Happy birthday (Sept. 15): You manage most areas of your life with a hands-on approach, mixing into what matters, unafraid of a little mess and sweat. Being extremely careful about what you delegate, you won't miss out on golden details.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Today brings you an abundance of original ideas. Regardless of how good they are, because of the speed by which they pour in, they will be quickly forgotten unless you capture, contain and catalog them.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You're a natural leader and you'll shine with executive ability, which is to say you're good at running the show. You can be tough, tender, warm or direct as you adapt to the show you're running.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21): Misreading a situation can cause minor mistakes or major pain. You can avoid any and all trouble with this by paying close attention, and then paying attention from a distance as your awareness grows with every new angle on it.
CANCER (June 22-July 22): Your world is saturated with an overabundance of opinions. Your restraint on the matter will lead to serenity. It will come as a relief to share fewer opinions, and to find that you have fewer of them to share.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You have a choice about how to encourage follow-through with the actions that will net a desired result. You can motivate through fear or inspiration. Fear is faster. Inspiration is healthier.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Even though you can't change another person, as you change yourself, if the other person has the least bit of awareness and empathy, a countermove will be made to adapt to yours.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23): Life is the kind of teacher whose lectures seem to drift off-topic, but there's magic in this. You'll get a clue as to your most profitable move — a sign from the natural world pointing your mind to an answer.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21): Life is a song. Sometimes you dance to it and sometimes you sing along, but right now, you're in the mood to listen, learn and see what happens when others make the moves.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You don't have to accept what's in your head as truth. You can change your thought, pick a new one or create one from scratch. Whatever your mood, you are one thought away from lifting it.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Love's display isn't always a bouquet of romance or a glamorous foreign holiday. You'll give your love in doses as small as a spoon, you'll give it as diligently as washing a dish and as moving as a carpool.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Wanting isn't wrong or right. It probably can't even be helped. While you can't effectively command yourself to want what's good for you, you can at least notice what you want and steer your desire toward the best option.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You don't have to resonate with everything you come across. There are some emotions that are unhealthy to steep in. Your empathetic skills are on point, including the ones that keep you from unhealthy empathy.
PROJECTIONS OF VENUS IN SCORPIO
In these first degrees of Venus in Scorpio, what sometimes passes for love is not love at all, but a projection of what we wish love to be, streaming in yellow light from the click and whirr of old-timey mechanics within our own hearts. If we’re to experience the real world of other people outside the theater doors, we must turn off the movie.
COSMIC QUESTION
Q: “I’m a Gemini and it seems like I’ve way more than a twin inside my head. In fact, I could swear there’s an entire crowd up there. They can be rowdy and unmanageable, and sometimes I can’t seem to pipe down the chatter. What do you think?”
A: Sounds like your Gemini twins have started a colony! The Zen master calls it “monkey brain”, and don’t worry, it’s normal. Some people just have louder and more varied internal voices murmuring opinions, ideas, directions, criticisms and more. It’s OK to hear them all as long as you don’t believe them all. Pretend like you’re running a town meeting in there. Some of the voices that pipe up are radicals, liars, immature or just wrong. Give each their moment. Usually, the really odd ones will calm down after that. They just wanted to be heard. Pick out the reasonable ones — the ones who seem dedicated to your health and well-being, and who likely have your best interests at heart. Get to know their voices. The more you listen to them, the stronger they get.
Also, step up your physical exercise. This is the best way I’ve experienced to calm down mental cacophony!
CELEBRITY PROFILES
Virgo Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones is a study in opposites. He’s a cowboy who roomed with Al Gore at Harvard. He’s as comfortable riding horses on his Texas ranch as he is collecting art from a top gallery. He fights aliens in one movie and bares his soul in the next. One thing is certain: With natal Venus in Scorpio, and Saturn and Pluto in Leo, he’ll continue to transform in entertaining ways.