Your Week

Monday August 30 to Sunday September 5

The Astrologer's Diary:

The Sun-Mercury conjunction on September 3 is a classic piece of cosmic mischief-making. It falls at Virgo 10 and aspects Thailand’s Moon at Pisces 10 and her Venus at Cancer 10. The period around September 3 is not the greatest time of year to be taking a holiday in Thailand; old karma is stirred up then and with Mercury retrograde, chaos seems likely. Michael Jackson’s chart also looks sensitive this week. We don’t have an accurate birth time for him, but his Moon is very close to 10 degrees. The first week of September reveals new information and misinformation about Jackson’s private life.

Filed August 15

Aquarius

That creaking sound you hear when you walk into a bank is the ghost of finance past; within a fortnight, you will be entirely free of the remnants of the toughest cycle in 29 years. Saturn has left your house of salary, houses, business, apartments and debt. Nevertheless, Mercury is still stuck, which might explain the way particular facts and figures are playing on your mind. Until you are completely in the clear, you may want to factor in every possible outcome (including spontaneously combusting tax officials) into the mix. A decision is also pending about those from other regions or countries whose angle on life is so thoroughly different to your own. A crash course in a subject you know very little about will certainly help.

Pisces

The concerns you have about your former, current or potential lover owe more to the last two years than they do to the realities of September 2010. Within weeks, you can have the conversation that’s looming now. For the moment, if the situation is stuck, try not to draw conclusions. Remember, too, that a great deal of the instinctive anxiety you feel has been ground into you in 2008 or 2009. That was then, this is now, try to act and think as if the future is different, and you’ll get there sooner. The financial, property or business decisions are still around you too. These seem to be about personalities and individual psyches, as much as they are about practicalities. It is the latter, not the former, which should count.

Aries

Into the house of lovers (past, present, future) go Venus, Vesta, Mars and Saturn – and out go your old ideas. It’s all a great deal more serious these days. And the longer you ignore a decision, the heavier it becomes. Whatever represents a win-win outcome should be pursued, despite all the aggravation for you, him or her. The dregs of your difficult work and health cycle from 2008 are also ebbing away now. No matter how strongly you feel about binding commitments and ‘definite’ answers near Friday, try to cater for every outcome. There may be delays, reversals or temperamental computers ahead. If you can’t be bothered reading microscopic terms and conditions, don’t sign.

Taurus

There is no point quietly flapping about a health concern, a body hang-up or a work anxiety. This is par for the course when Saturn is in Libra. The issue now is facing your fears and dealing with them in a resolute, Taurean way. Avoid people who make you feel paralysed or in denial. Lean towards those who encourage you to cope and manage best. It also appears that ancient worries about love, sex, children, pregnancy or other people’s kids are back to haunt you. The key word is ‘haunt’ though. Nothing is there any more. Either the real issue has departed or there’s no reason to be on auto-wobble. Don’t trot out old mantras or irrelevant ways of handling this; the past is now the past!

Gemini

The decision not to have conventional sex (no pants) is just as important as the choice not to have conventional sex. And the option to have children (of any age – even smoking cigars and wearing cardigans) is just as crucial as the preference to avoid pregnancy altogether. Why is all this coming up now? Because there are a ton of heavenly bodies in your house of intimacy, and a further decision is pending. Try to live in the present regarding your household, house, family or flat as well. You actually are over the worst. What’s going on now is just a random hiccup. And why make up your mind about anything when your ruler Mercury is wobbling? Wait until mid-month.

Cancer

What a twist of fate this is. Cancer rules the Fourth House, which describes families and clans, houses and apartments, domesticity and patriotism. This week, your own Fourth House just happens to be overloaded with heavenly bodies; thus the end of August is a defining moment. A vivid confrontation with yourself seems likely, even if it appears to be about your father or your kitchen. Need we turn back to the rather fraught issue of communication too? Actually, no. All you’re experiencing is habitual anxiety, brought on by two years of problems. Like magic, once Mercury turns direct in the middle of September, the remains of chronic concerns will disappear. Connecting will be easy.

Leo

It takes a while for old financial, property and business cycles to break; Saturn has only been gone for a few weeks, and you still have a lot of paperwork, calls or e-mails to get through. The fact that everything is going backwards, or about to, is legitimate cause for concern. After two years of onerous situations, you don’t need any more hassle. Still, from the middle of next month, Mercury turns direct. And as Jupiter opens up vast options at the same time, it’s most unlikely you’ll have serious money or lifestyle worries again. As long as you can accept an unpredictable existence from this point on, you will surf with the best of them. And anyway, you can’t put a price on optimism versus pessimism. That’s the real change now.

Virgo

Whatever you’re agreeing to with money, business or property at the moment locks you into the long-term – if not for practical reasons, then emotional ones. If you haven’t done all the research one might expect of a Virgo, perhaps it’s time to do your Miss Moneypenny act. There is no doubt that this is about the heart and soul, as well as the cash or home. It is only by securing the facts and figures that you will secure some kind of psychological equilibrium, though. As for the rest, it’s really about your brand or your look, not the person you truly are inside. You’ve had quite enough of the I word (Image) for one century. And this won’t last. You will be amazed at how little your shop window matters in a fortnight from now.

Libra

The more closely you align your public self with your private self, the less you will have to worry about what others are seeing or hearing. The emphasis now is on a practical plan that will actually work – no matter if it’s sorting out your hair and teeth, or your website and business card. The greater the chasm between the image you project and the person you actually are, the heavier the workload in projecting yourself ‘out there’. And yet you can’t escape it. Saturn leads the charge into the sign of Libra this week, and your instincts are correct; this is not a temporary issue. If you are making momentous decisions about anything from elocution lessons to body reshaping – or a PR firm – you must live with it long-term.

Scorpio

If you habitually do anything clandestine, this is a good time to become more aware of all your ‘unconscious’ behaviour. It may be reading your partner’s e-mails. It may be conducting a thoroughly French affair. How about working for the intelligence bureau of a Soviet government department? Every Scorpio has her/his secret auto-pilot activities, but for the first time in 29 years, you are in a cycle when they may trip you up. Of course, one needs privacy and solitude. (No wonder so many Scorpios collect wine; they love disappearing into cellars). Now, more than ever, you must find your precious me-time and me-space. Doing so in a way that is free of sin and karmically correct is the challenge. Don’t be James Bond.

Sagittarius

It’s remarkable to see so many heavenly bodies clustering in your house of friendship and groups. One of them is Vesta; if you’re in a situation where one man dominates a situation involving two or more women, be on full alert. The game-playing this produces could resemble a bad repeat of Shortland Street crossed with the final scene of Hamlet. Mostly, though, this week is about understanding what being a friend actually means, and what it is to be part of a team. It’s hard work right now, of a kind you could do without. But take comfort from Mercury too; he is telling you that knee-jerk career fears will be gone within weeks. What you’re feeling now is nothing more than the last stages of an extremely tedious cycle.

Capricorn

Some of the mature, wise, sensible, worthy (and dull) decisions you are now making about your career are quite correct. There is no trick, no short-cut and no cunning plan attached; these are just timely measures, taken for tough new times. Do be aware of the less productive choices you are making though. Some of these come from tiredness and others from denial. Still more come from classic Capricorn pessimism. This is quite a good week to weed out the people involved and ask yourself how many of your current strategies are merely reactions to other people’s personalities, and how many are founded on common-sense. As whatever comes out of August-September will follow you round for months, it’s time to analyse.