Planetarium

CANCER

June 22-July 22

The recent crashing of Uranus and Neptune through your 7th house hasn't done much to satisfy your need for constancy. And these planets have probably had a drastic effect on your self-esteem. It pains you to admit how dependent you really are, but deep down you must know what an overcooked vegetable you could have been all these months if you had been totally on your own. Here's good news for a change: In early July the moon's south node passes out of your sign, and it won't be back for nineteen years. Personal pride will return to normal, and a casual glance at the mirror will no longer inspire nausea.

LEO

July 25—August 22

This could be a fun month, full of friends and socializing, provided you're willing to play the strong, nurturing figure, ready to wake up at five in the morning in order to feed an infant or help an old fuddyduddy to the john. This may not be the most glamorous moment in your life. It's about real commitment—all the day-in-day-out stuff, through all the ups and all the downs. The message of Saturn's retrograde through your 7th house is the following: Show up and be there for other people, whether they reciprocate or not. This applies to all Leos, even rock stars, bank presidents, and politicians.

VIRGO

August 25—September 22

Here's a little exercise for those scientific Virgos who still doubt the validity of astrology. When Mercury, the planet that rules you, transits Cancer between June 9 and 25, you'll be happy just dining with friends or doing volunteer work, content simply belonging to the great human family. And you are human, whether you like to admit it or not. As Mercury enters Leo and your 12th house on June 26, however, your needs will change. You will thirst for intimacy and the thrill of a secret, stolen kiss. You don't have to lose face by admitting to such emotional yearnings. Except to yourself, of course.

LIBRA

September 25—October 25

The new moon on June 30 should help stabilize your position immeasurably. Your career house is probably still rocking from major political overthrows, not to mention the irritating state of the economy or the condition of your domestic scene. It may seem as if it will take thirty lifetimes to straighten out your personal life, and even then it may require that you stay home changing emotional diapers. This is not the case. It's simply that right now you have to take time out from your public life to steady that shaky person you need to care for. Wobbling or not, be the picture of success in July.

SCORPIO

October 24—November 21

Venus transits Cancer from June 19 through July 12, and that's the perfect time to add a little of nature's own sweetness to your harsh personal ironies and absurdly crushing responsibilities, all flavored with Scorpio angst. Sometimes you really need to be taken by the hand into a field of buttercups and reminded that not every single minute of your life needs to be a netless high-wire act over the Grand Canyon. So take a tour of the French chateau country, go for a leisurely trip along the Amalfi coast, or just go clip a few hedges someplace—anyplace at all where you can hear a couple of crickets.

SAGITTARIUS

November 22—December 21

Many Sagittarians are demanding to know about their love lives these days. Even those who long ago resigned themselves to living out a staid existence somewhere over the last hill are getting pretty damned sick and tired of being hounded about their finances—by loved ones, financial advisers, and astrologers. Well, the new moon in your 8th house on June 30 kicks off a month that will not be filled with just wills, tax problems, and credit-card debt. The 8th house rules passion, sexuality, and, for Sagittarians, breast stimulation. Given those conditions, July should prove to be quite interesting.

CAPRICORN

December 22—January 19

Thanks to Venus's being in your solar 7th house from June 19 through July 12, a beloved someone will calm your fevered brow—or at least give it the old college try. You're not usually comfortable on the receiving end, cast in the role of the patient being ministered to by a sweet little night nurse. Nonetheless, a certain somebody will fix you an icy shrimp platter and a tall cool drink, maybe even with an umbrella and a strawberry in it. In your current state, it may be a little hard for you to relax totally and accept such loving kindness, since at this point you feel more like a bristling porcupine than a honeybun.

AQUARIUS

January 20—February 18

It's possible that you've gotten so far into your own head lately that you are in some danger of suddenly popping out of your belly button. With so much internal bubbling going on from Saturn in your 1st house and Uranus and Neptune in your 12th, it will take some time and lots of patience to work yourself out of the box you're in. But leave that alone for now. While the faster-moving planets sweep through Gemini, Cancer, and Leo—your 5th, 6th, and 7th houses—this summer, step up and step out. Get out of your head. Quit worrying if you're going to make it. Just go ahead and make it.

PISCES

February 19—March 20

Saturn is transiting your 12th house, and will be there for the next year. That's what's currently making you as vulnerable as a dandelion blowing in the wind. Loved ones, however, don't always dig that faraway sadness in your eyes, and are getting a little tired of it. So get off the grief kick and get into love. Spend time with the kids. The new moon on June 30 heralds a month when you should try to summon up some of the old glitz. This is a time for you to take a chance. Get out on that floor and dance. If you don't own a getup with sequins on it, buy one now, even if you have to do it through the Home Shopping Network.

ARIES

March 21—April 19

Those who are irked by your seeming superficiality might say that all your running around and endless telephoning are not, as you claim, necessary aspects of your busy life but just your way of avoiding being at home. Yet how else could you possibly have behaved while Mars was in Aries, and Venus and Mercury were in Gemini? Around the time Mars plunks down in Taurus, on June 14, Venus and Mercury slide into Cancer, and by the time the new moon rolls around on June 30, you'll have quieted down considerably and started doing adorable homey little things like barbecuing and screwing on brand-new bathroom fixtures.

TAURUS

April 20-May 20

You're usually so peaceful and docile that it takes you a while to realize when you're mad, much less do anything about it. You prefer lounging in the hammock and licking something cool to getting up and mowing some creep down with the mower. But Mars enters Taurus on June 14, and that means act! If you've been on a slow boil about work, health, love, or money, for God's sake turn up the fire and do something about it now. Mars does run into Saturn and Pluto the first week of July, so you'll see that for every action there's a reaction. Never mind. Get off your butt and bum some fat.

GEMINI

May 21—June 21

Few people could actually go shopping for kitchen appliances while seriously considering relocating to Sri Lanka. You could. Especially when Mercury transits Cancer and the moon is full in Sagittarius on June 15. Then when Mercury hits Leo on June 27, you'll reverse your plan and decide there's no place like home, get a nice soup cooking on the stove, and suddenly rush out for a night of partying. Those close to you had better realize they will never be able to figure you out. It's the old Gemini dilemma: how in the world could you possibly keep all your selves happy?

Michael Lutin