Planetarium

MICHAEL LUTIN

LIBRA

September 23-October 23

Libras are such dear souls. Why would anybody want to run away from you? You're positive, supportive, and creative. Who could ever think you were self-absorbed and narcissistic? That's crazy. How could anyone just up and withdraw without considering the effect on you? The astrological reason is pretty simple. You've got 7th-house problems, which demand extra sensitivity to others. So if you're asked to help someone on or off the john, just do it with a smile. After all, you still have emotional strength and a place to live. You want happiness too?

SCORPIO

October 24-November 21

With Jupiter in your 3rd house, thinking in a more positive vein will help you over a multitude of complaints (as will dumping the garbage that gets poured through your system into the garbage pail, where it belongs). At work, too, despite the 6th-house lunar eclipse, don't make a federal case when moronic little things go wrong or you're feeling like a two-bit hack. Direct your thoughts upward toward new options. Try to convince yourself that you're a productive, alive, and well person, and certainly much, much more than just a zombie for hire.

SAGITTARIUS

November 22-December 21

Sadges with children have been facing some pretty painful truths and suffering tough losses lately. Even the childless have felt it, because when it's time to let go of your illusions about love and dive into a new life, fate sneaks up behind you and pushes you smack into the ice-cold ocean, ready or not. It sure would be nice to be socializing and dating and romancing and engaging in all the frivolous pursuits that normal people engage in, but this is the time for admitting you're pissed, spending money on yourself, and deciding that, yes, you are going to live.

CAPRICORN

December 22-January 19

A person's home should be his or her castle, not a bomb shelter, but there you sit, hoarding canned goods and waiting impatiently for nuclear winter. Paradoxically, you're also actually quite supportive and hopeful now. As Jupiter goes direct in your sign and a lunar eclipse occurs down at the bottom of your solar chart, one question remains: Which is the real you? The good-natured, evergreen optimist who feels that all things are possible for those who believe? Or that withered old pessimist peeking out the window from behind broken Venetian blinds?

AQUARIUS

January 20-February 18

Apart from polite drivel, you have not been as communicative as you might be, but then, with a lunar eclipse in your 3rd house, you're probably thinking, Oh, hell, why bother? Nobody wants to hear it, anyway. You may be frightened that your words of truth and wisdom will be interpreted as gibberish or, worse, laughed at. Jupiter in your 12th house gives you a direct line to the Creator now, so why should you have to explain anything to anyone lower down? Wouldn't it be just awful, though, if right in the middle of your most sincere prayers God burst out laughing?

PISCES

February 19-March 20

Considering the vast number of people who have already come and gone in your life, Jupiter in your 11th house will nevertheless send you a great friend or two to defend you against those critics who are always predicting that the little men in white coats are after you. On another note, if you feel you should not have to fork over money you don't have enough of when certain other people have $100 bills coming out of their ears, try the positive-affirmation approach: "I have everything I need. I can be generous." If that doesn't work, try pounding a pillow.

ARIES

March 21-April 19

The air may be electric with opportunity, but what good is it if you blow your fuses before you can take advantage of the fact that C.E.O.'s, studio heads, and big-league players are willing to talk to you now? Oh, you're as fit as a fiddle and ready for a nice game of hardball? If so, then explain the 16 plugs you've got stuck into one little socket. The lunar eclipse in Aries is a sign that you need some new wiring, fast. One great thing about you, though: even when they carry you off the field on a stretcher, you're back in the game before the inning is over.

TAURUS

April 20~May 20

A few crazy thoughts may run through that head of yours this month. If you're an evolved, well-disciplined Taurus, no sweat. They are merely burps coming from the pit of your unconscious. Meditation and/or psychotherapy could be quite beneficial. If, on the other hand, you're the juststuff-another-anything-down-my-throat, wnevolved type, you may eventually get locked up for your sinful indulgences. Thanks to Jupiter, all Tauruses, good and bad, have reason to be hopeful as they raise consciousness to a high level. In plain English? Cut down on sugar and/or drugs. Period.

GEMINI

May 21-June 21

Friendships get aborted and you drop out of associations through a trapdoor in the midst of a meeting. You want desperately to belong, but somehow you know damned well you don't fit in anymore. That's a normal feeling when an eclipse of the moon conjoins Saturn in your 11th house. No matter. Here's the good news to offset all that: There are still decent people around who will be valuable in backing some worthwhile project (key word: "worthwhile"). And for those Geminis who care, sex is still there if you want it (key phrase: "if you want it").

CANCER

June 22~July 22

"Honey, don't worry about a thing. Whatever you have to do, just go ahead and do it. And if you need anything at all, you can count on me." Can you imagine what a load off a Cancer's mind it is to have someone talk like that? Just hearing it from someone's lips is almost enough to make you want to start cooking. That's Jupiter in the 7th house, though, and you've got it. You need it, too, because politically you don't have the faintest clue which horse to bet on. There's Scylla, of course, and then there's always Charybdis. Who in hell are they? Check your Homer.

July 23-August 22

Oh, baby, aren't you blessed with passion and excitement right now? Not to mention financial stability, which is a great antidote to anything that ails you. Money may not buy happiness, but it helps you rent it for a while. However, everything is not sunny. The eclipse in your 9th house could mean you're being haunted by the fear of endings, but before spending any money on an exorcist, try throwing yourself into work, good diet, exercise, or caring for a plant in your office—simple tricks that will help current spiritual indigestion. Bad dreams? Stop eating pizza after 10 P.M.

VIRGO

August 23~September 22

Let's have no bitching this month. In fact, you should be happy. Artistic Virgos are going to get quite a bang right now. That's what happens when Jupiter goes forward in your 5th house. Even computer nerds may get zonked by Cupid. Don't laugh. Virgos do get to play romantic-roles now and then, even if they don't get to kiss in the final reel. But with an eclipse in your 8th house, you can forget wild sex for a while for reasons of opportunity, dysfunction, or both—at least until you remember that real sex requires a little something called relating.