Horoscopes: 20-26 July

Check the destination – whether a holiday or visit. If, for example, you think Leeds Castle is in Leeds, look it up. It’s 240 miles south, in Kent. A romantic notion could so get a grip on you that you don’t plan the route properly. But if you set the satnav correctly (or use a map), a splendid experience is assured.

While someone in your world is keen to revisit an old dispute (try ignoring them), this shouldn’t cloud a wonderful opportunity to have a get-together with loved ones and make the most of this glorious summer. Business and financial affairs are also blessed, especially for the self-employed – indeed, it is likely you can be more ambitious than first thought.

There’s tremendous scope this week to enlarge your ‘audience’, whoever they may be – possibly clients, colleagues or acquaintances – and win them over through an appeal to the imagination. The only risk is that in tapping other people’s dreams, you overstate what can be delivered. People just adore a promise. It’s best to inform them of any downside.

Such is your readiness to give someone the benefit of the doubt, you may not immediately spot an attempt to beguile you with a heap of nonsense. But with ruler Venus in forensic Virgo, you’ll be alert to any inaccuracy or falsehood – so listen to your wits, not to the blandishments. Something under wraps could now produce a windfall.

You may have wondered lately whether ‘lucky’ Jupiter, still in your sign, will ever deliver. A situation is building in your favour, to do with business, a campaign or any activity withinan organisation. An opportunity to build or expand is presented and you’re advised to grab it with both hands. This phase encourages you to exceed personal expectations.

To make the most of the cosmic weather, accept any invitation that brings you into contact with fellow travellers or people who understand your work. People are assessing you as a person – CVs are the ‘official’ version of life, but how you behave in person is what really counts now. A career advance is possible because your face fits.

The clue to finding your ‘exit plan’ from whatever situation you feel stuck in lies in your associations, such as a group or club. Ruler Saturn in your sign may make you feel that you’re alone, but you are not – out there, people on your wave-length are to be found and can offer support. Seek and you’ll find.

Do check the price tags! And if an email arrives from your bank, perhaps check first that it’s for real – actually call your bank to confirm. It could be spam with a virus. Best of all, just think twice about buying anything much unless the terms and conditions are crystal clear. Apart from that, career omens are simply gorgeous. A status hike is possible.

Sensitive at the best of times, you’re now virtually a walking X-ray machine, picking up on all sorts of concealed energies in other people. This suits any situation where you’re gently trying to find the truth. The peril is that in ‘knowing’ so much, you too readily compromise or yield. Don’t be a pushover: stick to your guns if you’re certain.

Happier times approach, especially in work or in health matters. What you’re doing is investing more time in getting to know key people (or even a lover) and discovering all those shortcuts to goodwill that can arise if you’re liked and trusted. In another sense, work produces a cash bonus, in part because of your expanding professional or social circle.

Given your raised need for independence, thanks to wild Uranus in early Taurus, it’s possible a group you’re linked to has confused this desire with your readiness to work more in your own time – in other words, to do more than your fair share. That’s not on. Gently remind certain people that you have a life outside the professional realm.

All may not be entirely clear in your career world, with one or two misunderstandings to clear up. Why are people so obtuse at times? But much better developments are due in the home sphere, especially if you’ve embarked on repairs or emotional bridge-building. Or if you work from home, expect a significant chance to make progress.