Stars in your eyes

Will it be the appearance of a tall, dark stranger, or will it be a long journey abroad? Are you about to come into money, or become unlucky in love? Julia Stuart gazes into the stars and discovers what the astrologers are predicting for 2003

CAPRICORN 22 December to 19 January

Conflict between Jupiter and Neptune will mess up financial deals in February and June, according to Harpers & Queen. Au contraire, says Prima, which predicts that in midsummer, planets will highlight your wealth. Marie Claire's soothsayer, meanwhile, sees your ambition and shrewdness creating an unusual enterprise between March and June, in which you meet a public need in business, communication, or, weirdly, the decorative arts.

Roll on spring, as Prima predicts a sexy liaison in April. Marie Claire has visions of a sensuous, loyal lover who is secure, elegant, strong and intelligent (many readers, however, might say that such a man – or woman? – doesn't exist).

Cosmo, meanwhile, claims that your sex-fest will start a month earlier, in March. Singletons can expect a spectacular sex partner in June. Maybe they should all agree to disagree, as, according to the www.astrology.com, you'll have to wait until after 29 July, when the doors are open for two months of intense sexual energy. This heightened body-awareness helps you to solve a health, fitness or dietary issue after 24 August. Sounds exhausting.

AQUARIUS 20 January to 18 February

Between March and September, you can spin an oddball idea into a moneymaking enterprise, according to Marie Claire. This is also a year of flexibility – arranging your own schedule and being in new settings. You'll no doubt be happy to know that Venus smiles on a special purchase, such as a dream home or holiday. Not only that, but you'll stop living in your head and experience true love and erotic pleasure.

Attached Aquarians may want to make sure their video-store membership is up to date, as the Cosmo telescope is picking up a steamy movie in October that leads to a blockbuster night in your bedroom.

A recurring problem will fade early in the year, as you're made to become more down-to-earth to ensure that a special relationship flourishes, claims Harpers & Queen. You'll also become less concerned with how you look; surely a first for many readers.

The website www.astrology.com also sees love in the air, with an irresistible force of it blowing in on 3 April. It is destined to go horribly wrong, however, when, around 3 May, it's clear that you've overstepped the boundaries. If you're still a couple by 22 May, consider yourself lucky.

PISCES 19 February to 19 March

Demands of home and family will persist, and you will have to concentrate on someone close, Harpers & Queen predicts. Don't let short-term crises rob you of your right to show yourself off as a free and original thinker, which, presumably, includes not buying Harpers anymore.

According to Prima's entrail-gazer, with Mars surging through your own sign from mid-June, you've nothing to lose at work except your wits. Zealous spirit is your defining characteristic, but avoid putting people's backs up by thinking that you have all the answers.

Cosmo has its telescope pointed at more earthly matters. Singletons should make a move on the gorgeous man they meet twice in May. In August, there will be a fun first-time experience with lasting lusty memories. Predictably, www.astrology.com sees high-octane romance at a different time of the year, namely April, when you'll be head-over-heels in infatuation's whirlpool, which frankly sounds a little uncomfortable.

Cosmo sees finances getting rocky mid-year, and suggests you seek advice before moving cash. Prima urges taking a sneaky look in a diary or private correspondence, which may be to your financial benefit.

ARIES 20 March to 19 April

Around your birthday, a long-delayed commitment will finally be secured, and you'll have the backing to create an enterprise, according to Marie Claire. This may be a project you head up, a far-flung venture, or taking on new responsibility. Cosmo advises you to guard against your notorious shopping splurges by keeping a reserve of rainy-day funds in your bank account to ease cashflow.

Prima suggests that "slowly does it" in spring, after which a bountiful wallet means that you can enjoy more thrills and spills for the rest of the year. 2003 will be a year of excitement, pleasure and sensuality for you, claims Marie Claire's pundit. The universe is promising you someone to genuinely care for you.

According to www.astrology.com, your love is rich and complete by 3 April. Together, you rule this world. However, between 21 and 26 April, obsessions might obscure the real personalities involved.

Prima sees you finding love by the end of May. By late August, Jupiter's link with Venus brings dreamy summer togetherness, laced with chaotic feelings. For most of October, you're on a high and romance is mysteriously contagious.

TAURUS 20 April to 20 May

According to the insightful hags standing over the cauldron at Harpers, career, cashflow or status will dominate the start and end of 2003. Prima advises that you nuzzle up to someone with taste, class and beauty at the end of September, and their financial wizardry will reveal how you can improve your expenditure.

According to Marie Claire, you won't feel as if you're handling everything alone any more. Your career will rocket out of the black hole it's been stuck in, then the universe will send you a project that fills your creative soul. In late winter, you'll put down financial roots that bloom into a public-oriented enterprise by late summer.

According to www.astrology.com, from late June through to mid-July, earth and water influences are friendly and strong. The universe is taking care of you. But after 24 July, you may feel more like a victim than a beneficiary. Extremes offend your mild sensibilities.

Single Taureans will have to wait until the end of the year for some serious love action, according to Cosmo. A fabulous first date in November has you hearing wedding bells, but don't rush your Romeo to Moss Bros as he'll probably run away.

GEMINI 21 May to 20 June

According to Harpers' stargazers, new-found confidence will motivate you to chose unconventional means to attract the attention of those who could help to secure your long-term future. Make the most of having Uranus at the high point of your chart, as one does, but be daring, not foolhardy. In the second half of 2003, Saturn will encourage thrift and cautious wheeler- dealing, but, weirdly, Jupiter urges you to spend more than usual on your domestic set-up. Competent handling of any conflict will boost a special relationship.

Marie Claire predicts that between the end of January and early April, you'll become an entrepreneur and this power will bring money. It might not be around for long, however; Prima warns that Venus seduces you into spendthrift ways during this time.

Romance is on the cards, or at least those at Marie Claire, which sees permanence in love. Prima must have them upside down, as they foresee you spending summer unsure if you want to end, change or liven up a static relationship. Cosmo, meanwhile, sees explosive results in February when a male friend tells single Geminis how he feels. The lucky girls will also be pursued by a businessman in July.

CANCER 21 June to 22 July

Keep your secrets to yourself this spring; that way, when others start spouting about their own, by mid-May you'll make a financial killing, says Prima's fortune-teller. Marie Claire also sees some cash coming your way, but you'll have to wait until autumn. Not so, says Cosmo. You will worry about a recent investment and you won't see the pay-off for a while, so don't even think about it.

If, early in the year, a relationship leaves you disillusioned, it's more to do with retrograde Mercury than your feelings, claims Harpers & Queen. Tender feelings may be exposed to winter's spreading chill, is the unfathomable poetic warning offered by www.astrology.com. But it is swiftly followed by talk of "sensory fireworks of a new infatuation that drowns out the steady music of commitment". Right. Passion will be a rather destabilising force after 29 July.

Cosmopolitan warns the unattached to lock the door when looking for action in taboo places. Those of you who are attached, however, will just have to make do with reading out a fantasy from your diary in December, and ensure that your partner turns it into a reality.

LEO 23 July to 22 August

Those looking for an excuse for not achieving anything in 2003 can blame Uranus's dramatic move out of Aquarius in March, only to return six months later, which, according to Harpers, will make you feel that events are beyond your control. Which, curiously, is the complete opposite of what Marie Claire's clairvoyant predicts. Get ready for an incredible year, it squeals, particularly between January and the end of August when you'll have the magic touch. You'll be vibrant and radiate authority. In spring, your skill for handling people serves you well in a profitable business venture.

But it's not all rosy, according to Prima. A fabulous fling could turn into a flop in early August. Marie Claire, meanwhile, sees you with someone who adores you between January and June, with whom you'll explore a dynamic friendship filled with sensuality, intellectual sharing and a zest for travelling. You'll make a commitment with your heart in the second half of the year.

According to www.astrology.com, from early spring to mid-autumn your upfront nature will feel the effect of subtle cosmic undercurrents, luring complex partners who might otherwise consider you emotionally light-hearted.

VIRGO 23 August to 22 September

There are things and people that aren't explainable this January, comes the dark warning from Prima. After 23 January, place your trust in someone, otherwise you could lose their respect. Jupiter's persuasive influence this year gives you the confidence, voice and determination to get going on a career project or creative speculation. However, colleagues might think you're acting holier than thou.

Marie Claire's fortune-teller also sees creativity among the stars. Timing is perfect to start a visionary project that utilises your crystal-clear thinking, communication skills and artist's eye. You'll put an unexplored idea to practical use and, as a special present, you'll regain the sense of fun that you've been missing. However, www. astrology.com can't see any of it happening in the spring, when ambitions step aside as fear masquerading as convenience enters your life. Your year will improve dramatically, however, after the summer solstice.

You and your lover will act out fantasies – including sex in exotic locales, predicts Marie Claire. Cosmo, with its knowledge of the goings-on in your boudoir, sees February as the month for singletons, when a fling will cure the winter blues.

LIBRA 23 September to 22 October

This year, you'll leap into a venture that's expansive and unique, which uses both your business and artistic intelligence, says Marie Claire. By early spring, your magic way with words will be a passport to greater financial security. High summer brings a whole new audience to applaud your work. You're about to change forever how the world sees you.

Not so, says Cosmo. Neptune muddles your usually sound judgement and diverts your focus, it warns, while Harpers sees emotional and financial problems created by Mercury's erratic behaviour at the beginning of the year.

Romantic thoughts clog your head for the first six months, and you're hooked on analysing love's conundrums, predicts Prima. Why does a loved one insist on eating sausages when you've bought them organic yogurt, it ponders. But never fear. According to www.astrology.com, in spring you'll move towards romantic bliss. In late March and early April, relationships blossom like the flowers in your neighbourhood (the soothsayer has clearly never visited south London). However, if there's a big age gap between partners, things could get hairy around 28 August.

SCORPIO 23 October to 21 November

You're in for a reassessment of your deepest feelings in mid-May, due to a lunar eclipse that will have a huge impact on a partnership or your finances, says Harpers. And you won't realise its true significance until two further eclipses occur in November. Some things will never be the same again, it warns ominously.

Marie Claire sees you way ahead in carving out a lifestyle that gives you expanded autonomy and financial rewards. Not so, according to www.astronomy.com, which claims that after 22 January, you will be suddenly filled with ideas that you lack the ability or permission to carry out. By the end of June, your volatile nature is soothed by fellow-travellers in the same boat, and deadened senses come alive. Your mastery over others is amusing at first, but it becomes intimidating in July's last week.

Mars's influence is going to make a relationship closer and sexier in the last six months of the year, says Prima, but by mid-August, you're plotting how to escape a complicated entanglement. Cosmo, on the other hand, sees you in a romantic rut. You think that every man will repeat the mistakes of the one before him. Singles will go on a date with a man they adore in March.

SAGITTARIUS 22 November to 21 December

Big chunks of your life will be reshaped, as three powerful planets – Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter – change signs, says Harpers. The effects on your family, finances, property or career could be huge. Marie Claire sees this lucky year bringing you serendipitous riches. But unless you figure out how to balance business and pleasure, you're going to burn out before enjoying the benefits of your hard work, foresees Cosmo.

By the end of August, according to Marie Claire, you'll combine your passionate energy with a splendid lover who thinks on the same grand scale as you. This will be an adventure in sexuality and living extravagantly.

Single women are warned by Cosmo that the man they meet in October will give the wrong impression – he's worth a second chance. Those already attached can expect sweet September nights while the two of you plan your future.

However, by the end of October, says Prima, someone is exhausted by your charm, but they're still craving more. But, according to www.astrology.com, October passes with delicate intensity, and an incident in early November opens you to an outpouring of true love.