By Jonathan Cainer

This week’s magical New Moon puts us all in the mood for romance. We should remember, though, that romance and love are not invariably synonymous. Romantic ideas are simply those that extend beyond logic and common sense and allow us to dream wistfully whilst we ignore the clashes and clangs of some inconvenient, truth. This week, those clangs and clashes must compete with the grinding of gears that now emerge from Mercury, slowing to a halt before commencing yet another of its regular retrograde phases. Till that is over, none of us can be entirely sure what’s real, anyhow.

ARIES (March 21 – April 20)
It is never wise to try to be too sensible and efficient. Life itself is not sensible. And whilst there are some who might argue that nature is full of examples of efficiency, we only have to think about the Sun’s position in space, relative to that of the Earth, to see that it cannot be universally true. How efficient can it be to try to light and heat the whole of our planet from a distance of 93 million miles? Mind you, they do say, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. Make that your motto this week. Even what seems silly is not as silly as it looks.

TAURUS (April 21 – May 21)
‘What are you dreaming of? Don’t you know how far-fetched that aspiration is? Can’t you tell that you are chasing rainbows as they pass through a cloud shaped like pie in the sky? Why don’t you grow up and settle down?’ Because, one of these days, a substantial part of one of your brighter dreams is actually going to come true. Will it happen this week? Perhaps not. But you may yet set a process in motion that eventually leads you through such a time. Don’t let a passing problem distract you from a great goal.

GEMINI (May 22 – June 22)
This is your moment. Seize it. This is your opportunity. Take it. This is your challenge. Rise to it. Are you sure you really know what’s happening? Be careful. It is easy to make assumptions. All too often, we see the surface and we fail to think about what lies beneath it. We allow emotion to colour our perception. Then, we experience what we expect to experience, not what’s really there to be felt. All is well, until the truth reveals itself, as it may this week, when Mercury changes direction. Go beyond the obvious.

CANCER (June 23 – July 23)
We all know the story of the boy who cried ‘Wolf’. He may have been wrong… but at least he became famous. Nobody is even interested in the tale of the little boy or girl who didn’t cry ‘Wolf’. If they saw nothing to fear and just kept on playing happily, their lives went unnoticed. Those who seek drama, soon learn that, if you keep on making enough fuss, sooner or later you will create something to make a fuss about. Be wary, under this week’s New Moon, of a situation that seems more important than it actually is.

LEO (July 24 – August 23)
There is a difference between running a marathon and rushing to catch a bus. You may need to break into a sprint this week but you won’t have to summon deep reserves of stamina and determination and then settle in for a struggle against the odds. An important objective is within relatively easy reach. If you are looking into the distance, focusing on some more remote ambition, you may fail to see your big exciting chance when it arises. Be alert and don’t worry. You’re not being asked to do the impossible.

VIRGO (August 24 – September 23)
Alfred Hitchcock was a great master of suspense. He knew that if you want to scare an audience, you don’t need to show them something unpleasant; you simply need to suggest that it exists. People have powerful imaginations that can seize on a notion and turn it into something terrifying. A shadow here or a brief glimpse there is all they need to see. The rest takes care of itself. As Mercury changes direction this week, stop and ask yourself, on what real evidence are you now basing a worry?

LIBRA (September 24 – October 23)
It may not happen overnight, but it will happen. You know this and you ought to feel reassured. Still, though, a part of you worries. What if you’re dreaming the wrong dream? What if you’re wasting your time? You are wasting your time worrying about whether you are wasting your time! If you think you are making a mistake, you are mistaken! You have high hopes and great aspirations. To fulfil these, all you need is a lot of effort and a little luck. Just be patient and supply the effort, the rest will take care of itself.

SCORPIO (October 24 – November 22)
Little things count for a lot. Sometimes, though, they count for too much. We see in them more significance than we should. We forget that even if you add together one hundred little things, they do not automatically amount to one big thing. So we tend to multiply the little things in our mind and, in the process, we forget the value of those bigger things. By all means let a small source of inspiration inspire a big celebration this week. But do try not to turn a minor disappointment into a major cause for concern.

SAGITTARIUS (November 23 – December 21)
If you are on a wagon and you happen to fall off it, what should you do? Do you sit there in the ditch watching as the wagon rolls down the road away from you thinking, ‘Right, that’s it. I’m never getting on a wagon again as long as I live.’ Or do you say, ‘Now, I wonder what caused me to slip? If I ever get back on that wagon, how can I make sure it doesn’t happen again?’ And there is no point in telling yourself that the wagon won’t turn round and come back for you. It will, if that’s what you really want this week.

CAPRICORN (December 22 – January 20)
It is easy to be humble one moment, and arrogant the next. We all swing between such extremes. Neither is appropriate. Life’s great challenge involves finding a balancing point; managing, somehow, to be both strong yet weak, complex yet simple, brave yet afraid, determined to teach yet willing to learn. That is no easy task but when we manage it, our lives fill with great inner fulfilment and outward success. Go beyond the obvious and as you now stride further into 2015, you will enter such a realm.

AQUARIUS (January 21 – February 19)
What do you do when the wind of change is blowing? Do you batten down the hatch and retreat to a place of shelter? Or do you put on a pair of wings and hope you can be blown to a better place? If you are truly content, you won’t worry about some new development, you will trust that a benign cosmos has your best interests at heart. If you are worried, you will overreact to every slight variation. This week’s New Moon precedes Mercury’s change of direction in your sign. Don’t turn small problems into big ones.

PISCES (February 20 – March 20)
Are you happy? If so, fear not. The mood is likely to last. If not, fear even less. Soon your spirits will lift significantly. There’s a way to solve every problem you face. It involves having a little more confidence in your own creativity. Nothing in your world now has to stay as it is – unless you need it not to alter. Not only can you bring about change, you can bring about precisely the kind of change that’s needed. Don’t doubt your plan. Don’t assume that things are going wrong. Helpful new developments are assisting you.

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