Horoscopes

ARIES : You're always at your best at the beginning of things - years, relationships, projects - and with a panorama of new possibilities unfurling into the future like the yellow brick road, you're rearing to go and ready to leap tall buildings... No stopping you this week.

TAURUS : With Venus retrograde in Capricorn, the material world makes its presence felt in relationships. Money, comfort and security all seem more important. And they are - but not at the cost of your peace of mind. Take a good look this week at the tremendous amount you've already been given.

GEMINI : The baby year's all fresh and new, you're gung ho ready to go and this week makes it obvious that where certain things from last year are concerned, you're best off cutting your losses and moving on. But you already knew this, so what's stopping you?

CANCER : No need to hit the spin cycle because others are determined as the Terminator to move ahead. Agreeing to delete even a few outdated programs from your personal file would make them ecstatic - although you just never know when something from that collectible stash will come in handy...

LEO : Presentation's important this week, and if anyone knows how to put on a show and play the part it's your Maj. Right now even those defects and shortcomings - the ones you don't believe you have - are working for you. Though friendships, which have frayed a little lately, do need a repair job...

VIRGO : You really don't have to prove anything this week by taking on killer responsibilities. It's the new year - about quality of life, remember? Return problems to sender. Isn't this the year you promised you weren't going to do that all work and no play makes a dull Virgo thing?

LIBRA : Venus retrograde in Capricorn could turn you into the style police - but hey, there's way too much of that stuff happening already. Even the most dreary, annoying person has some unique quality or fascinating peculiarity, so try and find everyone's inner artist this week.

SCORPIO : Don't be surprised if whatever you put together this week changes, rearranges and slip-slides around: including work plans, relationships and income. But there's no need to fret when fortunebringing Jupiter just won't stop presenting you with new booty and opportunities.

SAGITTARIUS : Things are powering along of their own accord this week, so no need to push them. Let things and people come to you. They will... If you feel like taking the credit card for a walk, wait till next week when things are cheaper. Pay full price - what you were thinking?

CAPRICORN : It's January 5 and you're already contemplating the year's goals and compiling wish lists, even if you're on holidays. Capricorn Isaac Asimov wrote over 500 books - a book a week in his last year - but do you really want to be that kind of Cap? Enjoy your month in the sun.

AQUARIUS : Isaac Newton, who discovered gravity, and Louis Braille, the inventor of, yes, braille, were both born this week, which happens to be a corker for giving intangible ideas solid, practical applications in everyday reality - for making wild ideas actually work.

PISCES : There is life after the season of unreason and this is it. If you're feeling a bit of a flat Piscean pancake or suffering those low down, no enthusiasm, back-towork blues, hook up with a fun someone for a reviving rendezvous this week - and keep doing it till you feel better.