Planetarium

Michael Lutin tells Tauruses it's time to get tough

TAURUS

APRIL 20-MAY 20

Yes, you're more withholding these days, but what of it? If anybody asks why, you can tell them it's a matter of your own survival, and if they don't like it, tough. When people who are supposed to be your closest allies continue to annoy you by being passive-aggressive and beating around the bush, how can you ever uncover what it is they hope to get out of you? Maybe, during this Mars-Saturn opposition, the smart thing would be to concern yourself not with what others want from you but rather with how much they are willing to give to get it.

GEMINI

MAY 21-JUNE 21

For all your internal struggles—and, God knows, you have plenty of them right now—you still possess an inimitable capacity to laugh through your tears and kid about even the most serious subjects. Although some people might find your detachment utterly chilling, they would have a much fuller sense of you if they understood that, while the Mars-Saturn opposition is cutting you deeply, the sextile of Jupiter and Uranus is working as a healthy anesthetic. The result is that you do all your hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing in private. In public, it's Pagliacci City.

CANCER ^

JUNE 22-JULY 22

Are you feeling anxious about your financial or emotional future? No big deal. Do your oppressors fail to realize how hard it is for you to cater selflessly to the people in charge without any thought for your own wellbeing and security? Not to worry. Cool and unusual opportunities have replaced the cruel and unusual punishment you've had to endure from a cold, unsympathetic world. Now things have picked up, but if you're not really flying before long, call your mother and verify your birth date. Because you're probably not even a Cancer.

LEO

JULY 23-AUG. 22

Just because you're getting hit from all sides doesn't mean you have to go on the defensive and act crazy. When the populace is pressing on you from the north, south, east, and west, try not to think of those awful scenes from Night of the Living Dead. Think instead about what turns coal into diamonds. Although you might well perceive the current scene as a political conspiracy, it's actually just a T-square of Mars, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Besides, with Jupiter in your 9th house this year, you can laugh it all off, even if people call you callous. And they will.

VIRGO

AUG. 23-SEPT. 22

Astrologers speak of the finger of God, and this month you're the focus of one, formed by Jupiter and Uranus. Creatively, you're hot, and with Mercury going direct you should be fretting a lot less about minor irritations. However, a certain degree of mental stress is emanating from your 3rd and 9th houses. It could be related to travel or publishing, and it will certainly involve money. Everything does these days. You must retreat for spiritual reasons, whatever the cost. Though it may bug you to hear this, you have a soul that needs to be nurtured.

LIBRA

SEPT. 23OCT. 23

As Jupiter moves through your solar 7th house, all your relationships should be improving, no matter how sour you've become in regard to others. Try not to let anything spoil the flow of positive emotions now that Jupiter and Uranus are closely aligned. There are bound to be sexual hitches and financial glitches to contend with, because when people are trying to put their lives together, everything has to be negotiated. But please note that negotiating does not mean seething with rage on the inside while you're forcing a smile that could fell a charging rhino.

SCORPIO

OCT.

24-NOV. 21

You really should not start invading somebody's private space just because you've suddenly decided that he or she has something you absolutely need right this minute. While Mars is in retrograde motion, it's simply not a good idea to be overly grabby or pushy. You've got to learn to play the game, take it easy, be sly, vague, and indirect. The trick is to figure out how to get exactly what you want while at the same time letting other people think that it was their idea. But that is the God-given talent of every living Scorpio, isn't it?

SAGITTARIUS

NOV. 22-DEC. 21

The split you're experiencing in your psyche right now is easy to define. The sextile of Jupiter and Uranus has you bubbling and cheerful, simply brimming with newfangled ways to express yourself. Meanwhile, retrograde Mars in opposition to Saturn is affecting another region of your brain and has you dragging your butt across the floor like an old dog with hip dysplasia. In addition to causing you physical aches and emotional pains, this convinces you that other people think you're all washed up. Isn't it odd to feel so young and so old at the same time?

DEC. 22-JAN.19

CAPRICORN It can be very draining, having to put up with the problems of children and friends, or to schmooze with the "right" people, when all you really want is to go find enlightenment in Tibet or climb into bed with a really good book. Escape would be nice, but when Saturn is involved in a 5thand-llth-house opposition, whatever enlightenment you may enjoy will probably include kids and friends—provided you have any. The good news is, there's a possible windfall in your future. And no matter what else is happening, that should be enough to cheer up any Capricorn.

AQUARIUS

JAN. 20-FEB. 18

Although you can't resist torturing yourself and putting yourself down every other minute because you think you're a total fraud, the truth is that you're still very much a key player these days. With two outer planets in Aquarius playing an integral part in this month's fixed T-square, it's not just that your input is still needed; in some ways you're actually the one who has the final say. That is really a riot, considering that you are teetering on the edge of extinction and feeling utterly vulnerable. But nobody else has to know that you're hanging by a thread.

PISCES FEB. 19-MARCH 20

Instead of allowing your mind to pull you in a hundred different directions, you would be much wiser just to settle down and do your job. While that is the last thing most Pisceans want to hear, work is probably the only way at this time to release your tensions and express your creative impulses. Money would also help, naturally. Since Mars, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus all send their force zinging through your 3rd, 9th, and 12th houses, you're likely to experience some nerve-sizzling energy, and it won't be the kind associated with recreational drugs. Let's hope.

MARCH 21-APRIL 19

You ought to be sailing along like a Thunderbird on the freeway, positively drooling with contentment, now that the transit of Jupiter is bringing in some decent luck at last. Fresh opportunities abound, and, with the burden of Saturn lifted from your shoulders and the specter of ruin gone, you should be basking in your new sense of freedom. You're probably still bitching about something, though, because if you don't have flak coming at you from some direction, or anything to scream about or fight for, you're miserable. Now it's money.

To hear Michael Lutin read your weekly horoscope, call 1-900-28V-FAIR on a Touch-Tone phone. Cost; $1.95 per minute. If you are under 18, you need parental permission.