This week's Mars, sun and new moon in Gemini clamour for communication upgrades, listing goals, doing something you've never thought of before…
ARIES: A gang of planets in fire signs will always torch your mojo. Add early week Aries moon and your straightforward style could press buttons, because not everyone understands your good intentions. Impatient? Count to 10. Irritated? Take a breath. Don't go into roadrunner mode, because there's plenty of wily coyotes ready to take advantage.
TAURUS: This combustible and incendiary week expresses itself in no uncertain terms, causing reactions that could derail carefully laid plans like a dynamited train track. Problems are best thought through in solitude and addressed when feelings settle. Use midweek Taurus moon to fine-tune a launch for something to take off by the weekend.
GEMINI: Mars, Sun and late week Gemini new moon opening the portal to your astrological year bring a rush of hopes, dreams and aspirations for the future. Don't talk all their energy away. Spend alone time thinking things through – and more importantly, writing them down so you can check on their progress next year.
CANCER: This week's mental heat could have you touchy-feelies dreaming of getaways. Throwaways might be the better option, as in clearing out old files, backlogs, your closets and home of stuff you've had so long you don't see it anymore. Best current strategy? That Cancerian talent for saying the right thing at the right time.
LEO: Though this week kicks off a period of vivid socialising, your majesty's well advised to include regular sessions of seclusion to regroup and cool down, essential before engaging with arc-ups over money or responsibilities. Spiritual muscle can be developed by not fighting; when you stop resisting, solutions start appearing.
VIRGO: Your grounded, practical approach wins points with this week's Mercurial vibe. And while you might be right, is it really worth the stress involved in arguing a point? Agree to disagree. You don't have to explain yourself. If you're confident in having the relevant facts and correct information, a swift decision could work for you.
LIBRA: This week's Gemini climate asks how to break the spell of duality and polarity. And who, if not you wizards of accommodation and compromise, are likely to come up with new solutions that combine the best of past experience with the most visionary future possibilities? A clue: be inclusive, not either/or.
SCORPIO: This week of extremes, ricocheting from burning outbursts to deep freeze treatment, harsh criticism to soft sell, calls for reasonable, measured, courteous self control – because trying to control anyone else will be like wrestling ferrets in a sack. While others erupt and emote, focus your laser concentration on priorities. Work alone if necessary.
SAGITTARIUS: As Geminian influences bring newbies into your orbit, this year's first period free of retrograde personal planets could set you off like a fizzing Berocca. Just remember that your word is your wand. Or sword, as the case may be, and that what you say this week is what you'll get – literally.
CAPRICORN: Your perceptions are acute but if others resist, don't let differences escalate into World War III. Be open to new avenues of problem-solving, which may not focus on problems at all, only on a range of desired outcomes. Or simply avoid volatile situations completely and do something lovely for yourself that makes you happy.
*AQUARIUS: This week's busy, buzzing, chatty and affable surface has manipulative undercurrents that can change direction in a nanosecond. Strategies? Don't go down the gossip road. Or neglect to make the most of your ruling planet's eight-year stay in the sign of fresh ideas and new methods before it moves on.
*PISCES: Consider the consequences of what you do, say and commit to during this potentially tempestuous week, because a charitable impulse, even though well-meant, may be misguided, misunderstood or cause confusion and ill feeling. Avoid this, and you're in for a stimulating, challenging period of second chances at realising a dream.