SCORPIO HOROSCOPE

Ruling Planet Mars back in Leo on April 18th restokes that gumption and drive that's been missing for weeks. It's nice to feel that energy again, but things have changed since Mars retrograded out of Leo last January. You don’t have the clout you once had or that sense of stability that made you feel invincible. There was a time when this would have troubled you, but now you're not sure. Do you really want to go through the aggravation of reclaiming something that's no longer yours? Most people would say “skip it”, but you're a Scorpio. You won't go gently into that good night.

Co-workers, clients, and even your boss will be treating you like their personal confessor this week. They’ll be sharing their doubts, confiding misgivings, and divulging some sensitive information. It will be tempting to chime in with some criticisms of your own – especially when they talk about faults that you yourself have accused them of – but don’t. They trust you and really feel like they can open up to you and that’s the highest compliment that anyone can hope to be paid. Trust that they are working things out for themselves and will come to the conclusions you want them to come to on their own.

Sometimes you can have a brilliant idea but if it's so far ahead of its time that it doesn't take. It's seen by others as being too “out there.” You know this from experience. You can't even begin to recount all of the projects, enterprises, and innovations that never took off because they lacked the support or interest. That's why you'll be surprised this week when you're contacted by someone who knows exactly what to do to make one of these ideas work. Yes, you'll have to dust it off and update a few things but its time has come and it's ready to take flight.

You’re apt to be short-tempered around demanding bosses and persnickety clients (which is OK), but this might spill over to friends, colleagues, and the barista taking your coffee order. Everyone’s working your last nerve these days. What’s going on is that you can sense that change is afoot, but you don’t know what it is yet and it’s driving you nuts. It’s like having a name on the tip of your tongue with a bunch of people calling out what they think it is. They’re trying to help, but it only makes matters worse. Thankfully you’ll experience relief when Jupiter enters Cancer on June 6th.

The annual Sun/Neptune conjunction always makes you nervous. It's kind of like how ancient civilizations used to forgive debts or free prisoners once every seven years. This impulse towards clemency floods your horoscope and makes you do something that you wouldn't normally do. This year you might try embracing it instead of resisting it. Yes, part of you feels like you're letting culprits off the hook, however another part of you recognizes that people don't become better people if you don't get give them a second chance. It's good to remember that everything born into Time comes with an expiration date – and that includes grudges.

This is a purging time for you. Not only will you be rejecting things you once believed in, but you’ll be unbuckling yourself from the hopes and wishes that held you hostage. You need to see that you have paid your dues. No more working hard to impress those who can’t be impressed or waiting outside closed doors with no one on the other side. People either recognize your merit or you’ll move on. This also includes those who can’t give you what you need emotionally. Let them go because they’re getting in the way of meeting those like-minded (and like-hearted people) who truly understand you.

For weeks you’ve been trying to figure out what was wrong with your approach. If you weren’t making things harder for yourself then it felt like you had developed a knack for choosing paths that lead to dead-ends. Thankfully Ruling Planet Mars coming out of retrograde on February 23d helped to orient you, but you’ll find that it’s the Sun/Mars trine on March 8th that shows you the way forward. You can expect this energy (and your momentum) to increase over the next few weeks. This all comes together on April 4th when you finally accomplish what you had set out to do last September.

Beware girlfriends in need. The same goes for sisters, neighbors, and in-laws for as long as Venus is retrograding through Aries and Pisces. You have some potentially treacherous planetary aspects over the next few weeks, and you don't want to take the fall for somebody else's folly. Maybe this person wants you to tell her husband that she was at your house (when she wasn't) or she might come to you for a loan on top of the one you already gave her. Just say no. This way you will avoid any fiascos where your good intentions might pave the way to a hellish situation.

Last September, you were just a stone's throw away from a long-sought-after prize or elusive goal. It should have been yours, but then you were somehow overtaken by a series of unforeseen circumstances that were beyond your control and demanded your immediate and undivided attention. You probably assumed that your moment had passed, but you will learn on February 23rd that retrograde planets have a peculiar magic all their own. Astonishingly enough, it appears as if that prize or goal is still available. It may be impossible to believe, but you'll see for yourself when the Sun trines Mars on March 8th.

Scorpios are like volcanoes. You can lie dormant for long periods and then suddenly erupt. It's something you might want to warn loved ones and friends about ahead of the Full Moon in Leo on February 12th. Whether it's the result of a build-up in pressure or a final indignity that's too much to bear doesn't matter. What matters is that you have had enough. Afterwards, you'll feel much better; however, it may take others a while to feel safe approaching you again. Signal to them when you feel ready, and enjoy the relief that only a catharsis can bring until then.