ASTRAL REFLECTIONS BY TIM STEPHENS JULY 29 – AUGUST 4, 2012 All times/dates are PDT. Let’s continue those Saturn effects for each sign: LIBRA, 2010 to October 2012 have been a sober time, when you needed to examine (and fix) your foundations, your soul, and your direction in life. Most importantly, you had to find a permanent place to live, or had to fix your home. Many Librans faced critical situations with a parent (or as a parent). In general, your mood has been uncharacteristically sober. Due to other (non-Saturn) factors, this general focus on home, soul and parents will not end for another 11 years. But, from October 5, 2012 to mid-September 2015, no longer will your shirt-tail be caught in the vise of home problems. Your mood will lift, you’ll eagerly plunge into travel, love, intellectual expansion, learning, cultural events and involvements. However, from late 2012 to September 2015 you will experience restrictions in money, especially in earnings and spending. You might earn less – or earn more, but see your expenditures rise. In either case, prudently scale down your budget. You might buy a property to live in – that’s good. SCORPIO, from October 2012 to September 2015, you will grow more sober and realistic, more practical and pragmatic than usual. From 2010 to late 2012 you did not suffer as many restrictions as most signs, though your dealings with government agencies and your employer’s head office have been burdensome and slow. This “administrative weight” fades, replaced by a more personal seriousness. You will be called upon, 2012 to 2015, to express yourself more carefully and ambitiously. Paperwork, reports, emails, calls – these will become as slow as molasses. Communicating will be like walking through sand. But you’ll grow better at refining your message and getting it across. Travel, distribution, dispatch, logistics, scheduling and timing, all will demand more care and proceed more slowly. This will be a good time to buy a car, tools and timepieces – they’ll last forever. SAGITTARIUS, for the past three years (2010-12) your dreams have been circumscribed by reality and practical considerations. On the plus side, this influence encouraged you to take a giant practical step, such as buying a home or equipment/machinery, or training to make more money. Whatever the step, it involved money. Now, from October 2012 to September 2015 you will be largely free of delays and restrictions, as taskmaster Saturn will occupy a quiet, restful zone in your chart. Still, you have to be diligent with management, delegation, administrative, government-linked, factory and assembly-line, warehousing, spiritual, institutional and charitable zones. Don’t focus your main efforts in these restricted, slowed areas, but don’t neglect them either, for they will affect your income or financial health. For instance, you might need to apply for government benefits or a pension. Or your job might involve more managerial duties. If you’re seeking new employment, look in these “background” (gov’t, warehousing, etc.) areas. Start Nothing: 2:01 p.m. Sun. to 0:29 a.m. Mon., 4:30 p.m. Tues. to 2:56 a.m. Wed., and 0:24 a.m. to 6:58 a.m. Fri. Aries March 21-April 19 The whole week is romantic, Aries. If you’re not in the market, the same influence brings you beauty, pleasure, joy in kids, and a favourable risk-reward outlook, in stocks, speculation, etc. An old flame could return. Remember, don’t start any major projects before August 8. Love exists Sunday, though on “low heat.” A new/old friend might come Monday, and he/she will have an effect on your ambitions, career or status in the world. Work uncomplainingly Tuesday. Flirtation, joy, popularity and grand hopes for the future arrive Wednesday/Thursday. Retreat, lie low late week. Taurus April 20-May 20 This week starts with mysteries and changes (Sunday) but soon switches, Monday/Tuesday, into a more intellectual, legal, cultural atmosphere. These two days are an unusual mixture of friendliness, career blessings, and monetary stability/luck tied to work or health – along with unpredictable nerves (Monday) and practical/ethical warnings (Tuesday). Remember, don’t start ANY important projects before August 8. Your prestige soars midweek – at the very least, people call you Ma’am or Sir. Butter up higher ups. Hopes come true Friday/Saturday. All week, seek home, kids, rest. Gemini May 21-June 20 This is your lucky year, Gemini – best in 13. It started in June. Those of you born in May might already be feeling it. Remember two holdups: 1) now through August 7, don’t start projects; 2) now through August 30, karma is still “watching you,” so a) behave, b) try to figure out how your past actions have begat consequences, and c) seek others; reject independence. Though August makes you wait, it distracts you with enjoyable travel, friends, conversations, curiosity and discoveries. DON’T buy, invest, Monday/Tuesday. Love, understanding and inspiration come Wednesday/Thursday. Cancer June 21-July 22 Start nothing before August 8, Cancer. The main accent lies on money, earnings, possessions – and a sensual attraction. If one of these returns from the past, especially if from the “heavier side” Wednesday/Thursday, go ahead, grab a winner! (By “heavier” I mean sex and commitment more than sensuality, investment or debt reduction more than earnings, etc.) Tackle chores Sunday. Relationships offer conflict and disappointment, as well as prestige and comfort (and a valuable secret?) Monday/Tuesday. Pick well. Sweet, gentle understanding arrives Friday (best) and Saturday. Leo July 23-Aug. 22 I’d warn you against starting new ventures/relationships, Leo, but your present indecision is a natural deterrent. Relax, let events flow: the fears and uncertainties of the last 15 years have made you a mild control freak. Now through mid-2013, you’ll be much luckier if you let the cosmos have control. (E.g., you can’t force a wish to come true, but the cosmos – the matrix surrounding you – can, and likely will during this lucky year, bring your deepest wishes true.) Savour someone’s beauty Sunday. Work carefully Monday/Tuesday. Exciting meetings midweek! Friday brings deeper fires. Virgo Aug. 23-Sept. 22 Don’t start new ventures, investments or relationships before August 8, Virgo. Instead, handle overdue government or administrative tasks and paperwork; fulfill old obligations to shut-ins and charities; and seek spiritual horizons. Higher-ups still love you. Show them what you can do (especially Wednesday/Thursday) without starting new projects. Money flows swiftly to August 23 (to you and through you: be careful with spending). Home sweet home, Sunday. Romantic notions can lure you into a stew of sexual urge and disappointment Monday/Tuesday. Exciting meetings Friday/Saturday. Libra Sept. 23-Oct. 22 Expect popularity, optimism, social delights, flirtations and wish fulfillment, Libra. Before August 8, they will be old wishes, former friends, old (light) flames. Before then, pursue unfamiliar faces at your peril – new relationships will blossom after the 8th. Until late August, you’ll be more assertive and determined than usual – but don’t go wild with this. Sunday’s for errands. Protect home, family Monday/Tuesday: love’s good, wise. Romance has a splendid chance Wednesday/Thursday. (Married? Pursue kids’ programs, art, beauty, pleasure.) To work you go, Friday/Saturday. Scorpio Oct. 23-Nov. 21 Start no new projects before August 8, Scorpio. Meantime, any “investments” you made in the past in your career or reputation might now pay off (likely July 29 or August 5/6). Work can be hard and burdensome until August 23, but it carries future benefits, so keep at it. Benefits either continue to flow your way from past financial or intimate commitments, or your past actions now prevent such payoffs – but September onward, the bonanza gates will open. Chase money Sunday. Guard speech, writing, driving Monday/Tuesday. Success at home midweek. Romance, pleasure Friday/Saturday! Sagittarius Nov. 22-Dec. 21 Start no new projects nor relationships before August 8, Sage. An old flame (or a former “teacher”) might return – so might books, letters, philosophies, and international or educational contacts from the past. Others remain gracious, generous – this will last for 11 more months. Your energy and charisma sail high Sunday. Be alert to money problems Monday/Tuesday. (A great friendship, love or romance might distract you.) Talk, travel, handle paperwork and errands Wednesday/Thursday – all’s smooth, easy, friends are friendly! Settle into home, kids, garden Friday/Saturday. Capricorn Dec. 22-Jan. 19 Don’t start anything new before August 8, Cap, especially in financial or intimate zones. This is an excellent time for research or self-examination. Your work scene is still pleasant, co-workers are affectionate, but bosses remain temperamental until August 23. Their impatience hints that they are planning/handling a big increase in business, or a big project – and you, over the months ahead, will see your duties and hours expand. Rest Sunday. Your charisma, energy rise high Monday/Tuesday: use them to solve home, career, income problems. Chase money Thursday/Friday: lucky! Aquarius Jan. 20-Feb. 18 You’ll feel energized or flat, co-operative or belligerent, as relationships either please or defy you. Start no new projects/relationships before August 8. Your romantic, speculative, creative and pleasure-loving instincts are running hot, but these contain a (mildly) negative karmic element until August 30. So deflect – gently – those who chase you before then. (A Libra might have his/her eye on you – and to a Leo, you represent the future. But it’s Gemini who really has your heart. But – unless a former flame returns this week – wait.) Avoid head office, gov’t, Monday/Tuesday. Pisces Feb. 19-March 20 Start nothing important before August 8, Pisces. August ends a lot of things: it ends (August 7) the sweetness you’ve felt at home (but replaces it with very lucky cheerfulness and optimistic plans); it stops (by August 23) a dangerous urge to invest or jump into someone’s bed without forethought; and it finally (August 30) concludes an 18-month “period of loss” in real estate, home, parent-child relations and foundational ventures. This means September will be chock-full of opportunities (personal and business) – wait. Joy and rejection mingle Monday/Tuesday. You conquer Friday! www.astralreflections.com. Email: timstephens@shaw.ca. For a reading: 604-560-1269. /30/