Virgo Monthly Horoscope

MONTHLY OVERVIEW
Spread those gossamer wings, Virgo. With the Sun moving through Taurus, your ninth house of expansiveness and optimism, you're ready to explore this wider world, whether by reading new philosophies or spiritual ideas, taking an enriching class or actually hopping on a plane and exposing yourself to a new culture. (If you've never seen a Zambian sunset, you might just schedule that flight now…) The first three weeks of the month, you're having some serious fun, as you branch out of your normal routines and see what else this existence has to offer. Last month your focus was more insular, as you dealt with personal matters. Now you're now ready to open up the windows and let some fresh air in. You enjoy a good gamble, so why not take some risks? Ask that hottie from your French class out for a drink. Or, if you've had an enterprising idea in the works, perhaps a new business or publishing venture, now might be the time to test the waters. Lady luck is on your side.

Your outlook gets even rosier on May 9, when a solar eclipse falls in Taurus, lighting up your glass-half-full ninth house. This day could bring a sudden chance to travel or study…or maybe both. Perhaps you receive a fellowship to study writing abroad. Or you're invited to apprentice with a chef in Bangkok, as you learn about the uses of dried coriander, galangal and Kaffir lime leaves. You may just have an intense hit of perspective, as the metaphorical ceiling of your current life completely lifts. With this starry opportunity to "go big," you might find yourself casting aside your usual Virgo-type worries, e.g., Who is going to book the caterer? How is this venture going to pan out? What do I need to do to make it a smashing success? Instead of drowning in concerns, embrace the spirit of adventure. Your friends won't recognize you as you throw your overanalyzing ways out the window…and just go for it!

On May 20, the Sun moves into Gemini, your tenth house of ambition, helping you feel more grounded and ready to tackle even the most challenging professional projects, especially if they support a meteoric career ascent. Pull out that checklist and start mapping out how you're going to achieve your most cherished goals. After a month of dreaming big, you're back to your master-planning ways, so that you can turn your new ideas into a bona fide reality. Before you know it, you'll be "raising your glass," a la Pink, your Virgo sister, to celebrate as the accolades pile up.

As your professional landscape heats up, your home life is also shifting, especially on May 25, when a full moon eclipse in Sagittarius illuminates your fourth house of domesticity. This day is the grand finale of a three-year eclipse series on the Gemini/Sagittarius axis, which has served to reshape your personal and professional spheres. These change-making eclipses, which began in December 2010, attempted to help you even out your work-life balance. If you were wedded to your ambitions, you may have gotten a wake-up call when a loved one made it clear that he or she felt taken for granted. Or maybe the opposite was true: You let your own career trajectory stall out as you over-gave or over-listened to a family member or close friend. Your relationship with your mother and father was also impacted by these eclipses.

This latest eclipse could bring another change to this personal sphere, including a possible change of residence or much-needed shifts in family dynamics, e.g., you have a light-bulb moment that the weight of family matters does not rest on your shoulders alone. A key female relative or maternal figure could figure into the events at the month's end. Look back to mid-December for clues, since the Sagittarius new moon could have sparked whatever comes to fruition or closure at this month's full moon. When it comes to your personal life, adopting a philosophy of "Vive la difference!" might be just the way to glide through these shifts with ease.

LOVE & ROMANCE
When it comes to love, you might be feeling a bit mercurial this month, as part of you feels playful and free-spirited, but another part of you is looking at future plans. As much as these contradictions are confusing, this push-pull is part of your evolution, as you figure out what it is you really want from your relationship, your beloved—and especially yourself.

Besides, it's hard to think about weddings, home-buying and child-rearing when, really, you'd rather be out salsa dancing or mixing and mingling with new blood. Spicy Mars in Taurus, your ninth house of adventure and cross-cultural connections, amps up this risky-and-frisky mood. Perhaps you're attracted to someone from another culture or location, when you realize that having 24-7 learning opportunities is actually quite exciting in a relationship. Hey, who knew that a sexy accent could suddenly be an aphrodisiac…even one from Boston. (Who can forget how sexy Matt Damon was in Good Will Hunting? Or, you could end up in a long-distance fling…firing up your laptop for Skype dates, not to mention those whirlwind romantic weekends.

But…just as you're reveling in the more innocent side of amour, magnetic Venus moves into Gemini, your tenth house of long-range plans, turning your attention to the real-life details of relating, from May 9 to June 1. Sure, your honey makes your heart thump by gazing soulfully into your eyes and singing along unabashedly to Fleetwood Mac songs—and this is nothing to sneeze at—but what about more practical matters? Does your S.O. have good boundaries with, say, bosses, family members and exes? And beyond parameters, does your honey have a job? One friend met her husband-to-be when he was a struggling actor between gigs. This made her nervous, but as they became more serious, he opted for a more stable job as an architect. (They've since been blissfully married for years.) You don't necessarily need a CEO as your arm candy, but…a little ambition never hurt. Out with the limbo-loving Lotharios, in with the solid life partners. The May 21 Uranus-Pluto square, which will touch your houses of intimacy and romance, could be a day for big decisions and even changes in your love life.

On May 25, a lunar eclipse in Sagittarius, your fourth house of home and family, could usher in a pregnancy, especially if you've had some latent baby longings for a while now. Or, you might experience a sudden change in your living situation. Perhaps you and your partner decide to move in together and are offered your dream home, but you have to act fast. Or, if you've been struggling with your live-in partner, you could decide to part ways, divvying up the bookshelf and other joint belongings. If you end your current relationship, it's probably for the best. Since the moon is in happy-go-lucky Sagittarius, you will find a way to look on the bright side: Now you can finally buy your favorite brand of healthy cookies without annoying eye-rolling. Or you'll simply be able to sense the expansiveness that this new life chapter will soon open up.

MONEY & CAREER
Let's get this party started! Even at work, you're in a buoyant, can-do mode this month. No vision is too big, no plan too outlandish, Virgo. With the Sun in Taurus, your ninth house of optimism and expansion, you're in entrepreneurial mode, seeing possibilities where others may only see pitfalls. Perhaps you help mediate a conflict at work, or appeal to spiritual principles to navigate a tricky professional situation. Since your ever-active mind is hungry for knowledge, this is a perfect time to enroll in a class or to get away for a research trip (like, say, to Buenos Aires to learn about architectural conservation). However you find that metaphorical open road, you're all about the new horizons.

As you're feeling giddy—who wouldn't respond to a wave of feel-good inspiration?—a May 9 solar eclipse in Taurus could usher in an exciting opportunity, such as a coveted consulting gig, a book deal, an overseas trip for work or a leadership role in a fast-paced start-up. Whatever you've been fantasizing about during those snooze-inducing staff meetings could come to fruition. Perhaps you'll start leading wellness and nutrition retreats in Costa Rica. Or you'll finally start tap-tap-tapping away on your keyboard as you make breakthrough progress on your book. (For inspiration, may we recommend On Writing by fellow Virgo Stephen King, who is disarmingly candid about how some of his finest works were made.) If you're involved in education (as many Virgos are), you might get a plum gig, teaching what you know. Or, a mind-expanding class or workshop could blow the lid off of everything you thought you knew and believed. If you were pretty comfortable with your level of expertise in a certain field, you won't find this development jarring—on the contrary, this will be completely exciting, as you marry new and old ideas to form a completely new and vital philosophy. There's no wrong turn here.

With magnetic Venus in Gemini, your career and success house, from May 9 to June 1, this is a great month to network and rub Prada-clad shoulders with the movers and shakers. With your professional status steadily rising, you may even want to dress the part. If you feel more polished with a blowout or shined shoes, go for it. These seemingly superficial apparel choices will serve as a reminder that, hey, you do take yourself seriously, thank-you-very-much. Your sign often shies away from the limelight, but every now and then it's good to remember that you and your work are worthy of being on center stage. As the office darling, how you handle yourself now can also set a positive example for those who look up to you. So be gracious and humble, but don't forget, even for a nanosecond, that you have earned this recognition.

Your moment in the sun gets even longer with the solar shift into Gemini, your tenth house of professional recognition, on May 20. For the next four weeks, you're even steelier and more focused on your long-term vision. Yes, it's great that you like your job and do it well, but now you're all fired up to achieve your goals. Next month you'll roll up your sleeves and get down to the nitty gritty, especially when go-getter Mars enters Gemini on May 31 to stay until July 12. Until then, let yourself explore, play with ideas and experiment a little, before you get TOO serious. Low-stakes activities are the name of the game, e.g., if you're interested in acupuncture school, talk to some practitioners and do your research before making a multi-year commitment.

A female "fairy godmother" (or perhaps a nurturing male in touch with his feminine side) could bring an unexpected opportunity, one that strikes completely out of the blue, at the May 25 Sagittarius full moon eclipse. Keep an open mind—even if the timing isn't perfect, the opportunity might just be. So what if you have to overlap a job or leave one place before you would have liked? Be willing to throw caution to the wind, because this could be the grand adventure you've been hoping for all along.

HEALTH: MIND, BODY & SOUL
Get out and explore! With energizing Mars in Taurus, your ninth house of travel and wide expanses, you're revved up by a hike, kayak trip or bike ride. This is the month when fresh air and outdoor adventures really rev up your motivation to get in shape.

Your focus turns domestic at the May 25 Sagittarius lunar eclipse in your fourth house of home, family and emotional foundations. Some suppressed feelings could come rushing out of your emotional caverns, perhaps surprising you both. A pregnancy or a move is possible, or maybe a changing of the guard in a relationship with a key female relative. Don't get too comfortable with the status quo. Instead, have an important heart-to-heart about how to improve your relationship, especially if it's due to be evolved. You've both become wiser people, so let the dynamic between you reflect this.

Since the fourth house rules nurturing, you could have a moment or insight of forgiveness around your mother—for many Virgos, the mother-child relationship is notoriously difficult (just read the memoir Lucky Me by Shirley MacLaine's Virgo daughter Sachi Parker if you need to feel better about your own parental woes), but this eclipse can bring some healing insight and release of a resentment. If you need some help "getting there," read Colin Tipping's Radical Forgiveness, a primer on the spiritual laws that underlie difficult ties.