ASTRAL RELFECTIONS BY TIM STEPHENS AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2007 All times/dates are PDT. LEO, the 17 years that Pluto will spend in Capricorn (from 2008 to 2024) will not greatly affect you. More important phases will prevail, in love, wealth, and happiness. But this Pluto transit will certainly be the longest cycle, bringing a slow, subtle but deep metamorphosis in your work and well-being. You might grow increasingly interested in machines of all kinds, from engines to computers. Your work will attract, like iron to a subtle magnet, new elements of research, health care, high (and/or nano) tech, life-and-death (and birth) situations, chemical or atomic processes, detection or investigation, or similar "Plutonic" ingredients. This can work on any level: for example, you could be involved in the "death and rebirth" of a political party, or become engaged in liquidating stocks or restructuring companies, go to war, or use herbicides or pesticides, work for a funeral parlor, or, if you're a lawyer, begin handling more wills and estates. Taxes, inheritances, other people's money and resources, advice and consent, "king making" or political strategizing, marketing research, these can attract you also. Any connection with sex and reproduction qualifies also - gynecology, working with sex-trade victims, etc. Because Pluto will be in your health and work sector until 2024, any of the above could also become a health influence. Protect yourself against accidental ingestion of herbicides, take care around chemicals and paint, avoid swamps, insects and the tropics, etc. As I said, other, stronger influences will draw most of your attention in the years ahead. This September 2, Saturn finally leaves your sign. The sobriety, burdens, extra concerns, workload and restrictions that have salted your joie de vivre for two years, now lift. You'll be free to breathe, to romance, create, gamble, and live again! (Though Saturn will also begin to tighten your income prospects for two years - 08 into July 2010 - so be fiscally conservative. If you're middle-aged or older, your income might actually increase.) From 2011 to 2018, a powerful, lucky love and wedding influence blesses you. Even earlier, in 2009, Jupiter brings luck to marriage situations. You'll either celebrate your partner, or divorce. If single, a major marital prospect will appear. Fame, new contracts, exhilarating opportunities (and relocation luck) will dance before you! By February 2012, fifteen years of suspicion, doubt, illusion and indecision in relationships disappear (forever!) - finally, you're going to feel clear, clean, hopeful! Until then, sympathy and compassion cure relationship ills - and provide clear sight. Start Nothing: 6:23 p.m. to 7:34 p.m. Mon., 3:22 p.m. to 9:25 p.m. Wed., and 10:18 p.m. to 10:35 p.m. Fri. Aries March 21-April 19 After this week, I'll stop urging you to act. But do act now, on three fronts: in a minor way, Sunday/Monday, chase friendships, flirtation and fun. In a major way, Monday night to Wednesday, retreat, contemplate, seek spiritual or psychological guidance, visit hospitals, spas, or shut-ins, donate to charity, and generally serve your soul. (Don't visit a psychic, though - information will be unreliable, screwy.) In a more major way, Thursday/Friday, tackle your favorite venture of 2007: love, romance, kids, sports, creativity, whatever. DON'T waste this week in routine work! Taurus April 20-May 20 Romance, creativity, speculative and risk-taking urges, beauty, joy in your children's talents, self-expression - these tantalize you. Usually this would be a great good thing. But this year, and especially this week, it's wise to appreciate from a distance, rather than plunge in. An unexpected "cosmic favor" might be dumped in your lap from this influence - e.g., you win a contest you never entered. In this case, accept your fortune, and move on. Being social will yield more solid results than seeking personal pleasure. Chase career, ambitions Sunday/Monday. Spiritual luck, Thursday/Friday. Gemini May 21-June 20 The accent lies, now through late September, on home, family, security, real estate, retirement, stomach, nature. But don't charge into these things - use the lightest touch possible. Don't buy real estate (especially if you were born in May). Your career (and an ambitious attitude) offers more success now than any security-based actions. Wisdom, love, compassion, travel, culture and learning bless you Sunday, most of Monday. Be (diplomatically!) ambitious Tuesday/Wednesday. Your popularity flares brightly, briefly, Thursday/Friday - make a wish! (And make one last push to further August's - or 2007's - projects.) Cancer June 21-July 22 Until mid-December, especially through late September, shunt communications away from the daily and superficial, toward the profound and "long term." Say you're phoning someone. Think of your relationship down the years, back or forward, and say what occurs to you, rather than report what happened yesterday. Study philosophy, religion, law, anthropology, etc., rather than merely flipping open a magazine. Travel far, not near. DON'T buy a car, and delay telephone purchases until after February/08 (if possible). Mysteries, sexual urges, financial hunches reward Sunday, less Monday. Ambition wins Thursday/Friday! Leo July 23-Aug. 22 Your attention turns to money in the weeks ahead - don't let it turn too much. Chasing income goals could be counter-productive, lead you into subtle traps. If you feel "tempted" by a not-totally-aboveboard earnings scheme, drop it! Instead, focus on investments, finances, debts, money shared with others, "net worth" issues - here, wisdom and progress reign. A loving, understanding mood steals over you Thursday/Friday - speak of love, travel, attend cultural events, apply for post-secondary school, seek a new philosophy. Next week, weighty problems, your sober frown, lift - for 29 years! Virgo Aug. 23-Sept. 22 Your energy, charisma, effectiveness and mood rise nicely now through October! Aim your power, decisiveness, confidence in the right direction - toward others, toward co-operation. Don't withdraw, nor be ultra-independent. In general, avoid institutions, the government, spas and retreats, heavy romance, big risky ventures, and large creative pushes, through October. (Avoid big new starts right into February 18, 2008.) Many warnings, but life in general will please you! What you've already done in 2007 will pay off. Work hard Sunday/Monday. Investments, lifestyle changes, sexual approaches reward Thursday/Friday! Mellow joys Saturday. Libra Sept. 23-Oct. 22 Rest, lie low, contemplate and protect your health through late September. But don't wallow in this. You'll fare much better if you jump up with a little extra effort and tackle chores of any kind. Avoid institutions, contacts with government agencies, spiritual pursuits, meditation, psychics, therapists, and pass up making firm, long-range plans. This year, all these can lead you to a swamp of delays or disappointing results. Emerge from any cocoon Thursday (best) and Friday, when an opportunity awaits eager, co-operative Librans. "Invisible" but big change looms, Saturday! Scorpio Oct. 23-Nov. 21 You'll feel unusually social during the weeks ahead, but don't blow your energy trying to be popular. You'd be wiser to chase one special person and to arrange some quiet, private intervals - or to sit at your desk creating, painting, expressing yourself. Have fun; grab a vacation, etc. Pleasure is more important and healthy than entertainment. Home is your rewarding castle Sunday/Monday. Romance faces a bumpy ride Tuesday/Wednesday, but chase it anyway. Tackle chores - perhaps one special, lucrative chore - Thursday/Friday. Or apply for a new job, pay raise, etc. Sagittarius Nov. 22-Dec. 21 Various career, prestige, status, or ambition-related "opportunities" might appear (or occur to your fertile imagination) during the weeks ahead. Reject them, for they are traps in disguise, leading most benevolently to wasted time, more negatively to impaired relationships, reputation, business disappointments, etc. It's much wiser, at this juncture, to retreat, rest and think. Contemplate until you see the long-range implications of any ambitious moves. Travel, communication and paperwork are favored Sunday/Monday. Plunge into romance, pleasure, beauty, a creative or speculative venture Thursday (best) and Friday! Complete a chore Saturday. Capricorn Dec. 22-Jan. 19 Two subtly opposite pathways face you over the weeks ahead. One seems wiser, involves compassion, understanding, learning, travel, religious, legal or cultural elements. It's the wrong path - leads, sooner or (worse) later to delay, disappointments or swamps. The other path seems superficial, emphasizes day-to-day contacts and routine, curiosity, news items, friendly communications, "coffee talks" errands, etc. This is the right path: it might unearth a hidden opportunity, or, at worst, will leave you alert, and free of impeding ties. Home, family, property matters succeed brilliantly Thursday/Friday. Pleasure, romance Saturday. Aquarius Jan. 20-Feb. 18 Don't invest during the weeks ahead (nor into December 19, to some degree). Avoid collusion, research, investigation, diagnosing a situation, secret plans, secret love/lust attractions, and big lifestyle changes during the same period. If you can delay an operation until after February 18 next year, do so. Instead, concentrate on earning more income, memory work, sensual or "easy-going" sex, shopping and spending on items that will depreciate in value (car, food, etc.). Accept things as they are, rather than looking for hidden motives. Happiness visits Sunday, Thursday and Friday! Pisces Feb. 19-March 20 Relationships, marriage, relocation, contracts, new horizons, business agreements, fame, dealings with the public - these might draw you over the weeks ahead. If they "just happen," okay. But if you chase them, you might be chasing disappointment, incurring delay, or steering yourself in the most subtle way, into a "life" that down the road could become a dead-end. Be aware, of yourself and your motives. Don't just slide into a relationship because it's easier than standing up for what you really want. Be independent, Pisces! Thursday/Friday are great for travel. www.astralreflections.com. Email: timstephens@shaw.ca. For a reading: 6604-261-1337. /30/