Happy people tend to make promises they won’t want to keep when the happiness has worn off. And sad people make decisions that make absolutely no sense in a better mood. Therefore, the happy shouldn’t promise, and the sad should not decide. If you can keep this from happening, it will be a successful first day of Venus in social Gemini.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Curiosity is among your most useful talents, as it will lead you to experience wonder, triumph, satisfaction and dissatisfaction. (Those last two will be equally important to a fulfilling life.)

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You’re good at uncovering the facts, hearing the facts through the fiction and giving the facts in an unbiased way. Today’s talent for truth will make you an invaluable part of a quest for justice.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You have developed some mental tricks to help you get around obstacles, avoid conflict and rise above trouble. You may not even be fully aware of exactly how you do this, but someone will notice and follow your lead today.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). None of the saints were canonized for counting other people’s sins. It just doesn’t work that way. Those who focus on the sins of others are still making sin their focus.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). It is possible to train your mind to be stronger than your emotions. You’ll seek this kind of mastery. Clearly, emotions run amok do not contribute in a positive way to what you’re trying to build in your life.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). The temptation to share prematurely will be there. Exciting things are coming together, for sure, but it’s still early. Work quietly and later your success will speak for you.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Some people are easier to be around than others, but that doesn’t make a relationship any more or less correct. An uncomfortable relationship can be the greatest teacher on earth, inspiring your highest and quickest evolution.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). From a distance, the rolling fog is mysterious, beautiful, mystical… but when you’re in the thick of it, it can be maddeningly disorienting. Seek higher mental ground. Avoid states of perplexity by rising above them.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Seeing the problems that really do exist isn’t pessimism — far from it. This is actually a form of optimism. If you didn’t think there might be something to be done about it, you wouldn’t have the guts to see it.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). The creative process is your joy. The products that come of it can bring some fleeting satisfaction as well, but it’s almost unmentionable in comparison with the great feeling that comes from being in the flow of your work.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You may not have all the skills you need to make something happen yet, but you’re getting them. Try again. Also, keep a record of your efforts so you can avoid making the same mistake twice.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). While joy feels better, sadness can be beautiful, too. It can wash over you like a wave in a moment of connection that makes you appreciate and value your life.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (April 24). It’s been a while since you saw truly serene circumstances, but this year brings several moments of profound peace and beauty. You’ll appreciate them, too, because of all the bustle and hard work represented in other moments. There will be five significant gatherings, meaningful to your group and your legacy. Libra and Sagittarius adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 14, 3, 39, 6 and 12.

PROCESSING THE PAST WITH PLUTO: The retrograde status of Pluto in Capricorn begins a five-month cycle of processing the past. There is more than one way to overcome emotional baggage.

Tip No. 2: Change the cast of characters in your friendship lineup.

If you’re hanging out with the same people you’re going to fall into the same patterns. Branch out and you’ll notice that the conversation, activities and interactions follows an entirely new path. The addition of even one new friend is enough to fully shake up the social dynamics so you’re living in the now moment instead of replaying the same dramas over and over.

Tip No. 3: Realize that feeling can be nothing more than a habit.

Those burdened by emotional baggage often fall into feeling bogged down and sad by virtue of habit. Feeling a certain way feels comfortable and becomes a vibrational set point. Neuropaths are built in the brain to lead back to that feeling for no other reason than the fact that it’s become a comfortable, familiar place to reside emotionally. Simply deciding on the feeling you would like to have instead may be enough to move you toward creating it. The more often you conjure up the new feeling, the easier it will be to do so.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: Barbara Streisand hit the big screen as a self-conscious comic beauty with a fabulous voice in the film “Funny Girl.” Talented Fanny Brice proved beauty is more than skin-deep, and for Taurus, beauty is also more than voice-deep, though this sign can work magic through their fabulous pipes. Famously elusive, Streisand is still drawn to the spotlight, with her moon in Leo, the sign of the entertainer.

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