BORN THIS WEEK Dita Von Tease (September 28, 1972)
One of the beautiful people born on this day, along with Brigitte Bardot, Marcello Mastrianni and Quinn Cox, is Dita Von Tease, née Heather Renée Sweet, her real and stage names befitting her sign. Like Goop-y Gwyneth Paltrow, Marie Osmond, June Allyson, Julie Andrews, Angela Lansbury and Olivia Newton-John, Libra women project a goody-goody image they often try to transcend. Unlike the earthly feminine sign of Taurus, also ruled by Venus, named for the goddess of love, beauty and charms, Libra is a masculine air sign, and an abstract one—the scales being the only inanimate zodiac symbol—so those Venusian qualities aren’t tangible but rather conceptual. Von Tease has made a career out of eroticizing herself in the minds of others, casting her charms, like spells, over audiences, elevating the bawdy medium of burlesque to a high-art form.
ARIES
Relationships pose challenges but present chances for growth. Saturn conjunct Venus combines the discipline of the former with the pleasure principle of the latter. Master-servant inversions aside, you are realizing that ground rules in love make for a happier twosome. The single among you may be going for, or playing the role of, older wo/man. Regarding your singular public image, you are determined to project a highly honed, organized, reserved and somewhat stoical persona. You catch more flies with reticence than you do with exuberance. Overenthusiasm in others rightly raises your suspicion, too.
TAURUS
You seek soul asylum, feeling more vulnerable than usual. Kicking off with a Grand Trine of the Moon, Pluto and Jupiter in Taurus, the week should see you bolstering defenses, nurturing health with rest and monkish ways, as well as activating your psychic shield against would-be detractors. Some Taureans enter actual rehab, while most find the need to secure a home base that better sustains their creative efforts. Where you once felt prized as the last holdout, edgy lifestylist, you now gain points for being what you might consider boring. Yet you open yourself to a brave new world of those who’d disagree.
GEMINI
Of all the signs, we could have the most concern for you now. Mercury entering Libra lends an air of oblivion about you. As if your thoughts are so overwhelming, you’d just as soon not think them. You’re purposefully bubble-headed, seeking to protect your fragile nervous system from the effects of musing on life’s big pictures. But by Thursday, when Sun and Mercury oppose Uranus, you feel the pull to identify with a greater collective, initiating positive reform in social practices. Seeking company for a common, meaningful purpose with others is so much better than going to gatherings to blitz out your brain.
CANCER
The time to stop being someone’s lad- or lady-in-waiting has come. Enough of your threatening to be a self-starter; now marks a turning point when you either do it or shut it. A Grand Trine of ruler Moon with Pluto and Jupiter urges you to embrace the truth about money: though it isn’t the root of all evil, the love of it is. Having done things solely for dosh has left you feeling soul-y depleted. And friends who are bosses, or vice versa, are taking advantage of your personal connection. With friends like these…well, you know the rest. Take a leap of faith, even if it means jumping ship. The world will catch you.
LEO
Expect a week of learning and honing talents via exposure to external, and some exotic, influences. With the New Libran Moon on Tuesday, adventure is in the air, whetting your Leo appetite, which has recently been lagging. You will embark on a vision quest that refocuses intellectual drives in the coming year. Quick: What is it you most want to learn? Quick! Go on gut instinct. Happiness stems from feeding a curiosity with its roots in your childhood. Likely, it has to do with history of genealogy or mythology or all of the above. A Venus-Saturn conjunct suggests a happy reunion with family sages or mentors.
VIRGO
Though you suffer from self-analysis fatigue, surfacing subconscious rumblings scream for examination. Here’s a clue to speed your couch trip: Unrest stems from past burned bridges and untaken roads. The upshot is: It’s not too late. With ruler Mercury leaving Virgo and a nearly New Moon behind, you must forgive yourself (for everything) to avoid repeating self-defeating behavior. Mars in your non-material sector is forging new solo ventures. You simply have to be okay with not knowing, yet, what they are. Trust that they involve travel. Jupiter’s trine with Mars is already assembling your itinerary.
LIBRA
It takes two, baby. Teaming with people on projects seems to be the sole way to realize them. And with Saturn and Venus tangoing through your sign, you also get some life lessons along the way. Be on guard, especially, against co-dependence—a Libra pitfall. Focus, rather, on giving and taking equally from bonds. The Sun and Mercury, also in Libra, oppose Uranus. This means that projects you spearheaded, amid pooh-poohing, are now being valued by people who wish to profit from them. You wanted others to be on board. But now you’re not so sure. Retain ultimate control and (mostly) feign inclusion.
SCORPIO
Exacting an agenda isn’t easy at present. Ironic, since you’re suffused with all forward intention. Hopefully, reading this, you’ll cool your jets for a spell, remaining ultraflexible in the face of, mainly, putting out a lot of fires. Prepare to tweak deadlines and change players to reach your aims. Ruler Pluto in Grand Trine with Jupiter and Mars makes you a benevolent dictator. You expect nothing from others that you yourself won’t give. So, now, those who can’t cope with flux won’t make the cut in the creative/career dream-team you’re building. At this very juncture, you want willing minions not their opinions.
SAGITTARIUS
Mercury now in Libra provides the facility to function within large-group dynamics, especially easing difficulties with communication. Ciao panic over public speaking! This move fosters an overall relaxed attitude that is tailor-made to realizing short-term goals. Technical snafus and mechanical mishegas work themselves out as you learn more about what makes physical machinery tick. Indeed, you experience a childlike enthusiasm for modern day innovations. Especially when faced with young fuddy-duddies intent on maintaining the status quo. You ride roughshod over any such drippy, dogmatic drags.
CAPRICORN
You keep getting flashbacks. Not for nostalgia sake, but for the purpose of catharsis. With the Sun and Mercury opposing Uranus in your emotional sector, shocking events from your past are finally being processed. This releases emotional blocks, which will eventually lead to a spiritual rebirth of sorts, in November. Your personal experience has universal resonance, and you benefit, even financially, from sharing feelings surrounding the string of, if mild, traumas affectionately known as your childhood. Pluto in Capricorn, trine Jupiter, says you heal through creative expression, by finding humor even in horror.
AQUARIUS
We like to say, “Diversity is the mother of compassion.”™ And with Uranus opposing the Sun and Mercury you are compelled to embrace cultural influences outside your, lately rarified, sphere. Taking a stand for the marginalized may rankle those clinging to moldering traditions, but convention is feeling strangely like incarceration. Besides, where you once felt a need to kowtow to those you earmarked as patrons, you now risk the severing of such support for the freedom of your own ideas and the social liberty of others. In true Aquarian spirit, you must put the common good ahead of personal gain.
PISCES
Dear Pisces, we have to talk. As Pluto powers Chiron in your sign, we feel it’s high time to say that you must stop feeling sorry for certain people. We know you’re “empathetic,” but here’s the problem: There is nothing wrong, but everything right about the new moves friends are busting; so your poor-them attitude isn’t fitting, it’s condescending. Right along with that tone in your voice. So instead of “worrying” about others, realize you’re projecting your own fears of failure onto them. And about those fears: you wouldn’t have them if you practiced self-sufficiency instead searching for caretakers.
