April is a complicated month. And everything is a warm-up for, or a pointer to, this event. The Sun-Venus occultation is one of those heave-ho moments where everything in the world shifts. Think of it this way. As Venus passes across the disk of the Sun, it works like a condensing lens that gathers megavolts of the Sun's energy and focuses it through the experience, the expression and the idea of Venus.

What we saw with the gay marriage movement being born earlier this year is just the beginning of some kind of new, unusual and unexpected liberation movement. Because Gemini is involved, we are in a sense being given permission by the culture (that elusive beast) to think and speak about what was unthinkable and unspeakable yesterday. We are also being given permission, or taking that permission, to make our homes more liberated places. If you can't be free in your own home, then where can you be free?

That is the question of the month.

Aries (March 20-April 19)

Recent miracles notwithstanding, something is up. It appears to be getting on time to finish a project that you began a long time ago, maybe last June or so. Project may be an understatement. This is about facing deep fear and clearing someone, something, or some feeling from your home and at the same time your emotional reality. You may think it's a better idea to do this incrementally, one box or bag at a time. But would that be sending a mixed message? I think so. The astrology of the moment has one message, and that is, you must grow up. So you may as well do it your way.

Taurus (April 19-May 20)

You run the risk of chasing your tail, though it may look like you're chasing someone else. You have your own material to deal with; you don't need to invest a lot of time talking, dreaming or wishing for what might be. What will be will be, and it will be in its own time. Mainly, here is the point: if you put all your energy into adjusting external situations, you will miss the opportunity of a lifetime, or more like two or three lifetimes, to work out something deep within yourself. Astrology presents options; you get to make choices.

Gemini (May 20-June 21)

Part of maturity is dealing with money and managing resources. If you want money, it's going to take more than just your pretty face, unless you get a good job as a model. There is some worth to the idea that one will always be taken care of. Yet there are other purposes to setting about the task of achievement for material gain. One of them is finding out that it's not all that bad or evil as people may think, but the real reason is that you are in a position where, unlike so many others, you must do it with integrity. That's the real gain.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

You are going to be hanging out in a kind of blind spot for a while, but that doesn't mean you can't have a good time. By blind spot, I mean a space where everything is just a little less certain than you think it should really be. This will serve to draw you out of your Cancerian shell, out of your house, out of your mental space and out in general. That's right in the spirit of the times: out is the theme of the coming months. That works fine for you since Uranus in Pisces promises that you're in 'everywhere is home' mode like never before.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)

A definition of yourself that you've been attempting to rehash and revise for a long time has basically proven itself useless; you need to start from scratch. There continues to be a rather loud dialog between what you feel is necessary for your inner life, and what you feel you need in your outer life. The two have more in common than you may realize. However, you run the risk of being overly influenced by friends on the issue -- friends, if I may dare to say, who don't really understand who you are, even if they do happen to value your creative input. Events around the 19th should clarify all of this.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)

Your domestic environment is something of a family archaeology project. I would not be surprised if you discovered the remnants of your lost ancestral civilization under the bed. People you have never met still influence your life today in many ways. I strongly suggest you go on a hunt for all the influences of the past, and pay careful attention to what they are so that when you find a modern, current and contemporary influence, you know what you're working with. The problem with the present is that it's so unusual people barely know what they're looking at. But please don't let that intimidate you.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)

It's only fair to say that in six months you'll barely recognize your life, your values, your relationships or your sense of identity; your current reality is very much temporary. As for the coming four weeks or so, I suggest you conduct a blue-ribbon study on the relationship between sex and money in your life. Bring in the best investigators, not academic hacks. Get over the notion that if you have somehow set a price on sex, you're a prostitute. Everyone sets a price on sex; the question is what that price is. You had best find out, because it appears to be costing you a lot more than you're gaining in the long run.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)

Your feminine side is calling you. Scorpio is a bit of a strange planet because while as a water sign it is technically "feminine," being ruled by Mars does not exactly make you a precious damsel. And that not-so-precious damsel is under a bit of psychological stress; she seems to have been divided and conquered, and she seems to have figured this out a number of times. The short version is that, for the moment, people in your environment will basically contribute to your well-being, or to your odd sense that you're wrong for this world. Listen carefully and choose your messenger.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

You may not like that this is such a potent time of what we may politely call spiritual growth, but in fact it's not going to be watered down any time soon. For a very, very long time there, your life has had a strong emphasis on yourself. As these weeks and months progress, the emphasis is going to be on relationship in ways that will push you into make-or-break situations and no longer allow you to deny the undeniable. People will have to deal with your strength, and you will have to deal with the fact that people change.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)

Now that an intractable relationship situation has finally begun to budge, can you tell the story in such a way that you don't come out as the powerless one? Try it and see. Looked at this way, the prevailing lesson would seem to be that you have choices, today and every day. Part of your crisis of relationship is that you tend to view relationships through the extreme positions of being either the hunted or the hunter. But predator and prey neither break bread at the same table, nor make love in the same bed. They do other things, however.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)

I know that for a long time life has seemed like a lot of drudgery, and it's certainly beginning to get more interesting. The question is: how interesting is too interesting? A crisis that may emerge around the time of the partial solar eclipse on the 19th may threaten your security, but it is really a figment of your mind. If you change your mind, which is largely a process of seeing the obvious and responding sensibly, the crisis will work itself out over the following week or two. Till then, you may need to deal with a little less respect than you'd prefer.