Planetarium

LEO

July 23—August 22

With Mars in your 2nd house, you're fired up about getting out there and kicking some major ass, commercially speaking. But you can't quite handle it right now. In this dog-eat-dog-hit-the-road-and-sellyourself world, even hotshot Leos have to accept the fact that to all things there's a season. There's a time to hustle your snake oil and a time to step momentarily out of the fray, slip into the shadows, and let the universe take over. Life would be so easy if, instead of kicking ass, you could just kick off your shoes and run through the cool grass with the other kids—which is probably exactly what you should do.

VIRGO

August 23—September 22

If you're a normal Virgo, you're dying to be fulfilled by your work now—yet the whole work thing is killing you. With Venus in Gemini all July, and Mars in Virgo till August 10, you're revved up like a sports car with the accelerator pressed down to the floorboard. The weird thing is, with Mercury retrograde, the car's in neutral and stuck on a garage lift eight feet off the ground until the end of July. Meanwhile, doesn't it make sense for you to hang loose with old friends and enjoy a bucket of soft-shell crabs? How much did obsessing ever refresh anyone, anyway?

LIBRA

September 23—October 23

The transit of Mars through your 12th house can be one hell of a spooky six weeks—best spent muttering prayers with your eyes cast downward. Every so often, however, Fortune smiles on Libras at this time. Take right now, for instance. During most of the period that Venus is transiting your 9th house, Jupiter will remain in Libra. If your brotherin-law embarrasses you, if your sister totals your car, or if an astrologer throws the fear of God into you because some planet is in the wrong place, be big about it. When Mars leaves your 12th house on August 11, that's the time to start showing people how angry you can get.

SCORPIO

October 24—November 21

Despite all those rumors about how Scorpios enjoy executions, you do not get your kicks by operating a guillotine. Sometimes, though, people have to be called to answer for the messes they make. For the most part you have tried not to abuse your position of power. But with Pluto going direct on August 2 and even more power coming to you, you may be asked to hold up a bridge so that a train can pass over, or save a family of kittens from the rapids. Even more scary is an approaching confrontation. Nobody really likes confrontation. O.K., so maybe you do get a shivery little thrill when the mighty cower before you.

SAGITTARIUS

November 22—December 21

With Jupiter direct in your solar 11th house, you're probably sporting a big, wide, friendly grin and volunteering, "Yeah, sure, I'll help you move the piano two flights up." And you mean it. You truly love people. But with Pluto going forward in your 12th house on August 2, you're also grumbling through clenched teeth, "Why doesn't everybody just leave me alone?" The inner turbulence and frustration are mounting, and anger is beginning to leak out like puffs of steam from under the lid of a pressure cooker. No sweat. You'll blow the lid off when you reach wit's end. P.S. Wit's end is closer than you think.

CAPRICORN

December 22—January 19

When you were a kid, you probably never dreamed that Uranus and Neptune would go crashing through Capricorn or that Pluto would creep through your 11th house, changing your whole direction and view of the way your life was to be lived. Whether you were once the socialclimbing straight-arrow type Capricorn teachers liked but other students only tolerated, or the fun-loving "pal" type who stayed home on Saturday nights watching TV with the folks while your friends were out necking, here you are about to enjoy the freedom (and agony) of adolescence at last. If only your high-school class could see you now.

Michael Lutin

AQUARIUS

January 20—February 18

Protocol. We all hate and despise it, but until the Age of Aquarius really gets going, and anarchy reigns throughout the land, and you come totally into your own, there are going to be lines of communication, chains of command, proper channels, and hierarchies that you simply must respect, no matter how much you're still trying to overthrow your mother, which is actually what you're doing every time you act out against the authority figures at work or in your social crowd. With Saturn squaring Pluto through the end of the year, you're involved in a major power struggle. Deal with it.

PISCES

February 19—March 20

You could definitely benefit from the advice of a guru right now, though nothing too organized, heavy, or clerical, because the last thing you need is some judgmental do-gooder helping you get your life together. With Saturn in your 12th house, you may be spiritually exhausted, but you've got a pretty good handle on who your friends and enemies are. And even though you spend your share of time sprawled on the couch, you're still pretty damned conscious. But with Mars in your 7th house, it wouldn't hurt to find yourself a nice, commonsensical companion to help button you up and get you through the night.

ARIES

March 21—April 19

There will always be days when things aren't cool, but if you look back over your life, you'll realize that problems do eventually get worked out. When you think about life that way, there's really no downside, so you might as well just trip on the good stuff and forget about the bad stuff. That's your philosophy, isn't it? So why not practice what you preach while Saturn's retrograde, Pluto's moving forward, and Uranus and Neptune are continuing to afflict you? That way there might not be quite so much swearing and screaming when you can't find anything to do or when the Red Sea doesn't part for you.

TAURUS

April 20-May 20

You're being slowly remodeled and changed, and it doesn't do a bit of good to resist. You're under a spell you've been under for years. It's called Pluto in your solar 7th house. With it you will have people who infuriate you at times with their manipulative ways and sneaky unavailability, their presumptuous belief that you need your consciousness raised, and their annoying insistence that they know exactly what's going on in your head every minute and how you "really" feel about things. Their seductive, beguiling manner riles you no end. And yet, at the end of the day, they're so attractive.

GEMINI

May 21—June 21

So you're doing over your back room or caulking the garage. Big deal. How much does any of it mean in the great scheme of things? A hundred years from now, who's going to know or care that you finally got around to cleaning the oven or had a screaming match with Daddy? Nobody, of course, but with Venus, Mercury, and Mars in Gemini, Cancer, Leo, and Virgo, you have to go through all the motions of daily life—hair dryer and all—no matter how you feel inside. Huge, dark question marks may hover over your head, but you still have to make it to the mall to purchase lightbulbs and toilet paper.

CANCER

June 22—July 22

Apart from making short trips to the market, the beach, or the doctor, watching old home movies, going off your diet, and thanking God you're still conscious enough to know that you're exhausted, now is the time for you to rest up, at least for the entire month of July and as much of August as you can pilfer. The oppositions of Venus and Mercury to Uranus and Neptune indicate that though you may have been bom into a life of tradition you've suddenly been tossed and turned by passions you don't understand. If you need any guidance on the subject, just look at any old Susan Hayward movie.