'Ay'a'el

'Ay'a'el accompanies the period from 19 to 24 February and belongs to the Angels. The motto is «I see beyond appearances». In this symbolic portrait, a summit offers the distance needed to look freely towards the horizon.

You need a space where you can be alone and put into perspective what seems enormous in daily life. From there, you can smile at problems, including your own, and recognise what truly deserves attention. Solitude can nourish study, creation and contemplation. George Washington on Mount Rushmore represents this image of height and distance. Copernicus evokes a gaze directed towards a wider system; Chopin, musical creation seeking its own space beyond immediate and familiar use.

But there is a second need, just as important: to come down and communicate something of what you have understood. Your sense of responsibility towards others does not allow you to remain solely a solitary person. You may expect little from an encounter and still feel obliged to offer it part of your work.

The conflict between these two directions lies at the centre of the path. When you enter shared life, you may feel entangled, suffocated and poorly understood. Sometimes the difficulty is real; at other times, you help create it through enigmatic or provocative gestures. Luis Buñuel evokes precisely an expression that challenges the viewer and does not seek easy understanding.

Your main flaw is creating disappointments that justify a return to solitude. You may apply an excessively severe ideal to others or give with sudden, disproportionate optimism. When the outcome fails to meet expectations, you feel confirmed in the belief that encounters are not worth the effort. Criticism too becomes difficult to hear because it questions this explanation.

In the most tense moments, you may damage an undertaking or a career of your own that is beginning to feel like a prison. Escape restores distance, but leaves consequences that do not disappear when silence returns. Arthur Schopenhauer appears on the side of pessimistic reflection and a troubled relationship with the world's illusions. The search for a freer perspective also needs patience with real life.

As a couple, you need an agreement about personal time. A partner who understands your need to be alone can remain close, but should not become the keeper of your bad moods or take on every responsibility. When distance is agreed, you can return to the encounter without having to destroy it to breathe.

You may also seek substitutes for the summit in alcohol or drugs. The suspension achieved this way can add difficulties instead of creating free space. Peter Fonda and the motorcyclists in Easy Rider evoke an image of freedom in motion, far from ordinary life. Kurt Cobain appears on the painful side of escape and suffering. Your need for distance deserves forms that protect your life and practical help if substance use becomes a problem.

A good balance may be found in a role that allows sharing without erasing independence: performing, directing, teaching, philosophy or spiritual research. Benedetto Croce represents intellectual work as a point from which to engage with the world. A carefully tended personal environment can also give you dignity, provided it does not replace every relationship.

The balance lies in keeping a summit without despising the valley. Regular time for contemplation, work others can understand and greater tolerance of faults allow distance to become a shared resource instead of an ever-renewed reason to leave.