Horoscopes: 18th–24th May

If anyone can pull off a delicate balancing act, it’s Gemini! The aim is to advance your interests – in your career, especially – but to do so without stepping on people’s toes. Only once an opportunity is presented to you should you then push for what you think you’re worth. In other words, wait to ‘catch the wave’.

The Sun enters a part of your chart, which for the next month favours an approach that keeps you below the radar, out of the gaze of snoops, or focuses on efforts to improve relationships of all kinds, through face-to-face work. This week, group efforts in which you’re involved are well-favoured as long as you restrain personal passions.

With Mars opposite your sign, you can expect a degree of opposition to your ideas or actions – Leo the lion is, of course, used to snarls! However, this kind of robust response at least indicates that people are engaged with you, and in some paradoxical way, you’ll turn their reaction into a personal advantage.

The spotlight’s on you, whatever your life situation. Who can ignore you now? In one sense, this could be to do with making progress with a health condition, if any. In another, your hard work attracts favourable attention, publicity even. And if you’re fighting for the underdog, it will be a foolish person who tries to oppose you.

At your best, you make the most of social situations and can be amazingly creative in how you persuade people to do things that they’d think twice about in normal circumstances. This is a week where your talent to people-manage comes into its own. Your eclectic, unconventional approach enables some sort of project to happen, despite earlier doubts.

A long period of prevarication on a home or family matter comes to an end as co-ruler Mars takes over the domestic sphere of life. This could be to do with finding finance to undertake refurbishments or sorting out a rift between loved ones. As there’s no time like the present – you’re advised to make progress sooner, not later.

While you really do need to be careful in your handling of certain people (given your raised readiness, metaphorically, to chop off heads), the one area for good news is financial. Efforts to improve income are blessed, especially through a business bearing your name or a project identified with you. Since you adore money (why not?) this will gladden the heart.

‘Self-exploration’ can sound self-indulgent or like navel- gazing, but one of the benefits of this process can be liberating personal insights into your sense of purpose. There’s a chance this week to put into practice some ideas which up to now may have seemed rather impracticable. The ‘new you’ is slowly emerging, and no one says this evolution has to be rushed.

This is an excellent time for negotiations, reaching lucrative agreements (with some give and take) and doing your bit to resolve disputes, even legal ones. Since Capricorn is wrongly known to be ‘inflexible’, this will delight allies as much as confound enemies. In your love life, allow spontaneity to guide you towards fun – certainly, something will pleasantly surprise you.

You don’t need much encouragement to be pushy when occasion demands. And with dynamic Mars now in your sign through to August, you can expect to make a lot of progress by initiating contacts, prodding the tardy and chasing after villains. This week, Mars urges you to enjoy yourself – go on, be a devil. Not that you need temptation.

Communication is the key to success at this time; the art of getting what you want lies in volume and tone. On your side is ruling planet Neptune; the other party will be persuaded that you really do understand them. Against you is a tendency to make too many promises – so don’t. Armed with this information, how can you fail?

The next three months are sure to be exciting and challenging in all group situations, which include companies and charities, with ruler Mars in Aquarius. This week, there’s all to play for, especially if you’re trying to bring about changes either at work or in your neighbourhood. For once, people actually welcome your ideas; progress or promotion is in the offing.