ASTRAL REFLECTIONS BY TIM STEPHENS AUGUST 3 - 9, 2003 All times/dates are PDT. All signs: the few weeks ahead represent a very fortunate time to make a "footprint" along a broad new path in life - to start a new project in some area. Though all August is lucky, it's better to begin before August 11. To find your lucky area, see your sign message below. Let's look at the next "sign relationship." To find your # 5 sign, count your own sign as # 1 in the horoscopes below, then label the next sign # 2, and so on. For example, Aries' # 5 sign is Sagittarius, Taurus' # 5 is Virgo, and so on. (Some readers have asked if you can also apply these relationship descriptions to your rising sign - that is, can you count the signs using your rising sign as # 1, just as I've had you use your Sun-sign as # 1. Yes, you can, but generally your Sun sign relationships will be stronger than your rising sign relationships - the latter are more circumstantial, less heart-felt.) # 5 is your romance sign. This is the sign you're most likely to put on a pedestal, to adore. A mystery and awe, a deep, innocent feeling will overcome you when you fall under # 5's spell. This is your sign of beauty and pleasure, and often the love you feel toward your # 5 is returned, because you're your # 5's # 9, another strong love sign. The massive potency of a # 1 - # 5 relationship will not happen every time these two signs meet - if you meet twelve new people per week (including the gas station attendant, bus driver, etc., etc.) then you will typically meet over 50 representatives of your # 5 sign every year - 500 in a decade. For the average person, even one major love per decade is a "feat." So nature itself prevents us from being vulnerable to every # 5 acquaintanceship. But when you're ready to fall, # 5 is more likely than any other sign to paint your life with love's sweet, luminous sting. A beauty emanates from him or her; it surrounds you and paints your world with magic's trance; the most impoverished room, the dingiest factory corner, is bathed in deep splendour. This is the sign you're most likely to put on a pedestal. At first, at least, it is very hard to see # 5's flaws. (Which might make you resent them more deeply when they do show.) The kind of passions # 5 triggers often wear out or grow suffocating after a year or two - it's just too much for the human organism to sustain. A #1 - # 5 relationship, to endure, needs some refreshing excitement, some outside socializing, lightness and air. With these, a # 1-# 5 can last forever. You will never forget a # 5 relationship, whether it was reciprocated or not, for it opened your eyes to an unexpected, overwhelming beauty. Start Nothing: 6:33 p.m. Sun. to 3:12 a.m. Mon., 10:22 p.m. Tues. to 6:11 am. Wed., 2:01 a.m. to 9:02 a.m. Fri., and after 7:57 a.m. Sat. Aries March 21-April 19 Like last week - your luck's huge, so chase it. Take risks, pursue romance, beauty, winnings, pleasure, art, creative successes, speculative projects. Promote your children's talents. Themes of international travel, higher learning, social rituals, law, and media, philosophy or religion could be involved. Others agree, co-operate Sunday - if you do! But the underpinnings of relationships mystify and cause you unease Monday/Tuesday. You wonder what the future will be, even into Thursday. But all will be clarified Thursday eve to Saturday, perhaps by your own thought processes. Believe in destiny and love! Taurus April 20-May 20 Chase security in some form - buy or sell real estate, heal yourself and/or your family, give birth, get pregnant, plan retirement finances, nurture children, garden, contact your soul. This is the best month in twelve years for these. Financial, sexual or diagnostic (research) themes play a lucky secondary role. Tackle chores Sunday. Relationships arise Monday/Tuesday - co-operate, be diplomatic, eager. The sexual or monetary (or secret, health, manipulative) side of relationships comes into focus Wednesday/Thursday. You'll feel uncertain, perhaps suspicious about these links, all four days. Wisdom comes Saturday. Gemini May 21-June 20 Chase communications, conversations, travel, learning, law, publishing, distribution, friendship, contacts, office systems, computers, mail projects - and all mental activities. Combine the long and short, big and small in winning, lucky ways - e.g., marry a friend, solve a legal case with a phone call, land a book contract by writing a letter. Envision it, and go! (Or continue last week's project.) Sunday's romantic: speak of love. Tackle chores Monday/Tuesday: don't deceive anyone this week. Argument, temper Wednesday - careful! Excitement Thursday, "depths" Friday/Saturday. Commit money/heart/life Thursday or pre-dawn Saturday - IF you're sure. Cancer June 21-July 22 Chase money anywhere and everywhere - within moral bounds. Earnings or "immediate" money projects are luckier than "buy and hold" situations. Stick with what's solid and real - glossy presentations hide con schemes. Another hint: lean toward a money path which a) your friends approve of; or b) fits with your hopes for the future - and lean away from anything that fills you with the headiness or pleasure of a big gamble. Home's good Sunday. Romance, pleasure draw you Monday/Tuesday. Tackle work - safely, prudently Wednesday, eagerly Thursday. Relationship destiny whispers Friday. Leo July 23-Aug. 22 Your charisma, luck and effectiveness are high, powerful - luck surrounds you! Make your mark, start important projects, seek favors, let the world know you're alive and ambitious (or love-struck!). One "complicated" warning, though: you can meet indecision, delay, pitfalls or murky, unstable conditions in deep sexual commitment or intimacy, in areas of (family) secrets, tax dealings, inheritances, investments, diet, real estate, deep health factors, crime and collusion - avoid all these. Chase romance, not lust. Seek pleasure, not indenture; creativity, not security. That way, you'll win big in years to come! Virgo Aug. 23-Sept. 22 Withdraw from the frenetic world now to late August. Look ahead; plan your campaign. Bolster your retirement savings, increase your security, cure your soul. Often in life we forget to be courageous, we see happiness as "too risky," and we chase some easy or "approved" goal. Decide now what you truly want from life. Soon, one of the luckiest years of your life will enable you to chase this "true goal." Money, spending are fine Sunday. Careful what you say/promise Monday/Tuesday. Rest deeply Wednesday/Thursday. A stirring of beauty Friday/Saturday! Libra Sept. 23-Oct.22 Be honest in your career and protect your money - but don't chase these mundane things now (especially Monday/Tuesday, when temptations and pitfalls lurk). Instead, pursue friendship, happiness or light romance. Wish upon a star - and chase it as hard as you can! Accept invitations, join a group - it will bless you for an entire decade ahead. You could become known by the public. You could meet true love (or a sweet distraction) at a social function. In one month, you'll enter a year of relative seclusion - enjoy yourself now! Scorpio Oct. 23-Nov. 21 Chase your ambitions without pushing your personality - the former brings luck, the latter might "interfere." Be cool, flexible and willing to work in tandem - and to seek advice. Avoid secret deals or an over-emphasis on documents, large finances or research - these are no longer "relevant." Your prospects are excellent - a "step up" is just waiting for you to envision, seek or create it! (If you began this process last week or in the last year, good - keep going, redouble your efforts.) Your opportunity is "out there," not "close by." Sagittarius Nov. 22-Dec. 21 Continue to start and further legal, wedding, social ritual, cultural, far travel, publishing/media, religious, philosophical, love, educational, intellectual and similar ventures, Sage. You could be on the verge of a huge new world! (Some Sages are lonely and frustrated now - the frustration comes from not accepting "what is," and the loneliness from feeling trapped by "what is" - instead, break your bonds by loving, learning, voyaging. The world's yours!) Wishes, joys, loves are real Sunday and Thursday. Avoid ALL temptation (especially the temptation to withdraw) Monday/Tuesday. Don't trash someone Wednesday. Capricorn Dec. 22-Jan. 19 You grow indecisive about "an ending" (or a family, child-related, retirement or property matter) now through September. Your real luck and progress lies in making a commitment, entering "deep waters" in more immediate things: sex, intimacy, finances. Forget the far future; do what gives pleasure now. E.g., don't worry about retirement, but do plunge into investments; don't fret about a child, but do follow the urge to change residences. Also lucky: research, health cures, surgery, "detective work." A brave commitment/change now could ensure years of profit! Caution Wednesday! Aquarius Jan. 20-Feb. 18 Ask the bigger questions Sunday: "Am I leading the best life?" "Am I really in love (with him/her, my direction, this project, house, etc.)?" Let your answers guide you to new opportunities now into late August. Seize them sooner rather than later! Don't be too security-conscious Monday/Tuesday - don't let security prevent you from venturing toward unknown horizons. Relocation is lucky this month, as are marriage, partnership, meeting new people, capturing the public's eye. Wishes come true Wednesday (though it's an unpredictable, even dangerous day) and Thursday. Fall in love! Pisces Feb. 19-March 20 You might grow a little less assertive and decisive now through late September, but that's only because you're gathering your strength inward for a bigger push forward. The "danger" would be that you'd let yourself grow frustrated, let your drives "boil within" - don't, especially this Wednesday! To late August, work grows and grows - slog away; rewards will come later. This drudgery will be replaced, August 26/03 into September 2004, by a series of opportunities, exciting relationships, and general "fresh air." Profitable secrets Sunday. Sign nothing Monday/Tuesday. Success Thursday. Joy Saturday! www.astralreflections.com. E-mail: timstephens@shaw.ca. For a reading: (1) 604-261-1337. /30/