ARIES HOROSCOPE

People born under Aries can be hard on themselves, but the Solar Eclipse on September 21st may take this to a whole new level. Not only will this increase Virgo's critical tendencies, but it could be paralyzing at a time when you're on the verge of a breakthrough, career transition, or comeback. You may suddenly question your qualifications or whether or not you have what it takes. You do, but you'll never know unless you proceed. It's true that there's room for improvement with any performance, which is why it's important to remember that you learn as you go and grow as you learn.

A family dispute is finally resolved thanks to the Lunar Eclipse, but be forewarned: it's not going to be taken care of in the way you had hoped. Nevertheless it's something you can live with. It's never easy accepting a less than stellar outcome – especially when part of you feels like you should have fought harder – but when you see how eager everyone is to get on with their lives (including you) then you'll eventually make peace with what's going down. What it comes down to in the end is that you just don't have that much in common with the people you're parting ways with.

You can already see how things will turn out and it's not good. The person in charge of leading the fight either doesn't know what they're doing or they're hopelessly out of touch. Trundling out the old battle cries and jeremiads is not only ineffectual; it's embarrassing. Nevertheless you're not in a position to do anything about it now so you might as well step into line and support them in their lost cause when Mars squares Jupiter on September 4th. It's a sad display, but necessary in order to replace this person with a more accomplished leader – something that you'll see happen on October 28th.

This is an exciting and invigorating time for you. Hopefully you have an idea, proposal, or venture in mind because this is the perfect week to pitch it. And if you haven't anything in the works, then you need to cobble together something fast because an auspicious sextile between Neptune in your sign and Uranus in Gemini on August 28th shows that whatever kite you choose to fly will surely soar. It's rare when you're on the right side of such a game-changing planetary aspect so you'll want to make the best of it. And the more audacious and far-fetched your dreams – the better!

Aries and Virgo share a trait in common: self-improvement. Both signs believe that you can always do better. What's nice about the Sun entering Virgo on August 22d is that you'll discover how. Virgo is less about gumption and drive and more about making the most of what you have to work with. The best way to do that is to review your assets with all the scrutiny of a forensics investigator. It may seem a bit too nitpicky at first, but you'll get into the swing of it. After all you can't hope to achieve your ends without identifying the means of getting there.

After weeks of struggle, you finally get that breakthrough you were aiming for on August 11th. It wasn't always easy to tell if you were on the right track – you wrestled with a lot of self-doubt – but you're in. Your application will be accepted, your project approved, or your request upheld. Yet something you need to be open to during this time is the list of suggested changes you'll be asked to make. This is pretty much de rigueur when Uranus forms a sextile to Saturn and if you follow this planet's lead you'll soon see how these expand and improve upon your original submission.

You have no choice but to follow another party’s lead while Mars is in your opposite sign of Libra. This could be a spouse, partner or collaborator. Usually you wouldn’t mind except you’re not sure the other person knows what they’re doing. To make matters worse, Saturn in Aries makes you feel like you know better and that the other person’s approach is all wrong. The challenge is to follow during this period of time. Not only is it an exercise in patience, but you may discover there’s validity to this person’s way of doing things. It’s not your way, but it works all the same.

No one's trying to take you by surprise by asking if you’re OK. It's a question – nothing more; nothing less. Emotionally speaking, Aries people are like hardboiled private eyes who sleep with a gun under the pillow, ready to fire at the first sign of intrusion yet for a zodiac sign who professes to be bold and fearless, you're carrying a lot of angst these days. Concern is not a form of manipulation; it shows people care. Perhaps if you let someone be there for you in the way you're always there for them you might find it's not so bad sharing your troubles; it's even healthy.

Mentoring is often as educational for the mentor as the mentee. This is something you'll see on July 24th when the Sun trines Saturn. Being a Mars-ruled sign, you don't always recognize when you're being too tough. Mars believes in raising the bar as soon as someone's in reach of it – which is great for improving strength and fortitude; but do it too many times and that person winds up feeling defeated instead of challenged. Encouragement – plus easing up on some of those drills – might produce the positive results you're looking for. It could even be an idea to apply to yourself.

Don’t sign on the line that's dotted on July 18th. This won’t be easy because you'll feel like it’s now or never when it comes to sealing the deal or making a big purchase. Exclamations of “I don't have time for this!” are to be expected when Mercury retrogrades in a fire sign however a better use of your time would be to engage in a fact-finding mission. Not only will you discover the other party was withholding certain details, you'll see you're in a position to lock in more favorable terms. The end result is a much better dotted line to sign on August 11th.