THIS WEEK, YOU'LL want to build up projects that are new, and initiate -- rather than fulminate -- where you can. Romance that ignites in the next several days will be fairly lighthearted, rather than super-serious. The anxiety and drama that accompany the full moon are off in the distance, although if you need a mental "turning point" date for a problem or project, consider the ever-useful and picturesque (and earnestly hard-working) first quarter moon on April 30.

Waxing moon in Virgo. Keep your horizons narrow and blinders on, especially Virgo, who's been processing an ongoing sense of dissatisfaction since Valentine's Day. Capricorn, on the other hand, can be a real peacemaker, especially among friends who are totally different from one another. Pisces, don't knock yourself out impressing folks who may not be paying attention.

This department got some fabulous letters last month -- thanks in part to my request for folks to put the kibosh on the love problems, but also because Mars in Aries seems to stir folks to action. Now this month we've got some real roadblocks, planetarily speaking, although you Taurus folks will find that your lives may change completely from the beginning of the month to the end.

Whoops, sweeping generalizations again. Well, here's some shorthand: the new moon comes on April 4, with the first quarter on April 11 and the full moon on April 18. You might find that the most intense week of your month comes between the first quarter and the full moon, as Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn get themselves into very close quarters in the sign of Taurus (and also in the sky, if you look up at night).

What does this means astrologically? Heavy security issues will dominate the discussion (and that's fiscal security, not emotional). These big action-oriented planets generally hover around the areas of assertiveness and aggressiveness in individual charts -- they don't signify times of particular subtlety. The last time Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn lined up in earth signs was back in the summer of 1980, when they were all in Virgo. That summer, Aquarian Ronald Reagan's campaign surged after the convention, and he basically never looked back -- people were ready to be bullied. Yeah, okay, Ronbo was charming, but it was appalling how people lapped up that chiding tone.

I'm going to climb out on a limb here and make some global suggestions. First, for my beloved Al Gore (an Aries) and thugboy George W. (okay, I'll cut him some slack because he's a Cancer male, and those guys are more sensitive than they'll let you see): whoever is working harder but making it seem effortless will make points with the voters in the next couple of months. Taurus, not a particularly whiny sign, has a different take on ambition than fellow earth sign Capricorn. Taurus also puts great store in good looks, and I wouldn't be surprised if George came up with a more responsible-looking haircut. He needs to make the most of his maturity while shedding that haze of entitlement (which Poppy managed to do by playing military-man). As for Al, the more we get reminded of how responsible he has been, the better he'll look.

Okay, enough. I am available for consultation, and I'll charge less than the $20K a month that Naomi Wolf, that vapid twit, gouged from the Gores. My doppelgangerin can be found at www.audible.com, and if you want a form for a reading, e-mail me. Otherwise, educate yourself, and see how you are when the moon cruises through various signs and phases.

And if you're writing me this month, stick to issues of finance. I'd like to hear from the solvent folks as well as the spendthrifts!

Yours in the cause of a more orderly universe . . .

PS: My homepage on AOL is something I do monkey with fairly frequently -- like I don't have enough to do on this stupid machine. The address is: http://hometown.aol.com/symboline/myhomepage/index.html