CANCER HOROSCOPE

Your heart and your head couldn’t be more divided—which isn't a great place to be. Unfortunately, you don’t really have a reasonable answer for those pressuring you to act other than this vague feeling that you might be better off somewhere else. Whether this is a true calling to adopt a bird's-eye view of matters or escapist wishful thinking is hard to tell. In any case, you should wait before making any major personal decisions until after the New Moon on December 30th. This is when it looks like your heart and your head will be back on the same page again.

The First Quarter Moon on December 8th will bring out all of your “tune in and drop out” tendencies. It's good for getting in touch with what's going on spiritually and psychically. You'll want to explore your inner landscape and throw off the shackles of conventional wisdom and formulaic thinking. That's the “tune in” part; however, the “drop out” part could encourage you to walk away from your responsibilities and obligations. It's important to remember that whatever spiritual path you choose to walk, it has to wind its way through this world, resulting in good works and true acts of caring. Otherwise, it's just escapism.

No sooner do you dot all your i's and cross all your t's than unforeseen developments will turn the whole thing into alphabet soup on November 25th. Mercury retrogrades often wreak havoc with best-laid plans, and the fact that it's reversing direction right when you're looking to finalize a deal is understandably infuriating. Yet there's something about the timing of the stars that's better informed than ours. Maybe it's their bird's-eye view of matters or the fact that they've been around longer than we have. In any case, what starts out as an inconvenience could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

You're in a transitional phase where you are offloading old commitments, thankless obligations, and maybe even a friendship or two. This impulse to purge is very much in keeping with the planetary trines taking place between Scorpio and Pisces. Essentially, you're reorganizing your closets metaphorically and maybe even literally, and with any top-to-bottom reshuffle, it can be both dizzying and liberating. Savor this feeling and be more choosy about what you take on moving forward. The temptation is to refill what you just got rid of, so think long and hard about the people and things you want in your life before allowing them in.

Sometimes the Stars will make the decisions we can't. It's something you can take comfort in when the Full Moon in Taurus on November 15th signals the final rupture in a situation barely held together by spit and glue. You knew this day would come but somehow felt it lay further down the road. Whether the end result is good or bad depends on what you make of things. It's true that you haven't been especially proactive or daring lately, but all of that changes when your interests are at stake. Get ready to do the things you never thought yourself capable of doing before.

A lot of conflicting planetary energies will be triggered by the first quarter Moon in Aquarius on November 9th, and you may feel like you'd best get out of Dodge. This could mean pulling stakes, withdrawing funds, or cutting your losses while you still can. It makes perfect sense in the moment, but this could wind up doing a lot of damage down the line. Saturn has the final say in this week's celestial configuration, which means that it's best to leave things where they are. Not only will you be grateful that you did, but you might even come out ahead as a result.

You have some delicate maneuvers to execute this week, so you’ll want to tune out the background noise and focus on the facts at hand. First of all, the situation you’re salvaging isn’t as bad as it seems, which is undoubtedly a relief. And second? It looks like the people who refused to listen to you before are all ears now. This will make things infinitely easier. Just remember that nobody likes being told, “I told you so.” Everyone knows that you know that they know, and the fact that you’re not shaming anyone earns you their gratitude and respect.

Most people freeze up when they learn that the rules of the game are about to change. You, on the other hand, will feel like you've finally escaped that rut you've been stuck in. The loosening up of restrictions means you'll be free to follow your instincts, try things you've never tried before, and reinvent. The Cancer Mars/Uranus in Taurus sextile on October 24th will be more transitional than volatile because it's aimed at enacting reforms more than storming the gates. Change has been in the air for a long time, and now that you're breathing it in, you'll feel both exhilarated and inspired.

Cancers are often portrayed as shy and retiring—an overly sensitive sign that will do anything to avoid confrontation. And Cancers will indeed extend the benefit of the doubt, work to lower the temperature in the room, and give people time and space to get over themselves. The part about Cancer that often gets overlooked, however, is that when you've had it, you've had it—and that's what you'll be feeling on October 17th when the Full Moon in Aries squares Pluto in Capricorn. This is a definitive square, which means that once that door closes, there will be no reopening it again.

Pluto out of retrograde on October 11th is like waking up in the morning and reaching out across the bed only to realize that the person isn't there. It's a dull ache you thought had gone away but hasn't. Retrogrades (especially with the slower-moving planets) often have to do with long-term decisions that we put off because we can; however, this time it looks like you're ready to move forward. You need to put past wounds behind and come out of that corner you've been curled up in. It won't be easy finding someone new, but clinging to the past has gotten old.