Take a step back and inspect your real-life results, Taurus. Willem Witsen – ‘Still life with tulips in a jar’ {{PD}}

Dear Taurus, why are you so concerned right now with nailing down power and territory? I know you may be thinking of it in much milder terms, but really, you’re trying to stake out a claim–and there’s nothing wrong with that. The problem comes when you push too hard for some status or outcome that you don’t realize is actually unrelated to the results you seek. It’s time to pause and make a real-world assessment of the impact you’re having, because your idea of what you need to do and accomplish is somehow not aligned with the effect you want to have–and it leaves you anxious and striving, which only takes you further from your objective. What will help most? Grounding ideas in what’s wise and practical (seek advice if you need it); excavate what you’ve up ’til now ignored or denied–there’s buried treasure there; measure real-world choices against ideals and values, and reject what doesn’t match (or re-assess values for currency); and foster intuition–it can be your best, non-corporeal friend. Happy Birthday, Taurus, and good luck!

‘Le Bec de Gaz – Nuit bleue’ Henri Le Sidaner 1906 {{PD}}

The struggle this year is over empowerment, over having effective reach and influence in your life, over being allowed to shine, over status and position, but dear Taurus, does it have to be a struggle? It does, at least initially–you likely start off the year that stretches through to your next birthday feeling that others actively hold you back. You’ll come to see very quickly, though, that what you’re experiencing is really your own aggressive stance bouncing back at you–and the minute you stop seeing yourself as a victim is the minute when your creative, imaginative, and inspired gifts surface and begin to light up your world. The reality is that you become empowered, gain status, and are able to shine when you point your energy in the right direction (that is, not at anyone else!) and when you focus it on sharing that kind of magical thing you do just by being yourself. Happy Birthday, Taurus, and good luck!

Manipulated Photograph by Geoffrey Benjamin Chew Uploaded by Aboniks No Changes Made – Released under CC BY-SA 2.5

You seem determined this year, dear Taurus, to keep your focus on the future, and to bring into being some major creative project or idea you’ve long held–and you are empowered this year to do so, as long as you can find a way not to trip over yourself. It won’t be externals so much that throw obstacles in your path; things that hold you back will come from inside (even if they appear to manifest from without) and will revolve around your confidence level, and your ability to channel your energy effectively–you may be prone at this time to enjoy a victory or two and then get caught up in those, forgetting to keep moving forward. This Solar year, through to your next birthday, you need to embrace what you’ve learned from the past (rather than rejecting it, which I think feels safer to you–and that need to avoid this vital part of your experience reveals how your focus needs to be so much more intense–you already anticipate becoming distracted!) Hint: when moving forward begins to feel like a fight instead of an adventure, concentrate on the creative aspects of things. Happy Birthday, Taurus, and good luck!

Frederic Edwin Church – Rainy Season in the Tropics 1865 {{PD}}

Emotional harmony is yours this coming Solar year, dear Taurus, through to your next birthday, and for the most part that means only externals can get in your way. Obstacles will center on who holds the power to generate effective expressions of authority, and status plays a big part; you may spend a lot of time in negotiations (or even in outright power struggles) trying to sort things out–meanwhile, others who are less scrupulous and honest than you may swoop in and take over. Your featured birthday aspect, a Finger of God with base of Pluto-Vesta, apex Jupiter says it all=be clear about your priorities and highest values and make them live in any power situations you are involved with–that’s the way to expand your world and bring you almost limitless opportunity. Happy Birthday, Taurus, and good luck!

Though things may seem static, there’s actually a lot going on (and that you can do) beneath the surface, Taurus. Édouard Manet ‘In the Conservatory’ 1879 {{PD}}

You’re going to get it done, really, any minute now, aren’t you, dear Taurus? Relax; your procrastination has actually just been your own good sense talking, keeping you from wasting time and energy going in the wrong direction. Part of you is well aware that you aren’t sufficiently empowered yet to do what you want to, and another part of you knows that to move forward now, when you still lack a definitive inspirational spark, would be to blow your approach, and so the outcome. What to do until you sense that you’re ready to make your move? Become excessively clear within yourself about values and priorities–not being sure of commitments and bottom lines could freeze you in place in the midst of the action, once it begins; and deeply study, even dissect, what you consider instinct–you need to discover how much that might be a cover for denied or hidden material that’s in reality more consciously learned or chosen than it is inherent in Beingness–it has been exerting far too big an influence for far too long. One of the biggest positives you will enjoy this Solar year, through to your next birthday, is the way the material world, what arrives in your life and what goes, will carry a lot of overt messages about what you need to attend to and develop–that’s truly a helpful thing. Happy Birthday, Taurus, and good luck!

Go ahead, get out of that endless loop, Taurus. Paul Gauguin ‘The Loss of Virginity’ 1890 {{PD}}

You may feel like there’s too much talk, not enough action this coming Solar year, through to your next birthday, dear Taurus–but that’s really only a symptom of the mentality you’ve developed, which is one of delaying original efforts in an endless bout of measuring the worthiness and power potentials of ambitions and desires. You don’t want to make a move without being assured it’s going to give you the most ‘Bang’ for your buck, as they say, but that can create a Self-defeating loop wherein you don’t commit to any one or any thing because you’re perpetually keeping your options open, waiting for ‘something better’ to materialize. You won’t be able to continue this, Taurus, not if you want to get in on the opportunities that are coming this year. They are, specifically, opportunities to shine before the public/ social circle within some are you are naturally gifted at–so stop debating and weighing and start practicing your Art. Also useful: doing some definitive psychic housecleaning, and acting to resolve issues of hurt that may be impeding your progress. Happy Birthday, Taurus, and good luck!

Stuffed three dimensional fabric tea set by Catherine Jansen. “I photographed the tea set, blew up the negative to life size, made a cyanotype photogram on a piece of cloth, the stitched it together and stuffed it.” Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Your ego can get you in trouble this year, dear Taurus, and cause you to overstep your bounds. Emotional overconfidence may be the issue, or it could be that you’ll put yourself, at some point between now and your next birthday, in an environment that values swagger over actual impact. In any case, the year begins with things a little out-of-whack, but eventually actions and thinking synchronize (by being grounded in material matters and the real world), and that will help open doors for you. Opportunities will arrive, and the way to meet them is with confidence and holding the status that confers the authority you want–and that will come when you either surrender some of your insistence on uniqueness in order to fulfill ambitions in a more mundane way, or when you surrender some of your more vaunted ambition-oriented demands in order to get to your goal in a way that’s a little out of the ordinary, but right for you. It’s going to be an interesting year, Taurus; soften yourself, so that you don’t make it tougher than it has to be. Happy Birthday, and good luck!

Paul Gauguin ‘Jeunes Lutteurs’ (Young Wrestlers’) 1887 {{PD}}

Are you going to spend the entire year, through to your next birthday, wrestling with those you see as authorities, dear Taurus, or are you going this route only until you’re emotionally exhausted? Emotional matters, by the way, will dredge up a lot of ignored or denied material and communicate it–and so open the way to some serious confrontations with others, authorities or not. The key to handling it all successfully lies with knowing yourself, which requires knowing your limits, standards, and the lines you won’t cross, and being keenly aware of the extent and parameters of your empowerment–and then confidently going from there. There’s danger in the nature of your action urge this year–too impulsive, too erratic–and yet being spontaneous in response to the world may be the most effective thing in terms of gaining ground on ambitions and fulfilling desires. Have confidence, Taurus, most especially in yourself. Happy Birthday, and good luck!

{{PD}}

You may feel unduly restricted, as if you’re always having to adjust to accommodate restrictions and realities all around you, dear Taurus, and that’s true–at least for a while, and possibly through to your next birthday, the world may present you with a large number of limiting, challenging, or even repressive circumstances, and ‘denial of service’ might become a phrase you think was designed especially for you. The thing is, this is all leading somewhere; to building up a solid and bullet-proof personal power and authority, one that will open the gates to a radically altered future. Mind you, the changes in your destined direction I’m talking about here might all be in your head, or might encompass your capacity for understanding and responding skillfully, as you’re not about to give up anything you care about–in fact, this coming year you’ll be almost too involved on the emotional front, and so perhaps come across as a tad needy, as a result. Just remember, Taurus, to make the most of what you’re presented with, because you’re building your tomorrow. Happy Birthday, and good luck!

A View of the ‘Monuments of Easter Island, Rapanui’ by William Hodges 1774 {{PD}}

Whatever you think of yourself and your role, dear Taurus, this coming Solar year, through to your next birthday, the real-world intrudes and defines issues of identity and purpose. This is a good thing, destroying illusions and replacing them with boundaries, methods to build and achieve, and the kind of support needed to make your mark; all you have to do is acknowledge that barriers, structure, and sound methodologies are the way to get where you want to go. You may feel this flies in the face of your recent commitment to empower yourself through the strength and purity of the creative, but in reality it will offer you form and restraint, which will only enhance your approach and help to give your dreams a solid footing. Happy Birthday, Taurus, and good luck!