2012 Horoscope: Virgo (August 23-September 22)

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Should I get (or stay) married? Am I with the right person? Will I have a child? What's my best career move? When will I feel happy again?

"Getting my chart done was like the best therapy session of the year!"
—Pamela Madsen, fertility coach and author of bestselling book Shameless

2012 Challenges:
Money. You must learn to be better at budgeting, saving and planning. Cash could be short at moments, forcing you to draw on your reserves.

2012 Opportunities:
Adventure. Scrap that master plan and embrace spontaneity. Travel the world, start a business, go back to school.

Love & Relationships

You’ve got major sex appeal this year, thanks to passionate Mars, which is spending the first seven months of 2012 in Virgo. Normally, Mars visits a sign for just six weeks, but you’ve been hosting this red-hot planet in your sign since November 2011. Blushing virgin no more! You’re in touch with your desires and you’re not afraid to speak them aloud. Patience may be in short supply during this cycle, so notice if you veer into demanding or argumentative terrain. Just because you want things your way, doesn’t mean people will automatically bend to your will, Virgo.

Your entire approach to love is going through a long, gradual transformation, thanks to three slow-moving outer planets orbiting relationship zones of your chart. Intense Pluto is entering its fourth year in Capricorn, your fifth house of romance and play. You’re learning to lighten up a little and approach love as an in-the-moment experience, rather than an ironclad guarantee. You may also be getting well-acquainted with your own fears and subconscious blocks that prevent you from fully opening your heart. Pluto is here until 2024, so continue shedding outmoded beliefs.

On February 3rd, dreamy Neptune enters Pisces, your seventh house of committed relationships, staying until 2026. Neptune popped into Pisces for a hot second last year, from April 4-August 4. You may have gotten a sneak preview then, but if not, expect softening, compassionate Neptune to drop your defenses. You’re ready for a soulmate-level love—an enlightened kindred spirit who can meet you on the physical, emotional and spiritual planes as an equal. A tall order, perhaps, but you’ve got 12 years to cultivate this kind of oneness, either with somebody new or your current partner.

Your access point? Deep, selfless compassion. This, of course, is an ideal to strive for, Virgo—but you can begin by noticing when your judgmental side rears up, and questioning it. Ask yourself: what emotional payoff are you getting from judging another person? Although it may make you feel safe or self-protected, in the end, it only hurts you. Chances are, you’re judging others because you feel in some way personally attacked or offended by their actions. What if people’s behavior had nothing to do with you? (Hint: it never does. It’s always, always, always about them.) Start viewing life through this lens and see how it shifts your approach to relationships. You might stop worrying quite so much about what others do and think, and start focusing on your own happiness!

Meantime, irreverent Uranus will spend another six years in Aries, your eighth house of intimacy and sensuality. Some “sex-ploration” may be in order for 2012, and you might even consider an open relationship or other unconventional terms. It’s your business, Virgo. You may want to get more in touch with your desires through massage workshops, tantra or even a burlesque workshop. Check out Mama Gena’s School of Womanly Arts (www.mamagenas.com), which is a book, a curriculum, and a movement (creatrix Regena Thomashauer has coined it the “pleasure revolution”). Another book you might enjoy is Pamela Madsen’s Shameless: How I Ditched the Diet, Got Naked, Found True Pleasure…and Somehow Got Home In Time to Cook Dinner, a self-proclaimed Riverdale, NY housewife’s story of her latent sexual awakening, and how she reconciled it with her conventional life as a wife and mom.

Work & Money
Sweet freedom! You’ve been answering its call since last June, when expansive Jupiter began a yearlong visit to Taurus, your ninth house of travel, adventure and higher education. Since then, you’ve morphed from buttoned-up to bohemian, shedding your rigid rules for a more flexible approach to life. Some Virgos returned to school, traveled for business or started an entrepreneurial venture. (This year’s mantra for Real Housewives of Beverly Hill’s Camille Grammer, a Virgo: “Diamonds aren’t a girl’s best friend. Freedom is.”)

Jupiter will be in Taurus until June 11th, long enough for your Virgo nature to start getting a wee bit nervous that you don’t quite have a plan or a solid direction for your life. Don’t squander this adventuresome half-year, though! On June 11th, Jupiter will move into Gemini, your tenth house of career and structure, until June 25, 2013. You’ll snap right into high-powered “suit” mode faster than you can say “CEO.” Enjoy the barefoot days of spring until then, because you could be working for a bigger company or in a much more traditional job once Jupiter is in Gemini.

But wait—are you ready to get quite so locked in? A pair of eclipses in Gemini could overturn some of your early plans. On May 28th, a Gemini solar eclipse sweeps in with new opportunities, and possibly even a whole new career path. The energy of this will build and culminate in a Gemini lunar eclipse on November 28th. These are actually the fourth and fifth Gemini eclipses in a four-year series that began in December 2010. Since then, your career and goals have been getting a radical makeover every six months, and will continue to well into next year!

If your finances have been tight for the past few years, look to Saturn, which has been visiting Libra, your money and work house, since October 2009. Structured Saturn is teaching you to plan, budget and restrain your appetite for the finer things a bit—not that Virgos have a problem with that. Still, if your budget has been tighter than a Kardashian bodysuit, you’ll find some relief when Saturn departs Libra on October 3, 2012.

While this will lighten the pressure on your day-to-day expenses, you still need to learn how to manage your long-term finances. Revolutionary Uranus is in Aries, your eighth house of joint resources and wealth, until 2018. You may want to revamp your approach to investments, set up a will or retirement account, or even sell some property. An unexpected inheritance is possible, too. You could get involved in a business collaboration or a venture that earns you passive income, royalties and intellectual property rights.

Health & Wellness

With intense, energizing Mars in Virgo until July 3rd, you’ve got life-force energy to spare this year. All that vitality needs to be channeled, though! Otherwise, it can build up as excess energy, turning into anger, anxiety or even compulsive behavior. The easy solution—become a lean, mean exercising machine. Roll up that yoga mat for a bit, because Mars is all “yang” energy. Instead, lace up some boxing gloves, a pair of skates or your snowboarding boots. Extreme sports or something that channels your aggression will feel great. (Plus, you might just give Madonna a run for her money with the biceps you’ll develop!) Even better, you’ll feel strong and powerful, and that will be so rewarding for you, Virgo!

On June 4th, a Sagittarius lunar eclipse brings a burst of energy to your fourth house of home and family. This eclipse is the completion of a cycle that began at the November 25, 2011 Sagittarius solar eclipse, so think back to events that happened then. At this eclipse, you may decide to move, or you could have an unplanned pregnancy. (Eclipses are all about surprises!) Your relationship with a female relative, particularly a mother or daughter, could go through an important shift near this date.

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