Horoscopes October 9–15, 2011

BORN THIS WEEK

Eleanor Roosevelt (Oct. 11, 1884)

Astraea is the starry Lady of the Scales, a sort of karmic, astral Venus who weighs one's deeds. Libra women embody this ancient goddess, self-entitled to cast their judgments as instruments of justice. They are the zodiac’s premier activists, balancing power among people and between the sexes. Eleanor Roosevelt was a volunteer social worker in the slums of New York, a civil rights leader, the founder of Freedom House and supporter of the formation of the U.N. to which she served as a delegate. We see her liberal Libra spirit in other Scales ladies like Susan Sarandon, Janeane Garofalo, and Martina Navratilova. Not to mention Judge Judy. But Eleanor is still hands-down the most righteous babe on the astrological block.

ARIES

Don’t bite off more than you can chew nor pick any battles you’re not guaranteed to win. Leading up to the Full Moon in Aries, Wednesday, you’re bound to be nervier than usual and to overextend your reach. Just as you push for popularity, seeking credit for knowing the right people, places, and things that constitute being on the pulse. Why? That is the question being begged. What if you didn’t try to impress or top others and instead spent the week appreciating their accomplishments and discoveries? a) There’d be more friends to play with; and b) You’d gain the power that stems from not wanting or asserting … anything.

TAURUS

Saturn and the Sun fuse in Libra, which rules your sign’s native house of daily routines. That Saturn is a taskmaster, kicking your hiney from here to the Full Moon, Wednesday, when you might feel caught in a cat’s cradle of fate. Just as professional opportunities are on offer, personal issues require loving attention. Trust: Tending to self, first, means you’ll better fulfill your destiny callings. The real work is getting body and mind tiptop. That cosmic PR agent, Mercury, in Scorpio, from Thursday, tempts you to spin yourself as the strung-out genius. Don’t do it. It only makes a sad impression. Health is where the hip is.

GEMINI

Selfless acts may be anything but now, as Mercury and Venus opposing Jupiter can make you blurry on this point: You may end up draining others’ time and energy by so-called sacrificing to a cause. It seems others have to pick up the slack you create in shirking existing obligations. Want to make a contribution? Be ridiculously selfish and, thus, wholly independent. The Full Moon, Wednesday, urges you to reach beyond career comfort zones. Telling the nanny to remind the assistant to contact the decorator is not networking. Verbalizing your burningest job passion to everybody within Skype-shot is.

CANCER

Expect some communing with unseen forces. Jupiter amplifies the waxing Moon, Full on Wednesday, invoking mystical assistance in realizing truest hopes and wishes. This should reframe recent “failures” you experienced as opportunities for achieving greater goods, both real and metaphoric. We say should because only you, and your histrionics, stand in the way. Laying blame on others stops the cosmic action. So thank those you say stood in your way—they’ve sped you toward better fulfillment. What you’ve learned is you’ve more to learn in your field of interest, and that anger is only frustration at your own inertia.

LEO

To those who claim you’re too self-absorbed to care about the rest of humanity, you can now say you’re experiencing pangs of social conscience. Mars in Leo lets go of Jupiter and its emphasis on personal gain with the Full Moon, Wednesday. This reprioritizes your views on what constitutes civil rights versus so-called privileges. Such that even ruling-class Leos may join the 99 percent of the populus seeking equality. And that you’ll quit hogging the limelight or the covers. With Mercury in Scorpio, Thursday, expect deep discussions on the homefront. Cats come out of the bag, especially if you’re half in one.

VIRGO

With a dearth of planets in your sign, it may feel like life has plateaued. There’s power in this. A lateral move in the offing provides opportunity to trailblaze new frontiers under existing career auspice. And, on the homefront, you’re meant to make a slew of tiny alterations already on your to-do list, while jettisoning or giving away little-used items. Matter is energy, remember, and you can create vibrational momentum by ridding yourself of aptly named stuff. Mercury moving into Scorpio, Thursday, inspires a new course of study, particularly in areas of mystery, from the occult to chemistry to crime.

LIBRA

Despite impulses to do so, avoid overanalyzing or planning life down to the last detail. With the Sun, conjunct Saturn, in Libra, illuminating the Full Moon by Wednesday, your focus must be totally outward, objective, and creative. With no second-guessing, throw every idea into the ether, unconcerned with what might stick. Myriad projects you’ve "procrastinated” doing come flying out of you like papers hot off the presses, changing the headline: you don’t dally but rather incubate several enterprises at once, launching them all in quick succession. You generate more this week than most people produce in a year.

SCORPIO

Intense emotions bubble to the surface while you probe deeply psychological issues, particularly in close relationships. You are a miner for truth, refusing to gloss over situations for appearance’s sake. And with Mercury in your sign by Thursday, you’re wont to say a lot on the subject of others’ honesty, or lack thereof. Be prepared for (what you consider) overreactions to your frank assessments, which can sting. Though you are forgiving, some can’t bear the notion of disappointing you. So it might suit you better to remain silent, signature sphinxlike, letting them squirm in any beds of lies they’ve made.

SAGITTARIUS

During this time, with Jupiter conjunct the Full Moon on Wednesday, you are attracted to others in whom you see reflected certain qualities that are untapped or need developing in yourself. This can deflate your ego or spark competitive antics or both. But resist such urges and allow yourself to be inspired and find your own like expression, eschewing urges to directly graft behavior that will only read as affectation. Jupiter also releases its hold on Mars, allowing finances to flow more freely. Life feels less like an exercise in survival and more like a game of chance wherein lady luck is suddenly beaming at you.

CAPRICORN

Buckling down to tie-up loose ends is key to lightening your mental load. Even so-called meaningless work can stimulate your imagination if executed with total presence of mind and zero dread. An inventory of real and creative assets should be taken, putting actual accounting of the past by rights and placing dormant intellectual property on the market. Ruler Saturn is conjunct the Sun opposing the Full Moon, amped by Jupiter. This makes you, at turns, desirous of luxury and monkish asceticism, as you strike a balance between the two. With abundance within your budget, you’re primed to navigate about the globe.

AQUARIUS

You’ve been hedging bets, having let go of a vine of security while not yet glimpsing another swinging your way. But your active faith is paying off as the universe provides a bump in professional recognition. The Full Moon, Wednesday, signals a synchronicity, whether it be a spontaneous run-in with a long-lost someone on your mind or a kindred soul, newly met, who’s been living a sort of parallel life. You mightn’t realize it now, but your ancient blues that emerge in periodic bouts are being lifted. In a few weeks’ time you’ll notice their absence, along with signature hypercriticism that no longer serves you.

PISCES

An unresolved situation comes back to bite you, or you it. With the Full Moon in Aries, on Wednesday, chances are we’re talking another crack at a creative, and ultimately lucrative, career opportunity you let fall by the wayside. We taste metal, which means coinage, while it also pertains to working with minerals—jewelry, beauty products, sculpture, landscape design. So, keep your mind and eyes open. Again, it will be something you semi-tried before. Venus and Mercury’s trine to ruler Neptune facilitates the articulation of your imagination, making it pleasing to do so and palatable to others.