Horoscope, Tuesday, April 3, 2012

The moon moves out of Leo’s hurly-burly vaudeville show and into Virgo’s wholesome goodness. As if to punctuate the progress, Mercury decides to stop messing around and fly straight for a while. Take measures to improve and educate yourself. You’ll find the process most edifying, amazing and uplifting.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). You have a wide range of emotions and do not just operate on one note. Anyone who thinks you should always be cheerful is being unreasonable. Expressing your true feelings makes you credible and trustworthy.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). There’s something specific you do in your work that sets you apart from the crowd. You’ll have the chance to share with others how you came to do it that way. The information is more valuable than you know.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You can tell that you’re focusing externally when little things get in your way that really shouldn’t make a difference to you at all. Turn your focus inward. Being internally centered will smooth your path.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). People can be as territorial as animals and even more so under today’s aspects. You’ll recognize people’s zones and be careful not to enter into them unless you’re doing so for a particular reason.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You wouldn’t trust anyone who sounded sweet all the time. Remind yourself of this when you feel like expressing your edgy attitude. It’s perfectly natural, and it might even render you more sincere.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). As you lift a hand to help another, you are lifting your own spirits, whether or not you thought they needed lifting. Why put a limit on how good you should feel?

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Seize the opportunity for stillness and peace wherever you can get it. A calm body and mind will give you the sense that you can make it through the wilderness of today’s busy agenda.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You’ll have a physical sense of yourself that doesn’t entirely match up to your whole identity. Like Alice said to the caterpillar in Wonderland, “I can’t explain myself … because I am not myself, you see.”

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You are sincere and straightforward, and you see no harm in shooting from the hip. You have nothing to hide, so what could go wrong? You’d like others to do the same, as that would certainly keep things simple.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Like an audience trying to clap in time with a shaky rhythm section, a pattern you just established may quickly fall apart. Don’t give up. Tonight, you’ll have another chance to get into a solid groove.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). No one said that expanding your awareness was going to be easy. There’s a certain amount of discipline that will be necessary, and you’ll have to let go of the way you used to see things. You’re ready in every way.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Try not to be idealistic. Learn the truth. Your happiness depends on having an accurate understanding of what others need and want. Otherwise, you’ll be in danger of becoming disillusioned.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (May 3). Your birthday is like the wave of a magic wand. The first gift: You’ll finally make time for the things you love but have rarely been able to do until now. The next 10 weeks ramp up your professional scene. July and September are good for your financial bottom line. The most romantic months are May, June and December. Pisces and Leo people adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 7, 10, 30, 26 and 2.

ASTROLOGICAL QUESTIONS: “Do you have any tips for dealing with my Cancer father-in-law? He’s very demanding of my attention lately, and I resent the way he bosses me around, commandeers the conversation and is generally needy. I have three children to care for, and that’s nearly impossible to do when he’s around, because he acts like a child himself. My husband often is not around to manage him, and it all falls on me. I’m a Virgo.”

Perhaps your father-in-law is going through something difficult in his life and his acting out is a way of getting the care and attention he needs. He may be sick, lonely or afraid of growing old. Even though you are tapped to the max, this man is your family, and a conscientious Virgo is not going to feel good about herself knowing she turned away her husband’s father. So take a breather, get your bearings, and then go back to the situation with an open heart. When your sensitive Cancer senses your reluctance to tend to him, it only makes him behave worse. Recognize his need, and help him out with a glad heart.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: Tapping into his natal Venus and Mars in Aquarius, Alec Baldwin spouts eccentric wisdom as the ambitious network executive Jack Donaghy on the hit television show “30 Rock.” Baldwin’s real-life ambitions are as lofty as Donaghy’s, if not more so. The Aries actor has said, “I wanted to be president of the United States. I really did. The older I get the less preposterous the idea seems.”

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