs. Half of them are probably fellow Scorpios, because Scorpios are now having to deal with exactly such problems. Of course, you don't see your secret forays as deviant little excursions that could undermine the security you say you're trying to build. In your book, these jaunts are just your special way of receiving inspiration. Yeah, sure, right.

SAGITTARIUS November 22—December 21

There will be plenty of time to lie in bed and watch The Godfather. Right now, you have to get out and show the world you're not a vegetable, even if you feel like one. You need more privacy than ever, because you're less able to cope than ever, but the stakes are high and your energy has got to be there to meet the challenge. Whatever your escapist addiction happens to be, clean up for company and make yourself as spiffy as a yuppie and as lively as a bowl of salsa. You can't just mumble your way through like James Dean and assume that people are going to throw money at you—even if you have a bankable name.

CAPRICORN December 22—January 19

On a clear day some people can see forever, maybe, but for you it's been months and months of zero visibility. You've survived typhoons and heart-stopping near collisions with brick walls, but then, what else could you expect when Uranus and Neptune have been crashing into each other in your sign? In spite of typically Capricorn fiscal terrors and a relatively new and rather refreshing inner chaos, you should be doing surprisingly well. The presence of Mars and Jupiter in the solar midheaven should motivate you and help ease your incessant fretting about becoming a washed-up old has-been.

AQUARIUS January 20—February 18

Being in control is fabulous, even if it just means being able to choose the table in the restaurant. If you're obsessed with controlling others, however, it's probably because deep inside you really feel powerless. Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune are telling you to let go of all that petty ego garbage. In the long run it will only prove to be embarrassing as well as stupid. Higher consciousness is the way to go now, and that means a lot more than reading a pop book about how to make a million dollars. More to the point should be a sincere desire to live with your personal truth—and hope it's not too late to save yourself.

PISCES February 19—March 20

Just find a healthy partner to sleep with and some money for a worthy cause and you've got the whole month licked. The transits of the sun and Mercury through Virgo, the passage of Mars in your 8th house, and that infernal, endless conjunction of Uranus and Neptune in your 11th house are giving you the need for deep, intimate contact, a yearning for sexual release, and the desire to make some meaningful contribution to the human race. You can achieve those goals in any order you wish. Times being what they are, though, you may have to be content with charity work and forget the whole bed thing.

ARIES March 21—April 19

This could be just one more of those sweet little periods when you try to simplify your life and act humble. Don't bother. No matter how many times you get bumped on the head or slapped on the wrist, you cannot give up the rush that accompanies new opportunities. Whether it's the promise of a blockbuster or your 15th marriage proposal, when Mars and Jupiter square Uranus and Neptune in your 10th house, there's no way you can resist bursting into a chorus of "High Hopes" as soon as someone dangles a nice big banana in front of your nose. "Oops! There goes another rubber-tree plant."

TAURUS April 20-May 20

The Bible is undoubtedly right: we all know that marriage should be for life and that commitments should never be broken. There may well be eternal and unchanging truths that have been handed down from some higher authority other than the motion-picture rating board. But with Uranus and Neptune in your 9th house of higher consciousness, you must push ahead in the dark and struggle with the fear of the unknown. Guided by your intelligence, for God's sake allow your thinking to change with the times and acknowledge the truth of that slogan you've surely noticed on tough guys' T-shirts: SHIT HAPPENS.

GEMINI May 21—June 21

With your life turned up to HIGH and your confidence on LOW, it's hard to stop and accept a bouquet of flowers without thinking either that there's a bee in them or that the joker sending them is a major jerk. On top of all that, you don't feel attractive. Well, take heart. With Mars and Jupiter in your 5th house, a humongous conjunction in the 8th, and Venus in Leo, honest offers will come in. Before you blow them off with a snotty comment, examine yourself. Are these people all idiots, or are you perhaps afraid of getting laughed at or talked about? Could you be scared of being needed? Don't get too busy for love.

CANCER June 22—July 22

Although the term "happily ever after" was undoubtedly coined by a Cancer, all members of that sign periodically require a good, solid, four-hankie tragedy to sink their teeth into and help keep their weight down. To restore your faith after all the 7th-house relationship upheavals of the last few years, spend a couple of schmaltzy hours watching Sleepless in Seattle. If you've got only 60 seconds to spare, you can achieve roughly the same result by watching a feminine-hygiene TV commercial in which a pair of lovers are rushing toward each other in slow motion through a field of daisies.

LEO July 23—August 22

One of your current conflicts is trying to decide whether to play it safe and go through life by Greyhound (and leave the driving to others) or to ride a wild stallion bareback and hope for the best. If there's ever been a time when you've needed the stable grounding of mature and experienced individuals, it's now. But something in you bums to be liberated from the grip of old-fashioned, rigid bosses, stodgy patriarchal organizations, and outdated systems of thinking, and that includes Blue Cross and the A.M.A. So go ahead and ride that bronco. Just be sure to take along a big, soft pillow for your tush.

VIRGO August 23—September 22

No matter what planets are conjoining in your 5th house, right now try to avoid if possible the drunken-sailor school of spending. However, your glitzy debut into society this fall will be a serious (if not desperate) attempt to rekindle enthusiasm for your work and get revenge on everyone who has snubbed, insulted, or in any way been mean to you. Everything you would have once judged in others as infantile or destructive attention-getting behavior could actually become part of your act now. That doesn't mean that you're about to shave the word "Piggies!" onto your scalp.

Michael Lutin