Madame Clairevoyant: Horoscopes for the Week of May 12–18

On Wednesday afternoon, after spending more than two months in Aries, Mercury finally enters Taurus. When the communication planet crosses into the strong and grounded sign of the bull, it’s a perfect time to get clear with yourself about your own values and to refuse to be swayed. Taurus can, on occasion, encourage unhelpfully rigid thinking. But at its best, it empowers you to stand firm in your principles, even in the face of opposition. Instead of getting drawn into endless debates (it’s unlikely anyone will change their mind at this particular moment), focus on finding ways to act on what you believe. In the meantime, find the weekly horoscope for each zodiac sign, below.

More than ever, you’ve been yearning for a life that feels meaningful. You want to play an important role in your community, to change the world around you, to be part of something bigger than yourself. Your regular activities don’t seem like enough. You want something more. Still, it’s the small stuff — your ordinary interactions with others, your daily routines — that’s most likely to offer the meaning you’re searching for this week. Don’t worry about the big picture right now. Focus on making yourself useful in whatever small ways you can, and trust that the rest will follow.

There’s a lot about your life that you’ve been questioning lately. Emotions you feared would torment you forever have shifted; others you hoped would last forever have receded. You’ve learned that nothing is as stable as you’d prefer, but you’ve also proved to yourself that you’re more capable of change than you sometimes imagine. Uncertainty may be unpleasant, but it’s a necessary part of the process. Now, at last, you’re emerging into a period of clarity and confidence; all that soul-searching may finally bear fruit. You’ve worked hard to get here, so enjoy it.

You do a lot of your best thinking out loud. Your intellect shines brightest in conversation when you’ve got people to dream with, argue with, bounce your weirdest ideas off of. There are times, though, when everyone else’s voices become more distracting than clarifying, and you have to think things through on your own. In the coming days, take time to reflect on your plans and ideas before getting anybody else involved. Other people’s opinions can be invaluable, but spend time getting clear about what you think and want before opening up to feedback.

This is a good time for you to think about your long-term goals. Not just the things you want to achieve or the milestones you’re hoping to reach but also the kind of person you want to be. How will you spend your time, what values will motivate you, what ideals will shape your life? All this might seem abstract, but this week you’ll find that the big questions keep showing up in your daily life. You might as well engage with them, from the mundane tasks to the major dramas.

Over time, it’s easy to be pulled away from what matters to you. Work gets hectic, you have a seemingly endless list of tasks to get through at home, and following the news feels like a full-time job in itself. You’re left with hardly a moment to stop, catch your breath, and make sure you’re on the right track. Be a bit more stubborn about taking time for yourself and saying no to work you aren’t able or willing to take on so that you have the energy to say yes to the things you actually want to do.

In your social circle, you end up taking on a lot of the practical work of making plans happen. Anybody can have a fun idea, but you’re often the one to book the tickets or buy the supplies or tell your friends where and when to show up. Sure, you do all this because you find it satisfying, but you also worry that nobody else would step up if you didn’t. Let yourself take a break from managing all the details so that you can dream or have fun or simply relax. Others can take a turn keeping everything running.

You’re keenly aware of the nonverbal communication happening all around you. As much as you wish people simply said what they mean in words, the reality is that they often express it in other ways: hints, gestures, glances. It’s useful to pay attention, but this week be careful not to try to read minds. It isn’t your job, and you’re likely to misinterpret cues, read too much into situations, or misunderstand people. Don’t ignore the unspoken signals, but when in doubt, don’t be afraid to ask.

While you aren’t one to be contrary just for its own sake, you’re not afraid to take up provocative and unpopular positions. Your inner compass is reliable and true; even when it points in a strange or unexpected direction, you know that it can be trusted. Now, though, you’ll benefit from making an extra effort to listen to the opinions of the people around you. You don’t need them to make your decisions for you, and you may still end up doing the opposite of what everybody else thinks you should do, but outside perspectives will be essential.

Maybe you’ve felt uninspired lately, but that’s likely to change soon. Your imagination is soaring; you’ve got big ideas; you’re motivated to take risks, to live boldly and creatively, to change the world. Just be careful not to get so caught up in the big picture that you let significant details slip. No matter how grand your ambitions, it’s still important to tend to the work of daily life, even if it can be boring. Making small, consistent changes right now will have outsize positive effects on your life in the future.

You recognize that it’s often necessary to play nice with others, to soften your criticisms, water down your complex ideas, to express yourself more tactfully than forcefully. This doesn’t mean you’re weak or unprincipled, just strategic. This week, though, it may end up being more effective to simply say what you really mean — no dancing around the issue, no holding back. Instead of trying to get everyone to agree with you (some people will never be persuaded) focus on expressing yourself honestly, courageously, clearly. There are risks in speaking your mind, of course, but it can be rewarding, too.

You understand better than most that the conventional ways of doing things aren’t always best. If you’re brave enough, you’ll often get better results by daring to experiment, to try out new strategies, to think outside the box. That said, the traditional methods may be perfectly effective and you only create unnecessary work by trying to start from scratch. Don’t make things harder for yourself than they need to be. If you rely on the tools that have been working for you, you can save your energy for those problems that require a creative solution.

When you’re angry or hurt, you don’t always speak up right away. Maybe the timing doesn’t seem right, maybe you need to process your feelings first, or you can’t find the right words. It’s good not to rush into saying something you might regret, but if you let too much time pass, there’s the risk that your emotions fester, become resentment. If there’s something you’ve been bottling up, try to let it out this week. You don’t need to express yourself perfectly or wait for an ideal opportunity that may never come. Speaking openly and honestly is enough.

Read the weekly horoscopes for the week of May 5. The weekly horoscopes for the week of May 19 will be online next Sunday.

Buy Claire Comstock-Gay’s book, Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars, here.