SCORPIO HOROSCOPE

A feud is back on again when Venus opposes retrograde Mars on December 12th. That means squabbling supervisors, bickering loved ones, or competitive colleagues will try to convince you to take their side. In truth, you can see the validity in each person's position, but what it comes down to is you simply don't have a dog in this fight. There's nothing to be gained by friending one person while alienating the other. What you can do, however, is help them to talk through their differences. You've no illusions of setting up a lasting peace, but a cease-fire for the holidays would be nice.

You're going to feel like you're moving backward over the next couple of months, and this won't sit well with you. Now you could throw up your hands in frustration, or you can take this opportunity to get in touch with what you want out of your future. Many of us measure our success in terms of money and status, but success also has a lot to do with quality of life and doing the things that make you feel fulfilled. Are you on course to doing that? A heady question to be sure, but there's no better time than the present to ask it.

Fortune favors the bold. It's a familiar cliché, but never one you've taken seriously until this week, when the Sun in Sagittarius forms a trine to Ruling Planet Mars at the top of your solar horoscope. Is it true that a golden opportunity is yours for the taking? It certainly looks that way, but you don't have much time to think about it. Pounce now and work out the logistics later because Mars turns retrograde on December 6th. You can't help wondering if you're jumping out of the frying pan and right into the fire, but who cares? You haven't felt this exhilarated in months!

Fear of loss no longer rules your life like it once did. Perhaps you've come to accept that loss is a natural part of life, or maybe you're tired of living in fear and don’t want to lose out on the things you treasure most. Everyone goes through these sorts of epiphanies from time to time, but this is more than just a passing realization. The Sun/Pluto sextile on November 21st shows that a cornerstone is being laid to a new and lasting spiritual foundation. And now that you're secure in who you are, you can get on out there and take back what's yours.

Surprise upsets in a spouse's or business partner's life are putting a strain on your relationship. In your more frustrated moments, you feel like this person should have known better than to commit to a certain endeavor, but a quick survey of the landscape reveals that it's full of buried mines lying in wait, and there's no way they could have known ahead of time. What to do? Tread softly and carry a big metal detector. It's going to be touch and go until Uranus comes out of retrograde in January, but you should have a clearer idea of what you're dealing with by then.

Over the past few weeks, you made some dramatic decisions aimed at getting your life back on track. Maybe you had to remove yourself from a toxic relationship, initiate a huge career change, or make sacrifices for a loved one. You did this, and the result was a new lease on life. That's great, except that sometimes new leases can be like new credit cards—you think it's a fresh start but soon discover that you're back in debt. That's because the underlying behavior hasn't changed. A signature opposition between ruling planets Mars and Pluto shows you addressing this intensely personal matter once and for all.

Do you remember what it was like to fall in love for the first time, long before rejection, heartbreak, and cynicism soured you on the experience? That feeling returns this week when your ruling planet, Mars in Cancer, forms a restorative trine to Neptune in Pisces. Maybe it’s based on meeting someone new, touching base with someone you knew way back when, or a reverie that sends a ripple effect through your entire soul. In any case, it will be nice to know those feelings are never far away and that you can summon them—and perhaps even inhabit them—if you want to.

You've burned too many bridges to torch another one on October 22nd. Although this situation is different – you really were misled and have every right to feel betrayed and angry – you'd only wind up torpedoing your credibility. Walking out now looks like a repeat pattern to anyone thinking of hiring you in the future, and that could make you box office poison in your own industry. You have to prove you've got what it takes to honor your commitments and see things through to the end. Once done, you'll be free to go your own way if that's still what you want to do.

Dogged research reveals something you always suspected to be true. Unfortunately, divulging this information is going to result in someone getting hurt. This is one of those times when you have to ask if it's really worth it. Are you sharing this information because it's the right thing to do, or are you sharing it because it proves you were right all along? Truth and friendship don't always mix, and sometimes it's better to withhold than reveal. But knowing what you know doesn't have to make you an accomplice. You're still free to nudge, wink, and hint until this person discovers the answer for herself.

You might be surprised to discover that people really do like you. You’re always convinced that they don’t, but the fact of the matter is they do. They may not do what you say, bow to your authority, or show you the respect you feel you deserve, but there are different ways to express love and friendship. Speaking from the heart is one, gently guiding you away from making mistakes is another, and finally, being in your corner when you can’t be in your own is a third. There are plenty more where these came from, but these are enough to think about for now.